reminiscing

Top: PinkBlush Maternity (flash sale) $15 Pants: c/o PinkBlush Maternity  Flats: Lulu*s $17 Total Outfit Cost: $32

I stole a little throwback questionnaire from Lauren (Exploring My Style) for today!

What year were you born?  1991

Do you have any pictures of yourself from when you were younger? Well of course!

What TV shows did you grow up watching? 3 all time faves-  Rugrats, Full House, Boy Meets World 

What did you want to be when you grew up and do you still want to be that?  I always wanted to be a dance teacher and own my own dance studio. I know now that I wouldn't want to own a dance studio.. for multiple reasons. BUT I would love to teach dance again some day. I really hope my baby girl will be a dancer like me and get me back in the studio again!

What were your favorite toys to play with?  Baby dolls and Barbies... but mainly Barbies. I played with them for way longer than the average kid haha.

What is the most embarrassing thing you can remember doing? In middle school (ok ok in high school too), my friends and I would put on ridiculously ugly makeup and fix our hair crazy and take pictures of ourselves. And when i say ridiculously ugly, I mean eyeliner drawn uni-brows and all. Yepp.

Three songs you loved listening to as a child.  A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton, I Want it That Wayby Backstreet Boys, and All or Nothing by O-Town. I actually saw O-Town perform at Walmart! We made shirts and everything! We waited in line for hours to meet them afterwards, but then they cut off the line ONE person in front of us. It was terrible!! 

What was one funny thing you dressed up as for Halloween? A Geisha girl. My Pawpaw worked in Singapore and he brought my sister and I back these outfits! Check out those eye brows my mom gave me!

Are there any special things you've kept since you were a child?  Honestly I've probably kept way too much! I'm a slight hoarder when it comes to keepsakes. I keep it all. I have all my dance competition medals, every ribbon I've ever won, school projects, everything! One of my favorite things I've kept is the teddy bear that my Pawpaw brought me back from Singapore. His name is Cea (pronounced like pea). I named him that because his tag said he was bought on Cea St. 

swing swing swing

Dress: Old Navy $13.50 Belt: Charming Charlie (clearance) $6 Sandals: Old  Total Outfit Cost: $19.50
Along with quite a few other bloggers, I am LOVING these Old Navy swing dresses. I also have the orange one. They're so soft that they seriously feel like pajamas. If you haven't tried one on yet, you should. You won't regret it. What I regret is not sizing up so that I can wear them towards the end of my pregnancy. But I did see today that Old Navy came out with a long sleeve version, so maybe I'll size up and get one once they go on sale!
*bump status: 16 weeks

little blue dress

Dress: Old Navy (on sale) $15 Heels: Just Fab $40 Necklace: c/o Happiness Boutique Total Outfit Cost: $55 If you didn't know I was pregnant,you would totally just think that I put on a little weight... particularly in the tummy area. And you'd probably think that I need to pose different because this pose is totally unflattering! Lol! Luckily I am pregnant and you all know that that little pooch is carrying a peach sized baby!
I really love this necklace that Happiness Boutique sent me! I've really been lacking in the necklace department lately, and this gorgeous necklace was the perfect addition to my closet. I still love a good statement necklace, but I have been leaning more towards long pendant necklaces. You'll be seeing more of this beauty for sure! 

Blouse: Marshall's $20 Pants: Marshall's $25 Sandals: Rack Room Shoes $25 Total Outfit Cost: $70
Pretty simple outfit today and not too much to say about it! I love this blouse, but I don't feel like there's too much else I could do with it. I wore it with white jeans and wedges on Easter Sunday. Any other ideas for this blouse though? 
Nicole said it a few weeks ago that she's been dealing with a closet crisis, and I have to say that I've been going through the same thing the past few months. I don't really feel inspired by anything I've bought lately and nothing in my closet really feels "me" anymore. It doesn't help now that I'm pregnant either because now I have the challenge of finding things that are "me" and will fit this growing body. And another crisis I've been facing? A hair crisis!! I miss my long hair! I just don't know what to do with this short hair anymore. :(
Ok, ok. Enough with the complaining Danielle! Hope you're all having a great week!

hand me down

LC Lauren Conrad Blazer: Kohl's $24

Blouse: Target: Hand me down from a friend (new with tags) 

Mossimo Pants: Target (30% off) $20

Heels: Just Fab $40

Total Outfit Cost: $84

One of my coworkers sent me home with a bag of things that she had that she never ended up wearing. This gorgeous blouse was in it! I love it, and I love the way it turned out with his outfit, but it's a litttttle too tight in the chest area. :( Something that's very new to me haha. I'm debating on if I should keep it or not! Is it worth being tight in the chest?

