Indeeyo

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the launch party at ZAZA nail spa for Indeeyo, a new online clothing boutique featuring independent designers of clothing and accessories.  The site takes the endless searching out of more overwhelming sites like Etsy, as the founders take careful consideration in curating their merchandise, while still providing unique pieces.  The lovely Jeanne of Shop Sweet Things invited me to the event, and to be quite honest, I didn't really know what to expect.  My usual partner in crime, Kelley L Cox, attended the event with me (and took all the photos you see above), and we had a blast.  I mean, who could say no to a goodie bag, discounted designer duds, a free manicure, and free cakepops and champers?  I'd say a job well done, and after meeting the sweet and humble founder, Jasmin (on the right in the top photo), I have high hopes for this new site.  I was also fortunate enough to meet Bryna Nicole (on the left in the top photo)who was there  promoting her line of handbags which are also featured on Indeeyo.  Not only is she a UCLA alum (go Bruins!) but also started her successful label from scratch and was super inspiring to talk to about starting a fashion brand.  All in all, it was a successful night, and I totally encourage you to check out Indeeyo!

Get a Head Photo

photos via Kelley L Cox.  See the full set here.

If you are friends with me in real life, as in facebook friends (well, guess that's not really real life either), you will have noticed that I have a nice, new profile pic.  To clear things up, NO, I did not get glamor shots done at the mall.  NO, I am not delusional and think I have a career in modeling.  And NO, those red pants were not a gift, I actually love them.  My friend Kelley is a fabulous photographer and is launching a new business taking head shots for corporations, individuals, and anyone and everyone in need for some personal branding.  I felt like I was in need of some new photos for my blog and other social media outlets and was her first guinea pig!  Her company Get a Head Photo is offering a great promotion for Thrifty Gal readers.  You like what you see? Send Kelley an email (mention you are a Thrifty Gal reader) and she will offer a personalized photo shoot for $50 at your location choice and $250 for an office/group (<12 employees).  Kelley is wonderful to work with and has a very special talent of capturing a person's personality in a simple shot.  So hit her up and get some photos! 

the best kind of impulse

As Alanis would say, "I've been a bad, bad girl."  During the season of giving, I did the most selfish thing a person could do.  I bought myself a gift.  Not just any gift though, an Eames rocker gift.  Now before you go and judge me for my overindulgence, let me plead my case.  First off, it was the "Deal of the Day" on HauteLook.  (Never heard of it?  Click the button on the right-hand side-bar of my lovely blog and sign up to get daily emails on AH-MAZING deals for fashion, get-aways, and home decor).  So, my purchase resulted in savings of $221. Secondly, it has been on my list for over a year.  And thirdly, when you see a room like Victoria's, how could not instantly want this classic piece of furniture.  

 image via Rue Magazine

Genius!

I am thrilled that this genius site exists for boneheads like me who ALWAYS lose their phone!  After living by myself for a year, it was my biggest fear that I would lose my phone and have no one around to call it for me.  Now, I can go to this website and enter my cell number and voila!  (It really does work!)

The Working Proof

While Etsy is my go-to online shop for original arts and crafts, I love discovering new avenues to purchase creative pieces.  The Working Proof is a fusion of art and social responsibility.  The artist of each piece of artwork selects a charity of his/her choice, and The Working Proof donates 15% of the sale to that charity.  The site features emerging artists and brings heightened awareness to a wide array of charities and non-profits. Here are some of my favorite prints currently being featured on the site:

$30 with 15% going to Medecins Sans Frontieres

 $40 with 15% going to Little Kids Rock

$30 with 15% going to Smile Train

$30 with 15% going to Farm Sanctuary

$45 with 15% going to American Forests

I just love when you can purchase something beautiful and help someone else at the same time.

GOOP

{via}

Who doesn't love Gwyneth Paltrow?  Her classic style and timeless look make her my favorite style icon in recent times.  If you are like me, and just can't get enough Gwen in your life, check out her lifestyle blog, GOOP.  Topics are classified by MAKE, GO, GET, DO, BE, and SEE.  Each weekly post has a personal flair and sophistication that is all Gwyneth. 

Some of my favorite GOOP links:

hair how-to

the perfect LBD

guide to SF

be a better child

website love

10 invites!

Hello Lovelies!

I am happy to share that I have 10 invitations to join Pinterest!  (See this post and this post if you have no idea what I'm talking about.)  The site has not officially launched, and they are still updating the site on a regular basis based on user feedback, so they send out invitations for testers of the site.  This is a wonderful, yet horribly addicting, website that allows users to collect images and create online inspiration boards.  The site is very intuitive and easy to use and is a fantastic way to bookmark images.  Right now, I have a "wish-list" board, and a "home inspiration" board.  Whenever I spot a well designed room, I "pin" the image which adds it to my board.  When I start to decorate my apartment, I will have all of my inspiring images in one place!  It totally beats scouring magazines and cutting out pictures!

