Taylor Thrift

I have an addiction.  I'll be the first to admit it. 

Hello, my name is Erin and I am addicted to thrift stores. I know I have mentioned my addiction in past posts, but I think it has become more serious. It doesn't help that we have FIVE thrift stores within 15 minutes of our apartment. I need my weekly fix, even if it is just a quick stop. I think I can honestly say that if we were to become millionaires I would still shop at thrift stores. Mitchell should be thankful I don't have an Anthroplogie or Restoration Hardware addiction ... it could be worse. 

 I have found some great things as of late...

I know these aren't from a thrift store, super duper clearance markdowns give me the same kind of adrenaline rush ...
 Thank you Target for the 75% post Christmas markdowns. Our Christmas tree is going to be awesome next year.   



 I found this adorable coat for Winter ... only $2.00.  Practically brand new.  There is no way that I could ever buy baby clothes at full price ... or even half price for that matter.

A brand new in the box Mr Potato head for ... drum roll ... $1.00. I plan on using this bad boy to help me out in primary singing time next Sunday.

 I have a slight obsession with Halloween costumes.   A few months ago I found a super awesome high quality turtle costume for only $2.00 ... but its for a 4 yr old ... but I just couldn't say no.  I'm sure Winter will want to be a turtle at some point in her life ... every little girl's dream, right?  On Saturday I came across this adorable, brand new and super cheap chicken costume ... once again, for a 5 yr old.   I hope Winter is into animals and not princesses .....

I 

I have been looking for some black heels now for a while ... and stumbled across these.  They still had the Nordstrom tags on them ... $98.00!  I got them for a mere $5.00.  Oh yeahhhhhh.

 My black flats that I bought from Savers about 5 years ago for $2.00 finally bit the dust ... and I found these brand new lovelies for only $5.00.

  
The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem right?   

six

Six months.

I'm still alive.  Winter is still alive.  At the beginning of this crazy adventure, I wasn't so sure that I would be able to say that at the six month mark.   Its kinda killing me inside realizing just how quickly six months came.  Before I know it Winter will have pig tails and will be walking.  

 Actually, at this rate ... she probably won't have pig tails until she is five years old.  I'm considering Rogaine.   I'm sure its baby tested and approved.

Winter now weighs 17 lbs 5 oz and is 27 inches long ... 75th percentile.   

Mitchell and I both caught the horrible flu bug a couple days after Christmas, which resulted in me laying on the floor most of the day just trying not to puke.  There were only a few activities I could manage that kept Winter entertained while we were confined to the floor ... animal noises.  Keep in mind that all my barnyard animals were a little under the weather with the flu that day.  When I'm in tip top shape I can do an impressive horse.

Winter also experienced the wonderful world of food.
First cereal .... not so successful.

Jingle Bells Batman Smells.

Mitchell, Winter and I headed out on a quite Sunday afternoon to walk around and explore Temple Square.  We checked out the Macey's candy Christmas windows. Word to the wise: If you want to avoid the crowds next year, go on Sunday.  Call us heathens, go ahead.  We had the windows all to ourselves ... well, besides the crazy homeless man who was yelling on the street corner ...

    Jelly beans, licorice, gum drops, candy canes, gum balls, and lemon drops GALORE. Willy Wonka would have been proud.

We then headed over to the visitor's center to visit the Christus. It was a nice getaway from the commercialized Christmas chaos.

 

The very gracious Church family invited us over for Christmas Eve festivities.  The festivities included:
 -graham cracker houses
-a Bethlehem dinner
 -playing games
 -Brian reading us "Cajun Twas the Night Before Christmas" 
 -singing Christmas songs

 My simple apartment building

 

 And of course, Mitchell had to go above and beyond.  His living room display was rather impressive, coconut shag rug and all. 

 

Our humble Christmas shrub.

Winter must have been excited to open her stocking because she was wide awake pretty early.  

I pulled out my camera and she started pulling this face and wouldn't change it all morning.  What. A. Baby.

Stocking.

Putting her stocking stuffer to good use.

We then headed up to hang out with my brothers for the rest of the day.   We honestly didn't want to go to the trouble of cooking a big Christmas meal. Bless the souls of those awesome Chinese people who decided to stay open on Christmas.  After we stuffed our faces with egg rolls we played around with a little tape ....

