$100 Fun Things Budget | October 2019

November has sort of gotten away from me.  In the blink of the eye it’s mid-November already.  I’ve had things going on that I will tell you about in a month or so, maybe two. Nothing to be alarmed about, but it has kept me busy.

It’s time for the belated October 2019 edition of the “$100 Fun Things Budget”!  The below are the items I purchased using my $100 Fun Things Budget.  To read the rules of what falls under this budget, please read my previous post that talked about it.

October 2019:  $96

1. Adidas Lite Racer Cloudfoam Slip-On Walking Shoes  $22
2. Max & Mia The Essential Travel Cardigan  $25
3. Felina Comfyz lounge set  $13
4. Sarasa 4+1 Multi Pen Doraemon Time Travel Silver special edition  $15
5. Sarasa Select Ink refills  $7
6. Zebra Mildliner Doraemon Time Travel edition  $15

I had two pairs of Skechers slip on walking shoes that I loved and wore for like 3 years.  They’ve been worn out, so I bought the Adidas from Costco.com.  They were a good deal for $22 (but are no longer available on their website).  I had read that they run HUGE.  I’m normally a size 6.5-7 in women’s shoes.  I decided to buy a size 6 and they’re still quite big!  I have to wear thick socks so my feet don’t slide around in them.  So they do run HUGE, if you are interested in them.

I ADORE the Max & Mia travel cardigan!  They feel soooo soft, exactly like the popular Barefoot Dreams circle cardigans, except waaaaaaay cheaper at $25!  I got it in store at Costco, because I wanted to wear it on my two plane trips in October.  On plane rides it feels like you’re wearing a soft blanket!  I loved it so much that I went back to Costco two weeks later to buy more as Christmas gifts, but by then they only had size L and bigger, and none of the people I was buying for were that size.  Too bad!  And it’s not on Costco online, so no dice.  I linked to Amazon above but it’s also large size and above, and costs more.  It’s still cheaper than the Barefoot Dreams version though!

I also bought the two piece Felina Comfyz lounge set at Costco in store.  They were on major sale at $13!  Both the top and the bottom are so soft and comfy.  I’ll definitely get a lot of cozy use out of it this winter! 

By the way, I count clothes & shoes in my Fun Budget because lord knows I have enough of clothing that I do not NEED anymore, so I have to use my fun budget to purchase them.

The next three items are all Doraemon related. 

It’s a long nostalgic story, but I started reading Doraemon comics (manga) in Chinese when I was in early grade school in Taiwan.  It was originally published in Japanese but translated into Chinese.  (He’s a robotic cat who time travels.)  I still have some of those books!  Long story short, over 40 years later Doraemon is still quite big in Japan.  I noticed that Amazon even have the mangas translated into English, so a couple of years ago I bought and downloaded some of them to read on my iPad.  I *LOVED* reading them as a kid, and I just want to keep reliving it, you know?  Lo and behold, I was on Instagram the other day and Tokyo Pen Shop announced they had Doraemon special limited edition pens in stock.  I was so excited that I went to the website right away the bought the multi-pen, different colors of refills for it, and the mildliners.  If you love Japanese pens and stationery, I highly recommend Tokyo Pen Shop.  They’re actually based in the US (Iowa), but source all their special items from Japan. 

Just look at the different Doraemon facial expressions on each highlighter!  It makes me smile every time I see it!

Doraemon multi-pen with 4 gel ink colors and a mechanical pencil.

My entire pen collection is swatched in a big notebook that I call my “comPENdium” (ha ha, get it?)  If you are interested I will write a post about my comPENdium soon.  It’s indexed by type of pen and everything!  It even includes all my fountain pens and ink refills.  I keep the comPENdium updated because it’s fun to look at, but also so I don’t accidentally buy the same pen when I already have it.

