Happy Halloween

I know its almost Christmas, but I just couldn't let this year come to a close without sharing my awesome Halloween costume with you. I pieced together my outfit from different places because I like to reuse my creations and not just wear them on Halloween. So I purchased a corset from Fredrick's of Hollywood on sale for $29.99 and bought some black boy shorts from Adam and Eve on clearance for $5.99. The biggest this I splurged on was the floor length velvet cloak that I found on Amazon.com for $60. I already had the fishnets and tall boots in my closet and thus, my version of Red Riding Hood was born. I love this costume so much, that I might have to wear it again next year. We shall see...

Shop Your Closet: Networking Event

Last week, I went to a networking event and I had absolutely no idea what to wear. Anyone who knows me, knows that when it comes to anything concerning business attire, I'm totally clueless. To me, business attire always look kind of dull and boring with your button down shirts and you basic colors of blue,black, or grey. None of which I had in my closet, and I was not about to go out and buy something new to have it rot in my closet after this event was over. So this is where I got creative. I dug deep into my closet and pulled a fuchsia pencil dress with a skinny black belt and some black rose laced Betsy Johnson heels (one that I will blog about later in my one cent wonders segment).  Now, if I did have a career to where I had to dress business professional, this would definitely be the look that I would go for.

Until Next Time...
B

Little Green Dress: Derby Edition

Derby time in Louisville, Ky is our biggest time of the year so you definitely need to look your best every time you step out. Usually when I go out to an event, I have a certain idea of what I want to look like. But this time, I had no idea. Well, one Saturday morning I was doing some errands, and I happen to find myself in Marshalls. I absolutely love that place! If you have some free time to dig, you can definitely come across some bargains. So that particular morning, I came across this long green dress. Now, you know when you find something and it looks really weird on the hanger. Well, this was THAT dress. It was a one shoulder dress with a huge slit up the side and an inner piece on material under it. It's oddness tickled my curiosity so  much that I had to try it on. I must admit I was pleasantly surprised. I was even more surprised when not only did it fit, but it was only $24.99!! Needless to say, I bought it and it looked amazing for my Derby event. Not to mention that I paired it with some Micheal Kors gold heels (normally retailing at $175) that I got at Zappos for $20.00. So my whole outfit was under $50.00. Not bad for a Kentucky Derby ensemble. So big shout out to Marshalls and Zappos! Hope to see you soon.

Until Next Time...
B

New Direction

I'm back....and this time, I'm 100% dedicated to making this blog work. I got a new laptop and a new outlook on life, so there are no more excuses on why I haven't kept you up to date on my journey. So, this is the new and improved Pretty on a Penny blog and I fully intend to dedicate myself to this blog so that you won't miss any aspect of this transformation. But there will be some changes...

Change #1: No more shopping fast!! YAY!! (just joking! :) ) but seriously, I maintained not to buy anything for six months, except for my new laptop, and I found that I was not happy at all. Granted, I saved a lot of money, but the emotional expense was too much to bear. So instead, I have decided to shop (only when necessary) and put myself on a very strict budget. So there will be new installments on this blog showcasing some excellent bargins that I have found in stores and online. I will still have the Shop your Closet and The Penny Projects so keep a look out for those as well.

Change #2: More tips on budgeting and rebuilding credit. The whole point of this blog was to get my financial house in order and the only thing that I have focused on is shopping. During my blog hiatis, I have discovered tons of tricks to maintain a budget and rebuild my credit. So why not share what I have learned with others?

Change #3: More blogging. I must take responsibility, I have been slacking. There is no excuse for that. So from here on out, I vow to blog at least once a week. Even if there is nothing going on, I will make sure just to pop in and say hello!

I hope you all love the new changes. I think that these changes will only enhance my blog and better discuss my journey with all of those willing to listen.

Until next time...
B

Obsessed with the Water Marble

Hey everybody,

I know its been awhile since I posted...I had to have a funeral service for my laptop. :( But I refuse to let that stop me from sharing my journey with you. Since I can't get my nails/feet professionally done due to my shopping fast, I have decided to research new and unique ways to do my nails and toes. So let me tell you about this nail craze that I'm totally obsessed over. Its called water marbling. Basically its where you to take a cup of room temeperature bottled water, two or more of you favorite nail colors and make a cool design with the nail polish in the water. Then you dunk your finger nail inside the design and then the design is placed on your finger. Its so cool!!! I haven't quite mastered it yet, but I plan on it, so stay tuned for pictures. Here is an example I found on youtube that will give you a better idea of what I'm talking about.

Until Next Time...

