Best Teacher Shoes- Ja-Vie Review + Giveaway

Guys, let's be real, teaching is hard on your feet! You basically stand all day long with little time to give your feet a break. For me, starting student teaching I was worried about what shoes to purchase. My feet always seemed to hurt so I knew I had to invest in a great pair of shoes.

After some research, I came across Ja-Vie, a brand of ballet jelly flats. And girl I am so glad that I did! I'm the kind of girl that needs it all in a shoe- arch and heel support, extra comfiness, and a super soft interior. Ja-Vie did all that and more! 

Oh and p.s. want a few bucks to get your very own Ja-Vie flats? Stay tuned for a giveaway at the end of the review!

Did I mention they are beyond cute and professional all in one? (Insert heart eyes!)

My Review

Instagram: @thisgalteaches

Ja-Vie describes their flats as pillows on your feet and I completely agree. They feel great and supportive and also expensive. These aren't your super cheap flats, these babies will last a long time. I wore these for a full 8 hour day at school and they were amazing! My feet didn't hurt one bit and I loved the chic look!

My fav features:

-Extra arch support

-Waterproof (living in Washington this is a MUST!)

-Super stylish

-Great quality 

Follow my Teacher Instagram: @thisgalteaches

I love how these flats perfectly match my business casual work attire!

Find Ja-Vie flats at Amazon (Prime eligible!) or on their website https://ja-vie.com/. Make sure to sign up for their email to receive 20% off your order! These flats run $88 and in my opinion, are worth every penny. Since I stand on my feet all day long, I find it so important to invest in good footwear. As a student teacher, these flats have saved my feet!

Giveaway

Because I love these shoes so much I wanted to help another teacher, future teacher or anyone who is looking for comfy shoes to get their hands on a pair!

Giveaway is open to United States and Canada residents 18+. Giveaway ends on November 5th and 12am. Good luck!

This giveaway is no longer open, the winner was contacted and has accepted the winnings!
Winner: Harley B.

*This giveaway is in no way associated with Ja-Vie and is sponsored by my blog, The Fashionable Affair. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What are your favorite comfy shoes? Let me know in the comments below!

love,

*I was gifted these shoes, however, all opinions are 100% my own and honest. I will never review something I do not 100% love! 

10 Best Money Saving Wedding Tips

So you just got engaged and began to go Pinterest crazy. Like pinning hundreds of pictures of cakes to venues, to invitations, and it gets you thinking...how much is this going to cost? Well, this happened to me, so I began to draft this list of my favorite wedding saving tips & tricks because hey a wedding is expensive and I am one frugal fiance. Below is 10 of my best money saving tips from saving money on bridesmaids dresses, to flowers, to cake and even venues!

Save Money/ Earn Money
First up is a list of my favorite ways to earn a little extra cash to help pay for my wedding festivities and honeymoon. 

• Get $40 in travel credit with Airbnb, perfect for your honeymoon! I am going to be getting an Airbnb for my honeymoon so that $40 sure is going to help! 

• Free airline tickets to your honeymoon destination for free! Consider opening an airline credit card (such as Alaska or American Airlines), use your card to pay for some of your wedding expenses and qualify for two free round trip tickets to your honeymoon destination. (Please research & use responsibly) 
• I am opening a credit card with Alaska Airlines and using that card to pay for initial wedding expenses, by doing so I will be able to use the bonus miles when I sign up to get free airline tickets!

• Get $30 off a dress from Rent the Runway. Perfect for bridesmaids dresses, engagement party dress and rehearsal dinner dress! Get designer dresses for as little as $15.

• Receive a free investment stock (worth up to $200) when you sign up for Robinhood. Literally, my favorite way to save & invest money!

• Free $10 Gift Card when you sign up for Ebates, earn cash back while your shop! Great way to save money while buying wedding decor & invitations! I use this website every single week. 

• Earn money while you grocery shop with Ibotta (plus cash bonus for signing up)!

• Get a Free Mrs. Meyers 5 Piece Gift Set  from Grove Co (cleaning subscription service!)

• Get $10 when you sign up for Poshmark, use code: EMADDOG. Perfect for purchasing wedding heels or jewelry at a good price! Hello, diamonds!

