Car Essentials

It was finally warm enough for me to spend the day outside cleaning Growlie, my car. I unloaded everything in it, wiped it all down, vacuumed everywhere, shook out the rugs, and even found knew compartments I didn't know existed. (seriously, my car has secret compartments everywhere!) I'd like to think I'm pretty prepared too with what I keep in my car, so I thought I would show you guys what I consider my car essentials.

From top left...

Real physical maps of local roads: You never know when your GPS will randomly crash or your cell will die. It's good to have some real maps just in case.

Pen and a notebook: You never know when you'll need to take down a shopping list, directions, or even just a great idea before you forget it!

An envelope of important documents: Keep your insurance card and other things organized rather than just crushed in you glove compartment.

Sanitary wipes: Who knows?

A crazy swiss army knife: It has a nail file, cork screw, knife, and a million other things. Just good to have around.

Tissues: Well duh you should have tissues!

Glasses case of tampons: It makes your boy passenger less squeamish if you just ask him for a glasses case ;]

Utensils: Because spontaneous picnics are totally a thing!

Sun reflector: Lightweight, cheap, and always a good thing to have.

Ibuprofen: Spontaneous cramps and headaches are the bane of everyone's existence. 

Pens and pencils: Always handy.

Umbrellas: Because it only starts raining once you've arrived at your destination :]

A plastic garbage bin: Seriously the best idea ever. You don't want wrappers and trash all over the place, so just get a flat plastic rubbermaid container and throw a plastic bag in it. I suggest a flat container rather than standing or they'll fall over when you make turns, and mine has locking handles which is great because they keep anything smelly from actually stinking up your car.

Plastic bags: For the garbage, as well as a useful thing to have if you suddenly need to carry things.

Bag of hard candies: Sometimes you just need a little sugar to get you through to dinner.
Sunglasses: Well this one's obvious but it's fun to have a variety in there, just so you have options for different outfits. :]
Lighters: I don't smoke, but if I ever had to start a fire or something I'd be glad I had them.
Altoids: You never know when you'll need fresh breath.
Hand sanitizer: Again, not a big fan of sanitizers, but it could be useful if you had to wash your hands but didn't have access to a sink.
Toothpicks: Okay this one is more for my boyfriend, but still, you never know when you'll have a stupid kernel stuck that just won't come loose no matter how much you fiddle at it with your tongue.
Change: Because the Illinois Tollway system is a bitch. Also, vending machines!
Bobby pins: Always have some nearby.
Emergency gas card: Just in case you're running low and don't have any money.
Secret cash stash: Definitely my most exciting item here, I hollowed out a tube of chapstick and keep some cash inside. Because seriously, who wants to steal my shitty chapstick?
A rug: The rug that all these things are sitting on is also in my car, my trunk to be exact. I have three of them in there, which are just old floormats, but very handy. They keep the plastic in my trunk from getting scratched, and they're good for sitting on outside, or wrapping up delicate things, as well as keeping food or liquid spills from getting all over your car. Handy dandy.

Anyways, hope that was helpful, some things I forgot to mention were an empty gas can just in case you need to walk to get gas. Also some rope in case you want to tie something down to your roof, as well as reusable grocery bags. I still need to buy myself a blanket for the car too, but after that, I'll be good to go!

Do you have any car essentials? Let me know in the comments!

Foxy Tip #5: Shitty Labels = Quality Products

Whenever I go grocery shopping, I always look for the shittiest labels* I can find. And no, I don't mean shitty as in cheap and poorly designed, I mean shitty as in looks like they made the labels on their own printer without any glossy paper before slapping them on the jars themselves. Consistently these have always been much tastier than any "big name" brands. I'd say breads, jams, peanut butter, fudge, maple syrup, honey, and those sorts of homemade kinds of foods are the ones that this works best with. And of course it goes without saying that these smaller companies are usually more local, so it's a nice thing to support.

*My boyfriend and I love that company's jams. They taste like real fruit.

You Probably Have No Idea How Art Affects You (and that's okay, because learning how is fun)

I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone bash artists for choosing a hobby as a career. Now joking is one thing, I do it myself, but there have been completely serious comments made by many of my own (non-art) professors, telling us that being an art major is a waste of time. Now for the time being I'm going to ignore the financial aspects to this argument and focus on one that I think goes relatively unacknowledged. The reason people bash the arts is because they don't understand just how much art is a part of their day to day life.

