Looking back on a fab week

Hi kids. Apologies for my lack of blog activity over the last week. I can assure you it was nothing personal...I was merely catching up with some of my own favourite bloggers – do check out my blog list sometime its fabulous.  I was also attempting to finish off the Christmas shopping, which I have to admit is not going well. There is only so much one can buy when one has inquisitive little people demanding rainbow biscuits every time I make a move! Thankfully I had no such trouble in the style department. In fact every time I ventured into the smallest-wardrobe-in-the-world I came out looking like a pin-up girl for the latest flashy mag (if I don't say so myself) and I didn’t have to consult with the SATC 2 almanac once. Yay for me. Must have been my brush with Prada-on-a-budget the week before that ignited the latest fixation because suddenly I would accept anything less of myself than looking like a glamazon albeit in Sussan.


This was the first memorable outfit of the week. I wore it on Monday. I’d been somewhat mildly depressed over the demise of my favourite pair of jeans – the DKNY’s rom Filene’s Basement that I couldn’t bring myself to throw them out. I also really wanted a pair of knee length denims but promised Dr Love I’d make a concerted effort to pay off the credit card. Eep! So with the obligatory pair of ‘good scissors’ (every household should have one) and a needle and cotton I set about re-inventing my fav denims into the much wanted capris without having to spend a cent. The batwing top is somewhat of a shift in convention. I brought it last year during the post chrissie sales from Sussan. Usually I’d go with a block colour but every so often something flashy catches my eye and I have to have it. I love the shape of this blouse and the way it floats over all the bumpy bits making them disappear. The gold isn’t an exact match to my colour wheel but its close enough to get away with it. The shoes, would you believe spent nearly two years in a non-descript shoe box buried deep in the SWITW. I brought them from this amazing little shoe shop around the corner from Macy’s in New York. Can’t remember the name of the shop because I was too distracted by the quality of the sale inside. Full price Steve Madden for under $100!! These aren’t Steve Madden BTW but I love them anyway. The little wedge is perfect when you want a little bit of extra height. And the red picks up the colour in the blouse. Top it off with my favourite bangle combo – beige resin and black wood and I’m right to go.

Remember this ensem? I posted this photograph last week as part of the Vogue January review because it was the inspiration behind what I wore on Wednesday. Well actually it was the necklace that initially sent me leaping into the smallest-wardrobe-in-the-world because I have one that is very similar. It was only by pure coincidence that by the time I’d finished working my magic that I realised I’d practically recreated the entire look only without the spots. Not that I mind spots. I quite like them actually but the SWITW is severely lacking in the spot-slash-dot department and I had no inclination to beat myself up over incidentals. Although Forever New was the initial inspiration for my look, I decided to do a Prada and channel Chanel for the day. I’d not long seen the flick, Coco Avent Chanel and was mildly obsessed. I brought the dress from a Jacqui E clearance sale for $50 a couple of months ago and yes, it’s black. But it is a classic and worn as a statement piece so it’s allowed. It’s probably a bit higher in the neckline than the E cups would like, but the empire waist and pencil skirt compensate nicely. My gorgeous orange shoes are new - shhhh! I brought them from the Nine West clearance store for $40.00. Every time I went outside however, I had to swap them for my flats – Chanel inspired of course, because it was raining and I didn’t want my flashy new clogs to get wet. What can I say, I hadn’t water proofed them yet. I topped it off with a cute bling ring – which I managed to get caught under baby cub’s car seat the other day and nearly tore my finger off, and my cut-priced Lucca bag from Strand Bags.

It was a tad cool on Sunday so it was a good excuse to show-off this gorgeous drape cardigan from Fenn Wright Manson that I brought at first site from the House of Fraser, and we all know how much I love the House of Fraser. I’m not kidding when I said I brought it at first sight, although I did have enough forsight to try it on first...then it was love at first sight. Whipped out the credit card without a second thought and haven’t looked back since. I teamed it with a pair of dark blue denim skinny jeans from Sussan that I picked up for $39 and a singlet also from Sussan. I topped it off with Chanel inspired flats and a pair of cute ear-rings I secured for $2 from an accessory store at my local shopping centre.  Will admit my fabulous sister-in-law did enquiry as to my head-to-toe palette of neutral and psuedo neutral colours considering my recent anti-neutral rants, but what can I say?  I don't mind wearing it from time to time, I just don't want to walk into every second store on the local shopping strip and have nothing but neutral for choice.  Know what I mean?

OMG I love looking good. Wonder what this week will bring?

MFSxxx

How to save $220 a month without even trying

No, this is not an advertising feature for the next big u-beaut savings scheme. Like I’d know anything about that! This is a tried and nearly true method to accommodate your next big fashion spend. Although I must warn you, if you are a coffee maker or manufacturer then this is probably not for you. So, there I was a couple of months ago enjoying a good coffee with DH - universal forum speak for “dear hubby” - about my need for a new pair of slacks for work. In an effort to provide a positive solution while still pointing out my insatiable desire to spend, DH suggested I give up coffee and instead put the money toward said trousers. I nearly choked on my regular decaf soy flat white, my coffee combination of choice and stared at him as though he had suggested that I give up shopping altogether. What did he mean give up coffee? Coffee is nothing, a small daily indulgence that was at best a teeny tiny kink in the monthly budget. It had got me through the first three years following BB1 - universal Milla speak for Beautiful Baby #1, and had been keeping me relatively sane six months post BB2. It was my upper in the morning and prevented me from crawling into a corner and falling asleep in the afternoon. Was he mad? After all, I am just your average, run-of-the-mill coffee drinker. Two a day on most days, sometimes one, very rarely three. At an average of $4.00 per coffee, it seemed inconsequential in the grand plan at the time of purchase. Then I started to do the sums.

$4.00 a coffee is $8.00 a day: $56 a week: $224.00 a month! Oh my god that is a new pair of shoes and a clutch from Wittner right there. He was right.

I decided to test this and drop my coffee intake to one cup a day. Using my theory of averages, I put the remaining $4.00 into a jar each evening. Within 4 weeks I had saved over $150 and paid off BB2’s glamour portrait collection I‘d commissioned on credit (!) the month before. Not only was I surprised at how quickly the dollars mounted up without even knowing it, but I was shocked and speechless when I realised there were days I didn’t drink coffee at all!!! I know, can you believe it.
So the next time you reach for that loyalty card, just remember. If you stopped drinking coffee and put $8.00 away every day and you did this for 12 months, then that gorgeous hot pink quilted chanel handbag could really be yours.