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Yesterday was Valentine’s Day. For the last couple of years, Hubs and I have forgone traditional “gift exchanging”. Sure, occasionally we give each other a little present on Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, and Santa always brings a little something for Mommy and Papi. But, for the most part, we tend save the money we would have spent on a gift and go out to a nice dinner instead. We are foodies…

Since we live so far from our relatives, and can’t exactly see spending more on a sitter than what our kids would spend at a restaurant, our “date nights” usually consist of a party of 4. Believe it or not, we LIKE it that way!

Even so, it is always nice to be able to spend a little QT without the kiddos. We decided that instead of a fancy Valentine’s Dinner, we would have a yummy Valentine’s lunch. We had been wanting to try this new restaurant that the paper and friends have been buzzing about, and this was the perfect opportunity. After all, it was our 20th Valentine’s Day together!

Let’s rewind a bit…

For the last few months, I have looked like a bag lady from morning until 5pm, which is when I shower and put my PJs back on. I’ll admit, this winter weather has me in a fashion RUT! It doesn’t help that we have to be out of the house by 7:30 every morning, and once you hit your “mid-30s”, lip gloss and a pony tail just doesn’t cover it….ANY OF IT.

So, yesterday morning I decided that Hubs could take the kids to school while I prettified. I was at a loss for what to wear, and that is when I remembered my clothing board on Pinterest. The fact that it was going to go up to the 60s was a big deal!

I was inspired by this photo:

Polyvore

Here is my recreation:

I found all of the elements (the cheetah print shoes, the brown slacks, the white top, the cropped denim jacket, the wooden bracelets and the beaded necklace) right in my closet! HOORAY for inspiration!!

I decided to pull my hair down from its perpetual pony tail and curled it a bit for volume.

I felt like a million bucks!

The drive to the restaurant was BEAUTIFUL:

We were pretty early, so we popped in to some amazing neighborhoods and drooled over their million dollar mansions!

When we finally sat down for lunch, what did we see? One of our favorite wines on the wine list! THIS is exactly why we don’t do gifts. This wine was a gift to both of us!

This afternoon ranked in my top 2 Valentine’s Days. The weather was perfect, the food was yummy, and I had the best company!

How was your Valentine’s Day? Tell me in the comments!

Is anyone else ready for fall?!? It’s our favorite time of the year here at AquaSeventy6. The cool air, the falling leaves…until now all of that has been a fantasy. As you know, we are two Native Floridians who just recently moved to cities that have–get this–SEASONS!

In the past, we would have had to wait until November, December or even January to bust out our scarves and boots. Because of this, our cool weather wardrobe is what you could call limited.

Enter our favorite site: Pinterest. For weeks, a slew of gorgeous fall outfits have been popping up everywhere on the site. We have been inspired to revamp our entire wardrobe. That, of course, comes with a price. So we came up with a fantastic idea that will help us be fashionistas on a budget, and we are challenging you to do the same.

Join us in the Fabulous Frugal Fall Fashion Challenge.

Here’s how it works:

Each Monday, AquaSeventy6 will post 4 related fall looks from our Pinterest boards plus a bonus accessory. You are challenged to do (at least) one of the following:

Recreate a similar outfit head-to-toe. This can mean that you recreate 1, 2, 3 or all 4 of the looks featured that week.
Create your very own look inspired by the photos we have posted
Use the bonus accessory in your completed look
Create an outfit inspired by the bonus accessory

Here is where the FRUGAL part comes in. The looks you create must be made up from:

Garments/accessories you find at a thrift store/consignment store/yard sale/etc.
Garments/accessories you already own.
Garments/accessories you create.

You have until Friday of that week to recreate the outfit(s) and blog about them. Make sure to tell us where you found the pieces and how much (little) you spent on them. Don’t forget to add the button below to your blog post, and we would LOVE if you became a follower.

Come back to AquaSeventy6 on Fridays to see how we have recreated the looks, as well. You are invited to add the link to your blog post on our comments section and the following week we will feature our favorite looks on our site and our Facebook and Twitter pages

Don’t have a blog, but you still want to join in? NO PROBLEM!! Create your look, upload the photos to a share site (ie: Photobucket) and add the link, as well as the purchase/cost details, in our comments section on Friday for a chance to have your look featured.

The Fabulously Frugal Fall Fashion Challenge begins this Monday, September 12, and will run for 6 weeks. By the end of the challenge you should have an extensive, albeit inexpensive fall wardrobe.
ARE YOU IN??