I’ll say your camisole was a sprightly light magenta, when in fact it was a nappy blueish-grey

I’ve been planning to use that title all month, as it has been lifted from the Decemberists song July, July. I’d been trying to come up with a good outfit for it, and now, as we say goodbye to July, here it is.

It actually cooled down quite a bit today - A lovely 75° without humidity - which meant I could straighten my hair for the first time in weeks. And get away with wearing jeans.

These turquoise pumps are newly thrifted, and a result of my bringing the brown flats in for donation. I can’t say no to a $3 leather pump, especially in a color I’ve been looking for.

The white jeans are a purchase I made when I stopped into TJMaxx to return something. I’m really bad, I know! But they were only $13.

I haven’t worn a watch in years, and the thing about this one is that I really can’t read it. Not very well anyway. It’s more about the look, and I was quite enthralled with it.

Here I am piling on the turquoise again – I guess this can be color of the year look part two.

Do you think I have enough turquoise shoes now?

The Rundown

Top, Jeans, and Scarf  TJMaxx - Shoes and Belt Thrifted - Broaches and Watch The Cavernous Jewelry Box

Call it luck, Call it OCD

Sometimes I have trouble letting things go. Like a certain pair of sandals. As soon as I got it into my head that I wanted those Jeffrey Campbell Splendid sandals, I was on a mission.
Of course at $120 they were out of my price range, and I then spent hours and hours trying to find the cheaper alternative. Nothing would quite measure up.

Nordstrom has them for half off - $60, however they only had sizes 10 and 11. Still, out of stock doesn’t mean forever and so I began checking the Nordstrom page daily and wishing for my size 8 to appear.

I also went for my old standby, the ebay saved search. Yesterday morning when I heard the lovely little ping of the email, I saw an auction for the Splendid. Buy it now of $74, opening bid of $50, $10 shipping. Normally I like to wait until the final seconds to bid, but I was worried someone might want to use buy it now, so I bid.

At 1 pm my iphone chirped and a message from ebay told me I’d been outbid. I was a little crushed, there was no way I’d be getting into a bidding war with some dumb person who doesn’t know to wait until the end of an auction to bid.

So, for the third time in 12 hours, I checked Nordstrom.
There they were. Size 8. Size 8! I had a mini heart attack and dove for my credit card. (why haven’t I memorized that number yet?) I imagine those were only in stock for a grand total of 30 seconds.

I’ll admit the shoes are still a bit pricey, even at half off – especially after sales tax and shipping, but sometimes I’d rather spend a little extra to get what I want than to settle and always be a tiny bit regretful.

The estimated arrival date is August 10th, so until then, I’ve got some other shoes I need to be wearing, like these printed flats.

I had thought that it might be cool to pair them with a black and white printed top, but sometimes the obvious choice is the correct one, and I ended up wearing white, peach, and orange.

I wasn't feeling very photogenic today, so I took my accessories off to photograph them.

The Rundown

Top Avon - Skirt Gap - Belt NY&Co. - Shoes Old Navy - Earrings Taken for Granite - Bracelet Kohls

And now, for what you all really wanted to know: the winner of the $60 CSN Stores Giveaway is AKing! Congratulations!

Greek Lion

This weekend I managed to finish my Greek Key Marie skirt, and knew right away how I wanted to style it - all gold and white with this great statement necklace from the cavernous jewelry box. This morning however, one of my gold wedges was all wet, and I had to choose the yellow flats instead.

The reason my gold wedges were wet, is because last night, at about 9pm, I suddenly decided that needed to wash my silk shirt I wore over the weekend. It says dry clean only on the tag, but here's the thing - I've never dry cleaned anything. Ever.
So I washed in in the sink with some woolite and hung it up; stupidly over my gold wedges, and all night long water dripped on to them. 

I won the Lion Belt on ebay, and I like him a lot!

The wedges aren't leather and are perfectly fine now that they've dried, so I put them on for a photo just to show how I wanted the outfit to look:

Last week Shelly Ann at Painting the Memories passed along a question tag to me, so here are my responses:
1. What is your all time favorite tv show?
How can I choose just one? Can I have one for each genre? Seinfeld always, always makes me laugh, no matter how many times I've seen it. Buffy was my life in high school, Now I love Doctor Who, Burn Notice, and True Blood...
2. What show reminds you of your childhood?
David the Gnome was my favorite childhood show.
3. If you could be on a show, which one would it be?
White Collar, with a make-out scene with Matt Bomer!
4. Which character from any show would you choose to be your best friend?
Fiona from Burn Notice. We could share shoes.
5. Which character from any show would you choose to be your significant other?
Joe Dubios from Medium, because he's the best husband ever.
6. Which tv character do you feel like you relate to and why?
Occasionally Monk, I can be a bit OCD and persnickety at times.
7. If you could pick one show to make a movie, which one would you choose?
Gilmore Girls, just because they left me high and dry with Luke and Lorelai never getting together.
8. What, in your opinion, is the worst tv show ever made?
Any reality show is a complete waste of time. I kept hoping people would get bored of them and they would go away...

I also want to thank Melissa at Oh My Darling for sending me the cute bird pocket mirror; did I mention I loved birds, and your paislely card goes perfectly on my dresser!

The Rundown

Skirt Made by Me - Top TJMaxx - Shoes MIA (and Onex Wedges) - Necklace The Cavernous Jewelry Box - Belt Ebay

I felt a hush fall quietly from my spark

There was quite a lighting storm last night; huge bolts every ten seconds for several minutes. It was very late and I was trying to keep awake to see it. Thunder frightened Chloe, and she tried to find refuge under the covers, but I suspect she found it far too hot and left abruptly.

