Monday, November 12, 2018

October 2018 Buys

Every month, I break down my clothing expenses and share them. My quarterly budget is $550. This amount can be rolled into the next quarter if it's not all spent. My goal is to keep my out of pocket expenses within $2200 a year. Gifts and gift cards don't count towards my budget. Since I've been keeping a budget, I'm much more careful with what I buy, and I will return stuff at the end of the month if I'm not crazy about it after hanging it in my closet.

Dress: Ardene (link is to same dress, different pattern)
Reg $10
My friend Elena introduced me to these dresses/tunics. They're good for wearing over leggings or skinny jeans. Throwing a sweater or cardigan over top makes them wearable in the colder months as well. I haven't actually worn this yet, but I'll try it soon.



Tee: Zara
Reg $11
I'm always needing black tees to wear under cardigans and blazers. This one has a pocket detail and comes in white as well.



Sweater: Zara
Reg $18
Zara kids has so many hidden gems for such good prices. This is very plain and no different than an adult turtleneck sweater (except the price!)



Tee: H&M
Reg $15
This is from the Morris & Co collaboration. I've worn it layered under a v-neck navy sweater, but would also look great in the summer with distressed denim shorts.



Shirt: H&M
Reg $30, used a conscious coupon so $25
I usually buy myself something new to wear to Thanksgiving dinner. Meet this year's Thanksgiving top. I wore it french-tucked into legging jeans. If you don't know what this means, please watch Queer Eye.



Skirt: Joe Fresh
Reg $30 (on sale now for $15)
I have a deep and long-standing love for camo. Just adding to my collection. Super cute skirt that's on sale now. Size down! I've worn it already with the Zara black turtleneck above and also with a army green sweater.



Original value of items: $114
I paid $109
I saved 4%

Wow-  I didn't get anything on sale this month. The only savings was from my H&M coupon. Very strange for me.... I've actually been spending much less time aimlessly browsing the mall lately and more time reading. I'm left with $425 to spend for November and December. Black Friday is coming up in a few weeks and I bet I'll be taking advantage of the Aritzia sale. I need to pick up some new tights for the holidays, maybe with some sparkle.

XOXO
Glitterary Girl




Monday, October 29, 2018

Currently 10.28.2018

Carter's Beach - Nova Scotia 

That clear water!!I miss the mid-September hot days.


Reading

I’ve had such good luck with my book choices lately. Everything I’ve read has been fantastic.

The Lying Game - Ruth Ware
Four boarding school friends reunited over a secret they’ve been keeping for years.
Only Child - Rhiannon Navin
Fans of Room will love this story about a school tragedy, told from the perspective of a six year old.
Love and Other Words - Christina Lauren
Possibly my favorite book I’ve read this year. A modern day love story told in past and present.  True love never dies!
Then She Was Gone - Lisa Jewell
A girl disappears and a new little girl in her mom’s life reminds her too much of her lost daughter.

Writing

Epigrams, the occasional blog post. I need to learn to write things down when I think of them and not trust my memory. I’ve had some lost gems that weren’t put on paper and it’s so annoying.

Clicking

Surprisingly, only one on-line purchase lately. I have a Zara order on the way. When I get my winter clothes out, it feels like I have a new wardrobe for a few weeks. Social media as usual. My iPhone update gave me the new screen time counter which is certainly eye opening, but I still think it’s overestimating. Maybe if you’ve got apps running in the background, it’s still counting.... I don’t know. I’ve been using PopSugar Fitness on YouTube for some workouts. They’ve got a pretty good selection, especially the tabata ones.

Watching
TV: DWTS, KUWTK, Grey’s, Modern Family, This is Us. A special shout out to A Million Little Things which is such a good show.
Netflix: Queer Eye, Making a Murderer Season 2 and Friends with Benefits.  I need to get back to Riverdale, Suits, and OITNB at some point.

Seeing
The crazy colors of my Witches’ Brew frappucino. I’m always a sucker for Starbucks Halloween drinks. It tastes like orange creamsicle if you're into that flavour.

Smelling
As I’m at Starbucks... coffee. Also, I put on Clean Aqua Neroli perfume this morning. My new scent obsession.



Eating
My friend and I tried Mother’s pizza the other day for lunch and it was really good. I had something pretty basic- four cheese with spinach. R and I went to Resto for dinner the other night because we didn’t make reservations for Il Mercato and the wait for a table was too long. It was decent, but I was craving Il Mercato... I've been eating too many little Halloween chocolate bars... I bet some of you can relate!

Drinking
Lots of Starbucks flavoured teas and DAVIDsTEA. I’m loving all the chai blends from DAVIDsTEA right now. For adult beverages, I’ve been sticking with wine lately, although I had a Bulwarks Raspberry cider the other night and it was yummy.

Wearing
A pink AEO sweater, Zara distressed jeans, Adidas Stan Smiths, and my old as dirt Lole raincoat.

Feeling
I’m working out five times a week so feeling great with fitness. I'm having a hard time dragging myself out of bed lately. Probably because the time change is coming and it’s really dark in the mornings.

Anticipating
Halloween is just a few days away, so looking forward to seeing all the cute costumes that come to the door. I have a few short work weeks in November, so that’s always appreciated.  One of them is Black Friday, an annual shopping day that Mom and I crush every year. I need to get working on my Christmas lists...

My fur niece and her rubber chicken


Happy Halloween!

XOXO
Glitterary Girl


Wednesday, October 10, 2018

September 2018 Purchases

This was such a quiet shopping month for me that it made no sense to blog about it unless I was also doing an outfit post. I bought ONE item this month. If you missed my August buys post, I did a lot of shopping in Toronto, leaving me with minimal budget to work with for September.

