Colima And See What I Did

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Last year, Anthropologie sold the Colima Skirt. It came in many colors. I believe the final count was six. But I could be wrong.

I bought two of them. And then I could not figure out how to style the darn things. The skirts were pretty. But the hem that I thought I would like, proved to be a challenge. And they were a bit too clingy and see through.

The other day, I had an epiphany.

Why not wear them together?

Why not create the hem I wanted by layering the two together?

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So I did.

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I love them worn this way. Together they have become my favorite maxi skirt.

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And the spin factor cannot be beat.

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Trust me.

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If you missed out on the Colima Skirt last year at Anthropologie, you are not out of luck. Modcloth is carrying an incredibly similar version of it in blue. They call it Sway by the Sea Skirt. It is $49.99. The original price for the Colima Skirt was $118. I am trying to decide if I need another layer to mix up the colors. Because that price is great.

I have also seen this skirt being sold in a variety of colors on eBay.

The top was a random clearance find at Nordstrom Rack last spring. It is by Cloth and Stone. You can find similar chambray shirts here and here.

Have you ever layered two skirts together? Did you end up liking the end result? What other top could I pair with these skirts?

Honesty is the best policy: The links above are affiliate links. This blog may receive a small compensation when a link is either clicked on or purchased from.

P. S. Happy Birthday to my beautiful sister, Mandi! : )

And

I shared this on The Pleated Poppy and Effortless Anthropologie.

The Winner Of The Giveaway, Cravings and Blog News

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First, I want to apologize that my website has been wonky the past few days. It is the server and I am being told they are working on it. Fingers crossed it gets resolved soon! Again, I apologize!

The winner of the moon necklace is Jessica Wilhite! Congratulations! I really, really like this necklace. I hope you do, too! Enjoy! I am so happy for you!

My husband told me I should change the format of my giveaways to those easy ones. Those number-generated-generic-sterile ones. But I refused. I said, “But then I won’t get to read their cool stories!” Insert big pouty lower lip here. And I am so glad I didn’t, because you guys shared the coolest things this month! I love reading about your lives. Your beliefs. Your travels. Your loves. It honestly enriches my life so much, and I cannot thank you enough for that. But I will try.

Thank you! : )

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There are a few new things going on on this blog that I wanted to share. I think there is always room for growth. And I always want to be my own blog. And not like others. So, I recently added in Past Cards and will be doing those once a month. The above picture is a peek at the next post coming up soon. : )

I am also going to be introducing my sister onto this blog. She lives seven miles from me and I love her to pieces. Plus, I am tired of just pictures of only me. Since I will not post pictures of my children and my husband does not want to be on the blog (which is smart of him because I have an underwear post of his coming up soon. I cannot imagine why he doesn’t want his picture on this blog). I figured I would pimp out put up my nearest relative. I think this will be a fun feature we can do together once in awhile. She has a completely different style than I do, so it will be nice to share a different look on this blog. However. And this is a biggie. She is younger, taller and prettier, so I am not going to allow her on here too often, though. Just kidding!…But seriously.

In other revelations:

I am shy.

Painfully shy if I don’t know you.

Shocking, right?

And it takes me awhile to come out of my shell. I feel like this last year, I have slowly been sharing myself. But I finally feel safe enough to share all of me. Or as much as the majority of the public can handle. I have made so many friends here, I feeI like I can just be myself. If you look at my old outfit photos, I look terrified. I was even scared to smile. But all of that is changing.

Kind of.

I am sick of pictures of me always in the same spot in my outfit posts. I went through my blog looking for ways to improve it and that is one of them. And I was ashamed of how bad some of my pictures are. Bad me! So from now on, I vow to try to take better pictures. This truly, truly hurts my lazy heart. But I am excited about a change. I still might resort to the fireplace if we are really in a hurry. However, the majority of the pictures will be different this month. Please let me know which ones work and which ones don’t (nicely. Please don’t make me cry. I hate spending money on tissues). This is going to be a series of experimenting. I pretty much have no idea how to pose.

But you can’t fly if you never jump. Off an imaginary building. Built from words. And pictures. Into a cloud. That I still do not understand.

