Work Place Wares

So I know I haven't posted since February. Fail. But, luckily, I happened upon an article in Slate today that made me want to write. A subject I feel passionate about, Work Place Dress!

You can access the Slate article here,

Braless in the Office

Guidelines for appropriate summer attire.

By Simon Doonan
Simon finds a fun way of addressing this faux pas, but it can be quite distracting and annoying when having to deal with it in the actual work place. I work in an office environment which I would consider to be strictly business attire. We do have days in which we aren't having meetings and such and on these days, we can "dress down", but both types of days find us with different dressing dramas.

As a supervisor and a former intern at my own work, I've seen some horrible sights, 5 inch stripper heels, too much cleavage (really any is too much!), too tight skirts/pants, and even blouses! And, I hate that I even have to say this, but people who wear leggings with a shirt, yes I said that right a shirt. LEGGINGS ARE NOT PANTS PEOPLE!!! Besides, even if you were to wear leggings with a tunic top at work, it would still be unacceptable!! (See this facebook page for the horryifying photo)

At this point you may be saying, "But, Wait. Isn't this blog entitled "Retail Therapy for the Fiscally Challenged?". Why, Yes, yes it is! This brings me to my next point. Often times people come up with a reason for their poor attire choices, even I on occasion! One of the most heard from my age group is something to the effect of, "I can't find anything, businessy (yes I realize businessy isn't actually a word, just go with me on this one!) that is young. They all look like old lady clothes." While this may seem true to a young lady just entering the work force from college but, I contend that it is far from the truth.

In the last decade or so, we've seen an upsurge in retailers catering to this specific subset! Take The Limitedfor instance; they specialize in young, twenty something attire. They are even cornering the market on special events and weddings. More and more merchants have answered the call and more continue to. Ann Taylor Loft has a great selection of separates you can create into almost any look. With all of this, the idea is to not go to work, and have someone think any negative attributable asset to you and your hard work ethic. You want them focusing on you, and you can be fashionable doing it. Just remember friends, despite retailers churning out young business clothes, its all about fit. Please follow these cardinal rules when dressing yourself:

1. Everything should be stream lined, nothing should be bulging out or around, not cleavage of any kind: back front, {okay, maybe toe). If you need help in this category, you should look into appropriate under clothes for the workplace, maybe even some spanx if you need it! Plunging anything probably wouldn't do up top. This also means if it's skin tight, anywhere on your body, don't wear it to work!!!!!

2. If your mother or father would think it risque, no matter how old fashioned their tastes might be, it's probably not acceptable for work.

3. Dresses and skirts are lovely, but go by the catholic school rules: it should touch your knees please!

4. Sleeveless may be okay for some work environments, but nothing with just straps. Also, make sure to bring a jacket, blazer, or cardigan to make it more formal for meetings and such.

5. Reluctantly I say, no flip flops. I love flip flops, and they are so easy to fall into if you have a relaxed summer work environment. But, unless you work in a tanning salon or as a lifeguard they probably shouldn't be worn.

Oops...

Most importantly, use your judgement. If you have to question whether it's appropriate or not, it's not.

Since it's a blog about wanting but not buying, I've included some less expensive ways to dress appropriately this summer!

This green summery dress from Target would be great with a light blazer over it! It's only $20!

Just accessorize with some big jewelry nude heels/flats and you've got a whole outfit! (This Cuff (maybe better in gold) and a colorful necklace?)

We can take this crop pant from New York and Company and pair it with any flowy, non-showing, top to complete the look, again with flats or heels (not sandals!)

Mix, Match, and enjoy, but don't be daft! Use common sense and sport professional fashionable attire this summer! :-)

Shatter

So I didn't even try to not spend $ today. I've had a bit of a stressful week, especially with the addition of finishing my law school essay on top of that and not having my final law school recommendation in yet (its due to be in PA in Tuesday, and it isn't sent off yet!) Needless to say, I just didn't really care. I'm sure everyone has those days where they want what they want, and if you can make it happen, you do it. I took myself out to the local cafe for breakfast for the low low price of $11 and finished my essay before church!

