January was an … interesting month. I worked a ton during the first 2.5 weeks (enough to basically hit my entire, increased monthly billable target), then high-tailed it to Mexico for the last week and a half. Somewhere in there, I also dealt with the flu (which hit all of us, thankfully in a mild form, right before our holiday). So, you could say that it was all a whirlwind of activity. [Doing nothing on a beach counts as an activity, right?] As a result, I didn’t do much shopping.

Well, “much” by my standards anyway. I went thrifting a couple of times over the tail-end of the holidays, and then hit the retail stores once before the trip to stock up on beach essentials. And I bought exactly one thing on eBay, kinda sorta by accident. All told, I bought 10 items, which … sounds like a lot, I know. In my defence, 6 of those items were things I “needed”  for my vacation, because my closet features a distinctive lack of beach-appropriate wear. [Go figure. The last time I hit a beach was nearly 5 years ago.] Anyway, the whole lot cost me $156, which is really not that bad.

On to the details.

This was my eBay impulse buy. I thought it could make a nice work dress (under a blazer), with the bonus of (a) not being a floral pattern, and (b) featuring the black/white/blue colour scheme I seem to favour these days.

As I mentioned, I hit up the outlet mall before my vacation to pick up a few extra “essentials” (a pair of 5-inch printed shorts and 2 lightweight, cotton tees); altogether, they cost $31. I also got a one-piece swimsuit from Winners for a very reasonable $26.

The rest of the stuff was all secondhand (either consignment or thrifted), and I can’t find photos online of any of it. Sorry! Some of these pieces you’ve already seen, some you’re going to see very soon.

• Zara chunky cardigan (seen here and here) – I love this thing, and it’s definitely turning into one of my casual wardrobe staples. Well, well worth the $7 I paid for it at Goodwill.
• Lida Baday black-and-white print dress –  Lida Baday is a Canadian designer brand that retails for thousands of dollars in some cases. I don’t know how much my dress cost originally, but it’s made in Canada, and that is surely worth $7. It has a square neckline that makes me a little bit nervous, but I’m planning to try it for work anyway. If I end up hating it, I won’t feel too bad about donating it again.
• Tie dye maxi dress – I can’t decipher the brand, but it’s supposedly made in the USA. For $7, a bargain. It’s made out of super soft and comfortable modal, and I wore the heck out of it in Mexico.
• Desigual dress – another $7 Goodwill find. I know Desigual is a popular brand with some people, but the stuff I’ve seen always struck me as a little on the, hmm, kooky side. This dress does look a little bit dated to me, but I liked the colours of the print and figured the style would be appropriate in Mexico. While I enjoyed wearing it on my vacation, I may end up giving it away because I can’t imagine when I’ll wear it again.
• RACHEL Rachel Roy striped top – I actually don’t have many striped tops, and have been missing them in my wardobe. This is a heavier t-shirt material (almost sweatshirt-like), which will be perfect for work. I paid $23 at consignment.

Linking up with Franish and the budgeting bloggers.