Temptations

I'll admit it, I often find myself tempted. I spend a lot of time online. From catching up with the blogs in my reader (which lately include a barrage of wedding blogs that are annoyingly addicting), to other finds from friends sites to facebook, I really do always have something new to peruse.

Here is what has been catching my eye lately - (click at your own risk, spending temptations ahead!)

1. Daily Candy. I don't know why I didn't find this site earlier, although my pocketbook is probably grateful. Luckily there is no San Diego city listing yet, but the Online listings keep me busy enough. What is it? Basically a listing of the latest and greatest in style, fashion, food etc.

2. Mighty Goods. This is a tried and true favorite of mine, where internet maven Maggie Mason (mightygirl.net) posts her latest, favorite-ist shopping finds. She had me smiling widely with her jellyfish finds which were featured earlier this week. This is also where I first saw clocky, the alarm clock that you have to chase. Brilliant, right?

3. Outblush. Fun shopping blog with pretty interesting finds. Moustache key holder? Sold! (Almost)

4. Incredible Things. They really are! Moustache mugs! We could have used those for the stache bash. Maybe we should have a 2nd annual stache bash just to sport these. (or better yet, draw moustaches on paper cups for the party, instant TWAB post!)

5. Etsy Showcase. I love to check out the etsy showcase. It is usually a great mixing of what the site has to offer. This dress is amazing, and would make a great halloween costume.

Side note: in most of the wedding blogs I read, they end their posts with these annoying questions, related to their entries for the main purpose of enticing comments. "Have you dealt with any animal related mishaps in planning for your wedding? If so, what were they?" (Her cat peed on her mom's vintage dress she was going to wear). "Did you decide to change your last name? Were there any repurcussions?" (Her in-laws freaked when she convinced her fiance to hyphenate). "How many cakes did you taste before deciding on your perfect flavor?" (She went through 3 bakerys and about 7 tastings). And the problem with these is now I can't ever think of a way to end my entries. That being said...

What shopping sites do you love to get tempted by? How do you help from not spending?

Lately

Don't you wish? We have been house hunting (read: condo hunting) and seeing houses like this in our price range just a drive away out of town call to me. There is one foreclosure right across the street from Scott's sister and her family. It was fun to think how great it would be to live so close. . . and then we remember that it is hot up there, and it is an hour to two out of the way. Oh, and the small fact that I would rarely see Scott on weekdays because it would take him so long to get to work and back home. I am holding onto hope that the perfect condo is out there somewhere, just waiting for us.

note: the house across from Katie has a POOL. Aren't you just imagining me lounging day after day, with virgin pina coladas by my side? *sigh*

ANOTHER FAIL

While Brianne has mostly repossesed this blog to talk about other purposes, her most recent post inspired me to write here about my most recent FAIL and therefore purge some of my guilt through announcing my complete failure publicly.

I have this thing about wanting my house to smell nice. Not that it smells bad, but I want it to smell nice. I hate the idea of the possibility of having someone come to my house and thinking - their house had a funny smell. You know on Juno when they say "that girl smells like soup"?? I'm trying to avoid that.

In anycase, we can't have candles in our apartements. And all the little glade contraptions just don't seem to do it for me. I've tried a few diffussers. I've walked through Bath and Body Works like millions of time, ultimately leaving with nothing. However, more than a year and a half ago, I heard about a product called a Scentsy. A warmer that uses a lightbulb to melt wax and therefore release lovely smells into the home.

I wanted one then. However, you had to buy through a specific person, etc. etc. and in the end I decided it wasn't worth the cost. Having made that decision, I have thought about it frequently since then. A recent experience led me to looking up some information on their Website where I found that the products can now be ordered online. Hallelujah. So I ordered one and six scents to make my little house smell lovely. That's not bad, right? Waiting a year and a half for something?

