(Black) Friday Favs 19

Happy Black Friday!  I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, filled with family, friends and food.  I certainly did, and have so, so many things to be thankful for.

Ok, niceties out of the way. Because today is Black Friday, people!

I'm not interested in battling crowds or staying up all night to save a buck, but I do have my own, much-loved Black Friday tradition.  Online shopping. I love to wake up early, have my wallet and my laptop by my bed, and spend a few glorious hours scouring my favorite sites for deals.  Like, from bed.  With coffee.  For a girl who LOVES to sleep in and doesn't get to do so nearly as often as she'd like, it is glorious.

In fact, I'm probably still lying in bed, browsing away, as you read this.  Imaginary-coffee-cup-cheers to you, if you're enjoying your morning browsing the net and sipping coffee too.  We should probably be friends.

So in honor of one of my favorite mornings of the year, here are some Black Friday online deals that you should check out!

Fav #1

Pick Your Plum.  I have to post this one first, because you must hurry!  Their Black Friday sale includes $1 washi tape, $3 bubble necklaces, and five other fab deals.  They sell out quick, so make this your first stop! Shop here (affiliate link).

Fav #2

CB2.  Coupon code SAVE15 will get you 15% off everything through Monday and they are also offering free shipping all weekend. Shop here. Here are some things that I'm eyeing up...

Gold Pig Bookends- $25.46 on sale

Cocktails First appetizer plate- $3.36 on sale

Nut Case serving dish- $6.76 on sale

Fav #3

Crate and Barrel.  They are also offering free shipping and 15% off with coupon code SAVE15. Shop here to find awesome items like these....

Bark Centerpiece Tray- $21.21 on sale

Galvanized Tree Collar- $50.96 on sale

Gold Leaves with Acorn Ornaments- $5.06 on sale

Fav #4

Nordstrom is always awesome, because they offer free shipping and free returns on every order, every day. They have a TON of Black Friday deals, and I was excited to see that some sales on Sequin jewelry were among them!  I love the Sequin bangles, and am hoping to add some hoops to my collection!  Shop all Sequin jewelry here (affiliate link), and check out my favorite deals below!

Large Hammered Hoops- $22.80 on sale

Crystal Cutout Hoops- $22.80 on sale

Small Bamboo Bangle- $28

Fav #5

Etsy.  Of all the places that I love to browse on Black Friday, Etsy tops my list.  A ton of great shops are offering holiday discounts.  Here are some that I think are especially awesome...

Sea and Asters is offering 15% off with code HOLIDAY2013 now through Monday

Tess and Ivy is also offering 15% off through Saturday with code FALL15.

Freshline is offering 25% off all of the items in the store.

Happy shopping!  If you have found some amazing online Black Friday deals, I'd LOVE to hear about them in the comments below!  Sharing is caring :)

Shopping Recap: November 2013

Hey guys!  It's been a while since I've had a good shopping trip to recap with you...but I more than made up for it this weekend.  While I was primarily on the hunt for Christmas presents (which I obviously can't share with you), we DID take a side trip to Homegoods....

I had never been to this particular Homegoods before, and it was AWESOME!  I'm talking first-sip-of-wine-after-a-long-work-week, first-day-of-summer-vacation, stumbling-onto-a-Dawson's-Creek-marathon level of awesomeness (winos, teachers, and teenagers of the 90's, you know what I'm talking about)!  The store was huge! And spacious.  And stocked for Christmas.  So basically, it was the best Homegoods trip ever.

Here's what I saw as I walked in the door...

Um, hello there fabulous!  It was a this moment that I knew it was going to be a good trip.  Here are some of my other favorites in the store that day.  Keep in mind that I was Christmas shopping.....like, for others...so I couldn't buy everything in sight for myself, although I totally wanted to.

How about this fab accent table?!  How this thing could last in the store long enough to end up on clearance is beyond me.  I just love the natural wood. 

I kind of regret not buying this guy.  He was $20, and would have looked so good with my Christmas decor.  But both of the reindeer they had in stock had some flaws on them, and I just couldn't get past that.  So I left them for some other lucky soul to find.

It almost killed me to leave without this rug.  I thought it was so fun, and wanted it for underneath our dining room table so much that I could practically hear the crows cawing as I served up Sunday dinner.  But it was rectangular, and I really think our square table calls for a square rug.  Anyone know where to find cool 8x8 foot rugs?!  They have been elusive....

 I also fell in love with these gorgeous dishes.  We entertain a fair bit over the holiday season, and I love to serve my snacks on fun appetizer plates.  These would have been good additions to my collection.  But alas, the pursuit of selflessness during the holidays won out and I left them in the store.....

So what DID I buy?  Well...

This fantastic clam shell-ish bowl, which I can't wait to incorporate into a vignette somewhere in our dining room or living room...

And this fun crocodile-skin box.  I haven't had much time to figure out where it belongs just yet, but it's looking fab with my painted antlers in the living room for now.  

I also picked up some glittery vase filler, which I have big holiday plans for .  Stay tuned to see what happens with that! And that was it for Homegoods!  I really think I used a lot of restraint, don't you think?!  

I'm proud.

Then it was off to Lowe's, where I was in search of the reindeer wreath hanger that I saw on Carmel's blog a few days back.  I love that girl.  Look how fun it is!  I suggest that you book it to Lowe's to pick up one of your own before the rest of the world discovers this fab find.

And then I kind of lost my mind for a moment and decided to buy an orchid.  I'm not exactly sure why I thought my less-than-green thumb could handle this task, but I've been wanting an orchid from some time and decided to try it out.  

So apparently, I can eventually expect this little guy to look like this:

Yeah. Wish me luck with that ;)

Shopping Recap: September 2013 (and a guest post!)

