Thriftanista in the City

I know every year feels like the year went by too fast but 2017 seems to have really flown by. I've finally accepted that it has come to an end and I am very much looking forward to a new year of possibilities. This year, I really want to focus my attention on staying organized, increasing my income and taking myself out on the town.

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #LoveYourPC #CollectiveBias I can't believe we have arrived at the last month of the year. The year flew by for me. I feel like I never really got ahead this year. I never saw the bottom of the laundry pile. I did a lot of moving with no real down time. It's been more of a surviving over thriving kind of year. In an effort to get back on track and prepare for the new year, I trekked over to Walmart to pick up a brand new 2-in-1 laptop which prompted me to get started on my 2018 vision board.

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CreminelliFreshSnacking #CollectiveBias We're a quarter of a way through the new year and I'm still fine tuning what it is I want to accomplish in the new year. I've narrowed it down to a few main goals that are defined by four simple words. To help maintain focus throughout the year, I added them to a diy pineapple print coaster set I made so that I am reminded of them throughout the day.

It's been a year since I added a jogging lady to my  vision board . I had no idea where I was going with that as I'm not a runner and I do not like exercise. Every year I make a fitness goals but last year, I actually worked out how to achieve my goals. Now I can say the jogging lady represents me except I walked my way into better health and weight loss. I had high blood pressure and my doctor wanted to start medication I had been avoiding for two years. I was already struggling to take my iron supplements everyday so I knew a daily medication was not going to work for me.

I'm still plugging away at my fitness and weight loss goals on my vision board . My weight hasn't dropped significantly. I've lost 4 pounds and I'm still carrying a bit of "holiday" weight. My clothes are fitting better though and I've noticed some changes health wise. My resting heart rate is lower so that's a sure sign of better fitness. My BMI is now in a better place to combat high blood pressure too.

The three things that help me achieve goals and manifest a fabulous new year include naming the new year, figuring out where my true passions are, and creating a vision board. These strategies may not work for everyone so I invited a few friends over to share their tools too. I hope that you'll find an approach that resonates with you and helps you achieve greatness in the new year. Peace, Love and Happy New Year!

This year flew by for me and I can't believe 2016 is a few days away. It's been a wonderful year of thrift style and growth for Thriftanista in the City. I stepped out of my comfort zone a few time and those posts turned out to be some of the most well received posts of the year. My top two posts of this year were actually written at the end of 2014. The most popular post of the year was also my personal favorite. Lists and style diys were quite popular this year in general. The following posts had the highest number of page views in 2015.

This shop has been compensated by #CollectiveBias and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. My #InspiredHome needs a guest room makeover bad. Flooring being most important, I can't decide what to choose. My heart says laminate but the house has carpet everywhere. I'm not sure if I want to use laminate flooring in one room or stick with carpet.  I love to DIY but there are times in life that you can't or should NOT do it yourself. These  #DDIY moments  have definitely scared me straight. I know my limitations. I stay in the fast and easy lane and don't attempt skills I don't have like carpentry or flooring installation. 

I'm been rocking my 2013 digital board for the past two years. I skipped last year. Procrastination won. When I sat down to create one for 2015, I found my old favorite O Dream Board had disappeared so I created a version using PicMonkey. 

Thanks to  LifeLock®  for sponsoring this #BreachWatch discussion. All opinions are mine alone. I don't know about you but I have been effected by a number of data breaches this year. The recent ones with Home Depot, Michael's, and Goodwill had me scared. I'm gearing up for some major DIY projects and use these stores quite frequently.  Now that we have more space, I have room for home decor and improvement projects. I'd hate to have something like a data breach turn my $20 project into a identity theft nightmare. Images via Pinterest: sliding door curtains, craft room organization, DIY dinosaur planters,  DIY headboard, sewing space makeover, library nook, DIY ring display, bangles on candlesticks, DIY sawhorse table, thrift store transformations

