Shop til you drop

It's officially the start of a new month, which means it's time to shop till you drop! Although it was tough not being able to buy anything for 31 days, it was a super good cleanse to start off the new year. As caught up as I can get when I am in the shopping zone, it's nice to know for myself that, if I really wanted to, I could not purchase clothes for as long as I did. Although I can be a bit of a shopaholic (real shocker there), the conscious consumption challenge allowed me to focus my attention and money on something other than clothes. I chose to focus on my health for the month of January and try something new. I am currently taking a six week class at the Bar Method. I have also spent more time at watching the types of foods that I eat. I have tried especially hard to eat more salads because I feel I don't get enough vegetables in my diet. Anyways, when I had free time, I would look at some of my favorite stores and be surprised at how I didn't feel like I really needed that sweater or pair of jeans; I made do with what I had in my closet.  

For everyone who participated in the January conscious consumption challenge, I hope that you are celebrating it by shopping! That's what I did all this weekend. I shopped at some of my favorite in store and online retailers and came out with many many bags. I expanded my purchases not only for clothes, but also for accessories and shoes, so I can actually have a complete outfit. To say that I shopped till I dropped would definitely be an appropriate thing to say. I wanted to share with everyone some of my February picks, so let me know what you think! 

Forever 21: This was the very first store that I went into at the mall, and I was surprised at how much of their spring collection is already in store. Even though there's still six more weeks of winter (according to the groundhog), I was going into Forever 21 with the purpose of buying for some major events happening for me in the spring. There was so much plaid in Forever 21, so I thought it would be nice to add some plaid into my wardrobe, which is why I bought these plaid pants. They definitely look super professional, and I would be wearing them when I start my internship in New York City. 

I also got this gorgeous flowy, striped dress that I am going to wear when I travel to Amsterdam in May. I absolutely loved the detailing in the sleeves and I thought it would look so cute with a little red purse and a cute pair of sunglasses (note: when you can imagine yourself in the dress, and pairing it with accessories, you know you just have to buy it.) I'm also not really a ruffle type of person because sometimes I think it's just too over-the-top, but they did a nice job with making just a subtle ruffle in the sleeve and having it be complementary with the skirt of the dress. Although it's still 20 degrees outside right now, I know I would get really good use out of it when it starts getting warmer outside. 

Last, but not least, I bought this casual, but cute tie around yellow polka dot top. There was something just super fun about the way it looked with the polka dots and the detail of the sleeve. I thought that the way it fit was perfect because it was tight around the waist. I thought it would be a fun shirt to wear in the spring with some blue or black jeans and sandals.   

Free People: I bought two things from Free People, the first was a yellow beret. I first saw this beret in Urban Outfitters while I was on my conscious consumption cleanse. I knew that the beret look was not going out of style anytime soon, so I figured that I should have one to be up on that trend. I really liked the yellow beret because it helps my outfit pop. I took into consideration what colors I mostly wear, which are reds, blues and greens. Yellow would be a very complementary color to pair with the reds, blues and greens in my wardrobe, so that's why I bought it!

The second thing I bought from Free people was a white turtleneck tank top. I thought it would be so cool to wear with a black leather jacket and some black or Burgundy jeans for a night out. It would also look super cute with some skinny blue jeans for a casual look. Because it has such low sleeves, I would wear a bralette under it so people won't see the bra underneath it. 

Aritzia: Aritzia is usually a huge hit or miss for me, but this time, it was in the middle. I found a few things that I thought were really cute, but I only ended up getting one of them because they can get really expensive. I really loved this layered ruffle top because it's simple and I can wear pretty much anywhere. I really liked the bell sleeve detailing of the sleeve. I also really liked how much of a stretch the shirt had. The stretch, but thin material made it perfect for having the ruffles not poof out. 

Macy's: Macy's had a really big shoe sale going on, so I thought I would look there for a new pair of boots. I usually wear the same three pairs of boots, and I was definitely starting to get a little bored with the ones that I already have, so I thought I'd take a look in Macy's to see if they had any cute ones on sale. I was in luck! I found these super cute, tan, suede booties that are somewhat of a combat boot style from Steve Madden. I loved the style of the booties, they were super easy to walk in, and they were only $30!

Anthropologie: When I went to Anthropologie, they still had a lot of their winter clothes on sale, actually amazing sales. I took advantage of the additional 15% off the sales items and got two tops that were originally around $70 for only $14 each!

Gold top: I fell in love with how cute this top was during the month of January when I wasn't allowed to buy anything, so I was so happy when I found the last top on the rack in my size! I loved how this top has a more wider sleeve. I also really love metallic material because it makes the top look so fancy and super flattering. I chose to buy this top because I wanted a cute "occasion top" that I could wear with pants instead of wearing a dress out. 

Sparkle turtle neck: For a more casual look, I really liked this turtleneck sweater because it's super basic, but still has some detail in it with the stripes. I also liked it because it's a longer top, so I can either tuck it in and wear a belt with it, or I can let it hang long and wear it with leggings or tight. When you can style a top in two different ways, it's definitely something that you should buy!