My Monthly Purchases: November 2015

Every month, I break down my clothing expenses and share them. I used to have a monthly budget, but partway through 2014, I switched to a quarterly budget of $500. This can be rolled into the next quarter if it's not all spent. My goal is to keep my out of pocket expenses within $2000 a year. Gifts and gift cards don't count towards my budget.

November was very quiet on the shopping front! I tried to stay away from the stores. 

Scarf: Zara
Reg $10
This is a very different type of scarf than I'm used two (I have a zillion chunky infinity scarves). Mine is in black.

Tee: Zara
Reg $25
This is taking the high/low shirt trend to the extreme! I'll for sure need to wear heels with this. Loving the bold graphic print.

Leg Warmers: Garage
Reg $20 each, on sale for $8 each
So I haven't warn these since I was nine-ish.... but they really do look cute! They give leggings a little bit of extra coziness this time of year.

Original value of items: $75
Price I paid: $51
I saved 32%.

This leaves me with a total of $212 to spend for December. I'll probably save it for Boxing Day and see what deals I can find.

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

Little Loves Lately: November 2015

Wow - it's been a long time since I've written one of these posts! Get ready for three of my favourite things for late 2015.

DAVIDSTEA- Mulled Wine

It's super frowned upon to crack open some actual wine at work, but this tea is the next best thing. Brimming with orange, cinnamon, and ginger,  Mulled Wine is one of those teas that smells just as good as it tastes. Being an oolong, it's low caffeine, which means I can drink it in the afternoon without worrying about it affecting my sleep.

GLAMGLOW- Supermud Clearing Treatment

My skin has been so dramatic lately, it needs it's own one-hour slot on HBO. I'll save most of the details for another post, but I've had some changes in my health, medications, and hormones lately, which my poor face has been bearing the brunt of. My skin is normally on the dry side, so it has no clue what to do with extra oil besides make clogged pores. Boo. After scouring the internet for solutions, I stumbled upon this mask. Naturally I headed to Sephora where they gave me a generous sample. The thinnest layer of this product on problem areas is miraculous. It sops up oil, drawing it into the mask, so you can actually see little dark spots on the mask as it dries. Almost as satisfying as a Biore strip, but with much less irritation and pain. I bought the full size mask which will last forever  if it's only used on a small area. I can't see me ever needing this on my whole face. I used it for four nights in a row on my chin and I'm super impressed. It cleared anything up that was present, and there seems to be no problems lurking on the horizon. Sephora has the mask for $76 (gulp) OR in a gift set for $76 with a cleanser too (of course I got the set).

JUSTIN BIEBER- Purpose

If you haven't listened to Justin in a bit, it's time to pay attention because his music has matured in a big way. I've liked all the singles he's released lately, and I had high hopes for the new album. For real, all the songs are good... all 18 of them. There are two that I sometimes skip over, but only because I really like the next song. I'm beyond excited to be traveling to LA to see his concert in March- like if I think about it too hard I might dissolve. Purpose is sitting at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart this week for a reason!

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

Plaid x Polka Dot

Print mixing can be a scary thing, but if you stick with two colors, it's hard to go wrong.

Details

Jacket: Danier

Tunic: Forever 21

Leggings: Banana Republic

Boots: Town Shoes

Scarf: Dynamite

Am I ever going to get over the fact that it's late fall? Not early fall where you can get away with bare ankles, but LATE fall where you might perish without a scarf?  I thought about how cute this outfit would look with my ballet flats. One step outside, and I was trading them for boots. 

XOXO

Glitterary Girl

Hello 90's

One of the best things about fashion in 2015 (in my opinion) is the nod to decades past. I was in Forever 21 recently, and at least 75% of the things in there could have easily been from the 70's or the 90's.

In a way, I feel this outfit has a touch of 90's about it (hello blue lace-up boots!)

While watching Homeland (I'm at the end of Season 3, don't spoil it!) I can't help but call Carrie Angela by accident (as in Chase). I'm also watching My So Called-Life again, and holy, the plaid pattern mixing was strong!

Details

Jacket: Old Navy

Cardigan: H&M

Tee: J Crew

Pants and hat: Gap

Boots: Aldo

Necklace: Joe Fresh

Watch: Guess

Glasses: Burberry

Bracelet: Stella & Dot

Did the 90's not have some great music? I used to study to Soundgarden, Nirvana, and Bush. I also loved 90's R&B and hip hop (Boyz II Men, TLC, Kriss Kross!)

