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

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

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

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

Currently 09.03.18

Reading

The Great Halifax Explosion - John U Bacon
I saw this book at Costco awhile ago and had to buy it. I’m glad I did. It was a great story about the explosion, although I enjoyed the first half of the book with the events leading up to the tragedy better than reading about the aftermath.

The Wife Between Us - Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
A good suspenseful twisty read.

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life - Samantha Irby
A funny, touching, and raw collection of essays. Don’t read it if you get uncomfortable with TMI...

Writing
Not enough...  I’m in a bit of a funk that I can sometimes write my way out of. Vacation gave me little opportunity.

Toronto Zoo. These guys make me smile. 

Watching
TV: Bachelor in Paradise (my favorite guilty pleasure), KUWTK, The Affair (season 4 was good!)
Netflix: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (cute), Queer Eye, Riverdale (halfway done season 1)
Movies: I Feel Pretty

Eating
Too much cheesecake! We went to The Cheesecake Factory twice in Toronto and then I had a cupcake from the kiosk they have at Vaughan Mills. We had a neighbourhood BBQ yesterday that was really fun and yummy. I’ve had a few more Vandal doughnuts over the past month (still loving unicorn poop and lemon meringue).

My new favourite- Chocolate Hazelnut Crunch

Drinking
Bubly by the bucketful, lots of Starbucks and DAVIDsTEA iced teas, Starbucks pink drink. I’ve been sampling tons of radlers and ciders this summer. I pick up a few cans every time I go to NSLC.

Seeing
The parking lot of Starbucks. I'm also swiping through photos of vacation so I can add some to this post.

Did  I mention we saw Ed Sheeran? We were in the rafters, but it was amazing. Ed was fabulous, and the CN Tower was almost as intriguing. 

Hearing
Coffee machines and Starbucks music. I like their playlist today.

Smelling
The sunscreen I have on my arms and of course,  coffee.

Wearing
AEO jeans, H&M tank top and striped tee, Tory Burch flip flops, TNA hat

Feeling
Honestly.... pretty blah which doesn’t happen a lot for me. I think it’s a combo of a few things including post-vacation sadness and some changes happening at work which I’m bracing for. I’m going to try to keep myself busy for the next few weeks. I also had my first experience with vertigo the other day (which I fixed myself) but I still don’t feel 100%.

One of these things is not like the others...

Anticipating
PT school 15 year reunion happening at the end of the month (yay!), pumpkin candles (they are on deck for Sept 15.... I don’t know why I picked a date for them...), fall style (hello layers).

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

July 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.

Summer sales were still going strong and July was super hot in NS, so I was all about picking up some new warm weather clothes.

Top: Zara (no longer available on line)
Reg $36, on sale for $16
This top was bought with Pride Parade in mind, but it rained so I didn't go to the parade. The top was cute though, so I kept it.

Shirt: Sunday Best (Montana) via Aritzia
Reg $65, on sale for $25
Possibly the softest button-up ever made. Looks good in a front knot over a dress.

Shorts: The Group by Babaton (Gillian) via Aritzia (no longer available on-line)
Reg $78, on sale for $30
I've already worn these three times. They are pull-on (yay) and really comfy, but don't look sporty. Don't mind the wrinkles, straight off the drying rack.

Hat: Azure Skies (Pelham) via Aritzia
Reg $28 on sale for $16
When there was an unfortunate incident in Punta Cana involving a red slush drink and my straw hat, I knew I needed to find a replacement. I like this one even better than the one I ruined.

Pants: Gap
Reg $80, on sale for $15
I'm a big fan of bright patterned pants for work in the spring and summer. Most of my work pants are Banana Republic, so these are a nice change.

Jeans: Gap (no longer available on-line)
Reg $90, on sale for $20
I wasn't looking for jeans when I found these, but they were so soft and fit really well, so I had to have them.

Tank: Reitmans
Reg 16, on sale for $6
I don't shop at Reitmans often, but I used to love the tank tops from Smart Set (which was owned by the same company) so I went in looking for a green one here and found it.

Top: Reitmans
Reg $30, on sale for $12
When I was shopping for the tank top above, I found this as well.

Top: H&M (no longer available on-line)
Reg $15, on sale for $7
This is such a fun shirt for $7. It's very tropical and reminded me of the Caribbean... perfect to wear in August!

Tank: H&M
Reg $7
Just a basic white tank for layering, hence no photo. H&M tanks are great and cheap.

Earrings: Aldo
Reg $8
The Social had these earrings in a segment a few weeks ago and I went out and bought them. They're a little heavier than I usually wear, but OK for a few hours.

Original value of items: $453
Price I paid: $162
I saved 63%

I have $623 to spend this quarter, so I'm left with $461. I'm guessing the bulk of that will be spent in Toronto in a few weeks. I'll be staying across from the Vaughan Mills mall which has a lot of outlet stores (yay). Hopefully I'll get to Yorkdale too for Uniqlo, Topshop, and The Cheesecake Factory. I'm still on the hunt for the perfect denim jacket (the Levis Ex-Boyfriend Trucker is currently in first place), and I wouldn't be mad about a new red handbag. Be sure to stop by next month to see what I snatched up in the big city!

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

Currently 07.15.18

Reading
The Royal We - Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
I bought this from Kobo around the time of the Royal Wedding. It was a long read but a really good one. Bex falls for the future king of England and their relationship is followed from meeting at university up until the day of the wedding.

