Katie Haller, Author at Thrifty Wife Happy Life

Hand-me-Down Bell Sleeve Dress

August 25, 2018 by Katie Haller

Hey everyone! As usual, things have been pretty busy around here. I recently started a new school year at work, so I’ve been busy getting my classroom all settled in. I actually have to say that so far, this has been the best start of a school year. I feel the most prepared for the new year. Everything is the way I want it in my classroom and I have an awesome teacher assistant who is helping me stay organized and on track. The kids are great too! As each school year starts, I always have to be prepared for some kind of challenge, but so far things are going smoothly.

At home, I have Jack who is always keeping me busy. We also have a furry little house guest who is visiting. My brother and sister-in-law are on vacation for 2 weeks and we are watching their cat. Jack loves having the kitty cat around, but I don’t think the kitty feels the same way.

For today’s outfit post, I want to share a hand-me-down dress from my sister-in-law’s closet. A couple months ago, she gave me a bag full of clothes that I went through. I ended up keeping a few things and this dress was one of them. I thought that the bell sleeves were really cute and the print was fun. I felt like this look would be a cute dress to wear on a date night…. if we ever get around to having one.

*This post contains affiliate links, which means by clicking and or making a purchase through a link, I will make a commission for this blog. Thank you for your support!

I’ve linked some similar affordable dresses below for you.

Desert Style with Desert Tide Boutique

August 22, 2018 by Katie Haller

Before I moved to Las Vegas, I had never been to the desert. I had only looked down at it as I flew over it on my way to California. I never thought that I would end up living in the desert one day, but here I am. I’m going on my 4th year of living in the desert and I have to say that I really love it. I do miss the beauty of Michigan, but the desert has its own beautiful landscape. It’s different than anywhere else in the world. I love the mountains, the sunshine and the fact that you can see for miles at some points.

Another thing I love about living in the desert is the style. I’m always attracted to Instagram pictures of the desert landscape or clothes styled in the desert. That is why when I came across the Instagram page of Desert Tide Boutique, I knew I had to check them out. Desert Tide Boutique is located in Santa Fe, New Mexico and they sell stylish and quality clothes that match the style and feel of the American Southwest perfectly. I was instantly drawn into their beautiful prints and flowy bohemian style.

This summer fireworks tie front top caught my attention right away. First of all, I’m obsessed with stripes. I don’t have much red in my wardrobe, so this is the perfect way to wear red. I’m also loving this style of shirt with the ruffled sleeves and the tie front. I know I’ll be wearing it a lot throughout the fall and winter this year. Even though my back yard doesn’t offer too much of a desert background, I do think this top has a great desert feel to it.

*This post is part of a collaboration with Desert Tide Boutique. As always all opinions are 100% my own. This post also includes affiliate links. By making a purchase through a link, with code, I will earn a commission for this blog. Thank you for your support!

Check out Desert Tide Boutique for yourself and use the code THRIFTWIFE to get 20% off your purchase.

My Thrifting Story

August 17, 2018 by Katie Haller

Today is National Thrift Store Day, so in honor of that, I wanted to share with you my thrifting story. I always love to hear about how people get into thrift shopping because everyone has their own story, so why not share mine?

Growing up, my family never spent a lot of money on clothes. My mom was always a clearance and sales shopper. She always taught me to never pay full price for my clothes, but it was really my grandmother, who I call Mimi, who taught me about thrift shopping. My Mimi was always shopping her local thrift stores and neighborhood garage sales. She would always share her latest finds with me. She was always so proud to tell me how much she spent or how much she saved on all her finds. As a mother of six kids and married to a carpenter, money was always tight for them, so Mimi always did her best to dress her best on her budget. She still thrifts and dresses her best to this day at 93 years old.

I always remembered my Mimi’s thrifting skills, but it wasn’t until I was a young adult that I started to thrift myself. Money was really tight when I first got married and sadly my wardrobe was put on hold while my husband and I worked hard to pay off my student loan dept. I decided to check out our local Salvation Army store to see if I could find anything I liked. My first thrift find was a black limited blazer for $4. I had been wanting a blazer, but I didn’t have the money to buy one. After that great find, I started visiting the Salvation Army frequently. I learned about their sales and started to find things here and there to update my wardrobe.

When I moved out to Las Vegas, I found out that my area had lots of thrift stores. It is such a transit area, so people are consistently cleaning out their closets. Within a mile of my house, I have a Goodwill, Salvation Army, and Savers, not to mention a few local stores as well. I started stopping by often and learning the sales. After Jack was born, I turned into an even bigger thrift shopper than before, because I started thrifting for him as well as myself. I feel like once you start to find those great prices on thrift finds, it’s hard to go back to shopping at the normal discount stores. As a mom, I feel guilty when I spend too much on myself, so thrift shopping always is a guilt-free way for me to shop.