But see, that isn't the FAIL. I got a catalog for scents in the mail about a week ago and today my Scentsy arrived. (It's already open and on...). In my excitement for the product and the good scents, I just couldn't help going online and ordering 6 more scents. Good grief. Totally unnecessary. A TOTAL FAIL. At least the guilt can be soothed by the "Welcome Home" scent currently emanating through my house!

FAIL

Scott had his 10 year high school reunion a few weeks ago. I knew I wanted to get something cute and new to really be impressive. Really trying to avoid the Lance Dyer 1999 reaction "She's HUGE!!"

Soooo anyways, I planned on buying a new dress and found a really cute lacy one that worked perfectly. Well, almost perfectly. The only problem I really had was it had no sleeves, just spaghetti straps. But that's doable. I could wear a shirt under it (still cute) or a black cardigan over. Then the only problem was I didn't have either of those things with me, and I wouldn't be getting back to my house before it was time to go that evening. But we were at the mall! I was bound to find something.

Enter Express and a black cardigan. I didn't even look at the price tag. $50 later at the register, Scott walked over and said "HOW much?" Whoops... Major "Things We Almost Bought" FAIL.

Fast forward to last night we were talking about how I had seen a couple of cute flower girl dresses online that had our wedding colors involved, but they were like $50! Considering the bridesmaids dresses were less than $40, it seemed like more than I wanted to spend. Scott mentions "$50! Its not like you would ever spend that much on a cardigan..."

Venue?! I hardly know you!

So this may seem like a no-brainer to many of you. "Just have it at the church building!" Well that's exactly what we are going to do. Luckily we have the coolest church building on the planet, and it has a very cute courtyard in the middle where we plan on having our reception.

But it wasn't always this easy for me to default to the church. I dreamed of intimate gatherings by the sea, or in quiet restaurants. But with fees starting at $4000 there was no way it could be justified, but I could dream, right?

Here are a couple of my dream locations:

powerhouse park, del mar

la estancia, la jolla

So yes, they are beautiful, but I don't feel like I am settling by having our wedding reception at the chapel. After all, it has an ocean view, beautiful courtyard and best of all the price tag of free! Plus, I am taking it as a challenge. If anyone can make a reception at the church beautiful, memorable, and fun, it's me (or really its the combination of my super talented family and friends).

lunch boxin' it

Starting today, I am going to stop buying my lunch. So for today I didn't buy this:

or this:

or this:

Today I brought a sandwich and baby carrots. Let's see how long this lasts...

Its tricky being tall

A list of Reasons:

1. You spend your whole adolescence thinking that you have to find a handsome man taller than you. This proves a waste of time.
2. You have to spend extra money and effort making sure pants are long enough for your stems. This proves a waste of money.
3. You spend lots of time feeling huge and uncomfortable because you tower over the masses. This proves a waste of energy.
   

See? Tricky. Really though, everything is more expensive when you are tall. Taller clothes, bigger sizes and more legroom all cost more. A wedding dress specifically for a tall bride? There is a lot of money and time required for that. A lot of the standard less expensive options (buying a used dress or finding a dress at a sample sale) are out because, lets face it, the chances of finding something like that in our size* that's long enough are slim. (Don't even get me started on the chances of finding an inexpensive modest wedding dress for a tall girl).

But it's not all bad news, because I have found a loophole for my sister bridal Amazons out there. Bridesmaids dresses! You may think I'm strange, but if you want a simpler dress anyways, most bridesmaids dresses are available in white, ivory or other versions therein and are a fraction of the price of a regular wedding dress. Most bridesmaids dresses are made to order as well, so you can still get the length you need. If you are open to a shorter dress, even better!

Here is a quick example from on of my favorite modest wedding dress shops, Latter Day Bride. An average price of their modest wedding dresses? Around $850. This wouldn't include extra for additional inches at the bottom of a full length gown. An average price for their bridesmaids dresses (most of which come in white)? Around $250. With many of them for less than $200! And if you are willing to go short, no extra fabric would be needed for length, so you are good to go.

