Cleaning: Almost Complete!

Happy Friday everyone! Hope you are all as excited for the weekend as I am.

It has been a looooong couple of days for me, with cleaning and hanging out with my family and trying to do everything in between. I had high hopes to have my entire room spotlessly clean by the time I returned to Wisconsin for the weekend, but I got a bit sidetracked (hello, two hour trip to Hobby Lobby #oops) and ended up not quite getting everything done. To be fair, my room looks a lot better than it did when I returned home on Sunday - there is hardly anything on the floor, my closet and bookcase are each holding about a quarter of their potential capacity, and I have done some serious unloading of all of my stuff (which means there is a lot to be sold and donated..... I just have to take pictures now or take it to a consignment place! Yikes). I feel so much lighter! Not to mention, extremely proud of myself for getting all of it done. Most of the time when I clean I lose my motivation when I give myself an impossible deadline and to do list, get depressed about my place in life or my body when looking at mementos of the past, or hit some major regrets with things I should not have bought because it's all hanging in my closet with the tags on. What  did I do differently? This time I gave myself a deadline and created reasonable to do lists for each day, had my sister come hang out with me to help me make decisions and keep me motivated, hit up Dunkin Donuts every day for a $1 iced coffee to keep me going, and I made ruthless decisions about what to keep and what to toss. My mindset was completely different when I went into this, and the results were amazing!

Since I have been so very focused on cleaning and making my living space beautiful, anything home decor-related has been on my radar. While I was cleaning, I found several sets of bedding that used to be mine (sidenote: I am 22 years old and still sleep on a twin bed while I'm home. Efforts to persuade my parents to buy me a full size bed have been futile.) and my winter bedding could stand for an update. My room is pink, black, and white so I have been looking for some affordable, girly, and vintage-inspired bedding to complement that. Luckily for me, Lauren Conrad just came out with a bedding line at Kohl's as part of her LC Lauren Conrad line and I think I have found my new bedding! It is a light gray ruffled duvet (so I can use one of my existing comforters), very similar to ones seen at Anthropologie, but with a far better price tag! Plus Kohl's frequently has sales and sends out coupons, so if I keep my eye on it and let my mom know, we can probably snag it for a deal! Check out the set here - it also comes in pink and other bedding options!

Secondly, I've been trying to think of how to re-work my closet when and if I return home at the end of summer. I have an Elfa closet system from The Container Store (which is absolutely fabulous and if you have a store nearby and are in the position to install one, DO IT!) and I've had the same system since high school at least and my wardrobe needs have changed a lot in the past few years. Depending on where I am at when I am home, I might need to make some changes. This is probably the closest to what my closet looks like in terms of closet elements: 

Source: The Container Store

But I am loving how this closet looks - matching slim velvet hangers, beautiful shoe storage, matching bins and baskets! 

Source

Next up, if I'm going to be blogging I want to make sure that my desk is a good spot for working. Right now, it's serving as a desk/night table and it's just accumulating a lot of clutter. I want to reduce everything on top of it and inside it to the absolute minimum, the bare necessities: a lamp, a couple of cute notepads, one pencil cup, a laptop, and a bit of inspiration. Ideally, I would have a beautiful pinboard of inspiration above my desk as well! 

Source. Okay, I just love the look of this but there's too much on top for me!

Source. Gorgeous pinboard! And desktop! Plus that glass box is divine. 

Finally, I have two sets of bookshelves in my room. Both are white but one is very tall with six shelves and the other is much shorter with three. I've cleaned both out and re-filled and styled the tall bookshelves  but the fate of the shorter bookcase remains to be seen!

I used this image as inspiration to style my bookshelves. I love adding different colors, textures, and layers to my shelves so I like to add in lots of "extras" and switch up the orientations of objects.

Source. I added a lot of framed pictures to my bookcase this time! Loved the look. 

For the three shelf bookcase, I have been debating adding the shelves to my closet or using them as another bookshelf. Right now I am loving the idea of putting my most beautiful shoes onto the shelves and using it as a display case-storage unit combination! I have a lot of beautiful heels so I wouldn't mind getting to look at the eye candy.

Source. Love, even if I don't add doors! 

