Wishlist

Just a few things I’m ogling right now.

Traditional Oxford Saddle Shoes
{Payless}

This video game for the DS (I am a sucker for cooking games)
{Amazon}

A new, way better, Nikon digital camera
{Wal-Mart}

This Just In: I'm Broke

In case you haven't gotten the picture yet, I don't have much money.
This is a LARGE problem when you love clothes so much. Then again, you start to learn the tricks of the trade, the ways to get great things on an extremely tight budget.
I'm so excited to have an amazing summer. To wear sundresses way past the sunset. To exhaust my strappy sandals.
Just lookin' at some things I would love to own, and wear, this summer.

If you're curious...just peruse this site, this site, or this site.

I can't even begin to pick out singular items.
God, please let me do a shopping spree one day!

Oh no...

A new obsession: shoes.
I have a decent amount of pairs but lately I want MORE.
And all different kinds too.


Top: ModCloth Middle: Forever 21 Bottom: Urban Outfitters

Short

Just had a successful trip to the Salvation Army.

All this for a little over 6 dollars. I hear blazers are going to be in this spring. But otherwise, I really just love cute skirts, flannel shirts, and anything that looks like its covered in rainbow sprinkes.
It made me happy to get out of the apartment for a while (have a Film Studies midterm that has nothing of relevance to my major but I'm taking because I needed the elective credits and I thought it would be easy...wrong) and it was a gorgeous day!

Spring break is coming soon enough. These weeks are just flying. And when I come back from spring break, I am one more short hiatus (for Easter) and several weeks from the end. Hopefully I will get my act together, take more pictures of my life, and enjoy what's in front of me. In the mean time, here's some things I would love to have in my closet as well, but unfortunately cannot afford.

Money.

I may seem lame for saying this, but I am so happy that I've been keeping this blog pretty steady. I must say, when I'm walking around in between class, I think of little things I want to record on here.
Basically, I know no one is reading this. And that's fine, because it just feels good to have a place to rant or to talk about things I really like. Unfortunately, I feel the moment I share something I want or would like to do with my friends, I either get a discouragement or they want to do it too and they do it before me and then I don't want it anymore, even if I really did before. Yes, I am weird. But whatever.
Money has been weighing heavily on me considering the fact that I don't have any. I am three months away from graduating and I haven't placed my resume out there anywhere, though I do have an appointment to work on it next Monday. Then hopefully I will do something about it. But man, I am so not ready to grow up.
It sucks to want to do things, or want to get things for yourself (or need to get things for yourself, like a haircut or face wash or food) but you can't. Even worse when I see people around me say they have money when they really do.
I do not have any savings. I will be starting from scratch when I go out in the real world. Almost everyone I know has a decent amount of money in their accounts.
Yes, I've been stupid with money. I've never really been taught how to manage it (my parents are broke too, they don't know how to do it themselves) and I didn't start working until after my first year of college. Since then, the only time I stopped working was when I went to London. But I live paycheck to paycheck. I wanted a cell phone, so I have a plan that costs 90 freakin' bucks a month. If I had a family plan, like almost everyone else I know, I would be paying less than half of that to contribute. I also have my own junk heap of a car (a gray Buick, I really do love it) and its a gas-guzzler, so I have that on my shoulders too. Basically, if I need anything, or want anything...I pay for it. And when I make less than 300 bucks a month (its hard to balance school and work and wanting to have a life since I know I will have to work even more when its over), its hard to do this.
I am still very lucky. I am in college. I have a home, and I have food. I have a lot of the things I want. Most of the stuff I don't get I don't actually need.
But geez, I just hope one day I can stop worrying about it as much.

Always about the money.

As I've mentioned in earlier posts, my tastes and style has evolved and changed over the years. I'm sure everyone else has had similar situations. But one thing that has stuck with me throughout the years is my stingy spending ways. I'll be honest, I am a HUGE cheapskate. I can't help it. I can't afford to be anything else. Aside from being unwilling to spend more than 5 dollars on any item because I was used to 50 cent shirts from the Salvation Army and being lucky enough to find everything on clearance racks, I've never really had any problems with this.
Until a bit of expensive taste came in.
It probably began with American Apparel. 28 dollars for a thin tee is pretty ridiculous. But it was AWESOME and I wanted it.
I hold myself back. The cheapskate in me will probably always win.
But when the latex leggings became a trend, I really wished I could splurge on Kova and T or Members-Only. The cheapest I was getting with those was 88 dollars. I won anyway. Target came out with 13 dolla black lame leggings that rival those and were basically a steal in comparison.
Mine don't have the stirrups, but they're just as cute for a better price.


I am also always on the hunt for shoes. I got my Doc Martens (which run at about 110 dollars, which could get me a plethora of new shirts, a pair of jeans, and tons of accessories, plus lunch and dinner at the mall while I'm out and maybe several alcoholic beverages later that night) because I asked for only them for Christmas.


Its hard to find other boots at a great price that will hold up over time and are exactly what you want, though. I have always wanted the perfect tall pair of boots. I'm just discovering the apparently very popular (thanks to Gossip Girl) Chinese Laundry Over-the-Knee Boots. If you want any good pair of these bad boys, be prepared to pay well over $150 for them. I know, compared to other designer shoes, its not really that bad. Plus, I'd probably wear the hell out of them. But...I probably won't ever get them...unless Christmas comes quickly.

Those would make any skirt, pair of shorts, or even skinny jeans the sexiest things ever. I'd probably just walk around with them on and nothing else on a regular basis.

