Versona Accessories Giveaway!

Update: LK107 is the winner! Hope you find some awesome things!

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted about the grand opening of Versona Accessories location in Newport News, Virginia. I was super excited about this opportunity for a few reasons:

1) This necklace I saw on their website. 

2) The past few years I really haven't cared much about fashion. This year I've found myself caring a little bit more, so the timing of this opportunity was perfect. 

3) The chain is based out of Charlotte. Charlotte = Love. 

They had their grand opening today. I've been housebound for a couple of days due to the snow, so I was excited to escape for a little bit and see what they had to offer. It turns out they have a lot to offer, and all at very budget friendly prices. The store reminded me a little of Charming Charlie's. Everything was organized by color, the styles were trendy, but not overly youthful. I think that any woman, despite her age, could find something on their well stocked racks to suit their style & personality. 

I'm not at all trendy, but the moment I walked in the store, I found quite a few things I loved. 

This dress for example. It's in my signature color, it's a respectable length for a 30 year old woman, and it was inexpensive. I didn't love the way it was styled... I feel like it had one too many necklaces and I hated the belt, but the dress itself was super cute. 

The quatrefoil necklace... This came home with me (the navy blue one). At $11.99, I'll probably go back and get the white one too.

This wall of scarves was so cheerful. I love scarves. LOVE them. I was excited to see so many summery styles. They had multiple sections like this set up throughout the store, all sorted by color. No matter what color you're looking for, you will have no trouble finding something appropriate. 

These anchor cardigans were adorable, and so perfect for spring. They were light weight and came in a variety of cheerful colors. If these bright colors aren't your style, they also had them in more neutral colors in another section of the store.

These initial necklaces were adorable (and only $9.99)! I love the style of the necklace. From a distance, it looks like a proper monogram.

I came home with these three pieces, all for about $32. I'm super excited about each of them!

These stores are popping up all over the country, and if there is one in your area, I have a great giveaway for you! I was given a $25 gift card to give away to one of my readers!

Want to win? Here's what you can do (two chances to win):

1) Leave a comment here telling me about what accessories you're coveting for the spring.
2) Tweet about the giveaway (leave a comment here with the link to your tweet).

All entries must be received by 2/6/2014 at 11:59pm (EST). A winner will be randomly selected on Friday, 2/7/2014.

The fine print: I was compensated with a promotional item for hosting this giveaway, but all opinions are my own. 

I'm obsessed with Homegoods.

After making my Whole Foods run last week, I made what was supposed to be a quick stop at Home Goods in Virginia Beach. 

Honestly, I didn't have high hopes in their selection. The store was in a shabby shopping center. 

I need to stop judging books by their covers. 

This store was FULL of beautiful things, high end brands, designer shoes, etc. Most of the stuff I fell in love with was out of my budget, but fun to look at anyways. 

This gorgeous, hammered mirror was $199, and would look so amazing in an entry way, or a dining room.

I thought this dresser was interesting. The drawers were deep, I loved the contrast of the multiple colors. I found it to be rustic, and very cool. And also way out of my price range.

These. Stools. Are. FABULOUS. Expensive ($179), but fabulous. 

Obsessed with these nailhead trim chairs. Love, love, LOVE them!

Loved this chair too. 

These lamps (there were two) were awesome. I loved the color of the base & the burlap-esque shade. If we weren't planning on redoing our bedroom, I would have bought these. Reasonably priced at $40 each.

Three words: Christian Dior Pumps. I have never seen huge designer names in a TJ Maxx before. These were priced at $499. 

LOVED these shoes! And a price point more in our budget: $149. 

Not everything in the store was fabulous...

This horse: $799. Seriously?

This horrid chair: $1500... on sale for $599. 

Across the bridge, the Homegoods in Williamsburg had equally fabulous things:

These chairs: GORGEOUS. The pattern, the colors... I want them. 

Obsessed with these stools. Priced at $149 each. 

Love, love, LOVE this mirror. It was a little steep, priced at $199, but it's beautiful. 

But this little beauty... it actually went home with me =) At $80, I couldn't resist. 

Fabulous Finds at HomeGoods in Williamsburg, VA.

I love HomeGoods. Love it. Favorite store ever. There is a brand new one in Williamsburg, which is about 25 minutes from our apartment. The great thing about being unemployed is having lots of time to window shop & browse. The bad thing about being unemployed? Spending money frivolously isn't the smartest thing you can do. 

But even though I'm trying not to buy stuff (and I'm doing okay with that), it sure isn't stopping me from looking! 

This metal & wood shelf thing I found is completely amazing. It's made to go outside, but my cats would absolutely LOVE it! At $250, I think it was reasonably priced. We don't have room for it, but I love it.

Loved these signs. They had four different phrases, and many different colors. They were made of wood though, and not canvas. Of course, I loved the cupcake one ;) 

This yellow cabinet is adorable. I want it for our little entry way. I think it would look super cute beneath the upholstered mirror I made last year. Priced at $179, I'll probably go back for this piece!

I also think this table would look amazing underneath my mirror. But I think it's a little overpriced. I'd actually love to DIY this... maybe I'll pick up a cheap table next time I'm at Ikea.  

Thought this bookcase was pretty. Love the back, sides & glass shelving. 

If I had a child, I would have bought this kid sized rocking chair. It was absolutely precious and the neutral colors would work for a boy or a girl. Priced at $50, I really, really wanted this. 

