Spending Birthday Money

A month ago yesterday, I hit the quarter century mark.  Some people freak out about this, yet in the grand scheme of things, my life is (I hope!) still in its earliest stages.

We celebrated my 25th with a big Cubs win!
From L-R: my 2 roommates, me, the boyfriend, and 2 good friends from Purdue. 

I'm not a mother, not married, but I do have a select few grey hairs.  This, in all honesty, is a relief.  The select few part is what makes me happy; my dad was salt-and-pepper around my age and his sister was completely grey in college.  I got their bone structure (ugh- save this one for another day.) but thankfully not their follicles.

Yesterday I finally spent the first half of the birthday money from my grandparents.  Well, I didn't want to see all of it disappear so I used half and then supplemented it with some additional funds from my checking account.  And yes, it took me a month to decide how best to use the money.

The truth of the matter is that I need more work-appropriate shirts.  Please don't assume I'm currently rocking cleavage-displaying, midriff-baring tops (gross!), as I assure you I'm not.  I'm actually quite good at handling the options available in my closet-- pairing a knit tee with a pencil skirt, skinny jeans with a floral top and blazer, turquoise skinny pants with sandals and a cardigan-- but I need more preppy, conservative no-brainers.  I need more button-up shirts.

Carly at College Prepster gave me the nudge I needed to browse my favorite retailer for (first and foremost) the adorable girls' necklace that will be a fun addition to my 4th of July ensemble.  From there I decided to see what color options in the Perfect Shirt were available on sale-- it's birthday money, I want to s-t-r-e-t-c-h it as far as possible!

For under $200-- including taxes and shipping-- I managed to snag the following finds:

The necklace that started it all - Girls' Bead and Star Necklace in Modern Red

Women's Perfect Shirt in Mini Gingham, in Lemon Zest

Women's Stretch Perfect Shirt, in Casablanca Blue

Women's Stretch Perfect Shirt, in Cerise

Now I'm just trying to be patient while my new presents arrive at my apartment :)