Now I would have to say that my wardrobe is probably more than half thrifted. Saving for our future is really important to my husband and me. I’ve always had my frugal ways, but I never really knew how to save my money. With thrift shopping, I feel like I can still shop and save at the same time. If I was spending money on expensive clothes as much as I thrift shop we really wouldn’t be saving all that much money.

Another reason why I love thrifting is because it’s good for the environment. I wouldn’t say that I’m a huge environmentalist, but I do believe that it’s important that we all do our small part to help our environment. I recycle my trash, so why not recycle my fashion? I’ve learned that the fashion industry is one of the largest polluting industries. It doesn’t help that people are buying more clothes than ever and keeping them half as long. Of course I buy new clothes, but buying my clothes second hand gives me different feeling.

So that’s my thrifting story. What’s your thrifting story? Below I have my latest thrift find from The Goodwill. I found this floral Abercrombie dress for $4 a couple weeks ago. I love the colors, because I think it will transition well into the fall. I paired it with my Old Navy denim jacket that I found at Savers and my strappy sandals from ThredUP.

*This post contains affiliate links. By clicking on and/or making a purchase through a link, I will make a commission for this blog. Thank you for your support!

Back-to-School Teacher Outfits

August 13, 2018 by Katie Haller

Teacher Outfites- 9 Ways to Wear a Striped Dress in your classroom

It’s back to school time, and I am super excited about today’s post! I’m teaming up with 6 other teacher fashion bloggers to share teacher inspired outfits to wear in your classroom. We are from all over the country and teach different grades, so hopefully, you will find some teacher fashion inspiration from that fits your style and budget.

For the last 10 years, I have been working in early childhood education. I’ve been an infant and toddler teacher in childcare centers, I’ve been an administrator at a childcare center and I’ve taught preschool at 3 different non-profit Head Start programs. I am currently going into my 4th year teaching PreK at a Head Start program in Nevada. I definitely have to say that 4 and 5-year old’s are my favorite age in early childhood. I love preparing kids for Kindergarten. When I was younger, I always knew that I wanted to work with children when I got older, but I never thought that I would be working with this group of children. After graduating from college with my bachelor’s degree in Child Development and Family Studies, I knew that I wanted to work for Head Start. If you’re not familiar with Head Start, it’s a federally funded preschool program for low-income families. We work closely with children and their families to help close the achievement gap in education.

I will be the first to admit that my job is not easy. I work year-round, there is a lot of paperwork and many of our children come to us with special needs and behavior problems. There are times when I question why I do this job. This past year was my hardest year ever. I thought about quitting every day and questioned if I really should be doing this kind of job. But I held in there and finally made it to the end of the long year (Yup our school year ends at the end of July and starts back up in early August, so there is no summer break for me.) This year I plan to start fresh and on a positive note.

One thing that always helps me get through my day and stay positive is a cute outfit. I’m a firm believer that your outfit can set the tone of your day. When I wear something that I don’t love or I don’t feel good in, then I’m not going to have a good workday. But when I step up my outfit a bit and wear something that makes me feel good, I’m in a different mood. I’m happier, I’m more patient with the kids and I’m more motivated to get things done in my classroom.

My dress code at work is pretty casual. That’s nice being a preschool teacher because we do everything with the kids… we paint, we dance, we run on the playground and eat 2 meals with the children, so as you can imagine, it can get messy. Luckily we can wear jeans all week long, but I also try to dress up and wear a dress from time to time. Dresses are so comfortable to wear in the classroom, especially when it’s really hot outside.

For today’s post, I struggled with coming up with a really cute and creative look, so I decided to just stick to my basic’s and style a striped dress from my closet. (original post HERE) I think everyone that I work with knows how much I love stripes because I wear them at least 4 times a week. They are just so versatile. When you work with the same people every day, you start to learn about their wardrobe. I try to never wear the same exact look twice. I repeat my clothes all the time, but I just wear them in different ways. That’s why I wanted to share 9 ways that you can style a striped dress to wear in your classroom. This way you can still repeat your clothes, without repeating your outfit.

*This post contains affiliate links, which means by clicking on and/or making a purchase through a link, I will earn a commission for this blog. Thank you for your support!

