Earlier this month I went shopping with my Mom. I was only intending on buying new dishes but ended up with a pair of shorts and a pair of pants as well. The dangers of Marshalls, ha ha! I had been wanting a couple new pairs of shorts to add to my Summer rotation and this pair by Splendid are perfect! They're a really soft linen blend and have the fun paper bag waist detail, just on a smaller scale.  They do wrinkle fast so I look a bit disheveled in the photos, but what can you do?

Floral Tee: Urban Outfitters, Short: Splendid Arabesque Cargo Short in Antique Military Olive (Marshalls), Sandals: Ancient Greek Sandals 'Athanasia'  in Croc (Moda Operandi), Bag: Marc by Marc Jacobs 'Natural Selection Mini Messenger Bag' (Saks Fifth Avenue), Sunglasses: Gucci, Necklace: BubuRuby



Alsooooo, for you ice cream lovers out there - I was introduced to a new brand this week, Art Cream Ice Cream! They sent me a couple of their ultra-premium ice creams - made with clean ingredients and certified organic milk and cream from a herd of cows in Wisconsin. The brand was founded in 2018 and they focus on happy cows, happy people, quality, community support and creating art!

The ice creams are produced in small batches in “normal" flavors like Chocolate and Cookies & Cream (their best-seller,) plus creative options like Saffron Honey Lemon and Cardamom; 9 tasty options as of right now.

What I love about this brand is the mix of art and flavor. Each flavor has a different container with a painting created specifically for that flavor profile. As a graphic designer I really appreciate this approach to packaging, it makes them so much more fun and unique!

My verdict: Both the Indonesian Vanilla Honey and Cookies & Cream were really good! I think the Vanilla was my favorite, super refreshing. I personally like a higher cookie concentration in cookies & cream but it was delicious as well.  The ice cream is also nice & smooth, no grainy texture that you sometimes get with store-bought.

Select stores in CT, MD, NJ, NY, VA and DC - soon MA & PA - carry the brand for $8.49 a pint. I’ll definitely be trying some of the other flavors this Summer!

P.S. My ice cream scoop is the Midnight Scoop. I got it through Kickstarter 4 years ago, it's amazing! 

I've been trying to get photos of this outfit for weeks. I wore it one day and Christian and I were too lazy to take photos so I wore it again another time and STILL didn't take pictures. Finally I wore it to go to my parents for dinner so I could have my Dad take them. Yay backup photographers!

Cardigan: J.Crew 'Harlow' Star print cardigan,  V-Neck Tee: Everlane, Jeans: M.I.H. Jeans 'The TOMBOY' (Net-a-Porter), Sandals: Ancient Greek Sandals 'Clio', Sunglasses: Gucci

Another frequently worn Summer piece making an appearance this week. We had a SUPER warm day on Memorial Day weekend so I wore this to a family get together where I also got to meet my new nephew - my cousin's baby (yes I looked it up and I can call him that or first cousins once removed.) Last year I bought a second of this dress so I can wear that when this one disintegrates from too much wear. 

Dress: ELLE Poppy Zip Up Dress (Kohl's), Espadrilles: Sam Edelman 'Lars' (Net-a-Porter), Sunglasses: Gucci, Necklace: Mom's

This is one of the outfits I wear multiple times in the Summer. My fun printed Sea New York pants and one of my 2 Everlane tees in this color plus a pair of sandals (Exhibit A, Exhibit B.) I wear the pants with other tops too, but this is the most common one. It's so easy and comfortable I can't get enough. I wore this a couple weeks ago when friends from out of town were visiting and again the next day so Christian could take pictures, ha ha. You can see our adventures on Instagram.

Tee: Everlane 'Cotton Box-Cut Pocket Tee', Printed Pants: Sea New York (The Outnet), Sandals: Ancient Greek Sandals 'Athena' (Gilt), Sunglasses: Gucci

I was pretty good this month and only bought 1 new thing. Finally bit the bullet and bought that floral camisole dress I mentioned a couple months ago for $7, it didn't arrive yet so hopefully it fits! I've been watching it since last August, so I figure it was a good buy since I couldn't stop thinking about it, ha ha.  I also used advertising money for it so that's good too, it wasn't "real" money. ;)

I did also buy 2 Disney shirts for myself and Christian but I'm not counting those since it's Disney-only or PJ wear. Hercules is one of my favorite Disney movies and they had a Megara and Hercules shirt set for $10 each! They didn't have our exact sizes so mine is a little bit and Christian's is a tiny bit tight, but who cares.

In fun house news, we've been living here for a little over a year now (a year and nice days) and are finally getting around to things we've been wanting to do. We've started our vegetable and herb garden and got natural gas installed on Tuesday! We actually had planned on waiting a couple more years before doing the natural gas conversion but we were forced into early action thanks to an oil tank leak. But we got a super low interest loan (only paying $500 in interest if we pay over the full 10 years) and now we don't have to worry about oil anymore! YAY! Not sure what's next for the house, but we'll start saving up for whatever we want to improve on in the coming years.

THE (modified) RULES

1. Be mindful of purchases 
2. Quality over quantity
3. Basics are best

MY PROGRESS 

Clothes:

1. Autumn Cashmere Landscape Intarsia Cashmere Crew ($240, retail $440, used Christmas + ad money)
2. Sandro burgundy double breasted blazer ($36 via Roundabout Resale, retail ~$500)
3. Massimo Dutti white wool blazer ($19 via Roundabout Resale, retail $130-$250)
4. Rag & Bone 'Jackie' purple leather trimmed wool jacket ($32 via Roundabout Resale, retail $495)
5. *NEW!* eight sixty floral camisole dress ($7 via eBay, used ad money)
   

Basics:

1. J.Crew Tissue Turtleneck ($5, retail $30, used gift card)
2. J.Crew Ribbed flare-sleeve turtleneck ($8, retail $45, used gift card)
3. J.Crew Midrise skinny jean in velvet ($10, retail $80, used gift card)

Shoes:

1. Lanvin Studded Suede 'City' Sandals ($60 via The RealReal, $790 retail, used ad money) 
2. Lanvin Studded Leather 'City' Sandals ($60 via The RealReal, $790 retail, used ad money) 

Accessories:

1.  None Yet

Gifted from Brands:

1. None Yet
   

Total spent in May: $0

Total spent in 2019: $86.57

I bought a super cute picnic basket at Good Will last month for $5 and Christian and I finally used it for a little picnic.  For this first one we did a super simple one, maybe next time we'll have fancier food. But you can't beat a $4 foot-long sandwich, right?

Dress: Jones New York 'Jasmine' giraffe print  (Lord & Taylor), Sandals: Malu c/o Marshalls, Picnic Basket: Good Will, Glasses: Kate Spade Saturday