Thrifty Thursday: Reuse Greeting Cards Part I

If you are like me, I HATE throwing cards away. I'm a total sucker for pretty cards and it seems like such a waste to toss them in the trash after you are done reading them. I know that I spend a lot of time in the card aisles trying to find the perfect card for the occasion, so I assume that everyone else has put a lot of thought into it too. I tend to keep my cards around for a few months after I receive them, either standing them on top of my TV or posting them on the fridge. Eventually, I toss them in my mail basket, because I still can't seem to throw them away. It takes a full-scale apartment purge for me to part with them and those only happen twice a year during my spring and fall cleaning spree when everything I've been hoarding for the past six months (i.e. clothes, beauty product samples, etc.) gets tossed out or donated to Goodwill.

FINALLY, I've come up with a few ideas for reusing the cards. I'll let you know how they go...but my first idea has been swiped from my dear Nana who loved to save $ anyway she could. Nana used to take her greeting cards and rip them in two, chucking the part with the sentimental message in the trash. Then she would keep the blank side from the left side of the card (which rarely gets written on) for making her "to do" and grocery lists. I especially like this idea for funny cards or anything without a pretty picture. I'm hoping this will also keep me from getting into trouble during the back to school season when I tend to stock up on post-its as I tend to lose control around anything related to paper and stationary.

New Exciting Oreos?

While in the grocery store the other day, I made the most amazing discovery EVER: Triple Double Oreos. Its like a bigmac, except instead of old dead dairy cow you have one layer of regular creme and one layer of chocolate creme.

This was a very exciting discovery since I love love LOVE double stuffed oreos and thought that these would be quadruple stuffed. Alas, I was wrong :(  As you can see in the picture below, each creme layer is of normal height. Still, the oreo is delicious and if you remove the outer cookie parts, it is even better. I suppose I'm not terribly disappointed as there is less than 1/3 of the box left. Suggestion for consumption: dip in coffee milk for yummy deliciousness!

Wedding Tip Wednesday: Google Wedding Planner

The Google Wedding Planner is an absolutely essential organizational tool. You can download (or use in google docs) an amazingly thorough spreadsheet that contains practically any expense you may incur for your wedding. The spreadsheet was created by google with the help of the Style Me Pretty ladies so there are helpful tips as well.

It has pages for budget estimators, actual budget, guest list, all types of vendors lists, specific photograph list, and music list. This spreadsheet will keep all the important information in one location while reminding you of various details to consider.

One issue I have with this spreadsheet is that it is set up so that you must enter in a percentage of your wedding budget for each category (such as 47% for the reception) rather than the dollar amount you want to spend on the category. However, this is a quick fix depending on your preferences. Also, there is a bit of redundancy - the Ceremony category has expenditures for things that are also included in the Flowers category.

Google also has a great and easy to use website building service if you want to create a wedding website for free! And don't forget about using google docs for real time collaboration with your bridesmaids and other members of the wedding planning committee!

Trousseau Tuesday: J.Crew Clearance Outlet

I've been hearing about the J.Crew Clearance Outlet located in Lynchburg, VA since my friend (shout out to Marie C.!) called me up to gush about the steal she had gotten on some J.Crew shoes, which was about 3 years ago. This place sounds like fantasy island for the preppy at heart. Unlike the J.Crew outlet stores that you see at outlet shopping malls, the J.Crew Clearance Outlet is a stand alone store. J.Crew's factory is located in Lynchburg, so if you order online or through the catalog all of your merchandise is shipped from Lynchburg. Likewise, if you don't like your purchase (gasp! how can this be?), your merchandise is shipped back to Lynchburg for returns. J.Crew either chooses to or is not allowed to resell this merchandise and instead sells the stock at a discounted price in two different Lynchburg stores.

Even though I'm living in Arlington, VA, I don't get down to Lynchburg very often...until this past weekend. Mr. 3 and I were headed back from a long weekend in Charlotte, NC visiting our parents and attending a wedding.* The man loves to do all the driving and I'm happy to let him, but he is always willing to take a little side trip to a nearby attraction (shopping, I've told him is clearly an attraction worth stopping for). Since it was a spur of the moment decision to stop off, I had to do some quick internet stalking to find the address (J.Crew doesn't list the locations on its website). Thanks to an great blog I've recently started reading, I was able to easily locate the addresses (Thanks Small and Chic in Cville!). One location, (25 Millrace Rd. Lynchburg, VA) is located at the distribution center, and the second location (101 Northwynd Circle St. Lynchburg, VA) is a super cute stand alone store, which is where I chose to stop.

I was really impressed with how the store was laid out and the sales associates working at the store. They were so friendly and helpful (they went to the trouble of looking through their back stock and display pieces to find Mr. 3's size)! The store has a Crew Cuts (J.Crew for kids), men's, women's, shoe, accessory, swimsuit, and bridal sections. There are also a few racks of Madewell clothing (a J.Crew company). The outlet also carries a small selection of handbags that are scattered throughout the racks and end caps.

