I've been so MIA lately on the blog and social media which has definitely not been fun, but so necessary. Ever since August we have started a pretty big undertaking which has been so time consuming in itself. Add in trying to run and grow a business and it feels like I've been needing a couple extra hours in every day (plus all the espresso). The reason for all the craziness?

We sold our house + are in the process of buying another + we are living in an RV!! :0

We had started talking seriously about selling our first home in the spring. Bjorn works at the coast and his commute was sometimes 3+ hours per day depending on what time he was driving. The value had gone up so much in our house in the 4 years we owned it, so after we came back from Europe over the summer we decided to make the jump and list our house before the market dips. We signed a contract with a real estate agent in August and since then we have been so busy. First it was prepping the house to be attractive to potential buyers for when it hit the market after Labor Day, and then to our surprise we got multiple offers over our asking price within days (the CA housing market is no joke). After that it's been a whirlwind of inspections, paperwork, and moving. We closed on the house a week ago and had to be out this past Monday (which is why I finally have the time to blog again!) Honestly, this past weekend was madness and I have vowed to myself I am NEVER moving again (until I can afford to pay someone else to do it for me of course :))

A couple days after we accepted an offer on our old house, I found a home on Redfin that was in the area we wanted to move + well below our budget. We looked at it the next day and had an offer in that night. It was a little scary because we had to make the offer contingent on our old house making it out of escrow and officially selling (we needed the money from our old house for the downpayment and closing costs on the new house) They accepted our offer and we are currently in escrow! My fingers have been permanently crossed since because we want this house so bad, and so many things can happen before it closes. 

As I mentioned, we moved out of our old house on Monday, but are still in escrow on the new house. In the mean time we are living in my parents RV! It's the perfect size for the two of us and  we are so grateful for the option. It feels like glamping! Plus in typical Fancy Free fashion we are able to save some money while we wait for our next home. This is great for us, because the house we are currently in escrow on needs some serious renovations. I'll save the details for a future post when everything is official, but we are pretty much going to remodel everything + add a half bathroom. Luckily hubs is super handy (he laid new floor in our old house + remodeled both bathrooms!) so we are going to be able to do a lot ourselves. We will probably stay in the RV for a few weeks even after we close on the new house so we can focus on remodeling as much as possible before moving in. Once everything is officially closed and sold I will share a lot more of our renovations journey! We looked at other homes for sale that did not need the amount of renovations this one needed, but the prices weren't nearly as low, and we are excited to make this home exactly how we want it. 


Phew ok so that pretty much sums up what we have been up to the past two months, aside from a lot of travel. Now that our old house is sold and we are moved out, I am excited to get back to blogging and sharing my finds + reselling adventure on social media. Aside from sharing my usual great deals, I'm looking forward to also sharing our experiences with saving money buying + selling homes (we saved thousands!) and our renovations journey! I'm a little late to the party, but I also want to share my first Poshfest (Poshmark annual conference) experiences! Make sure to follow along on IG (@fancyfreeblog) and here for all the updates, and if you have any experiences with renovations + have tips for some newbs share them below in the comments! Thanks for following along!

I have been on total blog // IG hiatus because I have been putting ALL my energy into building up my reselling business to be super successful in 2019 + enjoying the real world before putting the metal down on growing my social media presence! I think the world is so on board for secondhand and environmentally sustainable fashion options and I'm excited to be scouring and sharing a lot more great deals on Fancy Free on everything from low end dupes to high end investments.

​I am really excited for 2019 because I have so many ideas and plans for fun content and helpful info so everyone can find those deals out there! I've already started making some changes, and I wanted to let you all know what to expect in this new year!

- Revamped website

My blog page itself has gotten some upgrades! I'll be sharing a lot more deals and steals on a lot of loved classic designer pieces, so one new addition I'm excited for is the search bar in the top right corner of the home page! Looking for deals on Chanel flats, or a Valentino rocketed bracelet? Just search and you will find!

- Youtube channel

I'm really trying to expand Fancy Free's presence and one excited new addition will be my YouTube page! I'll be sharing thrift hauls (for myself and for reselling), trends, what I'm selling, and more! My first video will be uploaded this week so make sure to subscribe to my channel, which is linked in my social media bar on the home page.

