LA Shopping

I got in a few hours of shopping in LA, despite having the flu. Everything below was bought with birthday money - so it doesn't count towards my shopping budget. Yay!

Shirt: Topshop

Reg $58, on sale for $30

The softest plaid shirt I've ever owned. I should have bought two in case something happens to this one!

Skirt: Topshop

Reg $50

My old denim skirt was in need of replacing. This fits the bill - long enough for work, yet a good weekend length too.

Earrings: House of Harlow via Nordstrom Rack
Reg $35, on sale for $11
I have a few pairs of HoH earrings now and I really like the quality. They tend to be quite simple. but edgy at the same time. These are rose gold- hard to tell with my closet lighting.

Shoes: Toms via Nordstrom Rack

Reg $54, on sale for $35
I always thought my feet were too narrow for Toms. Turns out, I just had to size down. I was torn between three different pairs - these won out.

Shirt: Uniqlo

Reg  $20, on sale for $6

I wish every basic tee in the world was made just like this one! I was really drawn to the pattern. When I wear it, I feel like I'm wearing a painting!

Shirt: Uniqlo

Reg $15

A different shade of blue. I like it! I wish I could shop at Uniqlo more often - such a great spot. 

Top: Uniqlo

Reg $20

Basic white tops are what I reach for so much in the summer. They tend to go with everything!

Bracelet: Alex and Ani via Nordstrom Rack

Reg $38 on sale for $19
White tee, denim, and this bracelet = my summer uniform.

Shirt: H&M
Reg $15
I always need new stripes pre-summer. It's my thing.

Bag Pom: Topshop
Reg $9
The bag pom I was eyeing here at home was like $30 - no thank you.

Shirt: Bieber merch
Reg $50
Sooooo overpriced, but like I could go to a JB concert and not pick up a souvenir. I wasn't sure I could get a glossy photo back to Canada without bending it, so shirt it was!

Tanks: H&M
Reg 2 for $10
No picture needed. Basic blue and white tanks. I'm really liking the H&M tanks lately!

Surprisingly, I didn't pick anything up at Zara. I find Zara very hit or miss. I buy everything or nothing. I was so thankful for the birthday money, otherwise I doubt I would have bought much of anything. The Canadian dollar is so low!

XOXO
Glitterary Girl 

Cottage Casual

Friends, food, and a cottage are always a great combo. I was lucky enough to spend my Saturday night with a great group of ladies for a bachelorette party. We took over two cottages at Oceanstone, a beautiful spot close to Peggy's Cove.

The weather wasn't great, but we were cozy inside all night. I'd love to venture back sometime when the weather is hot and sunny!

Details

Plaid Shirt: Topshop

Tee: Gap

Jeans: Madewell

Sneaks: Converse

Necklace: Forever 21

Bracelet: Stella & Dot

This Topshop shirt is the nicest plaid shirt I've ever owned. It's incredibly soft and the sleeves stay rolled.

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

Rimmel Fix and Protect Makeup Primer

Warning: Video rookie coming up.

Rimmel sent me some Spring 2016 products and it was easier to show you make-up via a video than a blog post, so here it is. Blogger won't let me upload video clips of any great length, so I'm going to be showing you the products one post at a time. 

I'm not a make-up pro at all - I just like to play around with it!

Thanks for watching! I'll upload more videos soon so I can show you the rest of the products.

XOXO

Glitterary Girl

Bowl of Yum

I've been meaning to write this post for the longest time! I was kindly sent a few recipe books, and one of them is all smoothie bowls!

Smoothie bowls are those works of art you see on Instagram that are usually some combo of a thicker consistency smoothie topped with fruit, nuts, granola, and other healthy things. I experimented with them while I was on my cleanse (see here), and the honestly don't take nearly as long to make as the appear to. 

It was hard for me to pick the first smoothie bowl to attempt from 200 Best Smoothie Bowl Recipes by Alison Lewis, but the one that won my eyes over is below.

