Eleven Things

So, I've revamped the blog, the facebook page, and the shop. I'm really going to try this whole blogging thing, and I know I've said that before, but I think I was trying to be just like all the other blogs I read daily - the blogs that are read by a bajillion other people and have fresh new content daily. However, I'm still just getting my foot in the door, so I need to do this at my own pace.

Whew.

Anyways, I was reading one of my favorite blogs, The Paper Mama, and she had this great post asking her readers to answer 11 questions. Ive seen this done before on other blogs, and always thought it was so interesting and insightful. So, I decided to jump start my (hopefully...) more regular blogging with this post! Here are the rules:

1. Post a photo of yourself

2. Answer the questions set for you in the original post.

3. Create 11 new questions and ask people to answer them.

1. If you HAD to change your name, what would you change it to?

 If I absolutely HAD to,because its expensive and a lot of work, so I probably wouldn't, I'd probably change it to something classic or unique like Charlotte, or Zoey. 

2. Are you a collector of anything?

I could probably be considered a collector of a lot of things... I collect animal jewelry, rat/mouse stuffed animals, and various random trinkets.

3. What is your first thought when you wake up?

Breakfast. I'm always extremely hungry when I wake up.

4. Do you prefer sweet or salty foods?

It depends largely on what I've been eating lately. I have this thing where if I have too much of the same flavor too often I get a really upset stomach (i.e. too much dairy, or too many sweets), so usually if I've just eaten one, I'll crave the other. I often find myself leaning towards salty though.

5. Name one thing you miss about being a kid.

My favorite thing about being a kid was not really having to worry about the future. I always thought about the future, or course, but never actually fretted like I sometimes do now.

6. Are you a morning or night person?

I'm not really either, I'm just a sleep person. I can go to sleep at 9 pm and not wake up until 9 am the next day. I just really love me some sleep!

7. List 5 items on your life’s to-do list:

1- Travel the world, 2-buy a house, 3- own my own printing press and have a studio space for it, 4-design my own stationary/fabric line, 5- subsidize my income by selling handmade items

 

8. Share one thing that people may not know about you.

I'm a very open person, I really do wear my heart on my sleeve. I'm a good listener, so I guess people don't think to return the favor, which is okay :)

9. What is your all time favorite song, movie, and book?

Song: Thirteen by Big Star (so incredibly sweet and beautiful), Movie: Almost Famous or Breakfast Club, Book: Too Kill a Mockingbird or White Oleander

 

10. Do you have any hidden talents?

I don't really think so.... my husband has said I have unusually strong thumbs, and will never thumb war with me (haha), I consider myself fairly resourceful and good at coming up with solutions to problems, but I think that is just part of being an art student! I have weird focusing abilities - weird in that I have trouble focusing 90% of the time, but the rare 10% I can focus so incredibly that I often forget to eat.

11. Are you a really clean or super messy person?

I like to think I'm somewhere in the middle. I'm not neurotically clean, but I do like everything to have a place. I think it is because I am so right-brained that if everything doesn't have a home, I'll forget where I put it, and that makes me very frustrated. However, I have been known to be my own worst enemy, often forgetting where I set things down. 

So, that's that! If you want to participate, below are the 11 questions I'd like YOU to answer! Just be sure that if you do, you come back here and leave a link in the comments!

1. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose?
2. If money were no object, what would you spend your days doing?
3. What is the best thing that has happened to you today?
4. What is your favorite species of animal and why?
5. What is one cause that is very close to your heart?
6. What is your favorite childhood memory?
7. What was/is your favorite subject in school?
8. If you HAD to change your outgoing voicemail message to something stupid/cheesy, what would it say?
9. What is your favorite/most meaningful article of clothing in your closet?
10. What is one new skill you would like to learn?
11. What do you want people to know about you? 

Love,
Amanda

Brushing off the dust

Wow. I'm a bad bad blogger. I'm SO sorry to anyone who reads this, but it's a new year, so I get a second chance, right? Right?

Well, even though I'm super busy (I know, not an excuse), I'm going to try my hardest to blog more often, and hop on this blogging bandwagon. I may not always be able to share my outfits, but I will try to supplement that by sharing things I generally like! Things that inspire me, make me smile, etc.

Also, due to inspiration from this lovely lady, I will be trying to take quick mirror shots during the day to offer a little bit of my daily wear, Until i can find time for "real" photos.

Also as part of my new years changes, Fiance and I have agreed to implement the following shopping agreement, which will not only make us both happy since i will get to shop, and he will be happy because i won't be shopping all the time, but out bank account will be happy as well.
The rules are:
1- I am allotted a 30$ monthly budget to purchase whatever I want that is not required for school, work, or a gift (i.e. art supplies, textbooks, etc)
2- Though it's up to me to decide when and what to purchase, if I spend my whole budget right at the beginning of the month, it's my own fault.
3- Gifts do not count (i.e. gift cards, or purchases made by other people)
4- If I want to buy something more expensive than my budget (which is admittedly small, but hey, we're college students), the item must be mutually agreed upon, and for every 10$ over my budget the item is, I must donate an item to Goodwill.

I figure this system is a pretty good one. Especially considering that we tried the whole shopping ban thing, and well.... that didn't exactly pan out so smoothly.

Well, here's to a new year, and new motivations!

