The Shopping Diaries (4th of July Special): TJ Maxx, Nordstrom Rack, J. Crew, GUESS, Bath & Body Works

Hey all!

It has been about six months since I've last posted anything on this blog ><. I know I'm such a terrible blogger but I hadn't been inspired for some reason. I don't know. I feel like I'm going through this odd phase of not really knowing what I want or what I want to do in life, even though I enjoy fashion. I am attempting to get an online associate's degree in fashion merchandising from SNHU, so hopefully by taking these courses, I'll feel something that'll help shine a light on the path I want to take :). There are other personal reasons that have been plaguing me, but let's not get into that.

I must say that I have to give myself a pat on the back for not shopping in over a month. I would've liked to have extended that but the sales were absolutely RIDICULOUSLY good for the weekend holiday. The first two items were bought by my mom, but the rest was bought by me. Let's get into it! 

White Laser Cut Cover-Up: This was something my mom saw and thought was super cute (hence the reason why she bought it for me). To be honest, I don't go to the beach and I haven't swam in at least 5-6 years. This is supposed to be used as a cover up for your swimsuit, but when I tried it on, I thought I could still wear it with some leggings or a nude slip. I think this is a great, airy summery dress, especially for Hawaii weather. The cutouts are really delicate and feminine, which is something that I usually don't gravitate towards, or at least right now. It was originally $40 and TJ Maxx listed it as $24.99. The brand is Solitaire Swim.

Palm Island Shea Butter Soap: Once again, my mom found this and saw that there were two, so she got me one ^^b. The reason why she got these soaps was because the scent was freaking amazing! The scent is Grapefruit Ginger and while I don't like to eat grapefruit, it works as a soap. When I smell this soap, I think of a luxury tropical spa, a perfect setting for Hawaii I think! This was originally $10 and listed price was $4.99.

Embroidered Black Bralette (TOPSHOP): Nordstrom Rack was having their Clear the Rack sale, which was amazing because you got an extra 25% off of red-mark clearance items. So of course I had to check out the long lines of sales racks. Because I'm such a big fan of Topshop, I'm always subconsciously searching for their items whenever I'm here. Was I ever so surprised to find this bralette AND in a size 2! I definitely remember this from last year, but hey I have no problem getting it more than a year later for $11 (say wuuuttttt?!?!?). Yes, you read that correctly! This was originally $40, then was on clearance for $14.97, and with the extra 25% reduction, it was $11.34. I couldn't pass up this great deal hehe!

Hazy Floral Print Top (TOPSHOP): This was another amazing find that I almost missed. I had just gone down one side of the rack and thought that was it, but then quickly realized I had another section to browse and that's where I found this top. There was a sheer lavender floral peplum top that I was tempted to purchase too, but as a size 4, it was a little flowy and loose, which I wouldn't have minded, but I got a second opinion. That's all right because to be honest I felt more strongly about this top rather than the other. This was a size 4 and this too was much more flowy but it wasn't as loose. Another reason why I couldn't pass this up because it was exactly the same price as the bralette. This was originally $44, reduced to $14.97, then extra reduction to $11.43!

Black Straw Hat (J. Crew): I've been on the look out for a chic black summer hat to protect my face from the harmful sun rays. J. Crew was having an amazing sale. I usually don't go into this store because it's quite pricey, but they had an extra 50% off on their sale items. I must say there were a lot of cute items that I would've loved to take home with me, but I was able to resist. Plus, I was with my mom and she's a real Debbie Downer lol. Anyways, this hat was on sale for $24.99 (orig. $34.50), so this meant I only paid $13.40 tax included for this hat! I was incredibly happy and now I own something from J. Brand hehe :P

HW Bleached Cutoffs (GUESS): I went into Guess the previous week and my eyes immediately zoomed to this pair of shorts. I just really loved the bleached effect and I already knew that Guess high-waist shorts were the perfect pair of sexy-cute without being desperate if that makes any sense. Plus, they covered the bum, which is the most important part! I hadn't purchased it then, but I did end up getting it! I consider these mid high-waist because you can still see the belly-button, so I need to pair it with some mid-length crop tops to balance it out since I don't like showing a thick band of stomach. If it's just a sliver, then that's fine for me :).

