Take a ride with me to my pre-parenting years...

Your girl was always spending money in somebody's store. You could find me at a cash register handing over my soul for fashion and compliments any day. Fast-forward to my new gig, motherhood, and all of that was evicted from my life.

I still loved shopping and looking good. I just didn't have the energy, time, or money to spare. The realization that I had to get my entire life together backhanded me. If I wanted to shop, I had to shop smarter and less frequently.

I stayed out of stores until necessities beckoned. Before I knew it, years had passed without really updating my wardrobe. I was miserable but got accustomed to mixing and matching what was in my closet. By the time I tested the shopping waters again, I no longer had a sense of what I liked. Let's not forget the new body I had to go with the rest of the confusion. Talk about eye rolls.

It got to the point that I loathed shopping.

Mustering up the nerve to give it another go, I took baby steps. I went back to my old trusty... thrifting. I knew I could experiment with looks inexpensively this way. Whenever I bought clothes for my daughter, I'd buy one thing for myself. Motherhood forced me to rebuild my confidence and learn to work with my new body.  I'm still a work in progress but I'm back to my love of clothes and shopping.

I'm a thrifter/bargain shopper at heart and October was a good month. I didn't buy much but a couple of perfect-for-fall items caught my eye. You may have seen some of these pics on social if you follow me. I posted them before deciding to write a blog post. 

The Vest - Liz Claiborne $4 (Various styles here)

The Boots - Rampage $5.99 (Similar style here)

Do you see why I love to thrift and bargain shop? Thrifting gives me life and saves my bank account! I will be doing more mama-stylin' posts and I hope you'll tune in. I'm always on the hunt for the three things a busy mama needs: comfort, functionality, and that-will-look-cute-on-me!

Btw... I wore this outfit for my oldest daughter's birthday outing. We had a blast & it gave me all of the flexibility I needed to be a mom. Catch the latest vlog on our channel and see what I mean. Don't forget to subscribe.