Monday, February 1, 2016

January in Numbers

After taking a few months off, I'm back linking up with my girl Deena for her Month in "Numbers" Post! Fingers crossed I can make it through every month this year!





 Hard to believe January is in the books!!  So friggin' scary how fast goes!  January is a typical slow, hibernating month for me.  The cold finally kicked in and we had a blizzard!  But there are also a few other things of note!  So here goes...


I cooked a lot at home but I also went out to dinner a lot.  I am participating in Carrie's #ShopFreefor3 so no money was spent on clothes, but it was all spent on food!  Ha!

6 crockpot meals made!  With the exception of a quick quesadilla here or there, everything I cooked was in the Crockpot...a girl's best friend in January!! So yummy and for me makes tons of meals for both breakfast and lunch.  Some were of the clean eating variety, some were not!
This one was definitely the easiest and super yummy!!  Love me some sweet potatoes!!

9 Nights Out  That's a lot...and EXPENSIVE! (Actually I didn't realize it was so many! Thank you Planner!!)  I'll be more of a hermit in February!



2 Girls Nights in!- Cheaper...Woo Hoo!!

2 Peapod orders delivered...in preparation for all those crockpot meal and girls nights!  Over a hundred dollars in coupons and savings between the two.  And I had a gift card!

I talked earlier about my shopping ban!  I did this last year and made it pretty far, but then fell off the wagon pretty hard!  If I can make it through the three months in the shop free group, I'll give it a go for another three months.  But the group has helped me to re-evaluate.

I've spent 0 dollars on clothes this month.  I did however, break my rule about not using my Victoria Secret Card.  But bras and underwear are necessities!!  After giving 2 bras to my sister and donating 2, I needed to replenish!  I got a really good deal, had a rewards cards to use, got free shipping and a free tank when all was said and done, so I thought it was as good a time as any to shop.

During Shop Free, I've purged and cleaned out 3 closets, donated one big-ass bag of clothes and have another bag ready to go to Thred up!

Instead of buying at Nordstrom, I returned things! $108.78 worth.  I did end up having to buy a pair of gloves there for $5.68 after losing a pair!  (A blizzard was coming!!)

That's not to say no packages were at my door in January!  I did get a few...7 to be exact!

My most favorite was my new Erin Condren Life Planner.  I bit the bullet shortly after Christmas and went ahead and purchased one of these.  I AM SO GLAD I DID!!!  The vertical layout is perfect for me and my needs and I am loving keeping track of everything!!  I might however, go broke...I want to make my planner cute and fun and have purchased 4 planner sticker orders on etsy!!

And I ordered a new set of sheets on Groupon after my most loved and favorite pair were ruined!!! :( These new ones are so not as great!!  But they're still cozy!  I am loving groupon lately. And it's 10% back at ebates!  If you're not using ebates...you should be!!  Total legit cash back!!  Sign up here!!

I also got two new pairs of shoes.  A pair of flats for work (after forgetting I threw out a few from under my desk at school before the Christmas Break!), and another pair of riding boots.  With CP and the way I walk, the soles of my right shoes tend to wear out quick.  But when my favorite boots are on clearance and I have $20 in rewards, I stock up on them!!  (Not clothes, so I'm still good!!)  *Note to any readers out there, if you're and 8 or an 8 1/2 and have shoes you no longer want, I'm looking for donations...LOL...JK!*

I was also chosen to receive the #CheersVoxBox from Influenster this month, so that was a nice surprise!



And last but not least, I ordered a book.  It's a parody of He's Just Not that into You, called Maybe He's Just an Asshole!  Ha!!  I saw it as a recommendation after pre-ordering another book and thought this might be a good read for me as of late!  And I could use a good laugh!  I haven't started reading it but will let you know how it is.

Speaking of books...I finished 2 in January! {My goal for 2106 is 16}  One was a gift and one was a library loan!  The gift, The Mistletoe Inn, I reviewed here!  The other, I finished last night, so will review in my next book post!!

