Higher Ground

Lately, I've been feeling that age-old emotion of the "need to purge". I look at my closet and very little in it inspires me anymore. The few pieces that DO inspire me and make me feel like a rockstar are over-worn at this point.

I was going to call this a New Year's Resolution, but let's call it a NOW Resolution. I will purge whatever I do not wear in my closet. This goes for you, hot sweater that I swear I will wear and never do. You're not exempt, gorgeous boots that I had re-soled, even though they never fit me in the first place. You too, t-shirt that the style is HOT, but I haven't worn you once.

My plan is to use the money I make from Ye Olde Purging (tm) and put it towards a new batch of clothes - ones that are of higher-quality. This means I will have to ban myself from looking at Forever 21 for a while. *sniffle* I'll make do somehow.

This picture has been inspiring the hell out of me lately.



We'll see where it goes from here...

Closer to 30

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the lovely Miss Ashley of Sugar Rush!! She clued me in the other day that we share a birthday. ;D

Oh, and it's my birthday today!

So this is what 28 feels like. I'm 2 years from turning the big 3-0, and while that's a little scary, I'm in a good spot in my life right now. I have an amazing family, a solid group of friends and I'm generally happy.

It's funny to think how my style has changed over the years. In my late teens/early 20's, I was all about being LOUD. I wore plenty of black vinyl, my hair was never a color found in nature, and I think I wore fishnets on a daily basis. While there's a small part of me that misses that style, I've grown into my own personal style over the years, and it's constantly evolving. I love trying out new things and testing my comfort zones. (Of course, as I'm typing this, I'm in my comfort-zone-outfit. But I digress.) I guess what I'm trying to say is that 28 is going to be a good year. ;)

Oh, and I had to show off my main present from my wonderful husband.

A Betsey overnighter bag!! We're going to be on vacation in Los Angeles in just 3 weeks (!!!) and he thought I needed some fabulous luggage. ;D

Yesterday was also the epitome of a "Good Day" for a sales-rack shopper like me. I got work that a local chain of stores in my area, C-Mart, was closing. They're an interesting store. Upon walking in the door, they're nothing to look at. They're arranged kind of shoddily, almost like a Goodwill. For some reason, though, they get TRUCKLOADS of previous season's clothing from high-end designers like Betsey Johnson, Gucci, Prada, etc. The prices were usually about 50-75% off retail. Crazy! When I heard they were closing, I RAN over there.

I wandered around the store, finding almost nothing. Then...mecca. I saw about 20 refrigerator-sized boxes FULL to the brim with American Apparel stuff. I just started pulling out piece after piece until my arms were full. When I got to the register, the teller rang up my 18 pieces of clothing...for a grand total of $18. I think I actually giggled.



I grabbed skirts, bras, metallic tops, t-shirts - you name it! I saved $162 in total. I'm still on a high from it. ;)

Have you ever gotten such a great steal that you couldn't stop smiling over it? Do you tend to seek out sales, or just happen upon them?

New Mexico!

Hello my fine-feathered lovelies! I've returned from the land of the dry heat. By the way, they really do mean it when they call it that. I am used to my body reacting to heat by sweating. In New Mexico, you simply just.dry.out. You don't even realize you're hot until you want to fall down. It was scary at times, especially when that was combined with being 7,000 feet above sea level.

But I digress. Basically, my uniform there consisted of jeans, a white t-shirt, big glasses, and my red cowboy boots.


Unfortunately, this is about as fashion-forward as I got. I didn't leave myself enough time to pack and wound up wearing what looked like the same outfit every.single.day.

If you ever get to go to Santa Fe, NM, I suggest you RUN to the Palace of the Governors. Here, dozens of Native Americans come off their reservations to sell their wares - everything from jewelry to pottery to paintings. As I had mentioned, my goal was a turquoise ring.

I was NOT expecting the prices to be so high!! The tiniest ring (which would have the daintiest band and a turquoise the size of the eraser on a pencil) would run in the neighborhood of $70-90!! My husband had to convince me to buy this ring once he saw how much I loved it. I almost cried handing over the money, but every time I glance down at my hand today, I'm more and more in love.


(It's the ring in the middle.)

I promise more regular posts are coming. I'm still recovering from my jet lag. Hope you're all well!

Oh, how I love thee.

Yes, I realize that everyone and their mother in the fashion blogging world has these, but note: I am not everyone and their mother. Therefore, these are still exciting as hell to me!!!



I won't go into the hell it took for these babies to finally get to me, but let's just say that I won't ever be placing a special order from Aldo Shoes ever again. :(

These are shockingly comfortable, despite the high heel. I think that the height of the platform sort of cancels out the heel. They don't even feel terribly high, actually!

Now I just can't wait to wear them! I'm already imagining outfits in my head and trying to get a feel for all of the different styles I could wear them with!



I couldn't find the shoes in black when I was messing around with Polyvore here. I know I'd love to pair these shoes with skinny jeans, short skirts, and some quintessential rock n' roll accessories. I should probably wear a simple outfit so that all of the focus is on the shoes, but I feel like these would just up the rockin' quotient of any outfit and turn the fashion amp up to 11. (Kudos to you if you catch the reference.). ;)

How would you wear these shoes? Would you keep the rest of your outfit conservative, or go all-out-wild?