I'm pretty sure this should be a Christmas tradition every year .... 

CAUTION:these photos may frighten small children

We ended the night with a very Christmas appropriate movie ... Batman.

santa baby.

 The day we decided to not get the house was kind of a sad one, so I did what I usually do when something sad happens ... hit up a thrift store for treasures.  Without fail, thrift stores turn my frowns upside down.   I walked in and BAM ... this sweet little christmas tree was begging me to bring him home.  My heart grew two sizes and I just couldn't deny him a home. 

We also have a make shift fireplace this year as well ....  crackling noises included.

 

 In the spirit of healthy eating, we decided to try and healthify the beloved buckeye.  We used chickpeas, peanut butter, honey and some agave ... so the filling was pretty much peanut butter hummus.  I thought they were great, but then again I haven't had a real buckeye in over a year.

We attended Mitchell's work Christmas party Saturday night.  We thought it would be fun to take Winter.  Think again.  The restaurant was incredibly noisy and crowded.  Poor Winter had a major sensory overload.  I spent most of the night walking around with her.  Despite her crying everyone at the restaurant loved her Santa suit.

Winter is a rolling machine.  She rolls from one end of the room to the other exploring.

5

I am in denial.  Winter is indeed 5 months old today, but I don't want to accept it.  Just the other day I realized that I was still trying to shove our extra large five month old into her three month old sleepers.  Poor girl.  It really is blowing my mind how fast life moves.

Trying to get some photos of her was like pulling teeth.  This little girl is always on the move

Feet sucking: it should be considered gross but it is so so darn adorable when she does it.

Still waiting for her hair to show up .... I'm putting money down that it will come in blonde. 

We sure do love this little creature.

I tried the other day to get some photos of Winter and I.  What a joke.  She was interested in everything else but looking at the camera.

Last week we spent Thanksgiving with my brothers Max and Dan.  I don't think I will ever volunteer to make Thanksgiving dinner for a large group.  Just cooking a nice meal for four people was enough for me.  Mitchell and I worked up a sweat trying to get all the food on the table at the same time and still have it be warm.  Props to you moms who have perfected that talent.

Hours of work  ... all for a 20 minute meal

Post feast nap

Winter decided to sleep during all the festivities

Homeless.

We have been looking at homes now for about 1.5 years.  It has been a wild ride and we have learned a ton about the housing market and the ugly games it can play.  We thought we had found the one a few weeks ago.  We placed a bid on it and won.  We were beyond excited.  It is in a great area.  It is spacious and would allow us the room our growing family would need. We began looking at paint colors, carpet, tile, appliances ... all the exciting stuff that comes with home ownership. 

 We had an inspector go out and give it a good looking over.  We knew that there was a ton of work that would need to be done in order to get it in working order, but that didn't scare us.   DIY housing projects excite us and make us feel warm and fuzzy.  But after the inspection was completed and we crunched some numbers we both came to the conclusion that we would have to tap out.  Our hearts were slightly broken.   We both felt like this was our house.  We could see ourselves raising our family in it.  

And now its not.  

Here is the house that once was and now is not

So instead of going home and crying about it we decided to celebrate the fact that we just saved a TON of moo-lah.  Sushi is a pretty good way to celebrate just about any occasion. 

And we may or may not have watched one of those horribly cheesy corny Hallmark channel Christmas movies.  And it may or may not have made us feel better.  But in all honesty, we can't be too sad considering we have a baby this cute ....

So the hunt continues.

Caterpillars, Gypsies and Steve Jobs Oh My!

I love Halloween. 

-the pumpkin infused desserts

-dressing up/costume parties

-the awesome weather

-black and orange decorations

-candy, candy and more candy

ANDDDDD it reminds us that the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons are just around the corner

Winter wasn’t quite sure why we were shoving her into a giant fluffy caterpillar … but one day, I know she will love Halloween just as much as we do. 

 Shout out to Meredith for the adorable costume. Thanks Mer!

Mitchell paid a tribute to the dear Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs circa 1986

 

And here I am gypsified … sans tambourine and little monkey.