This Summer has been all about neutrals for me, it's strange that I have been wearing mostly navy all season long with bits of red and black thrown in.  I guess it's like the saying goes, if it's not broke, don't fix it!  On this particular day I left my house without any jewelry on, not even my usual rings, it was a crazy morning. Luckily for me, when I got to my parents house I had a package from Serendipity and Grace waiting for me with this fun bracelet and necklace! A fortunate stroke of serendipity, if you'll pardon the pun!

Tee: Everlane Shorts: Zara, Sandals: Ancient Greek Sandals 'Alethea' (also here, here & here),   Bracelet c/o Serendipity and Grace, Necklace c/o Serendipity and Grace


Serendipity and Grace have also offered to give away a piece of their jewelry to one lucky winner in the United States! You'll be able to choose any piece you'd like from the S&G Jewelry collection. Use the widget below to enter!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

By now everyone has heard of Groupon, the deal-of-the-day website that features discounted gift certificate. They recently started a new section, Groupon Coupons,  a collected and curated group of 55,000 coupons and promo codes from top stores.

When I shop I NEVER check out without searching for coupon codes so Groupon Coupons is a regular stop for me while I'm shopping.  You can search by store, my usual method, or by category to see where the best deals are. They also separate into three categories: Sales, In-Store Offers and Promo Codes to help you narrow down even further.

Let's say I want to get some new makeup at Sephora. I'll check out the Sephora coupon page at Groupon to see the current offers and narrow down to promo codes:

As I scrolled down I saw what I wanted: a Free Bareminerals Duo Sample With Kabuki Brush. I don't use foundation much, so this is a good way for me to try out a new product.
Next I added what I came for to my cart, add the coupon code and get my other free samples with my order! A great way to get more bang for your buck! Easy as pie!

I am constantly window shopping and looking for pieces I would love to add to my closet. Lyst is a great way for me to organize those finds and keep an eye out for sales. From Isabel Marant to Saint Laurent, Lyst partners with over 12,000 brands so you're sure to find all your favorite designers and discover some new ones.

The more you use it, the better it understands what you like and what you don't so you never see brands you don't like and find more you will love. You can also follow people to see what they are adding to their Lysts, and they can follow you.

One of my favorite things about the site is when anything you've lysted goes on sale or comes back in stock anywhere you can be notified! That means you're made aware of sales of your favorite items even if it goes on sale at a store you've never heard of! Score!

In addition to an ever-green lyst of products that are new for you from all of the brands you love, there's also a dedicated editorial site - The LongLyst - that includes interviews with the fashion elite and those in the know as well as exploring the history of the world's most popular garments and an exploration of trends.

I've created my dream Wish Lyst for what I would love to add to my closet this Spring/Summer. I'm constantly adding more pieces, there's just so much to go through. I could look for days, weeks really...ha ha. Not good for a shopaholic, but I was never very good at resisting window shopping. View the full lyst here, and a teaser below. Apparently I'm very into prints and crop tops this year.

This is my version of dressing down, the closest I'll get to wearing sweatpants. These awesome new Puma's are so me. Any time you make something purple I will automatically want it. For their first outing I styled them pretty basic: jeans + hoodie; a throwback to my younger years. Hopefully I'll be brave enough to try them with a skirt or something to dress them up a bit, but I'm not sure I can pull that off.

As a fun side-story: I have only worn sweatpants out in public once, not counting going to and from gymnastics practice, and that was due to extreme circumstances. I was in college, it was midnight, very snowy and my roommate asked me if I wanted her to take me to the 24 hour Walmart to buy Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on DVD. She had promised to take me the day it came out and figured there was no time like midnight, ha ha! So off I went in the snow in my sweatpants and Emu's.

Tee: Everlane, Hoodie: American Eagle Outfitters, Jeans: Current/Elliott (The Outnet), Bag: Marc by Marc Jacobs (Saks Friends & Family Sale), Necklace: House of Harlow c/o South Moon Under, Shoes: PUMA c/o Kicks USA


Thanks to my sister for taking these photos!

