Nordstrom Anniversary Sale Picks

In case you haven't been on social media recently (since it seems to be all over) the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale started this past Thursday if you are a Nordstrom card holder. Those who don't have a Nordstrom card will have to wait until this Friday but since I have a card I have been doing some shopping.

There are certain things that I know go on sale every year that are a staple part of my wardrobe so I always make sure to budget for those in July.  I always buy a few fun things but I don't go crazy and try to stick to the staples. 

My husband always jokes that I buy a years worth of underwear but that really isn't much of a stretch.  My favorite every day underwear are the mid rise Hanky Panky and I always stock up on basically as many as I will need to get me to next year's sale.  I also stocked up on these underwear to wear when I don't feel like wearing thongs. I got a new t-shirt bra and instead of just getting basic nude I decided to also get it in pale pink too.

Another thing I always stock up on are Zella leggings since I wear them all the time.  I love the high waisted cropped leggings with the fun cut out that were part of the sale this year.  I have my eyes on these leggings in navy blue but they must have not made very many of them because they are already sold out.  Pro Tip: If you see something you want at the sale that is sold out just keep checking because sometimes they restock things and other times people return things and if you catch it at the right time you can snag it.

I needed a new pair of jeans so I got this pair. My other pair of jeans I have is the same brand so I am hoping the pair I got are as great as the pair I already have. They didn't have my size left in the store so I had to order them. They should arrive this week so hopefully they fit!

In addition to stocking up on some basics I also go a few fun pieces to wear this fall and winter when the weather cools down. I had to order the correct size but I am super excited about this dress and hoping it fits.  It is going to look so cute with ballet flats to work or cute little tennis shoes for running errands. Apparently varsity stripes are having a thing this year because I also picked up this shirt for weekends.

One of my favorite purchases from the sale this year is the most fabulous pair of rainbow glitter flats from the kids department.  Another Pro Tip: If you wear a size 7 in woman's shoes you can wear a size 5 in big kids shoes. Kids shoes are much cheaper than adult shoes and often the same styles come in adult and kids sizes. Most kids shoes go up to a size 5 and many actually go up to a size 6 so even if you wear a size 8 in woman's you may be able to wear kids shoes.

I bought a few more things and ordered more so once everything arrives and I decided what I am keeping I will do another post on all much purchases. Happy Shopping!

Stitch Fix #34

There were a couple of really cute things in my box this month but for various reasons again I didn't end up keeping anything.  I am only trying to buy things I love or need to add/replace in my closet so that ended up being the reason much of this box went back.

These shorts were cute and fit well once I got them on but because they didn't have a zipper they took quite the effort to get them on and off.  This was the main reason I ended up sending them back but the color also wasn't a color I wear much.

I loved the fit and cut of this shirt but since it was white it was a bit see though and I can't have that. I wish it had been a different color because I really liked it.

This dress was also pretty cute but for some reason I just wasn't in love with it.  I think it was that the fabric was a little too artificial for my taste especially the slip underneath. 

This was the one thing that I knew from the second I pulled it out of the box that it was going back.  I didn't like the color and I just don't like criss cross strap things across the neckline of shirts.  

This grey and while striped shirt was cute and the material was soft but I just didn't feel like it was anything special so I sent it back too.

I am excited to get my next box because while I didn't end up keeping anything this time most of it fit and was my style.

Pixar Tea at the Disneyland Hotel

I have been to Disneyland lots of times and quite a few times over the last few years but I still find things I have never done.  Disney is always coming up with new things to do.  Tea at Steakhouse 55 at the Disneyland Hotel has been around for a few years but I have never made the time to do it.

During Christmas and Halloween they have special themed teas so I wasn't surprised that the tea while I was there was a Pixar theme to go with Pixar Fest going on throughout the resort. All the table has fun Pixar flower arrangement centerpieces and mine was Up themed. I also saw a cute Finding Nemo one on some tables and I think there was some sort of Toy Story one too.

Once you are seated you are given a menu with all your tea choices and you also get to choose if you want the Classic Tea or the Premium Tea.  The difference with the Premium Tea is that with it you get a glass of champaign, a salad and a truffle to go at the end.  I was worried that I wouldn't have enough room for all the other food and a salad so I decided to stick to the regular tea.

