Shopping Plan: December

Posted on January 9, 2011 by Diana

*December edition of My Great Shopping Plan of 2010, where I attempt to stay on a budget and fill out my wardrobe*

At the end of November, I had $63.50 to add on to my $125 for December. Here’s what I bought:

Green Cashmere J Crew Sweater, $20 on eBay

Awesome deal? Oh heck yeah. The sweater’s slightly shorter than what I prefer, but for $20, I’m willing to layer.

Printed Boden Dress, $60 (with shipping)

Striped Boden Cardigan, $38 (with shipping)

When Boden had it’s awesome 50% off winter sale, I finally caved and bought some stuff directly from them. I’d been drooling over that cardigan since I first saw it in the catalog months ago, and I absolutely love the print on the dress. I’m planning on getting the dress tailored, since it’s a bit loose in the chest and waist.

Bateau Turquoise Cardigan, Nordstom Rack

White August Silk Cardigan, Nordstrom Rack

Not Pictured: Grey Tank Top, Hue Knee Socks, Nordstrom Rack

$35.86 total for Nordstrom Rack purchases

This purchase was due to the awesomeness of Groupon. They had a deal going on where you could purchase a Groupon that would allow you to get $50 worth of clothes from Nordstrom Rack for only $25. I ended up going over the $50 mark, which was why my total came out to $35.86. Still a pretty insane deal.

That makes $153.86 spent. So even with some awesome Boden sale purchases, I still didn’t go over budget.

I’m not going to reflect on my Great Shopping Plan of 2010 at this time. Honestly, the past few months, I just wasn’t feeling it. I feel like I’ve gotten the hang of keeping to a budget with my clothes shopping, and documenting it just feels boring to me now. But I have a new project lined up for 2011, which I’ll talk about on Friday. I’m super excited about this one: it will be called 11 in 2011. Stay tuned

“Whoa, that’s so…. girly.”

Posted on January 3, 2011 by Diana

Last year I did nothing for New Year’s Eve. This year, my boyfriend and I went out to a local restaurant and watched Dex Romweber Duo while ringing in the New Year. It was a bit pricey, but it was tons of fun. The weather here was really cold last week, but thankfully it warmed up for NYE. I did end up switching to tights before we left, but that was the only difference.

In the background you can see our “Chirstmas pole”. We didn’t have room for a tree in the house this year, so I wrapped lights around our pole in the living room to create some holiday spirit.

Dress: Boden
Cardigan: Fossil
Leggings: Target
Shoes: Fluevog Malibrans
Necklace: Vintage

Quote: Sucks to Be Me: The All-True Confessions of Mina Hamilton, Teen Vampire (maybe), by Kimberly Pauley

“Figuring out what book you want”

Posted on December 28, 2010 by Diana

This outfit was one of the few I got to wear recently where I didn’t need a bazillion layers to stay warm. This freakishly cold weather is starting to wear me down, so I was ecstatic to have a few days of tanks and cardigans. This lovely drapey number is my newest one – I got it from Boden’s 50% winter sale (which is still going on!). I had coveted it since I saw it in the catalog months ago, but I wasn’t ready to plunk down the cash. It was only $38 on sale, so I quickly snatched it up. I’m so glad I did.

Since it’s the end of the year, tomorrow will be my usual Etsy post, then Thursday and Friday I’ll take a look back at the past year in Smiles Go With Everything. I’ll wrap up the Great Shopping Plan on 2010 on Sunday. Then there will probably be more reflecting and thinking about next year, etc.

I hope everyone had absolutely wonderful holidays! I know that mine were fantastic, even though they were crazy busy.

Tank: Target
Cardigan: Boden
Jeans: Levis
Shoes: Keen
Necklace: Wendy Brandes

Quote: Sucks to Be Me: The All-True Confessions of Mina Hamilton, Teen Vampire (maybe), by Kimberly Pauley

Shopping Plan: October

Posted on November 7, 2010 by Diana

*October edition of My Great Shopping Plan of 2010, where I attempt to stay on a budget and fill out my wardrobe*

Green top, Boden, $15 on eBay
White top, Sandra Ingrish, $25? at Nordstom Rack
Magenta Tank, Splendid, $16? at Nordstrom Rack

Yep, this is what happens when you only blog your purchases once a month. You misplace receipts and then can’t remember how much things cost. From what I remember, those are the best approximations.

