More great thrifting next week!

And another sale that's not to be missed! Thrift Town is beyond awesome...they source their stuff from many different places (as opposed to Goodwill, where all the stuff is donated to just them), so there's an eclectic mix of really neat finds. And even better, this sale lasts a WHOLE week! So Hutch and Katie (and everyone else to has to work Monday) can get their thrift on! Check out their locations here  and their fun blog here!

How do you like them apples?

This Monday (President's Day), Goodwill is having one of their oh-so-wonderful 50% off sales!  I'm not sure if the sale extends beyond the Northern California area, so make sure you head over to the Goodwill website and locate a store in your area. As long time blog readers know, I swear by the 50% off sale for stocking up on baby/kid clothes. The day after Thanksgiving I spent $165. At a half price sale. (You should have seen my cart!) So think about $330 not half price. My husband and I figured that we scored about $3,000 (retail price) worth of baby clothes for the new little bean and his big sister. Holla!
So if you've got the day off and are hankering for some new (to you) cheap duds, head on over to your local Goodwill. Maybe I'll see you there!

New Kitchen on the Cheap!

Before we move into our new house (yay!), it's our plan to remodel the kitchen and dining area. The current set up is pretty bad...a galley kitchen with beat up cabinets, a carpeted formal dining room, and a living room that connects to one end of the kitchen. Basically, it's a segmented, maze-like mess. It's our vision to break down the kitchen wall and turn it into an island, and then open up the dining room and living room, making the whole space into one "great room". 

Which brings me today's blog post. We've been thinking a lot about cabinets, color schemes, etc., but I haven't really put anything down on "paper" until today. Our style is pretty laid back...we want a kitchen we can live with for a long time, that can grow with our family, and that won't look dated in 20 years. We like color, clean lines, and a modern meets vintage feel. Here's what I've come up with so far. Everything comes from either Overstock or Ikea. Although not exactly cheap, it certainly won't break the bank, either! 

Or the second option...

Which do you prefer?

Reader Request!

Over on the TOTC Facebook Page, Katie was looking for some ideas on how to wear these cute crops from Old Navy. Since she works in retail, she has to wear flat shoes, but still look stylish. She wanted to keep her rocker/edgy look...which I think I totally missed the boat on. Shoot. The tank hidden beneath the white jean jacket is kind of edgy, and white denim is kind of rocker-ish, right? But boat shoes? Scarves? I may have struck out. Anywho, I think I need to get myself to the ol' O.N. and buy those earrings. LOVE!

It's all from Old Navy today...
Earrings
Tote
Scarf
Jacket
Tiered Tank
Boat Shoes
Cropped Trousers

Anyone out there in blogland have a request? Hopefully I can nail your style better than Katie's! (No guarantee though, I am currently living in my husband's thermal long sleeve shirt and ultra stretchy pregnancy jeans. Fashion has left the building).

Before and After...

Our new house was built in 1963. It has popcorn ceilings and a carpeted formal dining room. It also has a patio that has been converted to a huge bonus room, which would be cool if I was a teenager and it was, say, 1975. The point? We're going to have lots of remodel and decor challenges in our new pad. Which thrills me to no end, because I love painting and demolition as much as a great Craigslist or garage sale find. PLUS...I'm hoping to showcase more cheap home related projects on this here blog. Which brings me to today's post. I'd always wanted to do a before and after of our old house, but felt weird putting my home on the internet. Now I can! 

Here's the before of our formal living room. The whole house was like a time capsule from 1966. The couches behind those rockin' marble tables were covered in plastic. Awesome.

The living room after. We made the best of the mint carpet by pairing it with a purple couch ($200 on Craigslist!) .  Purple brocade curtains were $10 at Big Lots, and the chairs and ottoman were another Craigslist find. 

Hello, ugly kitchen! From the chiffon curtains to the ornate hardware,  this kitchen screamed old lady, which makes sense because the previous owner was a 97 year old lady who had built the house as her retirement home. In 1966. The fridge was full of white wine and ice cream. My kind of woman!  

The stove that burnt everything we tried to cook. Wouldn't you love to have a built in convection oven?

After. We didn't change much (new hardware, bye bye wallpaper, new paint) because I wanted it to still have that 60's charm. 

More kitchen after. Containers courtesy Grocery Outlet, and art from Big Lots.  Oh, and the curtains were on clearance at Walmart. 

The den before. The indoor/outdoor brown floral carpet was particularly charming. I loved ripping that stuff up (as well as removing those iron banisters). 

The den (or the "step down lounge" as I liked to call it) after. Red couch, another great $300 Craigslist find. You can't really see it, but the table on the left is repurposed as an entertainment center. My husband scored that for $10 from the Catholic church rummage sale and attached half of an old coffee table to the bottom to hold our dvd player, etc. 

Master bedroom before. Notice how there is no carpet? There's a reason they had to tear it out...be glad I didn't include the photo of the patched hole in the floor where the previous owner "expired" (what can I say? The house was a GREAT deal!)

Master bedroom after. Never one ghostly experience. 

2nd bedroom before. People who stayed in this room did claim to have some vivid nightmares and hear strange sounds. 

So that's where we put our kid. She never complained. (Of course, she couldn't talk yet, either). 

Dining room before (that's me holding the previous owner's circa 1960 wedding dress. That I did NOT get to keep. Shoot). 

Dining area after new flooring, paint, etc. Once again, furniture from Big Lots. That place is a treasure trove of bargain finds!

So that's the tour of the old casa. I hope you're up for some fun new projects in the future, because I'm all about branching out (while still staying in the realm of cheapness) and sharing the transformation of our new house with you guys!

Red Dress Love

My friend (the one who is getting married in July) and I found this dress on Modcloth the other day while looking for bridesmaid's dresses. Our conversation via email went something like this...
Her: "Do you see that red dress?"
Me: "Good lord, that's a GORGEOUS dress! I would so wear that"
Her: "Why can't that come in my colors?"
Me: "Red works for me!" (I'm such a bad bridesmaid...)

Anywho, it's quite a stunner, don't ya think? It's the perfect type of dress to wear to a summer wedding, a fancy Valentine's date, a Christmas party, or perhaps...

dressed as a pin up girl to go bar hopping on Halloween with your husband dressed in drag.
(Many years ago, before kids, before shame).

The scoop:
Clutch, Payless
Peep Toes, Forever 21
Mod Hoops, Forever 21
Frankly I Don't Give A Dress, Modcloth
Ring, Target

There's a Bun in the Oven

Around about the time we decided to try and sell our house, we also made the decision to put off having another baby. We figured the responsible thing to do was wait until we knew what our housing situation was going to be before bringing another little Cheapster into the world. Because you usually can't buy another house for at least 2 years after a short sale, the wait could have been pretty long. Both my husband and I were bummed, but felt we were being really grown up about the whole thing. It's always nice to feel grown up, isn't it?
We put the house in the market July 8. August 1st I found out I was pregnant. I'm due in late April.
"Ha ha!" said Karma.
We'll be moving in to our new house right before the baby is born. I think he must have known it would all work out. (Yep, it's a boy).

Everything today comes from Old Navy. I have a non-maternity Old Navy striped shirt that I am wearing the heck out of. Surprisingly, horizontal stripes while pregnant help to say, "Hey look, I'm not getting fat, it's actually a baby!"

Bridesmaid Dress Re-Do

I'm currently bridesmaid dress shopping, along with some other fine gals, for the wedding of a dear friend in July. I shared this quest for dresses with the EG bloggers while we waited for dinner the other night, and was regaled with the stories that so many of us 20 to 30 somethings have in common. Heather described her after childbirth, 2 sizes too big dress that fastened in back (perfect for nursing a newborn!). Hutch (of Be Awesome Instead) told us of her bag full of bridesmaid dresses that need to go to the cleaners, and also of her reluctance to do so because they will never get worn again.
Which begged the question...what could we, as a group of fun having, young-ish women, do to give these dresses the second chance they deserve? (Well, some of them...I'm sure some of them are just plain ugly). A cocktail party? Fun. A cocktail party followed by a game of mud football? Even MORE fun.
Then as I was looking for pictures of ugly bridesmaid dresses, I found this. Now, for reasons that I haven't shared yet, I'm not exactly up for a pub crawl (or a satin dress, for that matter) at the moment, but once summer hits, I'm totally rounding up the girls for some bridesmaid-y fun.
Have any of you done anything fun with old bridesmaid dresses? Any other ideas to throw in the mix? Who else want to join in? Anyone else regretting that they donated their bridesmaid dresses to Goodwill? (What was I thinking?) I'm sure Hutch has one I can borrow...