Friday I wanted to wear shorts to work in the worst way. I even put them (the tweed, very trouser like ones) on, and contemplated it. I think it probably would have been okay, but I didn't really feel like enduring any sort of commentary from anyone.

The Rundown

Top TJMaxx - Pants Gap - Shoes Kohls - Necklace Macys - Earrings Kohls

I went with my pinstriped pants instead and wore my brown flats from my challenge. The verdict is in. They are not comfortable and they are going. There is no point in keeping a flat that hurts your foot.

To satisfy my shorts craving, I wore them all weekend.

The Rundown

Top J.Crew - Shorts Gap - Sandals Naturalizer - Bracelet Gift

Forever 21 is offering a free shipping code. This is one of my greatest weaknesses as I hate shopping at the B&M locations -they are always such an unruly mess- and I hate paying for shipping.
In the past, I've gone overboard, and regretted my purchases. This time, I had such excellent self restraint. I put 20 things in my cart and then kept deleting until I setted on the one I wanted most, this bird print top:

Today had more stormy skies, and I held out, hoping the rain would stop and I could get a photo with some nice rim light.
Not so much. But at least the rain stopped.

But I did wear this new top. I loved it on the hanger, but now that I see it on, I'm not so sure. You can totally see my bra though the lace. Either I need a really gorgeous racerback bra, or something that would work layered.

The Rundown

Top TJMaxx - Shorts Made by Me - Sandals Onex - Earrings Taken for Granite

Have you entered to win a $60 Gift Certificate to CSN Stores yet?

Shoe Style Challenge

In part due to my recent obsession with finding the perfect pair of platform sandals, I got to thinking about all those boxes littered throughout my closet and room, of shoes. Shoes I'm not necessarily wearing. And I couldn't help but to feel a bit guilty about needing to bring more into an already crowded space.

Some are old, and were well worn during their heyday, but have never once been on this blog in the nearly two years I've been at it. Others have been worn once or twice and are in need of more love.

I have to do right by my shoes. Even the flats that I adored at the time, but am now ignoring in favor of heels. They need some lovin'.

Here are the players who have never seen the pages of the blog before:

Navy Fortune Cookie flats by Sugar (a B-Day gift from my Mom in '09)

 Pink and Orange print flats from Old Navy (a tiny bit narrow for me, hence lack of wearing)

Brown flats from Kohls (My sister bought these, but then decided they hurt her feet, so I took them. They aren't terribly comfortable.)

Floral sandals by Chinese Laundry (I adore the print, but I have trouble creating outfits that won't compete with a printed shoe)

Yellow fringe sandals from Target (These were $5 and a means to a free shipping qualification end, it wasn't love, it was convenience)

Navy eyelet flats from the Gap (They were really cheap?)

Olive lace flats by Rocket Dog (my very first pair of ballet flats, and very well loved once, but not so much anymore. I loved them so much I got a second pair in cream, but then didn't really wear them.)

I'm not going to give myself a specific time line, just to get them worn. Today, the floral sandals:

What to wear with pink, but pink of course!

Throw in some green, some yellow, and a second floral accessory...

My little blazer that hasn't gotten much wear yet this summer works as both a second pattern and a neutral and is perfect for the office (which has been surprisingly less chilly lately)

The Rundown

Dress TJMaxx - Blazer Macy's - Earrings and Bracelet Made by Me - Ring Kohls - Sandals Chinese Laundry

Have you entered to win a $60 Gift Certificate to CSN Stores yet?

CSN Stores $60 Gift Certificate Giveaway!

**Now Closed **

I'm pleased to announce a giveaway for a $60 gift certificate sponsored by CSN Stores! They have such an expansive inventory - from shoes (my favorite) to dining room furniture! You will certainly want to win this one!

I spent way too much time browsing their site, and here are some of the things which caught my eye:

Pictured clockwise from center:
Alessi Mediterraneo by Emma Silvestris, 2005 Fruit Bowl
Knoll® Platner Dining Table
ET2 Carnivale Crystal Chandelier in Chrome
Carlos by Carlos Santana Courage Women's Sling-Back Sandals
Alessi Replacement Bird Whistle for Michael Graves Kettle
  
To Enter:
Visit CSN Stores and leave a comment with what you would chose if you won. You must leave your e-mail address so I can contact you if you win (you can space it out to deter spammers).

Please note CSN Stores only ship to the USA and Canada

For Additional Entries
Leave a separate comment for each of the following:

• Follow Chic on the Cheap via Google
• Follow Chic on the Cheap via Bloglovin'
• Blog about this giveaway
• Re-Tweet this giveaway

The Giveaway will end July 29th at 11:59 am, est
Good Luck!!

The Cavernous Jewelry Box

This morning at while at work, one of my coworkers came in my office and told me I'd better clear off my desk -- he had something for me. So I promptly stacked my copious amounts of papers and shoved my keyboard and mouse off to the side.

He said he'd come into about a million pounds of costume jewelry, and that it was all mine, if I wanted it.

So here is the Cavernous Box, mirrored and filled to the brim.

Chloe is interested...

The contents are quite varied, but their previous owner definitely had a penchant for bling.

There are at least a dozen huge cocktail rings:

Huge broaches:

Statement necklaces like nothing I've ever seen:

About 20 pounds of clip on earrings:

(I have no idea what I'm going to do with all of these, I'm sure there is some crafty application, but there are just so many!!)

Here are some of the quirkyest:

And some of it is understated and elegant:

Really old, really real gold bangles:

The first thing that jumped out at me was this bracelet, and since it went with my outfit, I put it on right away!

The Rundown

skirt f21 - top dkny - sandals onex - belt thrifted - ring etsy - earrings dava - bracelet The Cavernous Jewelry Box

Perhaps a jewelry giveaway at some point? 200 followers maybe...?