My New Project

Reselling Thrifted Clothes

As promised, here I am writing about the new project I am working on. I am SO incredibly excited about this project and I have butterflies in my stomach just writing about it! I don't know how many of you know this about me, but I LOVE thrift shopping. I love the feeling of going into a store and not knowing what kind of awesome clothes you're going to find and most of the time, you find items that not very many other people in the world are going to have! I know that it might be surprising that I love thrifting so much considering I'm a germaphobe, but you just have to run your finds through the washer and they are good as new. Being on a tight budget since I am trying to save money for my research trip, I can't really justify going thrift shopping for myself. I have just been trying really hard not to spend any extra money on myself, besides for groceries, but those are kind of necessary. So, I started watching thrift store haul videos on YouTube to kind of fuel my flame and hopefully satisfy my shopping bug in me. I came across this lady whose YouTube name is New York Thrifter, and she is actually doing a series where she is teaching people how to resell nice thrifted clothes on eBay. I have watched all of her videos multiple times and got really inspired to try it out! I've invested a little bit of money into starting out and hopefully the profit from the items will help me make some extra money! I've done a ton of research on reselling and what brands sell well, and I am just super stoked for this! I bought seven items at a Goodwill to start out with and then AA gave me a couple hoodies that she doesn't wear that are in super great condition that I think will resell for a really great profit. You guys should check out my eBay store or account or whatever you call it at emthrifty193 to see if I have any items listed that you might want to buy! I will probably post updates of how it goes over the next few weeks, because I don't think any of the items I am starting out with have a very fast turnover rate but regardless, I think they will sell eventually! 

Life Update

I don't really think I've talked much about what's going on in my life in a while, but that's because having a bit of a life crisis. Don't worry, everything is okay now, but I just let my worries build up and they made me have a pretty bad bout of anxiety a couple weeks ago. For some further explanation about this anxiety, most of you probably know that I'm a homebody and I like to be with my family and visit home quite a bit, but I have not been able to go home at all this semester. I know if has only been a little over a month, but that's a lot for me and I miss my dog and my parents and siblings. I was just feeling overwhelmed by the idea that I wasn't going to get to go home until Spring Break because of how busy my schedule is, but the Good Lord came through! Our tour this semester for Wind Ensemble was cancelled so 1) I don't have to worry about being late to the concert I'm going to this coming Friday, and 2) I get to spend the weekend at home after the concert! It is such a relief that I get to go home this coming weekend and I am really looking forward to unwinding and relaxing with Winnie and my family. 

Another update, we are taking on a new pledge class for SAI right now, tonight is actually our Pledge Ceremony and we have two new girls pledging to our club! The process of taking on new members is a pretty time consuming process and we've been having to do a lot of preparing for that (another reason I haven't been able to go home.) I am super excited though about adding two new babies to our club and seeing what that add to our sisterhood. 

Lately I've actually been offered a couple of opportunities for band! I got asked to play in the pit orchestra for my school's production of Fiddler on the Roof next month and I also got asked to play an Easter gig at a church. Both of these opportunities I will be getting paid for which is a blessing, especially since I only get paid once a month and am trying to save money. I also just really love being asked to play my trumpet for things outside of band because it makes me feel as if my musical experience gets to be expanded and become more diverse. Playing at churches is much different than playing in a concert band ensemble so it's incredibly fulfilling. 

P.S. For those of you who are wondering what concert I'm going to this weekend, it's Judah and the Lion, Jon Bellion, and TwentyOne Pilots! I am SOOOOO pumped. My sister A and I are going and we have nose bleed seats but we already agreed that we are going to dance and have an amazing time no matter how far away the bands are from us. 