That’s it for my October Fun Budget purchases!  I’m making my list for Black Friday sales as we speak.  I have gift budgets for my family and a few friends that I’m purchasing gifts for.  I also have a budget for myself.  Top of my list is a new Canon Pixma for printing photos for scrapbooking!  I’m totally excited to jump back into scrapbooking.  My 7-year old Canon Pixma MG5320 finally bit the dust a few months ago.  I can only scrapbook if I can print photos at home, so I need to buy a new printer.  Hoping for good Black Friday sales!

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Outfit Roundup | Vol. 1

I blogged back in mid-January about how I’m learning to mix-and-match my wardrobe and participating in the Putting Me Together Winter Style Challenge.  I plan to make this a semi-regular series of posts.  Today is a roundup of what I wore the last week of January and the first couple of weeks of February.  The style challenge ended at the end of January, so my outfits in February have been my own formulas and stylings.  I’m still using the Stylebook App to keep track of my clothing inventory and putting outfits together.

This was everything I wore in January 2017, in calendar form.

Monday 1/23 – patterned button-up + jeans + neutral cardigan + black boots

Tuesday 1/24 – solid button-up + neutral solid sweater + colored corduroy + cognac leather jacket + cognac riding boots

Wednesday 1/25 – solid tee + light colored solid sweater + bootcut jeans + colored corduroy blazer + black loafers

Thursday 1/26 – solid dress + neutral blazer + neutral scarf + black tights + black riding boots

Friday 1/27 – neutral sweater + neutral corduroy + black vest + black clogs

Sunday 1/29 – colored blouse + neutral pants + light tan booties

Monday 1/30 – ombre tee + dark skinny jeans + neutral blazer + gray booties

Tuesday 1/31 – striped tee + neutral corduroy skirt + neutral blazer + nude heels

Wednesday 2/1 – white tank + solid hoodie + neutral skirt + white vest + navy Converse

Thursday 2/2 – neutral tee + neutral corduroy pants + white cardigan + cognac booties

Friday 2/3 – striped shirt + black jeans + neutral blazer + black riding boots (one of my fave outfits – wore this to interview job candidates)

Sunday 2/5 – white tee + bright colored sweater + dark skinny jeans + black vest + black booties (wore this to go out for Todd’s birthday dinner)

Monday 2/6 – recycled same outfit above, except with navy vest + cognac Uggs

Tuesday 2/7 – striped shirt + colored corduroy skinny pants + neutral blazer + cognac riding boots (interviewed another candidate for our open position)

Wednesday 2/8 – striped sweatshirt + skinny jeans + red vest + watch + black Skechers

Thursday 2/9 – colored plaid popover shirt + jean skirt + black vest + black Skechers

Friday 2/10 – solid tee + striped shirt + light bootcut jeans + pink vest + striped Keds

If you are exploring with fashion and how to mix-and-match clothes, maybe the above could give you some outfit formula inspiration.  Obviously winters in San Diego are pretty mild.  I noticed that my go-to formula usually involves a striped shirt and a blazer or a vest. 

I’ve learned a few things the beginning of January about mixing and matching clothes:

• It’s important to have different colored bottoms!  (Jeans, pants, skirts)  If you only have blue jeans and neutral pants/skirts, it would be difficult to make outfits look different.
• “Completer” pieces such as blazers, cardigans, vests, and jackets really make the outfit standout.  And make them different.
• Accessories such as necklaces, scarfs, and watches also make an outfit unique and completes it.
• Wearing clothes that fit your body is so important.  If the clothes are too small, they actually make you look bigger than you are.  (For a long time I wore clothes that were my old smaller size and was always dissatisfied with how I looked.  Now I’m wearing a size larger but look much better!)  If the clothes are too big, they make you look sloppy.  I still need to learn more about the different body shapes and how to dress to flatter my body shape.

Hope you are having a good February.  Talk to you at the next Outfit Roundup!

