Allie's Visit

I love it when my sister comes to visit! Most of Allie's trip was centered around Claire's birthday festivities. Of course, she was also amazingly helpful with unpacking and just generally tending to our crazy kids. She even watched the girls one evening so we could got out to dinner and adoration. But probably the highlight of the week for me was hitting the mall with my favorite shopping buddy!

I haven't purchased a lot of new clothes since getting married. At first, we were on a really tight college student budget and then, well, I've been pregnant twice! So now I'm left with a pretty limited wardrobe, especially when you get rid of everything that doesn't fit anymore or is covered in spit-up stains. Which is exactly what we did while Allie was here.

Adam and I give each other a $50 per month (or $600 per year) clothing budget. We're really trying to focus on purchasing quality items that will last a good long while. Last year, I spent most of mine on maternity clothes and then after Maggie arrived in October, I got a pair of brown leather boots. Oh, and I also got a purse with some birthday money!

So I had a few months of clothing money accumulated and was willing to spend a few months into the future too, since its not every day that my favorite shopping partner is in town. Here's what I ended up with:

- A pair of AG jeans on sale at Anthropologie

- A black A-line skirt from Ann Taylor Loft

- A green pencil skirt from Banana Republic

- A blue sweater from Banana Republic

- A striped top from Banana Republic (free with rewards)

- A red top from Target (free with a gift card)

- Two shirts from Everlane

- Sandals from Madewell

- A belt from the Gap

- A nightgown on clearance at Soma

- And pajamas from good ole Victoria's

The grand total was $400, which is two-thirds of my clothing budget for the year. But I don't think that's too terrible for twelve items. I'm hoping to hit the mall again around my birthday in late May. I really want to look cute for our summer vacation and, of course, the Edel Gathering! I only have one swim suit and we're spending a week at the beach, so I think I could definitely use another. I'm still on the hunt for nursing friendly dresses. So tricky. I tried on a bunch of wrap dresses at Banana but they seemed like a recipe for disaster (or at least embarrassment) with a toddler around. This one from the Gap looked really promising online but was not at all flattering in person...

I'd definitely gotten myself into a rut of feeling like a frumpy mom of two little kids. I may have two kids, but I'm also only twenty-four! Now I actually feel like it again. In the personal care department, I'm on a mission to actually take good care of my clothes by washing them separately and not putting them in the dryer. I also ordered this exercise video and I'm super pumped about the idea of combining working out with praying the rosary!

Our Costco was selling Essie nail polish a few weeks back, so I picked up a set of dark and light pink to replace the ones I've seriously had since high school. It's kind of inspired me to spruce up the rest of my make-up stash. Most needed is definitely some powerful under-eye concealer! I was really impressed with Dwija's recommendation the other day. My postpartum hair loss is in full swing and now even more apparent thanks to wood floors, so I'm thinking about chopping it off again. It would force me to actually style my hair instead of throwing it up into a ponytail...

I feel super vain talking about clothes and make-up and hair for some reason, but I also believe that taking care of myself really helps me to serve my family better.