I think that's all of the updating I have to do for now. I have two more days of my February Outfit Challenge and then onto the next thing for my blog! Thanks for reading! ~Em 

Fourth Week of My Outfit Challenge

It's the end of the last full week of my outfit challenge! After this there will only be two outfits for next week and then it will be over! I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep dressing cute, but still, the pressure won't be as high! This week I had quite a bit of fun styling my outfits however my hair looks like garbage in most of these pictures because they were taken late at night after I piled my hair into my work/study/get this mane out of my face hairdo. AA is getting really tired of taking serious outfit pics for me so be prepared for the silly pics that accompany most of my outfits for this week! I also want to make a note that it has been my goal for this challenge not to repeat any of the main pieces. I rewear my pants, shoes, and outerwear, like the denim jacket, the gray St. John's Bay oversized cardigan sweater, etc., but none of the tops or dresses have been reworn throughout this challenge.

February 20th: Shoutout to the different background! I was bored with the ugly brown wall in our living room so I decided to pose in front of our tapestry in the bedroom for this outfit. My top is an olive green v-neck blouse from Forever 21. I'm not sure what material it's made out of because I cut the tag out, but I'm pretty sure it's acrylic or polyester. I'm wearing a black bralette from rue 21 because the v-neck cut is really deep and I wanted to be careful of that! I wearing my Old Navy black jegging style jeans on bottom and I'm pretty sure I cuffed them above my boots. The boots are the ones I got on Black Friday at Shoe Carnival. For some reason, when I wear thin socks with them though, the bottoms of my feet just die. 

February 20th: Silly pic, posing like Nicki Minaj

February 21st: Excuse the fact that I'm not wearing shoes with this outfit, but I didn't feel like putting any back on. My top is a Hanes crewneck sweater from Walmart that I cropped myself. I just don't really like how women's crewneck sweaters fit on my body and I even bought it in a size up so it would be oversized but it didn't work and I didn't want it to go to waste so I cropped it. My pants are some Old Navy jogger style pants, but they are a little bit nicer looking than the sweatpant material ones. You can definitely dress these ones up or down. I wore my black Converse when I wore this to class and it was the perfect comfy/stylish outfit. 

February 21st: Silly pic; Peep my belly and my hip tat. I wish my hip tat was seen more often, but it's just now warming a little bit to wear I can show a little more skin again. 

February 22nd: Okay I was really pumped about this outfit. I am going to write a post about a new project I'm working on but just for a hint it involves thrift shopping! What does that have to do with this outfit you may ask? Both of the pieces on the top half are thrifted items! They aren't a part of this project that I'm working on but I just really love thrift shopping and I was excited to pair these two items together. The shirt on bottom is an incredibly soft lavender v-neck tank top from the brand Tresics. I've only worn it a couple of times because it's very see-thru and I hadn't figured out what to wear underneath it, but this time I paired it with a white bralette type bra thing and some mid-rise jeans and it worked out pretty well. The cardigan is a Walmart brand light gray cardi and my favorite thing about it is how long it is. I love over-sized cardigans to layer on top of other clothes. My jeans are my dark wash Rockstar mid-rise pair from Old Navy and I rolled them twice to show a little ankle so it looked nice with my gray slip-on Converse. 

February 22nd: Silly Pic! 

February 23rd: I know you are probably like "What the heck, why aren't you showing the front of your outfit?" Well as you will see in the beautifully Snapchat edited photo AA made of me below, the front got SUPER wrinkled from how I was sitting in a chair for a few hours working on my new project. As with 75% of my wardrobe, this dress is from Old Navy. It's a teal/green halter neck, princess cut dress with some little white and blue kind of starburst or what I can describe as firework print. It's super comfy and flattering and for most of the day I wore it without the denim jacket because it was over 80 degrees on this day! My jacket, I wore last week or the week before, but it's a cropped denim jacket from the brand Highway Jeans, it's a staple piece in my wardrobe. My shoes are from some online store, my mom got them for me for Christmas not this past year but the year before. The are open-toed, taupe heel, bootie type shoes and they are so adorable. 