stripes + leopard

Shirt: Old Navy c/o Chippmunk  Pants: The Limited (sale + coupon) $20 Flats: Lulu's $17 Necklace: borrowed stole from sista Total Outfit Cost: $37
Now that I've finally replaced my leopard flats, I can't stop wearing them! I'm almost nervous that I'm going to wear a hole in them already! Haha. Even with bold stripes, they're just the perfect neutral for so many outfits. Not to mention they also helped to cover my unpainted toes. Don't worry mom, they are painted by now I promise! 

unorganized

Blouse: Forever 21 $12 Mossimo Pants: (30% off) Target $20 Flats: Lulu's $17 Blazer: Aeropostale $25 Belt: Forever 21 $4? Total Outfit Cost: $78
Truth be told, this is what I wore on St. Patty's day. If I were an organized blogger, I would have planned this post out to be posted ON St. Patty's day. But I'm not. I usually write a post the night before it goes live, or sometimes if I'm lucky, or a couple nights before. When you see an outfit on the blog, it could've been worn the day before or it could've been worn 2 weeks ago. When I first started blogging a couple years ago, I was more on track with my outfits and I'd post them either the day of or the day after. 
So I'm curious, bloggy friends, are you an organized blogger? Do you post your outfits the same day you wore them or later? 

thrifty style link up

Forever 21 Blouse: Plato's Closet $6 Pants: The Limited: (sale + coupon) $20 Earrings: Forever 21 (sale) $4 Heels: Target (bogo sale) $22 Total Outfit Cost: $52

Hey guys! Last week some other thrifty bloggers and I shared our best thrifting tips. I told y'all to come back today and link up to share y'alls thrifted outfits... welllll I kinda forgot all about the link up today.. oops! Work has been a little crazy this week, so my brain is complete mush by the time I get home.... OK But really, I'm just no good at this whole organized blogging thing. I actually had scheduled a different post this morning and it went live for over an hour and I took it down so I could post the link up today, so if you saw that post and now it's gone, that's why. Sorry!

Anyways! On to the link up! I can't wait to see your thrifted pieces/outfits. I always love seeing what goodies others find at thrift stores whether it's that amazing fossil bag or cute little vintage ring. I thrifted this pretty turquoise blouse from Plato's months ago, but I don't think it's made it's way to the blog yet. I absolutely love the color of it and the pretty gold buttons. It's the perfect work blouse!

Be sure to head on over to all of the co-hosts, Lauren, Jen, Whitney, and Laura's blogs to see their thrifty outfits! 

An InLinkz Link-up

the basics about me

Lauren Conrad Blouse: Kohl's (clearance + coupon) $8 Pants: Old Navy $26 Boots: JCP (sale) $45 Necklace: forever 21 $6 Kate Spade purse: Christmas gift from my hubby Total Outfit Cost: $85
A couple weeks ago I shared 10 random things about myself. I was shocked when a couple of you said that y'all didn't really know much about me! I guess that I don't really share that much about myself on my blog, but I'm going to try to more for sure! So today, I'd thought I'd start with sharing the basics about myself: 
My name is Danielle. I've been married to my college sweetheart for almost 2 years. We live in Louisiana with our toy poodle, Charlie. I graduated college with a degree in business management (so did my husband). I didn't really know exactly what I wanted to be other than a boss, so I thought that major would suit me. I work daily as a claims adjuster for auto accidents. I grew up dancing. I don't dance anymore unless you consider my living room or my car a dance floor. I've always been a big Disney nerd, and I've actually worked in Disney World through the Disney College Program. I love thrift shopping and bargain hunting, which is why I started this blog. I also enjoy decorating my home, cooking for my husband (even if it isn't always that great), and doing DIY projects. 
And so y'all can get to know more about me, I'm going to do an ask me anything post! Feel free to comment below with your questions or you can email them to me at goodwillista@gmail.com and I'll be answering them in a post soon. :)

all thrifted

Old Navy Shirt: Garage Sale $1 Banana Republic Skirt: Goodwill $3.50 Booties: Plato's Closet $12 Necklace (that you can't really see): Groopdealz $9 Total Outfit Cost: $25.50
This outfit is comprised of pieces thrifted from my 3 favorite places to thrift shop! 1st- garage sales. I cannot wait for it to be warm outside so people start having lots of garage sales. For me, garage sales are where you really find the real deals. Instead of shirts starting at $3, they start at 25 cents usually! 2nd- Goodwill. I honestly have a love/hate relationship with Goodwill lately. I used to find such great things at the one where I went to college. But now the one where I live sucks! I rarely find things lately. Which is why you've been seeing less thrifted pieces in my outfits for the past year and a half. This skirt was found at a Goodwill in Baton Rouge almost 3 years ago and I'm always hoping to find another like it because I love the way it fits. Lastly, Plato's Closet. At Plato's you may have to sort through all the teeney bopper clothes, but there are totally some diamonds in the rough to find at Plato's! We're actually getting a Style Encore soon which I'm suuuuper excited about. Style Encore is a sister store to Plato's that sells women's brand instead of juniors brands.
Tomorrow I've teamed up with some other bloggers to share our best thrifting tips, so be sure to stop back on by! We'll also be having a thrifted outfits linkup next Thursday March 26th!

