Sample Sale Sites!

First off I will explain what a sample sale is, and then I'll get into the good parts!

A sample sale is what manufacturers do to get rid of excess merchandise. It allows them to sell perfect or near perfect merchandise for a fraction of the cost!

I'm always game for saving money and getting a great deal! I also love shopping, so I've become a big fan of sample sale sites lately! Sample sale sites usually have higher end fashion clothing, but many have branched out and have begun selling just about everything! I have seen men, women, and children's clothing, shoes, accessories, make up, candy, houseware items, great deals on trips, magazine subscriptions, art, rugs...just about everything! I will do a quick rundown on my favorite sample sale sites below. Even if you don't end up buying anything, they are so fun to look at, and they change daily!

Most, if not all sample sale sites are invitation only. I will link an invitation to all of you below! Each sale usually lasts about 3 days, depending on the site. Also, most are all geared towards women.

Okay, here we go.

Ideeli

Invitation to join!

Ideeli was the first sample sale website I ever joined. Ideeli is the majority of women's clothing, jewelry, and accessories. They also carry men's, kid's, home, and travel.  They have high-end brands every now and then, but also have very affordable brands as well. Check back frequently to see what new stuff they have, because it's one of those things where if you see it and like it, you better buy it or it will be gone the next day! Every so often they have Ideeli RED sales, which is basically clearance sales on leftovers they never sold during a regular sale. I always keep an eye out for these, because they are soooo cheap!

Beyond the Rack

Invitation to join!

Beyond the Rack is one of the newest sites I've joined, and probably my favorite! They always have a ton of shoe sales, purses, and accessories. And they have some of the lowest prices I've seen! Even for the higher end stuff!

HauteLook

Invitation to join!

HauteLook is actually probably tied with Beyond the Rack as my favorite. One thing I love about Hautelook is they always have a beauty sale going on, whether is make up, hair tools, hair products, teeth whitening kits. Not many other sites have beauty sales, which I'm obsessed with! I get to try out expensive make up for like 60% of what I would have to pay at like Ulta! So worth it!

Rue La La

Invitation to join!

I'm newest to Rue La La, and I have definitely noticed they mainly carry high end, more expensive brands. Usually to expensive for my wallet, but I have seen some amazing deals. If you are into big brands like Juicy Couture, Gucci, J Brand, and stuff like that, then they have some great deals for you! I just prefer all the other sites because they are soooo much more affordable for me!

I think that's it! Join (all are free), and tell me what you think! Or let me know if you know of any other great sample sale sites!

My New Obsession

I was introduced to this fabulous product by a close friend a few months ago.

Have you ever wanted to try OPI nail polish, but it's just too expensive to buy?

I have found the next best thing! It's called Sinful Colors. Cheesy name, I know. However, this is absolutely the best nail polish you are going to buy for the price! They are full size nail polishes, and the quality is comparable to OPI, China Glaze, and Essie...maybe even better than those! You won't be paying $8-9 for these babies though. All Sinful Color nail polishes I've seen around town are only $1.99!

I saw them first at Walgreen's and I recently even saw them at Target. I'm sure other drug stores have them as well. So, not only are they cheap, great quality, but they are accessible to most people! They do have limited colors in stores though. It is not the full collection in stores, although there is still MANY colors to choose from; and their website is currently undergoing maintainance so I'm not sure if you can order online either.

From what I've found on Amazon.com they are more expensive, but you can find any color you want. And honestly, I'd be willing to pay the amazon price if they weren't sold in stores at a cheaper price!

Here is a few examples of colors and prices from Amazon!
