Once again my outfit plans were foiled by the weather! This weekend I went to South Moon Under's 1st Anniversary event with Lydia. I was hoping the weather would be nice (aka not raining or snowing) so I could wear my fun printed Carven skirt (seen here) with a tee, suede jacket, tights and sandals to show off my second Orox Leather Co. handbag! Unfortunately, it was flurrying/raining all day and really cold, so I had to resort to wearing a dress with an over-sized sweater and I look a little dumpy...not pleased.  On the plus side, I had gotten my hair done on Thursday night at a party and was amazed to find that it wasn't totally ruined by Saturday morning, so I let it have one more day before taking it out and washing my hair, ha ha.

Other than that, the day was great! I broke a promise to myself and bought a pair of pants (only $23!), had some Chinese food for lunch and finished reading The Cuckoo's Calling.

Back to the bag. How adorable is this Merces Petite purse Orox Leather sent? It's made of the same leather as the laptop sleeve I shared on Friday. It has an adjustable double knot shoulder strap so you can wear it short or as a crossbody. There is even a little sleeve compartment inside perfect for storing a cell phone (my iPhone 6 fit great!)

Dress: Diane von Furstenerg (Coco's on the Green), Sweater: Inis Crafts (Marshalls), Boots: Grandma's, Rings: old, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Lumo 'Violet, Lumo 'Rope', Bag c/o Orox Leather

Today I'm featuring a beautiful piece from Orox Leather Co., based in Portland, Oregon. Orox sells a full line of American made bags, belts and small leather goods, crafted by hand in their Portland workshop. They use only the highest quality, American­ sourced leather and other sustainable materials. Orox is a proud leader in sustainable consumerism, standing by their low­ impact production process and quality US made products that will last a lifetime.

We love handcrafting exceptional leather goods that last just about forever. Perhaps the only thing that makes us happier is seeing our products well used, cherished, and passed on to the next generation. As a fourth generation family business, we’re in it for the long haul. We’re very excited about 2015: creating new products, discovering new materials, and sharing our vision and craft with more people around the world.

Orox kindly sent me their Macbook sleeve in tan to style for the blog! I chose it because it can do double duty as a clutch, which is how I will use it most of the time! You can tell the piece is skillfully handmade, the quality is excellent. I can just picture this a few years from now, beautifully worn in and weathered from lots of love.

The leather was giving me a Ralph Lauren-esque feeling, so I decided to style it with a Lauren Ralph Lauren dress. Unfortunately it was REALLY cold when Lydia and I met up to take these pictures so I improvised and turned the dress into a top and wore it with jeans.

Make sure to come back next week when I'll be featuring another bag from Orox!

Sweater: Ami Dans La Rue (Shopbop), Dress (worn as shirt): Lauren by Ralph Lauren (Lord & Taylor), Jeans: J Brand 'Maria High Rise Skinny' in Supreme (Gilt), Necklace: BubuRuby,  Rings: old, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Lumo 'Violet, Lumo 'Rope', Sunglasses: Ray-Ban 'Erika' (Ditto), Bag c/o Orox Leather

Let's talk about closet clean-outs. No one likes doing it because the process takes a long time and you have to part with pieces that may be sentimental. But, what if you could give your clothes a new life AND get gift cards to your favorite stores for trading in your unwanted pieces? That's exactly what luxury fashion trade-in service Material Wrld wants to do for you! Some background information on the company is as follows:

Material Wrld’s mission is to create an ecosystem where we can enjoy shopping quality products with the comfort of knowing that each item we chose to buy can always find a new home. We are reinventing the shopping experience for consumers and retailers alike by making it as easy to trade-in as it is to shop new, while extending the fashion lifecycle of high quality pieces and reducing its environmental impact.

Material Wrld makes it easy for busy women to instantly refresh their closets and shop new at their favorite retailers and brands, including Bloomingdale’s, Saks and Barneys.

Our complimentary trade-in service with high-touch concierge offerings and upfront retail partner gift cards make it seamless for our customers to:

• Refresh their closet and make space for new clothing 
• Extend the luxury fashion lifecycle and reduce its environmental impact
• Do Good While You Shop: MW matches a percentage of each gift card offer as a contribution to your charity of choice.