I don't drink caffeine so a bunch of the teas were off limits to me.  I actually don't like black teas or really any tea-ish flavored teas so I was perfectly happy sticking to the herbal teas anyway. I was torn between the mint tea and a berry tea but decided on the berry one since it sounded more unique. Each person gets their own gets their own little pot of tea so you and your friends can all have different teas. Before they brought out the rest of the food they brought out a tray "accessories" for the scones and it was a major accomplishment that I didn't just start eating the devonshire cream with a spoon!

After a drinking tea for a few minutes a beautiful tower of delicious goodies appeared on the table.  It was all fun and colorful and right on the Pixar theme.

The top layer had two types of scones on it.  One was currant and the other one was chocolate chip with rainbow sprinkles baked it.  Both of them were good on their own but really scones are the best vehicle for Devonshire creme. If I had to choose a favorite I would have to say the sprinkle one was the best.

The bottom tier was the desserts. There was Woody themed chocolate covered strawberry, a Monsters Inc cupcake, an Up grape soda themed eclair (that thankfully was cream filled with a little grape jam so not fake grape flavored) and Ratatouille cheese shaped cheesecake. I think the little cupcake was my favorite though the strawberry was really nice and perfectly ripe.

The middle tray was the savory "tea sandwich" level and Devonshire cream aside it was my favorite. The blue deviled egg was Finding Nemo themed, the little veggies on toast was from Ratatouille, the one with the crazy organge things on it is Merida's hair from Brave and the avocado one was the three eyed aliens from Toy Story.  To the surprise of no one my favorite one was the avocado one.

All in all it was a very delicious way to spend an afternoon. I scheduled the tea for around 1 PM so it made a perfect late lunch and gave me a nice middle of the day rest in the air conditioning. If you are looking for a way to have a nice way meal and to avoid the heat or midday crowds this is a great option.  I can't wait to try the regular tea or the Christmas one or the Halloween one too!

Life Lately

This time of year is quite busy at work (budget and the end of our fiscal year) but I took Thursday off to watch my niece graduate from the 8th grade. 

It was in a local high school in their outdoor football stadium at noon so before I went to the graduation I pretty much dipped myself in sunscreen and wore a big floppy hat.  I was successful in not getting sunburned so I will call that a success.

For a graduation this was actually a relatively short one at a little less than an hour and a half. The speeches weren't great (8th graders don't always have the best writing skills) but there were only a couple and then they were on to reading all six billion names of the graduates.

After the ceremony we took some photos with the new graduate in her robes before we all got hungry and it was time for lunch.

We went to lunch at a vegan place called Veggie Grill that I have always enjoyed. My husband was skeptical of this restaurant but even he had to admit it was pretty delicious. The two best things we had a lunch were the buffalo wings and the chocolate chip cookie.

Since my husband's whole family was in town for the graduation we decided to do an Escape Room Thursday night. We didn't quite make it out of the room in the 60 minute time limit but we were close so they let us finish the room even after the time ran out. Even though we didn't quite escape it was still a blast and we plan to do another one next time my sister-in-law is in town. Next time we will escape.

Friday I went to work, went to OrangeTheory, came home, made dinner and called it an early night.  I can tell you are super jealous of my exciting Friday.

Saturday my husband, my brother in law and I went to a local Portuguese festival. We have been to the festival before and know it gets busy later on and they sell out of things so we went about an hour after the festival started to make sure we had all the options.

The real reason we went early in the day was because the last time we went they were sold out of this sardine plate that my husband really wanted to try.  As evident by the picture we made it before they sold out.  I am not a big sardine fan but my husband thought it was delicious.

I ate lots of other delicious food at the festival that I can't remember the names of but I know I went home full of good food. In addition the lots of good food there were games and such for the kids, booths selling things and a stage with different performers.

Sunday I drove down to Monterey County to meet my parents and one of my sisters for lunch and then I headed to the hair salon.  My hair was super overdue for some care and is much happier now.  There was a ton of traffic on my way home so it took way to long to get home but I did finally make it home. Not quite the way I wanted to end my weekend but overall a pretty good weekend.

Patriotic Summer Decorations

Now that we are officially in June I took down my spring decorations and put up my patriotic decorations. 

