Good things come to those who wait (or get lucky)

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I made two big scores this week:

by Shepard Fairey

1) Inauguration tickets; Rob and I are able to attend the Inauguration, thanks to a friend of a friend of a friend. We had all but given up hope when the tickets fell into our lap this week.

We had requested tickets a while back from every source available to us, but ran into dead-end after dead-end. I was even laughed at by a staffer (I'm talking about you, Eric in Senator Kohl's office) for even asking. So I was disappointed, but not yet daunted, and decided to still head to DC to hang out with my girlfriend Kristine. The city would still be exciting and I always have a great time with her -- she's a foodie extraordinaire.

Now we find ourselves with tickets and were able to extend our stay (me) and book a flight (Rob). Plenty of pictures to come!

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And something less civic-minded:


2) This Luxe Beaded Sash Belt from JCrew; I've been eyeing this ever since it made an appearance in their catalog with this awesome dress .

Silk Taffeta Kate Gown

Shopping options were kind of limited growing up in Northern Wisconsin, so it was a red letter day when the JCrew catalog arrived. My best friend, Katie and I would pour over every page and painstakingly over-analyze every investment of our babysitting money. I really hated watching people's kids, so the stakes were high.

Katie just got married this November. And as a thank you for being an attendant, she gave me a gift card to JCrew in sweet remembrance of those days. The thought was really cute... and the gift card was really burning a hole in my pocket.

So I've been tracking this belt and have watched it go from a full-price of $175 to 'reduced price' to 'sale item.' Cha-ching! I feel like a winner when I find something I really love on sale, especially when I've exercised some self-control.