• Get $40 off your first delivery of Hello Fresh meal delivery service, honestly a life saver for saving time & money on dinners.

Free Wedding Invitation Samples

Sample kit from vistaprint.com

Some of these companies also send out free samples of Save the Dates, Thank you cards & more! Get an idea of what style you like and use that as you search for the right invitations.

• Vistaprint 
• Minted Weddings
• Shutterfly
• Magnet Street
• Elli
• Invitations By Dawn
• Paper Culture
• Shine Wedding Invitations
• Mixbook
• Basic Invite
• Fine Day Press

DIY Invitations

• Or even better DIY your invitations by creating them on Canva.com (a free online program), upload them to Vistaprint (pick the premium soft-touch option for the best quality & feel) and buy envelopes & stamps at Walmart. These basic DIY invitations could cost around $100 ($50 worth of stamps!) for 100 wedding invitations. The average cost for wedding invitaitons is over $1000!

Free (or almost free) Wedding Venues

Photo by Peary Photography from Chapel Dulcinea website

• Chapel Dulcinea- If you live near Austin, Texas this would be an amazing free venue option. Weddings are available 7 days a week and book up fast, so make sure and make your reservation asap. Note: a $200-$400 refundable fee is required to hold your spot.

• Your Local Parks- Weddings happen all the time at local parks and are simply beautiful, much less of a hassle and free!

• Local Farms- Farm weddings are suppeerrr trendy right now. Although advertised farm venues can be expensive, try reaching out to local small farms and see if they would be willing to rent for a small price space for your wedding. Imagine a ceremony outside of a barn or in a field? It's worth a shot!

• Backyards of Friends or Family- Another great idea is utilizing backyards and properties of family and friends. 

• Reach out to Facebook- Stumped on a cheap or free venue? Reach out to local Facebook groups and ask around for free or cheap wedding venues, someone may even let you use their backyard for a small fee! 

Free (or cheap) Food Items for your Wedding

• Have a potluck- This one is always a goodie, have your family and friends bring one of their favorite dishes and have the reception be filled with incredible homemade dishes. 

• Buy food from Costco- Grab a couple carts and fill them up with your favorite Costco foods. Bring your friends and family together and have a food making party for the wedding! The average cost of full-service catering is $12,000, your Costco trip would be a lot less expensive. 

• Buy drinks from Costco- Way less expensive they purchasing through a catering company or bar service.

• Pick up a Costco cake- A Costco cake costs $18.99 and serves 48 people. That's 39 cents per slice! This might be the cheapest possible way to serve a cake at a wedding (possibly even cheaper than making a cake homemade with all the ingredients). Costco offers both vanilla and chocolate half sheet cakes with 2 lbs of filling. Order in store with at least a 2-day notice. You could even DIY your Costco cake and add fresh fruit or flowers for a more expensive look. 

• Free cake tastings- Some bakeries offer free cake tastings if you purchase your wedding cake through them. 

• Don't mention a wedding- Weddings drive A LOT of sales and upcharging (wedding cakes on average cost about $200-$400), so instead of mentioning your wedding simply order a cake from your local bakery. At my local bakery, I was quoted $35 for a simple one tier cake with basic decorations. Use this cheaper cake as the cake that will be used for cake cutting and served to the wedding party and then buy a Costco cake and cut it up in the back for a very inexpensive way to have a wedding cake. 

Free (or cheap) Wedding Dresses

• Brides Across America- Free wedding dresses for military and first responder brides. 

• Every Girl Dreams INC- Free wedding dresses to low-income brides in Southeast Michigan. 

• Offer up/ Craiglist/ Facebook Marketplace- Some brides sale their wedding dresses for quite cheap on sites such as Offer up, Craiglist and Facebook marketplace. 

Free (or cheap) Bridesmaid Dresses

• Have bridesmaids choose to wear any dress in a color range. That way bridesmaids can pick dresses in their own closet, borrow from a friend or even check out second-hand stores and online marketplaces. 

