frugal feathers: it's not my fault

i can pretty much blame the fact that i have so many shoes on my kids. every time we go thrifting together, they love to pick things out for me. when it comes to shoes, i have to admit, they have a pretty good eye. most of the time, they go for the brightest, blingy-est, pinkest (for eva), and highest (for henry) pairs of shoes they can find. and if i say that i don't like them, and don't buy them, they are slightly offended. so what do i do? i buy them, of course. i don't want to upset my sweet little darlings! granted, i don't love them all, so i usually just throw a "those probably won't fit me" out there. but alas, my kids are smart. very smart. they have learned. now they tell me to try them on. and they know...they somehow know what size my foot is. there is no escaping these little fashionistas! so last night when i saw these amazing shoes, the first thing i noticed was that they were a size 10 (i am a size 8). no matter, i thought, i will just buy them for two birds. they were definitely too great to pass up. but then henry looked and me and said, "mama, you should try those on. i think they will fit you." never, not me, i'm not a size 10. but lo and behold, it was like cinderella...they slid right onto my foot as if the prince had put them there himself. and today i am the proud owner of these amazing vintage made in spain gorgeous sandals.

and since i don't have the right to bare arms at work, here's what i'm really wearing today

dress ~ old navy, thrifted $5.99

shoes ~ vintage, thrifted $7.99

belt ~ vintage, rummage sale $.50

bracelets ~ assorted (dots, vintage, thrifted, F21) $5 total

sweater ~ free (thanks, erin!)

earrings ~ F21 $3.99

and this my friends, is one more reason why you should always look outside your size zone when you're thrifting! especially vintage...they had real sizes back then...none of this vanity crap. (who am i kidding, i love vanity sizing!)

via

happy friday!!

xoxo,

megan bird

frugal feathers: we wear short shorts

a sunday post! wow! i absolutely love long, lazy weekends. and that is just what this one has been so far. tonight we are hosting some of our dearest friends for dinner. they are visiting from california and we are so excited to see them! they have a son who is two months older than amelia and i am really looking forward to seeing them interact now that they are both walking. i will try and take some photos of the kiddos and the dinner festivities that i can share later this week. i made some yummy white sangria that i am so excited to taste!!! mmm!!!

i'll be honest, i wasn't sure about posting these pictures. it has been so hot here lately and these jean shorts and crisp shirt were just calling my name the other day. it is such a cool, breezy outfit. but i am a mama, not a victoria's secret model (surprising, i know), and am not sure if mama should be wearing shorts this short (and sharing pics)! so i ran the photos by megan and she deemed them appropriate to post! and i trust her. so here goes...

shirt- Banana Republic, rummage sale, $3

shorts- Mossimo, Target, purchased new

shoes- J Crew, thrifted, Arc Value Village, $4 (on a 50% off day)

belt- thirfted, Arc, $1

necklace- garage sale, $1

bracelets- thrifted, don't remember the details

i hope you are all having a fab weekend. i know i am! i am so excited to share stories and photos later on this week.

xoxo, nora bird

frugal feathers: i knew i loved you before i met you

warning, i have a lot of things going on in my head right now, so beware the mishmash post! it's friday, so i'm allowed to have a million-miles-an-hour brain, right?

first off, i want to start off by saying this...you guys are awesome. i don't know if you know how much nora and i appreciate all of you. seriously, i know that sounds cheesy, but it's true. nora and i are constantly forwarding each other comments that have been emailed to us with little notes that just say, "cute" or "how sweet" or "awesome!" cause that's what you all are – cute, sweet and awesome! so i wanted to start off with that. thanks for all of your kind words and advice and quips every day. they really mean a lot to us.

ok, next on my list. do any of you have a mirror like mine? our bathroom mirror is like the snow white mirror. in my bathroom, at any given time, i am the fairest of them all. i have the best self esteem while i'm in my own bathroom. then i get to work, take one look in the fluorescent-lit bathroom mirror and realize that i'm not all that. stupid bathroom mirror, giving me false hope. i mean, it's not like i look in the mirror and see heidi klum, and then i get to work and i'm quasimoto...but there is something about the lighting that doesn't show wrinkles, under-eye bags or puffiness. do you ever wonder what it was like before mirrors were invented? i bet people had the best self-esteem. i also bet they had more important things to worry about than baggy eyes – like saber-tooth tigers and woolly mammoths. ok, enough about that, onto the next round...

i bought this top at a thrift store the other day. i spent a bit more on it that i normally would on a sweatshirt (a whopping $5.99!! curses!). but i love it – the design, the length, the off-the-shoulder 80s look it has – i had to have it. plus, it was hidden in the shorts section that i happened to pass it on my way to the check-out counter. it was meant to be mine. then i saw the label, it's a brand i've never heard of: truly. madly. deeply. i immediately thought of that dumb song (time to get another ditty in your head!) by savage garden. what kind of name is savage garden? i might have to do a little research on how they came up with that name. there is nothing savage about these guys. anyways, long story short, i am truly. madly. deeply. in love with my new sweatshirt.

hey, look at the ground

now look over there

now look at me

yeah, that's right, i'm rocking a two-pony fauxhawk. i'm prepping myself for the go-commando race i'm participating in tomorrow. don't mess with me. you don't want me to get all savage garden on you!

sweatshirt ~ truly. madly. deeply, thrifted, $5.99

pants ~ F21, $17.99

boots ~ can't find a brand on them, thrifted $4.99

earrings ~ F21, $2.99

happy friday, all!!

xoxo,

megan bird

frugal feathers: when life gives you lemons...

some bastards broke into my car yesterday while i was at work. broke a window to get a cheap-ass gps system. broke a window in the middle of downtown minneapolis, on a high-traffic street. took a cheap-ass gps system, when all the while there was a $100 pair of sunglasses and about $600 worth of tools in the car. thank goodness for idiots, right?

the thing is, this is the third occurrence of theft i have experienced in the last six months. our house got broken into (we think it was an inside job), our front lawn lights got stolen, and now the car. i am starting to wonder if there is a new tlc reality show. a mix between 48 hours and hoarders. did my sisters call tlc and say, "our sister is somewhat of a hoarder...we want to get rid of some of her stuff, but we don't want her to know we called you." and tlc said, "hey, no problem...we're thinking of starting a new show called 'robin(from the)hood', where we steal from people who shop too much and make it look like a break in. it's ok, though, because all the 'stolen' property gets donated to charity." problem solved!

so anyways, the good news is, these idiots only got a (can i say it again?) cheap-ass gps system. they could have got more. the other good news is that window breaks are covered for "free" under our insurance. the really good news is that since we're out a window, i cleaned the whole car out. seriously, we are a messy-car family. i cleaned it all out...vacuumed, wiped, full-on cleaned out. you could feed a small nation with the food i found under the kids' car seats. too much information? are you gagging a little? yep, it was gross.. and now it's clean. so when life gives you lemons....clean your car out.

and thanks to everyone for your well wishes about eva. she is feeling better now!

there you have it...this outfit is 99.9% thrifted. there are two things i never thrift...earrings and undies. i know what you're thinking.....earring and undies are only 0.1% of my outfit? yes, my underwear is that small. not!

earrings ~ f21 $3.80

dress ~ i heart ronson, garage sale, $2.00

shoes ~ jessica simpson, thrifted, $5.99

belt ~ vintage, thrifted, $1.99

eva's dress ~ thrifted, $1.99

eva's shoes ~ garage sale ~ $.50

happy friday!!!!!

xoxo,

megan bird

frugal feathers

we are starting a new feature on the bloggy today. frugal feathers! it is no secret that megan and i go thrifting a lot. we love a bargain and we often find some pretty sweet deals! so much so that it is actually difficult for us to shop at regular stores and pay full price for an item when we know we can find something similar (or better!) at a thrift store, a garage sale or a rummage sale for way less! so these posts will be all about our awesome thrifty finds. clothes, shoes, jewelry, housewares...nothing is off limits. this is going to be fun. we hope you enjoy!!!

just a side note ~ it is rainy today so i brought my little vintage umbrella out with me to take my photos just in case it started raining again and i needed to cover the camera (although i don't know how much good this umbrella would do. but it is the first one i saw as i was walking out the door). and, as usual, i was being a huge dork and started using it as a prop. at one point during my mini photo shoot, i saw a minivan drive by my house super slowly. clearly they were wondering who the crazy umbrella lady taking her own photos was...awesome. and here she is...

dress ~ elle (i believe that brand is originally sold at kohls), savers thrift store, $6.50 (purchased on senior day with my mom. she gets 40% off!)

shoes~ marc fisher, thrifted for me by megan at goodwill, $3.50

belt~ vintage, savers, $1.60

bracelets~ H&M (not thrifted!) and handmade

umbrella~ vintage, garage sale, $1.00

i hope you are having a happy hump day. we were supposed to go to megan's for dinner but her poor baby girl has strep throat. send happy thoughts and well wishes her way. poor kiddo.

xoxo, nora bird