Colored denim and a few spring purchases

Colored denim is everywhere right now.  I love the idea of it, but colored jeans can be tricky to fit.  They usually have a lot of stretch in them, which is good, but also can emphasize every lump and bump. 

I tried the J. Crew toothpick jeans in festival green, and I love the color.  Perfect green for spring and summer.  For reference,  I am wearing a size 27, which is snug in the waist, but I know they are going to stretch and the 28 was too big everywhere else.   I took pictures of my backside to be sure I wasn't looking like a green sausage in a casing, but I'll spare everyone those pictures. 

I love these with black and white as shown here, but I think they will be amazing with navy and white for spring.   I threw on wedges and I love that look with the ankle length toothpicks.   They'll be cute with flip flops too.  

American Eagle Outfitters (I know I know, I am not 17) also has some really cute colored denim.  I tried these on in pink and they were adorable.  Much easier price to swallow than J. Crew, too.  They also had red, blue, yellow and white.  All really nice, saturated colors and fit on the smaller side for me (I am a 4/6 and the 6 was perfect in these- I couldn't get the 4 pulled up all the way, probably because I am not 17!).   I think the pink (and the red, but I already have these red pants from Ann Taylor), would be great with navy as well.  Or a white tee and a denim jacket. 

Speaking of navy and white... I received a J. Crew rewards card yesterday and immediately got these 2 lovelies. 

Ripplestitch sweater in stripe- navy/white.  Will look great with the jeans above, and with my white cropped jeans from last year.   I thought this ran small by J. Crew's standards.  I got a small. 

and the Fanfare popover in navy/white.  I LOVE this.  The fanfare print is all over J. Crew right now, but I am trying not to go overboard with it like I usually do with prints.   This was typical J. Crew sizing, and I took an XS. 

Well, its 60 degrees outside here in New Jersey, so I am going to get off of the blog and take my 2 year old outside for a bit.  Have a great day, all!

Oh, forget it.

Clearly I am not cut out for an all or nothing approach to shopping.   More specifically, I am not cut out for the NOTHING part.  I think I have a handle on the all. 

I think its the temptation of working in a store.  Or maybe I really have a problem and should be on "Intervention: Shopping Edition."  I don't know.  But I have failed at my January goal.   So I think instead of a total ban on shopping, I am going to give myself a budget and make a list and the end of the month of what I've purchased.  We'll see if that works any better.  

Part of the problem is that I love to read fashion and shopping blogs (see some of my favorites over to the right), so when I read about deals and see fellow bloggers looking awesome I just can't stop myself! 

I have discovered that I like to blog about clothes and shopping.  So I will keep doing that.  So stay tuned for more outfits from my closet and reviews.  And I'll continue to try to keep myself in check.   I've actually done well for January- just the 2 scarves, a shirt, and a few bracelets.  Much better than previous months.  Baby steps and all that. 

Here's what pushed me off the wagon:
Ann Taylor coiled bangle set.
These are awesome.  David Yurman-esque, and you get 3 for a fraction of the price of one DY bracelet.   Remember I get 50% off at work, so this was a good deal.   I had to replace a bracelet that I accidentally bleached anyway. 

and
Ann Taylor graphic blouse
First of all, I hate the word blouse.  It really bothers me.  Just call it a button down shirt.   Second, I love this one.  Versatile print, fits nicely under sweaters, and looks cute with the red pants that I still haven't worn.  Winning on all fronts.  Except the shopping ban one. 

Have a great Monday, all!  The weather is disgusting here so I am in sweatpants and uggs.  No pictures of that!

Progress.

So, I have been doing well since the slip up over the weekend.  In honor of that, here's an outfit from my closet!   Again, please excuse the quality of the iphone pictures.  Also, you should know that the best full length mirrors in my house are in the form of 1980s fab mirrored closet doors in my younger daughter's bedroom.  So you'll be seeing her things in the background from time to time! 

Anyway, the outfit.  Some people have an aversion to black and navy together.  I am not one of those people.  I don't usually do solid black on navy, but I have no issue with mixing them if there's a print or pattern involved.  This is the JCrew Striped Sweater Dress in an XS.   I think the body of it is a little big but I don't think I could have sized down in the arms.   The dress definitely looks better on me when its belted, but I wasn't in the mood to fuss with a belt all day while I ran my kids all over the place to activities and such.  Its currently $89.99 with an extra 30% off online, and 40% off in stores.  Final sale, so try it on if you see it in a store since it runs big!  Leggings are Hue, size S.  I am obsessed with these leggings.  They have a wide waistband that holds the muffin top in and they are a nice thick knit.  I have worn them a million times and the black hasn't faded at all.   Boots are Franco Sarto from last year, and the necklace is the cutie locket that I picked up at Ann Taylor.  I've been wearing it with everything lately. 

 Have a great Thursday, all!

Halfway through...

and I am a big failure.   I bought something.  2 things actually.   In my pathetic defense, it was less than $20 total and I am giving one to a friend.   Still, I couldn't even make it 2 weeks without shopping.   I am trying again starting today.   Hopefully I can make it to February! 

Anyway, here's the thing.  I work at Ann Taylor part time.   I worked in the corporate office pre-kids, and now I work in a store.  So there's a lot of temptation!   I was good until yesterday.  Big sale going on, and I have a discount.   There were these cute infinity scarves on final sale for $9.88 a piece.  They were $98 at full price and were showing up at $69.99 online before they sold out.  I get 20% off sale items so they were around $8.00 each.   I could not resist one for me and one for my good friend Heather.   Maybe I won't drive around as much this week so I won't have to get $20 in gas or something to cancel out the purchases. 

