Monday Shopping Rules!

There's something about shopping on a Monday that is so... liberating. For many, it's the first day of the week back at the office with a stack of work three times the height of your desk and Friday seems eons away. Buuuuut.... for a freelancer like me, who just cleared a stack of deadlines three times the height of my desk, this particular Monday was spent in a happy state of mind. I've long had it on my list to get back to Mai's Vietnamese restaurant in Houston for their speciality (garlic beef), and to shop for some super bling pendants to use on my necklaces over at my Etsy shop, Texas Take. And today I scored big on both!

My trusty friend Lisa (who also shares a flexible work schedule) and I hopped in our trucks and rumbled downtown for lunch. She ended up ordering the same thing and we ate up every bite. Mai sure knew what she was doing when she created the garlic beef.

Next, we shopped around the Heights and a few other areas of town looking for wholesale jewelry stores. I lucked out at one and loaded up on a whole bunch of beautiful pendants that are going to look ah-mazing on my new necklaces I have planned! Plus, I got a cool zebra-print mannequin necklace bust on the cheap so I can take better photos of my jewelry on display, rather than trying to angle my elbow in some contortionist move and snap them on my own neck. Sweetness.

I also scored this pair of flip flops that featured three of my current favorites: zebra print, bling and crosses. Now that's a swell find.

On my way home, I made one more pit stop at Hobby Lobby for some more beads (on sale, too!) and found this basket for holding magazines in our bathroom, rather than have them scattered on the floor or sitting on the edge of the bathtub (I like to read while I soak). At $2.10, it was perfect.

All in all, today was a major success. Thanks to Lisa for palling around town with me and stay tuned for an update on my new Texas Take jewelry pieces coming soon!