Hey guys!

First and foremost, I'm guest posting about our spare bedroom and another aspect of my life over at Where the Bleep* is Our Stork today!  Teresa, the girl behind the blog, writes her story with an authenticity and realism that I really admire. So when she put out a call for guest bloggers, I offered to share a teeny bit of my story on her blog.  If you are interested, please click on over there to check it out!

Now...onto the shopping!  My mom and I hit some stores this weekend, and as usual I found some fun stuff.  I went out primarily on the hunt for fall decor, but instead I came home with a random assortment of stuff and practically no fall decor.  Oh well!

First up we stopped at JC Penny for some non-decor-related purchases, but I DID find these cool chrome pumpkins that I'd love to use on our hearth in the dining room.

However, that dream ended once I realized they were $60.  No worries, I have a DIY solution in mind.  I did find some cheaper silver pumpkins later on in the day, but once I had my little project conceptualized, there was no shaking me from it. So hopefully that will come together into a tutorial in the near future :)

Then it was onto Christmas Tree Shops.  I have a love/hate relationship with that place. There are times that I find some interesting stuff, but just as often I end up feeling like it is a waste of time.  Luckily, this was one of those LOVE days!  First up, this adorable owl K-cup holder...

Now normally, I am a huge protector of the kitchen counter space. Less is more, people. In fact, we don't even keep our K-cups on the counter, we choose to store them in a nice little rack with pull-out shelves inside one of our cabinets.  But I couldn't resist this little cutie. In fact, he's the only 'fall' thing I bought all day.  Are owls fall?!  They seem to be, but I'm not really sure why.  Anyway, you'll find this guy living on our counter until it is time to decorate for Christmas.

I also found some great deals on summer decor that I plan to store away until next year.

Both need some tweaking (not twerking) in the form of spray paint for the coral and possibly some liquid gold leaf for the sand dollars.  I'll find time to do that sometime before next summer.  Let's not kid ourselves, I'll probably do it next weekend and then be dying to put them out in the middle of October.


I was super excited to go to Target, because I was sort of hoping that they would have Nate Berkus' new collection in stores a day early (it was due out Sunday, but I really like to stay at home on Sundays, if possible).  I struck out on getting an early peek at Nate's new items, but they did have some good deals on some of his older stuff. However, the most exciting thing I found there were these tall planters:

Originally $34.99, they were marked down to $10.48.  Awesome.  And they had three of them, so I picked up the stack, ready to pull out the two that I wanted to buy to flank our front door, or our fireplace, or our garage door, or somewhere else I hadn't thought of yet. Bottom line, I wanted two. However.....the stack of three planters was completely stuck together!  None of us (not I, nor my mom, nor the team of Target workers who came to assist) could get those things apart.  So, I suggested that they give all three of them to me for the price of one.

And they did!  Three super-nice planter for under 11 bucks.  Now if I can just get them separated....don't worry, I have my husband on the case.  He has big plans for some WD-40.

Then, it was off to Burlington Coat Factory, where I found some fab jewelry....

...that I didn't buy.  I mean, I have to draw the line somewhere,right? It's the responsible thing to do, and I feel good about it. Oh, who am I kidding?! I still wish I had bough both of those necklaces.

Have you ever checked out the jewelry section at Burlington Coat Factory?!  It's amazing!  The jewelry isn't quality (obviously) but it's on-trend and cheap!  I think both necklaces were $7...you should totally go and update your jewelry wardrobe. And when you're sick of what you bought next year, you don't have to feel bad because you'll only have spent 7 bucks on it.

Finally, and as usual, the best finds of the day came from Marshalls.  Don't laugh at what I'm about to say, but I spotted a shoe box labeled Dr. Scholl's and squealed with excitement, especially when I saw that they looked like this:

Most comfortable shoes ever. And I walk around a lot at work (can you hear me justifying getting excited about Dr. Scholl's shoes?), so of course I bought them. Bringing my current total of the exact same pair of shoes to three. Making it almost possible to wear them to work every. single. day.  

But the best thing I bought all day (hell, maybe all year), was Giselle...

...my chromed-out faux taxidermy gazelle.  I love her.  I can't wait to find her a home on the gallery wall.  Mr. M. had a 'No Faux Taxidermy' policy, but I think even he likes her.  Or at least, he agreed to help me hang her up.  Which is basically the same thing.

Furniture Shopping Photo Dump

I LOVE furniture shopping.  Even when I'm not in the market to buy, I adore wandering around the store and dreaming.  Need proof?  I was sorting through pictures from all of my old cell phones and found a bunch of pics that I snapped over the years. Apparently I like to take pics of furniture in the same way that some people phototgraph their meals. The vast majority of it never made it home....

I had visions of this white couch and chair in our living room.  I thought the white couch would look great against the eggplant focal wall!

I also considered these pieces for the living room. I still love that gray, tweedy fabric.

Here's another gorgeous gray tweed.  They had a chair in that fabulous fabric on the pillows.  Mr. M. thought it was too girly and I didn't want the couch without that chair.  So at the store it stayed...

 I briefly considered taupe...

Mostly because I fell in love with this chair....another Mr. M. pattern veto.  He's a tough one to please!

And I don't even remember where I wanted to put this one.  I think I just liked the velvet, the tufting and the color.

This chair is from the same set as the couch and love seat in our family room (the color is different).  We briefly considered it when seeking out a chair/ottoman in there.  I'm SO glad we didn't buy it.  The one we bought is SO much better!  

What do YOU take tons of random pictures of?  Furniture is definitely near the top of my list of things I'm shutter-happy for....right below below my cats, of course!

Don't judge me :)  Happy Labor Day!!