Date Night

Hey all!

I think a more appropriate title for this outfit would be "The Date Night That Never Happened." Last weekend I went to Pennsylvania for a work trip. I preached at a church on Sunday and was flying back to Elgin on Monday night, so Chandy and I were going to do something fun on Sunday night. Our date nights usually include burgers and Skee-ball. 

I packed this outfit so that I could wear with my lovely new skirt that My Sister's Closet sent my way. I probably would never pick this shape of skirt out my own - I'm usually all about the fit and flare, so to wear this more straight style that is tighter made me feel a little self-conscious. But then I just thought to myself "YOLO!" I liked the color of the skirt a lot, so I was going to wear it out for a rare date night with my King Goober ("Honey, what should I call you on my blog?" This is the answer that I get.) 

Only that date night NEVER HAPPENED. Instead we got some snow and had to stay in and watch Sherlock - not necessarily a bad thing. It was wonderful way to spend an evening; only it didn't require a skirt and heels!

So, when I came back to Elgin, I got one of my housemates take some shots of me before she and I had a housemate date night. So, I guess this skirt did get to have a date night after all! 

Skirt c/o - My Sister's Closet 

Target top - Thrifted ($1.50)

Cardigan, Shoes, Necklace, and Earrings - Thrifted 

Purse - Thrifted ($2.00)

Tights - I don't remember? 

Watch - Grandfather's

Lipstick - Urban Decay's "Catfight" - a Valentine's gift from my amazing boyfriend! 

xoxo, 

Laura 

Weekend Adventures

These past two weekends have been absolutely wonderful. 

Two weekends ago (Valentine's Day weekend) I got to see the love of my life! Corny, but true. Kuchanda came to see me and we stayed at an AirBnB in Chicago. It was cold (and by cold, I mean cold.) So, we stayed in a lot, only adventuring out to see the Cambodian American Heritage Museum and to get donuts. Yeah, I know. But they were probably the best donuts that I have ever had. If you are ever near Glazed and Infused- just trust me, go. 

So, a lot of our plans to explore downtown were thwarted by the extreme cold and long lines (two  hours to go up the Skydeck. TWO HOURS.) Instead we got Shamrock Shakes, went back to the apartment to watch Sherlock, order pizza in, and cuddle - it was awesome!

And then this past weekend I was in California! It was so wonderful. I didn't realize how much winter weather was getting me down - a dose of 65 degrees is what I needed. I was in Lake Arrowhead, CA for a discernment retreat; it was up in the mountains about an hour and half away from LA. It was so gorgeous. I have never been somewhere so pretty - we stayed in these cottages that weren't too far from the lake. Also, the conference itself was wonderful. I met a lot of cool people with awesome stories and ideas. 

And probably one of my favorite pictures of all time... all the Historic Peace Churches participants in the photo booth together. 

Back in PA this coming weekend for more adventures! It is travel season, y'all!

xoxo,

Laura

Gee, Look Who is Three!

Thrifting Through Life turns three today! 

I can hardly believe that three years ago today I was sitting in my sophomore dorm room and started to blog!

This past year definitely hasn't been my best blogging year - hence the limited outfit posts. However, it was a pretty awesome living year! This time last year I was learning a lot during my senior internship at a domestic violence shelter. I was getting ready to graduate and figure out where I was going next. 

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be spending the next couple of months after graduating meeting all sorts of amazing people, traveling to Disney, moving to Illinois, and falling in love. 

Thank you to everyone who has supported me and my little blog this past year - you are all amazing and wonderful. 

So, here's to another year of awesome blogging and life. 

Oh, and of course, thrifting.  

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xoxo, 

Laura

Pink Stripes and New Frames

Hey everyone! 

I hope that you are all having a wonderful day! This is a little dress that I wore to work today; I love this dress because it the pink stripes are perfect for the Valentine season and it is really easy to throw on when you slept in (because you were on the phone with your boyfriend until midnight. Ooops.) 

A sort of funny story about this dress: I almost did not buy this dress last year because of the brand name. The brand is "Nick and Dom," which happen to be the names of two guys that broke my heart in high school and college. I'm glad that I realized how silly that was! And for $5, I couldn't really turn it down. 

You may have noticed from my last post that I got new glasses! I needed a new prescription, but I was kind of sad to give up my Firmoo glasses. So, I was really excited when I got an email asking to do another review! I picked these tortoise shell ones that are similar to my other new ones, but a little lighter which is nice when I wear golds and browns. I really like Firmoo glasses, they are always very reliable, which is nice for clumsy me. 