*this is open to interpretation anyways. a size 0-2 on the street would be a size 8 in the bridal salon. you do the math. ugh.

411 Charges

My favorite way to get around those pesky 411 charges on my cell phone bill? Text Google!

Just send a text message to G O O G L E (466453) with whatever you are looking for. Regular texting charges apply. I have unlimited texts on my plan, so it is free!

Examples as of late:

• I needed show times for a movie we wanted to see, but was nowhere near a computer. I texted the following "movie show times, [my zip code]" and was promptly replied to with a listing of movie options close by. When it wasn't the movie I was looking for, I texted again, but with "500 days of summer show times [my city, my state]." Within seconds I was reading the show times and phone numbers of the theater closest to me.
• I got stuck in some righteous traffic last night on the way to the temple, where I volunteer every week. I knew I was going to be later than I planned, but I didn't have the phone number to the temple. I texted "LDS temple [my city] phone number", and Google pulled through! I was able to call and let them know I would be a little bit late.
  

The other thing Google has done for me lately? Allow Scott to sync his Blackberry calendar to our Google calendar. With a quick glance, I can see what his week/month/year looks like and add any appointments I have so that he will know about them on his phone. That's efficiency, folks.

...goes bridal

Pretty much all my thoughts and shopping trips lately have been centered around my upcoming wedding. This is not likely to change in the near future. So for a little while, this may turn more into: things we actually bought, but that were a lot cheaper than other things we could have bought(en?)

We have a pretty tight budget we are working with and I am determined to stay within it. The one thing that doesn't help me in my quest? All the wedding blogs/magazines/books that tell me how our wedding should or shouldn't be, along with gorgeous pictures of everything from flowers to dresses to decorations. It seems that all I need to do is hire an event planner, a day of coordinator, and have a wedding budget the size of my yearly income.

Not gonna happen.

But, oh! It is so easy to get swept away. "I think I am going to NEED the beachside reception location." "There is no way that we can do this without an old fashioned limo/5' centerpieces/award-winning photographer!" Thankfully, I snap back to reality before most of my ridiculous ideas make it to Scott's ears.

With that being said, here are a few things I have learned so far:

1. It is definitely possible to stay within your budget: whatever it may be, $500 or $50,000. Its all about adjusting your expectations. But whatever you do, it can and will be a beautiful memory for you and your family.
2. Adjust your expectations: Really quickly, I had to realize that we couldn't have the venue I thought I wanted or the letterpress invitations. That won't change how much we want to be together or how much we love each other.
3. Remember what your wedding is about: bride, groom, in love, committed, family, forever. bride, groom, in love, committed, family, forever. write it down. memorize it. keep perspective.
   
4. You can do so much yourself: Never underestimate what you can do. You can make invitations. You can craft flowers for your hair. Boutonnieres are surprisingly easy to make.
5. When someone offers to help, Let them! Planning a wedding is a lot like finding a job. The key is networking. Think a little bit about who you know and how they can help. Your co-worker's sister wants to be a photographer? Done! You just got your pictures covered at 1/8 of the price. In our case, we are tapping into the amazing talents of our friends and family members for the food, cake, decorations, flowers, photography etc etc etc. This is not to say we aren't paying any of these people, but many have offered their services at a fraction of the price or as their wedding gift to us.
   

Basically, I am aiming for something between this:
and this:
Totally doable, right?

Things We Almost Bought goes Tropical

So I am on vacation with my family, about to head back to the mainland tomorrow morning, so I put in some essential souvenir shopping this evening. I found this. Isn't it pretty?!? I really love it. It is small and simple and beautiful and $189. Too much for me to be spending on a necklace right now.

Not that simple

I have spent way too much time lately looking at shoes at 6pm.com. All Simple shoes are $14.99 (well, plus $7 shipping, of course). They're made of all natural/recycled materials. The outsole is made of a tire. A tire!

