Fashion Beauty Friend Friday: Gratitude

This is the official one year anniversary of Fashion Beauty Friend Friday!  In honor of the occasion, Katy Rose of Modly Chic wanted us to do a post about gratitude because as she says, "We each have so many people in our lives and in the blogging community who have helped us along the way.  It's time to shine the spotlight on them and give credit where credit is due."  So get ready guys...the spotlight's on YOU!

 1.  When it comes to me personally - I owe a lot of who I am to:  My father died when I was very young so I was raised by my mom and grandmother. I owe so much of who I am today to both of them. My mom enjoyed her work as a clerk and later a clerical supervisor. She was a role model of a working mom when there weren't many role models like that around. But it was her personality that has influenced me the most. She was relaxed and fun and seldom got in a tizzy the way I do. She loves me unconditionally and this taught me how to give unconditional love. She also taught me that you never know what a day will bring so I've  learned to happily anticipate each day. 

Wearing the hat at El Cazador right before they smeared whipped cream on her face!

 

 

 My Grandma was strong willed and grounded so she taught me the value of being solid within yourself and to value your own opinion. She also taught me to have fun because no one laughed at Grandma's jokes any more than she did.  I haven't scanned our old photos yet so I'll have to add one of Grandma later.  But take my work for it...she always looked good!   They were both stylish in their own way. My mom wore the typical 40's and 50's ladylike looks. To me, those were the days when women looked truly put together. My grandma could wear black and never attract one piece of lint and she never, ever succumbed to “old lady shoes”.

2. When it comes to be professionally – I owe a lot of who I am to: 
I've been a stay-at-home mom for almost 21 years. So I guess I owe a lot of who I am “professionally” to my kids. They've taught me that parks can be fun when they're covered with snow, that if you push all the furniture together and add a few quilts you can have the best secret hideouts and that days are best ended with hugs and stories and songs.  They are almost grown now, so I had better be getting their permission before I slap their images all the internet!

3. When it comes to the art of blogging, I’m grateful to these people for helping me through some rough spots:   I have to send a shout out here to Vanessa at Big Girl. Small Budget. Tiny Town. When I was a newbie just starting out a couple of months ago, I asked her (in one of my comments)  how to do something in my blog that I didn't know how to do yet. She took the time to write me a long email containing the information I needed and she did this not once but twice! So thank you Vanessa, for taking time out of a blogger's busy schedule to help a newcomer!  I'm also grateful to Kendi of Kendi Everyday for putting me on the Remixer List when I hadn't as of yet even posted one outfit. She probably ended up with 700 plus bloggers on the list but the important thing to me was that she included me! I'm grateful to Katy Rose of Modly Chic for coming up with questions each week that help me in my blogging journey. I'm grateful to the IFB community for all the support and information they put out there every week.   I'm grateful to two birds, In the Hammock Vintage, Never Growing Old, a thrifty L.A, life, I'm clothed Much, spunky chateau and Everybody, Everywear for giving me the opportunity to link my blog with theirs on various challenges.

4. One blogging challenge I’m grateful happened because it made me stronger was… 
I am still going through my biggest challenge which is how the heck do I balance my life with my blogging! Sometimes I feel like I'm getting it and sometimes I feel like I'm not. I am grateful for this challenge because it's making me figure out how to make better use of my time, how to be better organized and how to prioritize.

5. To my readers, I’d like to say…

I would like to say a big THANK YOU to my readers, because you are the reason I write. Apart from the blessed satisfaction I get from doing something creative, I always write with the expectation that I will be read. So thank you for reading my blog, thank you for commenting and especially thank you for following me. I have high hopes and big dreams for my blog.  I appreciate each of you that has come along for the ride. I promise to make it fun and interesting with the best photos and daily posts that I can give. And if there is ever anything that you would like to see more (or less of!) let me know. I see Thrifty Girl Vintage evolving into a fun and interesting fashion/frugal lifestyle blog. I even have ebooks floating around in my head. Now if only I could chuck this whole idea of balance and get on that!

Like Mother, Like Daughter!

Enter Thrifty Girl Vintage's e.l.f. makeup giveaway here.  Here's what you could win:

Clockwise from top left:
All Over Color Stick in Pink Lemonade (smells yummy)
Eyebrow Stencil Kit  (great to use with pencil or powder)
Eyeshadow Brush (use wet or dry, I like to use it wet and spread on a thin layer of shadow)
Super Glossy Lip Shine SPF 15 in Watermelon (a great glossy pink)
Shimmering Facial Whip in Spotlight ( a tiny dab of this gives a great glow)
Brightening Eye Color in Punk Funk (fun colors to go with the colorful spring fashions)