Pocketful of Joules

If you followed along with me on Instagram (@PocketfulofJoules) while I was in San Francisco last week, you might know that I went a little crazy with the shopping. Okay, a lot crazy. So crazy that I realized that there was no way all my stuff would fit back in my little carry-on and I had to go and buy myself another suitcase.

Oops.

Even though I did ALL the shopping, I didn’t spend ALL the money. So, let me show you all the deals I found while putting in some miles in San Francisco:

Nordstrom Rack Scores
I find that Nordstrom Racks can be totally hit or miss depending on the location, so I was curious to stop by the Market Street location. I was thrilled to see a ‘baby bell sleeve’ blouse that I’d been eying online – baby bell, not Babel for my cheese lovers – so I tried it on. It was this one for $26 and it looked awful on me. So, that basically saved me like $80 to pay to Nordstrom to send it to me, only to have me return it at a later date.

I did buy two things though… this zip up star hoodie for $32 and also this pretty ‘good luck’ elephant necklace for $29.

I wore the hoodie every night when I got back to my chilly hotel room (and also a night when I went out and about for dinner). As for the necklace, it is my new favorite and I’ve worn it every day since I bought it!

Anthropologie Score
There was an Anthropologie right by my hotel and they sent me an email that they were having a 50% off sale, so I figured I’d stop by and take a little look around. I ended up with this Julian Tie-Sleeve Top because I can’t resist a cool black tank top for $30.

Source: Anthropologie.com

You can tie the straps as high or low as you like, which is great for a perfect fit. It looks super cute untucked with a more fitted cardigan over top, or on its own half-tucked into jeans or shorts. I think I’m going to get a ton of wear out of this one! If you want to try it for yourself, you might want to size down. I went with a medium and it still looks nice and flowy.

Goodwill Scores
I actually stopped at three different Goodwills during my trip. The first one at 1580 Mission Street had a huge selection and I spotted some great finds from Boden and Joie, but nothing came home with me. That was NOT the case at my second Goodwill. The location at 296 Bay Street was one of the nicest I’ve ever seen and OHMYGOSH the scores were crazy.

Prada sweater, $4.99
Within my first rack or two, I came across a cashmere and silk Prada sweater. PRADA! Oh yeah, and it was $4.99. As you can imagine, I hid that thing in the bottom of my basket and was totally afraid someone might come and grab it from me! I found an identical one online in pink with an original price of $840 so this deal is even bigger than when I found a DVF dress with tags still on it. I can’t wait to wear it in the fall/winter tucked into a high-waisted skirt!

Converse Chuck Taylor All Star Dainty Low Top, $9.99
Another lesson in looking everywhere at a thrift store… these sneakers were in the men’s section even though if you look inside they have women’s sizing. I recognized them as the Dainty Low Tops and they are being sold on the Converse website for $50. This pair was never worn and my size, so it was obviously meant to be!

Poncho, $8.99
I know, shopping for a poncho is a little ridiculous in June… but when you see something you like at a thrift store, you need to just go for it. This one is a nice medium-weight fabric and the leather and metal clasp is really snazzy. There are no tags on it, so I couldn’t track it down anywhere. However, I think that will be a great addition to my wardrobe next winter.

Aris A. USA Velvet Burnout Duster, $4.99
When I saw this cute velvet burnout thing I didn’t recognize the brand, but it reminded me of some kimono’s that I’ve seen recently at Anthropologie. I thought it could look cute with a tank top and jeans, or maybe even as a cover-up at the beach. I googled the brand a bit and found a similar design online for $175. While I would never pay almost $200 for this, at just $4.99 it was a total steal!

I decided to visit one last Goodwill at the 822 Geary Street location. That one was very similar to the ones that we have back home and there was a total hodgepodge of stuff. I ended up with just one item, this top for $5.99:

The upper tag had been cut out, but there was still the inside tag intact. I did some google sleuthing and found that this is the Textured Dot Sweater from Ann Taylor that was sold for $80.

Source: AnnTaylor.com

I really like the weight of the fabric, the subtle dots and the sleeve length. The navy color will also work with much of my closet, so I should be able to get wear out of this pretty much immediately. (6/28 update: I wore it today!)

Old Navy Score
I was in San Fransicso during Pride month and missed the Pride parade by just one day. Lots of stores had rainbow flags and Pride displays, and I was initially able to resist this shirt when I saw it in the window at Old Navy. Then, I went on a Segway adventure (more coming about that later this week) and sunburned the crap out of my chest. Every shirt I had packed was a v-neck, so I bought this one to protect my poor sunburned skin. No regrets on the $14 purchase, because it is awfully cute.

A post shared by pocketfulofjoules (@pocketfulofjoules) on Jun 24, 2017 at 12:42pm PDT

And that brings us to my last purchase… my extra suitcase! Apparently I’m not the only one who goes a little shopping crazy in San Francisco, because the TJ Maxx next door to my hotel had the largest selection of suitcase I’ve ever seen in one place! There were literally hundreds of choices and I ended up picking this adorable “London” design for $50.

I’ve been slowly switching out our crappy suitcases with nice ones, so this purchase wasn’t really much of a hardship. The inside has one zip closed portion, the wheels go all directions and its pattern will make it easy to find at the baggage claim. I’ll call that a win!

Have you ever bought so much on a trip that you had to buy another suitcase? Are you with me in squealing over that Prada find?

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I’m still catching up on my thoughts/photos/sleep from last week’s trip to San Francesco, so in the meantime I wanted to talk about something else that I’ve been thinking about. Kids and bathrooms.

