splurge. by orange

so...as you all know, i'm on a shopping hiatus- i'm 4 weeks deep. and let me tell you - it is a bit rough. now i hate saying that as i feel superficial and like a typical girl, but i do like fashion and love finding new things to try out. unfortunatley to try out that requires money. too bad i'm not still in highschool or college where there was ease in borrowing a friend's shirt or skirt. maybe i should start a borrowing group...hmmm...meet every sunday - do a swap? curious...i digress.

i need new workout shoes and running shoes. now you may ask - why two pairs? well i'm a hardcore runner. kidding! but i do run and like to keep running shoes seperate from the everyday wear. my current running shoes have roughly a year of running on them - perhaps 200+ miles (crazy isn't it!). thus - new ones are needed. as for the "workout" pair, i have an old pair of new balances that i've had for about 3 years that just need an update. so...this weekend i'm off to the running store to get running shoes and to nordstrom rack and DSW to find some good deals on the workout pair of shoes.

i'm excited about the purchase of workout shoes as i'll be able to choose from different styles, see what is out there and shiny new. unfortunately for the running shoes i just get my same pair over and over again as they fit my feet really well. who knew i'd ever buy something for simply fit and good for my feet rather than style :).

in my excitement for this purchase i've done some online browsing. now as i'm headed to nordstrom rack/DSW i probably won't see any of these but it is still fun to look. check out these:










nothing too crazy but i like the colors :)







and these just make me want to be a golfer...

week 2 - fat wallet, skinny closet. by orange

man oh man - I'm just saving money left and right! ...kidding. I wish I was!!

week 2 has been a bit of a struggle, but not as bad as I thought it might be. This may be because my wallet is sitting empty. you may be thinking, why?? (if you are not shopping!) well those little things I picked up at Pier 1 and Ikea did cost money. shocking I know. so until I get paid (today! yay!) my wallet has looked depressing - thus no spending was really possible.

the things that did keep me itching in my seat a bit to want to buy were the following:

1. the many wonderful posts on Emily's cupcakes and cashmere

2. especially the #10 item on this post

3. the gd (god damn) nordstrom anniversary sale - I swear everyone at my work (Starbucks headquarters) and their mother have mentioned it to me.

4. my closet (it yearns for new items almost just as much as I do)

sigh. week 3 here we go!

week 1 - fat wallet, skinny closet. by orange

week 1. (the mission)

not as hard as I thought!

possibly because I still got to go shopping, for household items (which is just as fun!). I went to IKEA and was Shocked at all the good stuff they currently have. I think IKEA is a perfect place to visit ~ 2-3 times a year. that way, whenever you go (if you space those trips out) they have a whole new stock of things to look at. in addition to all the new items, I was thrilled at some of their sale items! I've also been spending a decent amount of time at the nearby Pier1. Here are my favorite purchases from these trips:

Andrup Rug - IKEA: $29.99!

9-Clip Window Wall Frame - Pier 1: $28! (we now finally have wedding pictures up in our house!)

the week did get a little rough when I visited the local West Seattle Summerfest. I came across two adorable booths - one with wall paper collages, another with darling jewelry. I guess technically I could buy one of the wall paper collages as it doesn't fit into the "don't go there" categories...but I did not indulge. The earrings that I was so enamored with were these little circle pendant earrings. They had a lime green background with a bright orange dove in the center of the cirle. Beautiful! And made by a local artist - even better. Of the two booths, one has a website, the other is on etsy. Check them out:

Rebekah J. Designs (earrings): http://www.rebekahjdesigns.com/

Lonjina K. Verdugo (collage artwork): http://www.lonjina.com/ or http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7042038

This was the piece of artwork I was pining after at the summerfest:

Circles 2

cold turkey. by orange

With being part of a blog, comes a lot of blog sleuthing. And wow can hours just seep by with no notice. Earlier this week I was deep in some blog perusing and came across a couple posts about a shopping hiatus. Well ladies and gentlemen I will be taking on my own shopping hiatus:

operation fat wallet, skinny closet

My inspiration is from two lovely ladies: Joslyn {Simple Lovely Blog} and Rachel {Heart of Light Blog}. Joslyn actually had a support group of many ladies going on a 12-week shopping hiatus while Rachel just did it {amazingly!} by herself. Joslyn's rules were basically: do not buy anything non-essential.

Non-essential and 12-weeks are a bit too aggressive for me so here are my relatively simple rules:

1. no clothes

2. no shoes

3. no jewelry

4. no handbags

5. none of the above until Labor Day {Sept 7th}.

gulp. Yep my stomach just did some major churning while writing out all of these no-nos.

My reasons for this crazy under-taking:

1. I would be highly impressed with myself for completing this.

2. The husband would be highly impressed with me for completing this...he has some interesting thoughts on this plan of mine {more on this in another post}.

3. I do spend a lot of my hard earned money on clothes, etc - perhaps I will learn some lessons through these next couple weeks to taper that in the future.

4. Saving money! Who doesn't want to do that.