#LookingLucky 10: Neon

neon pencil skirt, white tee, jean jacket, c wonder clutch, steve madden gold sandals, indianapolis style blog neon pencil skirt, white tee, jean jacket, c wonder clutch, steve madden gold sandals, indianapolis style blog neon pencil skirt, white tee, jean jacket, c wonder clutch, steve madden gold sandals, indianapolis style blog neon pencil skirt, white tee, jean jacket, c wonder clutch, steve madden gold sandals, indianapolis style blog neon pencil skirt, white tee, jean jacket, c wonder clutch, steve madden gold sandals, indianapolis style blog neon pencil skirt, white tee, jean jacket, c wonder clutch, steve madden gold sandals, indianapolis style blog

I kind of backed myself into a corner for the end of the Looking Lucky challenge. The last trend I had to do was neon, which I thought would be easy because I have tons of bright colors in my closet. Well, bright isn’t quite the same thing as neon, and it turns out my choices were actually pretty limited. My best option was this highlighter yellow pencil skirt, but the only occasion I had to dress for was a casual brunch, so I dressed it down as much as I could. I actually really like how it turned out. Maybe I’ll make casual pencil skirt brunches a new thing. You heard it here first.

By the way, I’m putting this post together on the eve of my first exam of my last semester – just four little tests and I’ll be done with law school! In case you’re wondering why I’m not studying right now, let me explain. I’ve found that I’m in a much better state of mind for a big exam when I stop studying around 7:00 the night before. Then I can have some dinner, relax, watch some mindless TV, and get to bed early. The later I study, the more I start to worry that I don’t know enough, and the less likely I am to actually absorb anything.

Maybe it’s counterintuitive, but sometimes NOT studying (in moderation) is a good way to prepare for a test just because it helps you stay sane! In fact, that’s exactly why I went to brunch in this outfit. During finals week (which is really finals weeks plural), I try to get out of the house at least every other day. Sometimes I study at Starbucks, or take a break for a couple hours to go out to dinner or the mall. Getting out of my sweatpants and looking like an actual functioning adult human being is a healthy thing in my book.

Speaking of books, maybe I’ll take one more look at mine before tomorrow morning. Just in case.

similar Skirt // similar Jacket (on sale) // Shoes // similar Sunglasses // similar Clutch

Budgeting Bloggers: April

April budget breakdown

 

Well friends, it was another epic month for my wardrobe. I got so much new stuff, it doesn’t even all fit in this collage. Of course, money doesn’t grow on trees (and even if it did I’d be out of luck because I can’t keep a cactus alive), so how did I swing a nearly $700 budget? Well, I chug away at this blog thing everyday and pick up a few cents at a time through affiliate links, waiting to hit the minimum, and the stars happened to align this month and give me two nice payouts. Plus, I sold off more old stuff, including a Marc by Marc Jacobs bag for almost $100! Finally, I didn’t spend all of last month’s budget, and I got to add all this to my modest starting amount of $150. Here are the details:

April Budget

  • +$196 ($150 starting amount + $21 unspent in March + $25 for shoes I returned)
  • +$285 (blog income)
  • +$212 (sold old clothes)

         = $693

This was my biggest budget yet! Next month’s should be significantly smaller because I don’t expect any blog income, and I don’t have much left from this month to carry over (only $4). I just swapped out my winter clothes for summer over the weekend, so I have a couple bags of clothes to try and sell. Still, I’m sure that won’t add up to a huge amount. It will definitely be a challenge to take it down a notch and spend, you know, a normal amount on clothes.

What I Spent

  • -$74 on a floral baseball cap and black panama hat from J. Crew (total orig. $116, both purchased during special promos)
  • -$12 on round oversized sunglasses from Nordstrom
  • -$141 on white jeans and windowpane jacket from Ann Taylor (total orig. $264, both purchased during promos)
  • -$110 on colorblock heels, gold sandals, and silver bag (not pictured) from DSW (total retail $238, DSW total price $157, minus $20 off during special promo, minus $10 rewards certificate, and the bag was on extra sale!)
  • -$59 on cobalt dress from Madewell (orig. $130, on sale plus additional promo)
  • -$171 on Rebecca Minkoff bag from Nordstrom Rack (retail $295)
  • -$40 on crop top from Kate Spade Saturday (orig. $45, got 15% off for signing up for newsletter)
  • -$42 on cobalt pumps from 6pm.com (retail $89)
  • -$22 on snakeskin pumps from Target (orig. $30, Kristin and I both got shoes during a BOGO 1/2 off deal and split the cost)
  • -$18 on floral clutch (not pictured – similar ones here) from C. Wonder (orig. $48, on sale plus additional promo)

         = $689 (total retail value…drumroll please… $1,267!)

What I Received (gifted items)

Keep an eye out for Fran’s next budget post to see all the other budgeting bloggers’ posts! I’ll be linking up with them.

Follow along:

BLOGLOVIN’ | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | PINTEREST | INSTAGRAM