With our meager little tax refund, (after I paid Citibank back a good chunk of our refund... to thank them for letting us live while unemployment took it's good ol' time to get set up- while I was furloughed from work for 2 1/2 weeks earlier this year)... I had a little extra cash to spend. This isn't all we spent it on of course! But it was nice to get a few new things

I was able to get a new shower mat for our bath/shower and a new fabric Damask shower curtain. Yay! If you've looked at my other Home Improvement posts, you'll notice Damask plays a key role. Our decor theme around our apartment is Black, White and Aqua.

I also got a new purse for myself! In... Damask... lol. I really love it. It has little metal feet on the bottom, and the handles are sturdy, yet it's light weight. Now... if it will hold up to all the crap I carry in my purse, remains to be seen... lol. I've gotten a bunch of compliments on it already. The brand is Belvah.



And as you know I'm having a Zoya Spring Giveaway! The giveaway ends March 8th, so enter while you can! I'm giving away Zoya Neely & Zoya Blu from the new Spring 2013 collection and I'm throwing in a travel sized L'Occitane Verbena lotion too!

I got to try Zoya Blu out tonight. (I bought extras for the giveaway!) Here is Zoya Blu, with Zoya Pixie Dust NYX on my ring finger. Blu only needed 2 coats and 1 top coat of Seche Vite. NYX I did 3 coats.


(I do use Amazon Associates, but not because I've made any money- because I haven't! lol! But I like that I can show a picture/link with a product when I'm blogging. Plus I do recommend Amazon.com for their low prices. That or Ebay!)

Thank you Shannon for the tip! :-) My new area rug for under our coffee table! I love it. I went with the smaller $29.99 one. We have a Target right around the corner from our apartment and this was the last one. They also have a larger version for $69.99.



Also can't beat a cute, less than $2.00 clearance creamer cow! He's sitting on top of my microwave. :-)


 

I love picking up stuff for our apartment to decorate. I visited Pier 1 Imports this past Friday. I saw this Elephant Teapot on their website before and it was 20% off in the store. It was just $12. I'm using it more for decor than for drinking tea though, hehe. It's currently sitting on one of my living room tables. I love it!


I also got some new dishes from... Dollar Tree! I saw these on their website, (but not wanting to buy in bulk- 24 bowls would be a bit excessive...) My husband checked a few of the Dollar Trees around us and was able to find the plates & bowls. Can't seem to find the matching mugs at any of the stores near us, but oh well. They are really pretty dishes and only $1 each!


Another Pier 1 Imports find. They had these large turquoise plastic tumblers (23 oz.) for $6 each. I thought the color would go well with the above dishes. They are made with a heavy durable plastic.



Other things on my to do list:

• Find a cute kitchen mat for in front of the sink. 
• Find dining chair covers or cushions (white, black or aqua).  
• Keep bidding on vintage/antique salt & pepper shakers on ebay until I win a set, lol.

 

I never took pictures of the floral Target placemats I ordered. When they arrived, instead of being black & white... they turned out to be black and frosted clear; (That was not mentioned on Target's website) Clear did not work with our dark wood dining room table. The design did not show up well at all...

I didn't want to return them because I really liked the design, so I've been trying to find something to go underneath them. We finally found white contact paper at Dollar Tree. So I sat down and put contact paper onto the back of each placemat. (Was that ever tedious, lol!) Now the color is showing up how I wanted it to. Black & White. Plus the contact paper can be cleaned with soap & water. :-)

The lamps I ordered from Target arrived the other day. Only when I opened the box. Instead of two of the same exact lamp. I had two very different damask lampshades. One was smaller and more narrow, the other was like the picture on Target's website, bigger & rounder with gray around the damask pattern. They looked pretty stupid standing next to each other when I wanted two matching lamps.

I took the lamps to our Target to exchange, but they had to do them as a return. They gave me a Target giftcard with my refunded balance. Luckily they had the same lamps in stock so I was able to pick out two matching shades this time. And I did see that more narrow damask shade there. So to anyone buying two of these damask lamps online- just be aware you may get two different style shades and you may have to return them! (The model number for both of the lamps with different lampshades were exactly the same too!)






I got some really cute aqua & black & white baskets at Dollar Tree. I put them on our entertainment stand to organize things.


 I also found these really gorgeous turquoise pillows at Target. They weren't on sale, but I really loved them and there were just 2 left. I got both of them to put on our black & white chairs in the living room.


I looked all over Target's website. But apparently they aren't selling this pillow anymore. The turquoise damask is a velvet material. (The UPC is: 065153726 18x18).

I have an obsession with damask patterns. Especially white & black damask. I think it's elegant & regal. (My Tudor Dynasty obsession probably fuels that). 

