One Bracelet, Two Ways

jeans: gap; tank: target; scarf: old navy; shoes: aldo; "for keeps"bracelet c/o jewelmint; other jewelry: mixed.

Let me just start by saying these jeans were a godsend. No really. I had spent the better half of at least two different weekends attempting to bleach an old pair of jeans to a nice crisp white when I made a trip to the mall to stock-up on some Victoria's Secret undies (I've been using their coupons mailers to my advantage). Almost instinctively I stopped in Gap where I happened across these babies marked down to $29.99 in the clearance section. With the promise of an extra 30% off denim I decided to buy them because well I really wanted them and my aforementioned DIY was tanking. I got them up to the register fully prepared to pay $22 when they rang up as $13.99! SCORE!

The moral of this story: good things come to those that wait... for the end of season sale.

Now on to the bracelet. This was my pick of the two items that Lynzy and I were asked to style. Unlike the bolo necklace I knew from the beginning how I was going to style this piece.. layered with lots of other bracelets. I love how the blues. oranges, and grays go with anything and add just the right amount of color. The only problem with all these bracelets is that they are very loud when typing rapidly. It could be worse I guess.

How was everyones weekend? East Coast folks, did you survive the Earthquake/Hurricane week safely?
Don't forget to check out how Lynzy styled her "For Keeps" bracelet. Here's a sneak peak:

Curse blogger and something for you.

jeans: juicy couture; tank: target; blazer: gap outlet; scarf: old navy; necklace: c/o JewelMint.

 You know what really grinds my gears? I had this post up and running on Thursday when blogger suddenly crapped out! Although they "claim" to have restored everything back to pre-crash state, I beg to differ. Anyway this isn't about them. This is about JewelMint. Have you heard of them? No? That's ok I hadn't either until they reached out and asked me to do a product review.

JewelMint is a pretty neat [yeah, I said neat] concept. It's a members only jewelry site that gives you exclusive access to actress Kate Bosworth and her stylist Cher Coulter's jewelry line. The line completely embodies Kate's style which is a great thing if you are into her. The piece I'm wearing is the "Cosmic Fusion" necklace. I've become slightly obsessed with it. I basically wear it with whatever I can. I think that's a good thing, or possibly redudant. Either way the whole line is completely wearable and for $29.99/ item it is basically a steal. Sure you could get something cheaper that lasts a few wears from Forever 21, but this is quality stuff. [Remember, Money Smart Fashion rule #1... quality over quantity] There is never an obligation to buy but there is some fine print on how to opt out any month you don't wish to participate. Get the full scoop on how it work's here.

I know what you are thinking so I will cut to the chase. Just follow this link, and check out JewelMint. If you like what you see, or more importantly, really like one thing you see between now and June 1st use the offer code "Money50" to get 50% off your first item. That's just $14.99!

What are you waiting for? Go. There is nothing left to see here except a cat.

Plaid, Please

dress: old navy, top: forever 21, sandals: gap

Unfortantely these pictures do not do justice to how much fun I had wearing this outfit. And when I say fun, I mean walking around my office doing polite little curtseys fun. It's not often I dress so girly, so I felt the need to play it up. Luckily, my office if filled with a bunch of crazies, so for most it was just another day at the office.

I totally fell in love with the print of this dress as soon as I saw it. However, the deep "v" neckline wasn't exactly work appropriate so I chose to cover up with a button-down rather than invite sexual harassment charges against me. (Yes it's that deep of a v). I have to admit that I wrestled with whether or not I wanted to publish these pictures. I was feeling a little self-concious about my freshly cut bangs. So ichose pictures where I'm mostly not looking at the camera.

Is everyone pumped for the weekend? I totally am. I'll be heading up to Philly sans SSF for a wild and crazy bachlorette party for my BFF.

Any big plans for you?

These are not my best pictures

shirt & sweater: Gap
pants: J.Crew
boots: Aldo
jacket: Express

I will be the first to admit that these are not my best pictures but to be fair there were extenuating circumstances. You see, SSF and I were running out the door on our way up to Philly for the day, it was windy, and SSF didn't want to mess up his perfectly coiffed hair. As a result, most of my pictures involved goofy faces, bad light, or some whacky combination of the two. I'm sorry, you'll live though right? Thought so. 

Can I tell you I am feaking excited. The temperatures are going to be creeping up here in the Maryland over the course of the week (like possible 60's on Friday). Yesss! In an act of premature celebration I brought out my cropped twill pants from J.Crew. Probably not my best choice for Saturday, the wind went right through them. brr. By the way, I almost forgot today was Valentines Day. Which is a great segway into my next point- SSF and I don't really celebrate it. We have nothing against. It's just kind of eh for us. My best friend Anne and her fiance don't really either. So instead of getting all couply on Saturday the four of us hit up a BYOB place outside of Philly called Fayette Street Grill for some drinking and delicious food. Followed by "America's Cutest Cat" on Animal Planet. Seriously. I can't even make this stuff up.

