Meet Chance

Meet Chance! He is my almost 3-year-old blue merle border collie that I share with my boyfriend Eric. He loves going on walks (long walks), swimming (aka water, lakes, pools, a puddle, seriously anything) and tennis balls. Every night Eric and I will take Chance on a walk to the park to play fetch with the tennis ball to get some of his border collie energy out. Another fun activity I love to do with Chance is agility training. Border collies are very smart and are fast learning dogs. We have been doing agility training together for about 2 years, he absolutely loves it and border collies love to have a task to do. Chance love the Milo's Kitchen home-style dog treats to train with. He has been loving the Chicken & Apple Sausage Slices. The nice thing about them is you can break them up into smaller pieces to make them last longer and they are easy to train with. The best thing about Milo's Kitchen home-style dog treats is they are made totally free of artificial flavors or colors, made right here in the USA and meat is the #1 ingredient. Dogs are family and they deserve to be treated like family so I want to make sure that the same quality of ingredients and care are in the food and treats I give Chance. I shop at my local Meijer because they offer a variety of the Milo's Kitchen home-style dog treats in different sizes and flavors.

Isn't he the cutest! Seriously his cute little face makes me so happy! Every time I open the Milo's Kitchen home-style dog treats Chance comes running! He will do any trick for those treats! Some of the tricks he knows include sit, stay, come, down, high five, shake, spin, through (like going through tunnels or your legs), and touch. Most of those tricks I have taught him during dog training classes. If you haven't done a dog training class with your pup I highly recommend it! It is such a great bonding experience and your dog will love it! It is so rewarding for both of you.

That first photo is of Chance riding in the kayak on vacation and the second is after a long day of swimming in the lake. It's a good thing we don't have a pool in our backyard because we would not be able to get him to stay out of it for more than 5 minutes! That last photo above is him begging me to try and play with the tennis ball with him, he will cry till I throw it! He is obsessed! 

Some outtakes of Chance licking his lips and trying to get his Milo's Kitchen home-style dog treats. He sure is a funny guy! If you haven't tried the Milo's Kitchen home-style dog treats yet to take advantage of this mPerks offer of 30% off Milo's Kitchen home-style dog treats now through 10/7 (while supplies last) before you head into Meijer today!

“This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and The J.M. Smucker Company, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #miloskitchen http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV”

The Look For Less: Suede Moto Jacket + A Review Of The Two

Back at it again with a look for less review! You can see my last look for less review of the popular Marc Fisher Espadrille Wedges here and the lace-up cognac sandals here. This time around I am sharing a blogger favorite, the BLANKNYC Suede Moto Jacket versus a much cheaper Old Navy Suede-Knit Moto Jacket that is a 3rd of the price! Both I have bought and tried out to give an in-depth review of these two almost identical suede jackets at two different price points. This style has been around for the past couple of seasons and will most likely be sticking around.  For more inspiration on how to style them click here.

BLANKNYC

Suede Moto Jacket

 BLANKNYC  Suede Moto Jacket

Color options: Gray, Black, Red, and Cognac

Price: $188.00 | Other places to buy: here 

FIT: I bought a medium in this jacket and it fits perfect! It still has room in the arms to add a light sweater underneath which is something I wanted. I am a size 6 so this jacket runs true to size according to the size chart. 

COMFORT: This jacket is very comfortable, it doesn't feel extremely heavy and for a suede jacket that is awesome! I really wanted a jacket that I would throw on over anything (similar to a jean jacket in the summer if that makes sense) for the Fall and Winter. 

QUALITY: I would say the quality is amazing for the price. It feels like it could be $1000+ which is awesome because I did not spend anywhere near that. This is a classic staple that I will wear for many years to come, it was made very well.

PRICE: So I bought this during the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale for around $125, I have to say, even if it wasn't on sale I would have still paid full price. Like I mentioned above, it is more expensive than I like to spend on things, but the quality is amazing and will hold up for many years to come. So if you can't splurge on it right now, I highly recommend saving up and getting this jacket. 

OVERALL THOUGHTS: I would highly recommend this jacket and in multiple colors! Cognac is a staple in my closet especially in the Fall and that is when I plan to wear it the most. The quality meets the higher price, and the price is still low compared to designer suede moto jackets that will cost you an arm and a leg. This is a piece you will have in your closet years to come that will match with anything and everything! 

How I Styled it: here

Old Navy

Suede-knit moto jacket 

Old Navy Suede-Knit Moto Jacket

Color options: Cognac and Burgundy

Price: $59.99 | Similar options: here, here & here

FIT: I bought this in a size small and maybe could have done a xs so the sleeves would be tighter. The small everywhere else fits perfectly so this too runs true to size, especially for the brand. If you have smaller arms or are petite I would recommend trying a size down. 