Ann Taylor is still having an awesome sale- 40% off everything, and the website has 60% off sale items today, so check it out!   And wish me luck for the 2nd half of the month!

10 days in...

and I haven't shopped for myself at all.  Hooray for me!  In honor of my small success, here's my first outfit of the day (OOTD) post.  The outfit isn't super exciting, but I thought it looked pretty cute to take my 2.5 year old to a birthday party.   Its almost 60 degrees this past Saturday which is crazy considering last year at this time we were buried in snow!   It was nice to ditch the coat and boots for a day though. 

Anyway, here's the outfit.  Try to ignore the poor quality of the iphone 3gs photos.  I actually have an awesome camera but I barely know how to use it and my husband was already making fun of me for taking pictures of my outfits so I didn't ask him to play photographer. 

 Isn't this necklace adorable?  I got it at Ann Taylor right after Christmas for around $15.  I love that it has gold and silver together.  The locket actually opens which is a bonus.  I just need a miniscule picture to stick in there.

Sweater- Ann Taylor, size small
Long sleeved tee- Mossimo/Target, size small
Jeans- 7 for All Mankind Dojo, size 27 short (love the 31 inch inseam on these "petite" jeans.  Perfect length for me at 5'5 to wear with flats.  If I were actually "petite" I'd be annoyed by this though- someone who is 5'1 or so would definitely still have to hem these jeans.)
Shoes- LC Lauren Conrad/Kohls, size 9.5
Necklace- Ann Taylor

Have a great day all!  I am in the process of setting up my first giveaway, so if anyone is reading, stay tuned!

Confession

I have a $200 gift card to Zappos.   Its burning a virtual hole in my pocket.  I am dying to use it since its not technically spending my money, but I feel like it will become a gateway drug and I'll end up going over the gift card amount.  So I am going to try to hang on to it as a reward if I make it though January without falling off the wagon.

Zappos.com is one of my favorite places to shop online.  They have almost everything- shoes, jeans, bags, wallets, accessories and a million other things.  Free shipping and returns, and amazing customer service.  And if you shop there enough, you become a Zappos VIP and get free one day shipping every single time you shop!  

So if you had $200 to spend at Zappos, what would you buy?  Here's what I have in my cart right now.

Lucky Brand Skinny Jeans

 

Cole Haan Air Bacara Ballet Flats- LOVE the pink for spring

 Any other ideas?? 

I am taking my younger daughter to a party later today, so I'll have some shopping my closet pics soon!

My favorite recent (2011!) purchases

Since I had been thinking about putting a stop to my shopping for the new year, I obviously had to buy a few things while it was still 2011.  My birthday is also in December so there are a few gifts in there too, since the gifts were from me, to me.

I bought the Kate Spade Gold Coast Maryanne bag in black when Lord and Taylor had their Friends & Family sale in early December.  Kate Spade is almost never included in these 25% off deals, so I jumped on it.   Good thing too, since it looks like Kate raised the price on this bag by $30 for the new year.   I am obsessed with this bag.  Its big without being bulky, fits all of my stuff (and my kids' things too) and I love the gold chain hardware.   I dream of owning a Chanel classic flap one day (like in 20 years when my last child is out of college), but this will do until then. 

I also bought the Boden Jersey Circle Dress in gold before Thanksgiving.   Its a lot cheaper now.  You can see it on me in the previous post.   I paid around $80 for it during one of the 30% off promos in the fall, and spent $15 to have the bottom part cut off and sewn back on to shorten it a bit.  I am 5'5 and it was hanging below the knee, which isn't a good look for me.   It was worth the $95 total for me because its a really well made, unique dress.  Love it.

I couldn't resist the Black Friday deal on the J Crew Stadium Cloth Elements Coat in Navy.   It doesn't look like the Navy is around on the website anymore, but maybe it is still hanging out in the stores.   This might be the best thing I've purchased this season.  Its super warm without being bulky and huge, and its just so flattering on.  The hood is large but lays nice and flat when its not in use.  Definitely a coat that I'll have for years. 

Here it is on me.  Not the best picture of the coat, but you get the idea.  And doesn't my older daughter look funny all bundled up?  We were in the city (New York) and it was cold out, but she was being very dramatic about it.

Finally, I picked up the J Crew Striped Sweater Dress during one of their promos for $55ish.  This one is little itchy, but cute.  I am really into stripes lately so it works for me.  I have worn it with a white button down like the model, and its adorable.  I do grey tights or leggings with it. 

There are more to come, but I am getting a headache from all of the copying and pasting of pictures into the blog.  And since my younger daughter seems to be taking a nap, I need to get some stuff done around the house!

The who, what and why

Hello!  I'm Amy.  30ish mom of 2 from New Jersey.  This is my first attempt at blogging, so bear with me as I get used to it!  I've been reading shopping blogs for years so I figured it was time I started one of my own.  

So here's the deal:  I'll be shopping in my closet for the month of January.   That means no buying clothes, shoes, bags, or anything that isn't a necessity (like underwear or deodorant) for me for 31 days.   If I can do it for a month, I'll do it again for another month.    I'll be taking pictures of outfits and posting them as soon as I can figure out how to do that! 

Oh, I think I did it.  Here I am with my 2 little fashionistas on Thanskgiving.
 

Why am I doing this?  Well, the economy isn't the best right now, and since I am only working part time (at a STORE- talk about tempting), I want to cut back.  Beef up the retirement savings and all that good stuff.   We are also saving up for a vacation this year, and I am thinking that if I stop spending so much on clothes, we'd easily be able to take the trip!   Not to mention, my closet is literally bursting, so there's no need to be such a shopaholic, right? 

So wish me luck as I embark on this journey- I am going to need it!