Virtual coffee: Playing dress up, one month of budgeting, and some fun links

Hello friends–we’re at the end of week 2 in our home over here and I’m just looking for any semblance of normal. Toward the end of this week I found myself clicking through my favorite blogs hoping for some frivolous content, so I have decided to craft some myself. Because the rest of my relationships have gone virtual, may I introduce: virtual coffee hour.

For some context, in my research I study emergency management. So the last two weeks have been a lot. I know many people are talking about coronavirus on their blogs/Instagrams and that is totally understandable because it is a lot to process and worry about. Because I’m doing that in my day job, I really don’t want to do it here. If you need a bright spot on the internet, I will try to do my best to contribute. Here are some distractions I have been loving this week.

Playing dress up

I am really missing my clothes! What to do when you can’t leave the house? The weather has been spring-perfect so I decided to do a photoshoot of outfits I would love to be wearing. This involved putting on makeup for the first time in two weeks and was really fun, I would recommend! All the childlike ways to pass the time that I’ve seen on Instagram have made me smile this week–so many full adults building living room forts, coloring, and doing puzzles. I am adding dress up to the list!

This Brass dress will be perfect all summer, but I just couldn’t wait to try it with sneakers. This outfit feels ideal for hanging out in the cute part of town to grab coffee. Oh arts district, I really miss you.

I am still doing a 20 in 2020 (or trying to) but, knowing that small businesses are struggling right now, decided to place some orders for items on my wishlist sooner rather than later. I got a few Brass items in last week and they have all been total winners! Highly recommend the company if you’re looking for small businesses to support right now.

White wide leg pants have also been on my wishlist for a while and I finally found them at a thrift store for $2! I’m very excited about them because I was looking for a white wide leg jumpsuit for bridal events, but it’s been very hard to find one because of my height. I think I can get a tank top in a similar texture to make a faux jumpsuit now–plus this is more practical because they can be worn separately after wedding events are over.

The only question is: should I hem these a couple inches or not? I do have a neglected sewing machine that I am considering breaking out during stay at home orders. At the same time, the thought of starting any creative project really overwhelms me right now so I haven’t.

I have been down a couple fun Pinterest rabbit holes lately, including Gwyneth Paltrow’s 90s style (I cannot believe the woman who runs Goop used to appear to be a chain smoker) and Caroline Bessette-Kennedy. They have inspired me to get my ribbed knits and distressed jeans out for spring.

On month one of budgeting:

I wrote in my last 20 in 2020 post that I started budgeting this month and I learned TONS from doing it. I used YNAB and wholeheartedly recommend it. I connected it to my debit card so transactions imported automatically and all I had to do was categorize each purchase.

I know that talking budgets at a time when unemployment is skyrocketing is not good timing at all and if you are currently unemployed please know that I am not asking you to make a budget (same goes if you are a grad student because grad students make an unlivable wage and no app fixes that). However, as someone who is employed but is also freaked out right now, knowing exactly where my money was going was quite empowering. My basic takeaways:

-Budgeting a very small amount for clothes is unrealistic for me (and kind of gives shopping a forbidden fruit vibe). I budgeted $100 this month and ended up supplementing with some money I made off Poshmark, so realistically I spend about $200 on clothes this month. Is it a lot? Not a lot? I’m unsure. I am trying to allow myself to remain neutral about where I spend money for the first couple months and instead am taking this time to observe.

-Ugh, I don’t consider us people who eat out a lot and yet I managed to spend $170 doing just that this month. What?!? Part of this was that I traveled for about a week. I underestimated how expensive it is to go anywhere and will know to budget more next time I travel.

-It’s easy to forget where small amounts of money go–Spotify, Netflix, monthly razor deliveries (honestly life changing though). Having to group those things and account for them in my budget helped me to plan for them!

Overall budgeting has been a positive experience for me (which is not something I expected–I thought it would feel like a punishment) and I’m excited to see how month 2 goes.

Fun links

What’s been bringing you happiness lately? I would love to see! My list would include:

-getting texts from my friends as they watch Tiger King. Oh, the rollercoaster.

-the new Dua Lipa album (highly recommend for house dance parties)

-browsing for wedding shoes–did you have a great pair? which would you pick? these, these, or these?

-taking wine walks around our neighborhood (we put it in a thermos and off we go)

-virtual hip hop dance classes (which you can find here!)

-a feud over a West Elm couch that I totally missed in 2017

-This biscuit recipe (first picture!), which made our house smell amazing

I hope you are staying safe and taking care of yourself whether you are working or at home right now.