COMFORT: This jacket is very comfortable and not stiff at all. It is actually a super stretch material so I can see it working really well with chunky sweaters. I can raise my arms above my head in this jacket and the material is very flexible. 

QUALITY: The quality isn't the best, but for the price, they are pretty good. It looks almost identical to the BLANKNYC one listed above except you can tell the material is different. I think depending on how much you wear it, it will last the year, but probably not much longer. You will have to try it out in store for yourself to figure out if the cheaper quality of the jacket is worth it. 

PRICE:  So the price is pretty good already, I thought originally it was a little high for a jacket that wasn't that high in quality. I just waited till they had a 40% off sale and got my jacket for $35! That to me is worth the price for a jacket like this. So yes the price is cheap, but so is the jacket so just be careful about that. 

OVERALL THOUGHTS: This is a great option if you don't think you will be wearing often. For the price, I don't feel guilty about spending the money and I also don't feel like I need to wear them all the time to get my money worth. If that sounds like you, I would pick this option up. If you feel like you are going to wear the heck out of a jacket this season and years to come, go with the more expensive option above. I decided to pick up the same jacket in the burgundy/wine color jacket too! Just as a heads up, this jacket keeps selling out, but they keep restocking it online. Check your local store to see if they have it for you! 

How I Styled It:

A Little Life Update

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To me, The Black Barcode is a personal journal for me to write out my thoughts and also a place I can look back at all my past outfits and adventures. That is why today I am sharing a little life update, mostly for myself, but for people who are interested in my life.

School: I start my last semester of college in a few days. I am beyond ready to be done. I have been taking Spring/Summer classes for the past two years on top of going to school full-time Fall and Winter semester for the past 4 years. I actually just finished my Summer classes two weeks ago, so not much of a break before Fall semester starts. This semester I will only have to take three classes which will be nice so I can do other things with my time, like work or blog, haha.

work: I got a new part time job! I am so excited to be working in retail again! Back when I was a freshman in college I worked at DSW for awhile, it was my first retail job and I loved/hated it (That is a whole nother story). Now that I am a senior I will be working in retail once again but at a women's clothing store. My favorite things about working in retail are connecting and talking to customers and of course, I love fashion so it is great to be around it all day. I cannot wait to start and see where it takes me. On top of this, I will continue to nanny full time (M-F) and work at the front desk of a local real estate company on Saturdays.

blog: With school starting in less than a week (where did summer go, for real!) I want to continue to blog 3 days a week, M-W-F. Maybe as the semester moves forward I could add another day in there for new content! Speaking of content, I want to start making YouTube videos every other week. I watch a lot of YouTube, probably more than I watch TV and love how a video can make you feel connected to a person. I want to be more connected and share more of my personality with everyone so be on the look out for videos coming soon. If you have any requests, let me know!

Money: I will be doing a lot more saving than spending in the months to come. The reason for this is my goals have changed and I want to save for bigger (very expensive) things that will happen sometime next year. I also just really need to stop spending money in general. I eat out way too much, buy too many things and somehow always spend $50+ when I go to the grocery store. I want to try to set up a budget and stick to it. So when it comes to the clothing, I am going to be more cautious when it comes to shopping. I want to actually buy pieces of clothing that I truly love, that fit well and I know I will wear countless times. I actually have been cleaning out my closet a ton so I can sell the clothing I no longer love or need. When it comes to something I really want like these booties, I am going to think about it for a few days (or weeks) before actually checking out to see if I really want, love, need them and also to see if I can get a better deal. Also, now that I got a new job in retail I am going to have to watch myself even more since I will be surrounded by clothes all day that I know I would love to own (this is the moment I wish I had won the lottery).

Fitness: So if you read this post here I started to workout and eat better to get back into shape. I am pretty much fed up with being unmotivated to workout and eating right, so I am going to try and get back into the routine of this when school starts. With BBG I was doing so well, I made it to week 6 (which is the farthest I have made it)  and was keeping track of what I was eating. Then I went on vacation and never got back into the swing of things. My goals are to continue to do BBG starting at week 1 again and working my way back up to week 6. I am hoping I can make it even farther this time. I also want to go to the gym at least two times or more a week because I am paying for it and never go. I would also like to start keeping track of what I am eating on the food tracking app (that I pay for, *major eye roll*). On top of all this, I would love to try out some workout classes like Orange Theory or a hot yoga class. Has anyone tried Orange Theory, if so how much is it and is it worth it? If you have any other suggestions for workout classes, let me know below.