Anyway, life is pretty typical around here. Battling the cold and getting things done at work. I have been spending my nights watching "Bones," writing letters, and reading Sarah Bessey's amazing blog.

Speaking of blogs: my wonderful and stylish housemate Theresa started her own blog, Shamrocks and Sequins! Her style is a perfect mix of edgy and classy and I'm so glad to have another stylish lady in the house to talk blogs with!

Well, I'm off to hang out with some of my housemates and prep for my weekend in the city!

I hope that you all have lovely evening!

xoxo, 

Laura 

Dress - Thrifted 

Sweater tights - TJ Maxx

Boots - Christmas gift last year

Mouse necklace - Church yard sale

Earrings and Bracelet - Thrifted 

Glasses c/o - Firmoo

Lipstick - Wet n'Wild Cherry Picking 

Orange Suede in Geneva

Hey there everyone! 

You might have noticed a few small changes around here - hopefully there will be more to come! I'm working on updating my blog a little bit; one of my friends is one of the IT guys at my office and has been helping CSS clueless me. He actually took these pictures too (thanks, Don!) 

These pictures were taken in the cutest little town called Geneva that isn't too far from where I'm living. This has been my third time there since I moved to Illinois and definitely not my last. The weekend these shots were taken, my housemates and I were doing some window shopping at the antique stores there. We also stopped at this awesome consignment shop that used to be an old church; half their sales are consignment and half of them are donated to the local hospital! Whenever I'm at a new thrift store or something of the like, I always try to ask what their proceeds go to - it reminds me one of the main reasons why I love to thrift - supporting local business/organizations!

This outfit is a little different from what I have posted on the blog before, but I love it. It feels very me, which is kind of surprising. I have been leaning towards more casual outfits and making them unique with some interesting accessories. But, my favorite part of this outfit? My jacket. I got it at a yard sale about a year and half ago; my aunt's 55+ community was having their community sale on a weekend I was home from school. It was one of the last sales that my mom and I stopped at and I was running low on cash. So, of course, I found this amazing vintage suede jacket that was only $5 being sold by the cutest elderly couple ever. I tried it on and fell even more in love. But, I only had $3.50 in my wallet. I don't mind haggling, but I knew that this jacket was completely worth the price they had and didn't want to rip them off. The lady saw that I had some ones in my hand and that my mom and I were digging for quarters, so she said to her husband, "oh, take the $3.50 - she will really appreciate the jacket." I think she was tickled that I liked this jacket so much. And I still do! 

Other than fun weekend trips, life is pretty routine here! I'm about to start traveling a lot for work, but not before the boyfriend comes to visit for Valentine's Day! I'm super excited; I've only been in Chicago once since I moved, so I'm glad he and are going to be able to explore it more together! 

What about you all? Any fun Valentine's Day plans in the works?

Vintage Jacket - Sears Roebuck - Yardsale

Cardigan - Hand me down from my sister

Jeans - Gap - Thrifted

T-Shirt - Old Navy 

Necklace - Gift from Amy 

Pearl beanie - Charlotte Russe (on super clearance! Also probably the first "new" thing I bought in months.)

Shoes - Target - Thrifted

xoxo, 

Laura 

Chilly Nights, Summer Memories

Hey everyone! Eights days in and it is still blowing my mind that it is 2015; when did that happen? 

I hope that everyone had blessed and memorable holidays! I got to travel home to Pennsylvania for two weeks and it was heaven. I got to see my family, the boyfriend, and a lot of friends that I haven't seen since summer - which is when these pictures were taken! Gosh, I can't even fathom not wearing something on my legs right now; we had -30 wind-chills this morning. It is so cold, I don't even want to talk about it.

I didn't really take a lot of pictures when I was on my blogging break and I'm looking at these and thinking "what the heck was wrong with you, 2014 Laura? Were you too busy adjusting to post-graduation life, falling in love, working, and preparing to move out of state to take pictures of your outfits?" The answer is yes, yes I was. 

But, I found these pictures buried on my memory card and all these memories came back to me. These pictures were taken on a photo shoot adventure with my bestie Maggie; we had such a blast: there are many outtakes of me coughing, giggling at something Maggie said, and my "oh crap, you caught me getting my picture taken" awkward face that happened when a bunch of youths walked by.  I have some shots of her too, that I will definitely need to post soon. 

