Thrifty Wife Happy Life

Helping women love what they wear on a budget

Mom Wardrobe Essentials

by Katie Haller

When I became a mom, my whole life changed, including my wardrobe.  I went from having lots of free time to think about outfits and go shopping, to now, where I feel like I’m always in a rush.  I’m rushing to get to work, rushing to get home, rushing to make dinner and rushing to put together an outfit.  My life revolves around taking care of my little Jack, but I refuse to lose my sense of style.  Putting together a cute outfit always affects my moods and gives me more confidence.  I just feel better about myself when I feel put together, and I think that’s important as a mom.  That’s why these days I’ve had to adjust the way I dress and simplify my wardrobe to fit my lifestyle. 

Nowadays, I mostly dress very casual, more casual than I ever did in the past.  I have 10 essential pieces in my wardrobe that help makes styling an outfit extremely simple for me.  
1.) Stripe Dress- I love stripes and dresses are so easy to wear, especially in the warmer weather.  You can dress them up and down.  I like a stripe pattern because it’s a pattern I feel comfortable in and it’s easy to accessorize. 
2.) Long Cardigan- I love long cardigans.  They go perfectly with jeans, leggings or dresses.  My favorite cardigan right now is from H&M.  I love how lightweight it is and how I can wear it with almost anything in my closet.
3.) Long T-shirt- I’m really loving t-shirts right now, especially long ones.  T-shirts are a great staple to have in your wardrobe, especially when they fit nicely. 
4.) Denim Jacket- I love my denim jacket.  It’s perfect for layering over dresses or long tops.  I like that I always feel comfortable in it and it goes with everything. 
5.) Leggings- Leggings are the best kind of pants for busy moms.  They are comfy and when worn correctly, they can be quite stylish. 
6.) Distress Denim Jeans-  I love a good comfortable pair of distress jeans.  They are trendy and casual.  You can never go wrong with a good comfortable pair of jeans.
7.) Large Tote-  I kind of said goodbye for now to all my small clutches and crossbody purses, because large tote purses are the best choice for me.  I avoid my diaper bag, so I always need a purse large enough for all my little guy’s snacks, diapers, and toys.  A cognac color is my favorite for a purse because it can be worn with just about everything in your wardrobe.
8.) Ankle Booties- Heels is hard to do these days because I’m constantly holding my 20 lb little guy.  A cute pair of booties with a low heel are the perfect way to get away with wearing a heal and dressing up a look without overdoing it. 
9.) Sneakers- A cute pair of casual sneakers are the perfect way to complete your mom look.  You can wear them with anything.  I love my Converse Chucks Taylor sneakers. I’ve worn them all the time because they are comfortable and perfect for both work and home. They are the perfect shoe to fit my busy mom life.
10.) Nude Ballet Flats- Flats are always my go-to shoes.  They are easy to slip on and they look good with everything.  I’m due to replace my nude ballet flats from Target this spring.  I’m thinking these scalloped flats would be the perfect replacements. 

Here are some of the ways that I utilize my mom essentials in my wardrobe.

(I do try to link my clothes as much as I can, but because many of the clothes in my closet are clearance finds, thrifted pieces or older clothes, I can’t always find the exact link.  However, I try to link some similar affordable options for you.  You can check out my look below.)
Shop my closet
Dress- Nordstrom Rack (similar similar similar)
 Denim Jacket- Mejier (similar similar)
 Purse- Savers ( similar similar)
Pendant Necklace- Nordstrom Rack (similar similar)
 Green Statement necklace- Charming Charlies (similar)
 Coral Necklace- Charming Charlies (similar)
 Layered necklace- Nordstrom Rack (similar)
 T-shirts-Target (similar similar)
 Jeans- Nordstrom Rack (similar similar)
 All other shoes are linked above!
I hope that you feel inspired to step up your mom wardrobe!  Do you have any go to pieces in your wardrobe?

St. Patrick’s Day Looks

by Katie Haller

I love dressing up for holidays.  It’s always been a fun way for me to celebrate the holiday, no matter what my plans are for that day.  One of my favorite holidays to dress for has always been St. Patrick’s Day.  I love the color green and I’m a little over a quarter Irish, so I feel that gives me the right to go all out and show off my Irish pride.  My St. Patrick’s Day is now celebrated a little differently than the St. Patrick’s Day’s of my past.  Instead of drinking at the bars with friends, I’ll be hanging out with my little family, probably enjoying a beer with my husband, while Jack plays in the yard. 
Even though my St. Patty’s Day plans might be a little lame to some, that doesn’t mean that I can’t have fun with my outfit.  Here are a few looks that I put together for St. Patrick’s Day, just by shopping my own closet.
For my first look, I wore this green polka-dot blouse that I’ve had in my closet for a couple years now.  I paired it with my distress jeans and nude pumps.