I tested out the easy three-step process and am pleased with the outcome. My only issue was the accepted brands. I realize items need to be super luxury, but I only had a limited amount of designers to send in. This won't be a one-stop trade-in for most people, but definitely a good choice for those higher end designer pieces! If you want to try it out for yourself sign up through this link or use code MEGANB989 to get an extra $25 on your first trade-in!

Three days after my items arrived at their destination I received an offer of $119, they would take 6 of the 12 items I sent in. Not bad! I knew I was DEFINITELY going to lose money on some pieces, but that's the price I pay for being blinded by labels/pretty clothes and buying them even though I know I'll barely wear them. Here is the breakdown

• Burberry Dress (Vintage Purple Pleated Long Sleeve Dress)
  OFFER: $25 
• Miu Miu Blouse (Purple Floral Print Cotton Shirt)
  OFFER: $16
  
• Jean Paul Gaultier Top (Beige Red Floral Print Camisole)
  OFFER: $15
  
• Proenza Schouler Top (Deep Purple Pleated Short Sleeve Knit Top)
  OFFER: $28
  
• Theory Dress (Purple Tiered Sleeveless Ponte Dress)
  OFFER: $15
  
• Salvatore Ferragamo Skirt (Vintage Umber Orange Suede Flare Skirt)
  OFFER: $20
  
• Marc Jacobs Denim Jacket (not accepted)
• Valentino Knit Camisole Top  (not accepted)
• Marc by Marc Jacobs Dark Navy Tee  (not accepted)
• Marc by Marc Jacobs White Print Tee  (not accepted)
• Equipment Purple Blouse  (not accepted)
• Balenciaga Pants (not accepted)

FINAL OFFER: $91
(rounded up to $100 because I chose Shopbop and they only give gift cards in $10 increments)

In the end I decided to keep the Proenza top because I still like it and can make myself wear it. Maybe in a few more months I'll be willing to part with it for the $28 (assuming I get the same offer a second time.) I was unsure about letting go of my Theory dress since I still think it's really cute, but I only wore it twice, so in the end had to let it go. Hopefully it will find a new owner who gives it more love than I did.

I also decided to donate one of my pieces rather than having it sent back to me, this way Material Wrld can donate it to Dress For Success or Goodwill. They also match 1% of each fashion gift card’s value in donations to a deserving charity.

What's really great about this process is that even though I gave up items they will have a new life and a new owner rather than ending up in a land-fill. Material Wrld call this "extending the fashion lifecycle."  See their illustration of that idea here:

image via Material Wrld

To learn more about their charitable work and why you should trade-in, visit this page.

After accepting my offer it took 2 business days to get my gift card emailed to me, easy as pie! Can't wait to spend my gift card at Shopbop, going to think long and hard about what to get so I don't end up trying to sell it in a year or two. The items that were not accepted are due to be returned today. After all is said and done the whole process from sending in items to getting them returned will have taken 8 days.

All in all, the process was simple and I got a fair price for the items. I wasn't expecting big money because the pieces I sent in were quite unique. While I may have made more money selling the items myself on eBay, the ease in which I was able to get rid of the items through Material Wrld is worth losing a little bit of cash, if only to get the items out of my closet sooner.

Enjoy this quick video I made showing the process! 


As a farewell, here are some photos of the pieces in action (except the JPG top which I was never brave enough to wear)

We may be in the dead of Winter (with more snow than we need in a lifetime) but that doesn't mean we can't get prepared for Spring. FarFetch has done some of the legwork for us and created a guide for Spring/Summer shoe trends! They have created a set of cards to share the basics on the top trending shoes, below are a few of my favorites!


They have also done some of the hard work and created a few outfits based on trends. Want a Seventies style outfit? Or perhaps you're looking for a sportier look? Have no fear, FarFetch is here! (had to do it, sorry) I would gladly add any of the following shoes to my wardrobe, all available at FarFetch: