'Money Diet'

My mom always says we need to go on a 'money diet' and typically I nod and smile and then promptly go to the store and spend loads of money on items I really don't need. Well, not this time. I am actually going cut down on what I spend. This may seem like an easy task for some, but as my friends well know it's not going to be easy for me. Whenever I go out I spend money. I can't go into a shop without finding something that I 'have to have.' In fact today I bought more eyeshadow. I have so much eyeshadow I could stock a drugstore, but I 'needed' that new gold one. I need to save for a car, not buy eyeshadow or movies or purses or shirts or whatever else I happen to see that I 'can't live without.' I was going to give myself a goal of a month of no spending, but that might be pretty difficult for this shopaholic. I have decided that I am going on a 'money diet' til April 22. Why April 22? I have a concert that day and I know I am going to go a little crazy at the merch booth that day. I soooo want a Black Keys shirt or a Ting Tings shirt, or a Garbage shirt. Yeah they are all going to be there. I can hardly contain my excitement. Anywho, I am going to cut down on my spending until the concert and hopefully be able to save some money. I feel that starting out small with a short time period is probably the best for me. Now I know myself and I know that it will be impossible for me to start out cold turkey, so I have decided to make myself a list of items I can buy until my April 22 deadline. So here it is:
1. Jack White's new album

2. M. Ward's new album

3. A Pair of Shorts for the Concert

4. A Red Box Rental or Two

Wish me luck. I sure am going to need it. :-)

Hello There!!

Hello interwebz! I have been blogging for about a month and I would love to have some followers. :-) So, if you are stubble upon this blog, would you do me a favor and follow? I promise  you won't regret it and I'll follow back (I adore reading other peoples blogs).  I have so many ideas for future posts (and maybe some givaways. hint hint wink wink). My next post hopefully will be about my trip to Texas' capitol: Austin. I made some awesome purchases I'd love to share with ya'll. Have a lovely night and hopefully I'll see  you on my followers list and I on yours.

xoxo Lisa

(Sorry about the shameless begging lol)

The Hunger Games!!!

I used to love the big summer blockbusters. I would get so excited when the warmer weather would come. Not because I could finally wear shorts again, but because it meant the end of stuffy dramatic movies. When the weather warmed up so did the films. Lately, though, I have been really into the the fall  films. The ones that show up on the Oscar ballots. I love the drama and the quality of these films. This past fall especially loved My Week With Marylin, Drive and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Those films are beautiful, well constructed (in look and a story), and surprisingly enjoyable. With my current love for the fall films, I have lost much of my interest in the summer blockbusters. I really haven't cared about superhero movies, action flicks or animated features. This year might be different though. My faith in the super popular blockbuster may have been restored. And this is due to The Hunger Games. Yes, I know it is only early Spring, but The Hunger Games was a fabulous way to usher in a new batch of big budget audience grabbers. The movie was well made with gorgeous cinematography, well cast and acted, and stayed about as true to the book as a film can be. Yes, there were changes from the story, most notably for me was how Katniss acquired the mockingjay pin and they left out much of the background story with her father. Other than that, though, I applaud the job the filmmakers did on the film. The Hunger Games has restored my faith in major Spring/Summer blockbuster films. "May the odds be ever in your favor." LOL

Inner. Inner City. Inner City Pressure.

I went to work for a few hours today. After that I went and picked up my friend at the train station. We then went to Target and did some shopping, dinner and then more shopping at the local movie/music store. Good times, good times. When I came home I decided to put in season 1 of Flight of the Conchords. I bought it on sale a couple of weeks ago and had yet to watch it. I've had multiple friends say that I needed to see it. I popped in the DVD player and pretty much started laughing from the first minute of it. It is so much better than I could have imagined. Why did I wait so long before watching this wonderfullness????  Here's a bit of the lyrics from one of the funniest musical numbers  so far. It's so freaking hilarious.  

Inner. Inner city. Inner city pressure.

Counting coins on the counter of the 7/11.
From a quarter past six til a quarter to seven.
The manager, Bevin, starts to abuse me.
Hey man, I just want some musely.
Neon signs, hidden messages.
Questions, answers, fetishes.
You know you're not in high finance.
Considering second hand underpants.
Check your mind, how'd it get so bad?
What happened to those other underpants you had?
Look in your pockets, haven't found a cent yet.
Tenants on your balls, "have you payed your rent yet?"

Inner. Inner city. Inner city pressure.
Inner. Inner city. Inner city pressure.

