Great Day St. Louis!

This will be a quick little post, 

but I wanted to fill everyone in on our 

Great Day experience!

Some of you may be wondering how this 

came about, and it is all due to 

the wonderful world of Twitter!

I tweeted our blog to Virginia because

I thought she might like it, 

and she wanted to do a story on it!

I wasn't expected any of that to happen, 

but it turned out to be such a blessing!

Virginia came to my house a couple weeks ago, 

along with Dave, the camera man. 

Both were so nice, friendly, genuine, and fun!

I was nervous at first, but the feeling

quickly disappeared. 

My co-worker Laura, Ashlie, and aunt Mel 

all came to support me. 

I was so happy they were there!

It was so much fun sharing all of my thrifting finds 

and decorating secrets from aunt Mel. 

My house would not look like 

this if it weren't for her! 

I was also THRILLED that they 

featured Haiti in the story as well. 

I hope people read this and get confidence

to thrift and save their family money, but if no 

one ever reads this it doesn't bother me. 

However, I would be SO HAPPY 

if we gained some readers and followers 

just so I can share Haiti with you. 

Our trip is planned for January, and I'm hoping to go for

17 days this time. The only thing that would

stop me is if my job doesn't allow me to go. 

Prayers are appreciated. 

If you're on Facebook, please like 

The Haiti Mission Team

This will give you updates on 

fundraisers and items we're collecting. 

I'm so excited to share Haiti with all of you. 

(There is also a teeny tiny chance that I

could go to Burkina Faso in Africa this summer, 

but I'm not holding my breath)

Thanks to everyone for watching and I hope my house

can inspire you to do some thrifting of your own!

I don't know how to post the video directly on the blog, 

but click here if you aren't in St. Louis and 

didn't get a chance to see it. 

I have SO many thrifting finds to show you, 

but that is for a later post. I promise to get 

some pictures of my new things up over

spring break this week. 

May the odds be ever in your favor.

-Ari-

Merry Easter!

So this happened today...

That is the view from my window today. I think mother nature might be confused. 

Due to the fact that I am snowed in with a sick husband, I thought I might update the blog. It's much better than cleaning or entering grades. 

I stopped by the Goodwill on Monday and picked up these gems:

More workout clothes from Target. I have almost reached my goal of replacing the pit-stained Tshirts with this line of clothes. 

 A pair of Old Navy pants for work. They still had the tags and I got them on sale for 1.50. 

And last but not least this adorable pocket shirt from JCREW that was on sale for 2.50.  I spend a whopping 11 bucks and some change. 

We already have been called off for tomorrow. I will always welcome a four day weekend. Although it means we have to go one day longer at the end of the year, I'm not going to complain about sleeping in.

Goodwill is also running a special this month! When you donate on Wednesdays, you can get a pair of movies tickets! I know that there is only one more Wednesday left in March, but I just heard about it. Would have been good to know before I went and saw OZ this weekend.  You can click below to find out more details. 

http://www.mersgoodwill.org/

Happy Hunting!

-Ashlie-

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-