A Cheaper Way.

How many of you LOVE Starbucks, but can't always afford to get your Caramel Brule Latte or the White Chocolate Mocha?

Both of the drinks above are favourites of myself, and I have discovered a way to still enjoy a deliciously similar flavour, but for nearly HALF the price! 

There are two simple ways to cheapen your drinks and I'm about to tell you how!

1) Get one of the regular kinds of coffee, Americano, Latte, Cappuccino and then just add shots (caramel, vanilla, mint, even white hot chocolate has a shot). To remake a White Chocolate Mocha, what I normally do is just ask for an Americano with a white chocolate shot (and sometimes whip on top), TADA! A normally 5/6$ drink has now gone down to between 3 and 4 dollars! And even better, I actually love this version of the White Chocolate Mocha more than the full price one!

AND

2) This is a trick my friend has discovered. All she orders is hot water and then adds the shots of her choice (normally two shots pumpkin spice one shot chai) and she only pays between 30 and 60 CENTS! (depending on the Starbucks you go to the price changes, but is always in the cents). And it actually tastes really great!

How many of you have discovered ways around paying full price for your favourite drinks at Starbucks or even other Cafes with top notch prices? And what are the special drinks you have created?

Sorry, to all my readers that I have put blogging aside during this crazy month! I have been so busy with Christmas shopping, work, and figuring out school/university things for next year.

BUT! I would like to talk a little about shopping for Christmas presents. How many of you will run to the mall, knowing that it will hold all the things you need? Or crossing the border into America hope to get a better deal on something we have here? Have you ever thought of getting those presents second hand? This Christmas I have thrifted 95% of my presents to friends and family this year! Things like scarves, jewelry, house hold items, even some forks and spoons for my mothers jewelry making hobby. Of course, there were things like chocolate or food related items that I bought from places like Walmart or Save-on-Foods (but i was always looking for a sale, I'm pretty cheap). So, instead of going to the mall and spending tons of money, check out your local thrift/consignment stores and take the time to dig through the store, you never know what you'll find!

Another idea for a Christmas present is something that my boyfriend actually did for his mother's present last year. He decided that instead of buying a specific item that she may not even use, he was going to sponsor a child from a third world country and donate a certain amount of money a month to support that child. He gave his mom the picture and information about the child he had chosen to sponsor and has been donating a monthly amount to help that child have a better life. Another one of my friends spoke with her family and they all decided that instead of buying gifts for each other, they would sponsor a family together and use the money they would have spent on each other, to support that family.

And the last present suggestion? MAKE your present! If it be art work, like a painting, drawing, or even a song, or baking of some kind. Why go out and spend lots of money when you have the ability to make something that will most likely mean so much more to your loved ones than a new shirt or a pretty necklace.

This Christmas try something different when it comes to presents, don't think you always need to spend hundreds of dollars to make someone happy.

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and God Bless!

AW

Thrifted Car?

How many of you are either teens or parents look for that first car? Have you ever considered Craigslist? Kijii?even Ebay? Yeah, it takes forever to go through all the pages, go through all the ads, and to find THE car, BUT in the end it can totally be worth it.

When I was searching for my first car, I had my heart set on a VW beetle or rabbit. It seemed to not be a very popular car on Craigslist and I had to go on day after day and scroll through the recent posts. My dad was a huge help and gave his input on every single car I considered, as well as coming along with me to check out the ones that had caught my eye and seemed decent. 

But every car we looked at always had some kind of major issue or the sellers had lied about certain things in their adds. I started to get frustrated and was going to give up on my dream car, but then my dad came across a hopeful add. It was of a white 1987 VW cabriolet. The only problem? It wasn't running and I did not want a project car, but my dad had a feeling he knew what the issue was, so we went and checked out the car. It was clean and well kept, aside from the lack of it barely ever being driven by the current owner. My dad checked out quite a few things (I have no idea what he looked at) and then decided that we would take it. We ended up paying only $350 (including two never used snow tires).

I was extremely nervous when purchasing the car, because this was my hard earned money going into something that didn't even run at the time, but my dad began to fiddle and we even had a friend who bought and sold VW come and take a look. My dad ended up getting the motor to catch, but the car wouldn't actually start. So, we finally brought it to a VW specialist, who fixed it in 30 min. The cast was $300 and i had a beautiful running car. 

Meet Oliver! It has a few nicks and scrapes and of course there are all the little odd things that come with buying an old car, but other than that I love it. I've had it for about a year and it has done me proud.

Whenever I tell people the price I paid for my car they are always amazed and can't believe that I actually paid $350. I like to think I used the same skill I was when thrift shopping, I go through every rack, look at every possible purchase, try it out, then make my final decision whether the purchase is really that great. Which in this case, it was a steal. I would encourage all of you to check out these websites when looking for a new car, you'll be surprised by some of the things you'll find and of course the amazing prices!

Hope all of you are having a great start to your Christmas holidays!

AW

Thrifty Thursday!

Its another THURSDAY! 

And I have for all of you today, one of my more extravagant finds.

While Peeking around at Salvation Army with my good friend Tayler, something sparkly and green appeared from the corner of my eye. I turned to see this beauty,

Now, I had already gotten my grad dress, but there were so many girls who were still searching for the PERFECT dress and I was staring in awe at this dress in perfect condition, no stains, no tears, NOTHING!

 and thought to myself, "if I don't get this then who knows if it will ever be found!". My mind had gone to the fact that not many young teens go shopping in Salvation army, Value Village, or any of the local thrift or consignment stores. SO, I bought it and this is the best part! The brand name is "Posh Precious"and  is originally 400-500$ and I got it for only $75! What a steal! are was stunned when I saw the price tag and decided it would be better to buy it and put it up in my grad dress page on Facebook, than letting it sit and collect dust in this little thrift store on the corner of a busy road.