Simple White Wallflower Burner Plug (B&BW): My last stop was at B&BW because I needed another wallflower plug since mine had burned out. I think that's the one annoying thing about these things is that they easily burn out after using 4-5 wallflowers. That's about how long mine lasted. I don't mind repurchasing these because I think it's a better way to scent your room instead of using candles (tho now I have a butt-ton of candles that I still need to burn lol). I don't mind burning candles every now and then, but having to not worry about fire hazards is really convenient. I was tempted to buy the cute plugs with the sailboat or koi, which were $8.50, but I figured if these don't have major longevity, there's really no point. I love simple white items so this was perfect. I had a 20% off coupon off one regular priced item that my mall was having for the weekend, so I applied this to my purchase. The simple plugs are about $4.50, so I ended spending $3.60.

Here ends the shopping haul for the weekend. This was an eventful 4th of July weekend if I do say so myself. I went to the driving range for a bit and spent the rest of the day in Kailua to wait for the fireworks display, which was really lovely. You can catch a video clip of the fireworks if you click onto my instagram. Then the next day was shopping with my mom. The day after that, I saw How To Train Your Dragon 2 with my dad. While I wasn't into the first movie (actually I never make it past 10 minutes), I thought this was really good. There were some heart wrenching parts that I wasn't expecting, although for the first half hour or so, I kept on thinking how did Hiccup lose his foot since I never finished the first movie lol. But overall, great movie.

I do hope to continue blogging. I had prepared some other pictures for future posts, but never got around to it. I'm hoping now that I'll be inspired to post more. And if I'm feeling really adventurous, I may post in my cooking section if this one recipe that I'm going to attempt to try works out! I won't say what to keep it a surprise, but if it fails, I'll mention it in a future post :P

Thanks for reading!

Lauren

The Shopping Diaries: GUESS (Part 2)

Hello again! Sorry for the delay in uploading this post. I got totally engrossed in a book that many of you will probably know of. I'll definitely be mentioning it in my August Favorites which is soon to come. But for now, let's continue with the GUESS haul!

Miss Deer Tee: I had bought the Mr. Bunny Tee when these first came out at $39.99 and I just couldn't help getting it right then and there because it was a bunny motif. I should've waited because they still had the Mr. Bunny Tee in my size and I could've paid only $20.99 ><. Oh well, coulda woulda shoulda as they say. I decided to purchase the Miss Deer Tee since I had thought this print was cute too. Although....I just realized it now but this deer can't be a female because it has antlers and only male deer have antlers right? Lol, it's fabulous Miss Deer then!

Hi-Lo Print White Tank: I had picked this out randomly from the rack because I do like prints with people looking carefree and such. Plus, I was liking the overall purple haze. It really is long on me since I'm short and I actually wasn't going to get this until the guy at the register said that I needed only so much to reach $300 and get the $100 reward in return. So in all, I was duped into getting this but whatever. It makes for a cool tank and I don't have one that's super long like this.

Black Textured Shimmery High-Waist Shorts: Like the top, these shorts are from the Tiesto collection. Items from the Tiesto collection seem to be club-inspired and sexy yet not obscene lol. To be honest, these are borderline cheeky but I think I can get away with it because I can pull them down just a tad bit without it looking like I have a saggy...center. Also, due to the material being quite fitted, it's important to wear seamless underwear or else you'll get those unsightly underwear lines.

Bolo Tie inspired Gold Topaz Necklace: I ended up having to get this necklace because I had to cover the $300 mark line since after ringing up the Tiesto tank, the manager gave me the $20 off discount which made me $10 short. Luckily I found this cute necklace that was the perfect amount (they had an extra 50% off on jewelry that was already on sale, so from $25 to $9.99). I like the simplicity of the topaz square and the flat gold chains dangling from it. Once again, it's another piece that I don't have in my closet, so I look forward to styling this with some of my white tops.

Like many other people have mentioned, this year is going by rather quickly from some reason. Thus, be on the lookout for my monthly posts: Monthly Gram, OOTM, and Favorites!

Thanks for reading!
-LAUREN

TSD San Francisco Edition: UNIQLO, H&M, Snidel, GUESS, Forever XXI

Finally another shopping haul and this one comes especially from San Francisco! Now, I usually go crazy when I go shopping but because I was with my mom, I had to exercise great restraint as she does frown upon crazy shopping habits like the ones that I possess lol. But despite that, I was able to get away with some great finds!