If you would like one of the invites, leave me a comment below with your email.  If you would not like to share your email publicly, leave me a comment explaining how you would use Pinterest and send me an email by clicking on my "email" button in the right hand side bar.  I promise to never use your email for anything other than sending out invites!

Note: In order to be eligible for an invitation you must either be a follower on Blogger, or a fan on facebook!

**I will update this post when all 10 invitations have been given out!  First come, first serve basis.

50 things

I haven't posted many money saving tips in a while, but I did find this interesting list of 50 things everyone should know how to do.  These tips are sure to save you money at some point in your life, so I had to share.  I felt pretty competent in about half of the items.  I definitely still need to learn how to change a tire and learn another language.  I'm also interested in reading the articles in regards to negotiation...this is bound to save me lots of cash, especially with big ticket items like cars and items of furniture.

I feel like I should get some kind of merit badge after I master each item...like these hilarious buttons {via}!

How did you do?  Any additions?

Pin it Forward

I'm excited to share with ya'll this new and exciting website called Pinterest.  It's a pretty fabulous way to to maintain an online collection of images.  I found out about it at sfgirlbybay's "Pin it Forward" blog post.  I was lucky enough to be one of the 300 bloggers to participate and am totally excited about it!  In two weeks I will be sharing with you all my pinboard.  My pinboard is a collection of images that showcases what home means to me.  I will then introduce the next blog that is going to be featuring their pinboard. Here is a sneak peak of my pinboard "what home means to me."

It's a great way to see a lot of inspiring ideas.  I highly recommend playing around with it.  To get started, click on the "Pin it forward" icon on my left-hand side bar.  This will take you directly to pinterest.  Once you sign up, just drag the "Pin it" application to your bookmarks bar.  When you are browsing the web and find an image you like, click the "pin it" button, and Pinterest will ask you what image from that web page you would like to "pin."  It's as simple as that!

Happy Pinning!

Googlie Googlie

Think you know how to use Google?  Think again.  I found some pretty helpful tips about how to optimize my searches and thought I would share...

Things you can search directly in the Google search field
1.  Calculations- this might be more exciting for nerds like me...but all you have to do is type in .2*84 to determine how much you will save on that $84 dress that is now 20% off!
2. Convert Measurements- how many feet in a mile? type in "feet in mile" and get the conversion right away
3. Track Flights-just type in the airline and flight number to see if your next flight is going to be on-time
4. Locate Packages- all you have to do is enter "track" plus the tracking number of your package to see when it's going to arrive.
5. Look up addresses- if you know the phone number of the location you are trying to find, type it in the search bar to find the mailing address
6. Find a movie- "movies" + zip code...easy as that!
7. Listen to songs- I still prefer Pandora, but if you have a specific song you want, this is the quickest way to find it.

Other helpful tips...

To find a product you saw online, but can't remember where-
USE: intitle:
EXAMPLE: intitle:"Tory Burch flats"
..."intitle" essentially means "in the title."  By typing this with your search, Google searches the title bar of web pages (remember the colon after intitle, and no space before the quotation marks)

To narrow your search-
USE: - (minus sign)
EXAMPLE: jaguar -cars -football
if you want to search jaguar the animal, not the car or the football team

To find a verbatim phase-
USE: quotation marks

In other web related news...please take my friend's survey for her studies at Uni Adelaide in AUS!

Hulu

I'm sure for most of you Hulu is not new news...but since I refuse to pay for cable (I have a theory that Comcast is trying to take over the world), I use Hulu as my main source of entertainment.  It's a free website, however, I have heard rumors that sometime this year they will start charging (darn it).  Here is what I am currently watching on Hulu...and obviously think you should too.

Comedy- The Office & 30 Rock

Unfortunately, I miss Thursday night TV thanks to my GMAT prep class.  But I never miss a beat with these quirky shows thanks to Hulu.  I've been watching The Office since high school, and have yet to watch a season I didn't love.  As for 30 Rock, I love everything Tina Fey works on, so naturally it has made it onto my Hulu lineup.

Musical- Glee (is there anything else?)