Other than that, I purposely stayed inside most of the day to avoid spending money. There is one thing though that I've wanted ever since I opened an issue of Elle this passed week, Shatter nail polish by OPI. Normally I wouldn't be so lustful over something I pour onto my nails. This polish is special though, You apply it and it "shatters" ending up looking something like what you see above. This nail polish, turns out, was very hard to find. So hard, that after going to over 5 shops last week and being told "it's on back order". I, of course, found myself hunting online for it today. Surprisingly this polish is harder to find than I thought. The price is almost doubled online (instead of less like you'd think), and most websites were on back order too!! I finally purchased it off of ebay for a whopping $14 g (the polish is normally only 7 ish.). I figured since I went to such great lengths to procure it, perhaps someone else would want to too! Here is a video of it being applied. Maybe you'll just treat yourself to this little pick-me-up too!

Paid for Music?!?

Paid for Music?!?

Ever since Napster came about almost 10 years ago now..(wow, has it really been that long?), the question of buying music v. illegally downloading it has been out there. I could sit here and discuss the pros and cons of each, but that may take a while. Instead I'll just tell you that if I have decided in my own heart of hearts that if I feel an artist deserves to be supported, I buy their music. We all know how costly this may get, especially if you are a shopping junky like me!?! I should tell you though, lately I have decided that instead of a being a "shopping junky", perhaps there's just a need to have something new to stimulate my senses on a very frequent basis lol i.e. -expensive coffees (the aroma), new people in coffee shop environments, new clothes (the textures, how they wear, how I feel in them, and of course, new music!

Bla, Bla, Bla...so on my quest to not spend money, yet still be stimulated, I stumbled upon www.rcrdlbl.com . This site posts new music daily, and not the crappy main stream stuff either! They post mostly independent label, some they just like, and others for promotional purposes. The point being though, most of the stuff that comes up on this website I choose to download because it really is good i.e. I would have bought it if I had known about them! Case in point is the band Oberhofer, and not just because there's another somebody out there with a weird sounding Germanish name either... hahahah. You can listen to them here Oberhofer - Away Frm U, here, or here. Even if you don't like this particular group (which is a little hard to imagine because they're AMAZING (pronounced ammmaaazzz-ing), there are a ton of other bands to be aquainted with for free! Happy "shopping"/ filling your senses with new things! <3

New shoe smell

I had gone to the Lee Mass outlets this passed weekend. Needless to say, I didn't do well with the whole not spending money thing. I got a pair of Gap skinny jeans for $21, and a Gap T for $6. I also got a tunic button up sweater and an navy and coral argyle sweater from Tommy Hilfiger for only $16. I didn't do too bad with the prices, and I will really use the clothes, I needed a couple more pieces to add to my closet. They were however spent on my credit card. I will put my hand out so you can smack it now!

I spent a little time today making a budget because of this though and the fact that my little sister is coming to visit, YEAH! I worked it out that I would pay off all of my newly incurred debt and a couple hundred of my old debt and still have money to buy shoes, yes buying something else, namely shoes. You may ask, "Mindy, I thought this was the blog for the fiscally challenged? Why are you buying things?!?!" My response to that is that there are times when to not spend, and there are things to spend on, it's a balance. I recently had ligament surgery in my ankle this passed October and the time has finally come to get back into the gym. I have only been wearing sneakers since I got my cast off, and as such, my old ones were very worn. I have been looking to getting some Nike's with the Plus sensor to track my workouts since they came out in 2007. So this story revolves back around to me going to the outlets! There is a Nike outlet store in Lee Mass. and we went there to look at the shoes and sensors, but we didn't find anything we liked (my friend Raj and I). I was online today and found Nikes at Macy's on sale, plus I had a 20% off coupon, you can imagine my excitement waiting for work to be over to go and get them (especially in this horrible weather). The pictures you see below are my bounty, (the shoes were almost a $100 and I only had to pay $54 with tax!!) my Nike shoes and sensor plus some socks. What do you guys think of the Nike+ system? Would you spend this much or more to get the system?







- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Succulent Garden

So one of my favorite new things I'd like to have in my house and office for that matter, is a succulent terrarium. Then, I saw this succulent garden box, and I swooned! It seems easy enough to make, but as with everything else it takes time and money. What do you guys think about it? Do you think you'd make something like this?

Instructions on how you make it, here.