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

Currently 11/11/15

Reading: I literally just finished a book with the final line being "Eat the cupcakes." Obviously the book was good. It was Tales From the Back Row by Amy Odell - a funny read about behind the scenes in the fashion industry. I feel like it's been a long time since I've talked about books... I've read a lot in the past few months, partly because I'm spending some time on the incline treadmill, and I can read while I burn calories. Other reads include:
For Today I am a Boy - Kim Fu - A solid read about a transgendered youth.
Adult Onset - Ann Marie MacDonald - So sad to say this was disappointing to me. I love her other books. I found the main character just wasn't likable enough for me.
In the Unlikely Event - Judy Blume - So many characters! It was a good read but if you have the choice, read it in hard copy rather than on an e-reader. It's easier to go back and re-read parts that way!
To Lain Roads - JJ Goosens - My brother in law gave me a copy of this book. It was a bit slow to start, but then it picked up and got really funny. An odd ending, but worth the read!
My Townie Heart - Diana Sperrazza - This was kindly sent to me as a review copy. I totally enjoyed it! Raw at times, and certainly not a feel-good read for the most part, but her character development was excellent. I loved that it was set in the seventies as I haven't read many books from that time period.

Writing: The usual blog posts, although I've reduced to two-ish a week. I'm also jotting down ideas for a novel, although I'm not sure I'll ever have time to actually write it. I'm going to try a detailed outline with this one, as my first novel was only loosely outlined. Maybe if I break it down a lot, it will be easier to write in small chunks. I always felt I couldn't get into a good writing groove unless I had a few solid hours, which just doesn't happen very often. The second half of my first novel was written when I was unemployed and had lots of free time!

Clicking: It's funny how I tend to rotate my social media obsessions. Lately, I've been spending more time on Twitter. Not that I'm tweeting much - I'm just lurking. I've also been spending a fair bit of time on Bieber News (I've always been a fan of JB, but even more so with his new music, which is amazing...)

Seeing: I'm sitting here in front of the TV watching DVR'ed episodes of The Social. There may be almost thirty of them on there. I'll watch them eventually.

Smelling: My tea - North African Mint from DAVIDsTEA. It's in the cutest mug from Chapters Indigo that I picked up for $2! The coaster is from Winners/Homesense.

Feeling: Pretty excited today! We're talking about our March vacation and it just so happens that a certain favourite musical artist of mine just released tour dates for LA and Vegas during our week off, which I totally wasn't expecting. #PURPOSETOUR.  Overall, I have been feeling much more awake thanks to B12 injections and a starting dose of Synthroid.

Watching: We're one episode away from finishing season three of Homeland. R and I are watching together which is a must as I get hopelessly lost and need to be reminded of who people are quite often! We also finally started watching this season of Grey's. The dance video for "Sorry" has also been viewed by me approximately 7,000 times.

Wearing: Sweatpants, t-shirt, hoodie and slippers. It's a holiday and a housework day. My skin also needs a make-up break too.

Hearing: R is crunching on carrots and hummus. I'd have some too but it's too annoying with my Invisalign. I'll be ending active treatment in January and moving on to a retainer!

Anticipating: Is it super-geeky of me to be looking forward to a work course I'm taking next week? I'm heading back to my old stomping grounds (Truro) to a palliative care course I've been wanting to take for quite some time now. Christmas season is just around the corner, and I may get a start on my shopping this weekend. For those of you who haven't heard, lululemon will be opening a seasonal store in Halifax Shopping Centre on Nov 16. How convenient!

Follow me on Instagram! @jennifermerlin14

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

My Monthly Purchases: October 2015 (2)

Every month, I break down my clothing expenses and share them. I used to have a monthly budget, but partway through 2014, I switched to a quarterly budget of $500. This can be rolled into the next quarter if it's not all spent. My goal is to keep my out of pocket expenses within $2000 a year. Gifts and gift cards don't count towards my budget.

My last post was some of my October purchases, with the rest being shared today. In case you missed it, I was in Scottsdale, AZ and did a bit of shopping while I was there!

T-Shirt: J Crew
Reg $42 on sale for $18
I'm a fan of sparkly things on shirts. 

Sweater: Banana Republic
Reg $80, on sale for $30
This was something I was eying in Canada, so when I saw it south of the border (and deeply discounted) I nabbed it! I'm glad I wandered in BR - I nearly by-passed it.

Pants: Anthropologie
Reg $128, on sale for $20
You know how you're shopping by yourself, and you really have to trust the opinion of the sales person? This is how came home with these pants. They are definately more of a summer item, but I might be able to squeeze a wear out of them before I put them away for the season. They have crazy-wide legs!