Boots: Aqua College "Iconic" via Naturalizer
Reg $189, on sale for $63
I donated two pairs of brown/taupe boots at the end of last winter. Let's be honest, is it really fall until you put on some brown boots? I believe this is the first footwear I've owned from Naturalizer. I'm usually into footwear edgier than the stuff they carry, but these were so darn comfortable and BASIC. There isn't much I can't make them work with. AND they're waterproof suede.
I saved 67%.


Details
Sweater: Lucky Brand
Jeans: Gap
Bag and Sunnies: Coach 
Boots: Naturalizer
Necklaces: Banana Republic





Lucky Band now has a Canadian website, but sadly, items are final sale when shipping to Canada, sooooo not helpful :( I bought this cozy pullover in Toronto.

I went over budget this quarter by $16. That leaves me with $534 to spend for the rest of the year, which includes Black Friday and Boxing Day.

I'm looking for a chunky knit butterscotch coloured sweater to replace my J Crew one. I may also get another pair of Zara leggings as I love the ones I bought last year.  Everything else will be a surprise!

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

August 2018 Purchases

Every month, I break down my clothing expenses and share them. My quarterly budget is $550. This amount can be rolled into the next quarter if it's not all spent. My goal is to keep my out of pocket expenses within $2200 a year. Gifts and gift cards don't count towards my budget. Since I've been keeping a budget, I'm much more careful with what I buy, and I will return stuff at the end of the month if I'm not crazy about it after hanging it in my closet.

Well, I did some budget damage in Toronto. That was expected. I had zero luck at Topshop and Nordstrom Rack, didn’t even try anything on. I visited Toronto Premium Outlets for the first time. Compared to USA outlets, the deals aren’t quite as good, but it’s Canadian dollars at least. They’re smaller than a lot of outlets I’ve been to, which made it more manageable. We were there for about 3 hours and saw most of what we wanted to. I spent a lot of time at Vaughan Mills and a little bit of time at Yorkdale.

I’ll start with the two things I bought in Halifax before the trip.

Tank: American Eagle Outfitters
Reg $30, on sale for $12
The soft material of these AEO tanks is so great. A few hours after wearing this for the first time, I spilled orange chicken down the front of it. Thanks to a Shout wipe and some scrubbing, it's fixed! It's in the wash, but I found this photo... hard to see clearly but it's green with blue flower embroidery.



Shoes: Zara
Reg $50, on sale for $20
I thought these slip-ons would be good for work. I'm always looking for work shoes that are easy on and off for when I go see clients at home.



Everything below was bought in Toronto.

Sweater: Lucky Brand
Reg $70, on sale for $42
My current green sweater isn't doing it for me. This one has interesting sleeves and is really cuddly soft.



Earrings: Lucky Brand
Reg $29, on sale for $17
I love that these are silver and gold. They're small and pretty, but still noticeable.



Tee: Lucky Brand
Reg $60, on sale for $16
Lucky has some really nice tops. They remind me a bit of Madewell. Hopefully they're better quality though... I've had bad luck with Madewell things.



Dress: Michael Kors
Reg $225, on sale for $50
I bought this with a specific upcoming event in mind, and I'm glad I did because I think this will be a great addition to my closet. It's the kind of dress that could be worn almost anywhere.



Bag: Coach Factory
Reg $295, on sale for $118
My old red Nine West handbag is worn out (not real leather). I've been wanting a new red bag for a bit now. This one is a cross body (with no handles). The strap on it is thick, which is a must. Any of you who've tried to use a cross body with a thin strap knows the pain and the dent it makes in your shoulder! I'm using it already, and I'm a bit sad that it has no outside pockets whatsoever, and my day to day stuff just fits inside with no room to play. BUT for $118, I'll take it, even with it's flaws. I LOVE the color.



Sneakers: Vans
Reg $80, on sale for $30
I love Vans. Although they aren't overtaking my shoe closet like Converse are, they easily could if I let them. I find Vans are a bit less casual than Converse.



Tee: Uniqlo
Reg $15
I love having a ton of basic plain tees to layer with. An easy outfit formula for me is pants/skirt, tee, and cardigan. I bet after wearing this I'm going to wish I had picked up more colors.



Sweater: Uniqlo
Reg $30, on sale for $20
I used to have a red sweater sort of like this that I wore a lot. I wish Uniqlo had a physical store here in Halifax. They did recently start shipping to Canada but I think you have to pay for returns. It's a fun place to shop on vacation though...



Jacket: Uniqlo
Reg $80, on sale for $20
This was the only one in the store and it was in my size. Loved the color and fit - meant to be.



Tee: lululemon (Love tee)
Reg $48, on sale for $29
I sometimes don't include athletic wear in my budget as it's more necessity than style... but I'll definitely be wearing this for style and not to work out in. I've never owned a love tee before. These might replace my beloved American Apparel tees as my favourite. The website has it for $39, but mine had a tag for $29 on it. The lululemon in Vaughan Mills isn't an outlet but they have a really big sale section in the back, with all the stuff in it that would be on the We Made Too Much section of the website.



Tee: Calvin Klein
Reg $40, on sale for $25
I was obsessed with the color of this tee, which perfectly matched the polish on my toes. It's also really soft and I'm completely into the mid-90"s thing that is happening right now with branded tees (loving the Levi's tees too).



Original value of items: $1052
Price I paid $414
I saved 61%

I have very little left to spend this quarter ($47) . Gulp. I also badly need a new pair of brown or taupe ankle boots as I retired two pairs after last season. I may need to borrow some budget from next quarter. I don’t mind doing that as next quarter includues Christmas, and some of my spending is Christmas gifts. Yes, R and I shop for ourselves. It works wonderfully.

XOXO
Glitterary Girl