BEST SHOPPING TRIP EVER.

I headed into Anthropologie yesterday after a trip to the DMV. I had an Anthro gift card burning a hole in my pocket & knowing it was Tuesday a.k.a. "Mark Down" day, I kept my fingers crossed for a good find.
I've had amazing finds at Antho before:

- The dress I wore to see She & Him was originally in the $200 range. I paid $19.95.
-High-waist seersucker shorts: $9.95 (Not sure what their original price was)
- necklace: $9.95 (I think this was a $70 purchase originally)
-sweater: $9.95, priced $89.95. It is my FAVORITE sweater. Love it.
-blouse: $9.95. Not sure of retail price.
-skirt: $29.95, originally $99.95.
I also have different knobs on every cabinet door. I snagged each one for around $2-$3. Plus I used my birthday month discount on them. They typically retail for $6-$15.
I also have found other decor items marked down considerably. I got my sister a cute porcupine and men's soap for my brother for Christmas one year.  I'm sure they were both under $10.

 Yesterday I had my best Anthro day EVER!

I found one dress by Burlapp (The Blurred Shape dress, $168) on sale for $19.95. Well, that was the amount I had on my gift card. Then I found a dress by Maeve that I had my eye on since early this year. Obviously I wasn't going to plop down $148 for it. I would however pay $29.95 for it. ;)  I walked out of that store with 2 dresses for $30 out of pocket. They are beautiful, classic dresses. I wore the Blurred shape dress last night & felt incredible. It's a beautifully made dress. I can't wait to wear the Maeve on Sunday!

The Burlapp dress on the right, Maeve on the left. Cute, right??

It's taking time, but I feel like I'm building a cute and functional wardrobe by finding pieces on sale at Anthro. I also found a very fun website called Effortless Anthropologie. It's an incredibly thourough "fan blog" essentially of Anthropologie's goods. I've never been much of a "clothes hound" or worried about my style (as evidenced by my early high school years). Since we've moved out here I feel like I need to step up in my wardrobe! I have more inspiration here and I see so many beautiful outfits (especially at church, you kids dress beautifully! ;) ). I'm excited to add to my wardrobe. For the first time in my life, I'm having fun with clothes!

Have fun shopping!

Inspiration: Moulin Rouge Part 1

Inspired by one of my favorite websites: Design Sponge Online, I thought it would be fun to make my own "Living in..." . This is a feature on their website where they take a movie & find furniture, clothing & accessories that fit in the theme or feel of the movie. If I had it my way they would do a Moulin Rouge! Living In. I'm sure their version would be 900x's better. However, I was feeling slightly creative today and took to Polyvore and create my own over the top looks.

Moulin Rouge! came out 10 years ago (!) & I saw it for a very simple reason. I'll give you two words: Ewan McGregor. I actually choked on my ice as he began to sing for the first time. After that I was totally smitten. This movie is polarizing. Either someone loves it or hates it. I fall firmly into the love category. It helped to define my Senior year of high school & parts of college. The music is beautiful, the scenery is, as they say, "a treat for the eye".

Being that it is such a lush, romantic and richly colored film, I had to go over the top with the outfits. I would never put all of these things together on my body. Unless I was going to a screening of Moulin Rouge! I also tried to stay within a budget of either a girl going to prom or someone like me picking out an outfit for a fancy date. All of the jewelry is under $20. The red dress is only $50.99 on Amazon and the lace number is $96.99 on Amazon.

I decided with the furniture to just have fun. If I were to do one room in my house Moulin Rouge! style, it would have to be our master bedroom. We have a pretty small space & I'd like to make it a little more romantic. Our En Gedi as Mark Driscoll says. Since Anthropologie appears to be doing an "India" theme at the moment, I went to their site first. If only I could really shop for my family on Anthro...

Here's a few from Modcloth which is a super swell little site:

I'll finish up tomorrow. I'm having such fun searching!