Also, these shoes go for $50 or more at zappos.

Also, my current pair of well-loved Teva flip flops have holes in them. Real holes in the bottom from wood chips on playgrounds. I have to dig sticks out of the soles of my most-worn pair of shoes. But, if I don't walk on wood chips, I don't really notice the difference. And also, I have a pair of birks from 5 years ago that have little wear and are probably better for my feet anyway as daily drivers.

But, 6pm has had this deal on these shoes for weeks now (and I have put the same shoes in my cart and not bought them for weeks now). But, if they lower the price even more or drop the shipping, I may not be able to say no anymore.

A Mom's Dream

Yeah this is pretty much every mom's dream. It's like the best way to get your kid outside and active. James is such a creative player. I never was. I lack imagination. But he loves it. When he's at his cousin's house, he is using the play set to play pirates, house, hide-and-seek.....

I have been fantasizing of a play set for some time. I think I have finally convinced my parents we need one. All of the grandkids are young and live nearby. It would give the kids so much more to do at the house than just play in the dirt in the back yard.

$1700 Costco play set, I dream of you.

Party on my head...

I had a couple of minutes to kill before a friend came to pick me up so I hopped on to Esty and fell in love with this...

So cute!

Hair accessories are so fun and they have some awesome homemade ones on Etsy. They are pretty expensive and its a good thing because the sticker shock kept me from purchasing the above and a bunch others. I could go spend crazy on these.

Here a couple more that are so adorable but so stinkin' pricey.

This one is pretty funky but would be fun to wear on the weekends. It's a whopping $165. Yowzer!


I really like this one. It would make me feel like a Roman goddess. A little too pricey at $24. It really tempts me though.


I forgot how much this one would've set me back. Probably not as cute as how much it costs. But still cute.

$20 bucks for a season of laughs

last time i went to target, i happened to notice that they are offering whole seasons of shows for only 20 bucks. 20 dollars for an entire season of laugh-out-loud funnyness. these two are the seasons i've almost bought...

i always spend more at costco

i never leave costco without at least one thing i wasn't planning on buying. however, today that changed - hooray! it doesn't mean i wasn't tempted though.

maybe it's the cute baby on the cover or the beautiful piano music playing from the speakers right next to it or the fact that my own cute baby loves music and the hymns are getting a little old...but this lovely little three pack of CDs with lullabies on it was a pretty big temptation. if it weren't for the fact that i could post it on here, i might not have removed it from my cart before checking out today...

Yes, actually I am 11 years old.

So once again, I am blaming my 101 list on this. Perhaps the item on that list I was dreading the most was to read a novel. I hate reading novels! I prefer non-fiction. I hadn't read a novel in years.

Since Brianne is the reading queen, I asked her suggest a novel that could hold my attention. She hastily suggested Twilight.

Yeah, from the first page, I was glued. My sister describes it as emotional pornography. Not sure how I feel about that. Not dirty in the least but incredibly passionate.

I read it very quickly and loved it. Now I am dying for the rest of the series. But I can't. I'm going to wait until I can borrow it from Bree. At least it's saving me $45.65.

I wish my boss was Torey Malatia

The other night, Scott and I went to the movies. We saw "Wolverine," which was just what I expected it to be. It was very entertaining and altogether awesome. They had a preview for the live in theatres episode of This American Life. Now, I LOVE This American Life. Ira Glass is amazing and the stories are everything from totally heart-wrenching to incredibly funny. I also really enjoyed Season 1 of their TV show, which airs on Showtime. (I don't have showtime, but I do have iTunes, and I think they were $1.99/ea) Tonight in theatres all across the country they are playing an encore of their live show, which I have heard was amazing. It will also be broadcast this weekend on the regular radio show, so it should show up in our podcasts next week. I really want to go to the show tonight. I don't know if it will fit into the schedule, but almost more than that, I really really want to buy Season Two for my very own.

But I won't.