these are a few of my favorite things

Dress: Old Navy  $15 Christmas money [here] Scarf: ebay $15 Boots: Just Fab $40 Total Outfit Cost: $55
Tell me you sang my title. You did, right?   Some of my favorite things: -stripes, of course =leopard, duh -stripes + leopard together -these boots
So let me tell you a long drawn out story about these boots. I bought a pair of boots from JustFab.com for my mom for Christmas. She loved them and said I picked out the perfect pair. Unfortunately they were a half size too big. So we sent them back. Then after weeks of waiting on the right size to come in, I get an email that they sold out of the right size. Ugh. You could have told me that weeks ago. So then a few more weeks go by of my mom trying to pick out another pair of boots, and she picks out these you see here. She got these in and loved these too, but now this time, these were too small! Wahhh. So yet again I have my mom pick out another pair of boots. This time no luck finding any she liked. 
Then a couple weeks ago I was at Target and picked up these boots and a gray pair (that aren't online any more) for my mom for $12 each. Yes EACH! It turned out to be a win-win situation because my mom ended up with two pair of boots, and I got to keep these!

trying something new

Sweater: Target (clearance) $4 Skirt: Old Navy, gift carded Tights: Target (clearance) maybe $2 but I don't actually remember Booties: Plato's Closet $12 Necklace: Ebay $9 Total Outfit Cost: $27

Ok, ok y'all are going to have to excuse the massive roots I have going on in these pictures. This was before my sister cut and highlighted my hair. She was a life saver because y'all... my hair was bad. So bad. She's only been in beauty school since October and is already amazing at it. I'm such a proud big sister!

So I tried something new with this outfit. I've been wanting to try wearing a sweater over my skirt for a while. This sweater is slightly high-low and it was too long to wear just on top of the skirt (it made my proportions look all weird). So, I tried knotting it! I don't think it photoed well, but in person this outfit was really cute! Or at least I thought so haha. The only thing about knotting it is that it came undone a few times at work so I had to keep re-doing it.

sweet & simple

Cardigan: Garage Sale $2 [similar] American Eagle tee: Goodwill $3.50 [similar] Old Navy Pants: $26 Charlotte Russe Flats: Goodwill $3.50 Necklace: Forver 21 $9 [similar] Total Outfit Cost: $44

Sometimes I think I try too hard to be creative with my closet and outfits. I'm always trying to put together outfits aren't so expected and things I haven't worn before. This day I went more for the obvious and something simple. I grabbed my leopard cardigan since I hadn't worn it in a while. Then easy choice was to go with a simple v-neck tee and my never failing black ankle pants. Then I added a pop of color with my green pendant necklace from forever xxi! Easy peasy.

stripes for days

Dress: Old Navy (on sale) $15 Used Christmas Money [here]

Boots: JCP (on sale) $45 [similar]

Scarf: Old

Total Outfit Cost: $45

 

Sometimes you just don't feel like thinking of words to go along with your outfit posts, and today is one of those days! Only 3 more days until Friday :) 

pinspired style: navy + maroon

Shirt: Target $20 Cardigan: Old Navy (sale + super cash) $13 Pants: Gap (clearance) $10 Booties: Just Fab $20 Total Outfit Cost: $63
Today I'm linking up with Audrey's Putting Me Together Style Challenge to copy an outfit you've pinned. I've actually been meaning to copy this pin for a while, and this challenge gave me the chance to go ahead and try it! I wanted to wear it with my gray jeans like the pin, but I didn't want to wait until Friday so I wore my navy pants instead. I love the way this outfit turned out, and this may be one of my new favorite color combos!
Well my husband and I have the flu (my first time ever having it) so I'm going to get back to resting! I literally slept all day yesterday. Today we're feeling a lot better though, thank God! :)

almost forgotten

Lauren Conrad Blouse: Instagram Shop $10 [similar] Skirt: Ross $8 [similar] Wedges: Plato's Closet $6 [similar] Belt: Goodwill $1 [similar] Total Outfit Cost: $25
I was looking through my pictures to see if I had any outfits to post to the blog, and I came across this outfit from a couple months ago that never got posted. When I saw it I immediately thought about a way to wear this same outfit for fall... and the fact that I need to get this outfit it's own post stat! I think I never posted this outfit because the lighting in these pictures were wonky and I didn't like the way I looked. I guess right after you take pictures you can see all the flaws in it, but then when you come back to it months later, the pictures seem just fine? Anyone else ever had that happen? Also, come back next week to see how I fallified (yes, I just made that word up) this outfit!

