I ended up filling up (at least) six trash bags. Donated anything that was in okay, or better, shape. Trashed the rest. I’ve been doing my best, since then, to only make smart purchases. For example, I’ve always had the habit of buying items I wasn’t totally in love with after trying them on. I’ve come to realize that if I don’t love it in the dressing room, I won’t love it at home. (Sidenote: I used to HATE trying clothes on and that’s a habit I’ve had to let go of as well. Saves a lot of money when you suck at returning things like I do) Or because it was such a great deal I couldn’t pass it up. At the end of the day though, if you never wear it, it really wasn’t a great deal.

So, I made a list to help me stay on track. A few years ago I discovered how much my productivity improved from making lists. So simple, yet so effective. I try not to add on to the list too often and stick to it as much as possible. The list includes clothing, shoes and accessories. My staples, if you will. Key items like outerwear and shoes I plan on investing in for quality. But I don’t believe style is, or should be, expensive so there’s a whole lot of high/low going on.

Today’s purchase is definitely a high (at least for me).

Zara’s Leather Zips Jacket (purchase here). If link expires look for it under Blazers > Collection.

Pretty much fell in love with it after seeing it on LA. Hope I can rock it half as well as she does. Don’t click on the link unless you plan on spending 4 hours going through her outfit posts and drooling a bit. Effortless style, love it.

[heading size=”4″]Shipping[/heading]

This is my first time purchasing from Zara online since the option debuted for the States earlier this month. According to them, shipping (the free option) should only take 2-4 business days. If they can stick to that timeline I’ll be a happy camper. In terms of shopping with European companies, Asos shipping is pretty fast (arrives in about a week) and includes tracking and in my experience Topshop is the slowest with zero tracking information for US customers. We’ll see how H&M does when they open shop later this year.

Pssst, I’ve imported all my SOP posts to this blog for easier searching, yay!