Basic Tanks and Seamless Underwear: This first batch was from UNIQLO, a Japanese brand which I liken to the Gap here in the U.S. I really like this brand for their basics, especially their seamless underwear, which are TRULY seamless and goes great with leggings. Of course, I had to snatch up two pairs of seamless undies ($7.95 each I think) and I decided to go for some basic tanks that were $9.95 each. I didn't get a chance to try on the tanks since there was a special event going on that was going to close the store super early. The white and black tank fits really nicely and the fabric is great. The more beigey-tone one on the far right is a little more loose fitted but still a great layering piece.

Black Leggings: I was super tempted to buy a whole bunch of things from H&M since it is such a great store, but once again, I was with my mom and had to exercise severe restraint. Instead I picked up two pairs of their black leggings since I fell in love with them when I got pair in Vegas a month before. They're only $9.95 and I think that's great for the quality of the fabirc.

Logo Print Tank: I actually got this as a furoku (付録) from the most recent issue of ViVi magazine from Kinokuniya in Japantown. It was ViVi's 30th anniversary and so they teamed up with Snidel to create this collab item! I've been a fan of Snidel, but never got anything because it was quite expensive. I was surprised at the good quality of the fabric for being a furoku. This tank encompasses one of the trends happening in Japan, which is block print logos with random English words.

White Fringe Sleeveless: Before leaving for SF, Guess had notified me by email saying that they were going to have an extra 50% off of their reduced prices for the Memorial Day weekend. I was worried I wouldn't find a nearby Guess but there was one conveniently at the Westfield Mall down the street. Everything I picked out was on extra 50% off, so I got a great deal. Also, I applied my $15 credit for being a Guess List member to my purchases! This first piece was from their music festival collection. I got it because I love the fringe detail cascading down the chest into a V-shape. Not too crazy about the actual material, but I figured it's a great piece for the the price.

Sheer Black Shirt w/ Royal Blue Trim: I absolutely love this because of how sheer the fabric is. I do have a lot of sheer black shirts, but this is even more sheer and I think you can tell by the picture. What sealed the deal was the royal blue trim on the collar and inside the sleeve cuffs. Yeah you cannot really see it when I'm wearing it, but I may roll up the sleeve cuff to show the underside. Also, the triangular studs for buttons is a cute edgy detail.

Blue Plaid w/ Studs: Except for one plaid shirt that doesn't really fit me well, I didn't have anything like this in my closet. To be honest, when I tried it on, I was on the fence with this, but decided to buy it because it was in my size and it was on extra sale. Plus, if I truly wanted to return it, I could do so at my local store. I think this ended up being one of my favorite pieces from this trip because it did fit pretty well for a plaid flannel shirt. They usually don't look right on me because of the fit, but this was about 90% perfect. Also, I love using this as an accessory piece by tying it around my waist! Then when it gets a little cool during the evenings, I can easily slip this on.

Star Patterned Knit: Now this was in the Forever 21 store; it was in the Forever XXI store. Now for someone like me, I would be like what is the difference? It's the same name but one is in roman numerals. According to my cousin who goes to USF over there, XXI is supposed to be better quality and more classier. I definitely got the better quality part. I saw this knit and knew I had to have it. While I'm not a big fan of star-patterned prints as I believe they look kind of juvenile on me, which is ironic as I got all star-patterned print items for XXI, this seemed to suit me well. I think that F21 knits are, for the most part, good quality and this did not disappoint.

High-Waisted Star Patterned Denim Shorts: This is my other favorite purchase of the entire trip. This is what got me into the store. Actually, the mannequin was wearing a slightly different star-patterned denim short than this one, but I ended up liking this one much better when I found it. I think the trend of high-waisted shorts and pants is super cool and chic, but when it comes to shorts, all the ones that I've tried had been too cheeky for my taste. When I tried this pair on, it was on the verge of being too cheeky, but I found it to be acceptable enough. The fit and quality is superb and I plan on wearing this for 4th of July!

Thanks for sticking around for this ep of the Shopping Diaries. I have a few more to post, so look forward to that!

Thanks for reading!

-LAUREN