Cardigan- Old Navy- thrifted at Savers (SIMILAR) || Flats- Old Navy (SIMILAR) || Earrings- Target (SIMILAR)

Cardigan- H&M- Thrifted from Savers (SIMILAR) || Boots- Target (SIMILAR) || Necklace- Nordstrom Rack (SIMILAR)

Cardigan- Macy’s (SIMILAR) || Booties- Burlington Coat Factory (EXACT) || Necklace- Charming Charlie (SIMILAR) Watch- Jord (EXACT)

Shirt- Unknown Brand- Thrifted from Savers (SIMILAR) || Shoes- Madden Girl- Thrifted from ThredUP (SIMILAR) || Bracelet- Kate Spade (EXACT)

Vest- Brand unknown- thrifted from Savers (SIMILAR) || Shoes- Walmart (SIMILAR) || Necklace- thrifted from Savers (SIMILAR)

Jacket- Old Navy- thrifted from Savers (SIMILAR) || Shoes- Kohl’s- thrifted from ThredUP (SIMILAR) || Necklace- Kohl’s (SIMILAR)

Sweater- Old Navy (EXACT) || Shoes- Kohl’s- thrifted from ThredUP (SIMILAR) || Bracelet- Kate Spade (EXACT) || Belt- Target (SIMILAR)

Blazer- LC Lauren Conrad (EXACT) || Belt- hand-me-down (SIMILAR) || Shoes- Target (SIMILAR) Watch- JORD (EXACT)

T-shirt- Target (SIMILAR) || Shoes- Madden Girl- thrifted from ThredUP (SIMILAR) || Watch- Nordstrom Rack (SIMILAR) Necklace- LC Lauren Conrad (SIMILAR)

The options are really endless when it comes to styling a striped dress, but hopefully, you can use some of these outfit ideas when styling your own dresses in your wardrobe. Don’t forget to check out the other blogger’s post below for more teacher wardrobe inspiration. Thanks for stopping by!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Quick and Easy Week Night Meals

August 8, 2018 by Katie Haller

It’s that time of the year when kids are going back to school and life is getting busy. Cooking for your family is probably the last thing you feel like doing, yet you can’t wait around for mom to make dinner because guess what? You are the mom! That’s why today I wanted to share some of my favorite quick and easy meals that I like to make for my family.

There used to be a time when I enjoyed cooking, but now with a toddler, a full-time job and a blog that I like to keep up with, cooking is my least favorite thing… just behind cleaning my house. The problem is, we don’t like to eat out all the time. It can be really expensive and it’s not that healthy to always eat out in restaurants. Not to mention, going to a restaurant with a 2-year-old is not very enjoyable for us right now. We do go out to eat once or twice on the weekends, but most of the week we eat at home.

Every weekend, I try to put together a meal plan for the week. I typically go to the same 3 grocery stores every week. For my everyday shopping needs, I like Smith’s, because I’m familiar with the store, it’s convenient and they have great prices. I use their app to load up my mobile coupons and save extra on almost everything I buy. I also like to do my big weekend grocery shopping trips at WinCo. WinCo is great because they have great prices, unique local brands and ethnic foods. The only downfall for me is that WinCo doesn’t accept credit cards, which I earn cashback rewards for shopping at grocery stores, so I have to forfeit my points when I shop at WinCo. The last grocery store that I regularly shop at is Trader Joe’s. I look forward to my Trader Joe’s trips because I love that store! I usually spend a little more when I do a trip to Trader Joe’s, but it’s worth it, because they have so yummy frozen meals and premade meals, that they keep my family fed for a while.

Today, I want to share 6 quick and easy meals for you. No difficult recipes, just simple meals for you and your family.

Trader Joe’s Clam Linguini

This is a go-to meal for me. The frozen bag of Clam Linguini is really yummy and it takes under 10 minutes to cook. I always like to have a salad with my pasta and bag salads are the best to go with weeknight meals. I love this Chopped Mediterranean salad from Taylor Farms, but I usually just buy whatever is on sale. I usually make some garlic toast to go along with our meal, because my husband always likes it.

Trader Joe’s Turkey Meatballs

After making these Trader Joe’s meatballs, I don’t know if I’ll ever make homemade meatballs again. Well, maybe one day if I have a lot of free time, but these meatballs are delicious!! I just microwave them for 2 minutes and I serve them with angel hair pasta and marinara sauce. Again, I like to serve my pasta with a bag salad and some garlic toast. Since it’s only my husband and me who eat the salad, I split the bag so it will last us for more than one meal.