I already own several of these nail polishes (about 12), and I have been extremely happy with every single one! They all go on smooth and are truly the exact color in the bottle within one coat! They last me quite a while too. I work with my hands a lot and they stay fairly well. I do not use a base coat or a top coat for these either. Only the tips of my nails show some polish wearing off, due to using my hands a lot. But I have never had these chip on me! Since you only need one coat to get the desired color, the polish is too thin to chip, but just shows wear at the tips of my nails after maybe three days. But you don't need a new whole coat to cover this. Just a little bit more polish on the tips and you're good to go! I 100% recommend these! All the ones I have tried have been opaque in one coat, except for obviously the glitter top coats which aren't meant to be opaque. Let me know what you think about SC nail polishes! Stay tuned for more posts!

20/20

So I watched an episode tonight of 20/20 (not something I typically watch) because I like Demi Lovato, and her first interview after her rehab stint was with 20/20. Honest, I have no shame in admitting I like Demi Lovato. I was forced to take my little sister to one of her concerts at the Fresno Fair a few years back, and I had never really listened to her music before. I thought she was just another annoying Disney Channel "star". As I found out though, this girl can truly sing! I love her raspy voice. She really does have an amazing talent, and despite her recent body issues I think she is a great role model for tweens and teens. Cause she be keepin' it reals, yo!

Anyway, the beginning of the show started out with one of my favorite gay men of all time!

I love Sir Elton John! Elton just signed a 3 year contract with Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, NV! That means I can go see him perform live, one of my dreams! And him and his partner have a super cute baby boy! I dare you to judge them...this man is 65 years old and is still on FIRE with his career and life, ain't nothin' gonna stop them!

Wahoo! Also, Love Culture is coming to Fresno! I'm definitely thinkin' its gonna go where the old Forever 21 is, which would actually be pretty fitting since Love Culture will definitely be one of their rival stores although on a slightly smaller scale. Similar stuff and prices. Although I must say I think I actually like a few things about Love Culture better, but we'll see. And hopefully Love Culture allows full refunds on merchandise..one of the two reasons I don't like Forever 21. Check out Love Culture's website and tell me what you think!

One more thing. I finally uploaded my first youtube video, after 3 failed attempts and 3 refilms. I will be posting my second one soon...i think its going to be about my everyday makeup routine. And I have some exciting potential makeup sponsors that I will be doing reviews on!

Interested? www.youtube.com/ktwilkie90

Also, twitter: misskatiewilkie

mark. stuff

I always feel really inspired this time of year. My guess is the weather. Anyways, I have been selling mark. makeup for a while now. I've tried a lot of their stuff over the course of selling it, and I realized recently they actually have great quality cosmetics and some insanely cute clothes and accessories!

I have been on the hunt for the perfect pair of wedges recently. I saw a pair at Forever 21that I thought were decent, but I want to see them and not be able to live without them. So as I was browsing the "fashion" section of my mark. store I found the wedges I cannot live without! I must have them! There is a sneak peek at them below, they aren't available for the public yet! And they are a little more expensive than the forever 21 wedges, but I know these will be better quality and I absolutely love them. I also found a few other must haves for spring while I was perusing around the site. I'll show them below!

If you want to check out my online mark store go to www.mymarkstore.com/katiewilkinson
I can also get samples of some fragrances, skincare, eye shadows, lip glosses, and a few more. If you are interested in these or catalogs, let me know and I can order some for you! 

Those are some of my favorites! Find them by checking out www.mymarkstore.com/katiewilkinson

ive seen it before.

I was having an okay day today, until I got off of work. Usually, it's the other way around. Today was different. I still worry about people I have loved in the past. I worry about people I used to know in the past. I worry about people I hate. I don't know why I do this. I hate how I do this. But, it honestly breaks my heart to see people going down the wrong path. I wish I could scream at them and tell them. I wish I could scream at myself when I know I'm going down the wrong path. I'm not ready for this. I'm not ready for love. I've broken my own heart too many times, from my own disappointments. I am losing hope in humanity and it's going to take some very special people somewhere in this world to show me how life works. I need a whirlwind. Something to lift me up from this world and carry me far, far away. I hate jealousy, I hate money, I hate negative energy, I hate conforming, I hate THIS feeling. I'm on the backburner. For everyone. I'm no one's priority. I need to change my own. I want to quit this life and move to L.A. with nothing but the clothes on my back and begin my dream life. I want to break free.