B

Shop Your Closet: Little Black Dress Club

I am apart of a fabulous club called The Little Black Dress Club. It is a great social club for professional women of all ages and backgrounds to come together and bond as women. Anyways, for this particular event that we went to, we had to wear our "little black dress", hence the name of the club. Unfortunately, due to my weight going up and down, I can no longer fit any of my black dresses, and I can't buy anymore. So this is where I have to become creative. I decided to piece together my long sleeve black lace shirt (the one I wore on NY) with a high wasted black pencil skirt and a chunky waist belt. Instead of wearing a bra under the lace, I just layered a spaghetti strapped tank top. And since I love color and couldn't possible wear just all black, I decided to place a red rose in my hair and red earrings with black shoes. I must say I was happy with how it all turned out.
                                                                       

Shop Your Closet: New York Fashion Week

So here I am, in New York, at Fashion Week no less, so I needed an outfit that was dying to impress. To reach this task, I decided to go with my long sleeve black lace shirt, with tuxedo jacket, and shiny black dress slacks. For a pop of color, I decided to top it off with my red fedora style hat. And since the shirt is lace, I placed a black bra up under it, just for that extra spice of sexiness. I must say, that I was very pleased with my choice. What do you think?

NYC Bound

Recently I have received an opportunity to fly to New York to attend New York Fashion Week, and obviously, I couldn't pass it up. Lots of fashion, tons of excitement, and the hustle and bustle of a real major city is just what I needed. The downside is that I had to stay true to my shopping fast. You see, the old me would have ran to the mall and gotten all types of new outfits to wear on my vacation. But the new me, was not allowed so I had to become inventive. So I devised a plan to still showcase my fabulous fashion sense without spending a dime. I call it the external closet method.

The basis behind the external closet method is to actually see everything that you are packing all at once before you put it into the suitcase. I devised the plan because I'm known to be a bit of an overpacker. With this method, I used a clothing rack and actually hung all of my clothes and shoes on and then I decided if I really needed everything I pulled out. I noticed that I had a lot of extra clothes, or duplicates (such as the same type of sweater in a different color) that I just didn't need. But there were some things that I did pack that are essential to any vacation.

1) The Blazer - It goes over any shirt and can quickly change the look of any outfit just by using the layering technique. Also the blazer being very practical if it starts of being warm in the day and chilly in the evening. Just throw it on and your outfit goes from day to night in a instant.

2) The Everything Shoe - This is the shoe that goes with anything. Day to evening, warm to cold, it is the go to shoe. For my trip, I had two of pair of these shoes. The first one was my tall black boots. I could were them with my jeans or with my skirt and tights and they were super comfortable. The second pair were my black heels. If I wanted to dress up my jeans or hit the town in my dress pants, they were the perfect choice.

3) The Trusty Jean- You can dress them up or dress them down and they still look amazing. I prefer the skinny jean. It tucks nicely into my boots, great with my flats, and perfect with the cute shoes that I want to show off in the evening.

4) The Colored Tank- It goes under any sweater of shirt for that pop of color that you need.

I followed my external closet method and I ended up packing less that I would have normally packed and still had all of the choices that I needed to make excellent outfits on my trip. This is definitely how I will pack for any vacation I have from here on out.

Recap: January 2012

This was the first official month of my shopping fast, and I must say that it got off to a pretty rocky start. There were so many tempations with the after Christmas sales and new stores opening for the new year. But I am happy to report that I maintained my ground and sucessfully completed this month of my shopping fast! YAY!! Not only that, but I have also paid off one of my major debts off of my credit report. One down and eleven more to go. February involves all sorts of challenges with me taking a trip to New York for Fashion Week (super excited)!! So stay tuned, its only going to get better from here.

One down...serveral more to go

I finally got one of my major dings on my credit report paid off!!! YAY!!! Thanks to a company called The Northland Group Inc, I have managed to create an affordable payment plan and have it auto drafted out of my checking account over the course of three months. I can honestly say, that for the first time in a long time, I feel as if I have accomplished something financially. Its really an awesome feeling and it keeps me motivated to keep cleaning my credit report so that I can achieve the best credit score that I can possibly get. Big shout out to Northland Group Inc! Thanks a million! :)

Shop Your Closet: Dinner and a Movie (Date Night)

My husband and I did our monthly dinner and a movie date night, and I really didn't know what to wear. Normally, I would go and at least get a new pair of jeans, but I still sticking with my journey. So I dug in my closet and this is what I came up with. (Side note: We went to see The Devil Inside and I must say it was an awesome movie. Especially if you are into horror and demon possession movies; I give it two thumbs up!)