Art isn't just a painting in a museum, or a sculpture in a hotel lobby. It is literally everywhere. It affects you constantly. Do you own clothes? I'm going to assume the answer is yes. Where do you think they came from? I can assure you that though they may have been constructed by machines, they were not thought up by them. Those clothes you own were all designed by people. And those people were all more than likely discouraged from becoming designers. They were told time and time again not to pursue an art career. Okay, maybe you don't care much about clothes, how about the furniture in your house? That was all designed by people too, people who again, were probably told not to go into that field. Do you like movies? TV shows? What's your favorite one? Well it doesn't matter because regardless of if you watch Game of Thrones or Modern Family, without artists, that show wouldn't exist. Costume design, set design, script writing, those are all done by artists. Look around you. Literally everything has some element of design to it. The label on your bottle of coke. The design on your shower curtains. Even the way your tea kettle looks. These were not just flippant choices made by the manufacturers. These were all carefully created by artists.

Do you know what the world would look like without art? I can tell you, it wouldn't look good. If everything was created purely for function, we'd have a pretty crummy time of it. We might as well just wear Star Trek onesies, because who needs form when you can just have function? Every font you see is Helvetica. Every. Single. One. Because again, it's the most functional, why have anything else? The design on your couch, rug, guitar strap, lampshade, even your napkins... those wouldn't exist. It would all just be blank. And all those things that you live for? The things that you do with friends, that help you relax after a long day? Movies, plays, TV shows, books, video games, music... hope you can learn to do without. Are you seeing what I'm getting at here? Art and design, it's literally everywhere.

So you might be wondering what the point of that little rant was. Sure art is everywhere and we need it, but that still doesn't mean that having a career in art is actually a good idea, the market is totally risky. And you're right, the field isn't easy, but it's important. And keep in mind I'm not trying to undermine any of the non-creative fields. We obviously need engineers, accountants, lawyers, doctors, etc. But here's the deal. Those folks are what keep us alive, but it's the artists that make us want to live. You can't have one without the other, so please, let's stop treating that other half like shit. If you have kids or know someone who is creatively talented, don't discourage them from the arts. Support them. Because they are important. And support the art around you. The field wouldn't be so damn hard to get a job in if people valued the arts a little more. Go to your local museum, visit art shows. In fact, why spend money on decorations for your home at Target when you can have a one of a kind piece that was hand made? Yes, you might spend a little less at Target, but remember, you get what you pay for. And for gods sake, don't let your schools cut their art programs! I can't reiterate this enough! I was lucky enough to attend schools that had great art programs, but when I was in college I met kids who had never even had an art program in their high schools. That's absurd.

Unless you want to live in some horrid art-less dystopia where everyone miserably attends work then goes home in their box-cars to sit on their dull gray furniture and stare at a blank wall then you better damn appreciate the arts. Okay maybe I was a little dramatic there but seriously, this shits important. Here, go find some art and appreciate it. :]

DIY: Legwarmers and Boot Socks!

So the local thrift shop was having an awesome sale today. I showed up bright and early, and so did apparently half of the town. Fit as much as you can into a paper bag and pay $4, what a fricking steal! So I thought what better time than now to score some groovy sweaters to finally make some boot socks out of? So I grabbed a bunch (along with some picture frames and fluffy loose fabric) and checked out.

This is again, a pretty simple DIY, but here's the pictures and step by step anyways. 

One thing to make sure of is that the sweater arms are large enough to fit your legs through. If the arms are teensy tiny, you might be able to make ankle cuffs and that's about it! Go large.

Fold your sweater in half on a flat surface.

Cut along the upper arm as evenly as you can.

Remember the cuff is going to be sticking out from your boots, so pick sweaters with cute designs there.

Now the reason I cut so high up on the arm for this one, leaving all that extra fabric, is so I could use those as slouchy boot socks.

see?

Note the snowflakes on the white one. That was just a shirt, not a thick sweater, but the cuffs were perfect for this project. 

Happy DIYing!

