This outfit is a perfect representation of my Sunday visits to my parents’ place (which is where I wore it): brunch outfit on top, chasing-the-kids outfit on the bottom. OK, so this is kind of a half-baked outfit, but I’m 22 days into this never-ending challenge, and I’m trying my damnedest to not turn this into the blog version of Valium. If you’re laughing, chances are you’re still conscious.

Anyway.

Can we talk about my hair? Again. I know. But, you guys, I’ve had a real life-changing experience. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve heard me blathering about this ad nauseam a little while back: I discovered sea salt spray. Yeah, I know: sea salt spray is, like, so 1995 or whatever, but I didn’t have the internet or wavy hair in 1995 and I do now, so – there! My perm is fine and all, but it still needs some help to look, well, less I-accidentally-jammed-my-finger-in-an-electrical-socket and more … intentional. Beach wavy.

More like this.

Also, with less poof:

A few peeps asked about which products I use, and I have a very un exciting answer: I use a cheapie drugstore spray from Fructis, which costs a whopping $3. One, I hate paying a lot for beauty products I’m not sure will work. Two, I am cheap. Period. The spray I’m using works just fine, so I probably won’t upgrade unless I find a killer deal on a better brand at Winners. The only downside is that it does seem to dry out my hair, so I have to be careful about how much – and often – I use it. Which isn’t easy because I’m basically addicted to it. Mermaid hair in a bottle! Moar, please!

This outfit is made of, like, 75% guilt. First, the blouse. I really shouldn’t have bought it. It drives me batty. I added it to the 30 x 30 line-up in order to try getting my money’s worth (all $6 of it) before chucking it at the end of the summer, but I may not be able to wait that long. Oy vey! Second, the bag. It is a perfectly nice bag. In fact, I liked it so much, this is the second one of its kind I have. Sadly, nowadays, I rarely use it anymore. Guuuuuuilt. To compound the guilt, this one was a present from my parents, so I feel squicky about selling it. Moar guilt. And then we have the necklace I bought on impulse and have worn exactly 2 times in 6 months. Pile on the guilt. Sigh.

Oh, but there is one thing that I don’t regret: buying these Levi’s cropped jeans. I thought Levi’s made jeans for old men but, clearly, I was wrong about this (as about so many other things, #letsnotevenstart). I really like the cut, and I wish I could find it in a regular, black pant version. Oh, how I wish! In the meantime, these jeans will do just fine, thankyouverymuch consignment gods! As I walked over to our customary picture-taking spot, my husband was, like, “Whoa! That is a fine looking pair of jeans, right there!” Or something to that effect, only somewhat more explicit. He may not have been, in fact, referring to the jeans at all. Ahem. Per his request, we took an extra pic. Let’s humour him, shall we?

And now let’s never speak of this again.

We are 2/3 of the way there, you guys! And when we get to the end of this blasted 30 x 30 challenge, let’s burn allllll of these clothes, yes? Just kidding.* They’re not that bad, and although I am pretty bored of most of them, I’m not, like, light-a-bonfire bored. In fact, I’m still positively crazy about some of them – these loafers, for example. Who woulda thunk it? They’re surprisingly comfy (not usually a fan of shoes with such a high vamp), and they even more surprisingly versatile. I just have one quibble: the quality.

For made-in-Italy shoes (supposedly), the quality has been a disappointment. I am fairly careful with my shoes, and these are no exception; I’ve worn them less than 10 times, for no longer than 2-3 hours each time, and there are a couple of spots where the patent leather has chipped. I don’t recall banging my feet into concrete walls or having an unfortunate grocery cart incident while wearing these particular shoes, so I’m guessing this would count as regular wear-and-tear. The chips (for lack of a better word) are not very noticeable but I don’t think they’re fixable either. I paid far below the retail value for these shoes, and I still consider this kind of unacceptable; I’d be downright pissed if I had paid the full price. Harumph!

* Except for this blouse. This one’s definitely getting the funeral pyre treatment.

Note: For those of you who are newish readers, and feel inclined to read my blatherings on topics other than clothes – which, particularly as this 30 x 30 challenge progresses, are apt to get tedious – feel free to check out some of my old Friday Flashback features. These were posts I wrote eons ago on a now-defunct blog, and re-published on BCRL in 2012. You can start with this one. Or this one. Whatever floats your boat. And do let me know if you enjoy them – I occasionally miss writing proper posts, and if y’all would be game, I may just get back into doing it … kids permitting.