• Rent Bridesmaids Dress- Get $30 off a dress from Rent the Runway, where you can rent designer dresses for cheap. For example, this super cute blush bridesmaid dress (pictured above) can be rented originally for $45 for a 4-day rental but get $30 off using our link and end up paying $15 for this bridesmaid dress! Make sure to reserve with plenty of time before the event! Make sure you get your discount by using code: FRIEND3088FAAFA49E at checkout!

• $76 Bridesmaids Dresses from Lulus. Lulus has a ton of bridesmaid dress options for quite inexpensive. 

Free (or cheap) Wedding Decor 

• Facebook Marketplace- I see brides offer up their wedding decorations on Facebook for super cheap after their wedding. 
• Goodwill and Second Hand Stores- Sometimes you can find the cutest decor for super cheap. 
• Friends/Family- Ask your family and friends to use their wedding decorations, most of the time they probably would be willing to share!
• Amazon- Find great deals on decor with free shipping using prime!
• Lights

• Just Married Banner
• Votive Candle

• Chiffon Fabric

Cheap Wedding Day Flowers 

• Plant flowers way ahead of your wedding- The most affordable option would be to plant your very own flowers such as roses and cut them before your wedding. Watch a few DIY flower arrangement videos on Youtube and tackle your own flowers for your wedding!
• Local Farmers Market- Have a friend pick up large bouquets of flowers at your local farmers market for the centerpieces at your wedding. At $15-$30 a bouquet, its a steal!

• DIY Flowers- Check out this online floral shop that sends you handpicked themed flowers for your wedding. You put together your arrangements and bouquets but get a great deal on flowers. 
• Fake Flowers- Another option is to buy fake flowers from your local Micheals, Walmart, Dollar store or Amazon! 

Cheap Photographer

• Family or Friends- Have a camera savvy friend? Ask your friend to take photos of your wedding in exchange for a small fee. 
• Local college- Photography students tend to charge less because they are building their portfolio. Check out local college bulletin boards or post on Facebook to see if any students are willing to photograph your wedding for cheap. 
• Check out Wedding Wired, a website filled with vendors for weddings. I saw photographers on this site for less than $1500 for full wedding photos. 

Free Wedding Planning Websites

• Zola
• Wedding Wired

Free Other Wedding Resources

• Free calligraphy and cursive fonts to use for DIY invitations
• Free website where you can design your own invitations

Well, there you have it! The ultimate list of wedding freebies, budgeting tips, offers and more! I will continue to add to this list as my search continues <3

Love, 

P.S. This blog post contains affiliate links. This simply means that this blog could earn a small portion of a sale, however, this does not affect your cost of any items. 

Ultimate List of Wedding Freebies & Samples+ More

You just got engaged to the person of your dreams and it was everything. After the initial shock and celebratory champagne, you sit down on your couch and open up your laptop and begin to Google and Google. Like scroll through hundreds of pages of wedding searches from the cake to the venue to invitations, and it gets you thinking... wait I wonder if there is anything free I can get for planning a wedding? Well, this happened to me, so I began to draft this list of the ultimate wedding freebies, samples and offers because hey a wedding is expensive and I am one frugal fiance.

Ultimate List of Wedding Freebies, Samples & More

Save Money/ Earn Money

• Get $40 in travel credit with Airbnb, perfect for your honeymoon!

• Get $30 off a dress from Rent the Runway. Perfect for bridesmaids dresses, engagement party dress and rehearsal dinner dress! Get designer dresses for as little as $15.

• Receive a free investment stock (worth up to $200) when you sign up for Robinhood 

• Free $10 Gift Card when you sign up for Ebates, earn cash back while your shop! Great way to save money while buying wedding decor & invitations!

• Earn money while you grocery shop with Ibotta (plus cash bonus for signing up)!

• Get a Free Mrs. Meyers 5 Piece Gift Set  from Grove Co (cleaning subscription service!)

• Get $10 when you sign up for Poshmark, use code: EMADDOG. Perfect for purchasing wedding heels or jewelry at a good price. 

• Get $40 off your first delivery of Hello Fresh meal delivery service, honestly a life saver for saving time & money on dinners

Free Kitchen/Household Items for Opening a Wedding Registry

                                    

 

• Macy's- After registering at Macy's you can qualify for free bonus gifts such as free wine glasses, knives, mixing bowls, pans and more. Even a $50 visa gift card! Up to $2300 worth of free kitchen and household items!