This pet bad was AWESOME. And even better? It was on clearance, and priced at $25. If Hermione were smaller, I would have bought this!

This one was pretty adorable too... made me wish we had a smaller dog ;)

This HomeGoods had an AWESOME gourmet food section. The I bought some spices & seasonings at TJ Maxx not too long ago, and am now obsessed with new & different things I find there. 

These MASSIVE grinders are awesome! The price was right, at $19.99, but thanks to our recent downsizing, I have NOWHERE to put it!

So many cute jars of spices!

Great selection of flavored oils & vinegars. 

These bowls were GORGEOUS. I wanted them, but I've been buying way too many bowls lately and I'm seriously, out of storage space in our apartment. 

This platter was beautiful and matched the amazing serving bowls & platters I bought at World Market PERFECTLY.

What amazing finds have you guys found lately?

Road trip to Dallas!

I spent the weekend of my 30th birthday away from the heat & humidity of Arkansas, and in the heat & humidity of Texas.

Graham and I had an absolutely wonderful weekend. We shopped way too much, we ate way too much, and we had so much fun.

If the rest of my 30th year is as wonderful as the weekend was, it's going to be an amazing year!

I was barely out of Little Rock when I saw a billboard for Dunkin' Donuts. Their strawberry frosted is my FAVORITE, so I drove about 15 miles out of my way so I could indulge in one...

Friday Finds: TJ Maxx in North Little Rock

TJ Maxx is a dangerous store for me. Every time I go in there, I always find several things that I want (and it's even worse when it's a TJ Maxx./Homegoods).

Graham & I traded vehicles while he's in training in Texas. Since he's doing most of the visiting, it made sense for him to drive the fuel efficient vehicle. So I'm stuck driving his massive truck. I used to go home on my lunch break, now I stay in the area and window shop. I found so many cute things at TJ Maxx this week, and here are some of my favorites!

LOVED these baking dishes. LOVED them! If they were blue instead of yellow, I would have bought one in a heartbeat! They were a really good size, and a great price at only $12.99!

How darling are these little bowls. I wanted these too, but they didn't have enough. That's the only problem with shopping at stores like this. If they don't have enough of the item you need, you may have a hard time finding more of them somewhere else. But at $3.99 each, I definitely loved these.

Just yesterday I was telling someone that a great way to add a pop of color to a dull or monochromatic bathroom is a plant. This fake boxwood is so cute. The shape, size & color would be perfect for our master bathroom. However, I did think it was overpriced at $29.99.

Love this cute dog bed! We're contemplating moving Hermione's bed into our bedroom, since she does so good sleeping on the floor by us when we're at Graham's parents. The master bedroom color scheme at our next place will be yellow & gray, so this would be perfect!

Is anyone surprised that I'm completely smitten with this large & in charge $70 mirror? No? I didn't think anyone would be ;)

The quinoa mixes from Pereg intrigued me, and I couldn't resist buying one. The ingredient list wasn't scary at all, and the sodium content was really low, so I figured it was worth a shot.

I also bought these two jars of spices. Do you know how hard it is to find Herbes de Provence in Little Rock? Damned near impossible. The only store I haven't checked is Whole Foods, but everywhere else let me down. And the seasoned sea salt just sounded epic.

I used to worry about buying edible stuff from stores like TJ Maxx. I figured it was out of date, or close to it. All three of the edible things I bought are good until late 2014.

Last but not least, we're moving very close to the beach in less than three months. I think this blue, quatrefoil beach towel is a necessity =) (Especially when it's priced at $14.99!)

What I'm Loving Wednesday

1) My SodaStream. Those of you who are Facebook friends probably never thought you'd hear me say that. I never thought I'd say that... Maybe one day if I can think back about the experience without my blood boiling, I may share it. Anyways, once I got the stupid machine I didn't want to like it. I left it unopened on the kitchen table for three days before I finally gave in. Once I did, I was hooked. This thing is awesome. It's only a tiny bit cheaper than store bought sodas, but I really am enjoying it. We've made our way through most of the samples they sent. My favorite (so far) is the diet grapefruit. Graham's is the diet Dr. Pete. My CO2 tank ran out last week, and today I finally made my way to Bed, Bath & Beyond to replace it, and I was surprised by how much I had missed being able to use it.

2) The healthysELF challenge! This challenge was started by Lindsay over at The Lean Green Bean & Elle over at Nutritionella. The purpose of the challenge is to make healthier choices for ourselves year round, and to create a community of support. I am LOVING this so far! I've already met some fantastic people, I've gotten some delicious sounding & healthy recipes, and I'm going to be doing things I wouldn't typically do (like a 100 burpees on Thursday... oh dear God...)

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3) This pink grapefruit smoothie I found over at Crafty Little Gnome. I made it this morning for breakfast and found it was the perfect combination of tart & sweet. It's made with a ruby read grapefruit, a chopped, frozen banana, a cup of chopped strawberries (also frozen) and a cup of orange juice. I can't wait to have another one of these tomorrow!

4) These shoes from Target. SO CUTE!!! And of course I notice them right when I'm actually trying to stick to a budget! However, right now Target does have their shoes 'buy one, get one half off'. So.... ;)

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 5) This quote came to me at the perfect time. I worry a lot. I stress out a lot. And I'm less stressed out and anxious when I'm thinking positive. It's so easy to get bogged down with the little things that bother you or when you're not getting your way. We just need to stop and focus on what is good in our lives.

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