I Learned Something New

20140508-204946.jpg

I went on a date night with my husband a bit ago and I learned something new. Not about him, of course. Although, there are still moments when I do and those are pieces of information I savor. No, I learned about a new species.

I went on a date night and discovered a new species!

How and when does that ever happen?

Perhaps my great to the trillionth grandfather was Christopher Columbus. Or perhaps I need to get out more. Or read more. Or…

Let’s just skip the possibilities, they are too endless.

We’ll get to what I discovered, but first and much more importantly, what did I wear?

20140508-204140.jpg

I wore jeans. I wanted to get dressed up, but I didn’t have it in me that night. So, I just wore what I had worn all day. The dress is the Free People Mamounia Dress. I purchased mine from Nordstrom Rack for $50 (the link goes to a different store). I broke my rule for one piece of jewelry by piling on a bunch of bracelets and necklaces. I was exhausted on this day and nothing keeps one awake quite like the jingling of jewelry on one’s wrists.

Or gives one quite as big of a headache.

I ate a granola bar before we left. ‘Cause I was starving. I knew I would turn into a beast if I did not eat something before we left.

The Jenni Beast was not the new species I discovered. Besides, she was discovered long ago. You can tame her with food. Compliments. And clothes. This is important information to have if you ever see her in the wild. She is quite destructive.

20140508-204228.jpg

We went to my favorite restaurant. It is outdoors and has beautiful views. The price is right (we split a bottle of wine, an appetizer, a pizza and two desserts for $63 before tip). There was live music playing in the restaurant. The food is fabulous. My favorite in town.

20140508-204257.jpg

We ordered our beloved fries for an appetizer. They take the chef three days to make in a secret recipe.

20140508-204339.jpg

We sat in the garden. On the beautiful landscaped slope next to me, a poppy plant was being tugged on by its roots. It scared me at first, but then it was comical as we realized it was probably a gopher having dinner. It must have been a rebel gopher, because it is illegal here in California to hurt the state flower. We can’t pick it. I assume you probably can’t eat it either. But could the gopher have gotten high from the roots? Would it be like opium? These were the questions we asked each other over dinner.

Okay, those are the questions I asked my husband. To which he replied, “No.”

Darn. I had imagined a happy, plump little gopher in his hole kicking back and deciphering the patterns of the dirt in his tunnel.

20140508-204412.jpg

He took pictures of me happy after wine.

20140508-204440.jpg

And contemplating a gopher high on drugs.

20140508-204744.jpg

I did not take a picture of our barbecue chicken pizza, but it was yummy. My husband and I had a handshake over our deal when we both discovered we hate red onions on our pizza. So we shook on never ordering them on it again.

And it was heavenly.

But we did get pictures of our two pretty desserts we ordered.

20140508-204711.jpg

Here is where I introduce a new species. You thought it was a Druggie Gopher, didn’t you?

Nope. It was indeed a Hummingbird Moth!

A Hummingbird Moth!

Now, when I took these pictures, I assumed this was a baby hummingbird. At first I thought it was some kind of bee, but it moved too fast and was not shaped like one. We determined it was the smallest hummingbird we had ever seen. Even the masculine guy at the table next to me locked eyes with me and made a pinching motion with his two fingers to indicate how tiny and adorable the cute little hummingbird was.

Or he wanted to crush my head with his fingertips. One can never be sure.

Our side of the restaurant was enthralled with the little guy. He zipped by my head and hovered in front of me for the briefest second.

20140508-204911.jpg

As we were leaving, we saw a colony of what we thought were miniature hummingbirds flitting in and out of the flowers. They were adorable. I even got a picture of one.

It turns out hummingbirds do not like to gather nectar together. Hummingbird Moths do. I discovered these little facts here and here after I searched for “Tiny Hummingbird” on the internet. It turns out if you think you see the tiniest hummingbird you have ever seen or even a baby hummingbird (baby hummingbirds cannot fly), you are actually observing a Hummingbird Moth. There are twelve hundred varieties of the Hummingbird Moth and they live all over the world! The one in the Western half of the United States (and the one I saw) is the Snowberry Clearwing (isn’t that a lovely name?) and the Eastern side of the United Stares typically hosts the Hummingbird Clearwing. The Hummingbird Moth is also less skittish than the hummingbird and will let you get close to it.

