My Introduction-Welcome to my dream

Creating this blog has been a long time coming for me.  Some may think it is silly, but it is something I often think and dream about wanting to share with others.  Please share with others and come back to read on as I always will have something to share.

 

I am a wife and mother of 2 beautiful little girls, Savanah 3 and Britta almost 9 months.  We live in Plymouth, WI where I grew up.  

I have always had a dream of working with fashion/shopping.  I did a short stint in the modeling industry but was quickly told by many all of my faults.  Not the best thing for a 16 year olds ego so that quickly went out the door.  My two passions and dreams for a career were working in fashion and helping those that are less fortunate.  I chose the latter path and have been working in the social services industry after getting my Bachelors and Masters in Social Work.   Working in this field the past 6 years has made me more grateful for the things I have and even more so wanting to cut back on spending money on luxurious things.  More recently, I lost my job and it really hit me and my family hard.  I started considering going back to school to get into fashion.  I am often complimented by others for the way I dress or things in my home and every time I tell them the deal I found it for, they are in shock.  So I started doing some research about going back to school.  When I found out it was $100,000 it was immediately out of the question.     

I grew up in a small town of less than 10,000 in the Midwest.  Obviously not the number one place that comes to mind when you think of fashion.  Growing up I always loved clothes, but back when I was in grade school, I didn’t care much about labels. My childhood best friend and I were easy on our parents then, asking to go shopping at the local Kmart or Wal-Mart.  I will always remember my birthday in the 5^th grade.  There was this vest I wanted SO BADLY from Kmart.  It was jean with multi color denim.  I still have a picture somewhere I should try and find and post.  I would never in my right mind wear that now, but I laugh about it because at the time it was as important to me then as my favorite royal blue Jessica Simpson purse I got from Boston Store a couple years back for $45 (clearance of course).  But now things have almost come full circle.  I enjoy shopping at many places, but ironically, Kmart is one of my favorites.  Sure it isn’t BCBG or Gucci, but many of the items are cute and most importantly reasonable.

My teen years I became a little more selfish when it came to material things and I wanted all the expensive things that were “popular”.  I was fortunate with my parents that they bought all these things for me, but looking back I would have slapped me lol.   My family wasn’t well off by any means but we were your average middle/working class family.  Both my parents worked and I even had my first job by the time I was a freshman.  Being older now and looking back, I can’t believe all the things they still bought for me even though it wasn’t ideal for our lifestyle.    They worked hard for the things we had, and I remember one Christmas wanting this goose down Abercrombie and Fitch jacket.  It was $300.  My mom already took me xmas shopping at all my fav stores every year and pretty much bought me everything I wanted.  I still hoped for it and on xmas she gave me all my gifts (oodles and oodles) and then surprised me with the jacket.  I hate that I was so selfish, but I actually still have that jacket and still wear it from time to time AND Its still in good shape, is fashionable and lets be real, it was 300 which is a lot of money for a middle class family.   Now being a working mother of two girls (yikes- if they like clothes and shopping as much as I do my husband is in trouble), I have to be more realistic.  Not only for myself but for my girls.  Now I know what it’s like to work hard for the things we have, but I still know that others are not so fortunate.

I want to share with others that can’t afford all the luxury clothing, purses, jewelry, home goods, toys  for their children, children’s clothes, gifts for others, you name it I can usually find it.  I always find great deals, and I start by looking at the clearance racks.  It’s hard to walk past a new line or item that has just come out, but paying full price for things now days is hard to justify.  Especially for most families during these hard economic times.  I hope that many of you reading can find some good bargains through me and my shopping tips for yourself and your family.