May Purchases

This month has just flown by, I didn't get around to doing any posts because I was crazy busy! Overall I would say this month has been my most successful yet- I rarely did any online shopping, in fact I didn't end up buying a single thing online this month! I also did a variation on the 'Clothing Swap' idea with my friend, in which we invited people over to her place to take all of our stuff. Not very many people showed, but I managed to get rid of a huuuge amount of stuff! The majority of this stuff was not on my Closet Inventory list but things I had had piled up for ages. Nice to finally have it all gone.

In terms of things I had hanging up in my closet at the beginning of the month that have now been tossed/donated: I tossed 16 scarves and kept 33. Just a note that when my Grandmother passed away I inherited about 25 of her scarves, a few of which I got rid of. Even though I don't really know if they will ever come in handy to wear, the ones I kept are really pretty and I don't mind holding onto them for awhile. I also tossed a pair of Joe Fresh dress pants that were too short, and a faux-leather Moto Jacket from Buffalo by David Bitton that is too big for me.

There may actually be a few other things that made their way from my closet to the clothing giveaway party, I will have to do an updated Closet Inventory at some point soon!

Now for the fun stuff: my May Purchases.

• Max Studio Striped T-Shirt and W118 by Walter Baker Leopard Blouse from Marshalls - I have been wearing this Max Studio shirt ALL MONTH. Just try getting it off of me! It's the kind of perfect slouchy tee I see often online, but is just a bit too expensive to justify the purchase. The leopard blouse is great as work wear or for a dressy event. Both of these tops were originally around $65 and were marked down to $20.

• Express Columnist Slim Dress Pants - I absolutely love these dress pants! I didn't have any that fit me properly, and I wanted to make sure I had a good pair if a job interview or similar occasion came up. I went on a 40% off day and got them for about $50.00 which is well worth it in my opinion. I can't wait until I have a chance to wear them.

• Old Navy Pink Sueded Heels - These were definitely an impulse buy. But it gives me more reason to start wearing heels more often again!

• NYGARD Black Label Cropped Pink Pants from Target - These pants were on sale for less than $20 and I thought they would be a great buy for any future dressy/casual events.

The only reason I ended up buying the heels from Old Navy or the cropped dress pants from Target was because I was out with my boyfriend running some errands, along with exchanging a shirt for him at Old Navy that I got him for his birthday (he barely has any clothes), which tells me that a lot of the time I buy things on impulse and without any planning. Sometimes that's okay and you end up walking away with some nice stuff- but I know that I need to be careful and not let my need for instant gratification get away with me.

I'm really happy with everything that I bought- it's great that everything is pink, black, white or some variation. I feel like I'm really honing in my purchasing and not going off target to styles that are way outside of what I wear day to day.

• At the Clothing Giveaway with my friend I procured: F21 Floral Crop top, F21 Cream Jeweled Blouse, Cropped Cream Cardigan, and a light brown Infinity Scarf - I have definitely been trying to stay away from Forever 21 as much as possible (and I've been doing a great job of it I think!) but I didn't mind picking up these few items for free. And if I change my mind, I won't have any guilt about bringing them to the thrift store. I've been wanting a few more cardigans and I wasn't sure if this one would work into my wardrobe, but it looks cute on so I thought I would give it a try.

April Instagram

Woohoo, I think I met my goal of instagramming at least 3 times a week! Here are just a few of my faves from April.

Follow me on Instagrammmm!

Summer, summer, summertime

Summer is fast approaching and I have been thinking about what I have, and what holes need to be filled in my summer wardrobe.

TOPS

What I Have: Lots of graphic tees. A bunch of tank tops, both fitted and flowy. I've got a few good cardigans.

What I Want: I would like a few more casual blouses; one of these will be the giant Hawaiian shirt I plan on DIY-ing into a cute summer top. I would also like a loose/casual button down shirt in linen or cotton, and anything with stripes! I've also been looking for a nice light open-knit sweater or cardigan over the past few years and haven't found anything I've liked. I'll keep searching.

BOTTOMS

What I Have: I have plenty of skirts that I really need to make a priority of wearing this summer. I have one great pair of pink shorts that I love that I bought at Joe Fresh last year, and I have a pair of capri's from yeeeaaars ago.

What I Want: I mentioned in a previous post that I wanted to hem my black & white leopard print shorts, that is a project I need to get going on. I would also like to get another pair of capri's as I only have one right now. I would also like to find a pair of black & white printed shorts to add a bit of visual interest to a simple tanktop/shorts outfit combo. After talking about my love of mixing up tough/chic looks in a prior blog post, I would love to find a cute eyelet or lace skirt to mix into my wardrobe. I will probably search thrift stores and the mall for this one.

DRESSES

What I Have: I have a handful for Forever 21 dresses which are okay, but they are really too short for me- I plan on phasing most of them out of my wardrobe in the future.

What I Want: I don't feel like I have any amazing workhorse dresses in my wardrobe- I mainly feel kind of meh about them. I would like a couple more summery dresses in a fit n' flare style that show my shape- I find that dresses like these are typically very flattering on me, which is frustrating since I am constantly drawn to oversize tent/smock dresses! Related to my wanting to find a cute skirt, I would love to find a pretty lace/eyelet/crochet summer dress to wear with a moto jacket.

OUTERWEAR

What I have: I have plenty of denim jackets, a rain jacket, and moto jackets so I really don't need anything else!

ACCESSORIES

What I Have: I have at least four or five pairs of ballet flats so I won't need to buy any more this year.

What I Want: I really need another pair of casual flat sandals- the one pair I have right now actually broke last summer. I managed to superglue them back together, but I'm not totally certain they will stay that way for long!

 My Priorities are:

• a pair of sandals
• a sweet/chic skirt or dress
• a few thrifted summer dresses
• my summer DIY projects

April Purchases

April was an interesting month. It was great in the fact that for the majority of it I did not feel compelled to shop, I didn't slowly drive myself crazy trying to tear myself away from online shopping. In fact I hardly went on my two favorite online shopping websites- Forever 21 and ASOS- at all this month. April was my first month out of school, and I finally had time to start going through my wardrobe, culling a few things, and that energized me. I hope to continue this through May. I still want to cut down on the amount of things I'm buying each month, so that will be something to work on in May.

• Joe Fresh slouchy crewneck tanks (1 b&w stripes, 1 black) & black cuffed shorts - I only have 3 other pairs of shorts and none in black so I was happy to find these ones! The 2 tanks were a bit of an impulse, but they have already gotten quite a bit of wear this month already so I think they were a good purchase.

• Forever 21 cropped tanks (in black, grey) - these are the perfect cropped tanks for layering under billowy/sheer summer shirts and tank tops. I've been in need of something like this for the past 2 years, and these two were only $6 each so I am pretty happy with them.

• ASOS Oversize Baseball Dress - I had been watching this dress for a few months and it finally went on sale, so I bought it.

•  From VALUE VILLAGE: H&M pink dress, H&M striped sweater dress, Gap b&w striped dress, Dollhouse pink skinny jeans - I went to Value Village twice in April to help someone do costuming for a high school show, and ended up finding these pieces for myself. I'm really happy with all of them, especially to find 2 spring/summer dresses. I generally don't like the buy out of season but the sweater dress was a steal at $15 and I know I will be wearing it a bunch next fall.

•  I was gifted 2 leopard scarves! People know how much I love leopard! Related to that I will be going through my scarves soon to remove some I don't need anymore and make room for these two.