​- Shop straight from my posts

One way I will be sharing sales and great deals is through Reward Styles, which makes it super easy to share items and create easy to click content. When you see an item you like just click it and you will be directed straight to the store's website to purchase!

- Easier to navigate reselling 101 page

If you are here to learn more about reselling, I'm working on re-formatting the "reselling 101" page above to be more eye catching and easier to navigate to find exactly what info you are looking for. Stay tuned!

- e-commerce page with my best pieces for sale straight from the blog

Another way I'm looking forward to bring you guys great deals on pretty things is by introducing an e-commerce page directly on the blog where you can directly purchase my thrift store finds. I'll let you all know when it is live!

- Blog posts atleast 2x per week

While reselling has been my main focus the past month, I love to write and share great deals! I'm going to be putting more attention into the blog and sharing great deals, sales, and more. This includes posting a minimum of 2x per week!

- New youtube video every week

Eee! I'm nervous but excited about trying out this new platform to share my finds and deals. I will be posting new videos every Saturday!

- Lots of daily easy to shop looks 

I know that it is hard to be excited about someone else's random, one off thrift or consignment finds that are not available to yourself. I'll be sharing direct links to purchase new + secondhand items daily, so make sure to be following along on social media!

- Maintaining 1000 mid to high end pieces in my boutique

This has been my main focus the past month and I am so excited to have finally reached my goal of maintaining 1000 (that's right 3 zeros!) pieces of inventory. I'm listing new items every day so make sure to check out my Poshmark closet HERE! If you are new to Poshmark use code FANCYFREEBOUTIQ to get $5 off your first order!

​- More activity on social media

Overall, I just want to be connecting more with followers and sharing info that helps others! I'm going to be more active on social media sharing more throughout my day along with deals, thrifting adventures, traveling, and more! If you don't want to miss this stuff make sure to click the social media links above and follow along :)

Hello there!

It's been a while since I've written on the blog or even added to my Instagram story. And there's been a good reason...

My husband got last minute word at the end of February that he was being sent to the Netherlands for nearly a month of training. It was an opportunity for an amazing adventure and I did not want to miss out! We spent the first three weeks of March in Zoetermeer, an hour south of Amsterdam. We spent our free time bicycling like the locals and catching the train for sightseeing in the big cities. We had an amazing time and I can't wait to share all the things we've done in upcoming posts!

After training was over, we took advantage of the opportunity to be in Europe and spent an extra week in Germany for vacation (well for the hubby atleast, I'd been on vacay for three weeks already!) I don't want to share too much because I have a lot of content to share on the blog in the future all about this opportunity of a lifetime. In order to take such an opportunity we took a leap and made a big decision...

It's a little scary, but I'm so excited to be taking my passion full time, and so grateful that I have the ability to do so! There will be more blog posts each week sharing more helpful info and tips, plus my thrifting business on eBay and Poshmark will be full to the brim of gently used mid and high end clothes and accessories for a fraction of the retail price.

Lots!

I haven't done completely nothing the past month. Even though I've been MIA on here and social media, I've been busy renovating the blog (let me know what you think!) I not only have a list of new upcoming posts, but also new content that I'm excited to start sharing! Here is a list of a few of the new, exciting things you can start expecting from Fancy Free!

• A new "travel" tab (at the top!) where I will be sharing recaps of what we did, where we stayed, how we got there, the good and bad, and much more of places I visit for your reference with future trips
• Sharing links with my outfit details to similar items that are on sale/gently used (some from my own store!)
• Coverage of upcoming sales
• New posts every other day
• Monthly newsletters featuring my newest fancy finds, recently added items to the boutique, upcoming sales, tips, and more!
• Much more consistent content on social media (links are on the top right) so follow along for outfits, tips, and more that does not make it to the blog
• 1000s of new items on eBay and Poshmark

I'm so excited to start this new chapter and share my adventure! I would love to hear more of what type of posts and content you are most interested in reading about. Please leave a comment here or send me a message!

Thank you for all of your support! Let's get this show on the road!