Foxy Finds: Thriftin

Thrift shops, they are undoubtedly one of my favorite places ever. Some people get squeamish about the thought of using something that someone else once owned, I like it better than buying something new though. There's just something kind of fun about buying something that had an entire history before you picked it up. Well for me it's fun at least. Anyways, I've heard a lot of people talk shit about thrift shops for the "crap" that they are filled with. So if you're in doubt, let me show off a few not crap finds that have come exclusively from thrifting. :]

This adorable little cabbage soup bowl. $2 

Nifty chinese tea cups. Or mugs. Not sure what to call them, but they're niiice. $5 for the pair

Gah I love this one!! I think he's a Sanrio character or something, but I just think he looks like a blob of pudding wearing an acorn on its head. Anyways, it's for setting your ladles or spatulas on. Whatever those things are called. $.50

Little woodland bears holding raccoons. And they're salt/pepper shakers. Trucking adorable. $2

My favorite find... and I broke him. Yep, you can see the little cracks that I tried to repair on the top left, but anyways, my owl mug is undoubtedly my favorite find ever. $2

Check this groovy-ass casserole dish out. I love it. $3

Another soup bowl, my friend was with me and she has a matching one in avocado green. $3

ps~ sorry for the crummy photo quality, it was dark :P

Foxy Frugality: How to Buy

So I see time and time again all kinds of "advice" on how to save money, waste less, etc. Some of these articles or blogs seem to lack mentioning many important facets of being frugal and some give out advice that I straight up fully disagree with. I know everyone's situation is different, so I can't say my method will work for everyone, but it works for me. I'll keep it one topic to each post, so this one is all about learning how to purchase.

Learn to see the product, not the price. Site after site talks about how to budget your spending, but they rarely touch on the cause of spending problems. They question shouldn't be "Can I afford it?", the question needs to be "Do I really NEED it?". Now I am not saying you should buy that $300 dress because you need a new dress. Take the price into consideration obviously, but don't let that outweigh whether or not the item is actually necessary. This is also not to say that you should never indulge yourself, but it shouldn't be a regular occurrence. When you're shopping, it's easy to be dazzled by whatever new displays catch your eye, but it's there that you let your money slip through your fingers. I have certain techniques I use when shopping for different things.

• When grocery shopping, ALWAYS make a list before heading out, and stick to it. If you happen to see something that sparks your attention, ask yourself how much you want it. Have you been craving that thing a lot lately and haven't had the chance to buy it? Or are you just craving it right now upon seeing it?

• When looking for new clothing, think about what exactly your wardrobe is lacking before heading into the store. If you're really only shopping for a cold weather dress, don't be distracted by shoes or new jeans. Then again, sometimes something else really grabs you, despite being focused on your goal. Whenever I find myself unexpectedly in love with something not on my list, I set it down and continue on my way. My rule is that after leaving the store, if whatever that thing is keeps popping up in my mind days and days later, then I can go back and get it after a week. More often than not though, I completely forget about whatever that item was. And if I can't even remember it, then how fabulous was it really?

• Electronics are a bare necessity category for me. If I have a digital camera that works fine, then I do not need a better one. If my TV works great but it's smaller than everyone else's... too damn bad. You completely forget about the size anyways once it's on. And cell phones? If it works, you keep it. End of story. I've had Tracfone since I was in high school, trust me, unless it's part of your job, you don't need a phone with all the bells and whistles. If I managed to survive all throughout college with a phone that has zero internet access, you can probably survive too. (however I will be switching to Ting soon, and I'll write an entire post later reviewing it. It SHOULD be a huge money saver for me)

• When you are buying something expensive, you need to do your research. I see people do the same thing time after time, they walk into the store and buy something on the spot. That is NOT SMART. When you are buying a cell phone, car, tv, video game, computer, etc. look online for reviews. Cnet has good ones, but look at as many websites as you can, and don't rush into anything. You will absolutely regret not taking the 20 minutes to check online before heading to the store. Of course when doing research, don't just look at the rating, read the actual reviews. I was looking for a new cell phone for my switch to Ting recently, and was checking websites online. One I initially liked was getting crummy ratings, but upon reading the reviews, it was only getting low scores for a feature I wouldn't be using anyways. 

I could go into much greater detail here, but I think I'll save that for later posts. I hope you get where I'm coming from when I say to see the item and not the price. It's really about purchasing something that will last, something that you really need- not something you want at that moment. Living on impulse will only lead to bad choices, so think before you buy. I hope this article has helps!

~Krista