i wear pink for my mom

Old Navy Shirt: Garage Sale $1 Pants: Target (25% off) $21 [here] Booties: Plato's Closet $12 [similar] Scarf: Target $3 (like 70% off and then used a coupon with the cartwheel app) Total Outfit Cost: $37

Usually when Bree (Work Clothes I Suppose) posts her Third Thursday Threads theme, I always forget about linking up, but this week was one I couldn't forget. This weeks theme was pink for breast cancer awareness month.

3 1/2 years ago my mom found a lump in her breast. She got it checked out immediately and it was stage 1 breast cancer. She had a lumpectomy and then radiation. Since then, she is 3 1/2 years CANCER FREE! We are so blessed to say that my mom is a survivor! So ladies (men too!)... make sure you are doing SELF CHECKS and getting mammograms! It's SO important.  

utility vest + polka dots

Vest: JCP (super clearance) $4 [here]

 Blouse: Delia's (super clearnace) $2.50

Jeans: Old Navy gift carded [here]

Flats: Payless Shoe Source $20

Necklace: giveaway [similar]

Total Outfit Cost: $24.50

Happy Monday! Hope you all had a lovely weekend. I sure did! Saturday I planned on going to a few garage sales, but I work up and just wasn't feeling it. Instead I cleaned the house from top to bottom! Call me crazy but I seriously love spending Saturdays cleaning my house. It just makes the rest of the week so much more relaxing, and not to mention a clean house = a happy home. Sunday Larry and I had brunch with his parents and then we went to church. After that it was a just plain lazy Sunday, just the way I like it.

I wore this outfit a couple weeks ago, and it's another one of my faking fall outfits. It may look like I'm layered up in this vest, but really the button up I have on underneath it is super thin. Every time I wear this vest I unintentionally style it with more girly pieces- today polka dots & a statement necklace. This vest isn't necessarily what I'd consider masculine, but I do think adding the feminine pieces make it more "me." I always love how Ginny styles hers. I swear she's the vest styling queen! We're supposed to have a cold front come through tonight yay! Hopefully tomorrow I won't have to fake fall :) 

young business casual

Peplum Blouse: Plato's Closet $8

Cynthia Rowley Pants: Marshall's $25

Heels: Target (bogo) $22

Necklace: Groopdealz $3

Total Outfit Cost: $58

Long time no blog post, eh? We got back from our wonderful Disney vacation last Tuesday, but I just couldn't get myself to write up a new post! I was partially busy unpacking, cleaning house, washing clothes, etc... but partially I was being just plain lazy. Ain't nothing wrong with that! Being in Disney World makes me miss living there soooo much. It just feels like home to me! Unfortunately there's no chance I'd live there again. It's way too far from all of our family. I can't say that our future children will be Disney deprived though. I feel like we'll probably be that family that vacations there every year. I'm already ready to go back! Too bad it may be another 3 years or so before we do. :( I'll miss ya, Mickey!

On to the outfit- something about this outfit just says "young business casual" to me. I know that a couple of years ago when I thought of business casual I thought of black flare dress pants, black flats, and a boring blouse. I've been wearing business casual to work for 2 years, and I now know that business casual doesn't have to be plain and boring! Take a look at this outfit I wore to my first day of work 2 years ago when I worked at Top Gun Aviation. Not boring, but just not me. In 2 years I've learned how portray my own style even when having to dress business casual! Did you ever have a certain style in your mind when you thought business casual?

a whim

Gap Pants: Plato's Closet $12 [similar] Earrings: Forever 21 [super similar] Target Bouse: Goodwill $4 Leopard Belt: Forever 21 $5 Kate Landry Purse: Dillards (clearance) $17 Total Outfit Cost: $42    

Most of the time I either have my outfit planned out in my head the day before or at least an idea of what I'm wearing.This is an outfit that was totally unplanned and put together in a whim one morning. I knew going to bed the night before that I wanted to wear these pants, but I had no idea with what yet. When I got to putting my outfit together, somehow this happened, and I love it! This is definitely one of my favorite outfits in a while! Do your best outfits come when they're planned or unplanned?