What a cool, fascinating little creature.

I never knew these existed. Did you?

Also, I am curious. Where did you go on your last date night? Do you dress up? Or do you wear jeans?

Outfit Source List: Free People Mamounia Dress, Anthropologie Pilcro Flares (old), Bracelets from H & M (old, similar here), Anthropologie layering necklaces (old, similar here), and Lucky Brand Emmie Silver Flats.

Let’s Talk Fun Deals

This outfit post is going to be a bit different this week. It is going to show some of my deals I got last week, as well as an “old” dress I adore from H & M. Because of this shopping trip, I had to cancel a certain sweater tunic I had been longing for. No regrets! I definitely got more for my money.

Not shown here, but will be shown in future posts are two long sleeve layering tops and a Mickey Mouse top from H & M. Also, two days before I went with my daughter, my husband and I went to Nordstrom Rack because he needed new work shoes. I found the cutest red and black plaid tunic and black pleated tunic on clearance. But that is for another day. I just wanted to include the other items I purchased that replaced the sweater I had previously wanted. Yes, I got all of those items, and the following purchases I made for myself, for less than the cost of that one sweater! Now, on to the deals fun:

20131001-114455.jpg

My daughter and I went shopping for her Homecoming dress together on Thursday night. We ended up scoring one for $16. Yay! (This meant she was free to purchase the cutest flannel shirt with an inlay crochet back that was also on sale.) Before we found that dress at Macy’s, we went to Nordstrom Rack. We did not find any clothes there. However, we browsed their tights section. Hidden in the tights section were tons of tights marked “last chance $1.” You had to flip the package over to find the clearance price sticker. If you have a Nordstrom Rack near you, I would go check. This was just six days ago.

20131001-114427.jpg

I got my daughter a pair of Kate Spade blue tights originally marked $32 for $1.

20131001-114524.jpg

All in all, we scored 8 pairs of tights (my daughter was wearing one the day I took the above photo) for $14.74. Two of the packages were “only” clearanced to $4. One was $1.74. But we both needed a basic black pair. They had tons more clearance $1 tights hidden in the tights section.

20131001-114556.jpg

At H & M, I found these awesome layered bohemian bracelets (the strands are connected. I am wearing them all). They were marked $10, but rang up for $5. Plus, they were doing buy two get one free. I purchased five bracelets and one ring for my daughter (which I was told was very Pokemon) for $21 (originally $61).

20131001-131424.jpg

I paired the bracelets with a white sleep shirt I had scored with my daughter at Macy’s ($10 originally $28). I just layered a white tank underneath it and tied it. I had slept in the shirt the night before. Yes. I can get lazier.

20131001-131616.jpg

20131001-131514.jpg

I cannot wait to wear this Kenneth Cole necklace I got from Macy’s for $16 (originally $48). I just tried it on with the white shirt. Notice, I was too lazy to take off my bracelets while doing so. So I just hid my hands behind my back.

20131001-131228.jpg

And last week I wore an H & M dress I purchased with my husband on an anniversary trip four or five years ago. I had it hidden in my closet all of these years. It was so fun to discover it again! I paired it with the Coral Latticework Necklace I purchased on sale from Anthropologie last week for $20. I am also wearing vintage boots from the flea market.

What have been your best deals lately? I don’t think there is a bigger rush than saving money!

* And in exact opposite form of what I just said, I will be doing another outfit post this week on a spendy dress on Saturday. I am nothing if not a walking contradiction. Have a great day! : )

P.S. If you want to read a blog that deals specifically with deals and where to find them, I highly recommend Nikki’s blog: Fashion Finds On A Dime. She is very inspiring.

* I shared this on The Pleated Poppy!