Recent Purchases

So, not to be a Debbie Downer on a Monday Morning or anything, but last week was a pretty tough one for me.  It actually started off pretty great as my sister and I were able to shoot five blog posts worth of photos on Monday, but then I lost all those photos and the past three years of my life when my computer had a software corruption and lost everything on my harddrive too (a fact which I unfortunately uncovered during a four hour wait in the car dealership for them to fix a problem I didn’t even know I had).  I’m still kicking myself for those moments where I didn’t upload all of my pictures to facebook, thinking that my friends couldn’t take another California Sunset or cheesy Eifel Tower shot or the like, and coping with the loss of some awesome 80s albums that I have to replace, so take it from me that no, there is not plenty of time for you to back up your hard drive and yes, this can happen to you too.   So while I wait to be able to pick up my own computer (thanks for sharing, Mac!) and photograph some new outfits, I thought I would share some of my recent purchases that, for one reason or another, haven’t made it onto the blog!

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Most of these recently purchased items fall under the category of every day items that I absolutely cannot live without, but aren’t necessarily appropriate or cute enough for a blog post.  These include a pair of silver flip flops, nude flats, and versatile gladiators.  For some reason I cannot make it through a summer without a new pair of each of these, but they never seem to last more than one season.  Most of the time I just throw them on to walk around in when my feet can’t handle the heels anymore or I’m running to a store, the movies, etc.  I always like to find an affordable pair of shoes that I know I’m going to live in for one season and presumably beat up on various frantic runs to catch a train, sticky movie theatre floors, etc.  I found these gems at Payless, LOFT, and Target and am pleasantly surprised at the comfort of them, given their affordable price points!

I may possibly be the only girl I know who feels this way, and as much as I hate buying expensive bathing suits that I know are only going to last a few months, I just cannot buy bathing suits at Target anymore.  This is just my personal opinion, but I just need a bathing suit that actually stays on me and doesn’t fall apart after a week of swimming.  So with that unfortunate need for a middleground, I’ve actually been forced to find some decent quality suits that don’t totally break the bank.  I really love aerie’s, in my experience they usually last longer than one season and you can usually find a pretty good sale if you keep an eye out.  I snagged a cute highwaisted bikini back in February and then went back for this gorgeous one piece about a month ago.  To all of my fellow long-torso girls out there: if you’ve been having trouble finding a one piece suit definitely go for a strapless one! It seems obvious but I actually never realized how much better it would fit without having to stretch the straps across my shoulders until now.  Problem solved!  I also picked up this fun neon bikini from Victoria’s Secret which, while not incomporable in price, is actually not much more than the Target ones tend to be and definitely feels like better quality to me.  I haven’t tested it out in chlorine or anything yet, but I trust years of VS not letting me down on the swimsuit front.  My last bathing suit must have is from Topshop, and is actually one of my favorite I have ever owned.  I was so excited they brought this cutout bandeau style back again this year (also check out the floral print here)!  I bought it a few years ago in purple and absolutely LOVE IT!  I’m actually debating trying another style of theirs because this one did not disappoint!

Confession time: I pretty much never do my hair in the morning.  I’m not sure what it is, but I rarely feel up to blowdrying, straightening, or curling my hair for the average day.  I’ve been actively trying to change this bad habit of mine, but actually had none of the tools to make it possible.  Fortunately, on the other hand, I now do and have no more excuses to not put the extra effort in.  After a lot of research and some consulting with friends and various haircare specialists, I now own three very affordable, very effective hair styling tools.  Up first, the essential everyday hair dryer.  I know I know- how I got through 23 years of life and still don’t own a hair dryer is absolutely beyond me, too.  A lot of air drying through car windows and being that girl who walks into Starbucks with wet hair has happened.  But no more!  Truthfully, I try to air dry my hair as much as possible to avoid heat damage and the like, but there are some days where there just isn’t enough time for that.  So now I have my very own compact, perfect for traveling, pretty purple hair dryer like a real grownup.  Woo!  I also decided on this Remington Hair Straightener (almost every girl I know has one by this brand, and not one of them could think of a single complaint, so at only $40 this is basically a no brainer).  Lastly we have the Hot Tools Hair Curler, which is going to take a fair amount of time and practice since I have no idea how to successfully curl hair, but it seems to be work pretty well in terms of not damaging my hair and holding the curls up nicely (which is not so good when your curls look like you’re about to enter a tween dance recital, but I’m pretty sure that one’s on me).

Lastly we have what I have been calling, at least in my head, the “fun purchases”.  Aka the ones that make you all giddy inside and you just cannot wait to use in real life, so you break them out in your bedroom and just stare at them for a while until it’s no longer acceptable.  That’s just me? Oh okay.  Well maybe when you buy these things come back to me and we can reevaluate that.  So for starters we have this amazing vegan leather weekender bag from Sole Society.  I bought the slightly larger ‘Lacie‘ bag, which unfortunately has since sold out in cognac, but is still available in black and khaki.  If you have your heart set on a cognac weekender (I know I did), the slightly smaller ‘Cassidy‘ is still available in cognac.  Next up is this irresistably fun pink donut pool float.  I’ve seen these bad boys all over the ‘gram and just had to have one for myself (FOMO says hi).  Johnny Cupcakes is a staple in pretty much every Bostonians’ wardrobe, and this classic black tee is one of my all time favorites that I own.  So naturally, I didn’t hesitate when it came time to replace it in my closet.  With the exact same shirt.  Because once you’ve got a winning combination, why mess around with it?  (That’s a ‘Love in the Afternoon’ quote, in case you were wondering.  It’s definitely been too long of a post once I start quoting random movies).

If you made it through this whole post, I wish I could give you a medal or something.  I’ve felt so weird the past week not being able to write anything- whether it be on the blog, one of my own stories, or even just Reddit comments, that before I knew what I was doing all of these words just started pouring out of me.  While it was, admittedly, nice to get out of the house and not sit on my computer every night when I got out of work, I’ve been so anxious not working on something every night that I’m looking forward to getting my computer back this week (fingers crossed!) and getting back into the daily grind.  And if you don’t take anything else from this post- go back up your computer.  Seriously.  The $80 for an external harddrive is so worth the cost of your treasured memories.

Thanks for reading, and here’s to a great week!
xo, Caitlin