Happy Friday! Today is actually an extra special Friday because today is mine and the hubby's 5th wedding anniversary! It is amazing how fast time flies, but it is really no wonder with all the fun and adventures we've been having! In honor of this special day, I thought I would do a special post to share our fun little love story. :)

Back in May 2011, my mom and I went on a European summer vacation. It was my first time in Europe (minus being born in Germany--- we only lived there for a few months after) and we were staying with my aunt and uncle who are military and were stationed on a base in Stuttgart, Germany. We were half way into our trip and having a lazy day at the base apartment my aunt and uncle lived in when the building's fire alarms all started to go off. Confused, we looked out and saw many of the other residents starting to form up out on the sidewalk, so we decided it was probably best to join them because, well, fire.

 We all started to troop outside and make our way down the sidewalk away from the apartments when I looked up and saw the *absolute* cutest guy ever. He was tall, blonde, and slightly squinting because the sun was in his eyes. My heart fluttered. :)

We made eye contact, but I was in a daze and just kept walking. Once I made my way to the end of the sidewalk, I decided I definitely wanted to make sure he saw me again! I made a couple excuses to my family to go back into the apartment (get some water, change my shoes, whatever...) just so I could walk past him a few more times. So embarrassing! But each time I walked by we exchanged a smile.

Eventually the fire trucks did come and deemed it was safe to go back in. Not even sure to this day what caused the fire alarms to go off! Once the fire alarms turned off, I immediately looked over to where the cutie was standing to see what he would do. We looked at each other as he followed some friends back into the apartment building. I was so disappointed!

We also eventually made our way back into the apartment, but I couldn't stop thinking about blondie. My cousin asked if I wanted to go out and pick some flowers with her from the side of the aparment, and as we made our way outside of the building I hear a deep "Hey!" from my right side. Blondie!

He had been hanging around a car in the parking lot. I was so excited he had come back! He had a strong German accent but his English was pretty good. We exchanged small talk, and then he asked if he could take me out in downtown Stuttgart. Stranger danger went completely out the window! I said yes!

I had one week left in Germany, and we spent literally all that time together. Bjorn took me signt-seeing, fed me all kinds of German food, and brought me to my first bars and clubs (I was still under 21 at the time!) It was so sad to say good bye that last day, but I really believed I would see him again.

Once I got back to the US we kept in touch everyday through texts and Skype. By September Bjorn had a work visa to come live and work in the States! I was still living in Florida at time, and he first went to a few months of training in Houston, TX and then to California where the job was. We took turns flying back and forth every month to visit each other because I was still working on my bachelor's degree. By May 2012 I had finished up most of my degree, and decided to move out to California to be with him and finish up my remaining credits through whatever courses were offered online.

When the first anniversary of our "Fire Alarm Day" arrived we decided to celebrate by going out to a nice dinner. A cab came to pick us up, and I was surprised to find that Bjorn had secretly made another reservation for a much more upscale and very beautiful restaurant right on the water! I shouldn't have been as surprised that when dessert rolled B got down on one knee with a box in his hand!

Three months later and we were married. It was all such a whirlwind, but when you know you know! I never would have expected to find my person while on vacation half way across the world, but you truly never know when fate is going to step in (so always make sure to look cute ;)

Hi everyone! We are still reeling from our weekend getaway, and hope you all enjoyed the adventure as well! I am in disbelief from all the positive responses I have received so far from blogging, and have upped my social media to give everyone a more personal, behind the scenes view into all things fancy. ;)

@fancyfreeblog
Instagram is my go-to social media, and you can expect more #ootd pics, foodie shots, and a more up to date portrayal of all my adventures! Follow me above!

twitter.com/fancyfreeblog
You can expect fancy shenanigans as well as my unique thought blurbs. Click the link above!

 
slaukenmann
I've just started Snapchat, but follow along for pics and videos of everyday fancy fun! I can't promise there won't be doggy face filters.

facebook.com/fancyfreeblog
Face it, you open facebook the moment you wake up in the morning. Clink the link above to stay up to date on new blog posts and announcements!

youtube.com/fancyfreeblog
While I have not yet uploaded any videos, my dream for fancy free is to be a multi-platform website for all things high end, on a budget! In the future, I plan to upload haul videos, beauty routines, video updates, and much more. I will definitely let you all know when my first video is up! Have ideas for what you hope to see in these vlogs, or across my other social media accounts? Please comment below!
xoxo Sydney