Family Adventure & Shopping Score

Today I decided that it was family day so Mr. Hunky, Baby A and I loaded up the car and went on an adventure to the big city. I was a little nervous when we got off on the exit that Siri had told us to take and we ended up in a not so beautiful part of the city. I'm all for diversity but the building marked "GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS TUESDAY JELLO WRESTLING" next to the sleazy motel that was ACROSS the street from the cemetery sort of reminded me of a scene from CSI and I couldn't help but sing "whooooooo are you?! Who who, who who" in my head as we passed by. I felt much better as we turned onto a nicer street filled with restaurants and shopping! About ten minutes down the road my eyes almost jumped out of my head as I spotted Nordstrom Rack! I swear I squealed so loud Mr. Hunky almost crashed the car. Okay so not really, but I did get a pretty nasty glance as we pulled into the mall parking lot. When we got out of the car I thought I had gone to heaven, I can't even begin to tell you how many wonderful stores this mall had. Mr. Hunky of course opted to parooze REI while I did my thing so I started with H&M. I had never been into an H&M before so I was a little overwhelmed and not really wanting to waste my valuable shopping time, I was racing against a man "shopping" in REI, after all. How long could he actually spend? Before leaving H&M I did stumble across the baby section and almost died. I'm really into dressing him up like daddy when they're home together and since daddy's loungewear consists of basketball shorts and a "wife beater" tank, so I find it only fitting that Baby A wears the same! He has the basketball shorts, but we've been missing the tanks. Well not anymore!!! I couldn't believe they had them! And get this, they were $5.95 for two. Seriously?! $3 each! Heck yes please.



After buying Baby As onesies, him and I headed over to Forever 21. I LOVE Forever 21 and I knew I would find something I loved!! Forever 21 is a great place to find deals, the only thing that I HATE is that it seems like their clothes always fall apart easily! So when I shop at Forever 21 I always follow my 3 basic shopping rules & add a forth. What are my 3 basic shopping rules you ask?? Well, they're something that every girl should follow because not only will it help you save money it will make you feel a lot happier with your wardrobe!



Step 1: Always shop with a color scheme or print/pattern in mind.
If you go in knowing what colors, prints or patterns you are looking for, you won't leave with excess clothes that you later have buyers remorse over. When in doubt, shop for neutrals- you will always wear neutrals.



Step 2: Always put together an outfit in your head before buying.
If you can't pair it with clothes that you already have, you're never going to wear it. So why buy in the first place?



Step 3: Question whether or not it's really YOU.
Let's face it, just because it's freaking adorable doesn't mean you'll wear it. If it's not your personal style then it will just sit in your closet looking cute on the hanger. And don't try to kid yourself, your an adult, rarely does your style change.


Step 4 (Forever Specific): If it's over $10, don't buy it.
Ok, maybe give yourself a $2 leeway for if you really LOVE it, but if it's more than that is it really with it? Probably not. You know it'll end up with holes in a few weeks anyway.



So today I went with shopping for neutrals and shopping for brights. I decided on 4 basic tanks in off white, light peach, charcoal gray and navy. These are tanks that can be layered and will never "go out of style" because they are very basic colors. A staple in my opinion. I also landed on a bright yellow flowy tee and a basic mint tank. For $25 I scored 6 shirts for me! And for an extra $5 I scored two onesies for Baby A. Not only did I score a great deal, I did so while spending time with my family. Savin money and family time, sign me up any day!