I’m seriously stoked that a Nordstrom Rack finally opened in Tampa. I love shopping at Nordstrom, but I can’t afford most of their prices. The items at the Rack have lower prices, but still the same quality (and the customer service is still fantastic as well). I think I’ll be shopping there a lot.

Read-cycle, Literary Threads, $15

Yes, I’m a book nerd, who likes recycling. But how exactly do those two go together? I’m not exactly sure. But I was feeling really nerdy, and in need of a t-shirt, and this one was my favorite of the colors they had. In the future, I would probably go for a different saying, but with the same color.

Dansko Serena, $30 on eBay

Will my obsession with Dansko sandals ever end? I don’t think so. I love these, and I’ve already worn them a ton. Of course, soon it might be too cold to wear them regularly, but hey, this is Florida. They can wait in my closet til March, when it starts to get regularly warm again. And of course, it can easily be in the 70s in December, so I might get to wear them sooner.

I had $164.50 left in my budget, and I spent $101, so I have $63.50 left, plus the November budget money of $125. I have to confess, I’m really not into this anymore. I feel like the shopping plan has served it’s purpose of helping me to be more conscientious about how much I spend on clothing. I filled a good portion of my original gaps list. I’m not sure what will be next for me after December. We’ll have to wait and see.

Shopping Plan: Weeks 16 & 17

Posted on May 30, 2010 by Diana

Weeks 16 & 17 of My Great Shopping Plan of 2010, where I attempt to stay on a budget and fill out my wardrobe

So when we last left off, I had $9 left for the month of May. And, um, I went over. A good bit. Here’s what I bought:

Boden Starburst Dress, $20 on eBay

So, I admit it: I pretty much have no self-control when I see a Boden dress in my size for under $35. Thus I added one more to my collection last week, even though it put me over budget. The print is lovely, although the fabric is slightly more clingy than my other Boden dresses. It’s uber comfortable and light, so I’ll be wearing it a lot.

Now, after going over by $11, you’d think I would stop shopping right? Well, follow my twisted logic. I tried on a pair of $100 black straight leg jeans at Anthro that were beautiful, except for the fact that the rise was much lower than I prefer, and they had a slight polyester content. I then headed over to Levis and found jeans that fit similarly, but were made from organic cotton with a touch of spandex. These jeans were also on sale for $40. In my weird logic, I decided that it was okay for me to buy these jeans, since I would be “saving” $60. Also, black straight leg jeans have been on my gaps list for a long time.

Levis 552 Straight Leg Jeans, on sale for $40

Was this purchase justified? Well, I guess that depends on how you look at things. I’m not beating myself up over it, but I haven’t done any shopping since then, and I’m trying to shift into a minimal shopping mindset, since money will be tight this summer.

I went over by $51 in May, so I’m deducting that from June’s budget. Since I’m not working my regular job over the summer, I’m taking my budget back down to $125 a month. So, I’ll only have $74 to spend in the month of June. I’m hoping to start getting more creative with my sewing and re-coning, and also to explore some new thrift and consignment shops to save money. We’ll see how it goes.

“Bouquet is fancy for a bunch of flowers”

Posted on May 27, 2010 by Diana

On Monday, I showed a remix of my red and blue Boden dress. Today, I’m remixing my multi-color floral print Boden dress. The bright green cardigan makes for a fantastic bit of color, and brings out the greens and blues in the print. My linen purse keeps with the cool summer vibe, and my faithful Dansko Novalees make for comfortable and stylish footwear.

Now that I’ve been working as a media specialist for a few months, I’ve come to realize that some of my shoes are more (or less) comfortable than I thought. Being on my feet for a good part of the day has shown me that several pairs of shoes need to have the toe boxes stretched, because after a few hours, my toes feel painfully cramped. My Dansko wedges have been quite surprisingly comfortable. Even though they are taller than most of my heels, the wedge is much more supportive, and even after wearing them for eight hours, my feet don’t really hurt that much. These are going to be my summer staples once again.

Do you have a particular pair of shoes that surprised you in just how comfortable they are?