All right. I think that is it on updates. Let’s move on to the stuff I am craving this month. Oh. The cravings. They hurt:

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I want/need/can’t-afford-at-full-price the Vine Beaded Maxi Dress by one of my favorite designers, Vaneet Bahl. It is from Anthropologie. I am just hoping to get it on sale. So, save one in a small for me, would ya?

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These whale-tale measuring cups.

Oh.

Just oh.

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Um. Um. Um. Do I dare share these Concha Garden Planters? These will be at the top of my budget list for May. Again try to save me one… Or two… Or ten.

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Seriously, how close to Otomi could these be?

Must.

Have.

Them.

All.

Nowhere. To. Put. Them.

Sigh.

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Why? Why is the Plevna Top only available in petite sizing? My shirt is wet from the tears in my heart. And also, does anyone know what pants the model is wearing? They look great!

Needlework it Out Dress from ModCloth

And last, but not least, the Needlework it Out Dress from Modcloth. This dress is so awesome. The price is perfect. The color is perfect. Again, my budget is gone for thirteen more days. And the dress sold out. However, I have clicked their “I NEED IT” button in my size. They will notify me if it gets reordered. I have never seen them not reorder if an item is popular and they can.

What are your cravings this month? Do you think I should do a monthly video on this blog ? Yes. I am also thinking of doing a video blog monthly or posting a video here or some sort of recording device/contraption… Whatever those youngsters are calling the talking pictures these days. Whatcha think?

Modcloth Stylish Surprise: SHOES!

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This post could also be titled, “Modcloth, you have my heart.”

You all ready know that because Modcloth embraces every woman by offering a variety of different sizes, it is the store that makes me smile the most. Add that to their amazing customer service and customer appreciation and that site just makes this girl’s shopping heart sing.

But this post really isn’t about that.

This post is about the amazing promotion Modcloh does every few months:

It took me awhile to get over my light headedness when my box containing my Modcloth Stylish Surprise* (explanation about stylish surprise at the bottom of this post) full of shoes arrived at the door. For $10, Modcloth picked a pair of random shoes for me in my size and sent them. Shipping is always free at Modcloth for orders over $50. So, I ordered five pairs (three for me and two for my daughter. This might seem selfish, but her feet are still growing. Mine are not).

My daughter and I were nervous and excited to open the box full of shoes.

But we did!

Boy, did we get lucky!

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We both loved our shoes.

I found out about The Stylish Surprise the same day I put up my post about my March purchases. I had ordered the clothing surprise from them a year ago and liked what I received, but I have enough clothes. I wanted to try the shoe version. It intrigued me.

I also wanted to immediately do a post the moment I learned about the sale going on, but I did not want this blog to seem too consumerismy (another new word). I also had never ordered the shoe surprise before, and I was not sure if it was something I was willing to recommend (this is important to me. I would never speak about a product here that I would not purchase myself). I decided to wait until morning to decide. Then the Stylish Surprise Shoes sold out. So, next time, I am alerting you right away. And if it happens to be on the same day as a post about clothes, well, that will just have to be the way it goes. I don’t want you guys to miss out! I think this promotion Modcloth does is amazing!

Okay. On to our loot:

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I got these beautiful Chelsea Crew Tia Pumps in mustard. They fit like a dream. I love them for evening fun. They are my favorite of the shoes I received.

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My daughter got these cool Dollhouse combat boots. These are so her. She was thrilled. She has worn these all week.

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I also got these Seychelles Two Birds Heels. They are SO tall. I could never actually wear these. I ended up giving them away to the sweetest eighteen year old girl I know. And she was happy. And I was happy. So, it all worked out.

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My daughter got these Chelsea Crew Notch Your Step heels in red. I was jealous of these. They are adorable. More importantly, she is madly in love with them. And I would rather her have been happy than myself. Thankfully, we both were happy. She wore these last Thursday and her outfit was perfect with these shoes! So cute!

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I also received these Chelsea Crew Class Treasurer Heels (funny enough, I was class treasurer… Or secretary. I can’t remember. I also do not remember doing a thing for that title. Maybe I needed these shoes). They are the most amazing orange color. I love them.

