Friday Favorites

Even though I had Wednesday off, this has felt like the longest week ever! As always, I pushed my body to do more and sacrificed sleep in the process of trying not to miss anything this week. I left work early on Tuesday to back to the apartment and last minute pack and clean up the apartment before heading home to Jersey for the 4th. My mom and I planned it as a surprise for my dad, so when I knocked on our front door he was very shocked to see me there on the doorstep. It was a short visit home, but I didn’t let that stop me from taking advantage of every minute of being at home. Seriously, I only slept like 5 hours that night! Continue reading “Friday Favorites”

Friday Favorites

It finally feels like it is summer outside and my wardrobe and I are loving every minute of this sunshine. This past weekend was nonstop with back to back plans, a short trip home to Jersey, working a blogger event at Loft, bringing Ed the cat to Philly and squeezing in some time for friends not to mention the much-needed apartment cleaning and many loads of laundry. Adulting is hard sometimes! I was hoping to have a lazy weekend with my cat, but those plans were quickly replaced with another busy, social weekend! Continue reading “Friday Favorites”

The Best Items to Purchase on Target.com

For years, my weekly highlight would be going to Target once a week in the evening to just walk around and pick up a few essentials. Some days I would actually come home with the items that I really needed, but most days I would come home with a new lamp, new comforter and some throw pillows that didn’t match anything… but they were on clearance! When I first moved into the apartment, it took me a few days to realize that a lot of the things I always had on hand without thinking about were not in my apartment. I would need a paper towel in the morning to wrap up a bagel on my way out the door or a Clorox wipe to clean my kitchen counters and not have it. Even cooking dinner at night I realized that I didn’t have things I just always had in the pantry at my parent’s house. I started to walk to Target after work or on Saturday mornings, but that walk back home with all of my purchases was brutal. I’m the type of gal that over shops at Target, so I knew that if I physically went to a Target store I could only buy five things.

I then remembered that Target.com offers free shipping with $35 orders and spending that much money is pretty easy to do! With moving to a new apartment, I had a lot of things I needed right away but didn’t feel like struggling to get it up 15 floors to my apartment. I will be in my apartment and realize that I need something so I can easily add it to my shopping cart using the Target App.  The women at the front desk have called me the crazy package lady because I order from Target once a week and I get a ton of packages delivered in just two days. The convenience is just too good not to take advantage of.

The week before moving into my apartment, I ordered some stuff on Target.com and strategically placed the order to arrive the day I moved in. I had some home decor and essentials delivered like a shower curtain, a shower liner, laundry detergent, some basic cleaning supplies, etc. We all know how Target has everything, so by taking advantage of ordering online, I can get everything delivered and only purchase the items I need.

Since I am always ordering essentials from Target, I thought I would share what the best items are to have delivered rather than buying in store. Another piece of advice is to sign up for eBates. I was a little late to the game because I really didn’t understand it, but you get a small commision everytime you order online. I could have made so much money when I did my big orders last month if I had used it! So if you are looking for convenience, good prices (you can easily apply coupons to your orders!) and not have to leave your home to shop, then keep reading to find out what my favorite items are to order from Target.

If you are interested, you can check out what I recently purchased from Target HERE.

The Best Items To Order From Target

Household Essentials

Once a month, I will drive out into the suburbs and do a big grocery shop for the month. I will get everything I might need so I only have to carry everything from my car up to my apartment once and not have to worry about it until the next month. The first time I did my big grocery shop, I bought a lot because I needed to stock up on the essentials and holy cow there were a lot of trips from my car to the 15th floor! The second time I did my big monthly shop, I walked around with the Target app open and added things to my cart that I would have bought, but could easily have delivered. I ordered aluminum foil, some cleaning supplies, paper towels and Glade Plug-In Refills. Whenever I think of something I just add it to my shopping cart on the Target app and then check out on a Thursday or Friday.

Personal Care Products

Target is always running promotions when you buy personal care products in bulk. Usually, when you spend $20 you can get a $5 gift card for a future purchase. I recently bought a ton of face washes, soap, toothpaste and tons of shampoo to store in my linen closet so I never run out. Take advantage of buying a ton of products to get the gift card and then you can “shop” your own closet when you need another. For a while, I was going to Target to get new shampoo anyway, but ordering it is so much easier.

Groceries

I love how easy it is to purchase most groceries on Target’s website because it takes a big chunk of time out of my day when I go to the grocery store. I have to shop, then park my car in the parking garage and make a few trips up to my apartment. I am exhausted by the time I am done and I swear I will never have to work out again after carrying everything! I like to always have soup, snacks and other goodies in my apartment and found that I can easily order nonperishable foods online. Ya know when it’s midnight and you are craving Cheez-It’s? Well maybe it is just me, but every time I crave a snack I can add it to my shopping cart. My entire bottom shelf is just bottled beverages like Vitamin Water, Coke, and Snapple. After a few trips lugging all of these to my apartment, I decided the one-click shop was a lot easier!

Pet Essentials

The week before my cat moved into my apartment, I immediately ordered everything I would need for him. I didn’t even think of going to the store to get food and litter. Pet supplies can get heavy, and it was a lot easier to take it all from the mailroom up to my apartment using a cart. You can also take advantage of subscribing to items, so they are automatically delivered every few weeks and you usually save 5% or something when you do.