Dress: Boden (via eBay)
Cardigan: J Crew (via eBay)
Sandals: Dansko Novalee (via eBay)
Purse: Morelle Charlotte
Earrings: Efy Tal

Quote: Fancy Nancy: Poison Ivy Expert , Jane O’Connor

“Wardrobe – a collection of clothes”

Posted on May 24, 2010 by Diana

I absolutely love my Boden dresses. So much so, that I generally wear at least one of them every week. Sometimes, I find it difficult to figure out how to remix them. It’s basically summer now, so there’s only so much layering that I can do. Since my workplace currently has frigid AC (this is prone to change on a daily basis, believe me) I can layer cardigans. Thus, I’ve been trying some new remixes of my Boden dresses with different cardigans, shoes and accessories. For this outfit, I stuck to brown and black accessories, allowing the beautiful print of the dress to continue to shine.

Normally, I tend to wear belts at the top of my rib cage, just under the bust. Today, I decided to let the belt rest at my natural waist. It was a nice switch, and I think it flattered the outfit well. I also added an extra punch of color in my blue necklace, which helped bring out the blue in the print of the dress.

How do you remix printed dresses in the summer? What do you do to keep an outfit fresh and interesting when it’s 80+ degrees outside?

Dress: Boden (via eBay)
Cardigan: Ann Taylor LOFT
Belt: Thrifted
Sandals: Dansko Novalee (via eBay)
Necklace: Chocolate Cake Jewels
Earrings: Garage Sale

Quote: Fancy Nancy’s Favorite Fancy Words: From Accessories to Zany, by Jane O’Connor

“Even if it is a make-believe day”

Posted on April 13, 2010 by Diana

This is what I would have worn to work last week. Except the air conditioning isn’t working very well there, and having a cardigan layered over a 3/4 sleeve dress was just too warm. So in reality I just wore the dress and the shoes. But I loved how the cardi pulled out other colors from the dress, so let’s just pretend that this is what I really wore all day, mmkay?

And this photo is sort of an out-take, but I like how it turned out. I was trying to get my neighbor’s cat to come into the picture, without realizing just how much was cropped out of the frame. It’s not the exact image I was trying to get, but I love how it captures all the colors of the outfit, in all their lovely vibrancy.

Do air conditioning/heat malfunctions change your outfit plans often?

Dress: Boden
Cardigan: New York and Co
Shoes: John Fluevog Malibrans
Necklace: Garage Sale
Watch: Target

Quote: Daughter’s Day Blues, by Laura Pegram

“Sings and stings its swinging song”

Posted on March 30, 2010 by Diana

Usually, I tend to mix many different pieces and elements into my outfits. But sometimes, a gorgeous patterned dress, a great pair of heels and some earrings are all you really need. I think I’ve decided that I could have a closet full of Boden dresses and great shoes, and I would be pretty happy.

This gorgeous dress was one of my recent finds on eBay. I decided to keep things simple for my first wearing of it, and let the dress shine. Since there’s so many colors in the print, I think it will have many remixing possibilities.

Do you like to wear printed dresses on their own, or do you mix them up with other items and accessories?

Dress: Boden (via eBay)
Shoes: Tsubo Acrea(via eBay)
Earrings: wear+thou

Quote: Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin (Aladdin Picture Books), by Lloyd Moss

“Wake up the street”

Posted on March 22, 2010 by Diana

Between starting my new job as a media specialist (school librarian) today and letting go of the pressure I was putting on myself with blogging and blog-reading, I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I’m free now to enjoy life, I’m free to take fun and happy photos, I’m free to stop worrying quite so much about making it to my next paycheck, I’m free to participate in this lovely blogging community because I want to, not because I feel obligated. It’s amazing what a change in perspective can do to lift one’s spirits.

My smiles feel genuine again, and I’m enjoying writing this blog and sharing with my readers more than ever. It is so good to have an outlet where I can share with others, to have an excuse to take fun and joyful photos everyday, and to hopefully pass some of that happiness along to others.

When I took these photos, I had just finished up a long and stressful day of dealing with bureaucratic paperwork and processing for my new job, wrapping up tasks at my old job, and retrieving my car that had been at the mechanic for almost a week. But when I took these photos, I was able to leave all that stress behind and have fun. Having fun is the best stress-relief ever.

Do you incorporate a little fun into your life everyday? Why not jump in a puddle while wearing wellies? Skip rope? Draw with sidewalk chalk?

Dress: Boden (via eBay)
Cardigan: New York & Co (via Classy Consignment)
Shoes: Dansko Sally (courtesy of Dansko)
Purse: Axcess by Liz Claiborne (thrifted)
Pearls: Coryell Design
Bangles: Jill Popowich Designs

Quote: Bring on that Beat, by Rachel Isadora