Phew, so there's a lot of potential but I am very happy with what I got done this week! Also, I didn't spend the whole week cleaning out my room and closet - I also spent time in my family's basement and cleaning all of my stuff down there which is a whole 'nother ball game! And yet there is still more to be done... this is what happens when you a) procrastinate and b) wear the same size shoe since 5th grade and the same size clothes since the 11th. Yikes.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend! I will be spending my weekend out driving with my boyfriend and potentially helping him pick out a puppy!! (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm SO excited!!!! Even if the puppy won't be mine!!!! So many excited exclamation points!!) I promise to take lots of pictures and to do an actual weekend recap on Monday.

xx, Amy

P.S. GroopDealz brought back these necklaces for TODAY ONLY! Get yours for $14.99 with FREE shipping! Coral is sold out, but I love the mint and yellow necklaces! 

What I'm Loving Wednesday: GroopDealz

When did it become Wednesday!? I mean, I'm not going to complain because I can't wait for this weekend (my last sorority formal, waddupppp, and I have a handsome date to boot) but it still sort of snuck up on me! Anyways, I'm here today to share one of my favorite websites right now, GroopDealz. 

My obsession with this website has reached a new high, thanks to the knockoff J.Crew rose statement necklace I just recieved in the mail. If you aren't familiar, GroopDealz is a flash sale site, kinda sorta like Groupon and kinda like Etsy. They have a ton of cute, affordable jewelry, home decor items, gifts, and more. I mostly check it for the jewelry (they have some awesome J.Crew-like pieces on a regular basis) and for things like monogrammed items or iPhone cases. Today I'm going to feature my favorite pieces currently on the site! 

First, the J.Crew inspired rose necklace! Each necklace is $19.99 and comes in any of the colors features above: turquoise, black, mint, coral, gray, yellow, or white. 

I just got mine in the mail last weekend - I am obsessed! I can't wait to wear it. 

 Next up, this pave heart ring which is also a J.Crew dupe! I tried the J.Crew version last winter but I was in between sizes in the small/medium/large size system so I passsed. Then I found this ring on GroopDealz, immediately ordered, it and I love it. One of my favorites - it is small and delicate and I like it enough to make sure I won't leave it in a bathroom or something. Best part about this ring? It's only $3.95.

My last favorite: these solid color infinity scarves! Each scarf is $8.95 and you can pick coral, gray, mint, ivory, or yellow. These are perfect to add a pop of color to your spring wardrobe, and considering how many people are still stuck in chilly climates right now (seriously, where is spring!?) I don't think we are retiring the scarves officially yet! 

So these are my favorite items right now... let's see which ones end up in my shopping cart and in my closet! I am debating another rose necklace, this time either in yellow or mint! 

Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Friday Five

Here are my five favorite things right now!

1) Homemade iced chai tea lattes! I picked up a carton of this mix earlier in the week and I've been addicted ever since.... I'm drinking one as I write this post!

2) Working out with friends! In an effort to keep me away from my computer (online shopping) I have been heading to the gym with a friend this week to workout and hang out. Next week we're adding in a yoga class for some variety! 

3) Okay so... I don't technically have this item yet. I came up with the idea to embroider my sorority's crest on a bunch of garments (puffy vests, windbreakers, hoodies, sweatshirts, etc) and I am obsessed with this windbreaker! Yes, I graduate in a couple of months but this is the perfect thing to wear with leggings and Hunters when it rains! Or to go to the gym! Or.... okay I'll stop! 

4) My new phone case, courtesy of my boyfriend! I have had J.Crew cases ever since I got my iPhone (leopard, black and white hearts, and now this one) and I LOVE them. This one is even better than the original cases because the hole in the case for headphones is wider, meaning I can plug my speaker jack into it without having to take the case off! 

groopdealz.com

5) I am obSESSED with this website! I know I gave up shopping for Lent but somehow it is very easy for me to look and not buy on this site - I think because everything is so inexpensive, I think it's stupid to have to pay shipping and therefore don't want anything badly enough! They have awesome jewelry deals and feature a ton of pieces that are very similar to J.Crew pieces! 

Hope everyone has a great weekend!