wishlist wednesday!

Hello, everyone! It's been a little bit--I'm trying to decide how best to spend my time. So far, most of it's still devoted to being master of the house: chores, shopping for groceries, cooking, you know. I love it, but it's also left me kind of tired! I haven't gone out shopping a whole lot lately, which I used to really enjoy. Yesterday, though, my mom and I spent a day out--I thought it'd be fun to talk about, and share some fun wishlist items at the same time! 

We started off by going to the post office, where I mailed a dress out for swap. I was really bummed to let it go.

Wouldn't you be? I actually got it from another swap awhile back, all the way from Canada! I waited on it for weeks because I was so excited about it, but it was totally wrong for my body. :( I'm not quite tall enough to pull it off! Hopefully the new owner gets more use out of it. As for me, I can't wait for my new prize! Pictures to come...it has bows on it. 

Anyway, then we went off to the mall together! That's one of our favorite things to do when we have time. Trying on clothes is my favorite, and if it's a good day, I can get my mom to try some things on too. Looking back now, I wish I'd taken more pictures of the things I put on. Some were pretty bad (to be fair, I was hoping the lobster dress I found was going to look nicer) and others were so good, I was sad to leave them behind! 

At a store called The Limited, I tried on these beauties: 

Is it pretty obvious I have a chambray thing going on?! Sadly, I had to leave most of those behind, though my mom did score a 50% off everything coupon and was nice enough to get me the light blue shirt! :) I'd been looking for one like it forever, and with that sweet deal it was even cheaper than some of the lesser-quality ones I'd seen at stores like Forever 21. I learned that I enjoy stores like The Limited because I'm not huge on embellishment--they specialize in classic, simple pieces (like colored pants and basic sweaters!), which I tend to gravitate towards. I totally get that for some people, the more bedazzled the better, but I'm just not as into it. For me, there's nothing worse than spying a cute dress from across the room, only to get closer and realize that someone added studs or zippers or cutouts where there didn't really need to be any. (If you're ever at the mall and hear someone lamenting that perfectly good pair of mint pants that was ruined by a thick zipper up the sides, it's probably me.) 

My mom ended up picking up a nice pair of black pants for work, but we both secretly wanted to take it all! 

Later, at Express, I tried on a red dress that looked pretty cute: sadly, the back was cut extra low and it was so stretchy you could see everything through it. Ever tried one of those on? I'll keep looking, though, I love red dresses. If this one was still in stock on Modcloth, I'd get it! 

After the mall, we went to Target really quickly to pick up new kitchen supplies. At the mall, we looked at some of the more upscale shops for fun (who doesn't love to do that?!) but the prices made us want to cry! Some really nice-looking kitchen things were ON SALE for $800! Until one of us wins the lottery, we figured we'd better head someplace that gave us more realistic options. We'd been talking about replacing our ancient cookware forever--it was all scratched up and breaking, and since I cook every day, I needed better things to work with. We debated on several different sets before we settled on a nice-looking one that was pretty affordable!

That one.

I don't know what it says about me that I'm this excited to have a brand new set of cookware, but I'm over the moon. I can't wait to use it. We also got a new egg pan, since my family's all about the eggs. Maybe now I can start sharing some more recipes! 

I'm really excited about my new shirt and my cookware! I love finding one thing (or ten!) that you've been searching for forever, and then bam! There's the perfect one! I have a huge list of retro-classic items I'm hoping to slowly acquire by fall, but I think I'll share that one next Wednesday...I'm still having that issue where I know what I'm looking for, but I haven't seen any pictures of it on store sites or magazines yet!

Am I the only one who gets that feeling? Like there's the perfect item I would just draw up for myself if I could? Does anyone else have those things they've been looking all over for but can't quite find? A couple more of mine include some classic a-line skirts, sturdy oxfords, cute button-downs in soft colors (long and short sleeve, preferably with lace!) and simple cardigans! What's on your wishlist that you haven't been able to track down yet?

- Katie

{ vacation: san diego }

It's been a little bit!

That's mostly because this past week, my family, Marcus and I were all getting ready to go on a great trip we'd been planning for awhile! Mom's been wanting to go back to San Diego forever--last time we went was probably about seven or eight years ago. While that in and of itself was a fun experience, it had been a long time and my poor mom was pretty tired out from her job. She'd been saving up vacation time all year!

The four days we were there went by too quickly, unfortunately.

While we were there, we:

• Enjoyed some good food, including breakfast time at the hotel's Waffle Spot and their dinner joint, Amigo Spot. (They're big on spots there, I guess). My youngest brother, Tommy, had especially missed these restaurants. I suspect it was a nostalgia thing. 
• Visited the Gaslamp District and shopped around some shops I'd dreamed of seeing, mainly including the Bettie Page store. Pictures to follow.
• Of course, went to the beach! We visited Mission Beach for the day at the beginning of our trip, and we technically went to La Jolla, even though it was just the parking lot. I guess Saturday evenings in the summertime aren't the best choice when visiting a beach, because we had to turn around and go home! :( 
• Spent a day at Balboa Park--this day was sort of mixed, because the original plan had been to go to either Sea World or the San Diego Zoo. Neither of those things happened, mostly due to lack of planning, so the day ended up being sort of up in the air. We went to go explore Balboa Park, and we also went to this science museum that was supposed to be the coolest thing but was actually kind of not. (I think it was really geared toward kids around six or seven years old). Unfortunately, it cost so much to get in that we couldn't have gone to the zoo or Sea World anyway! Oh, well--Jack ended up getting to visit a natural history museum that made his day, and mom and I went walking around the area.
• Following that, we ran into two separate groups at the Pavilion having weddings, along with a family reunion and a quinceanera. We enjoyed looking at everyone's outfits and discussing what we did and didn't like about wedding themes. 
• Played some games in our hotel room and enjoyed the swimming pool and Jacuzzi.
• Went walking with my mom every morning--we'd stop at the coffee machine in the lobby and take a walk around the Hotel Circle! It was some great bonding time! 
• Spent a lot of time watching early morning Disney Channel (I think we all really like Sophia the First now?) and Hell's Kitchen. There was a marathon one night, what else were we going to do?!
• And I got a job! There are more details to follow, but while on vacation, I got a phone call with a job offer! I'll save that for later so that I don't get too carried away in one single post.

And now, here are a couple of pictures! I probably have more around here somewhere, and I forgot to take pictures of some things I wish I had--like walks or certain foods--but these are my favorite parts of the trip!

This thing was in front of the Amigo Spot, but it always froze when we tried to take a picture!

My mom was super psyched.

They enjoyed burying Marcus in his huge hole, but he didn't have too great a time getting out of it!

This beach was REALLY crowded!

Here was the progress of this aforementioned hole! I bought him a shovel at one of the stands near the beach and he was a huge fan!

My brother was nice enough to get me a little stuffed mammoth from his special museum! He felt bad because I hadn't gotten to pick anything that day--very sweet of him! (Also, he bought me that latte. Ladies, he's a very generous boy!)

All week, I wanted some waffles, but felt they were too unhealthy...the solution? Mini waffles with some of Marcus's strawberry topping! They were so cakey! 

This volcano cake was beyond delicious. It was really tiny, and the four of us demolished it while Mom enjoyed some vanilla ice cream.

Here are just a couple of outfits I tried on at the Bettie Page store! I've wanted that green skirt in the middle forever--someday, I'll get it!

This was fun to try to get out of...

We had a really great time! Like I said, I might have more pictures later, for anyone who's interested! (I doubt too many people look on this blog regularly, but I still love to post about things like this!)

Now, I just wish we could all go back!