Avocado Pasta

Avocado pasta was one of the first Pinterest recipes that I ever tried. I love avocados and this is the perfect way to use them in a pasta. I’ve been making this meal for so many years that I have simplified my recipe. In my hand blender measuring cup, I add 1-2 avocados, depending on the size, 2 Tbs of Olive Oil, 1 tsp of minced garlic, a splash of lemon juice and some Morten seasoning. I blend it all up with my mixer and serve it over whole wheat spaghetti noodles, with salad and bread on the side. It’s an easy way to get kids to eat a vegetable too!

Mediterranean Chicken Wrap

I love Mediterranean food. This wrap is the perfect fix when I feel like some sort of chicken wrap. I buy all the ingredients at Trader Joe’s. This pre-cooked chicken breast is the best. It’s all-white meat, fresh and perfect for wraps and salads. I use hummus to line the pita with, then add chicken, feta, and tabouli. It makes for a nice fast summer meal. Plus there is no cleanup since there is no cooking involved.

Fish Tacos

I love fish tacos and these fish tacos are so easy. I buy the fish nuggets at Trader Joe’s. For a topping, I buy some kind of slaw in a bag. This Tahini, Pepita and Apricot Slaw Kit from Trader Joe’s was the perfect veggie toppings with these. For cheese, I usually like to use feta with fish. I made my tacos on a corn tortilla, but my husband prefers flour, so you can use either or depending on your preference.

Bean and Rice Burritos

This meal is pretty much poor college student food, but it’s so easy and it tastes good too. I use refried beans, Spanish rice, cheese, avocado and salsa. For this meal, I grilled my burrito, but if you want to make it really easy, you can just pop it in the microwave.

So there you have it. Those are 6 easy meals that you can make for your family within 30 minutes. Let me know if you try any of them. For more quick and easy meals, follow me on Instagram and watch my instastories where I will share more recipes as I make them.

*This post contains affiliate links.

Toddler Update + Outfit Post with PinkBlush

August 1, 2018 by Katie Haller

Today I’m talking about the 2 things that I always have on my mind; my toddler and fashion. I remember thinking that having an infant kept me so busy. Between the feedings, diapers, and lack of sleep, I thought that I never got a minute to rest. Now that Jack is 2, all that baby stuff seems so easy to me now. People always told us that some things will get easier as your child grows and other things will be harder. Boy were they right. Sometimes, being a toddler mom is so easy. When Jack gets engaged in something and is in a good mood it’s so great, but then there are the other times when I am just exhausted. Jack is so busy and he can be so demanding of my attention. It can definitely be challenging figuring out how to balance my home life, my full-time job, my blog, and social media all while trying to be a good mom. I’m constantly multi-tasking. What I’m finding out is that multi-tasking is just a part of being a mom.

People always ask me when are we going to try for another baby. I will say that I don’t even want to think about having another baby until Jack will sleep consistently through the night for a whole month. I’m pretty sure that Jack is the world’s worst sleeper. It’s gotten better, much better from the first year, but he is still waking up during the night. Now he just comes into our bed whenever he wakes up. I wouldn’t mind having him in our bed if he didn’t sleep sideways and toss and turn all night long. With as sick as I was for my first trimester with Jack, I do not know how I could get through a pregnancy with no sleep, a demanding toddler and still function at work. Hopefully, Jack will get better at sleeping, at least that’s what I’ve been telling myself since the day he was born.

Even though my little guy can be a total crazy person at times, he is also so adorable! I think God makes toddlers extremely cute for a reason. His little smile and laugh puts a smile on my face all the time. He is talking so much and forming sentences. We understand him and even other people are starting to understand him sometimes. I do have a lot of fun with him. One thing I’ve been trying to do more often is spend more quality time with him, by putting my phone in the other room and just playing with him. Sometimes I have too many distractions, but Jack is what’s important right now. Watching him grow and soaking in this toddler age before it’s too late.

This post is part of a collaboration with PinkBlush. All opinions are 100% my own.

Now on to the fashion! Every year around this time of the summer I start getting excited about fall fashion. Since we don’t really experience fall temperatures until late November, I usually get really into transitional fall looks. One trend I’m really loving right now are the front button tie tops. I’ve been seeing them everywhere. They are so cute and casual, plus perfect to transition into your fall wardrobe. This navy striped button tie front top is from my favorite boutique PinkBlush. I really love the ruffled sleeves on this top. I think it sets it apart from some of the other tops I’ve seen like this. I styled it for today’s look with distressed jeans and my slides, but it could easily be styled with jean shorts for summer or a nicer pair of jeans or pants and some flats for the classroom. I plan on wearing it to one of my professional development days this week at work.

To find more trendy tops like this one, be sure to head over to PinkBlush!

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