Now that Jack is 5, I’m trying to be more aware of the fact that he’s growing up. For example, in the past when we would go down to the beach I’d think nothing of throwing him in the shower with me to get the sand off. Now that he’s 5 and about to start kindergarten, I figured that would be getting kind of weird soon (even though he still doesn’t even register my nakedness when he walks in on me), so I stand outside the shower while he does most of the washing on his own.

However, I still take him into the ladies bathroom with me… and I’m starting to think that it’s almost time to make a change. So, I asked the question on my Facebook page and really enjoyed reading everyone’s comments. If you have an extra couple minutes, definitely check them out here.

Since I’m not the only one trying to figure out that magical age, I want to know what you think. For normal day-to-day stuff (ex Target, restaurants, the library, etc), what age do you think a child should stop going into the opposite sex bathroom?

In our case, we are starting slowly with just one little change. Instead of mostly taking Jack into the ladies room with me, when we are out as a family Travis will take him into the men’s room every time. However, when Jack and I are out on our own, he will continue going to the ladies room with me for the time being.

To be honest, I’m not comfortable enough for him to go in to the men’s room on his own, just quite yet. I’m thinking that after he starts kindergarten we will reevaluate again. And if I’m still not comfortable, I’ll wait a few more months and reevaluate yet again. And that’s okay. Because there are some bad people out there and I’m a lot more concerned with keeping my kid safe than some random lady thinking it’s weird for my son to be in the ladies bathroom.

I love books and I love movies, but the whole adapting a book to a movie thing can be kind of tricky. I mean, I get totally attached to the characters in my mind… so if Hollywood casts someone that I don’t love in a part to play someone that I DO love… well, there are some very conflicted feelings happening.

For example, while I actually did enjoy the Twilight books when they came out (I know, I know…), I didn’t love the cast for the movie. However, a phenomenal cast made a dry companion book to Harry Potter into a super awesome “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” movie.

Sometimes, if I see a movie trailer and the movie looks really intriguing but too scary for me (yes, I’m a wimp), I’ll opt to read the book instead. That’s how I picked up the Maze Runner series, the Magicians trilogy, Gone Girl and the Wayward Pines series. I really enjoyed the books, but now don’t feel like I need to “ruin” them by watching the movies or television shows!

In honor of John Grisham’s new book, Camino Island, I’ve decided to share some of my favorite book-to-movie adaptions:

The Hunger Games
I love most everything about Katniss and I basically devoured the entire series while on vacation, so when I heard that they were making movies I was cautiously excited. I LOVE the way the movies turned out and think that they totally did justice for the books. Also, Jennifer Lawrence is perfection.

Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks, left) and Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) in THE HUNGER GAMES. Courtesy of Lionsgate and DVD.com.

Find them here:
The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, part 1
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, part 2

The Princess Bride
I was only 10 when the Princess Bride movie came out, so I’ve never seen it in the theater. However, I did/still do have a VHS tape of the movie, as well as the book (which has the front cover sadly ripped off from re-reading it so many times). If you love the movie, I highly recommend the book too: it’s here on Amazon.

Find the movie here:
The Princess Bride

The Devil Wears Prada
This movie/book combo are one of the rare times where I like the movie BETTER than the book. Once you add Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway to an awesome script, it makes everything even more fabulous!

Courtesy of 20th Century Fox and DVD.com

Find it here:
The Devil Wears Prada

Harry Potter
Of course, I can’t put together a list of awesome book-to-movie adaptions without the Harry Potter series. Obviously, the books are magical and amazing and awesome. However, the movies BLEW MY MIND! Add to that the tie-in of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios and this little Harry Potter nerd is ecstatic!

“Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” Available on video and DVD from Warner Home Video. All rights reserved.

Find them here:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 1
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 2

Now for the giveaway!
My friends at DVD.com are letting me give away a $100 gift card! All you have to do to enter is complete the survey below and leave a comment with your favorite book-to-movie adaption! A winner will be chosen on Monday, June 26^th. Good luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What is your favorite book-to-movie adaption?

Disclaimer: I am a member of Netflix’s DVD.com Director’s program, which gives me free access to movies. If you sign up with my referral link, I may receive a referral reward. All images are courtesy of Netflix.com and the producing companies. Pocketful of Joules is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

You GUYS. My friend, Jessy, sent me info over last night about the new Amazon Prime Wardrobe and I wanted to share it with you all because I’m super excited about it. Here, watch their little video:

So basically, it’s like a do-it-yourself version of Stitch Fix or Trunk Club. You know I looooove me some Trunk Club, so something like this is totally right up my alley!

Like Stitch Fix or Trunk Club, you get to try the items on at home (Prime Wardrobe gives you 7 days), you can return them for free using their prepaid mailing labels and resealable box, and you only pay for what you keep. As a SUPER BONUS, you get 10% off if you keep three or four items, or 20% off five items or more.

What’s different is that you don’t get a stylist. You get to choose all the items yourself, so it is a super convenient way to shop if you already have an idea on what you’d like to try. I just love that you can try things on at home with your own clothes (and mirrors) and don’t need to drive to the mall and stuff yourself into a sweaty dressing room! Am I the only one who frequently gets stuck in shirts and then sweats and panics until I finally break free of them?!

According to their website, Prime Wardrobe is currently in beta. However, if you are a Prime member you can click the little button at the bottom of the page to get notified when Prime Wardrobe launches. You can find the page with the request button here: Learn More About Prime Wardrobe

If you’re not already a Prime member, you can click on this picture to try Amazon Prime free for 30 days:

I put my email address in as soon as I heard about it and once they accept me I CANNOT wait to do a review for you all!

Are you going to sign up for Amazon Prime Wardrobe?

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post, I just super excited about the launch of the new Prime Wardrobe for Amazon Prime members! Pocketful of Joules is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. I pay for my annual Amazon Prime fee myself, with my own money.