The rule of thumb for taking pictures anywhere near the Tidal Basin during Cherry Blossom season pretty much amounts to "Oh, are there no people over there? TALLY HO!"

P.S. - And I didn't wear these shoes the whole time. I love my feet too much to torment them so, lol.

Sometimes you wake up on Sundays completely lightheaded and can't even do 10 min of yoga without feeling so nauseous you want to die, so instead you throw on the least "real" pair of pants you own, no makeup, and just hope for the best.

My hashtagglamorous life folks, where I'm apparently wearing leggings as pants.

I also think my head looks funny in baseball caps, so I may need to find a better way to distract people from the acne scars I give myself because I'm impatient.

When you feel like you're in the midst of a Winter that will never end, one of the things the Internet tells you to try is seasonally appropriate outfits in brighter colors. Guess what? I might love this outfit but I'm STILL REALLY SICK OF THE COLD. I'm even getting bored of myself at this point, which is why I made my way down to the Tidal Basin where there aren't really any Cherry Blossoms but plenty of tourists to stare at the weirdo person taking pictures of herself.

And, as much as I love the overall look, I'm not sure OTK boots like this are for me. I'm not sure if it's because I went the affordable option (no regrets!) but these always end up as something I have to fidget with constantly, and that is not my life.

So, this trench (or coat, or whatever else you want to call it). I actually bought it from ASOS years ago, after stalking the Everlane Swing Trench - which is a beautiful piece and responsibly made,  so if it's in your budget I recommend the original. BUT, originally what drove me to look for a replacement is that I just wasn't positive Everlane's version would fit me. I'm still not in fact (in less they want up to an XL), because a Large that covers sizes 8-10 is just not a large in my book.

I guess all that is to say never forget to take a little look around the internet if you love something - you might be able to find a version that's made just for you :).

So to go along with my clothing resolutions this year I'm going to try - try - to do semi-regular recap posts, where I talk about how things are going and what I've successfully added to my closet. First up (clearly, lol) is the Jan/Feb transition, where I went from a strict no-buy to (hopefully) thoughtfully purchasing some new things.

I'm not going lie to you, January was hard. There were a lot of post-holiday sales and the fact that I'd decided that THIS was the month of no shopping irked me. But you know what? I made it. I did a lot of online shopping, added pieces to my carts, and walked away. If they were sold out when I went back to the site, then I had to just accept that it was ok. I was/am determined to figure this sh*t out, and not just keep being dissatisfied whenever I look at my closet.

When February came around I had a few things on my wishlist, but probably not in the most organized fashion. I'm still not in the place where I can methodically list out exactly what my wardrobe is missing, but I was able to feel my way through and make some decisions on what I wanted to try. And nothing everything I tried I kept, but I found a few things I really really enjoy.

1. Winter Outwear - It might have taken me most of the winter season, but in January is when I decided I didn't have a coat that went with the "feel" of my snow boots. Yes, I know how that sounds, but there's a type of more rugged outwear that in my opinion is more versatile and appropriate when one is in the conditions that call for snow boots, and I didn't have them. Thankfully Extra Petite has been talking about serious winter coats for a while, and due to her post about Eddie Bauer I was able to get not only a packable mid-weight option, but a serious with-faux-fur-hood coat.

2. Pants - Pants were probably the thing I wanted the most, and shockingly was the easiest thing to find. I picked up two pairs of black pants - some casual linen joggers along with a pair of cropped business slacks - and they're both high-waisted and awesome. On the denim front I wanted to try on a lot of *not* skinny jeans at different rises, and I ended up splitting the difference by finding one pair of high-rise skinny jeans, and a pair of mid-rise boyfriend jeans (similar).

3. Gray Sweater - I talked a lot about my gray sweater hunt a few posts back, lol, but I did end up buying one in February, and it continues to make me very happy (similar).

4. Buffalo Check Wrap - I'm not sure if this should be put in the accessories category instead of clothing, but since it rides the line and I forced myself to wait until February, I'll put it here. I admit this was slightly a blogger induced obsession, but it was moderately priced and does exactly what I wanted, so we're going to call it a win (similar).

5. White Dress - Now I admit this was a sudden "splurge", because I had no particular need/want for a white dress going into February. But sometimes a piece just gets you, and while I'm working on making my wardrobe more cohesive, I don't want to do it at the expensive of sometimes buying a piece because you feel wonderful in it.


And I think that's it! March is another no-buy, which despite January's success I think is still gonna suck, but here we go!

As part of my quest to find the new "me" (haha, lies, just a new closet) I was determined to try some different fits of denim. I'm a mid-rise skinny girl 90% of the time, and in most cases that's because everything else makes me feel like all you see is VBL. And while I'm a big proponent of to-each-their-own, that was not the look I was going for.

And then walked in these super high rise from Lucky. I like to wander through their stories because I actually fit most of their denim pretty well, but these surprised even me. I felt both vintage and classic, which is exactly what I wanted - plus after cutting off the bottoms I got the raw hem in their too.

All in all this was a super simple look that I felt fantastic in. Winner!


Fit Note: Part of the reason these jeans works so well is the low stretch. I'm wearing a size 14/32, and actually cut a few inches off the bottom to get the look I wanted. I also cut out some denim reinforcement they had on the inside of the knees, behind the distressing.