February 23rd: Silly Pic: AA's Snapchat Masterpiece

February 24th: The saying on my shirt says exactly what I went through this morning. The shirt says "I Really Need New Clothes. -Every Girl, Every Morning" Since it was Friday, it was another Color Day for me to represent my club and I could not find any red that I wanted to wear in my closet. So I ended up wearing neutrals and wearing red eyeshadow and my ponytail holder was red. My tanktop came from TJMaxx and it's a brand called Paper Crane. It is super soft and cozy and I love the shape of it. I wore one of my rue 21 bralettes underneath it because it's kind of see-thru. The kimono is from a store in Alma called A to Z, which might have closed if I'm not mistaken. I've had it for several years but I don't wear it very often because it has sort of a boxy shape and the bottom part where the tassels start is shaped funny. I rewore my dark wash Old Navy jeans again today and cuffed them above my JCPenney booties. 

February 24th: AA told me to "spread my wings," so I became a bat. 

There you have it guys! I hope you enjoy this week's outfits, because I really enjoyed wearing them :) In other news, my dad and stepmom are coming to have lunch with me here in the Delph after they run a 5k (go them!) and I am super pumped to see them because I haven't seen them since I came back to school! Look out for a post tomorrow or Sunday about my new project that I'm working on and maybe a little life update while I'm at it. Thank you guys so very much for reading my blog, it honestly means the world to me! ~Em

Third Week of My Outfit Challenge

Hey everyone! This week has been crazy busy! I've had tests, work, reception work, Valentine's Day date with Amy, and lots more! Before I share my outfits for this week I have a disclaimer! I don't have a picture for Thursday because I didn't have class and I had basketball pep band that night so I was just in my band tshirt and some jeans. Other than that I've got some pretty cute outfits for you this week, but it was super cold so it's mostly outfits with jeans!

February 13th: To make sure I stay nice and cozy, I wore this black deep v-neck sweater from Forever 21 on Monday. It's incredibly soft and warm! The gray bralette I was wearing underneath is from Rue 21. The jeans are my absolute FAVORITE pair of jeans I own! They are from Old Navy (go figure) and my black Chucks for my shoes.

Amy really wanted me to take this goofy picture because I always pose standing up so y'all can see my outfits! 

February 14th: This day was kind of dreary and drizzly outside, but I still wanted to dress cute for Valentine's Day. So I decided to pull out this dark gray mock-neck sweater dress from Target. This dress has three quarter length sleeves with a higher waist line and a sort of skater style bottom. I received this printed leggings as a gift during senior week in high school so I'm not sure where they came from, but they are super cozy and thicker than normal leggings. For the shoe, I wore my booties from JCPenney. I don't normally wear necklaces but this really needed one so I wore a little necklace that says "I Love You More" that I think my Nana got for me. 

Another silly pic for y'all since I always do boring pics. 

February 14th Bonus Pic: My mom got me this adorable Valentine's Day. I am obsessed with nightgowns and these ones from Walmart are only $6! She also got me this cute puppy that I named Remy. 

February 15th: This day I had to wear my letters because we are in the process of taking on a new Pledge Class right now and we had our first information party on Wednesday night. I couldn't go because of band, but I wanted to support my girls from the band room! My big cardigan/sweater is a St. John's Bay brand that I'm pretty sure I got at JCPenney. It goes great with so many pieces and keeps me nice and warm. My jeans are skinnies from Old Navy (bet y'all couldn't have figured that one out.) And once again, my booties from JCPenney. 

February 17th: Another Friday, Another Color Day! Amy had already gone home before I could take a picture so I had to do another cheesy bathroom selfie standing on a chair lol. I'm wearing the same jeans that I wore on Wednesday, because I wear my jeans twice before I wash them so that they don't wear out as quickly. My black tank top is from Old Navy and it's just a plain black tank called a relaxed fit or something like that. My maroon cardigan is from Charlotte Russe. I've had it for several years and it just fits really well and looks good with a simple tank top underneath. I also have on my SAI member pin but you can't really see it. I've got my black Chucks on again and the symbol I'm making with my hand is our club's symbol!