• Amazon-Free bonus gifts such as a free crystal bowl, free griddle, stir fry pan, and elite blender! 

• Dillards- Free bonus gifts such as18 wine glasses, luggage, and visa gift cards! 

• Bloomingdales- Free bonus gifts such as a French skillet, engraved photo frame, knives and more!

• Bed Bath and Beyond- Free bonus gifts such as free knives, ramekins, cake serving set and more!

• JCPenney- Free bonus gifts!

• Crate and Barrel- Bonus gifts from 14 brands! Including Wustholf, Vitamix and more!

• Williams Sonoma- Bonus gifts from Al Clad, Le Creuset, Global and more!

Free Wedding Invitation Samples

Sample kit from vistaprint.com

Some of these companies also send out free samples of Save the Dates, Thank you cards & more!

• Vistaprint 
• Minted Weddings
• Shutterfly
• Magnet Street
• Elli
• Invitations By Dawn
• Paper Culture
• Shine Wedding Invitations
• Mixbook
• Basic Invite
• Fine Day Press

Free (or almost free) Wedding Venues

Photo by Peary Photography from Chapel Dulcinea website

• Chapel Dulcinea- If you live near Austin, Texas this would be an amazing free venue option. Weddings are available 7 days a week and book up fast, so make sure and make your reservation asap. Note: a $200-$400 refundable fee is required to hold your spot.

• Your Local Parks- Weddings happen all the time at local parks and are simply beautiful, much less of a hassle and free!

• Local Farms- Farm weddings are suppeerrr trendy right now. Although advertised farm venues can be expensive, try reaching out to local small farms and see if they would be willing to rent for a small price space for your wedding. Imagine a ceremony outside of a barn or in a field? It's worth a shot!

• Backyards of Friends or Family- Another great idea is utilizing backyards and properties of family and friends. 

• Reach out to Facebook- Stumped on a cheap or free venue? Reach out to local Facebook groups and ask around for free or cheap wedding venues, someone may even let you use their backyard for a small fee! 

Free (or cheap) Food Items for your Wedding

• Have a potluck- This one is always a goodie, have your family and friends bring one of their favorite dishes and have the reception be filled with incredible homemade dishes. 

• Buy food from Costco- Grab a couple carts and fill them up with your favorite Costco foods. Bring your friends and family together and have a food making party for the wedding! The average cost of full-service catering is $12,000, your Costco trip would be a lot less expensive. 

• Buy drinks from Costco- Way less expensive they purchasing through a catering company or bar service.

• Pick up a Costco cake- A Costco cake costs $18.99 and serves 48 people. That's 39 cents per slice! This might be the cheapest possible way to serve a cake at a wedding (possibly even cheaper than making a cake homemade with all the ingredients). Costco offers both vanilla and chocolate half sheet cakes with 2 lbs of filling. Order in store with at least a 2-day notice. You could even DIY your Costco cake and add fresh fruit or flowers for a more expensive look. 

• Free cake tastings- Some bakeries offer free cake tastings if you purchase your wedding cake through them. 

• Don't mention a wedding- Weddings drive A LOT of sales and upcharging (wedding cakes on average cost about $200-$400), so instead of mentioning your wedding simply order a cake from your local bakery. At my local bakery, I was quoted $35 for a simple one tier cake with basic decorations. Use this cheaper cake as the cake that will be shown at the wedding and then buy a Costco cake and cut it up in the back for a very inexpensive way to have a wedding cake. 

Free (or cheap) Wedding Dresses

• Brides Across America- Free wedding dresses for military and first responder brides. 

• Every Girl Dreams INC- Free wedding dresses to low-income brides in Southeast Michigan. 

• Offer up/ Craiglist/ Facebook Marketplace- Some brides sale their wedding dresses for quite cheap on sites such as Offer up, Craiglist and Facebook marketplace. 

Free (or cheap) Bridesmaid Dresses

• Have bridesmaids choose to wear any dress in a color range. That way bridesmaids can pick dresses in their own closet, borrow from a friend or even check out second-hand stores and online marketplaces. 

