Koi

shirt: Ambiance; sweater: Old Navy; pants: New York & Co., shoes: Target

Well the bad news is that I'm still sick. Functioning, but sick. Although I'm a day behind, Heidi and Melissa's pantone link up inspired me to wear one of the few orange (I guess I should call is koi though!) pieces in my closet. Confession though - I really like these flats, but they're not the ones I wore all day. I wore these cute wedges made out of a suede-like material, but since it rained yesterday I wore these shoes to walk from my car to my building and changed shoes once I got to my desk. I tend to take off my shoes if I'm at my desk for any extended amount of time (which is often) and I guess I just put these on to leave work for the day and never grabbed the cute pair. 

My Vacation

tee & shoes: Target, jacket: Kohl's, leggings: Giant Eagle

I had to go back to work today and have to admit that I was not happy about it! I've had the past week off, and while last Thursday and Friday were spent mostly prepping for my sister-in-laws' wedding, this week was spent completely to myself and it was pretty refreshing. I let myself have Monday with no expectations of getting a single thing done, but at least got a few things done the next two days! Just for fun, here's a list of what I accomplished:

- Shopped too much. For real...I even returned some stuff today because I messed up my budget. Here's hoping that mustard colored $20 blazer I found is still there next month! 

- Read a whole book in one day (and found several more that I reserved from the library!)

- Ate a family size box of triscuits all by myself.

- Went to the dentist to get a filling.

- Grocery shopping.

- Finally went for a run/walk and proved to myself I can still make it 4 miles.

- Mowed the lawn and pulled weeds.

- Watched a bunch of awful television - seriously...kardashians, new atlanta, that show on bravo about the preachers. It was bad!

- Took care of some car maintenance

Now that I'm back to work, of course I had the scratchy throat beginning of a cold that kicked in this afternoon. I've been trying the drink orange juice and lounge on the couch approach tonight and hopefully that prevents it from being a full fledged cold. My best friend from college is making the drive from South Carolina this weekend and we have too much planned to be sick!

Stripes

tee: Forever 21, sweater/jeans/shoes: Target

Linking up with Andi and Kate to show off my stripes today! This was a casual Friday outfit that I decided to hold onto once I heard about the stripes link up. I'm very happy that although I'm wearing some other outfit today that would be just as appropriate for a casual Friday at work, I'm not at work! Yesterday was the start of the 5 week days off work and I couldn't be more excited about it, mostly because today and the rest of the weekend will be spent celebrating my sister-in-laws' wedding. I'm so honored to get to be in the wedding, and I'm looking forward to some great times with family. Check out Instagram if you have any interest in getting a sneak peek. :) Happy weekend everyone!

Inspired by Pinterest

shirt: Old Navy, pants: Kohl's, shoes: Payless

image found here

Such a simple look, all black with a pop of color, but it took finding this picture on Pinterest to even consider these pieces together. Heidi has made me realize how professional and polished a button can make a look feel. Although I hadn't worn this one in a really long time, I'm glad I never got rid of this one because I felt great wearing it! Be sure to head over to H&K Style Journey to see some other Pinterest inspired looks!

Stripes

blouse: Buffalo Exchange, sweater: Old Navy, pants: New York & Co., shoes: Payless

Yay for cooler temperatures that let me layer!! This look made me feel super professional, while the little bit of leopard print paired with the stripes felt just a little bit rebellious. Even better, the stripes let me join in the theme of the week with Andi and Kate. Head over to their blogs to see how they wears their stripes all week, then link up on Friday!

September Budget

Sweatshirt - $15.26 from H&M

Sneakers - $12 from Walmart

Purse - $12.81 from Target

Dress - $14.97 from Old Navy

Shoes - $26.94 from Old Navy

Shirt - $9.99 from Old Navy

not pictured:

Fake Toms (I wasn’t sure what else to call them!) - $5.87 from Walmart

Total = $97.84

It’s time for another months budget recap. I feel like I’ve been treating it less like a budget and more like just a review what I decided to buy that month. I think I’m ok with that, but I’m still trying to stay close to the $75 per month I had originally targeted. Clearly that didn’t happen this month though! 

I used our trip to San Francisco as an excuse to buy both pairs of shoes from Walmart, the H&M sweatshirt, and the purse. Did I need all of those items? No probably not, but the comfortable shoes were perfect for all the walking we did, the sweatshirt was the perfect layer and I wore it most days we were out there, and the purse was just the right size for everything I needed to carry with me. 

The trip to Old Navy happened because I wanted another pair of dressy flats and really like the way the pair from Old Navy fit that I found as part of May's budget. They just feel more supportive than all the other inexpensive flats I've collected (mostly from Target) over the years. The gray/silver pair I found are perfect, and I thought the shirt and dress were good enough deals that they both needed to come home with me too! 

Linking up with Fran for Budgeting Bloggers...