Top- Target (similar) || Jeans- Target (similar) || Shoes- Target (exact) || Necklace- Nordstrom Rack (similar) || Purse- Ross (similar)

I’m really loving this olive green color with my white pants.  It looks so springy!  I paired this look with some brown Steve Madden wedge shoes, a statement necklace, and my brown leather Coach purse.

Top- Thrifted from Savers (similar) || Pants- Target (similar) || Necklace- Savers (similar) || Shoes- Macy’s (similar) || Purse- Coach Outlet (similar)

If you don’t have much green in your wardrobe, you can always accessorize with some green.  I love to accessorize with big green statement necklaces.  I wore my green bubble necklace for this look, but you could always add a green scarf if you don’t have any green jewelry. 

Top- Nordstrom Rack (similar) || Pants- TJ Maxx (similar) || Jacket- Meijer (similar) || Shoes- Burlington Coat Factory (exact) || Purse- Last Call Neiman Marcus (exact) || Necklace- Charming Charlies (similar)

Sometimes a simple green t-shirt is all you need to dress up a St. Patrick’s Day look.  Back when I had little money to go shopping with, I bought this Kelly green t-shirt at Kohl’s and it’s always been a good go to top for St. Patrick’s Day. 

Top- Kohl’s (similar) || Jeans- Kohl’s (similar) || Cardigan- H&M (similar) || Shoes- linked above || Purse- linked above

Those are my St. Patty’s Day looks.  Hopefully, I’ve inspired you to shop your closet and find ways to incorporate green into your day!

Shopping Finds- Thrift Store Looks

by Katie Haller

Whenever I have a Monday off work for a holiday, I always try to make a trip to Savers to check out their sales.  This President’s Day, I couldn’t help myself but to drive up and check out the 50% off sale.  I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, but I ended up finding some really cute things at a great price as always! 

Here are some of my findings.  I put together a few looks that I can’t wait to wear!

This grey Target cardigan was only $3.  I love cardigans and grey goes with everything.  I thought it looked really nice with this teal tunic, which was only $3 as well. 
I really liked this olive green long sleeve top.  It’s super lightweight and it has a nice fit.  It was only $2. 
I also found this brown cardigan for $4.  I don’t have anything brown like this, so I thought it would be nice to have in my cardigan collection.  I paired it up with the olive green top.

I always feel like my closet is lacking color, so I bought this rust orange color cardigan.  It’s the same as my grey H&M cardigan that I wear all the time, so I knew I would like it.  It was only $3. 
I’m always looking for cute shorts, so I was excited when I found these Abercrombie jean shorts for only $5.  With the hot Las Vegas summers, I knew I would be needing more shorts.  I also love the statement necklace I found for $2.99.  I love how simple it is and how you can wear it with any look to dress it up. 
I can’t wait to incorporate these items into my everyday looks!
Happy thrift shopping!

Making the Most of Your Non-Maternity Clothes- Casual Style

by Katie Haller

It’s hard to believe that I’m getting ready to celebrate my little guys the first birthday!  This year has just flown by!  I feel like it was just yesterday that I was pregnant and anxiously awaiting his arrival.  I have to admit that it’s nice to have my body back and not be pregnant anymore, but there are times when I really miss having that baby bump.  I had a lot of fun playing around with my wardrobe while I was pregnant, that’s why I decided to look back on a few of my maternity looks from last winter.

I recently was feeling stumped on putting together my outfits.  I was running out of ideas on how to wear my clothes.  I decided to take a look back on some of my maternity outfit posts from last year to draw some inspiration for what to wear now.  I ended up trying a few of my maternity looks on, this time without the bump, and I liked what I found.  One thing that I knew I did not want to have happened when I was done being pregnant was to have a big box of maternity clothes that I would only wear maybe one more time before getting rid of them.  So I did my best to wear what I already had in my closet by wearing non-maternity clothes.  I think I did a pretty good job of it, because I only ended up with 2 actual maternity items, the rest of my clothes I can still wear.

Here are 4 of my casual looks from last winter.  I know I’ll be repeating these looks this winter without the bump.