That's all the outfits I had for this week! Thanks for keeping up with my blog and reading all my posts to those of you who do stick with it. You guys are the best! ~Em

Second Week of my Outfit Challenge

Hey guys! I actually got a picture of my outfit every day this week and AA wanted me to pick out her outfit and do her makeup one of the days this week and we got a picture of that too! I was really excited that they first two days of this week were in the upper 70s because that meant I could wear cute dresses and skirts, but then it went back into the 40s and 50s and I had to fall back into the rut of pants. But I will stop complaining now and show you my outfits for the week!

February 6th: AA didn't have time to take my pic on this day so I had to resort to taking a bathroom selfie whilst standing on a chair. The jeans are dark wash skinnies from Old Navy (of course). The black v-neck tee is from Old Navy as well and I'm pretty sure that I got it on sale during last semester. The green army-ish jacket I have had FOREVER! I'm pretty sure I got it at JCPenney when I was in 7th or 8th grade for my first day of school outfit. It just goes so well with so many pieces. My baseball hat is from WalMart, my mom gave it to me as an early Valentine's Day gift, and my shoes are my black Converse. Although my lips look black in this picture, they are actually a deep purple shade from Ciate London called Voodoo. 

February 7th: The weather was so beautiful on this day! My dress is from Forever 21 and it's an olive/grayish babydoll style with a sort of towel material on the inside. The best part in my opinion is that it has pockets! The cropped denim jacket is a pretty old piece from my wardrobe, I honestly can't remember where I bought it but it's a staple piece that I wear all the time over dresses. My booties are from JCPenney, I'm pretty sure I wore them last week. The socks are just some shin high stripey socks I've had for a while.

February 8th: I was expecting it to be really warm on this day and I was deceived. AND I had just shaved my legs to wear this outfit and I'm pretty sure my leg hairs grew back instantly when I went outside. My shirt is from Goodwill and I LOVE it. It is one of my favorite thrift store finds ever. It's just a boyfriend style navy and white striped tee. The skirt is from my Tina costume I wore for Halloween. It's just a navy skater skirt that I found on Amazon and my shoes are my gray slip-on Converse from Shoe Carnival. 

The day I wore the outfit above this is the same day I dressed AA and did her makeup. Her dress is from Old Navy and so are the shoes. She got the dress a couple weeks ago on a big end of the season sale. The kimono is mine but I don't remember where it came from, I've had it for several years. 

February 9th: Sorry this is such an awkward picture, but AA was feeling goofy and was taking silly pictures of me. My sweater is from American Eagle and it is super warm and cozy. It's probably the biggest sweater that I own. You can't really see the color of my jeans but they are dark acid wash jeans and I'm pretty sure they came from JCPenney. My boots are the same boots from Target that I wore last week. The goal for this outfit was definitely warmth because it was pretty darn cold. 

February 10th: Today was another letter day so I had to wear my club's colors. This sheer red tunic top is a couple sizes too big for me, but I bought it when I got inducted into SAI last year because when I graduated I got rid of all of my red and black stuff. I think if this shirt were actually my size it would probably be more like a shirt, but I can almost wear this as a dress. My jeggings are from Old Navy (who'd have guessed it?) and they are super comfy. My boots are taupe-y gray colored booties with tassels on the sides. I got them from Shoe Carnival on Black Friday.