Originally, I was reluctant to jump on the Glee bandwagon.  But I am sooooo glad I did!  This show has everything from witty lines to dazzling musical numbers.  Jane Lynch as the sinister Sue Sylvester is reason enough to watch the show.  (Not to mention Emma Pillsbury's wardrobe...see the following blog if you are as obsessed as I am)

Family- Modern Family & Parenthood

Both of these shows depict the ups and downs of family dynamics, however the delivery of each show is very different.  Modern Family is a hilarious show full of awkward moments and lovable characters.  Parenthood is a little more dramatic, but I felt an instant connection to the characters and setting (it's set in Berkeley!).  I highly recommend both of these gems.

Reality- Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

Last, but certainly not least is Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.  Who can resist Jamie's adorable accent and pertinent crusade?  Watch as he transforms the most "unhealthy town in America" and chances are he will transform you too.

Affordable Philanthropy

For those of you on a budget, I know it can be tough to give back to your community.  Volunteering is a great, affordable option, but for those of us who do not have a lot of spare time, it can be tricky trying to balance schedules.  Another option to give back is to donate money to an organization of your choice, but it's tough to donate when you don't know how your money is being spent, or if your measly donation of $20 is going to actually make a difference.  One solution to this problem is microfinancing.  At Kiva, you can donate as little or as much money as you want to an entrepreneur in a developing country.  Kiva's field partners screen the loan recipients beforehand, and post profiles online of the various people who need financial assistance for their budding businesses. Overtime, the entrepreneur pays back his/her loan.  Once you, the lender, get your money back, you can reinvest it in another entrepreneur or donate it to Kiva to cover the company's overhead expenses. 

Also, another non-profit that I would LOVE to get involved with is The Girl Effect.  See the video below.  Their homepage can be found here

Woot!

In honor of Doug, I have to post something about Woot!

This site is a little ridiculous, but you can find some great deals, especially for electronics.  They feature a different item everyday at a ridiculously low price.  A few days ago, they posted noise-canceling, in-ear headphones for $2.99!  (+ shipping, which is always $5).  There is also shirt.woot! (featuring zany, creative t's for $10) kids.woot!, deals.woot! (which is a collection of additional "sponsored" deals) and wine.woot!

Occasionally a woot off! will occur, and then the fun really begins. During a woot off! woot.com posts an item until it sells out, and then a new item is posted.  The elusive "bag of crap" is also sold during a woot off! The bag can be purchased for $5 and you have no idea what is inside until you receive it in the mail...woot can be pretty sneaky though, and has been known to give some pretty awesome stuff in the ole "bag of crap" (like a flat screen TV) or some not so awesome stuff (like a Spock action figure...which I guess could be awesome for some people).

Best of luck with the wooting! 

Food Savings

So, I'm pretty new to this whole cooking thing. Just ask my college roommates, and they will tell you I used our kitchen maybe twice over the course of 2 years. But, now that I'm on a tight budget, I can't afford to eat out every meal (even though I might like to).

Solution?

Cookbooks! Here is my old standby:



For you foodies out there, I suggest this cookbook by Thomas Keller, owner of the world famous restaurant French Laundry located in Napa, CA:



I also use this cookbook for great vegan recipes:



When I don't feel like looking up recipes in a book, or I just don't have any idea what to cook for dinner, the Real Simple website has some tasty and easy recipes. Check it out here

Bon Appetit!

Bay Area Kiddos

Hello all of you crazy kids living in the beautiful Bay Area...check out this site:

http://baho.mediawebconnect.com/

It's similar to Groupon...but exclusive to the Bay Area. Everything on the site is 50% off. There are multiple items per day. Here is what Bay Area Half Off has to say for themselves:

"CBS Radio San Francisco is giving you the opportunity to buy gift certificates from fabulous Bay Area businesses at half off their face value.

Imagine buying a gift certificate for fifty dollars that’s worth one hundred dollars! Well you don’t have to imagine it, because it’s real! But you’ve got to act fast because these deals won’t last!

There are a limited number of half off gift certificates for sale, so buy now and save! Thank you for visiting us!"

CHECK IT!

Minty Fresh

To continue with the website theme...here is another one of my favs when it comes to saving a buck or two:

http://www.mint.com/

The site keeps track of all of your income and expenses. You can manage all of your finances on this site, from your portfolio, to your credit card payments. The site helps you create monthly budgets, and suggests ways for you to save.

The Power of Many

I love new and innovative websites. Here is one of my new favs:

http://www.groupon.com

With over 25 cities across the country, "Groupon" helps urban folks find great deals in their hometown.

Here's how it works:
1. Each day Groupon features something cool to do at an unbeatable price.
2. You only get it if enough people join that day… so invite your friends!
3. Check back the next day for another awesome Groupon!

Groupon features local restaurants, spas, and bars. YOU save over 50% of your purchase.

CHECK IT OUT!!