Now, she's engaged and living in Alabama! I'm still learning how drastically life can change when you aren't confined in the structure and schedule of college life, something that is both terrifying and exciting at the same time. Anyway, I got to see Miss Maggie over the holidays; we just got to go a coffee shop and talked about our families, different books, jobs, our fellas, and of course, her wedding plans. I can't wait until we are both back in Pennsylvania again (around September) and are able to accomplish some really awesome wedding plans for her special day! I might not even have to wear two pairs of sweater tights...fingers crossed!

Dress and Shoes - Thrifted 

Earrings and PA Dutch necklace - Yard sale

Belt - From another dress

Lipstick - Wet n' Wild Cherry Picking 

xoxo, 

Laura 

I Needed a Break...

And it certainly has been quite a break. 

I don't know if this is a normal post-college thing or just because of all the various things going on in my life, but I feel like I have changed a lot since May.

When I first started blogging and saw other bloggers that would take breaks, I ignorantly thought, "I'll never need to do that! Blogging is great!"

And blogging is great. I missed it a lot.

But, with everything that was going on in my life, there was some extra stress that blogging added. I felt a lot of pressure to keep up on tons and tons of blogs. So much so that I couldn't keep up with blogging and reading other blogs.

Besides all the changes going on in my life, that I'm going to mention below, then my five year old computer that I've had since high school, finally bit the dust and I took that as a sign to really think about a blogging break:

And I came to a main, almost hidden reason that I felt like I needed a break was that I couldn't ignore the feeling that my blogging "voice" was kind of...off. Or, honestly, maybe I never really found it in the first place? That my voice was always different somehow. That I never really showed my true self. That there was "blogging Laura" who just talked about thrifty clothes and then there was "real life Laura" who cares about and does a lot of different things besides just clothes. Don't get me wrong, thrifting and fashion is a big part of my life, but it isn't the only part of my life. And I felt sometimes that people who knew about my blog would think that "blogging Laura" was how "real life Laura" was too: someone who just cared about the used clothes that she wore and not much else.

And it all comes back to the great blogging dilemma: how do you feel like yourself on your blog, without over sharing? I felt like I shared very very surface level things, so not to hit that over sharing point. But, then I also felt that my blog lost some spark, if you will. I never got to show some of my other passions; things like my connection to my church denomination, my feminist beliefs, and social justice concerns that have stemmed from my social work studies. 

So, in an attempt to get back into blogging in a way that I can feel more like me, here are a couple of major life changes that happened since May:

I moved to Illinois!  I'm not too far from Chicago, currently. I'm working at my church's denominational offices for the next nine months now, helping to plan one of our major conference and getting to help with various other projects. I'm doing all of this through a volunteer program in my church called Brethren Volunteer Service or BVS. I moved to Illinois after a three week orientation in Maryland. 

BVS was started in the 1940's during as an alternative option for conscientious objectors - those who did not believe in going to war.
My denomination is relatively small and that it makes it easy to get involved at the denominational level, especially when I grew up in an active church and went to a historical Brethren college. Being Brethren has drastically impacted my life in many ways and being in BVS is an extension of that. I'm sure I will share more about being active in the Church of the Brethren and currently being in BVS.

If you follow me on Instagram at all, you might have picked up on this, but I'm in a relationship now! His name is Kuchanda; we met in April and have been dating since June. How we met is its own story and post, but my summer was filled with Skee-Ball adventures, ice cream runs, and movie dates.
We are currently doing the long-distance thing, which sucks - much more than we both could have imagined, (that is also another potential post) but it is absolutely 100% worth it. He is probably the sweetest, most supportive and caring person that I have ever met. Even from 506 miles away, he makes me crack up laughing or blush by saying something super adorable and cutesy. In the past seven months or so, he has become my best friend and my biggest support! 

And trust me, I'm holding back a lot. My friends have dubbed us that disgustingly cute couple - you know the kind that make you go "awwww"  and want to throw up simultaneously? Yeah, that is pretty much how we are. 
I don't want to over gush and be that girl, but you'll be seeing/hearing about him a little more around here, for sure!

So, those are the two major things going on in my life.

And of course, I have still been thrifting up a storm! 

Not EVERYTHING has changed. 

It's good to be back! 

xoxo, 

Laura