I started early and created my vision board for the coming year. No vision board  party  like  2011 and no procrastinating like  2012 (the one that never got made). I used the   O Dream Board again. I find it very helpful to organize and visualize what I see for the year. Having a digital vision board also makes it easy for me to look at as I go about my day as I spend a lot of time near my computers and cell. In 2011, it was all about fun, fellowship and good times. Wow did I have a lot of that! My word for 2011 was abundance and it was absolutely an abundant year of celebrations. In 2012, I felt really scattered and moving in all kinds of directions but not really getting anywhere. Maybe because I didn't visualize enough? I just had a bunch of ideas floating around and not getting anywhere. This year I'm going back to the vision board. I hope it will keep me grounded and focused on the objectives I have set for myself. This year's vision board...

I'm about to go random and out the box on you. I've been pretty good about sticking with my niche. A year or so ago, I was pretty random all the time. If you're new here, you missed it! Back then I had a handful of musing on the law of attraction . Today, I'm sharing a story that feeds my belief in  Ask. Believe. Receive. City Winery is new to the Chicago area and I had been wanting to check it out after watching a segment of 190N which prompted me to check out the website. On the website, a particular concert caught my eye. It was Acoustic Africa with Manou Gallo (of Zap Mama )! I'm a huge fan of Zap Mama so naturally I wanted to go. Since I spend all of my money thrifting (kidding, a little), I knew the tickets were not in my budget. Next I went to their fan and twitter page because I wanted to keep track of upcoming news. That's where I read that they were giving away tickets to the show. I entered and won! See how that works? I devoted a lot of energy ...

Last week, I attended the 2nd Annual Haiti Pillowcase to Dress and T-Shirt to Shorts Sewer Workshop. I participated in the creative and sewing process of turning donated pillowcases into dresses that would go to Haiti. The first dress. The pocket is off center a bit. I haven't done hands on volunteer work in a long time. I usually donate money because past projects were socially awkward for me. I decided to give this one a try because there was sewing involved and it was with a meetup group I belonged to. It was a wonderful opportunity to step out my comfort zone. If nothing else, I could bury my face in the machine. As usual, I'm glad I pushed past the fear. I had a great time sewing. I haven't made anything in over 2 years. I love hearing the machine go, being covered in clipped threads, and watching the fabric turn to into something wearable. It was nice to have TWO completed projects and it a good cause! I also met some new people (shout out to vision board ...

Like many of you, I am reflecting on this year right now and thinking about what I hope for the new year. I've been thinking a lot about my vision board and how helpful it's been. This was the first year I created a vision board. I'm glad I did. I got to see where my head was at at the beginning of the year and see what has come to pass. I have it as my wallpaper on my laptop. I bring it up in conversations and of course, I blog about it. It worked so well in my life that I'm going to do it again for 2012. I was happy to see more parties and events come into my life. I even made new friends. A rarity. I received random checks in the mail. I received a lot of FREE. I kept my manicures up to date and I got an iPad! For next year's board (no it hasn't been created yet), I want to focus on 5 themes and fill the board with markers for better visualization. I'm incorporating some of what I learned from the  Passion Test .  I will also use the  O Dream...

A couple of weeks ago, I received a complimentary ticket to The Passion Test with Janet Attwood via Inspiring Social Media. It was right up my alley and I am so grateful for having had this experience. I have so many ideas, plans, wants, and desires floating around in my head. It's hard to focus my attention on what's most important to me. This workshop was right on time and it was fun to just sit with it all and be around others looking for the same thing. I loved having the opportunity to talk about it and express it boldly so the universe can hear me. Me with Sheena of Sophistishe and Stacey of Inspiring Social Media We started the workshop by identifying 10 passions using the following sentence: When my life is ideal, I am _________. We then narrowed it down to 5 by going through an elimination process. If I could have Passion 1 but never Passion 2. Which would I choose? After that we created a few markers to identify how we'll know we a...