But anyway...that wasn't the initial purpose of this post.
I want to discuss the great things that can be purchased for great low prices.
Things I love that I barely pay for.

1) Bandannas! So great. I have a collection of 18 wrapped around the back of my bed post. Sounds kinky, right? Each one is a different color, and I love them. I haven't worn them much since I got my hair chopped off. But as a headband, as a bracelet, as a neckerchief, or even folded up and put in the back of your pocket, there's just something about that classic old bandanna. It adds a little spice to anything.
Maybe you can make out the collection in my room. 3 more have been added since this picture was taken. And yes, its a college apartment, so its nothing too pretty.

2) Anything from the Dollar Tree. Yeah, they don't have clothes (really) or shoes but they have tons of snacks and tons of cute trinkets (frames, baskets, holiday-themed kitchenware) that would brighten anyone's day up. I just went there today, dropped 10 dollars, and got 10 things. They may not always have the most trustworthy things, but anything brand name that ends up there is always good. Usually its just an overstock of stuff that didn't sell. Today I bought an Aquafina Facial Mist I can't wait to try. Before, I've bought Garnier Fructis' Surf Hair texturizing spray. Good things, good things.

3) It's obvious, but charity thrift stores are where its at. Salvation Army is great. There is a new one by my school now too, the Volunteers of America. I find anything from cute scarves to the weirdest 80s and 90s clothes. Go to SalVal on a Wednesday and its Family Day, which means 50% off every color ticket but one. If you can't make it then, there's a 50% sale everyday on different color tickets. Volunteers of America usually has a 50% off one color, and 75% off another. Amazing. I bought a shirt and two scarves for around 2 bucks once.

4) The clearance section of Target really is a godsend. And they are seriously on top of trends. You can find things that probably won't make it to the department stores for us normal, un-rich folk for a while. Floral skirts (they are in right now), the leggings I previously mentioned. Plus they have a real designer come in and make stuff at reasonable prices. Even if I don't buy stuff there, just knowing I could if I really wanted to is reassuring.

I am sure I can come up with more.
But I always say, splurge if you want to!
I think its nice to have nice, expensive things.
Usually, they are better anyway. They will last longer.
But keep in mind...you can always find something cheaper and just as great!

Maybe it's

just that time of the month or the year or my life, but I'm in need of some change.
I feel bored with some of the things in my life. I love mostly everything in it, I just feel a lack of creativity lately.

Unfortunately, my first instinct is to hate everything in my beloved closet.
Here's the thing about me. I love clothes. But this is a fairly recent development. Before I came to college almost 4 years ago, I went to Catholic school. I had a uniform that kept me from being any form of unique, and I honestly liked that. I liked not having to worry about wearing the coolest clothes or looking the prettiest because no one else did. See, going to Catholic school is basically a privilege. You're supposed to obtain an excellent education along with outstanding morals. It costs to do this. And so most people that go there, they don't worry about money. It was normal for them to shop regularly at nice stores. Express was the big one. I remember a trend of these, like, weird scoop neck shirts from there, they had a lace border under the chest, and they came in basically every color. Every girl had one. I had to have one. Cuz I didn't have a style, and I thought, hey its cool and it looks pretty. I had two, eventually. One was green, so I would have something to wear on a dress-down day for St. Patrick's Day. The other was more me. Light blue with a floral design printed all over, smaller on top, and progressively bigger towards the bottom. I definitely always had similar tastes, but they changed over the years. I'll be honest: In high school I wore the same jeans like, everyday. I only started to get some small style when I dated my EX, the EX, because he was punk rock and it rubbed off on me (haha).

Anyway, I never had a huge closet, and I never really cared. 'Til college. But only because I could finally where whatever I wanted, and because I didn't want to wear the same pair of jeans and be gross anymore. I started to shop more, but not a lot. And then, suddenly, after a few compliments on a few outfits, I started to shop more and think of new ways to present myself everyday. Dressing up made me feel good, whether people stared at me funny or gushed about their love for it...if I felt good, that was it. And since I have to buy most of my clothes, well, I get 'em cheap. Weird shirts from the Salvation Army, anything from the Target or Old Navy clearance racks. Cheap plain t-shirts and fun accessories. Whatever. It's all about how you do it.

I do, however, have one vice when it comes to clothes.
I want American Apparel. I want it all. And its too damn expensive for me.
How does one go from 50 cents for a sweet collared shirt to 28 dollars for a flimsy acid-washed tee? It's rough.
I have a few articles. They are my passion. It is my porn.
And I want more. I will post some of my favorites soon.

Anyway, I guess the current issue is, as always, that I am broke. Anything I would like to do to put a smile on my face, to rearrange everything, well...it can't happen right now.
A couple of things I thought of, also, seem sort of...outlandish.
For one, I want to dye my hair again soon. But I want to wait for this black to completely wash out. I fear it won't for a little while longer.
I also need a haircut to get rid of the strange ends that have come from trying to grow out my pixie cut. I miss the ease, the 5 minutes it took to style my hair and have it look good. But I also missed having versatility. And also, there was the sometimes feeling like I looked like a boy.
Then there's the drastic measures I've thought of.
Like piercing my face.
But everyone's done it.
Lip would probably be annoying.
I don't especially like my nose.
And the only thing I can think of that would be sort of cool would be the septum...and I think it would kill and probably have some very negative effects on my nostrils haha.

For now, I will think about this, sleep on it, and hope that I will wake up and feel a little bit better soon. Good night.