Casey's Picks for the week

Favorites this week....

Shoe pick

Crocs - Olivia

I still love Crocs. Not the uncute ones with the holes, but all of their stylish, uber comfy flats. Saw these in US Weekly this week. Love!

Jewlery

Crystal Lattice Necklace-J Crew

Sparkles, ribbon, pairs with everything, enough said:}

Font Pick

Giddy-Up

So cute, and free!

Music Pick

Broken Bells

If you took my advice and picked up the Shins last week, you are all ready now for Broken Bells. Pick up now!

Paper Flowers

Amanda and I hit Heartland Paper today in Bountiful to check out the new Girls Paperie collection. Sooo beautiful, but couldn't get over all the Teresa Collins goodies too! Check out this handmade lampshade done with her line. Swooning!

To make it, head to http://teresacollins.typepad.com/

Card club

Card club fun again! Still stuck on butterflies:} Thanks for all the beautiful cards girls!

A sweet treat...

From my bestie, Amanda. My favorite Easter treats and a little book from Hallmark of notes to stick in Mack's lunch. So lucky to have such an amazing friend!

Principal's Pride

Mack received a Principal's Pride award today at school for Math. So proud of him!

Oscar Party

Love award show season! Hosted a party with the family. Everyone got excited filling out their ballots...



the results were tallied...

& Keith and Joey won! Congrats you two!

and my favorite look of the evening...ruffled Versace. Yum!

Casey's Picks for the Week

Okay Whitney--you inspired me! I decided to try a pick list of all my favorites for the week. Enjoy!

Deal Pick
Women's Jersey Tube Sundown Gowns from Old Navy



I have kind of not liked Old Navy women's clothing in the last few years. The fits are generally really sloppy and the fabric feels kind of cheap. Not so with this dress! This is kind of like the perfect thing when you just feel like wearing sweats or your jammies all day but just can't quite do it. A dress just kind of classes everything up. Pair this with a sparkly necklace and a denim jacket or cardi. I actually cleaned up graffiti today in this, and did so very comfortably! Oh, and they are all on sale this week for $20.

Splurge Pick
After Eight Necklace - Second Sister


Yep, I still love flowers and sparkle. Isn't this gorgeous? Find this in the Second Sister shop on Etsy. The description might be as sweet as the necklace:

When I was little, if I ate all my dinner, my mother would give me an After Eight Mint. I loved the little rectangular box they came in and how each one was individually wrapped in a little envelope. They seemed like such an indulgence.

I have since learned that they aren't expensive or special in the least, but I love them all the same.

Makeup Pick
Stila Lip Gloss in Kitten


My new favorite lip gloss. Goes on perfect and smells amazing. Not sticky and gives you an instant glow. Find at Sephora.

Music Pick
The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow


So this CD came out in 2003, but it is only $5 at Amazon right now, so if you don't have it, go and grab it now. I have loved The Shins ever since The Garden State Soundtrack. Shocking how great this album is. You will so enjoy!

What are your favorite picks you can't live without? Can't wait to get inspired by you!

Alice in Wonderland

Family night movie night. Okay, a little different, and couldn't totally get past the hookah smoking caterpillar, but visually really beautiful and the story still is totally cool.

Car Wash

Got all the snow and salt cleaned off my car from the Logan drive yesterday. Had a coupon for a full detail to Sparkle, my favorite car wash! If you are Salt Lake City local, go to Sparkle Car Wash on 12300 South and Redwood for an amazing car wash. They do such a good job!

My father-in-law told me tonight at dinner he thinks a clean car drives better. Agreed! Speaking of, had a really nice dinner with my in-laws tonight. Ian was amazing and took M for the night to hang out in Provo and go the the BYU Natural History Museum (M loves this place!), so we had a kid free night. Invited Jack and Karla to dinner. So hard trying to see everyone from both families, keep up on their lives, push away guilt of not doing enough and feel connected all of the time. I think this is exactly what we needed. A few hours to reconnect, talk, listen and enjoy each others company. Just the four of us. Sometimes so much easier to catch up in smaller groups. Making it a priority to do this more often. And making it a priority to push away that guilt:}

Utah State University

Career Fair Day!