My 2011 vision board asks the universe for a clean house. It hasn't been working out so well. I guess most of my focus has been on obtaining free stuff and having parties! I have received so much from the universe in those areas. Now my home is looking pretty messy and cluttered. I am in no way a clean or neat freak. However, I do find that my mind is clearer and my mood is better when I'm in a clean space. Sunday night while in bed waiting for sleep, I decided that on Monday I would start a new routine. I was going to do "a room a day". No matter how tired I was, no matter how cranky and clingy V got, no matter what other errands and duties I had to take care of. When He left for work in the morning, I told him today I am cleaning our kitchen/living room today. I think vocalizing it was really helpful. I started early even though I was tired and just wanted to sit and sip my coffee. I put on my rubber gloves and pulled out my cleaning supplies. I did more than the qu...

As you may or may not know, I love free sh*t. One of my favorite ways to obtain free stuff is to enter blog contests and giveaways. I've been very lucky the past few weeks to win 2 books! Yay!! Book #1: Substitute Me by Lori Tharps I've been a subscriber to Ms. Tharp's blog My American Melting Pot since reading her book Kinky Gazpacho . I love travel memoirs and her Spain adventure is one of my favorites. I've had the new book on my Goodreads list for a while and I'm so happy that I'll have the opportunity to read it. I can take as long as I want too! I'm such a slow reader now. image borrowed from Goodreads Book #2: Simplicity's Fabric Guide: The Ultimate Fiber Resource from Sixth & Spring Books I entered a contest from Stacy Sews . I follow her on Twitter and picked up the blog from her bio. I'm so glad to add this one to my sewing library. A fabric guide was my one missing collection essential. Now if I can just get some sewin...

I love it when me and the Universe are on the same page. I've been seeking yoga/pilates/fitness classes so that I can get my mind right and spend some time out of the house ( momcation location other then Tarjay ). Pre-baby I was anti-class. Driving? No. Groups? No. Exercise? No. I was looking for a place nearby because a) I'm lazy and b) I need free or almost free since I'm practicing frugality. I was led to a cozy female owned studio/woman/mother space looking to barter. Score! I'll be working 4 hours at the studio in exchange for classes. My first class was last night -- bellydancing! I felt awkward because I didn't know what the heck I was doing and I'm better at reading and doing rather than watching and doing. I felt really beautiful though. This was the first time I looked in a mirror and didn't see one flaw. Magic mirrors? Bellydance side effect? I don't know but I do want to go back for more of that and learn ICC (100 points if you know what t...

After a couple of postponements the Vision Board and Wine Party finally happened. I enjoyed myself and I think my guest did too. Magazines opened! CONFESSION TIME: We did not make 1 vision board! It started with a glass of wine, sangria, or moscato. It ended the same. We noshed on a soul food meal: Bird bought from Windy City's own Harold's. I made Sakuma Wiki (Kenyan greens), and baked mac & cheese. We laughed. We talked men. We talked motherhood. We talked work. We talked total nonsense. (I have got to check out Basketball Wives ; I have the finale episode in the DVR for later when He is not around). He kept watch for Queen V's night time schedule and you know what? She slept 8 friggin hours. I went to bed with full bewb and at 4a I could take it no longer and had to pump. I missed the sweetness of getting a full night's sleep. I hope this is a trend and not a fluke. I woke to a mild hangover and indulged in 2 naps. I finally started feeling "normal" ag...

My me made skirt and swag bag Last night I finally left the house. At night. Without Little Miss. I received a complimentary ticket to Sassy Moms Night Out Go Red event. Free drinks, free appetizers and beauty treatments? Yes, please! Have you seen my vision board ? Free stuff and parties are on the left. I spruced myself up and donned a red skirt. I had zero parking issues with my little Toyota Yaris (parking is a bear in that neighborhood over by Harpo Studios and the United Center). I got a "special" wristband that entitled me to a lil extra gift. Score! I lost it and found it again in my coat when I was leaving. I drank pretty red Barbie juice drinks and loaded my plate with some of my favorite foods - hummus, baba ganoush, and dolmas. Win! I went in search of a free manicure. They were all booked up. Boo. This is what happens when you're tardy for the party. Oh well. I took a red carpet photo. The photographers were pumping me up. I showed them all kin...