I think the iphone was a good purchase because now i can keep up with this blog more! Below is a screenshot of my phone (i didnt know it could do that!). Enjoy your day!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I phone 4?

I phone 4? Just for kicks, I posted my almost two year old Motorola Droid on Craigslist the other day for $150, just to see if someone would pay that price for it as I had seen others selling theirs on ebay for the same price, or near there. Luck had it that I had a couple of calls! Deciding on whether to get a new phone or not is tricky business. There are new phones coming out every moment, and as I learned, especially with buying the Droid, the next ones are almost always better than the last these days. There's not too much vertical phone production after the I-phone launched the real smart phone revolution (per-say).

Now, let it be known that I have Verizon, and of course the thought of getting the Iphone four has crossed my mind a couple of times after it came out on the carrier a week ago, being a shopaholic and all. But, there are two really great android based phones coming out as well, I thought about both but I now know only one may come to verizon (the droid Bionic) as At&T snapped up the other (the Motorala Atrix, amazing!!). There's even talk of an I-phone 5 coming out somewhere in June, but, hey, that's a really long time away!

Because I don't like to wait, and I'm tired of seeing all of the apps that aren't available on my android yet, I will pick up an I-phone! Great reason right? lol I also get to video chat with my little sister and sync everything with my mac more easily, but lets face it, I have no real need for a new phone, it's more of a toy than anything! I can justify my new toy purchase because I am selling the phone for the requested price so I'm only spending $50. How do you feel about my new purchase? Is it a wise investment?

Oh so much new, INSPIRATION

Oh so much new, INSPIRATION

I was pretty good in the spending arena this week. I only bought three things that I didn't really need to. One of them was a Starbucks drink of course! That was all I bought in four stores though which I thought was good. Another was this new magazine called ReadyMade. I'm not sure if it's actually new or not, but it was new to me. It is a magazine that shows you how to do stuff; as it says "instructions for everyday life." With my life seemingly stagnated with a directionless abyss of unanswered questions, the ones that used make me sing in the shower not so long ago, this seemed like it was calling my name. Those words seduced me so much that not even a $4.99 price tag would deter me. To encourage me further, as if it were intended just for me, "The Great Escape" was scrolled on the front cover too. The magazine didn't answer my volume of questions, but what it did do is give me perspective. For every goal there's steps to be taken to accomplish it. Every step in a project is done in an order, from first to last, and if you try to skip a step the project doesn't turn out right. In any case, and without getting sappy on you, I'll just tell you about the picture below.

It's GREAT to get organized, but even better to be organized on a trip. This picture seemed so idealistic. That your whole life could be fit snugly into a little suitcase...whether it's actually true or not, it sounds so perfect. So check out the magazine and the how to's in it that go with this pic!

The only other thing I got this week was a vera bradley make-up case for all the make-up on the go! <3 Getting more things done and spending less...this was a step in the plan :-)

The PERFECT Bedroom!

The PERFECT Bedroom!

All the pretty things just imagine them together in a room w. hard wood floors, floor to ceiling windows, and the summer sun streaming through :-)
DON'T FORGET THE WALK-IN CLOSET :-)














Everyone needs a little light in their life...
What's your perfect bedroom style? Does it include all the trimmings? What color would it be? Our bedrooms are where some of our most intimate moments occur. They're where we wake up everyday to greet the morning; kind of an important place! Even though we can't all afford the perfect bedroom, put something near your bed to remind you of how great being able to say hello to every morning is. Whether it's a daily affirmation or a vase of flowers, you may find your days getting a tiny bit sweeter. Treat yourself; you're worth it!

Ahh..Monday

Ahh..Monday

Trying to not think like a consumerist today. It helps that I have other forms of entertainment as I do with my cable, dvds, keyboard, and all of the other "hobbies" I've picked up along the way. I went to the mall on Saturday and actually didn't buy anything besides a venti soy iced green tea latte at Starbucks with some madeleines. They were really good. It's proving harder to not have Starbucks than it is to not buy new clothes. I closed three of my retailer credit cards today. I didn't need them and didn't need the lines of credit open. I have a great credit score, despite the fact that I have a lot of credit out, I always pay on time; what can I say? It never hurts to make sure your credit situation looks the best it can though too. I also lowered the maximum amounts on the rest of my credit cards so I didn't have so much revolving credit out.