I just pulled out a sequined front ribbed tank top and threw a crochet sweater and jeans with it. I love to layer and I am really the tank top queen (which you will find out during all these post). I love throwing a tank top under any sweater or shirt just to give it an extra pop of color. Its also very functional during these cold winter months.
 
What I have learned so far with this process is that accessories are key to magically transform any outfit. You can have something plain, whether it be jeans and a tank top or a solid color dress, and add some accessories to it and just like that you have a completely different look. I'm a huge girlie girl and I love bling, so I paired my outfit with this huge pink and metallic stretch bracelet that I got from Versona Accessories (only $14.99!!) and earrings with pink and gold earrings that a friend of a friend made for me. As far as the shoes, I pulled out my open toe tan military boot to give it that extra kick of fashion. Not only are these heels cute but they are comfy too. (Yes, open toe in January, but it was unusually warm that night) So cute!!

                                    

So this is me ready for a night on the town with the love of my life. And to think, this cute look didn't cost me a penny...I think I can get used to this. :)

Removing Temptation

To continue my journey of the shopping fast, I have decided to remove temptation, to make it a little easier on myself.  For starters, I have removed myself from all the email lists of all of my favorite stores. I’m sure true shopaholics can relate to opening your email and receiving special promotions or information before the general public just because you are on their email listings. And then these emails that they send you not only have great deals, but also have the link of their website so you can start shopping right then and there. So they had to go. In tribute to losing great promotions, I have decided to give an ode to my sweetest temptations of stores. These are my top five...

5. Bebe – Bebe is a store for when I want to stand out. Their line of fashion is high fashion and somewhat risky, but that’s what I love most about it. This store reminds me of a quote that was retweeted on twitter. It said “Don’t be afraid to push the envelope. People may stare, but deep inside they just wish they had the nerve.” -Unknown

4. Express – I love this store because it’s built for the everyday fashionista. Not only does it offer casual clothing and the most comfortable sweaters ever, but it also has those office appropriate suits that don’t make me look frumpy. Express is one of those few day to night stores, meaning whether I’m going to the office, or out to a club, it is my one stop shop for every occasion. Sidenote: Their winter and spring clearance sales are AMAZING!!!

3. Victoria Secret – This is the best secret in the world! J They have the greatest undergarments ever. I love how they combine cuteness and quality in every product that they make. And they are so much more than just bras and panties. Their online store has clothing and shoes that are just to die for. And don’t even get me started on their fragrances and make-up. Most of my best night on the town make-up is from their line. Another one stop shop that quenches my sexiness appetite.

2. Arden B- All I can say is that if you don’t know about Arden B, you better ask somebody. LOL! My concern is that since I’m transitioning from my 20s to 30s, it’s been extremely hard for me to find clothes that don’t make me look like a teenager, but at the same time, don’t make me look like a granny. And Arden B does just that. I like to call it the premiere transition store. It gives you sophistication with a splash of sexiness. And if you catch one of their clearance sales where they are offering an extra 50% off it feels as if you had hit the jack pot. Trust me…

                          

                               And last but certainly not least… 


1. DSW Shoes- This is my little slice of heaven. Shoes, shoes, and more shoes!! Everything from tennis shoes to stilettos. Not to mention they also sell some of the cutest designer handbags that you could possibility find. I honestly go in DSW and loose a couple of hours of my life just lost in all of the shoe glory. This is the one that would be the hardest to say goodbye to, but I must stay on the path for the greater good.

These stores all have a special place in my heart, and maybe one day, we will meet again. But today, our relationship must come to an end. For now…

Shop Your Closet: NYE 2012

Happy New Year! It's the first day of my shopping fast and I have already gotten off to a great start. In the past, I used to buy a new outfit for every occasion. So, when my husband and I decided to go out for New Years Eve last night, I decided that instead of buying something new, I was just going to shop my closet and see what I can come up with. Here is what I came up with…

The first thing that I came across was a black and gold sequin tunic that I purchased at Arden B (one of my favorite stores) a few months ago. It is spaghetti strapped and sequined on the front and back, so I decided to thrown on a black blazer over it to tone it down some. It’s amazing how a simple blazer can compliment any outfit. I also threw some black leggings on under it to add the extra added sex appeal.

 Next, I had to find the perfect shoes. You know, the ones that compliment my outfit perfectly but not kill my feet by the end of the night. LOL! So I came up with these Vince Camuto metallic gold peak toe pumps that I bought at one of those awesome Dillards shoe sales during the summer. They worked well with my outfit, but I ended up taking them off by the end of the night. So much for comfort…

I must say that this first adventure of shopping my closet turned out to be a success! I felt great in what I was wearing and the best part is that I saved some money.  If this is what 2012 has in store for me, then I know that this will be a great year!