I'm a girl for a bargain.  Always. I firmly believe in entering a department store and beelining to the clearance rack.  If I can't find what I need there then maybe I'll mosey through the rest of the store.  $20 for a top?  Hell-to-the-no! And this is when I actually coax myself into the department store, usually it's all about Target, Forever21, Pennys, Kohls, Love Culture... you get my drift.  The inexpensive stores.  (Notice I use the word "inexpensive" instead of "cheap" because it makes it sound like there's so much more quality goin on.)  For some reason I just can't part with my hard-earned dough on regular-priced items for myself.  Is this a good thing?  Yea, I'd say most of the time it is.  There's nothing like taking an EXTRA percentage off of something ALREADY marked down to get my juices flowin! 

But here's what I tend to end up with...

A bunch of tops that were really inexpensive.  Yay!
That I'm maybe only 75-80% into.  Boo.
But it's okay because I'm able to purchase more items to fill my closet for more variety!  YAY!
AAAND half of these new tops shrink, stretch, or rip after the first few washes because they're just really frikin cheaply made.  Yes, CHEAP.  Not inexpensive.  CHEAP!  BOO!

And many times I end up with ultimate clothing sadness.  So learn from my mistakes loyal blog readers (that of which I have none.  Don't think I don't know that!!!) 
Be picky about your bargains!   Follow these guidelines:

1.  Mark downs in high end stores= amazing, exciting, happy, hooray!! 
2. Mark downs in stores where clothing is already very cheap and oftentimes poorly made= boo, hiss, stay away!! Go ahead and peruse those racks but be CAUTIOUS holmes!
3.  I'm just gonna go ahead and give the kibosh to clothing at regular price that is ALREADY dirt cheap.. (like those $3 tee shirts you find at Forever21 and think, "oh wow what a great classic black top.. it can be a staple in my wardrobe I can wear it with everything!"-- uh yea for a month Amanda.  You can wear it with everything for a month until it no longer assumes the shape of a shirt anymore.

Hope this helps!
Love, Miss I-have-10-semi-nice-tops-and-25-tops-that-are-now-only-appropriate-for-couch-wear.

School 4 Life!!!

Alright, so I've resigned myself.  I always knew that school would be a major part of my life since I've wanted to be a teacher since I can remember, but after looking over some things today, well it seems as though this educational hole I've dug for myself is about to get a little bit deeper.

I always thought that I would be in and out of college in four years, no problem. I even remember sitting in an orientation for Humboldt University (wanted to go.  Glad I didn't.) where there was a student talking about how he was in his fifth year and I remember scoffing at the thought and thinking how he's probably just some lazy cheeto-fingered stoner. WRONG!!  It's me!!  I'm the cheeto-fingered stoner!! (sort of, not really.) But it's my fifth year and I'm nowhere close to done. This isn't for my lack of trying, but rather because of the chaos the university system is in right now.  I'm currently an Engish major, one of hundreds at my university.  Most of the upper division courses I need have one measly section offered that holds 40 seats max, not to mention they're mosty morning classes.  These classes are usually a no-go for me because 1) I work regular hours like many many other adults! and 2) The chances of me getting into these coveted classes is nill because of the limited availability of seats.  And forget waitlists, these days many professors are told by their department NOT to accept any waitlisted students, that they can't afford it. 

Excuse me, wait.  They can't afford it??  What about my peers and me who are paying thousands to be a full-time student and can only snag a few classes? 

I'm not going to get into the money aspect of this..thats reserved for a later post.  *Spoiler alert*  Federal student loans are BULLSHIT!! After a year of fighting for my student loan in a process that I'm still losing sleep over, I'm relatively sure I'll do whatever I can to NOT have to deal with this everrrrrrrrrr again.

Alright, stepping off my political soapbox here.  Basically here is what's happening.  I'm absolutely off my rocker and am making a decision that I'll probaby kick myself for during the next few years.  The people around me will probably kick me too, they have permission, because they'll have to suffer just being around me.  Yea, there will be suffering.  But *hopefully* in the long run this will be the best decision I could have made.

Remember how I said I thought I'd be out of college in 4 years?  Well that also means I never thought I'd be switching my major during my FIFTH year.  yep.  Former English major, meet new Liberal Studies major with a concentration in Exceptional Children and Youth...with a possible additional concentration in English.

Crazy?  Yea, I know.

About Friends..

It seems that over the past few years the topic of friendship has been on my mind a lot..

Having friends should be easy, right?  I mean throughout our years in school we have tons of friends, but upon entering adulthood they wisp away.  And yes, this is normal because we're all coming into ourselves and creating our own lives and Lord knows I have many days where after work and school I really just don't want to be around anyone but what I'm wondering is...

Exactly how long do you go between spending time with someone before you and that person "used to be" friends?

I have handfuls of friends who I was close with in High School and the first few years preceding it who I now don't speak to at all.  Many of these friends I would be glad to run into, but then there are many who I would probably groan at having to stop and chat with if we ran into each other in Target.

Then I have those friends who I can go for months, maybe even a year without seeing and when I'm reunited with them it's like no time has passed. 

Then there are the friends I thought I was really close with.  One whom I grew up with and get choked up about remembering how we spent years in sleepovers talking till morning about boys and how our life would be when we grew up. She and I were close from 2nd grade till we graduated high school, and I feel we have maintained our friendship since then, going to lunch..seeing each other at bbqs and whatnot.. She got married a few months ago, I think it was a big wedding.  I wasn't invited.  Of course I'm happy for her but all I can think about is how this summer she relayed the story of how he asked her in vivid detail.. So why wasn't I invited?  This just makes me wonder..what kind of friends are we?

I lost one friend this year to family circumstance and one to "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me".  Sometimes it's best to let people go..

And of the people you have to let go.. what about those you would love to be friends with but who never call? How fun is it to be in a friendship when you're always the ones making plans, and organizing. Shouldn't friends make the effort to spend time with you too?


Like the handful of close girlfriends I used to have who still get together... I have a lingering suspicion I'm not invited to their parties or nights out because I don't really drink and they all do.  But isn't that a silly reason?  And if that's what they value then should I really sweat it? 

I have many valuable relationships in my life that I would not trade for ANYTHING.  But the fact is I do not have close friends who I spend valuable time with, and this makes me sad sometimes.  Is it just growing up?  Am I not fun unless I'm drinking?  Do I need to just continue being the perpetual planner?  I don't really have a conclusion on this one...