Orange, Banana and Coconut Bowl (serves one)

2 tbsp freshly squeezed OJ 

2 tbsp milk

3 tbsp old fashioned rolled oats

1 frozen banana cut into pieces

1 cup sliced oranges

2 tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut

4 ice cubes

Suggested toppings:

Sliced banana 

Unsweetened shredded coconut

Grated orange zest

Granola

Combine all ingredients except for suggested toppings in blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into bowl and top as desired.

My decorative efforts at 7AM aren't the best.

My did some mild alterations which likely affected the outcome very little. My OJ was not freshly squeezed, I used almond-coconut milk, and my toppings were goji berries, hemp hearts, coconut and oranges.

Also note that if you have a big blender (like me, I have a Blendtec) you can't just press "smoothie" and go with this one. There isn't much for liquid so it barely covered the blades. I had to use "pulse" and keep pressing it until it was blended. 

This was delicious and really easy! I made it in the morning before work and didn't mess up! The night before, I set the non-refrigerated items on the counter so I'd have less to gather in the morning.

Let me know if you end up trying this recipe!

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

*this book was provided to me for free but my opinions are my own*

Currently 04.11.16

Reading

In the past few months I've read four books.
Isla and the Happily Ever After - Stephanie Perkins. Another YA book that I completely loved! Set in Paris (how romantic...) it told the story of two high school students who fall in love. I can't wait to read more by this author.
Among the Ten Thousand Things - Julia Pierpont. Since my work can be kind of heavy, I prefer to read books that aren't melancholy. So I wasn't a big fan of this novel. There was nothing "wrong" with it, and in my previous life, I think I would have liked it.
The Museum of Innocence - Orhan Pamuck. Wow, this one took me forever to get through. It was my "leave at work" book for three months! I enjoyed it, although it was slow at times. Another love story, this one spanning several decades.
Nowhere but Up - Pattie Mallette. Yes, Justin Bieber's mom's book. It actually had a to less to do with Justin than I thought it would. It was an interesting recount of her early life story, and she's been through some hard times.

Writing

To-do lists for spring cleaning. A few blog posts here and there. Care plans at work.

Clicking

I've been spending more time on Instagram lately. Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) is also a news issue I'm keeping close tabs on. I'm way behind in keeping up with my favourite blogs.

Watching

R and I are still obsessed with the OJ show - we have two more episodes to watch. We watched the IHeartRadio music awards. We're six shows behind on Grey's! Insurgent was a movie we rented, but we didn't love it. I finished the latest season of PLL. I'm also watching I Am Cait. In LA when I had the flu, we watched some Fuller House and I started the third season of Hart of Dixie.

Let's go back here (LA) without the flu this time. 

Seeing

Why do I always blog when R watches The Walking Dead?

Hearing

See above, and also the quiet dishwasher running behind me.

Smelling

Peach Bellini candle from BBW.

Wearing

The same thing I wore to work. A long cardigan with a 3/4 sleeve shirt, black loose pants. Hair in a bun because today was an epic bad hair day.

Feeling

Pretty good! I've been consistent with exercising 4-5 times per week and have kept off the cleanse and post-flu weight I lost. I'm sitting four to five-ish pounds over where I want to be, but that's better than 12.  I'm also feeling very happy for all my friends who have welcomed babies into their lives in the past few weeks!

Anticipating

R and I were saying we need to book another trip so we have something to look forward to! I'm excited for consistent spring weather (which is rare in Canada but one can hope).

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

A Day in 90210

Beverly Hills - that's where I want to be! We kept singing this to ourselves as we made drive after drive down Sunset Boulevard between Hollywood and Beverly Hills. So many pretty houses, such clean streets, lush gardens, and gorgeous stores... 

Can I just say I'd like to own every single thing in Saint Laurent, including all the men's sneakers? Someday I'll own a Burberry trench coat (probably from the outlet) and a Chanel bag (maybe) but until then I can just dream.

We strolled down Rodeo Drive and found ourselves at The Montage for lunch. We ate salads in the Beverly Canyon Gardens and people watched. Okay, I admit I was really hoping to catch a glimpse of Justin Bieber, but it wasn't meant to be.

Window shopping on Rodeo

The Montage

We visited The Beverly Center, which is a lovely shopping mall with mostly higher end stores but also has Uniqlo and H&M. I was so stoked to shop at Uniqlo as I hadn't been to one in three years. They are planning on opening in Toronto sometime this year at Yorkdale and the Eaton Centre.