The blizzard was a super fun day! 24 inches fell in my town...with other places on the Island topping out at close to 30! Come on back to the blog on Thursday to hear all about my day of the blizzard when the ladies of The Blended Blog and I get together for A Day in the Life Blog Hop!

And with that came one snow day!  Woo Hoo!!

It was a big month for me and movies!!  I saw 6 of them!
Joy- I know people loved this, and great for JLaw that she won the Golden Globe, but in all honesty, I hated it!!

The Big Short- I liked this well enough, but I think I need to see it again to really understand it better!

Spotlight- GREAT!!  And crazy!  And good for the cast for winning at the SAG Awards Saturday night!!  Go Mr. Mom!

The 33- This was good...well maybe just ok!

Focus- I really enjoyed this.  I like Will Smith and Margot Robbie!  I watched her when...in Pan Am. Anyone but me remember that show??

Brooklyn!! So, so good...my favorite of the month!  My bloggy buddy Leslie posted a review of this movie a while back and my mom had recently just seen it and reminded me about it so I saw it.  Can I just say....the ugly cry came out!!  And I think I should've been born an Irish girl in the fifties!!

{Find out details about these movies and more at IMDB!}



January at The Mishaps and Mayhem of a Solitary Life
# of posts- 10
Most read post this month- A Few Christmas Week Looks
Most viewed blog post on Facebook: Happy Birthday Mom


January saw a new year and the start of a new year of daily photos on Instagram.  #katiedaily2016.  I posted 46 pics.  Follow along with the Mishaps and Mayhem here!

I also contributed a post to The Blended Blog and was part of the January Wrap up!
Head on over to The Blended Blog to check out our new series, The Look of Love,  that begins today!

Hope you all had a wonderful January too!!! So much to look forward to in February!!  Including the Daily Style Finds: What to Wear that starts today!  Thanks to my readers who signed up!  Looking forward to it!!

Have a great week!!
Katie

11 comments:

  1. Yay, thanks for linking up! I'm super impressed with all the cloth non-buying and purging you did. Also, your food and wine or beer pics always make me thirsty.

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  2. WOW good for you for purging and not buying new clothes!
    Also, as expensive as night outs are, I bet you had a BLAST!!! I've had 1 night out in the last 6 months lol, embarassing!

    Confessions of a Frumpy Mommy

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    1. No embarrassing at all! The next one you do have will be the best because it's been a while! :)

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  3. wow, that's an impressive amount of clothes donated! Yay for nights out, even if they do get expensive :) And let's see one of your layouts for your planner! I don't do the decorating thing, but LOVE seeing everyone else's...not exactly sure why!

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    1. LOL...It's hard to get pics of my planner for some reason. I have one on tomorrow's post and a few on insta!!

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  4. Lots going on this month for you. I'm really curious about your planner. I regret the one I purchased and I'm just going to have to start over.

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    1. Oh man Carrie that stinks!! I am loving the Erin Condren I got! And the vertical layout is perfect for planning home, work and blog things!! He is my link if you want to take a look. I think it saves you $10! Your Referral Link :
      https://www.erincondren.com/referral/invite/katiemitchell

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  5. I want to get an Erin Condren, but I'm afraid I'd get distracted by all the stickers :)! Can't wait to read about the blizzard!

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  6. Wasn't Brooklyn amazing? Joy and Spotlight are on my list this month before the Oscars! I've been researching planners (and everyone is laughing at me telling me to use a phone) so I'm gonna check yours out!

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  7. Thanks for the shout out, sweets! So glad you enjoyed Brooklyn...I guess you can enjoy it and cry at the same time?! Reading this post after seeing the another reference to your life planner. So you do really love it. And you are using it not only to keep track of girls' nights out but other things, too? Did it come with stickers? Sounds like scrapbooking and I love that! Love all the snow - can't wait to read more about it. Super jeal-y over here.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to post comments! They make me smile so big!