• Rent Bridesmaids Dress- Get $30 off a dress from Rent the Runway, where you can rent designer dresses for cheap. For example, this super cute blush bridemaid dress (pictured above) can be rented for $45 for a 4-day rental + get $30 off using our link and end up paying $15 for this bridesmaid dress! Make sure to reserve with plenty of time before the event!

Free (or cheap) Wedding Decor 

• Facebook Marketplace- I see brides offer up their wedding decorations on Facebook for super cheap after their wedding. 
• Goodwill and Second Hand Stores- Sometimes you can find the cutest decor for super cheap. 
• Friends/Family- Ask your family and friends to use their wedding decorations, most of the time they probably would be willing to share!
• Amazon- Find great deals on decor with free shipping using prime!
• Lights

• Just Married Banner
• Votive Candle

• Chiffon Fabric

Cheap Wedding Day Flowers 

• Plant flowers way ahead of your wedding- The most affordable option would be to plant your very own flowers such as roses and cut them before your wedding. Watch a few DIY flower arrangement videos on Youtube and tackle your own flowers for your wedding!
• Local Farmers Market- Have a friend pick up large bouquets of flowers at your local farmers market for the centerpieces at your wedding. At $15-$30 a bouquet, its a steal!

• DIY Flowers- Check out this online floral shop that sends you handpicked themed flowers for your wedding. You put together your arrangements and bouquets but get a great deal on flowers. 
• Fake Flowers- Another option is to buy fake flowers from your local Micheals, Walmart, Dollar store or Amazon! 

Cheap Photographer

• Family or Friends- Have a camera savvy friend? Ask your friend to take photos of your wedding in exchange for a small fee. 
• Local college- Photography students tend to charge less because they are building their portfolio. Check out local college bulletin boards or post on Facebook to see if any students are willing to photograph your wedding for cheap. 

Free Wedding Planning Websites

• Zola
• Wedding Wired

Free Other Wedding Resources

• Free calligraphy and cursive fonts to use for DIY invitations
• Free website where you can design your own invitations

Well, there you have it! The ultimate list of wedding freebies, samples, offers and more! I will continue to add to this list as my search continues <3

Love, 

P.S. This blog post contains affiliate links. This simply means that this blog could earn a small portion of a sale, however, this does not affect your cost of any items. 

Top 5 Amazon Fashion Finds

My latest obsession? Amazon fashion! I am kinda of obsessed with not having to leave the house to purchase items AND that two-day day shipping with your Prime membership really it's it out of the ballpark for me.

Without further ado, I have compiled a list of my favorite Amazon fashion finds from accessories to shoes!

1. Blue Light Blocking Glasses
These have been a life saver for me since I am constantly on my computer and phone. Blue light blocking glasses block the unwanted blue light which helps you fall asleep faster and minimize headaches!

Glasses

2. Winter Hat
Back when I lived in what felt like Anartica, I always purchased these winter hats off of Amazon. I loved how cheap they were but also super cute and warm

Winter Hat

3. Swimsuits
I always purchase on trend swimsuits from Amazon. I love having lots of options, so picking up a few inexpensive swimsuits from Amazon really does the trick.

Swimsuits

4. Shoes
Amazon has a huge selection of shoes (insert heart eyes). I love picking up the latest sneakers from Amazon.

Shoes

5. Scarf

I am a little addicted to scarves, I just love how warm, fluffy, and cute they are. Amazon has tons at affordable prices. 

Scarf

I hope you enjoyed this list of my top 5 Amazon Fashion Finds. What are some of your favs? Let me know down below!

love,

P.S. this post may contain affiliate links 

How I Went Viral on Tik Tok in One Day- 5 Steps for Success

I never expected to go viral, especially on a brand new app with only a 15-second video, but crazier things have happened. I really couldn't believe it when the views went from 250 to 2000 before my eyes, in a matter of seconds. In less than 24 hours the video had over 700,000 views, 100,000 likes and over 1000 comments, all while gaining me tons and tons of followers. I'll break this whole "going viral" thing down for you, so that you can too, go viral on Tik Tok.

