What I Wore - Kismet

A couple weeks ago I was shopping and decided to try on a few dresses. As i was searching for a few more, I found the most amazing floral printed, metallic, quilted, Marc Jacobs dress. I felt a little silly checking that $250.00 dress in with the lady at the dressing rooms along with my other $10.00 clearance ones but I knew I needed to try it on. I obsessed about it and then put it back. Could you imagine? That dress originally sells for around $550.00. Who has that kind of cash? Anyway, I snapped a few photos of it and glumly went on my way to the check out with a shower cap and a few pairs of new socks. God must have heard my cries because kismet struck! I found this skirt thrifting that very Sunday. Perfect condition, $7.99 price tag, and a Marc Jacobs label! I swear I had six different people in my office tell me how great it looked on me and a woman in a coffee shop at lunch even stopped at my table to tell me how amazing my outfit was. I was very happy to tell everyone who commented on it my kismet story. I swear I'm not making this up. It was pure kismet!

Apologies for the out of focus photos. I'm just now playing with my new lens from Christmas plus my remote had no batteries. Maybe I'm just trying making myself feel better about it, but I sort of like the blur! I thought the second to last looked way better with me out of focus! 

Jacket - Vera by Vera Wang, Kohls ($25.00 Clearance)

Black top - Target ($3.00 Clearance)

Skirt - Marc by Marc Jacobs, Thrifted ($7.99)

Wedge Booties - Target ($25.00)

It's Here! Flea Market Season!

Last weekend was the first of the 2012 Flea Market season (For me, at least. My favorite opened up!). Here are a few of the things i picked up. I stopped at the ATM before we went and took out "too much" money. I ended up leaving with $2.00 in my pocket.

Vintage greeting cards. I went around and around with the guy selling these and eventually we settled on $3 for all of them. 6 in total, but these three are my favorites. How cool is the anniversary one?

Vintage drinking glasses and wooden acorn salt and pepper shakers. E.T. and the salt and pepper shakers were $1! I had a feeling the guy might see the glass as collectible and want some crazy price for it but no haggling was necessary. I mean really, $1 for it all? Works for me. The two pink and purple glasses and the orange one are from the 1950's. The price was originally $2.00 for all three but I ended up getting them plus...

...these amazing iron guys! He wanted $35 for the scary guy and $10 for the pair of mermaids. I ended up talking him down to $35 for all three and the three vintage drinking glasses. I proceeded to brag about how awesome of a haggler i was to anyone that would listen for the rest of the day. The scary face is actually the god of wind (i believe) and is meant to be part of a fountain with the water spouting out of his mouth. I haven't decided what i want to do with him yet but he looks like he belongs in Narnia so i fell in love with him instantly. 

Happy flea market season! I think I may love this part of the year more than Christmas. 

Life As Of Lately - Spring Fever

Spring Fever has hit me in more ways than one. First, the grass has turned green seemingly overnight, the garden has been planted, the shutters on the house are being repainted, the "peepers" are peeping, and the birds are chirping. It is beautiful! Nothing can make me happier than a warm breeze and a morning outside. Secondly, my allergies have gone into overdrive. I have had the worst allergies this year! I suppose you can't have everything.

A few photos from one of these beautiful spring days -

Shopping Cruelty Free

It is fairly well known that eating meat has never settled well with me, even when i was very young and didn't know what a vegetarian was. I'm sure it was no surprise to anyone when I cut meat out of my diet nine years ago. Since then, i've also introduced a lot of milk substitutes into my diet and started eating eggs almost exclusively from my own chickens. In the past couple of years i've also started buying products (mostly beauty) that don't test on animals. I won't get into detail about animal testing and all it's horrors, but I will say that unnessary, cruel, and pointless tests are happening to animals in the United States every day. I know that it is easy to turn away and pretend that these things aren't happening or that your purchases don't affect the problem, but they are and they do. For more information on animal testing, take a look at the links at the bottom of this post.

Unfortunately, there are some gray lines when it comes to your shopping trip. Many brands buy ingredients for their cosmetics from other companies that test and then claim that their products are cruelty free. Check the label, if it says something along the lines of "this final product not tested on animals", it's ingredients probably were. Additionally, cosmetics companies seem to change their stance on testing often. L'Oreal, along with Mary Kay and Avon, are currently resuming testing on animals so that they can lawfully expand their sales to China. For the most accurate list of "safe" products, visit the Leaping Bunny Website. Although strict, you can trust that each company with their approval is okay to support. When i started to transition into animal friendly products I was happy to see that many of the things i already used were against testing!

LUSH Coconut Deodorant Powder, e.l.f. Studio Blush, Physicians Formula Bronzer,

Hempz Original Herbal Body Moisturizer

Essie Nail Polish, Toms Toothpaste, Revlon Just Bitten Lipstain, Bath & Body Works Shower Gel

Jane No Show Concealer, Yes To Tomatoes Clear Skin Daily Balancing Moisturizer,

Almay Eyeliner, Urban Decay Razor Sharp Ultra Definition Finishing Powder

Mrs. Meyers Clean Day Baby Blossom SPF 30 Sunscreen, EOS shave cream,

Victoria's Secret Sexy Little Things Perfume, Almay Oil-free Eye Makeup Remover

Revlon Lip Butter, Paul Mitchell Instant Moisture DailyShampoo,

Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum, Paul Mitchell Super Clean Hair Spray

For now, I'm still on the lookout for a good contact solution & nail polish remover. I am hoping to support only cruetly free companies (in all products I buy) once we find a house and are purchasing more of our own cleaning products. I would strongly suggest that anyone with a heart look into the labels of what you are buying at the store!

The Humane Society of the United States
"Animal Testing" Wikipedia Page
Cosmetic Testing Facts

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Does anyone else buy cruetly free? What are some of your favorites? What are the products that you haven't found a good alternative for yet?