R&R shopping

The past six weeks in the United States for R&R has been wonderful. We've seen family and friends, enjoyed the Pacific Northwest summer, played at the Oregon coast, and had endless amounts of fun just being at my parent's home doing the things little kids should be doing in July in the United States of America. It's been awesome. I've loved every moment of it.

I've also loved all the American retail that I have been able to partake in during this trip! I'm definitely making up for the trip to the States last year where I was either pregnant or postpartum the entire 3 months and not in any condition to shop. We save a ton of money when I am pregnant and have a newborn because I have no desire to spend money; especially not on my big tired self.

This R&R has been full of lots of fun shopping adventures and I've devoured every opportunity to get some really fun stuff for, well, mostly myself. There have been a few things for my husband and children and the household but, for the most part I've made some selfish purchases over the last 6 weeks. Consider it my "push present" for Arabella (since I got purple amethyst when I gave birth to Adelaide).

Here's some of my finds:

I picked up this soap dish at the local Salvation Army half price sale. I think I paid a dollar for this adorable little thing and it makes me love it even more. I have a thing for soap dishes and I accidentally left one on the side of the bathtub back in Manila one day and Bella went directly for it before I could catch her and it fell and cracked. Boo for my old leaf soap dish. Yay for my new perfect blue hued one.

A big thank you to my girlfriend Allison who tipped me off on the new Target Up & Up brand diapers. They are less than half the cost of Pampers. I gave them a try and they have definitely held up similarly to Huggies. I generally prefer Pampers over Huggies but paying $14.99 for 86 diapers has helped me change my mind. I bought a ton of Up & Up size 4 diapers to bring back to Manila with us. Plus the polka dots are so adorable.

I nabbed these hot black suede sandal/bootie wedges by Mia (I love Mia shoes) at Nordstrom Rack in downtown Portland on the second weekend I was here. The Nordies shoe guy even buffed the suede for me before I tried them on. I got a little weak in the knees when I saw these on. I love these shoes so much and have not had an opportunity to wear them here in the States. They will be making their debut the first date night I have with my hubby upon our return to Manila.

My Mom and I hit a great estate sale this week that had over 1,000 pieces of costume jewelry. I picked up a few interesting pieces costing me a total of $7.50. I love a good bargain and it was great to see my bargain hunting Mom in her element. Plus you gotta start the kids young at garage/estate sale shopping. So after all that hunting through cases and cases of jewelry that day my Mom pulls out her little clip-on earring drawer from her personal jewelry stash at home and lets me pick out a pair to take home with me. These little rhinestone numbers I chose are by far my favorite new ball gown accessory.

Another cool Salvation Army find was this ugly owl for 50 cents. I knew when I saw him that he was just enough hip, just enough vintage, and just enough ugly for me to take him back to Manila to perch on my bookcase. 50 cents...done and done. He only stands about 6 inches tall, so not to worry sweet husband of mine.

While hurridly browsing Whole Food's selection of natural sunscreens and bug sprays for the girls I came across this great product on accident. It's Thayers Rose Petal Witch Hazel toner and I'm completely in love. It makes my skin feel great and it works well for that mid-day wipe down to refresh my skin and remove any dirt or oil that's built up. There is no alcohol in the product so it's non-drying. It actually makes my skin feel moisturized. I was really happy to see this product available more places than just Whole Foods. (side note: while at Whole Foods I had one of their little sushi lunch trays that completely took me back to my days working for Booz Allen in D.C. when I'd walk to Whole Foods for lunch with co-workers-the luxury of time I had then is almost unfathomable to me now.)

The greatest vintage piece I picked up was also at the Salvation Army half price sale. This rabbit fur coat with "dramatic" shoulders was mine for $22.50 and needs absolutely no altering whatsoever. I put it on and immediately started fantasizing about the things I could wear this with. My yellow satin gown came to mind as well as a printed casual sundress and even skinny jeans with heels. It's an original Wilson's Leather coat and I have no idea how old it is. I'm guessing late 70's maybe. Then to top it off, I opened the latest issue of Elle magazine (American magazines have been on my shopping list since being home too-it's so great to stand in the check out line and read an US Weekly while waiting. So great!) and was floored to see that fur is in for the Fall 2010 collections and they are pairing it with absolutely everything. Who knew? The only difference is that faux fur is on the runways! Mine isn't exactly PETA friendly but I figure recycling an item is better than buying it new or letting that poor rabbit fur go to waste. It's too great a coat to not be worn and my gratitude to the original chic owner who kept it in such great condition all these years. (side note: those gold chains are all second hand too. I got one at the estate sale and Mom picked up the other one for me. Most versatile accessory I own.)

Ok, enough of me trying to pretend I can blog about clothing. It was all about happy shopping for me!