Details

Cardigan: American Eagle Outfitters

Top: Uniqlo

Shorts: Banana Republic

Sandals: Aldo

Sunnies: Coach
Bag: 3.1 Phillip Lim for Target

I hope you enjoyed tagging along for the day with me in Beverly Hills. Have a great weekend!

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

My Monthly Purchases: March 2016

Every month, I break down my clothing expenses and share them. My quarterly budget is $500. 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 $2000 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.

March will be another two part event. This is part one, and I'll post part two next week. Part two will all be birthday gifts, although some gifts are also included in this post. 

Scarf : American Eagle Outfitters
Reg $40, on sale for $14
This is so soft. I really didn't need another scarf but it was so pretty... it's a blanket scarf.

Tank tops : H&M
Reg $7 each x 2 = $14
These are replacement tanks for ones of mine that are wearing out. I bought grey and black.

Earrings: H&M
Reg $7
I'm loving the front/back styles right now.

Boots: Artica via Browns (no longer available on-line)
Reg $248, on sale for $60
I'm all for buying winter boots at end of season. I did the same last year with my black leather ones. I can't get over the deal I got. These brown boots are so warm and will give me something to be excited to wear once the weather gets cold next winter!

Shorts: Banana Republic
Reg $55, family and friends discount $27.50
I wanted a new pair of shorts for LA, and these were my choice. I wore them on vacation and they were great. They are the perfect length.

Jacket: Forever 21 (no longer available on-line)
Reg: $45, on sale for $11
Ok, this jacket makes me totally nostalgic for my Levi's bomber from grade 7. It was black with white sleeves and red lettering. This bomber trend gets thumbs up from me. Stay tuned for (maybe) another one next month!

Shirt: Winners
Reg $30, on sale for $13
I found this four days before my concert! Can we go back to this hair please?

Original value of items: $439
Price I paid: $147
I saved 66%

That leaves me with $52 to roll ahead for next quarter. I'm going to try my best to do something different for April-June. Last year, I noticed that summer clothes go on sale in June. In Nova Scotia, we don't even wear summer clothes until June, so why buy them any earlier? I do have an order being shipped from Banana Republic, but after that, I'm going to try to save most of my money for June spending.

The following items are gifts that were given to me - fun!

Sandals: Aldo
I wore these a ton in LA and they were really comfy. I did add a ball of foot cushion to them, which I love doing to any shoe. They are perfect for dressing up/down. They'd be great in your suitcase for a resort vacation.

Bag: Michael Kors
I'd been eying this bag for weeks, and the Easter Bunny felt quite bad that I'd spent so much of the LA vacation under the weather. Since we're supposed to get some snow this week (really?), I'll save this til the weather feels more like spring. I bought the bag pom in LA.

Shirt: Rachel Roy via Winners
Seen here on my previous post.

Bag: Nine West
This is a small tote size and will likely be my work bag for the summer. I use a plain navy blue one in the winter, so this will brighten up my daily routine in the warmer months!

Be sure to check back next week to see some more gifts and the stuff I bought in LA with my birthday money!

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

Cornflower Blue at The Grove

The Grove is one of my favourite spots in LA. It's a really nice clean outdoor shopping mall with lots of good restaurants. It's also home to a few of my favourite stores - Topshop and Madewell. I was feeling quite under the weather in LA, so I didn't spend as much time shopping here as I expected, but we did make it to The Grove three times.

Details

Shirt: Rachel Roy via Winners

Jeans: Gap

Sunnies: Coach

Boots: Aldo

Necklace: Banana Republic

Bag: 3.1 Phillip Lim for Target

My Fitbit was on pretty much the whole time in LA. Yeah, it didn't look so great with my outfits (and I always forgot to take it off for photos) but I had a great week for steps!

On the toes: Aloha from OPI (OPI)

My Rachel Roy top will probably be in high rotation this spring. I love this shade of blue! The shoulder cut outs are fun too.

If you ever visit LA, The Grove is a must-do!

XOXO
Glitterary Girl