A few weeks ago I had lunch with a friend and after lunch we were walking around Michaels and I found this cute patriotic jug.  I was hoping it was water tight so I could put some sunflowers in it.  It would have been so cute but alas it was not water tight so I ended up putting a little pom pom thing in it instead. I might try and find some artificial sunflowers at some point but for now I am happy with how my side table turned out.

My ocean breeze candle has blue stripes on it so it fit in perfectly with all of my patriotic decorations. Since I used my blue and white table runner on the other side of the room I decided to just put some star lights on the bar along with the glittery hats and call it a day.

I have finally bought a frame to put on this wall (only too 7 months!) but I haven't put it up yet so in the meantime I put up a 4th of July sign.

I threw a couple of patriotic decorations on my TV stand to brighten up that side of the room. Gotta love fun little signs from the Dollar Spot at Target.

I used some star garland draped in a little wooden box on top of my china cabinet in our dining room and used the sunflowers I was hoping to use in my living room just in a regular mason jar on our dinning table.

I will probably leave all these decorations up (except the flowers that will need to be replaced) at least a few weeks past the 4th of July since there really aren't any other summer holidays to decorate for. Can't really get away with decorating for fall in July can I?

Stitch Fix #33

Another month another Stitch Fix box came in the mail. I am not sure if I am just getting pickier about the clothes I like or if I am just not having good luck with the things that are coming in my box.

This first shirt was actually navy blue though it looks black in this picture. The shirt was very cute but the top was a sheer fabric and you could see my bra though it.  It would have been fine with a sweater but all the cute details would have hidden so I decided to send it back.

This next shirt also had a bra showing problem due to the neckline.  The pattern was also not my style so I knew pretty quickly that this one had to go back too.

I would love a pair of white shorts so I was excited to see these in my box. The long pockets on the side of these short were their downfall.  I am not lacking in hips so the pockets bulged even though the waist was the correct size.  Obviously these too had to go back. While I still don't have a pair of white shorts I did pick up a fabulous pair of white jeans last week.

I have been really into midi skirts recently but this midi dress was just kind of boring. It was also too big in my upper body.

There was nothing per say wrong with this one but there was also nothing particularly special about it either so I decided to send it back.  I am generally not a big fan of light denim on me so maybe why this one didn't work for me.

My next box is supposed to arrive this week so hopefully it contains something fabulous that I just can't live without!

Life Lately

Nothing super big has been going on around here so figured I would put all the little things into one post.

I have this "vicious" guard dragon guarding my desk at work.  He has a a couple of signs that he sits in front of but this one about being awesome is his favorite.

There is a new fish and chips place down the street from my office so last week my husband and I had a lunch date to try it out. I had the cod sandwich which was pretty good but I think next time I am going to just have regular fish and chips because the fish was easily the best part of meal.

My sister in law was in town for our niece's confirmation so we decided to have a girl's afternoon so we went and got pedicures. Not that I don't get my toes done regularly the rest of the year but when it is sandal season I make sure to pick fun colors since my toes get seen a lot more this time of year.

I didn't actually get to go to my niece's conformation because it happened to fall on the same day as my mom's birthday. My husband went to the confirmation and I drove down to my parent's house to celebrate my mom's birthday. I wore my yellow flowered dress again.  I have been getting lots of use out of my very fun spring dress.

My parents went to an auction a few months ago and bought a thing where a chef comes to your house and cooks for a dinner party for you. My mom decided to use it for her birthday dinner so a bunch of people came over to my parent's for dinner. The table looked all pretty and fancy and the food was delicious. I only managed to take a picture of my fabulous salad because I was too busy eating all the yummy food (hello white chocolate bread pudding) and talking.

My sister in law was here until Tuesday so after work on Monday she, our niece and I took a trip to Ulta to do a little makeup shopping.

I have been thinking about getting this blush palette for a while so I took this opportunity to actually buy it. I have been having fun all week trying all the different colors.

Even though the weather is warming up and summer is fast approaching I couldn't resist this candle I found at Target last week.  I went in to buy a card for my mom and of course came out with lots of other things in addition to the card I am came in for.  Target is a dangerous place.

The next few weekends are also fairly quiet as of now but you never knows what might end up on my calendar.