Long Time No See & Kickoff of "A Year of Thrifting" (3 months delayed)

So, blogging world, it's been awhile.  I'd like to say I have a legitimate reason for not blogging anything lately, but no such luck.  I have not had a child, changed jobs or anything else.  I'm just lazy.  Plain and simple.

Let me catch you up on what's been going on.  Zach and I bought our first house and moved in in June.  We enjoy having extra space, and I love having ample kitchen cabinet space for the two times a year I cook :).  We've met some great neighbors and really enjoy where we are.

We have also recently added a new addition to our family.  We adopted a 1 1/2 year old Schnauzer/Yorkie mix (though I'm convinced she's more Schnauzer!).  Her original name was Tinkerbell, so that had to change.  She now goes by Annie and fits right into our family.  Just after having gotten her, she had to have surgery to remove a stone the size of a golf ball from her bladder.  Yikes!  She now has to be on a special diet and can only drink extremely purified water.  She's high maintenance - go figure.  We think this might have been why the old owners got rid of her.  She's a sweetie and now has a lot more energy!  Below are photos of her.  In the bottom picture she is hiding in her "safe spot".  She likes to hide under Zach's clothes when she's in trouble or  hears a scary noise like the hair dryer.  She's quirky - just like her parents.  I like telling people she's my dog-daughter.  

You'll probably see a lot of her in subsequent posts, so I won't bore with the details.  

I like doing personal challenges.  For example, I had a bout in college where I thought I could be vegetarian. It lasted about 2 weeks before I got so desperate that I broke down and ate the meat off someone's discarded sandwich at a Habitat for Humanity event - true story.  Most times I fail within a few days.  I have, however, hit the jackpot.  I have the perfect personal challenge that ties together my two loves - clothes and bargains.  Starting in July, I told myself I was not to buy clothes from anywhere except second-hand thrift stores, and I have so far succeeded!  There are a few exceptions.  

Items I will not buy include:

-Undergarments of any sort

-Shoes

-Tight pants (ladies, you know what happens when you where tight pants on a hot night - yuck)

All other items are fair game.  I haven't photographed my items so far, but I can tell you my best find yet.  A silk Juicy Couture shirt for $2.00.  Seriously.

Now, there are some additional advantages too.  I get to try new sites like thredup.com, which basically allows me to do my own clothing swap.  The ladies at Goodwill also know me.  They all know that if I buy a shirt from them, I will hand them an even $3.52.  I am known as the girl who automatically knows the prices with tax.  Maybe one day it will get me an even better deal, who knows.

What I do promise is that I will document my treasures on this site.  Anytime I get a good deal, you'll see and hear about it on the blog.  I encourage you to try thrifting.  You will be shocked at what you find.  You will need to be patient and go often, but if you have few extracurricular activities like me, it can be quite rewarding!  Heck, I might even go tomorrow!