But what about you? Do you celebrate Valentine's Day? Do you have big plans?

Dirty Laundry

Hoodie-Gap, Leggings Target, Tank-Urban Outfitters

This is what Sunday looks like.

 I didn't think it was fair for me to masquerade around this blog as someone who is always put together, because I'm not. I wear sweatshirts on plenty of occasions, and I don't usually go to the grocery story in "blog-worthy" apparel (Please don't call "What Not to Wear" on me). SSBF and I spend our Sunday's holed up in the house doing homework (me) and watching football (him).
My outfits on these days often resemble the above.

As of recently (since Friday) this hoodie has been my go-to lounge piece. It's from Gap's new active wear line GapBodyFit. I'm slightly obsessed. What's great about a hoodie like this is that it can be worn to and from the gym or over a pair of jeans to run errands. I live for pieces like this. I'm so excited about the evolution of "gym" clothes that has been taking place to allow fashion and fitness to coexist.

While we're on the topic of dirty laundry I thought I should share, I haven't washed my hair in 5 days. Gross or Chic? discuss.

an end, a beginning

shirt-Gap, shorts-J.Crew, shoes-Old Navy

Can't you just smell the end of summer? It's awful. I know I know, I have waviered back on this issue a little. The last couple weeks I couldn't wait for summer to be over but as the days creep on I keep immediately regretting that decision. I only have one week left of freedom before classes resume. I am 100% not looking forward to that.

I also realized after working on a little project over the weekend that I have never really told you guys how I got started on this whole affordable fashion smart finance crusade anyway. I mean you all know the basics, I have (had) at least $7,000 in credit card debt and SSBF was on the verge of killing, or worse, leaving me. But what about the nitty gritty?

The whole story is, at least how I see it is that I was nothing short of a shopping addict. Clothes were a way for me to feel good about myself, but not in a healthy way. I associated clothes with my self worth meaning that I needed them to have any. I'll try not to go too deep psychologically, but I was the the girl at private school that didn't have as much money as everyone else. Once I started working I felt like I could make it appear that I did, even though my days of private school were long gone. My parents never really taught me how to deal with my money because, honestly, they weren't even good with their own money. Once I got my own credit card things began to spiral. I was away at college and free to do what I wished. The shopping trips became more extravagant because thanks to credit cards and revolving accounts I only needed to pay a mere $15/month on my debt to stay current. I had no vision for the future and just continued to shop as often as I felt the need. This continued for 4 years. I managed to rack up at least $12,000 in consumer debt. Some of my friends knew, I never disclosed the exact number though because I was ashamed. But I was so addicted to the way a new pair of shoes, or shirt made me feel that I just couldn't stop.

Going on my fifth year in college is when I met SSBF. I always teased him about being cheap, even early on, but he always wore it proudly. It wasn't until we started talking about moving in together did I discuss my debt with him. I could tell it was really unsettling for him to know I had that much debt. It made me feel guilty, but I still couldn't stop shopping. Even after we made the move to Maryland I was over extending myself. I would come home from a day of shopping and see the look on SSBF's face. It was like a mixture of frustration and disappointment. He was paying for basically everything while I shopped to my hearts content.

I'm not 100% sure when it happened, but it finally hit me. It was like one day I woke up and said. Oh sh*t. What the f*ck am I doing. Seriously. I would put money on that being my exact words.

At that point I knew I had to change. I knew it was going to be easy either. It was a slow start, with lots of bumps. I had to teach myself how to save money, how to set budgets, and how to not constantly shop. Most importantly though I had to teach myself to respect me for who I am, not the clothes I wear. It's sounds a little after school specialish, but I say it because I'm not the only person out there to ever feel that way. That's wear Money Smart Fashion comes from. I wanted fashion to be a hobby that I could have fun with. I wanted everyone to know that you should wear your fashion not let it wear you. Mostly though I wanted people like me, who live(d) beyond thier means, to know that they aren't the only ones and it's never too late to start over.

It's still hard for me to talk about my debt but it feels a lot better to get that out in the open. It's actually laughable to think how much of a spendaholic I was given the coupon-cuttin', deal huntin', crazy meticulous saver I am now. I'm starting to resemble SSBF more and more each day. hehe. Soon I might have to change the name of my blog to "Miser Smart Fashion"-- haha ok let me not get ahead of myself.

If you stuck around to read all that, my attempts to lure you in with photo's worked haha! Really though, thank you. It's readers like you that keep me motivated each and everyday.