So, for $50 we received approximately $337 worth of shoes. This works out to roughly 85% in savings.

I would (and will) absolutely be partaking in these surprise sales again. Not only was it fun, but it was a great bargain, too.

Have you ever purchased a Modcloth Stylish Surprise? If yes, what did you get? If not, would you?

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* A Stylish Surprise is a sale that the online company Modcloth runs every few month. For a low fee, usually between $5-15, they will send you a surprise in the category you purchased your surprise in (apartment, accessories, shoes, or clothing). They guarantee your item will be worth a certain amount, usually much higher than your initial investment. Stylish Surprises are nonreturnable. If it does not fit or if you do not like the item/items you receive, you are out of luck. It is a risk.

* In the pictures, I am wearing Anthropologie’s Midday Dress. It is currently on sale. I am wearing a medium. I have a separate post about this dress going up on Sunday.

* This blog receives a small commission when a purchase is made through this website at Modcloth. : )

My March Purchases. Eep!

Thank you guys for all of the anniversary wishes. They were much appreciated! We just got home and I am working on responding to all of your sweet comments. I cannot wait to check out my favorite blogs and chat with everyone. We had a nice time, but being home feels so good. I will do a recap soon. I also did some Anthropologie reviews while I was there. (Spoiler: I did not buy anything and only added two of the fifteen items I tried on to my wishlist. And one of those items is a pair of jeans). I also was able to do some Free People reviews while I was in Vegas and I added everything I tried on except for one pair of shoes to my wishlist there. Curious to see what you think.

I had the following post ready before I left. I figured I would share what I purchased this month. Tomorrow, everything will be back to normal (knock on wood):

I am so boring this month. Well, not budget wise. Budget-wise I am weeping. That is because I went over this month. I was having the hardest month and to make myself feel better I shopped. Then I felt guilty. And worse. But I love the darn clothes. I need to slow my roll for April. I believe I say this every month… Hmmmm.

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I purchased these fun Cala Pompom Sandals from Anthropologie. It is the first full price purchase I have made in a long time. The funny thing is, they had 15% off two weekends ago, so I got a price adjustment. I guess I can’t pay full price even when I try.

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And I purchased this amazing hippie dress from Free People called Sweet Lady Maxi. And not so sweetly of me, I cropped the model’s head off. I did not like the hat she was wearing with the dress. It ruined it for me and is perhaps the reason this dress hit sale so soon. And also, maybe the shoes. But who am I to criticize? It is on sale from $108 to $50. I bought it in a small in the pink color and it fits perfectly. It needs a slip underneath, but that just makes it better, because it adds a fairy tale like feel. Post about this dress coming up next week!

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You know what? This beheading of models thing is kind of addicting. Here I did it again. Nothing against the models, but I can picture things so much better when the dress is on a form. Anyway, I also got this Candela Heart Dress for 62% off which might be my new favorite thing. So, of course I have only been caressing it. I have been scared to wear it. I don’t want it to get hurt.

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Here I left only two torsos. I am sick, man. Sick.

Marie Antoinette had nothing on me. Brahahahahah!

Forever 21 is selling these cute items that they call dresses and I call slips. The first one in coral is Backless Smock Dress for $15.80. The second one in blush is called Darling Babydoll Dress for $14.80. I bought the two different colored pink slips to layer in two different sizes so one will peek out from underneath the other. I plan on layering a fun cardigan over the pair.

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I scored this Free People X Lydia Maxi Skirt from Nordstrom Rack. I wore it in Las Vegas. It is one of the few Las Vegas outfit photos I managed to capture.

This is my first photo here I did not mangle. It is me being a grown up.

Why is that so hard?

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On top of all that I bought two vintage pieces (one being a belt that was featured last Thursday) from Modcloth when they did their bohemian vintage collection.

Sigh.

I think what we learned here is that I am secretly a homicidal ballerina princess who cannot stick to her budget.

Who knew?

Hey! I can see you raising your hand.

Have you been as bad as me this month? What is something that you purchased this month that you love? Or have you been so very good?