(Flight of the Conchords episode 2: Bret Gives Up the Dream)

Vintage Clothing and Jewelry Show

This afternoon I went to the Dallas Vintage Clothing and Jewelry Show in Grapevine, TX with my mum. It was loads of fun. Most of the show was jewelry, from high end, expensive antiques to costume jewelry, with a few racks of cute vintage clothing throughout. I went in hopes of finding some cute vintage clothes, but there wasn't much there and I ended up not really wanting to search through racks of clothes or shell out the money. I did pickup some cute stuff, though. So here it is:

There was this table with bins of pretty cheap pins, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, etc. I got this adorable stick pin for $1.50. I love stick pins. So far I have two and I hoping to build my collection.

I kept seeing jewelry with little roadrunner motifs. I really liked them and found this tie tack at the same table as the stick pin. It was $2.50. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with a tie tack, but I love it.

I found another pin I liked on the same table as the other two items. The little baggy it was in said it was gold filled with a real pearl. I figured this piece would lend some classiness to my wardrobe. The pin was $3.50.

These are some seriously tacky earrings, but I think they could be cute with the right outfit. They were $2.00. They were on the same table as everything else so far.

I also got this painted pin with a deer and a winter scene. I thought it was unique and will spice up a plain shirt. It cost me $10.00.

This may be my favorite purchase of the day. I saw it at the first vendor we looked at and fell in love with it, but I wasn't ready to part with my money just yet. So I left it and looked around the rest of the show. When I went back it was still there and I snagged it. The ring is totally my style. It's sterling silver and turquoise and it fits perfectly. This ring set me back $16.50. My most expensive purchase of the day, but completely worth it.

I also picked up this metallic gold bag and a retro scarf. I'm thinking about tying the scarf to the bag. They are both so cute! The bag was $12.00 and the scarf was $9.00.

Today was a great day for vintage shopping. I'm so happy with all my items and very happy that I just got my tax return, so I was able to go shopping. :-)

Thirft Store Shopping Spree

Well, I don't know that I would call it a "spree" exactly, but I did do some thrifting today. I had a 3 hour window between classes and I decided to do one of my favorite activities: perusing the thrift store. I think I found some good stuff and I only ended up spending less than $17 in total. So here is what I picked up today:

This shirt caught my attention. It's white with pink spots and a tie neck. It fits really well too. I paid $3.99 for this shirt.

These shorts were $3.49. I thought they were super cute.

And they are from Banana Republic!

These earrings are pretty tacky, but I like 'em. They are only about the size of dimes, which is good. I think giant plastic circles might've been too much. They were $1.99. A little expensive for thrift store earrings in my opinion, but oh well.

And lastly I purchased this bag. It was $5.99. Again expensive, but it's real leather and will go with all kinds of outfits.

Look at all the pockets!

So my grand total was $16.70. I usually get away with spending a lot less at the thrift store, but I am totally happy with my purchases. Maybe I'll do an outfit of the day wearing some of the pieces.

Vintage Tech

I am taking a course at university entitled History of Radio. I only signed up because I needed another course and I thought it would be totally boring. However, I find the class fascinating. Everybody in the 20's, 30's and 40's listened to radio. It was a national pastime. When WWII hit, CBS led the way with news reporting (something not all that common on radio before the war). People started turning to radio for their up to date information on the war, something the newspapers couldn't provide. Radio has an interesting history and I have come to love learning about that history.
So one day my mom and I went shopping at a vintage store and an antique store neither of us had ever been to. It was a little impromptu adventure. I fell in love with the vintage store. They had the cutest furniture, little figurines and... vintage radios! I HAD to have one. Only it turns out they were all around $40 a pop and I really didn't need to spend that much. I left the vintage store a bit disappointed. Next we went to the antique store. It was cool. I found some neat records and vintage wrapping paper. When we were about to leave I spotted something at the back of the store... a vintage radio for only $15. I promptly put the records away and grabbed my radio.

I love it! It's a green Motorola beauty. I believe it's from the 1950's, but I could be wrong. Anyhow, it's awesome and it actually works. I think I may get into listening to AM radio because of it. this may actually be my favorite used find ever!

Test Tomorrow Morning and I don't feel like studying. Blah!

This is what I'm doing instead of studying: Blogging and Facebooking (it's a verb now). The blogging doesn't bother me as much as the the facebooking. At least when you blog, you are using your brain a wee bit and writing something. Facebook, I feel, is mindless. You read everyone's posts and "Like" them and then you write some of your own, such as "wow that Mickey D's burger hit the spot" or whatever. Don't get me wrong, Facebook can be great. I use it to connect with old friends or ones that I don't get to see often. However, I also feel like I waste a crazy amount of time on it. Oh well I suppose it's not the worst way to spend (waste) a Wednesday night when I'm supposed to be studying. 

What do  you do when you are supposed to be studying?