Rate My Look- Inspired by Brittan

Today was an absolutely fabulous day, and I'm not talking about the British sitcom. I started off my day by picking an outfit to wear out with Gigi- we had plans to get our nails done at a little salon in Portsmouth. I pulled out a dress that I haven't worn since last summer and felt instantly inspired:

Dress: Target

Shoes: Burlington Coat Factory? I think...

Sweater: Old Navy 

Bag: Michael Kors via Marshalls

Ring and Earrings: Stella and Dot

Remember Brittan and her fabulous polka-dot dress with the citrus-y accouterments? Well, she was truly my inspiration for this outfit. I wish it was exactly the same color scheme as hers, but sometimes you need to make do with what you have. In my case, I had the polka dots and I had the citrus-family colors. Rather than the lemon and tangerine she sported, I had just a splash of lemon with a bit more of lime and grapefruit. Overall, it works and it's a super fun, bright, spring-y outfit. 

My mani/pedi with Gigi was also great and afterwards we had a nice afternoon shopping in downtown Portsmouth. She went home with several new pairs of shoes. I went home without a single new purchase, but it wasn't because I didn't find anything fabulous. On the contrary, I found several super fabulous items, but all of them were selling for a lot more than I was comfortable spending. For example, take a look at me in this AMAZING hat: 

I LOVE IT!!! It's like a super chic version of a mad hatter top hat and I had a lot of trouble leaving it behind. At $158, it would have been a major splurge. Maybe I'll go back in a few weeks and see if it's on sale. I have to say, this hat would be worth every penny and if I were made of money, I'd have snatched it up in heartbeat! I found it at an adorable little shop called Puttin' on the Glitz where there are dozens of equally fabulous hats as well as gorgeous handbags and tons of jewelry. The hat itself comes from Cha-cha's House of Ill Repute, but I would caution you against clicking that last link unless you are prepared to either drop a few hundred dollars on some amazing hats, or to have your heart broken because you can't drop a few hundred dollars on some amazing hats. Seriously. 

After leaving behind that amazing hat, we stopped in to a few shoe stores, another serious weakness of mine. I found these incredibly comfortable and incredibly chic sandals:

Sorry for the poor quality of the photo.  We were in the "outlet room" at JL Coombs when I found these babies. (P.S. How cute does my pedicure look?) Heres a better photo of them from Zappos: 

Pikolinos Gomera, Zappos, $155

Super fabulous, right? And the most amazing part about these wedges is that they feel like they are flats! It's magical and I really don't understand how it's done. They felt so amazing on my feet, I nearly purchased them. At $155, even buying them in tax-free New Hampshire was still out of the question. Although, much like the hat, I believe they would have been worth every penny. I suppose that was the theme of the day- finding absolutely fabulous items for around $150. 

Do you ever have days like that, when you wish you could buy really nice things, but you know your budget just won't allow for it? The shoes were of course far more practical than the hat, but still not entirely necessary. It's hard to walk away from something I know I will wear a lot, even more so than walking away from something a little impractical, but that I absolutely adore (like that hat)!

I may have gone home empty-handed in terms of shopping booty, but I still had a wonderful girls' day with Gigi and that is really what matters. Time spent with loved ones- friends, family, etc. is so much more important than any pair of shoes or mad hatter top hat. Don't you agree?