What are you gonna do??? Bleed on me???!!

So it was brought to my attention on Saturday that Al has never seen Monty Python's Holy Grail.  This is an unbelievable tragedy.  Did she skip her teenage years as an American Mormon!?  So I was at Target tonight and I reached for it... the Grail.... Thankfully, my sister was there to remind me that I would not be partaking.  Looks like we'll just have to de-MontyPythonVirginize Allison some other time.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhRUe-gz690

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzcLQRXW6B0

Mr. Sun, SUN, Mr. Golden Sun

PLEASE SHINE DOWN ON ME!

Okay, maybe please don't. Because I can't find my sunglasses anywhere and I can't buy new ones until July.

These are cute though, no? I had to borrow some of Al's on Saturday so my eyeballs didn't burn up.

I have a rough life.

good design + inexpensive

= why i can't even go into target these days! seriously, look how cute:



designer orla kiely has a limited edition set of products for the home available at target right now. mom and dad gave me a target gift card for my birthday, and i have been thinking hard about using it on these cute cute dinner sets. for now, i can't quite justify it, but at least i can drool over them a little. here are the others:

so this might not look like much, but when you see it in the lay-z-boy store with its golden sheen and comfy cushions it becomes logical. then, when you compare it to the ugly, used, huge, tiger-striped luvsac in my living room (the only thing we can comfortably sit on together) this sofa becomes practically irresistible. it is actually really really really cute. and comfy. and perfect. how i wish for a real couch!

Get Yourself a Little Something

I just bought some groceries on Amazon (although groceries is one of my main weaknesses, and I did just spend $35 on grade b organic maple syrup... but it was the Friday sale so I had to jump on it today. I'll just add it to my collection of "natural" sweeteners I am keeping in my pantry in case of an emergency).

Anyhow, Amazon would like me to get a little something for myself. Yes, I would very much like an All-Clad Stainless Steel pan and a new CI recipe book. I definitely can't just drop $200 on a new pan right now, but I should definitely consider the cookbook. This is the danger of setting up a wish list... now Amazon can tempt me with things I actually want!

This is much geekier than iTunes music or dresses... but my extra purchases mostly end up in the kitchen and I just patch my jeans so I can buy more organic sugar.

Calling all Frugalists!

When Janelle and I first talked about starting this blog, we really thought it would just be her and I writing and wishing about things that we can't have. In the few short weeks since then, I have completely changed the way that I spend my days. Lunch hours that used to be spent perusing the aisles at Target are now being spent reading. Drives home that were peppered with stops at different shops along the way are now straight shots home. I am even trying to be more creative in terms of gifts that I give others. It is liberating and awesome, and quite addicting. Now it seems like when I finally spend money on myself, it better be for something worth it, you know?

Because I have gotten a couple of requests and because traffic has been increasing lately on this site, I decided to put it out there. We are now happily accepting new contributors to the Things We Almost Bought Today community. You don't have to agree not to spend any money on yourself, just if you post something, it has to be something that you wanted to buy, and then decided not to. If you are interested - just email us at notbought [at] gmail [dot] com.

Happy Saving!

iTunes - more like iBroke

Two nights ago, Janelle and I went to the Death Cab for Cutie concert (don't worry the tickets were bought long long long ago), and like any concert, hearing some of those songs live, along with a couple amazing sets by the Cold War Kids and Ra Ra Riot, had me jonesing bad for some new music. I actually leaned over to Janelle at one point and whispered "You totally CAN'T go home and buy any music!" She groaned. I groaned.

But...thanks to YouTube, Pandora, MySpace, and even applications on Facebook, we have so many options for music at our fingertips and FREE! So we can enjoy our music and even discover new stuff we love and still keep our pact, and our pocketbooks full. Thank you, Modern Technology!

Funny vitamin pictures... NOT t-shirts!