I used to think it wasn't a big deal when I opened a retailer card and they gave me a $1,000 limit (as if any one person should spend that much at Victoria's Secret anyway!). The problem is that you shouldn't have the maximum amount of revolving credit out for you even if you have good credit! I think learning about credit, credit cards, banks, and money handling in general should be a part of your high school curriculum. Isn't knowing how to manage money part of being a good citizen too? That and empathy. Empathy should be the foundation of our society. We need to help each other, capitalism is great, but without empathy, what's the point? What makes America so great without the person in line who pays for the single mom's groceries; the teenager who gets out of his seat to give it up for an elderly person? Perhaps if we had more empathy, we'd have less national debt, less shootings, and who knows what else? Who knows.

So there's my consumerist rant. Even a person who looooves shopping can recognize it isn't the most important thing, nor does it actually make you feel better for more than a couple of days. I hope it's not just me who realizes that spending $70 on make-up could feed 7 people, or more, a warm meal. It's just good to not forget our fellow man in this consumerist society. I wonder what would Kerouac say about all this? Any thoughts on this friends? Do you ever feel buyers remorse when shopping, not for the money but for other people...(even for groceries, food's so expensive these days!)

So, perhaps, I should stay out of the mall.

So, perhaps, I should stay out of the mall.

I was a lil' bummed about the world this week, so my friend and I took a little trip to the mall. I suggested we go into Sephora just to see what was new there. That place is kind of like a grown up girl's candy store, with all of it's glitz and glamour, promise of making a better you, and toys galore.


100 different perfumes, 600 different types of eye shadow, make-up tools, and wims-and-doodles...isles and isles. You can always find a problem you can fix there. I'm half out of foundation powder, "What can I do about this?" Well we have 12 different powders in just your shade! Oi, never going in there again with my credit card, that would violate the girl scout oath of preparedness I took when I was little. Even though I'm not little anymore, if there are big girl candy stores, there should be big girl oaths of preparedness! Needless to say I managed to spend $70 on a new bare essentials starter kit

After that, as buyers remorse wasn't sitting in yet, we made a stop at the Gap, where they were having a sale for another 40% off things I picked up this awesome lace back sweater, and another top for a grand total of $22 wowness!


Oh, did I mention that before we went to the mall we hit up starbucks for a Carmel Macchiato? Yeh, I did really well sticking to the goals! We'll there's always tomorrow to start a new one. I was planning on going to the free day at the Mass MOCA, and to rent a car to get there, add into that gas money and food etc this weekend it wasn't going to be fiscally pretty to my wallet. So I decided to curb that and stay home. One good decision can beget another, in the meantime I can use my new make-up though! :-) Happy non-shopping!

Retail Therapy for the Fiscally Challenged...a new blog.

Retail Therapy for the Fiscally Challenged...a new blog. I am the queen of eating my feelings and shopping to make myself feel better. This year, however, I plan to go to law school and I can NOT be spending an inordinate amount of money and my fruit tarts, knick-knacks, and generally pretty things that make me happy...um, almost every time I go out! Yeh, i know bad right? A $5 magazine here, a $40 dollar Starbucks addiction a month, etc. etc..it's not a pretty world; well it is, but not for my bank account.! HaHa! So as I cut back; I'm not going to forfeit my obsession for pretty things. The plan is that I'll be just refraining from buying everything I want, on credit or otherwise, by posting on here what I most want :-) Feel free to post what you want but can't buy too, we are in this together!!

So here goes!

I really love things to organize and decorate my home, I don't know if I would ever be happy not getting things and constantly rearranging my spaces. I <3 <3 <3 BOOKS! So ergo, anything having to do with books or book accessories is UP MY ALLEY! <3
Like these bookends from CB2


I love this chair for my desk:


I think it would really go well with my bedding set I have from Martha Stewart:


What do you think? Is the Chair too green for the bedding set? They have a similar floral pattern so I was thinking maybe?!

Ugh I could so go for a Iced Venti Green Tea Soy Latte right now! But, alas, it's literally 0 outside, plus the no spending thing...!

What did you find today that you thought you needed?