Ladies day with Miss Teen

"I'm gonna pop some tags. Only got $20 in my pocket...."

So last Saturday was Miss Teen day. As part of my new found organisation I have vowed to spend more quality one on one time with each of my family members. So this day was all planned and set aside for her. 

Firstly we headed to church for a Ladies Brunch. We were uplifted and inspired into action by the beautiful ladies who spoke at the brunch. We had worship and connected with God, together. Something we do not do often enough! She truly enjoyed the morning, which didn't surprise me. She has always found herself more comfortable around adults than kids her own age. Miss Teen was touched by the young children our church helps at the Ruel Foundation in the Philippines. Their lives, and the hardships they go through touched her, and she has vowed to help them, using her pocket money to buy consumables that the Children's Crisis Centre needs all the time. I am proud of her. Hopefully, when our family is more financially stable, we can sponsor a child there and our girls will learn more about the good things that can be achieved by helping others where and how you can. Miss Teen has even said, in the future she would like to do some mission work, to reach out and help others in need. I can only encourage this, and hope, in time, she fulfills this desire.
* (If you would like more information in the Ruel Foundation, use the link above or contact me.)*

After having our spirits lifted, and being motivated into action in our life with God, we hit the town. We went shopping!! Possibly not the best choice of things to do, but still, one we had been planning and looking forward to all week!

But instead of hitting the Plaza like we normally would, we hit Coffs Harbours Op Shops. I wanted to show Miss Teen that we didn't need to spend a fortunes on new clothes in order for her to look good. Also, it was a way to help out others less fortunate than us by supporting local charities, a win win really.

So, the plan was to get a complete outfit for under $50, from shoes to jewelry and accessories. Sadly this day, there was no real selection for shoes in Miss Teen's size, and the handbags seemed to all be new and a little pricy. So, we just used our money wisely & got some nice items! Miss Teen brought $20 with her, just in case she found some things that went above and beyond what I considered a reasonable for our budget. Of course, she did, and spent her money too, but what is pocket money/Christmas money for, if not to spend?!!

We started with Vinnies, which is always a fun place to start! 

We had lots of fun. Trying on clothes, some nice, and some, um, certainly not to our taste! But we left with a small haul! A skirt and shirt for Miss Teen, and a Dorothy the Dinosaur toy and a Dora tshirt for Mini Miss!

We even found Dorothy's Ruby Slippers!

We then headed around down the road to the Westpac Helicopter shop. This one is close to my heart, thanks to their rescue efforts of your truly many years ago! I always support them whenever I can. Then we headed around the corner to Heartfelt. We had lots of fun with hats and scarves in this shop. I was lucky enough to score a lovely dress here, something that doesn't happen very often, being plus sized. So I was very excited!

We then headed into town to share a yummy lunch together, and chat. We don't just talk often enough these days. We shared chips and gravy (such a healthy lunch I know!) an old favorite treat, and chatted about everything. Of course, I'm sworn to secrecy about most of it, so you will just have to take my word for it, we had a good in depth talk! 

But the shops were still calling our names, so off we headed again, to the Smith family. This shop had the nerve to have Miss Teen's dress on a mannequin in their window display! Miss Teen was shocked! After the shock wore off, we found some nice clothes to try on! Again, I was lucky enough to score another dress! Miss Teen scored a nice top.

Then we hit our last shop. The Op Shops were closing their doors for the day, so we missed out on one of our favorite shops, Lifeline, but we headed down to the Red Cross. They have an amazing range in there. Clothes, both used and new at great prices. Miss Teen had a LOT of fun here! Lots and lots of clothes to try on, jewelry, sunglasses. She even found a lovely new Doona cover and pillow case! I scored some new jewelry here and some lovely new books for Mini Miss, as well as Miss Teens haul of 2 dresses, a shirt, a doona cover and pillow case, a pair of Sunglasses, 2 necklaces, a pair of earrings and a bracelet! 

Phew! What a day! With bags overflowing we headed home and only $70 spent in total!

But more importantly I reconnected with Miss Teen. 

We talked. 

We laughed. 

We had fun. 

And I loved every minute. 

We both did.