Frugal Friday - Organization

Ok so we all know I have a serious jewelry addiction, straight up junkie style. For real.

When I become obsessive about things and the collection gets out of control, I feel like I have to compensate by organizing it so it doesn't seem that bad.

I've been trying to find a solution for jewelry storage for years now. I have a monster jewelry box that I've out grown and honestly, when things are packed away in there, I don't remember I have them and don't wear them. Crying shame.

I used these craft containers for years and organized earrings by color and then used the monster jewelry box for necklaces and bracelets. It worked ok, but not ideal.

I now use these for my mobile Edith Marie Jewelry store :)

I had one of those hanging organizers that I kept my most frequently worn items in and also used it when I traveled. Each compartment zips so I like that they did fall out all over my suitcase.

After my last trip is when it hit me, why don't I put all my earring in these. I like them, they hang in the closet and easy to see all the goods at once.

I came across some on sale at Dress Barn around the holidays and got two. Well lets be honest, that wasn't enough. So I went to Amazon to look for some cheaper ones. I found these - they don't zip but I don't mind that too much because they are just to hang in the closet. But if you want some that zip, here's a version.

They also sell cute ones in fun patterns at places like TJ Maxx and Marshall's but they are generally $20ish.

And for necklaces, I use the hanger racks that are for belts. I found this hanger at TJ Maxx for $5. And here's a quick Amazon search for them will all different options and price points. 

Detoxing gone wrong

First - I was SO good all week. Followed it all to a t and felt great. GREAT. A little hungry, but my stomach has never been so flat. And then, then Friday rolled around and I decided to take a quick overnight trip to the beach to visit a friend while the hubs was out of town and the in-laws offered to watch Mr. Mister.

Beach bungalow for the night!

That's when the de just fell right of the tox. Tacos for dinner with all the cheese and sour cream a girl could want. Then breakfast was full on dinner style with an eggs, cheese, bacon and 4 cups of coffee with LOADS of cream and splenda.

Here's a photo dump/recap of the weekend. Because we all know it's way more fun to look a photos than read about it:

Bike ride after breakfast, yay for exercise! 

More coffee for the ride home. 

Toddler birthday party in the afternoon. 

Sunday chores ;)

Successful closet purging. 

I had all intentions of getting back on the wagon Monday and then today, BUT, all my playing this weekend left me unprepared. Fail to plan, plan to fail. Truth.

I also had dinner with some friends Saturday night and ate Mexican again (yikes!) and one of my friends has done Weight Watchers and lost about 25 lbs and is looking amazing. So of course in my head I'm all, I need to do that! Forget this detox, I'll just do that. What is wrong with me? Always chasing the next best diet. And I KNOW that's not what I need to do.

Yo-yo dieter for life!

Frugal Friday - Kardashian edition

Love them? Hate them? Either way you can't deny they are marketing geniuses.

I love them. Maybe its our love of all things leopard or maybe I just love to watch them. In all honestly, I don't think we could be friends in real life, well maybe me and Kourt. 

But anyway, this is about their clothing line at Sears. Um, they have some cute stuff and prices are reasonable. Here are some of my favorites:

The best part was coming across this skirt and thinking it was a strong second for the $85 Ann Taylor look-a-like.

Who pays that much for a skirt? 

I haven't actually put my hands on any of this and have no idea what quality or fit is like. But I'm hoping I can make it to Sears this weekend to check it out. 

You can link to the entire collection online here. And you know I wouldn't let you down and not have a coupon code for you. Looks like you get 15% off all of Feb with FEB15.

P.S. I just noticed they will have a clothing line at Babies R Us soon, oh I can only imagine! Leather and leopard for the little ones, yes please!

P.P.S. Jump over to fashion blogger Because Shanna Said So and enter to win one of my EMJ jewelry pieces. You can also see how she styled the Diana necklace, stunning! 

Detoxing

I thought it would be a good idea to start that Dr. Oz two week detox diet over the weekend. Being home all day yesterday was haaard. I wanted to eat everything in the pantry.  But I stayed strong and am excited to see my results.

I looked at Holly's before and after photos a few times for some motivation to stick with it. Well that and I spent a shit load at the grocery store on all this detox food. Speaking of, she made it easy with a grocery list that can be found here. I saved the images on my phone to make shopping super easy.

Way more veggies than I normally buy, sad, but true. 

So far, I'm already not a fan of the morning protein shake. I thought I would be because of all the fruit, but either the protein powder or the ground flaxseeds makes it not enjoyable for me.

I also got chocolate flavored protein powder so I'm thinking that may have been a bad decision and wish I got vanilla. They were out tough and I'm not paying another $20 for that stuff.

I weighed in before I started and was at 159. I'm hoping to get into the low 150s with this and break the 157 mark. 157 is the lowest I've gotten so far and it would feel amazing to get below that. And that, that is what is keeping me motivate.

Alright already, a Wednesday Weigh-in

I said I was going to get back on the wagon and talk about weight loss and fitness.

So to kick things off, Wednesday weigh-in <<< drumroll please >>> 157.6.

I've been low-carbing it since Monday and want to eat ALL the carbs right now, but seeing that number on the scale made it somewhat worth it and brought some motivation back.

My goal number for this cruise is 142. I have no idea why, but it's the number I picked and seems doable. I mean, really, that's less than 16 lbs in 16+ weeks.

But my real goal, is to tone this flabby ass body up. I'd even be happy with a firm and solid 150. I'm not 100% sure what my workout plan is right now. I'd love to be a member of the 5 a.m. club and hit the gym, but, well, I like to sleep.

For now, I'm going to be doing some at home workouts that I'll make up and try to remember some circuits from my gym bootcamp days. Man, those were the days.

Back at it

How in the world does the work week come so fast? I mean, it was JUST Friday.

Productive weekend of doing nothing. We finally had a gorgeous day Sunday and I took Mr. Mister for a walk with the pup. I must have been crazy, those two, by myself, yikes.

Wanna race?

I did some household cleaning, thought about going grocery shopping, but didn't. I've been considering doing the Dr. Oz's Two Week Rapid Weight Loss Challenge that Holly did. She had GREAT results.

But I haven't brought myself to going and buying groceries to prep for it. She even made it easy with a grocery list and I still haven't managed. I'm a little underwhelmed with the vegetable list. Truth be told, I'm not much of a veggie lover.

But, 10 lbs, in 2 weeks?! The yo-yo fad dieter in me is all over that. I'm curious to see how Holly does keeping it off. We are soul sisters in the loosing and gaining the same damn 10 lbs game of life.

BUT here's where the extra dose of motivation comes in, girls cruise in May! I know, can you believe it? My college BFF has planned a trip for 3 of us. I'm so freaking excited. Just a short 3-dayer for Memorial Day weekend to the Bahamas.

That's our ship, I'll be at the pool or bar if you need me!

We're going on Princess Cruises, anyone gone on them before? I'm excited to see what it's like and enjoy some fun in the sun! Feel free to pass along any tips, I love a good insider scoop :)