Take A Shopping Math Journey With Me.

You might think I'm just trying to influence you with my "stuff I want" picks but I'll have you know, I influence myself ALL THE TIME. Probably more than you know. Like, I was poking through the blog looking for something and scrolled down this post and was like, OH. I forgot about this KULE bag and now I might need it immediately:

It's got a cool-casual Vans summery thing going on, right? I dig it. Except I linked it back in January and now here we are in May and haha that stupid cute bag is completely sold out. It's also kind of small and expensive. Oh, they have a bigger tote:

I actually do need a big tote for the days I go into the office because currently I'm all strung about with a lunch bag, a small computer backpack, and a purse like some kind of office building pack mule. Anyway, I like it but it doesn't fit on the shoulder, it's $198 and it's striped, not checked. The heart wants what it wants, you know? The heart also wants it to cost less money. So I go a-searching. I find this:

Woof. I love this. It's leather and real cute but I'm not sure it can handle the level of crap I need to hoist up to my office and also, it is...not cheaper. No, it is not. It is actually, like, a lot more. It's $287 more than the KULE tote. Good God. So I keep looking:

Oh! This is so cute and it's got leather handles and a crossbody strap and it's $150, so I'm saving $48 if I get this one. Plus, it's handmade by women in Kenya, which is so cool. My only worry is that it's not structured enough but I like that it's got that Vans checkered thing going on, but slightly different. Huh. Hm. I wonder...

HaHA. And now we come full circle. This one is, you guessed it, by Vans and it costs $55 so I am basically getting it for $7 when you use shopping math. (What do you mean, that's not how math works? Shopping math is is different from regular math. It's easier and more fun.) Anyway, I bought this one because it's big and cheap and really cute. It'll also probably weight 800lbs when I put all my crap in it and I'll end up mad all over again but what can you do. 

Outfit of the Day: I Got One Pair of Shoes.

Hello! I'm back wearing real shoes which is great. What's not great is that I have, like, one pair of work-appropriate shoes because I have to wear very supportive, stiff sneakers and I refuse to wear my stupid Hokas to work. So, my Birkenstock Bend Low sneakers are my only option right now. I like them but only having one pair of shoes to work with is really limiting. I spent some time trying on all my clothes to see what worked and came up with a few options:

Here I'm wearing my Lululemon On the Fly On the Fly pants (discontinued but the Athleta Brooklyn ankle are similar), a Madewell tee and my Quince sweater blazer. It's a pretty comfy look but still feels vaguely work-appropriate. 

I bought this crazy Veronica Beard Empire blazer on The RealReal  (available on Poshmark and a good deal here on TRR if you're a 12!) and I love it but it's kind of a lot, right? Heh. I am wearing it with a black COS tee, dark denim Madewell jeans and my new Anthro necklace which is such a fun way to un-boring a black tee. 

Okay, I only have one pair of skinny jeans these days but I still like them and wear them! I don't care what the youths say, they're still good. (This pair is older Madewell, of course.) I'm doing a sorta monochrome thing and wearing them with a navy silk Quince top, my Everlane oversize jacket, and my new Clare V Grande Fanny. It's a weird bag, but I'm enjoying it. 

Finally, I'm wearing my Birk sneakers with the dreamiest dream of a dress by  Veronica Beard. Unfortunately this dress belongs to Rent The Runway who is now dead to me because they freaking suck. When you do the monthly rental subscription you can buy items at a discount and they were offering this dress for 40%. For weeks it was 40% off but when I decided to buy it, they'd dropped it to only 20%. Yes, 20% off for a used dress that had been in the rental rotation for nearly three years. They refused to honor the previous price and I had a tantrum, cancelled my membership and sent them back all their shit. I am still mad about it. I wanted that damn dress. Ugh.  

This was not a story with a happy ending but I'm hoping I can find it on Poshmark or The RealReal and seriously please slap me if I ever try to join RTR again. The End.