Alone in the Classroom - Elizabeth Hay
I liked book but it was kind of dark. It took a while to get through as it was the one I left at work to read on breaks.

Girl at War- Sarah Novik
A Kobo read from the library. It was entertaining and educational. All about the war in Croatia and a young girl who faces a ton of tragedy.

Writing
I’m sort of stalled on my most recent writing project. Summertime is hard because there’s a lot going on. Maybe I’ll get back into it in the fall.

Boating on Halifax Harbour Canada Day weekend

Watching
I’m deeply into The Handmaid’s Tale and the season finale is tonight. I’m also watching The Bachelorette (IDGAF who she ends up with but can we please have more Colton?) and Queer Eye. YouTube has fallen off my radar lately.

Clicking
I did a massive Zara sale order and returned all but one top! I did a lesser Gap order but barely liked anything with that one either. I’ve been reading up on all the details of JB and Hailey’s engagement. I was not surprised at all and I actually like her best out of all the girls he’s dated. I’m guessing it’s going to be a down south or Canada wedding.

Seeing
Clouds and golfers. I’m under the umbrella on the back deck. It’s cloudy but warm.

Wearing
Lululemon shorts, a black tee. I've been trying to wear a lot of skirts and dresses to work as we have so few months to do that here in NS...

Eating
I had the most incredible doughnut from Vandal on Friday. It was called unicorn poop and it tasted like marshmallows and heaven. I had amazing pizza this week at Rinaldo’s - I'll be back there very soon for sure!  My mom made seafood casserole yesterday with strawberry shortcake for dessert and was nice enough to send me home with one of her boxes of Riverbreeze strawberries. Ribfest was a few weeks ago and I had some yummy pulled pork there!

Unicorn Poop

Drinking
I’ve been trying a bunch of new cider, radlers and fruity beers from the NSLC lately. I just buy them in singles so I can try different ones. I’m in love with Garrison Pucker Up! A few of the girls from work and I went to the East Coast Cider Fest in June. It was really fun and we tried so many good ciders. My favourite was Earl Blue from Annapolis Cider. R and I keep toying with the idea of getting  a Soda Stream.

East Coast Cider Fest

Today's sampler- good!

Hearing
Birds chirping. Random traffic noises from St Margaret's Bay Rd.

Smelling
Kettle corn :) Snack time!

Feeling
Strong. I've been so disciplined with my workouts for the past few months. I will miss one occasionally if I have plans but for the most part I've been sticking with Beachbody On Demand and a few YouTube workouts to mix it up. I work out three weekdays and both weekend days. I'm also feeling the love from connecting with so many close friends who have been visiting from away.

Anticipating
There are many social events coming up... including Halifax Pride, a family BBQ, a get together on my deck, and a trip to Toronto in August. Also hoping to get to Annapolis Cider and The Ovens sometime in the next few weeks.

XOXO
Glitterary Girl

June 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.

June is usually a bigger spending month for me because of the summer sales. I had $315 available to spend this month to end the quarter. 

Top: Eclipse
Reg $35, on sale for $24  ($15 now!)
I was on a mission this month to buy a few tops for nights out. This was one of them, and I wore it to a birthday party followed by a night out at The Lower Deck.

Tank: Dynamite
Reg $23, on sale for $15
This was another "going out shirt" that I wore to Cider Fest.

Tee: H&M
Reg $15, on sale for $7

A more casual going out shirt or weekend shirt. This was part of the Anna Glover collection.

Pants: H&M
Reg $20
I was really drawn to these pants when I saw them, but didn't think they would look for me as elastic waist things generally don't. But they were surprisingly cute! They look great with black or white tops.

Tee: H&M
Reg $15, on sale for $7
It's not summer without nautical stripes! I wore this on a boat (of course). I can't seem to find it on-line...

Dress: Gap
Reg $65, on sale for $25
I love the soft and stretchy material of this dress. I wore it to work already with a cardigan.

Tee: TNA at Aritzia
Reg $25, on sale for $20
TNA tees are so soft. I bought this color during the clientele sale specifically to wear on Canada Day.

Cardigan: Wilfred Free at Aritzia
Reg $65, on sale for $52
Another clientele sale find. This is my third Zlata cardi. I can't believe I held out so long to buy the black one.

Shirt: The Group by Babaton at Aritzia
Reg $55, on sale for $32
This was on sale after the clientele sale. It's a great basic that can be worn year-round.

Pants: Banana Republic (no longer available on-line)
Reg $110, on sale for $27
Sloan pants are my favourite! I love the buttons on the bottom. I think I have five pairs of pants in this color now..... I'm OK with it.

Tee: Zara (no longer available on-line)
Reg $26, on sale for $18
This was from the kids section and looks good with high-waisted bottoms (including the H&M pants above) . I love basic white and cream tops for the summer. Fun fact: this was part of a $500 Zara on-line order and this was the only thing I kept!

Original Value of Items: $454
Price I paid: $242
I saved $47%

I'm rolling $73 on as I didn't spend my limit for last quarter. The summer sales continue into July, which is fun because it's actually warm enough now to wear summer clothes. I hope to still have a decent amount left to spend for Toronto in August. We're booked to stay across from the Vaughan Mills mall. There is nothing in particular I have my eye on for July, but I do have a sizeable Gap on-line order on the way, which might eat away some of my budget. The Zara summer sale is going on right now and there are a few things I have my eye on that I might grab if the price drops again.

XOXO
Glitterary Girl