In a rut.

I haven't been keeping up with this, but for very good reasons. I've been busy moving (one week later and I still haven't finished unloading my car) haha. Also, my laptop cord port, or the little metal thing inside my laptop that makes the cord charge my laptop is broken. And so it is permanently dead until I can buy and install a new port. And you may ask yourself...how is she posting this now then? Well, I'm using my mom's teeney tiny notebook thing, I forget what they are called, but it kind of sucks, and I have to type slow or else the letters don't work. Also, I haven't had any money to buy ANYTHING the last few weeks, and I've been very busy with work too. And I just started school last Thursday. So I've basically been extremely busy and nothing exciting has happened worthy of me sharing haha. But once I get my tax return, I'll have some money to buy stuff with and show you guys! Yay. But I guess there is one thing I can show you guys...my favorite nail polish right now. Its OPI Pamplona Purple, its part of the Spain collection so I'm not sure if you can still buy it in stores, but for sure online you can. The price range I saw online was about 6-7 dollars.

Meet Raisins!

This is Raisins. He is a 2 year old Sable ferret. I got him about a month ago from a friend of a friend who was moving out of town and couldn't take him. I have never had a ferret before, and had only seen one once before since they are illegal in California. Which is absurd by the way. I like how they even sell ferret food at my local Wal-Mart, yet ferrets are illegal! SOOO silly! He is my little baby and I love him so much! Taking care of a ferret is actually harder than you would think! It takes a lot of work to clean up after this messy little guy! Let me address the concern everyone has about ferrets: Yes, they do smell. But if you clean their cage regularly and bathe them with ferret shampoo and conditioner about every 3-4 weeks, your ferret shouldn't smell bad. They also make ferret sprays for in between baths, and I use Bi-odor which is an additive that you put in their water and it neutralizes their poop, pee, and body oil smells! It takes a few weeks to start working and I just started using it, but honestly, I don't think he smells that bad in the first place. Raisins motivates me to keep my apartment clean too, because he will steal any small object that is left on the ground! He has a stash of all his little toys under the couch. And on a few occasions, I will come home from shopping and set my bags on the couch, let him out of his cage and will come back and start putting away my stuff, and then a few days later I will think to myself, I swear I bought two new eye-shadows...hmmm...and then I will look under the couch and find them! Haha. They will get into anything left on the ground. Raisins will climb in Brendan's work boots, into the couch, behind any little crevice, under the rug, he will try to get under doors, he will climb into my purse or grocery bags, and he almost tried to get into my acoustic guitar on a few occasions! They are very nosy and curious little guys. I can only think of 2 cons to owning a ferret. One is that their digestive tract moves so fast...every 3-4 hours he poops! That is why it is important to keep their cage clean, cause that can get stinky fast. And the second one is that they are difficult for me to train. I am having trouble getting him to poop only in his cage. But when he is out, he only poops in 2 corners. (Ferrets love backing into corners and pooping or peeing). Also, I am having trouble getting him to stop biting toes. He is only doing it to play, but gosh dang sometimes it hurts! But he is very loveable and I absolutely love him to death! They are so unique too and have their own personality. Raisins is so silly! Here are some more pictures of Raisins!

His crazy eyes! He reminds me of a little skunk when he arches his back when he walks and plays! So cute!

See what I mean about being nosy and getting into everything?! I don't even know how he did that, but he is literally inside the drawer! I don't even know how he got up there!


I will post more pictures of Raisins in the near future!

Black Swan & Stroopwafels

Rah!!!!! I just had half of my post written and then Internet Explorer decides it has a problem and closes, and for some reason it didn't save the draft. :( Oh well, now I'm irritated so it'll be a shorter version of the long version I wrote before.

