Want Need Love

Has everyone out there already discovered Wanelo (for Want Need Love)? Am I late to the party, again? If you haven't, you really need to check it out!

Find me on Wanelo

It's similar to Pinterest, but entirely for shopping. Shopping made social, because if you sign up through Facebook, your friends will be able to see what you're saving (on Wanelo, if you like something you "save" it), which comes in especially handy if you're making a "Things I would like as gifts" list. I'm hoping this will be very helpful for my 'fella, who seems to feel pretty helpless when it comes to picking something out for me.

You can also comment on items and tag your friends, if you think it's something they would be interested in.

You can follow your favorite stores, not only to see their new products, but also products that they like or that fit in with their aesthetic.

Needless to say, I'm addicted.

Click on the picture above if your interested in following me. I just joined yesterday, but I'm already thinking this website is going to be my new landing spot on the internet.

What I am and what I ain't

So near the end of the year, a lot of people start talking about resolutions.  I'm not big on resolutions, for a lot of reasons.  For one, I think like gift-giving, it's not the kind of thing you should only do at certain times of the year.  If you want or need to make changes in your life, the best time for that is NOW, whenever "now" might be.  Also, I happen to think most people don't keep their resolutions.  Too much pressure?  Maybe that's part of it.

I'm nowhere near perfect, but I know who I am... and who I ain't.  Are there things I'd like to change?  Sure!  But I'm not about to set myself up for disaster just because it's the first of January.

You know what else comes around this time of year?  My birthday!!  I haven't figured out yet if I'm excited or wary about this particular birthday.  I was really excited, last year, to turn 30, it felt like an exciting milestone, and my Mom and one of my best friends were here in Chicago to celebrate with me.  Somehow, 31 feels a little different... not necessarily bad, but not really too exciting, either.

One of the things I ain't, is a shopper.  I'm not a girly-girl, I get frustrated when I'm in a clothing store for more than half an hour, I don't even like trying things on -- I just guess at my size, buy it if I really want it, and get on to the next thing.

But today, I shopped.

I've been waiting years (literally years) for these boots to go on sale.  Today I walked into the store, and they were finally in my price range -- let's be honest, the very high end of my price range -- and I just couldn't walk out without them.  There was one pair left, in exactly my size.  Happy birthday to me!

So to all of you looking forward to (hopefully not dreading) the New Year celebrations -- cheers!!  I hope you have a fabulous night, whatever you do.  Chances are good I'll be at home, eating a shrimp platter.  I'll be wearing my boots, even if I'm in my pajamas.  'Cause I've got style like that.

Scoutmob!

Okay, I'm sickity-sick-sick, and in no mood for little more than drinking orange juice on my couch, cuddled up in a warm blanket, and watching Say Yes to the Dress (don't judge me).

But... I have to give a little shout out for my Scoutmob Shoppe!

I'm up for a limited amount of time, and I heard it through the grapevine (or rather, through their website banner) that this weekend they are offering free shipping with no purchase minimums, so I would get on that if I were you.

Of course, you can also get free shipping in my Etsy shop using the coupon code: Holidays2012

If you're in one of the cities they cater to, I think you will LOVE the app, too -- 50% off at a restaurant for no reason at all?  Yes, thank you very much... in fact, if I felt any better, I would probably be using that discount at Socca this weekend... oh well.

Crazy Coupon Ladies

(and crazy coupon gentlemen)

Have you ever tried couponing?  I think those of us who live in Chicago (and most major cities) are at a disadvantage, because we'll never see those Double Coupon Day deals.  Must be a special small town thing.  But certainly, there's a way to get some pretty good deals in the Chicago area, no?

Ike is "helping", and by "helping" I mean napping on my coupons.

I did end up coming back with 10 boxes of cereal last night.  Yeah, I said 10.  It wasn't THAT good of a deal, considering all of the non-coupon items Dave wanted to buy, but it worked out okay, and I'll be eating Trix and Cinnamon Toast Crunch for weeks.  I probably paid about $2/5 boxes of cereal, after all of the other deals I had to work out.

This is probably a great hobby for someone with superior math skills (which I don't have), and limitless patience (which I also don't have), but it's kind of fun to dabble, especially when I can score 10 boxes of sugary cereal for like $4!

Small Improvements

It's felt like a really long weekend.  We did go to Ikea on Friday, but I have to say I wouldn't recommend anyone else doing it the way we did -- in a snowstorm, without a car.  We took public transportation to get there, which usually isn't a big deal, but the two or three blocks we had to walk from the bus stop to the store felt more like two or three miles in the freezing temperatures and swirling snow.  Needless to say, the blue and yellow of Ikea's entrance beckoned to me like the gateway to paradise.

We ended up just getting a few things for around the house, & built the shelves ourselves on Saturday (well, Dave did, I just sat on the couch telling him if things looked level from where I was).

Ta-da!  Shelves over my desk/craft area!

I'm still in the process of finding the best places for everything, but it's a great start!  :)  It's such a relief to have the actual space of my desk open to work on.

I have a few pendants hanging on the cork board, & I just got some more frames & maps in the mail, so I'm pretty sure I'll spend Monday working on them.

I got frames for these CTA maps (previously they were just nailed into the wall, not cute).  I think they look pretty nice, now!

This whole area behind the couch is still "under construction".  I thought I would be building more shelves back there, for my books, but I'm not 100% sure yet...

Tonight I have a Yelp Elite event (yay!), and then I'm excited to watch Adele perform on the Grammys... I hope y'all had a fun weekend, and stayed warm!