Mad Men Party!!!

Ben and I attended a Mad Men themed dress-up part last night.  It was so much fun!  I had a blast going shopping for my outfit and meeting up with my girlfriends the night before so that we could strategize about what to wear.  The party itself was just perfect - great food, great drinks, great company, and so many beautiful dresses!

When shopping for my dress, I initially passed right by this one.  When the other dresses I tried on didn't really wow me, I went back through the rack and this print caught my attention.  It looked quite frumpy on the hanger, especially because it had a huge white collar sewn on the neckline (front and back), but I decided to try it on anyways.  The shop owner, Alex Sandra, took one look and knew that it had so much potential underneath that collar.  With the collar tucked in and out of sight, I fell in love with the dress!  Once I got it home, removing the collar was a breeze.  

Dress, Hat, and Purse:  Vintage via Alex Sandra's Vintage Emporium
Gloves:  These gloves also came from Alex Sandra's, though I bought them a couple of years ago for my wedding.
Necklace:  Vintage (gift from Ben)
Shoes:  Chie Mihara Teco

It wouldn't be a Mad Men party without tons of booze!

Yes,  that's a chocolate fountain!

Grocery bills and an OOTD

Last weekend, Ben and I had our 2nd meeting with our financial adviser.  The first meeting was a 'get to know you' meeting.  The meeting last weekend was to give us an overview of our current financial situation and a plan for reaching our short-term goals.  The next meeting will be a follow up (we have homework to do!) and will also touch on more long-term goals.

I was nervous going in, but it actually went really well.  She had everything organized nicely and was prepared with a lot of lists/graphs/etc.  It was nice to be able to see how changes we make now will end up affecting us 5/10/15 years down the road.  She gave us a 'to-do' list of things to look into and take care of this month.  I am so glad we decided to work with her.  I felt reassured after the meeting and I'm excited because I know that if we follow her plan and suggestions, we will be able to reach a lot of our goals much more quickly than we anticipated.

One of the things we have to work on immediately is lowering our grocery bill.  Ben and I had a feeling she was going to address this and we  had already done some research on the matter.  Ben found a really cool website that shows you how your grocery and dining out bills compare to others in your area in various income brackets, etc. (here is the website:  http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2012/01/calculator-food-spending-budget-frugal).  It was pretty shocking when we actually sat down and calculated our food costs.  It was even more shocking to see how much more we were spending compared to the average person in our age/income group and geographical location.  We eat a mostly paleo diet and food quality is very important to us.  I think that we had just decided that quality was such a priority, that we stopped letting cost be a factor.   Now, that way of thinking has caught up with us a bit it seems.

Moving forward, we are making a few changes to lower the cost of our grocery bill.  We are actually sitting down and planning weekly menus, instead of just running by the grocery store every couple of days to grab whatever we feel like or going out to eat.  This will also help us plan ahead so that we have leftovers for lunches during the week.  We have decided to shop at 2 different grocery stores.  We will go to the  higher end grocery store for meats and a few other items, but we will get other things like canned goods elsewhere. I think just being mindful will help a lot (noticing when something we use a lot is on sale and stocking up, etc.).  We use a ton of coconut milk (at least 1 can a day in our morning smoothie).  It is quite pricey at the grocery store, around $3 - 4 per can.  I found that if I purchase from amazon, I can get a case (12 cans) and only pay $1.90 per can (free shipping).  I am determined to make this work without compromising too much on quality.  Please share any tips or advice you have!  

Tank:  J. Crew
Sweater:  Anthropologie Dog Rose Pullover
Pants:  AG Stevie cords in nutmet
Shoes:  Chie Mihara Teco

Dog Rose

I know I've made a good purchase when I cannot wait to wear the item(s). That was definitely the case on Saturday, when I wore 3 of my black friday anthropologie finds! The Dog Rose pullover was a surprise. I didn't really pay much attention to it online, but I was intrigued when I saw it in the store. After I tried it on, I knew it needed to come home with me. It is warm, but not too hot, and the details are gorgeous. The jeans were a no-brainer, and I was delighted to find this set of bangles for only $5.00 (originally $48).

We have been working on our bathroom over the weekend. We now have a new tile floor in place - it is so pretty! I love it (and what a huge improvement over the laminate). The downside is that we had to take the toilet out to put the tiles down, and we can't put it back until everything dries. Ummmm, not convenient when you only have 1 bathroom!!!


















Top: Anthropologie Dog Rose Pullover
Tank: Anthropologie Seamless Reversible Tank
Jeans: AG Stevie Ankle Jeans via Anthropologie
Bracelets: Anthropologie
Shoes: Chie Mihara Teco

TECO

I wore this outfit to work last week. This is one of those dresses I knew I had to have the moment I saw it. I love the print, colors, and pleats! You can pair pretty much any color with this dress, but for some reason, I usually go with some variation of purple:)

Dress: Anthropologie Southward Stop Dress
Cardigan: J. Crew Jackie (I told you, I'm well on my way to having every color of this classic cardigan)
Tights: Hue
Shoes: Dansko



This is how I wore the dress a few months ago for my Birthday (The purple tights and bare arms are a bit much for my office, so this is a non-work outfit option for me):


Dress: Anthropologie Southward Stop Dress
Belt: Anthropologie Snakebite
Tights: Hue
Shoes: Chie Mihara Teco


These were the first pair of Chie Mihara shoes I purchased. I found them on sale at Ped shoes (here is the product information, although they are now sold out). Aren't they beautiful?!?!





If you haven't already, you must check out the new Chie Mihara spring/summer 2011 collection. Here are a few of my favorites:

The IONA:

The LOVELY:


The AVAGAR:



Now, I'm off to dream about shoes and go out to dinner with my sweetie! Happy Valentine's Day:)