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Learning How to Wear Clothes

I needed a distraction today, so I decided to share what I’ve been up to so far this year as far as clothes-wearing goes.  You would think that wearing outfits would be intuitive.  But after perusing fashion blogs the last few months, I discovered that I didn’t really know how to mix and match my clothing pieces to put outfits together.  Not only that, but I didn’t know what types of clothes flatter my body.

So in mid December, I signed up for the Putting Me Together Winter Style Challenge.  I have been admiring Audrey’s style anyways.  And work is super-busy for me in January.  Why not have a stylist tell me what to wear every day for 30 days??  After joining the challenge, I got a shopping list of items that are included in the 30 days of outfits.  I had most of the items in my closet already.  I did buy 8-10 things to round out my closet so I could mix and match better.  You can bet I was excited when January 2nd rolled around and someone else told me what outfit to wear that day!  Every day in January we get an outfit put together that we’re supposed to wear, so at least take inspiration from to put together our own outfits.  Audrey also tells you the basics of what to put together, in case you don’t have the exact pieces.

I also downloaded the Stylebook app onto my phone and put most of the clothing pieces I have into my “closet” in Stylebook, so I could put my own outfits together.  I am LOVING this app!  You can edit the categories of your “closet” to suit you better.

The below outfits are ones I created from actual items inside my closet.  Like, I really had never thought of wearing some of these pieces together until this app! 

And it has a calendar function where I can plan out my outfits day by day so I don’t even have to think about what to wear.   Of course, during January I’m just wearing the outfits suggested by the Putting Me Together Winter Style Challenge.  I really love this method of putting outfits together, because I am an analytical person and I love any sort of formula or algorithm that I can utilize to make life easier for me!

Below are my outfits every day.  I’m really enjoying getting dressed every day now.  And I really think it has helped me with keeping a positive body image and dressing myself with clothes that fit me.

Monday 1/2 – neutral button-up + black bottoms + black vest + black boots

Tuesday 1/3 – striped tee + cardigan + jeans + riding boots

Wednesday 1/4 – printed dress + blazer + riding boots (wore a vest instead of blazer)

Thursday 1/5 – colored blouse + colored jeans + white vest + gray booties (added a sweater and wore cognac booties instead)

Friday 1/6 – black jeans + dark sweater + black boots (went rogue and wore whatever, because I worked from home and made it casual Friday!

Monday 1/9 – colored jeans + light colored sweater + white vest + gray booties (wore cognac riding boots instead)

Tuesday 1/10 – neutral button-up + neutral sweater + jeans + tan booties (wore tee instead of button-up underneath sweater)

Wednesday 1/11 – colored printed button-up + black vest + black jeans + riding boots (I wore my black slip on loafers instead)

Thursday 1/12 – striped tee + colored skirt + blazer + printed scarf (I did wear the scarf, but just on the way to work)

Friday 1/13 – printed dress + cardigan + riding boots (wore vest instead of cardigan)

Monday 1/16 – solid dress + printed scarf + gray booties + tights (wore black boots instead of gray booties, and added a cardigan, since it was a sleeveless dress)

Tuesday 1/17 – white blouse + colored jeans + cardigan + mustard scarf (wore printed scarf instead, and the pants were gingham, which aren’t technically “colored”)

Wednesday 1/18 – dark sweater + printed scarf + blazer + jeans + brown booties (no scarf for me)

Thursday 1/19 – colored blouse + black vest + black jeans + black boots (wore cognac boots instead)

I used to just throw on a top and throw on a bottom and go to work.  I am really enjoying putting the pieces in my closet to use, and coming up with outfit combinations with a smaller mix-and-match wardrobe.  Both the Putting Me Together Style Challenge and the Stylebook app has made getting dressed less stressful and more fun this January!

I realize that there are more important/somber things going on in the world today, but I thought this post is fun and would make some of you smile, or inspire you to look at your own closet in a different way.  I’m new at this, but let me know if you have any questions and I’ll try to answer them.

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