Enjoyed a snowy, solo ride up to campus. It was a really great fair. Uber bright, cute students that are all eager to be a part of the professional workforce soon. It is a hard time to be in the market for a new job for sure, but there are really still jobs out there. Kept telling people they just need to be tenacious and on point all the time.


A few of my recession career tips:

1. Make sure your resume is one page, spell and grammar checked and perfect.
2. Tailor cover letters for each job if you choose to use them. Use phrases from the job description to incorporate into your cover letter. Generic cover letters with overused phrases are a major turn off (trust me, everyone things they are a dynamic, team player:). Accept this will take time and be as detail oriented as you can. No room for laziness.
3. Follow up. Don't turn in a resume or application without calling, checking in, acting interested. Make contacts and connections and leverage HR to your advantage in your search.
4. Get ready to apply for a lot of jobs. A lot. Before you possibly even hear about an interview. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Be open right now to something other than your dream job if you need to work.
5. When you get an interview, put a lot of thought into what you are going to wear, what you are going to say, know where the place is at, be on time. Take every interview incredibly seriously.

Oh, and I got honey from a honey plant in Logan being sold at the gas station:} Have you ever heard of Lavender Honey? I am now a proud owner of a bottle. Happy Day!

Oh my butterfly

Love all things butterfly lately. They are everywhere!

Lesson Learned

I finished my 21 day challenge today. No clothes, shoes, or jewelry for 21 days. I did it, with the exception of one small faux pas I made on Saturday when I bought a small, Eiffel Tower charm from the scrapbook store. I am blaming it on being out of sorts. My guard wasn't up at the scrapbook store.

I learned a lot about myself the last 21 days.

First, I realize I love clothes. A lot. I always have. There is no getting around that. From the embroidered Guess shirts and the Girbaud jeans of my youth, up to the much more gorgeous and grown up styles of today I crush over, I have had a love affair with clothes for many, many years.

Second, I realize I can now afford pretty much whatever I want, whenever I want it. Slowly over the years, debt and bills have melted away. Gone are the student loans, the diapers, the extra car payment, the day care, the just out of college salaries. I haven't had to think or question what I spend, as there is generally enough there to sustain my shopping sprees. Pair that with a sense of entitlement that I earn a good salary and I shouldn't have to justify my spending to anyone has been very dangerous. And naive. And spoiled.

Third, I wanted to figure out what was fueling my constant shopping binges. I realized a lot of it was emails I got from my favorite stores advertising deals, free shipping, the latest trend. I started deleting them the second they hit my inbox. I also found a "support" group online. JCrewaholics has made me laugh and realize there are many out there with my obsession. Dying to meet the owner of this site. Their banner contains a picture of the Eiffel Tower, a J Crew catalogue, a BMW key, an iPhone, a super great pen, and tickets to an art museum. My Doppelganger of obsessions is somewhere out there:}

So, how to stop needless spending on clothes for the most part I can't even remember or possibly only wear once? The thought...just because you can, doesn't mean you need to. Or should. And real thought should be put into every financial decision you make.

I am taking away a renewed sense of caution and thought to purchases. To spending money. We had a valuable lesson arise during my 21 days. Shane was forced to take a 40 hour furlough from work. He can take the 4 shifts over the next few months, and luckily this won't hurt us, but gone now are the easy and somewhat reckless attitudes toward money. Being in HR has opened my eyes to the fact that the recession is beyond scary. I have seen layoffs in the news I had never fathomed would be possible, jobs outsourced or outpaced by other workers. Shane's furlough brought me straight down to earth as I never thought would.

So, for now I can't say I will never purchase another article of clothing again, but I will be smarter. I will wear things a few times (at least), get creative in my closet, and assess every penny I let out of my wallet. I realize I am a lucky girl. We are beyond blessed and I need to be focusing financial blessings on long term goals for myself, my family and my community.

Good luck with your goals. Will keep you posted on some of my new ones soon!