Summer Fever

Hello blogging friends! Well unlike Ari I have always been a winter girl. I love the cold and snow, and most of all wearing layers. But this winter, I haven't really been loving the cold. In fact, I am really looking forward to summer for the first time in a long time. I think it has A LOT to do with the fact that I will have the summer off, which I haven't had since I was 16. Sooooo, when I walked into Goodwill to look for some workout clothes, I may have gotten distracted. All of the dresses below are 

Mossimo dresses from Target: A. $4.99 B. $3.99 C. $4.99 D. $3.99                                                                                                      

                                                                                                           

                                                           

LOFT Jeans $3.00

       Whoops. Yup, I think I am ready for summer now. I also LOVE my green jeans. I have been wanting to buy a pair from Old Navy but couldn't bring myself to spend $30.00 when they will probably only good for one season. But I couldn't resist $3.00 for a trend.

     Now I did actually get what I was looking for. I have always been active and been an avid walker, but lately that hasn't been cutting it. I put on 13 pounds and went up a pant size. Growing up is pretty stupid sometimes. So, I joined the gym and quickly realized that my paint stained sweatpants and tshirts were pretty sad. I went to Target yesterday and to look at their activewear but thought they were a bit expensive.

So I scored these items that were in Target yesterday, full price.


Champion Duo Dry Max Capris-$ 3.99
Champion Duo Dry Max Sleeveless- $2.00

I also picked up a couple of running shorts. 

New Balance and Athletic Works $1.00/$2.00

I have never believed in "getting ready" to go to the gym (putting on makeup, brushing my hair). But good golly I looked at myself in the mirror during a workout and was slightly embarrassed at how awful I looked. We are talking sweatpants that are a size too big and tshirts that have pit stains. No one wants to see that. So, hopefully now I will look like I haven't completely given up on myself. 

Goodwill also had a TON of tanks and camis from Target, as well as jeweled flats (which I bought but was tired of taking pictures :). I hope you all have as much luck as I did. 

Happy Hunting!

-Ashlie

OOOOPS!!!!

I forgot to post the link in the last post!

If you want to learn more about our friends in Haiti, 

you can read their blog here. 

If you want to donate to their cause, please click here.

Thanks everyone! Please share this with everyone you know!

Haiti

Hello everyone and welcome new readers!

This post is going to be a little different because 

I want to share pictures from my trip to Haiti. 

I went to Goodwill this weekend and got some REALLY 

cute stuff, but I'll post on that later this week. 

I have WAY too many stories to tell and I can't 

even begin to tell you all of them. 

I'm sharing a small amount of my hundreds of pictures,
 but please comment if you have 

any questions. I can't wait to go back and 

thank you to everyone who helped make the trip possible. 

Love you all!

Touring the neighborhoos in St. Marc, about 60 miles north of Port-au-Prince.
This mother is holding her starving child, but was so full of joy.
I don't know if you can tell, but the baby's yellow hair and swollen belly
are symptoms of malnutrition. Such a precious family.

My sweet Wenchelda and Dahveed. Wenchelda's mother died 2 years ago
and her father passed away just last month. She lives in the orphange
we helped while we were there, so she is well taken
care of. Dahveed just sat on my lap
the entire time we were at his school. I love and miss them!

You probably can't tell, but this is a photography studio.

There was a man getting his picture taken while we were driving by.

A house on the beach. Unlike the USA, the poorest people in 

Haiti live at the beach. 

Ross with Bobby, one of the kids from the orphanage.
Such a happy kid.

Ross and I on the roof of the orphanage.

Katie and I with Wenchelda at the orphanage.

Why I went to Haiti. Painting nails!

Our last night at a church in St. Marc. These kids were waiting
and had their church decorated for us. They even welcomed us with a song!

Students at the school in the Mcdonnell neighborhood. 

They were laughing at Ross. 

Sweet girl.

Playing at the orphanage.

 Classroom at the Macdonnell school.

Pablo wanted his nails painted too.

Hung out in the neighborhood with these boys after school. 

The boy on the left, Jezzon, drew a picture for our friend, Jason,

without knowing his name. I thought it was pretty cool. 

Ross with the globe he bought from this local Haitian.

Trash is all over the beach. 

Trash is all over the streets and in the water.

Ross with kids at church. We are the only group that visits
this church for the entire year.

The orphanage.

Kids at the orphanage.

Students at the El Shaddai School. 

Some of our group at the "resort".

Beautiful girl from church.

Hangin with the Jr. High girls at the El Shaddai school.

One of my favorite pictures that I took with my phone. It's not edited

or photoshopped. Crazy to imagine how pretty this

country once was.  

If you want to see more pictures, friend request me on Facebook,

because I put a ton on there last week. If you want to help 

the people of Haiti, please click on the link below and

help our friends Eric and Elisabeth with their new project. If 

you are unable to help them, PLEASE share the link with EVERYONE you know!

Thank you everyone!