It's amazing the kind of things you can find in any kind of thrift store, if it be that perfect pair of jeans, those really cute boots, or your stunning grad dress. It's always worth taking a look!

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend and I'll talk with you soon!

AW

Fall Trends?

So, these are some of the most common trends I've seen on pinterest, church, and just walking around my little town.

One of the biggest trends is definitely long sleeve plaid shirts.

For some reason everyone wants to be a lumberjack this fall. A plaid shirt is a great way to add some pattern to your outfit and with a flannel shirt it will also keep you warm. Either worn as seen above, with the sleeves rolled up, in place of a cardigan, tied around the waist, underneath a sweater (so only the sleeve ends and collar poke out, which is a really cute look), or with the next trend, a nice puffy vest.

This look has just sky rocketed this fall and it is such a great look! I have seen so many people sporting this look (my mother has been looking for a vest like this) and I absolutely love it. it has just got such a fallish look and adds an extra layer to your outfit keeping you even warmer. It can be worn with so many different outfits, but some of the more popular ways I've seen it worn is with (as seen above) a nice stripped shirt, with a long sleeve plaid shirt, or changing the vest to a fur style and wearing it with a knitted sweater/long sleeved shirt underneath.

And the last trend I'll be showing is very popular trend and comes back every autumn. BOOTS! Of course! Two of the most common styles I've been seeing everywhere are either the combat boots,

  or the (almost) knee high  boots.

And it seems to be that the biggest thing trending with boots this fall is to throw in some peek-a-boo socks (as I like to call them). Either plain white, grey, or black, or some fun patterned ones, they are all trending this fall and like all the above trends, I LOVE THE LOOK!

And my final trend is......the KNITTED HEADBAND, which I have seen on almost every single teenage girls head this fall. These headbands can be added to practically any look and just make it cuter and extra cozie! There are so many different styles for these headbands, if its a bow or a flower, or just one giant headband. Buy them in the store (thrift shops?) or knit your own!

These are only a few of the many trends I have been seeing everywhere this fall and I think they are all great looking trends, too!

If you have any trends you've been seeing a lot of this fall and I didn't mention them above, leave a comment or twitter me @AliviaJW.

I hope you all enjoy the rest of your week and I'll chat to you soon!

AW

Thrifty Thusday - Nov 14, 2013

This is the very first THRIFTY THURSDAY! and I'm really excited to show the world how simple it is to be trendy, while still saving money.

So, here we go:

This is a really cute fall look, it will still keep you warm and cozy, but you'll look super cute at the same time and the best part EVERTHING IS THRIFTED!

The scarf and boots are from Salvation Army; the scarf was $3 and the boots were $9. Both of the brands are unknown (I couldn't fnd a brand name ANYWHERE on the boots).

 

 

The Sweater is from Value Village and I only paid $6 for it! The brand name is "Castle".

 

The skirt is also from Salvation Army and I only paid $5 for it! I've seen similar skirts in the mall for between $20-$50 dollars (which I think is outrageous), so I definitely lucked out with that find. The brand name is "Luna Tiks". Also, the tights I'm wearing are just regular black tights you can get anywhere, I just added one tear on both sides at the thigh.

 

This is a close up of the boots, which I absolutely LOVE. They are a little pointed at the toes and have a small but flattering heel. They are extremely comfortable and keep my feet nice and dry (even in the snow!).

 

 

I really love this outfit and if you do, too let me know!

 

Remember to follow, comment, and recommend my blog to friends and family! And don't forget to send questions to my email address (alivia.j.w@hotmail.com) or to my twitter (AliviaJW) for Q&A day. (They don't have to be any specific questions)

 

Have a great rest of the week!

 



FINALLY!

Finally! I have gotten around to starting up my very own blog. I have been wanting to do this for a very long time and even when I made the blog and set it up I waited a week before I made my very first post, because I had NO idea what I was going to say! For some reason I was so scared to make my first post, but here I am! Finally making myself do it instead of continuously talking about doing it, but never ACTUALLY doing it.

I guess I should begin by introducing myself....Hi everyone! My name is Alivia! I'm 17 , just graduating high school this year (YAY). I live in beautiful British Columbia and have hopes and dreams of one day becoming a novel editor/writer. I have a fantastic and supportive family; my sister, mother and father (and an adorable little dog!) and a wonderful boyfriend. I love photography, writing, reading, music, soccer (go Whitecaps!), THRIFTING/shopping, and spending time with my friends and family.

I think that's probably good, what do you think? I guess if there's anything else you would want to know you can go ahead and ask me.

Which brings me to what I would love to achieve with this blog! I've always loved to solve problems and help people out and I have always loved the ask and advise kind of blogs, which is why that is exactly what I wanted to try! I want to help all of my now and future readers out! I'd love for people to either email me at alivia.j.w@hotmail.com or twitter me @AliviaJW and ask any questions you may need some advising with! As well, like I said above I LOVE to thrift and so I wanted to add in something I'd like to call "Thrifty Thursday", where every Thursday I will talk a bit about one or two outfits that I've thrifted (with photos of course). I will also be randomly posting about things that are on my mind or heart!

I hope that this is informative enough about my idea for this blog and again like I said email or tweet me and I'll choose a specific day to do a Q&A (probably Wednesdays or Mondays). I'll be talking to you all soon! Have an awesome week!