There you have it guys! This is a really fun challenge for me and I love styling outfits for me and my roomie. I have two more weeks left of my challenge and I hope all of you are looking forward to my looks for the rest of the month! ~Em

Love for Disney Pins

One of My Favorite Hobbies

With some of my former cheer babies being in Disney for Nationals right now, I felt inspired to talk about my favorite activity at Disney... Pin Trading! I feel like this is something that isn't a widely known activity that happens at Disney. Pin Trading is an activity where you buy some started pins and then trade with people in the park or Cast Members for pins that you like better. It's a really fun way to explore the parks more and interact with the Cast Members. I started pin trading about 7 years ago when I went to Disney with my mom, stepdad, sister, and stepsiblings. Each of us kids got to pick 50 starter pins from a huge box that came from eBay. When we got to Disney it was so addicting! I was instantly in love with pin trading. I loved searching for pin locations and finding pins of the types that I like. I didn't get to trade for several years after that, but my senior year of high school I got to go to Disney twice within three months of each other so I got to do a ton of trading! I collect mostly Winnie the Pooh, The Little Mermaid, and Nightmare Before Christmas pins, but I also have random pins that I really love. I really want to go back to Disney soon so that I can trade some more. I have a couple of collections that I'm only missing one pin from and really want to complete them. Below I'm going to post pictures of all of my keeper pins and the bag that I keep them in. Under the pictures I'll also talk about my favorite pins that I have! 

I only have one pin missing in my candy corn set. The Oogie Boogie pin on the right is actually glow-in-the-dark and came with my lanyard that I hold my pins that I want to trade on. The really skinny Jack pin is special to me because it was stuck to the bottom of my stepdad's shoe and he let me have it. The pin that says "Jack" with the dangling pieces is one of my favorites!

This is the bag that my keeper pins stay!

The three pins on the left are not Disney brand pins, they are Varsity brand, from the National High School Cheerleading Competition. One of my favorite pins is the Pirates of the Caribbean one at the bottom by the ghost pin. 

I'm only missing one pin from my silhouette collection too! 

Two of my favorite pins are the windy day one on the top left and the "Oh Bother" one on the bottom left.

The only pins that I haven't shown are my pins that I plan on trading because they are at my house. Pin trading is so awesome and I love the adorable pins. My siblings and I have so much fun finding pins that fit our collections. If you are going to Disney any time soon, you should definitely try it out! They are like awesome tiny souvenirs! ~Em 

First Week of Outfit Challenge

Since this week only had the first three days of February I don't have many outfits this week. Plus, I forgot to have AA take a picture of my outfit on Thursday so I'm already not doing a very good job at this challenge. So I'm going to make sure and do better this week! I guess how I will do this is tell you a bit about each piece of the outfit, like where they came from and whatnot. Without further ado, a couple of my outfits from this past week!

 This is the outfit I wore on Wednesday for the first day of my challenge! The dress is from Old Navy and it's just kind of an over-sized t-shirt material dress. The sweater on top is actually one of my favorite pieces I have in my wardrobe and it's from WalMart! Maroon and black are two of my favorite colors in my style so you will likely see quite a bit of that. The tights are from WalMart as well. My shoes are little black booties from JCPenney that I got on sale during Black Friday!

Like I  said earlier, I forgot to have a picture taken on Thursday, so here is my outfit from Friday! Fridays are letter days for my fraternity so we either have to wear our letters or our club's colors. I was going to wear a dress but it was REALLY cold outside on Friday so I went for pants. My jeans are from Old Navy, like 90% of my other jeans. My boots are from Target. I'm not sure where the top is from, because my mom gave it to me from her closet since it's my club's colors. The sweater/cardigan thing is one of my favorite layering pieces! I'm pretty sure it came from Belk or JCPenney and it is just so warm and cozy!



My sister A came up this weekend to watch the Miss OBU pageant and it gave her the opportunity to drive up here by herself. We got to get all dressed up for the pageant and I curled my hair for the first time in two and a half weeks! I noticed that less of my hair fell out while curling it than usual so that's a bonus! I'm just going to keep up the care regimen and see what more we can do! I'm looking forward to styling more outfits for you guys to see in the next three weeks and I hope I can inspire some outfit ideas for some of you! ~Em