May the odds be ever in your favor.

-Ari-

Blast from the Past and Designer Dresses

As much as I love blogging, I am not very good about posting. I am absolutely addicted to reading teaching, cooking, and decorating blogs, but let's be honest, Ari is MUCH better about posting. But I am still alive.

This weekend  my husband was forced happy to accompany me on a Goodwill extravaganza. I am on the lookout for a cheap coffee table to refinish. So we crossed the river and first stopped at the Goodwill on Forest Park Ave. We have been there before and were pretty successful, but not this time around...until I found these gems:

A Computer1000?! This thing used to rock my world! It went on every boring softball tournament and road trip until I was about 10. Please tell me that someone else used to own one of these guys! Sadly, it was priced at $6.00. It was missing cartridges and wasn't guaranteed to work so I didn't want to risk the money. I also wasn't about to pay 3.49 for a magic 8 ball that didn't tell me my future. 

We left that store empty handed and headed over to Brentwood hoping some rich people had donated some good stuff. I must say that we were disappointed in the furniture but I must  point out that the employees here are super nice! The young girls that work there are so sweet and very helpful! I did spot/try on this dress:

Thrilled to be modeling. 

It is the Robert Rodriguez dress from the Neimen Marcus collection at target. This dress was originally priced at $ 99.99. 

They had it priced at the Manchester Rd location for 24.99. I didn't know what I should do because that is still a lot of money for a dress. I usually don't pay over $10.00 for a dress at Goodwill.  Granted, it's a designer dress and I could wear it to a wedding this summer, but I called Ari to see if it was a good buy or not. Of course she told me no and reminded me that I will probably see 100 other cute dresses at a cheaper price before July. So, if you think it's worth it, head on over to the Manchester Rd location. They had a handful of dresses in a variety of sizes. 

On another note, Ari has returned safely from her trip to Hati. I am hoping she will post pics soon.:)

 Happy Hunting!

*Ashlie

I Forgot My Zumba Shoes........

.........so I'll update the blog. I got all the way to the Y and was so worried abut remembering socks, that I forgot shoes. Bummer. So I ran into the Goodwill on my way home. Yay! I'm writing this from my phone for the first time, so let me know if it looks weird. This will be a fast post because we are leaving for Haiti late tomorrow night/early Friday morning, so keep us in your prayers! Anyway, here is what I spotted at the GC Goodwill tonight!

The top left picture is a brand new accent chair that was $49.99. It was in the window and it probably won't be there long. The top right picture is a brand new tunic from Target. $3.99. Target must have overstock in Valentine's Day merchandise because they had TONS of bags. Pick up a few in the area! Valentine's Day will be here before you know it!


Please don't take all of the good stuff while I'm gone, but hopefully you'll get out and find some good things this weekend!

*May the odds be ever in your favor*
-Ari-

Clothing Overload

Could it be? Yes! 

I am updating the blog after a much deserved two months off. 

I have to say that I like sharing my finds, but I really

don't like taking pictures and uploading them. I don't think 

anyone really likes doing that. I was planning on 

going out tonight, but the weather has kept me in. 

I hate staying in at home. But it's good for our 15 readers out there, 

because you get to look at all of my new finds!

*Sorry for the poor picture quality*

Brand new from Target. $2.99

 Brand new from Target. $2.99! I think this is a

child sweater but I don't care. I will wear whatever I want

and I don't care how old I am. 

I wore this last night and got so many compliments! $3.99. 

 Kirna Zabete top. $3.99. I saw this at

the Edwardsville Goodwill and it was $2 more there. 

I went there last week and noticed that EVERYTHING there 

was priced higher than the GC store. I probably

won't be going back anytime soon. 

 Kirna Zabete top. $2.99. 

OMG. I saw this top at Target a WEEK before I bought it from Goodwill

and it was $24.99. I got it for $2.99! 

It still had the tags when I purchased it!

 Old Navy top. $2.99. 

This skirt was adorable when I tried it on. 

I got it today and I saw several of them. 

Check it out if you're in the GC area!

$3.99

 Close up of the print. 

 Kirna Zabete skirt. This picture kind of sucks,

but it's a really pretty blue. Click on the link if you want

to see a better picture of it. $3.99.

 Kirna Zabete skirt. $2.99. 

OMG this dress is cute, cute, cute! It has pockets and 

is a really pretty plum color. It was a splurge at $6.99.

It 's still $17.48 online and was originally $49.99!

The GC Goodwill had TONS of these tubs in a bunch of 

different colors. I got four of them for $1 each. 

And there ya have it folks. 

This will probably be my last post for 

another two months. Just kidding. But I will

be busy for the next couple weeks because I am going to Haiti on Friday!

I can't wait to go and to tell everyone about it. I am also 

thrilled that hockey is back.

Let's. Go. Blues. 

Please share our link on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social network!

Thanks for reading. 

May the odds be ever in your favor. 

-Ari-