So in an effort to come up with a cool picture for my last post, I searched for "Vitamins" in the Google images search engine... two pages later I am whisked away to a rad t-shirt page where I proceeded to place the following three t-shirts into "MY CART."  I was about to press "Checkout" when I realized that this blog had just saved me $16 x 3 = $48.  But I do love the shirts.

Here are some of my favorites:

I was gonna get the cupcake one, the quitter one, and the "I'm so adjective..." one for Jenn.

Vitamins are Groceries

and groceries are perfectly legal.  They sell them at the grocery store!  ...right?

Ignorance is bliss...

I don't have anything specific to report that I didn't buy but that is because I've been a very good girl. The thing is that the drive from work to my house is littered with many potential pitfalls including some of the following gems:










I love these stores. Oh do I love these stores. There are days when I leave work and have a little time to kill or sometimes absolutely no where to be the rest of the evening. I think to myself, "I'll just stop by real quick and browse for a second." I say this but deep down I know that if I even step foot into any of these stores, I'll find something on sale or so cute that I "can't live without it." I'll justify clothes by saying things like "this skirt would be perfect for work" or "its so cheap, I can't afford NOT to buy it." And so it goes. I figure if I drive by these stores and I will never see what I can't live without. For me its knowing my weaknesses and avoiding them like the plague. I'll never know what I'm missing.

Just in case you didn't know how awesome we are

we are going to need to each get one of these as soon as this is over. i mean, look at it! how can we not look menacing and awesome with this puppies (kitties?) on our fingers. you guys, the mouth of the jaguar is the opening of the ring! i think we will be hard pressed to find something equally this awesome anywhere on the interwebs.

seriously though? i hope that the only place i ever see this is on the "things we never would buy in a million years" blog. who wears these things???!?

Just for the taste of it

About six months ago, I had the terrible misfortune of realizing I was addicted to Diet Coke.  When I was stressed, I would pretty much chug it.  I decided to give it up because of that whole Word of Wisdom guilt... so it has been replaced by an eviler evil that has caused me to stretch out my biggest pair of pants... yay.  :(  I am pretty sure that I would be able to quit sugar all together if I could have my Diet Coke back.  Again, dang WoW.  :(  So I have no solutions... and unfortunately no Diet Coke either.  :(

a small editor's note

a couple of things:

first some background - i have always had a love for new clothes and new things. ever since high school when i first had a good enough job (and my high school job was great), i have been very into buying myself nice things that my parents wouldn't agree would be worth spending their hard earned dimes on. so ever since then, i have always enjoyed a good trip to the mall, or online marketplace... oooo boy. ask my sister rachel, she has been the beneficiary of many many years of brand new clothes that were just a tad too small or too hastily purchased. so bottom line? this is really really good for me. and rach is just going to have to start getting her own clothes. :)

second? this blog isn't stopping janelle from buying anything - it's not the blogs fault - it is all about the 101 list, right nell?

my weakness

I confess, I confess! I have a problem, and that problem is wanting a new dress for virtually any sunday, wedding, dressy party, work event etc. There was a time where I went months and even more than a year without getting a new dress, but once I started buying cute dresses it was like a drug. On Saturdays, I have been well known for mentioning that I wouldn't mind getting a new dress before Sunday, or before whatever event we are all attending that evening. What can I say? I am a dress junkie! Target is my dress store of choice - the selection is usually intriguing and modest, but affordable. Downeast Outfitters is a close second. I love their cute and modest dresses! This one popped into my email this morning and I want I want. Luckily, when I really think about it, I have more than enough dresses to last me a lifetime. I even think that after living in this apt for more than 6 months, I was still pulling out Sunday outfits that my roommates had never seen before. It is like a magical never-ending closet. Also, it should be noted that Janelle has bought one or two dresses online that have been the wrong size or fit for her, but a perfect size and fit for me, so they have joined my collection. So for now, I'll just make do with what I have....

Just in case...

Just in case you needed a better idea of what a visit to Amazon.com does to me...