I shopped around for about 45 minutes, looking for myself and doing a little bit of market research for you Posh Purpose readers. I found that the shoes were priced at $50-$70 for shoes that generally run $150-$350. This is a great price point for shoes, most of which are made in Italy (I've heard a rumor that J.Crew shoes are made at the same factory as Gucci!). There is a small cabinet of accessories with necklaces at $40-$70, bracelets at $20-$40, and headbands and other hair accessories at $10-$20.

The women's section is organized by type of apparel (i.e. tanks, t-shirts, pants, etc.) and then by size. Tanks and tees are priced at $15-$20, the nicer sleeveless shirts (perfect for wearing to work) are $30, pants are $40-$70, blazers are $70-$100.

Swimsuits are an especially great bargain! Previously, I paid full price for a pair of bathing suit bottoms at $68 (I know, for shame, but bathing suits are the bane of my existence. So if I find one I like, I snap it up!), but I found the same exact pair in a different color for $15! And yes, I totally bought them!

The men's section leaves a little to be desired, great prices, but not too much selection. The men's casual pants (i.e. khakis and other chinos) are $20, blazers are $120ish, dress pants are $40-$70, tees are $10, shorts are $20-$25, jeans are $25-$30, swim trunks are $20, and shirts are $20-$30. There was a very small selection of ties for $15 and shoes (I didn't catch the price, sorry!).

Overall, the best part about the store was the bridal section. J.Crew only carries its wedding dresses and bridal collection at few stores in the US. As a result, the Clearance Outlet had many wedding dresses, that have been purchased online and then returned, in the store ranging from $120-$220.

In addition, there was a small selection of flower girl dresses and bridemaids dresses. If you are having a small wedding with only a few attendants, this would be a great place to find bridesmaids dresses and at $70 each you can't do better than that (full price they are $200-$350)! If you are having a larger wedding, this is also a great resource for finding a rehearsal dinner dress or some cute dresses for your honeymoon!

So, on my particular shopping expedition, I came away with my swimsuit bottoms for $15 (don't worry I already have a top), a dressy tank top for work at $30, and a pair of pants for Mr. 3. His khaki pants were quite the steal. They were originally priced at $20, but because the fastener was partially missing (and he has a handy girlfriend who can correct this with a quick trip to the sewing store), the sales associate sold them to us for $10!

There are no returns or exchanges, but they do take credit cards. Overall, I would say that the selection is not big enough to warrant the 3.5 hour drive from DC, BUT if you happen to be passing through, it is totally worth the 10 minute drive off of the highway!

* Shout out to Mrs. Carolyn and my wonderful mama for putting us up for the weekend. Love being with y'all! Also, congrats to "little Sara" P. (formerly "little Sara" B.) on her wedding! She made a beautiful bride!

Munchie Monday: Pasta!

I love love love pasta. But since I like to avoid chunks of tomato, I prefer to pseudo make my own sauce. I tried measuring but forgot so bear with me. You can add most of the ingredients according to your taste.

Sauce, herbs, and check out
my grape spoon holder! I
found it in Marshalls for
cheap!

Ingredients:
Box of pasta
Two regular cans of tomato sauce (just tomato sauce, no icky preservatives or sugar substitutes)
Grated romano cheese
Dried Basil, Oregano, Rosemary, Crushed Red Pepper
Minced garlic
Red wine (J keeps undrank but opened red wine for cooking purposes - I am assuming it is dry)
Salt and pepper
Two chopped yellow onions
Olive oil





Instructions:

1. Heat up olive oil in a large sauce pan and add onions. Cook and stir regularly until onions are soft and very slightly brown.
2. Add minced garlic and stir into onions - don't let the garlic brown.
3. Add tomato sauce and wine. I add enough to turn it a reddish burgundy color but I also can drink red wine vinegar, so add the wine slowly and taste frequently.
4. Add grated cheese and crushed red pepper. The sauce gets spicier if you add the pepper earlier, less so if you add it later. If you add too much cheese, add more wine. If you add too much wine, add more cheese. These flavors balance each other nicely.
5. Stir! Stirring is fun! Also, add the dried herbs. Rosemary goes a long way so be careful. Basil is the most traditional tomato sauce flavor so you can add more of that than the other herbs. Also add some salt and pepper.
6. Now you want to reduce your sauce by letting it cook at about medium low for a while. If you like thicker sauce, cook it longer. If you like thinner sauce, start boiling the pasta water when you add the cheese.
7. Drain cooked pasta and put it into the sauce pan with the sauce (minimizing clean up).
8. Eat!

Yum! J has such pretty pasta bowls :)
Also, very yellow lighting..