Furniture

Shopping for furniture can be fun until you realize that you need to find friends to help carry it up a few flights of stairs! I definitely took advantage of ordering lamps and furniture online because it was perfectly packaged so it wouldn’t break in a box. My pink chair and tripod lamp had to be assembled when it arrived, but that was so much easier than trying to get it on the elevator already assembled. Take advantage of the free shipping and have it delivered if you find something in stores but don’t feel like trying to find a way to fit it into your car. I really love Target’s furniture and most importantly it fits my budget.

Just about anything…..

Target has about anything you could possibly need, so save the time and energy as you take advantage of free shipping. It felt weird at first ordering everything online but then I realized how much time I saved not going to the store every week. Let me know what your favorite items are at Target!

Loft Summer Celebration Blogger Event

img_2845-1img_2764I am so excited to share my experience and some photos of the Loft on Walnut Summer Celebration event on the blog today. It honestly was such a surprise to be invited because while I call myself a “blogger”, I feel more like a wannabe blogger because I don’t put as much time and energy in it like other bloggers do. This little blog started as a creative outlet like most blogs start, but I don’t pay for photos, I use my iPhone to take pictures and my mom is taking most of my outfit photos!  So, of course, this event felt like a “hey mom, I made it moment!” One of the exciting parts of this whole day was being called a blogger by other people besides my close friends. This honestly has and always will be a hobby of mine, so it means the world when strangers look to me as an influencer. A lot of time and energy goes into photos on Instagram or a blog post, so it means the world to me when people notice my hard work. Continue reading “Loft Summer Celebration Blogger Event”

I Just Did It

Someone recently asked me what my favorite places to eat and grab coffee were in Philly, and honestly, I don’t have a favorite. I am still in that tourist phase where I want to try everything; every little coffee shop, every restaurant, I want to do everything that Philly has to offer. I have had to explain to a few people recently that I just moved to Philly. Like literally,  I still have a box or two unpacked in my closet and I am still buying lamps for the apartment. My decision to move to Philly was made quickly and everything that happened between that decision making and the movers setting up my bed in the apartment was only two weeks. On a Thursday, my life was turned upside down and then shaken really hard so none of it would ever look the same. An unexpected end to a relationship I thought was going somewhere, an unexpected corporate policy causing me to leave my job and basically my career path. There I was, single and unemployed. The following Thursday was my last day at the job I had for the last year and a half. A job I loved from the very first day. Basically, it was the first job that I felt like I could do and felt very supported in my role. I lost a career and that support system that kept me coming to work each day. I could feel my depression/anxiety started to creep in and I knew that if I didn’t come up with a plan quick, I would lay in bed all day feeling bad for myself. I didn’t want to feel lost and hopeless. So I did it. I had this plan for three years that “one day I will move back to Philly”. For the last year or so, I had no real reason to because I was living at home and I loved my job. Luckily, a few months prior I had started to go on job interviews through a recruiter in big Philadelphia law firms for an office job. I had not heard back for months, which is normal for this size of firms.

My last day at my job was a Thursday and on Friday, my parents and I got in the car and drove to Philly to sign an apartment lease. I just did it. I made the decision that for the first time since I graduated from college I had no real plans or commitments and could do anything I wanted. It was now or never. Those two weeks before my move were spent being busy from the minute I woke up until I went to bed. I didn’t want any free time because I would start to overthink this big life change. Instead of I am moving to Philly, I would turn it into I need a couch, hire movers, pack up my entire life, overthink about how much pots and pans were. I couldn’t let my brain go there. I stuck to one decision and one task only. I was moving to Philly.

I love to do lists because they help me break down my day and I like to have control over what needs to get done that day. However, I tried to not write too many to do lists because this move was already terrifying enough, I didn’t need a long list to scare me too. I needed to constantly turn my negative mindset and turn it into something positive. I would wake up in the morning and get anxious that I was sleeping in the guest room because I no longer had a bed set up in my bedroom because it was taken apart because I am moving to Philly. I would turn that negativity into the excitement that comes with moving like I get to decorate a new apartment and start over in life.

People often say that they could never pack up their life and switch careers to move to a new city in only two weeks. People have called it scary or brave, but for me, it is just something I needed to do. For a while, my life had lost direction and I felt like all I did was work, go home, sleep and repeat. I saw other people in their twenties going out with friends and making memories. All I did was work and I didn’t live close to friends. I wanted a change, so I had to keep these plans simple before I made myself chicken out of the whole thing.

When I came up with this idea to move to Philly, I asked myself if it was actually possible. I came up with reasons why it could work out before I troubled my mind with the many reasons of how it could fail. Financially, this was possible because I did have the money set aside for moving costs. I would use all of my savings, but I thought it was a good use of my money. Could I make this happen quickly? I had nothing else going on. Was this plan actually realistic? The crazy thing is that this plan actually could happen. I made the decision to move to Philly and magically everything fell into place when it needed to. I moved to Philly and while the movers were setting up my couch, I got the call for a final interview for a job.

I guess I am kind of crazy to move to a new city with a new apartment, new career at a new job. But this is me starting over at 25 years old. Now every decision or obstacle that I face, I try to simplify it to one task and just do it. I hope I can inspire you to do something that you have always wanted to do. You don’t need the perfect outcome pre-planned before you do something big. As long as you realistically can see it working out, just do it. Now that I look back on one of the most challenging weeks of my life, I realize it all happened for a reason because I got so comfortable in my routine. Why would I ever leave a job I love to start over? Why would I choose to drain my savings for an apartment when I was just fine living at home.

Stop making excuses, put aside the fear and just do it.