Thrifting Thoughts

Well, Hello bloggers! I know, I know, I used tumblr for my last post, but I will start blogging here now. If you want to see former posts, take a peek at my tumblr. But now, I will be blogging here. Just so everyone knows!
Ok, well yesterday's post got me thinking about thrifting, how much of my closet is either thrifted, secondhand, of hand-me-down, and what people think about that.
In my experience, everyone is pretty much on one side of the fence or the other. Meaning that, either they love thrifting and what it does for the environment and how much money they save, or they would just rather buy things new. While both sides are totally and definitely fine, I just thought I would share my own thoughts about the subject, and share some of my tips and some things I've thrifted.

I got this shirt yesterday at one of my local goodwill stores. It's a Merona brand floral button down shirt, brand new with tags. Originally 20$, I paid .99 cents.

Goodwill is probably one of the easiest, and most full filling ways to thrift. It's pretty much just a big room with tons of cheap used stuff in it. When you buy something from goodwill, the money goes straight back into your community and helps people get jobs and helps the environment since you are buying used goods. Prices range from .99 cents, to maybe 50$ but only for things like nice furniture or Coach purses, etc. I've found lots of good stuff at goodwill, all of it being new, near new, or even new with tags, and pretty much all brand name.
Tips:
When I shop Goodwill, I like to shop the entire store, because things get moved around. I look through all of the women's section, men's, and sometimes children's. Depending on what I'm looking for I might go into the housewares or books. And I usually glance at accessories before I go. I like to walk through the aisles, and see if anything jumps out at me. Since goodwill takes pretty much everything that's donated to them, you may have to sift through a lot of not so good before you get to something cute. Honestly, I do look for original tags and name brands when I go to goodwill, because that's where I'll get the best price on it (except for maybe a yard sale, which we'll get to later) When I find something i like, I like to look it over and maybe measure it to make sure it will fit. Look out for stains, weird smells, or large imperfections that are hard to fix. If the item has any of that then put it down. Don't waste time or money.
Awesome things I've found at goodwill:
-like new Oscar de La Renta off-shoot (like a cheaper line of ODLR clothes. Not sure what that's called) black dress pants 5$
-brand new with tags Mossimo skirt originally 25$, paid 4$
-like new Gap nautical style striped tee, .99 cents
-vintage men's plaid Wrangler brand western shirt, 4$
-like new New York & Co pencil skirt, 3$
-like new Van Heusen suit jacket, 4$
-like new American Living (JC Penney brand) ruffled shirt, 3$
-Bubblegum brand jean jacket in good condition 3$

Garage/Yard Sales
(looks MUCH cuter on and belted, promise!:)) BCBG Max Azria shift dress (with pockets, always a winner in my book) like new condition, bought at a yard sale for 2$.

My mom and I have been going to yard sales every weekend morning in the summer since I can remember. When I was younger they bored me, but now I get really excited because sometimes people practically give away really awesome stuff!
Tips:
Get the local newspaper and clip out the ad, look on Craigslist and add any big sales to the ad from the paper. Go through and highlight the sales you definitely want to go to, and plan your day around them.
When you get to a sale, walk around and look through everything. Be respectful, this is someones stuff, and probably their house. When you find something you want, consider your need for it, along with it's quality, probable original value, and how it's priced. If its a good deal, get it, if not, move on.
Awesome stuff I've gotten from yard sales:
-Ann Taylor LOFT faux wrap blouse, 1.50$
-new with tags:3 F21 dresses (25$ orig. paid 2$ each), 3 f21 tops (20$ orig. paid 1$)
-like new: buckle jeans, buckle brand tops, BKE sweaters, Merona brand button-down tops, etc
- a set of end tables for our apartment 3$

Secondhand Stores:
By far my best score. Brand new with tags J.Crew brand red strapless party dress with pockets. Since the 'gift' part of the tag had been removed, I can only guess that the original price was around 200$. What did I pay? 2o$. Yeah, I know.

Secondhand stores are probably the most pricey way to thrift, because the employees do all the searching for you. On average, expect at least twice as much as goodwill, and far more than a yard sale (since that is definitely the cheapest way to thrift). But, you're sure to find something good. To shop successfully, use the same principles above, but a little less strict, since its less likely that brand or quality should be an issue. Also, keep a look out for secondhand stores in your area with a buy-sell-trade program. This means that you can bring in your old clothes and the store will look through them, usually while you shop, and then if the store wants to take any of it (usually based on style, quality, brand, stock and sell back price) then they will probably offer you either cash or store credit in a portion of the price they'll sell your old things for. They will most likely offer you more credit than cash, and if you like the store take the credit, then you have a reason to come back!
Awesome things I've gotten secondhand:
-brand new with tags: ann taylor skirt (70$ orig. paid 12$)
-like new tommy hilfiger sailboat print skirt, priced 12$, bought with store credit, paid .34 cents.

So, thrifting, while depending where you go can be frustrating and sometimes dirty, 99% of the time it will be very rewarding. No matter how you do it you are helping the environment, and are getting something awesome, stylish, and definitely a good deal out of it!
Happy thrifting, and sorry this was such a wordy post!

Welcome!

Welcome to A Dose of Darling.

If you're aware of this blog already, you are probably familiar with my tumblr account. You might also be wondering what happened to that blog. Well, it's still there, but i won't be updating it. I made the move to blogger because I was frustrated with tumblr's photo set up, and i wanted to be able to better explain my photos in the future. So, I moved to blogger, but I haven't yet figured out a couple things:

-if anyone knows how to import my post from tumblr to here, I would be very happy :)
-also, please let me know if anyone knows how to send links to ne posts straight to facebook/twitter.

Thanks!!


Also, I probably will not be updating for a couple weeks because of exams, and projects, and such, so please post answers to the above questions, and/or any ideas for the blog! Thanks!!