What I got for my birthday

I love my birthday.  It’s just a day that I treat as just for myself.  Most of the time, I spend it alone.  I spend it going to get a free meal and going to pick up my free gifts from Sephora and Ulta.  I also go shopping to use my birthday  discounts from stores like Torrid and Lane Bryant.  It’s always a great day.  So I decided to share my spoils.

Now, I have to say that I’m not HUGE on getting gifts from family and friends anymore.  I am always very appreciative if I do get gifts, but it’s nothing that I expect anymore.  But being the shopaholic that I am, I do enjoy the occasional gift card that I get to help me get something that I have been eyeing for a while.  So…below is the list of what I got.

Glamour x Lane Bryant Bomber jacket – I have wanted this jacket the moment I saw it.  It is now on clearance and luckily my size was still available.  I purchased this with a birthday gift card. I absolutely love the embroidered image on the back.  I have to admit that it is a very short jacket.  I usually like them a little longer to cover my butt.

Denim jacket by Lane Bryant.  This isn’t anything that I was clamoring over, but Lane Bryant was have a buy one, get one free sale on their clearance items, so why not get a new denim jacket for fall!  I got this as the 2nd item when I purchased the pink jacket.

My free gift from Ulta this year was a NYX eyeshadow pallet.  Very pretty colors in it.

My free gift from Sephora is Caudalie skin care set.  It has VinoSouce Moisturizing sorbet and Vinoperfect Radiance serum.

While I was in Sephora, I saw the Sephora Favorites Skin Super Foods.  I’m so excited about this one.  Look at the fantastic stuff that is in this box set.  I cannot wait to try the Tata Harper, Farmacy, and Boscia products.

I have been looking for some nice pins/brooches to go on my shirts.  My best friend got me some Chanel inspired pins from a local boutique called Little Red Bird Gifts.  I can’t wait to wear them.  She also got me some lotion that is made locally as well.  The brand is called 1818 Farms and it was started in Mooresville, AL.

Finally, I received a cute striped tee with Viva La Brunch on it. It is super cute and I love the cuffed sleeves.

I had a great day and was fortunate enough to receive some great gifts. How do you usually celebrate your birthday?

Talk to you all soon!

 

 

 

 

 

Just give me all the gingham

I have gone crazy for gingham! Lane Bryant has been having quite a few gingham pieces show up in their store and none of them really screamed for me to take it home.  Low and behold, they come out with some online exclusive pieces that I absolutely fall in love with!  Now, I like to try my clothes on and I hate returning things so I’m not really an online shopper.  I held out on buying these pieces for a while but would still stalk lanebryant.com daily just to make sure they were still there.  Then the 40% off and spring sale came and sizes started disappearing.  I had to act fast and get the three pieces that I had been lusting after and I have not been disappointed.  I selected a size and kept my fingers crossed that everything would fit.  And it did!  I could have gone down a size on the dress, but once I added a belt…it was perfect.

I purchased my very first bikini!  It’s a high waisted one.  (I’m not that confident….yet!)  But I was surprisingly very emotional about it.  I always look at 2 piece suits and really love the way that they look, but have always been to scared to get one.  Well, I purchased the top as part of their online exclusive and the bottoms I got off the clearance rack at the outlet for $5.98!  That made the entire outfit less than $50. The shoes are Rebecca Minkoff from last year. (Gingham Flounce Bikini Tolt-In Bandeau Bra $41.02)

The next gingham piece is the Gingham shell with belt $26.69.  I absolutely love this top.  I tried it on in the store and when I walk out of the dressing room to show one of my favorite store managers…people wanted to know where that top was in the store.   Sorry, online only.  Kind of a bummer for them.  I paired it with a white skort also from Lane Bryant but many many years old.

The final piece from Lane Bryant is the Off the shoulder shirtdress ($40.04).  I have a beach trip coming up and I just pictured myself wearing this dress while walking on the beach.  It’s so pretty, flowy and summery.  I could not pass it up. I’m so excited to see if it makes me feel as good on the beach as it did in my imagination. This dress has a thin lining which is pretty soft and comfortable.  I also love the tie detail on the sleeves. The gold belt is from Lane Bryant and does not come with the dress. The sandals are from Guess last year.

The final piece is a gorgeous off the shoulder shirt that I bought from Saks off 5th.  It’s by a brand called BeachLunchLounge which I absolutely love!  This is my first piece from them, but I know that I am going to buy more because I have been eyeing some of it for a few months now. It was $34.99 and I just paired it with my denim boyfriend fit distressed capri’s from Torrid.

As you can see, the trend that I have fallen in love with this year is gingham and I continue my love for the off the shoulder trend that picked up steam last year. I believe I blogged about that for several pieces I purchased back then.

I hope you enjoy the looks!  Talk to you all soon.

Very Nice Birthday

I celebrated my birthday earlier this month.  My favorite thing to do on my special day is to go to the stores and get my free gifts, use birthday gift coupons, and use up points that I have collected from  various stores over the year.  I appreciate companies like Sephora, Ulta, Torrid and Lane Bryant for having programs like this that give their customers a little bonus.  So, this year I got a full sized Clean on Me shower gel and a beautiful Urban Decay eye shadow from Ulta.  I also got a Marc Jacobs eyeliner and lipstick as well as a Stella perfume (I used some of my VIB points on this) from Sephora.  I also used one of the free travel size item coupons at Bath & Body Works to get a Paris Amour shower gel.  From Torrid, I had been looking for a new sports bra and they had two in my size on clearance, so I used my $10 birthday coupon and $10 reward coupon to buy these numbers and only came out of my pocket with $1.  Now, I know that Lane Bryant usually gives a birthday coupon, but I don’t believe I have used that yet.  One of my close friends was coming to visit this month and I had been saving it to go shopping with her, but those plans fell through so I think I better use that quick!

Again…thanks so much to these companies for the birthday treats.  It really does make my day.