Today was my day off today, and I had nothing to do until 6:30pm to go see the movie Black Swan with my best friend Jaclyn and a few other of our friends! So until 6:30 I just lounged around and basically did nothing...it was awesome!

My quick review and tips of the movie:

- If you are squeamish around blood, don't watch.
- If you have an extra $11 and have nothing better to do, see it.
- If you want to see some amazing, exciting ballet performances, see it.
- If you like psychological thrillers, see it.
- If you spook easily, still watch it, but be prepared for some jumpy scenes!
- If you want to see a sick, dark, twisted, bizarre, edge of your seat movie, see it.

It blew my mind and I'm still a little confused, but overall I thought it was interesting! And Natalie Portman nails her part! I wouldn't be surprised if she wins a ton of awards for it. Also, Mila Kunis was great in her part as well. Two of my favorite actresses!


After I got home from the movie I was super hungry, so Brendan and I went to Taco Bell because we are super poor right now because we both spent too much on Christmas and had rent due this week (our last rent because we move out on the 17th). I got him a sick pair of Nike's. And he got me the Coach brand shoes I've been dying for! Anyways, speaking of Christmas leads me to what stoopwafels are! I have a HUGE sweet tooth and anyone that even remotely knows me, knows that I love anything sweet! So knowing that, Brendan's family has been getting me these super amazing things called stroopwafels. I have been crazy about them for a few years now and now I finally have a place to share them.

Stroopwafels are a Dutch treat as you can see. This package is a totally American version, but I have had REAL ones from Holland that are bigger, these ones are mini. As far as taste though, there is virtually no difference. They are all good. I think this package is from Wal-Mart (I had no clue they had them there?!) but I have gotten them from Trader Joes before usually only during the Holidays. Or you can order them online, or there is a Dutch bakery somewhere in Fresno that probably sells them. Anyway, the picture pretty much explains what it is. It is a thin cookie/wafer in a waffle pattern, and in the middle there is a caramel mixture. They are so simple and delicious, I totally recommend them to everyone. Last Christmas I bought my brother a pack from Trader Joes and my whole family nom'ed on them right away and was begging for more! Just beware, they are super addicting and not exactly calorie or fat free..! Enjoy! I can't wait to show you guys Matzahs when it comes closer to Passover. Nope, I'm not Jewish. But my neighbor taught me this amazing recipe involving Matzahs when I was a teenager (I'm 20 now, how sad!).

Let me Explain.

First blog post in my life! It's 5am and I'm a little delirious, hense the name of my blog. It means "Little Princess" in Afrikaans. So let me explain a few things about me. I am extremely nostalgic about most things. There is reasons behind my blog name and url link name thingie. I chose Afrikaans because my other half's family is from South Africa and they speak primarily English, but Afrikaans among themselves (possibly with a little Dutch thrown in sometimes, too?). I don't know if they realize it, but they have influenced my life positively in so many ways, and I have learned so much from them! And they all mean a lot to me! I chose "Little Princess" because I am a huge daddy's girl, and my dad used to call me his princess when I was little. And because the first movie that made me cry when I was younger was called "The Little Princess." It's definitely still one of my favorite movies too, I still cry! Haha.

And as far as Divine Miss Kate goes...my cousins used to call me that when I was younger. No one calls me by the name of Kate, ever. But it just doesn't sound the same when you say "The Divine Miss Katie." I have no idea which cousin came up with it, where they came up with it, why they came up with it, or...I'm not sure of anything, except for they used to call me that, and I liked it:)

Jeez, I'm a nostalgic freak! But I made this blog to share my random thoughts, my random days, my random inspirations in life, random reviews of random items/places, random pictures I take, and the little random things in life that keep my little heart beating. I'm currently going through a lot of new changes in my life and I feel like I need a new hobby, and this is a new change I need/want! Yay!