I’ve had this LC Lauren Conrad blouse (exact) in my closet for a while now.  It’s still one of my favorite tops and it was perfect to wear throughout my pregnancy.  Here is how I wore it when I was 7 months pregnant and how I wear it now.
This striped long jersey tank top from H&M (exact) was one of my favorite tops to wear when I was pregnant.  I couldn’t have had a better maternity top. 
I bought this grey tunic last winter at Nordstrom Rack.  It was so perfect to wear during my last month of being pregnant.  It also was my favorite top to wear after I gave birth.  I wore it a lot while I was on maternity leave when many of my tops were too tight to wear. 
I bought this mustard colored t-shirt at Target (exact) when I was 8 months pregnant.  I wore it with my favorite navy blazer from Target (similar).  These jeans are actually one of my skinniest pairs, but I wore them right up to the end of my pregnancy.  I won’t lie, they weren’t super comfortable at this point, but they looked better than my maternity jeans, so I just wore them unzipped with a belly band. 
Was anyone else able to style non-maternity clothes when they were pregnant?  I’d love to hear if you have any tips or tricks to making it work. 

Instagram Outfit Review- Winter Looks

by Katie Haller

Hey everyone!  I can’t believe that it’s February already!  Time is just flying by!  I’m sorry about the lack of post lately, but I’ve been super busy.  Ever since I went back to work after Christmas break it’s been one thing after another with doctor appointments, a sick baby, work stuff and preparing for a move.  It seems like there is always something, but hopefully this month things will start to settle down.  My family and I just moved into a new house, which was definitely a challenge to do with a baby.  It’s all worth it though because I love our new home.  It’s the perfect place for our little family!  It’s always fun to have a fresh start, but it always comes with lots of projects and of course a wish list of all the new home accessories that I want to buy.  I know that it will all get done eventually.  Until then, I can’t promise that many blog posts.  I have lots of ideas in my head of all the things that I’d like to write about, unfortunately, I’m lacking in time.  Until I can get together some time to put together some new posts, I thought that I’d do a quick round-up of my Instagram outfits.  
I have found this winter to be hard to dress for.  I think one of the problems with the winter in Las Vegas is that it’s not cold enough to wear actual warm winter clothes, but it’s still too cold to wear non-winter clothes… if that makes any sense?  The mornings have been in the ’30s, so it gets kind of hard to take an outfit selfie on my way to the car, that’s why I’ve been slacking on sharing my outfit of the day.

Here are my looks from this winter so far…

Coat- Old Navy
Sweater- Target
Jeans- Meijer
Boots- Burlington Coat Factory
Purse- Neiman Marcus Last Call
Top- Target
Jeans- Nordstrom Rack
Purse- Coach
Shoes- DSW
Top- Nordstrom Rack
Cardigan- H&M
Leggings- Forever 21
Scarf- Banana Republic Factor
Boots- Target
Sweater- Express
Necklace- Nordstrom Rack
Jeans- TJ Maxx
Purse- Neiman Marcus Last Call
Tunic- Old Navy
Jacket- Meijer
Leggings- Last Call
Shoes- Nordstrom
Sweater- Express
Jeans- Nordstrom Rack
Sweater- Meijer
Top- Target
Jeans- Target
Scarf- Old Navy
Purse- Savers
Those are my winter looks.  Hopefully, with the weather warming up a bit, I can get some more of my outfit of the day posts on Instagram soon!

Weekend Wardrobe- Casual Mom Style

by Katie Haller

It’s been so long since I last did a weekend wardrobe post.  Lately, my weekends are spent around the house and running errands.  We are moving at the end of the month, so I feel like I am just preparing myself for our move.  I also had a sick baby this weekend.  My poor little Jack had his fourth ear infection since September.  It’s so frustrating because I hate seeing him sick.  He doesn’t eat or sleep well when he’s not feeling well and it makes me sad to see.  Luckily he’s getting better.

To go along with my non-eventful life, I’ve been embracing a very casual mom style lately.  I’ve been really obsessed with a couple of my accessories from my closet that really help to dress up my casual looks.  I recently bought a pair of converse tennis shoes (here) and I’m loving them!  I’ve also been using my black satchel purse (here) that I bought this past fall.  I haven’t had a chance to use it that much, because it’s smaller than my other purses and I’m always needing to lug around a bunch of baby items.  But as Jack gets older, I’m able to run to the store without bringing all the extra diapers and bottles that I used to.

Here is what I wore…

Saturday  

Top- Target (similar)
Leggings- Forever 21 (exact)
Denim Top- Target (similar)
Scarf- Nordstrom (similar)
Sunday
Top- Nordstrom Rack (similar)
Cardigan- Macy’s (similar)
Leggings- Kohl’s (exact)
Those are my looks this weekend!  I hope everyone has a great week!

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