This past weekend, my best friend Shawntel of SOA Event Concepts came to visit me here in Orlando for her birthday weekend. I was forewarned that the budget was going to be tight for the weekend, so I had to prepare my budgetista skills to squeeze a dollar out of a dime and have a FANTASTIC time. Here is the breakdown of our fabulous BFFcation, and some of the killer deals we scored.
Friday night, we went to a swanky restaurant in Winter Park. I liken that area to Buckhead in Atlanta, back in the day. Some of the entrees on Luma’s menu were a little on the exotic (and pricey) side, but the ambiance was well worth it. So what do you do when you want to experience poshness, but don’t necessarily have a posh budget? Order off the appetizer menu, of course! When I was in high school working at Plato’s Closet, my co-workers and I would get together for appetizers and desserts, to a) not spend a lot of cash, and b) have a quality girls night out. Think about it - Appetizers are normally large enough to share and reasonably priced. Typically, you’re not going to find an appetizer over $20 on any menu. We opted for the fancy pizza. It was delicious! We saved our splurge for their incredible wine selection. A glass ranged anywhere from $6 to $12, but the selection was astounding. The first night was a great success.
Saturday, we attended a class at Vixen Fitness, which I will elaborate on tomorrow’s edition of Work It Out Wednesday and enjoyed lunch at Crave, an American fusion bistro. When I tell you this place is awesome, it’s an understatement. The décor is chic, but welcoming. The staff is by far some of the best I’ve ever come in contact with. And the food is to die for! Try the lamb burger. I promise you, you won’t regret it. The best part of it all was that we had an ODeals Daily certificate for $30. I only paid $15 for it a few weeks ago. The key to a great trip is preparing in advance with the deal sites. Let THEM decide where you’ll be dining on your vacation and save up to 50% on your tab. Just be nice to your server and tip on the full amount for the service you receive. Our server Blake was worth 40%. Just saying…
No BFF rendezvous is complete without a shopping trip. But not just any shopping trip. We hunt for super sales, deals and steals, and a gem of a find. By the looks of it, it was a great success. Check out her Max and Cleo dress, purchased from Dechoes for $14.99 and my Charlotte Russe romper for just $9.99.
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| Max and Cleo Dress |
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| Charlotte Russe Romper |
Sunday should have been a beach day, but it was cold and rainy, so we did some window shopping instead (but still managed to come away with some loot). What? Come away with look when you window shop? Who does that?!?!? We do. No, it’s not illegal by any means. I’ve been reading about a store called Lush for what seems like ages. It’s cosmetics store with products made of all natural ingredients. After walking in and basking in the natural fragrances floating around the room, I totally understood the reasoning behind the company name. These simple products make you feel good – literally. The associate demoed Buffy, a soap with granules in it that exfoliate on our hands along with Flying Fox, a body wash with an interesting back story, and our hands felt like silk afterwards. We played in Mermaid Water, a mix of the Big Blue Ball bath bomb and Sunny Side bubble bar and became mesmerized be the waters beautiful colors and skin softening effects. And, our favorite part, they gave us tons of samples! Not just a tiny, one time use packet, but enough for a handful of applications. I didn’t have to purchase anything to get them, even though I did (I’m treating myself to a bath in Mermaid Water for Valentine’s day, but that’s neither here nor there). And the associates were so kind and so helpful that there is no way anyone would leave that store and not come back to purchase something. Great sales tactic, if you ask me.
We ended the weekend at our favorite bakery in town, Sweet by Good Golly Miss Holly for Mini-Mania. Every Monday, they sell their delicious mini cupcakes for $1 each. As a birthday gift to the best friend a girl could ever ask for, I bought her a dozen, and ended up saving $6 on the pack.
Yeah, I saved us a lot of dough this past weekend, and we scored big, but spending time with my Bestie in celebration of her special day was priceless.
♥ - The Bougie Budgetista
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