Dress: H&M
Reg $15
Cutest dress. Amazing price. Can't wait to wear it!

Shirt: Forever 21
Reg $16
The navy and orange in this shirt caught my eye, and it has a cute upper back cutout. 

Tunic: Forever 21
Reg $18
This is listed as a dress on the tag, but even on a shorty like me, it would be tres short. I'll be wearing this with leggings or pants!

Boots: Aldo
Reg $120, on sale for $54
I've had these boots for MONTHS. I really liked them, but I was hesitant if I'd actually get a lot of wear out of them. So I left them in the box to think about it. Aldo has a great return policy (unlimited with receipt and unworn) so I was able to give them a lot of thought. I finally caved and wore them last week - twice! I'm glad I didn't take them back.

Shoes: Aldo
Reg $80, on sale for $40
This sneaker/loafer hybrid is the best. So comfy, so cute, and they add a few inches! The only thing I worry about is the white part getting dirty. 

Sneakers: Converse
Reg $60 on sale for $23
If you've not been to a Nordstrom Rack, you need to find one next time you're in the US. I could have spent hours (and a ton of moola) in this place. Thanks to R's shopping threshold (45 min), I didn't even have time to try on any clothing. But I did find these gems.... last pair... in my size. 

I also purchased some accessories, but I'm not going to show them all. I bought a few pairs of earrings, a hat, a few necklaces, socks, and a few more things I'm probably forgetting. The total I paid for all of these was $60 (regular price was about $180)

Original cost of items: $739
Price I paid: $294
I saved 60%

My total spend for October was $468. That leaves me $263 left to spend of the rest of the year - including Black Friday and Boxing Day (gulp). Give me strength. 

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

My Monthly Purchases: October 2015 (1)

Every month, I break down my clothing expenses and share them. I used to have a monthly budget, but partway through 2014, I switched to a quarterly budget of $500. This can be rolled into the next quarter if it's not all spent. My goal is to keep my out of pocket expenses within $2000 a year. Gifts and gift cards don't count towards my budget.

You know those months when you buy so much, you can't possibly talk about it all at once?

October was one of those months, thanks to a lovely trip south (way south) of the border. Scottsdale was a lovely place to shop. We strategically planned to stay at a resort that was within walking distance to two outdoor shopping complexes. R was in training for a few days, so I needed something to do while he was gone.

Kierland Commons was literally across the street, then once you walked to the end of Kierland Commons, you crossed another street and there was Scottsdale Quarter. Both were great places to shop, and there were lots of snack stops and restaurants mixed in as well.

Keep in mind that for budget purposes, I don't convert to Canadian dollars. For this trip, I had US cash purchased when the dollars were close to equal and I paid cash for all my clothing.

I'll show you some of what I bought in this post, then do another post about the rest of it.

Shirt: Madewell
Reg $42 on sale for $30.
My obsession with army green attire continues. I kind of wish I bought more than one of these shirts - they are so soft and I love the sleeve length. Madewell does ship to Canada, but not for free, and you have to pay the shipping to return stuff. They are a sister company to J Crew.

Jeans: Madewell
Reg $128 on sale for $54
My old black Calvin Kleins needed replacing. These jeans are the perfect rise for me, which is so hard to find due to my long torso. Very soft and comfortable, I'd definitely buy another pair of Madewell jeans. The wash I bought isn't available (inky black) but the ones I linked above are the same style.

Dress: H&M
Reg $20.
I really liked the colors in this dress and the button detail at the collar. I haven't worn it yet, but I likely will soon with my brown riding boots.

Dress: H&M
Reg $18
A basic grey dress that is multi-seasonal and can be styled a ton of different ways. I've worn this already to a wedding with black tights, black blazer, and a statement necklace.

Shirt: H&M
Reg $20
I've always liked green and blue together. This shirt has buttons up the back, which is a different touch.

Shirt: H&M
Reg $25 on sale for $13
A nice basic silky shirt that can be dressed up or down.

Sweater: American Eagle Outfitters
Reg $50 on sale for $14
I upsized with this sweater to make sure it was a loose fit. I retired one of my white sweaters this year, so I needed a replacement. This was bought at home.

T-shirt: Gap

Reg $20 on sale for $5

No photo, but I picked up a basic medium grey crew neck. Gap has the best tees for layering. This is the fourth one I've bought this year!

Original value of items: $323

Price I paid: $174
I saved 46%

I'll continue with my October buys in my next post.

XOXO

Glitterary Girl