I ordered damask patterned dishes from Target not that long ago. (I still want to order 1 more set of those when we have a little extra $$$).

I've had these damask lamps from Target on my wish list for awhile. They were originally $19.99, but they went on sale for $15.99 so I ordered two. :-) I'm not sure if we'll put them in the living room or our bedroom. We only have one table lamp in our bedroom at the moment.


As you can see from my Pinterest boards: Home Decor & Kitchen Decor. (I have pinned & notated items we own). We've got a black & white and aqua theme going on in our house. (See: Ikea loot post).

I also recently got these cute aqua owls on Etsy. They are in our living room.

I finally got down to Ikea in South Philadelphia, I've never been there before. It was pretty busy down there and bit picked over, but we picked up some decor for our apartment. :-)

(The Loot!) Almagrundet bathmat, turquoise $6.99 (Not online)

GODTA Bowls 7", turquoise $2.99

GODTA Bowl 10", turquoise $3.99

SOMRIG Vase, assorted colors $2.99 & Artificial Rose, $2.99, Assorted plants $1.99

Closer Look. :)

Artificial potted plant, House bamboo $3.99 & Plant pot, galvanized $0.79

Gestalta Artist $4.99 (No longer online)

5-piece cookware set, stainless steel $9.99 & STEKA Frying pan, dark blue $2.99

P.S. Bring a reusable bag with you! I didn't know so we had to pay $0.59 cents for a large Ikea bag during check out. 

I have a theme when it comes to our apartment. Black/White & Aqua colors. Our Sofa is black. Our end tables & coffee tables are black. And my 2 favorite armchairs are black & white floral. There are small bursts of aqua around in the throw pillows, baskets on my coffee table, etc. I recently bought black & white damask dishes to keep on with my theme.

Now I finally found the perfect place mats for our dining room table. And finally found the perfect coasters in an aqua floral color for our living room. For some reason, it's REALLY tough to find coasters at the store! Plus it was a great price for both! 

Turquoise Flower Leaf Tile Coasters $6 -Etsy

Torre & Tagus Floral Print Placemat Set of 8 $9.99 -Target

I really would like to check out Ikea during my long weekend. (No work on Presidents Day yay!) I've never been to our Ikea. It's downtown in Philadelphia.

I really want to get a few of these realistic plants for our apartment:

Artificial potted plant, grass $3.99 -Ikea

Artificial potted plant, House bamboo $3.99 -Ikea

Pinterest might prove to be bad for my wallet, lol. I'm having a lot of fun organizing my Home & Kitchen Decor Idea boards. Most of the stuff is a little out of budget for me, but these dishes... omg. I fell in love with them. I love anything black and white, and damask is so elegant! It matches the color scheme of my favorite living room chairs. (Our color scheme seems to be black, white & a pop of bright aqua or teal).

It's my Valentines gift. ♥ I'm sooo excited! I love them! It's a 16 piece set from Target.

Damask 16-pc. Dinnerware Set - Black/ White

I also bought a gorgeous hoodie on Amazon.com. But the price was right. It used to retail for $180.00 because it was Christian Audigier, but that & the Ed Hardy stuff isn't as popular anymore so it was on sale for $29.99! It is GORGEOUS in person and so well made, I love it! ♥

CRYSTAL ROCK Christian Audigier Love Faith Womens Tunic Hoodie

Soooo.... while Pinterest might be great for ideas, recipes, home decor ideas, it can be bad for your wallet! At least all our bills are paid for the month, lol! ;-)

I joined Pinterest last week. At first I was a little confused of what it was all about. But now it's getting a little addicting. It's like a giant bulletin board of your own. You can pin and share recipes, funny pictures, links of crafts or home decor you like. Pretty much anything you like. You can create categories for each of your "bulletin" boards. It's quite addicting. You can also share your posts on Facebook. :-)

Happy New Year Everyone! Unfortunately I'm ending 2011 and starting 2012, with a yucky chest & head cold. I'm getting better, slowly.

F.B. & I will just be celebrating New Years quielty at home this evening. We'll have some cheese, crackers, pepperoni & Martinelli's sparkling cider at midnight! And watch the ball drop in New York on TV. New Years Day, I'll be cooking ham & sweet potatoes. And we'll get to try our chocolate chip panettone cake.

Christmas Picture of us both:


I ordered some more goodies. I ordered another one of these chairs from Walmart, because I absolutely love it and I want a matching set. The chair itself is really comfortable and even cuter in person!

Arista Arm Chair- Black and White Floral (Walmart)

Royal Opulence Satin Sheet Set: Zebra (Walmart)

Oh and I got the best deal on a 4 cup Pyrex meauring cup from Big Lot's last week! $6! (No more baking disasters now, yay! Lol!)