Here is the Tik Tok video that went viral.

Link to the video on Tik Tok 

(you can watch without having an account)

Here is the quick synopsis of the video: I did my moms makeup while she was about to go on her first fancy date since getting divorced. It's fun, it's quick and gives a quick glimpse of how I did her makeup. The end shows her all dressed up. Yep, all that in 15 seconds. Set to the song, Mom. Watch for yourself.

So how did this all happen?

First, I headed over to the App Store and downloaded Tik Tok, without knowing literally anything about it besides it's a new video app (this app was originally Musically and then changed to Tik Tok), that's it. I created an account, tried to get the hang of it and then started posting videos of doing my makeup and other trendy videos/challenges that I had seen on the "for you" page. I was excited to make a video with my mom because she loves when I do her makeup and we were excited for her date. I then posted that video, and then I just couldn't keep up. My notifications were insane; thousands of views, likes, comments, and follows all within 24 hours.

      

<------------
The one on the left is after posting the video for about 10 minutes. At the time I had 210 fans (followers) and about 3000 views.



                                        ------------->
The one on the right is today. I have ovre 6400 fans and over 774k views on the video. That's about a 24500% in 24 hours.

My Tips for Going Viral on Tik Tok 

(based on my own personal experience)

#1 Post Quality Content Every Single Day

Spend time recording videos within your nitch every day. Occasionally, add in some trending or challenge videos for the possibility to be noticed more. For me, my niche is makeup/beauty so I tried to post one of those videos every day. Within a week one of those went viral.

#2  Pick Your Music With Purpose 

You can use 15 seconds of virtually any music you can think of. Although you may want to use your favorite song (for me that would be Party In the USA), instead try to think about what song would work best with your content. For this video, I instantly knew that the song Mom, by Meghan Trainor would be perfect, not only do I love this song, the lyrics, and the meaning, but it makes others feel good too. To me, that seems like the perfect combination.

#3 Use hashtags

Hashtags have a lot of pull on Tik Tok partly because you can't include too many in a single caption which gives each individual hashtag more weight. Usually, people use between 3 and 5 hashtags. Make the meaningful and right to the point, no need for filler hashtags such as "like for like." For this video, I used #mom #momgoals #mymom #makeup which all fit perfectly with what my video was about.

#4 Caption Caption Caption

This might be the most important part of the whole video. The caption is the first thing (along with a cover photo of your video) that someone will notice while scrolling through thousands of videos so make it count. Make you caption engaging such as (comment your favorite pair of shoes), drive curiosity (omg I almost burnt myself on that curling wand), or give a descriptor caption (doing makeup on my mom). For this video I went with: "Mom's first fancy date out since her divorce, give her some love." This was mostly a descriptor caption with a little bit of a call to action.

#5 Tell a story

I promise you that the reason my video went viral is not because of my amazing makeup skills (haha I wish) but rather, people were fascinated with my mom's story, how she was getting ready for her first fancy date out since she got divorced and how her daughter was helping her. I got hundreds of comments that ranged from "hope you date goes well", "what a sweet mother/daughter duo", "get it girl," and "we need an update on the date!" They were almost all curious about my mom's date and also who doesn't love a feel good story? Storytelling is one of the best ways to engage your audience and get people to stick around.

I hope this helps you also go viral on Tik Tok! Feel free to leave your Tik Tok handle in the comments and I'll give your video a like!

  Follow me on Tik Tok: @sincerely_maddy

See Ya on Tik Tok,

Maddy 

Huge Kitchen Clean With Me + Kitchen Tour + Fall Decor

Who finds cleaning and watching people clean super relaxing and motivating?! And by watching, I mean watching "Clean With Me" videos on YouTube. If you're like me than you will love my latest video which takes you into my kitchen cleaning countertops, floors, cabinets & more!

Must-Have Fall Fashion From Amazon

Although Amazon is known for having a little bit of everything from electronics to household goods, I have been obsessed with Amazon Fashion lately. Not only do I love the super fast two-day shipping, easy and free returns, but also the gorgeous fall fashion selection. I have included some of my favorite Fall Must-Haves from Amazon that don't break the bank all while being effortlessly stylish.