It was back to work this week which is always hard after spending some time away. There was sooo much to do so the week flew by. The good news is that I came back to wonderful fall foliage. The leaves have finally started to turn and they look absolutely amazing. Fall is my favorite time of year. Unfortunately we  are now dealing with a Hurricane. I am hopeful that it is not going to be as bad as they are forecasting but just in case it is we are as prepared as we can possibly be. I am just hoping we don't lose power. 

I have been soo busy at work that I hardly did any shopping during the beginning of October. While down in Florida I decided I needed to make up for loss time and went on a bit of a shopping binge. It was AMAZING. I may have gone a bit overboard but I still managed to stay on budget. 

So how did  I get almost $900 worth of clothes and shoes for less than $250 bucks.  It is called shopping the sales. I would never ever ever pay retail. Not even "outlet" retail. That is against my religion. The first thing I do when I walk into a store is hit the sales rack. It does take patience but it is an amazing feeling when I find a great deal. Especially when it is something that I have been eyeing for sometime. Remember the NineWest Look Global Sandals?

So here is what I managed to scoop up.

4 dresses. 6.99 each. Retail Price 29.00 each  (76% off) 

Gap Sweater 12.59 Retail Price 44.99 (72% off)

BeBe Skinny Cords 12.49 Retail Price 39.95 (69% off)

Bebe Sweater 7.49. Retail Price 29.95 (75% off)

Bebe Blouse 9.99 Retail Price 36.95 (73% off)

Bebe Black and Gold Blouse 10.01 Retail Price 29.95 (67% off)

New York & Company Blouse 7.99 Retail Price 46.95 (83% off)

New York & Company Blouse 5.99 Retail Price 32.95 (82% off)

New York & Company Blouse 5.99 Retail Price 32.95 (82% off)

Express Sweater 11.99 Retail Price 49.90 (76% off)

Express Tshirt Dress 12.00 Retail Price 49.90 (76% off)

Geox Blue Suede Pumps 29.00 Retail Price 165.00 (82% off)

Geox Riding Boots 69.00 Retail Price 250.00 (72% off)

So my final total for all my purchases was $222.49. The retail price for my goodies was $892.49. That would be over 3 months worth of clothing budget. (Yeah I am putting myself on strict clothing budget. More on that later). Overall I saved 75% on all my purchases. I am definitely having a proud moment. Now I just need to figure out how I am going to fit all my purchases in my already overstuffed closet. EEKKK!!!!

When it is 85 degrees out it is a bit difficult to take advantage of all that fall fashion has to offer. Even though it was great to spend the week out in Florida last week I am very excited to be back to the fall temperatures and fall fashion. I still managed to take advantage of some of the fall trends by swapping out my colored jeans for a pair of colored shorts. There is a pretty good chance I will be wearing this outfit again with red cords or skinnies and black booties. 

I decided to take the week off from blogging (and work) to spend some quality time with DH and family. It was mostly a restful week which I was very thankful for. We spent the beginning of the week at the beach which was amazing. Some of my favorite beaches in the world are along the west coast of florida near Sarasota. The crowds are minimal, the water temperatures moderate and the gulf is almost always calm. 

After a few restful days at the beach I made up for my lazy days with some shopping. I found some amazing deals at the outlets. Lets just say I averaged over 70% savings on all my purchases. You know I love deals. We even managed to go out to dinner and spend less than $25 bucks (including beer and sangria). 

Once I got my fill of shopping we pretty much spent the weekend marathon napping. I never knew two people could sleep so much. I pretty much only woke up for my morning coffee, a dip in the pool and an afternoon glass of wine. I am going to miss those cat naps by the pool and on the big comfy couch. 

This past week really didn't start until Saturday afternoon. I managed to make it down to Florida on Friday afternoon but it was work work work up until that point. Once Saturday afternoon rolled around DH and I had an opportunity to take a break from life and have a bit of fun. Outside of the fact that it was another crazy week at work and DH tried to sell my cat it was another amazing week. The highlight of the week was spending my Saturday evening at the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot and getting to spend all of Sunday with the BFF. I really cannot complain. As for my outfit challenge, even though I have not been documenting it (only took one photo last week) I am still going strong. I have yet to repeat an outfit in 2 weeks. I am hoping to be a bit better about documenting it this week. 

Yesterday I mentioned that in my effort to be a responsible adult I decided to plan ahead and pack for my trip well in advance as opposed to the day before. Well it is the day before and I happy to say that I am I am all set and ready to go. No stress. Just lots of excitement. As promised here are the 16 outfits that I managed to fit into 1 carry on. The secret is to pack pieces that can be mixed and matched in a number of different ways and be worn several times. 

Outfits 1 and 2: I was soo excited when I found this leopard maxi skirt and I plan on wearing it at least twice during my time away. 

Outfits 3, 4 and 5: You know how people always say the best way to maximize your wardrobe is by changing up your accessories. Well I plan on doing the reverse of that. I love my Nine West Look Global sandals so I plan on wearing them all week. They also look great with a gold bag and necklace. I am keeping the same accessories but just changing the clothes. 

Outfits 6 and 7: Red Shorts. Need I say more. The best thing is that when I get back I can replace the shorts with red skinnies and I will have two more outfits to add to my rotation. 

Outfits 8, 9 and 10: Black Shorts. Black is extremely versatile so I always recommend packing a few black pieces. These shorts are doing triple duty and can easily be swapped for a pair of black skinnies for an additional 3 outfits. 

Outfits 11, 12 and 13: Did I mention how obsessed I am with these shoes. I had to get two pairs. Shoes take up a lot of room so make sure you choose your shoes wisely. If you are only going to wear them once you may want to rethink your choice. 

Outfits 14, 15 and 16. Even though we are well into fall I am not ready to put away the maxi dresses. They dont take up much space and can be worn to the beach, shopping or dining out. If it is gets chilly a jean jacket and/or pashmina will do the trick. 

As a prepare for a week long stay in Florida I am faced with the great task of packing. I HATE packing. I always pack the day before I am scheduled to leave and get all stressed out and end up throwing a bunch of stuff into a huge bag that I then have to check in. This time I decided to be a bit more responsible and actually plan ahead. By planning ahead I was able to fit 16 outfits in a carry on (no baggage charges) and then some. Here is what I packed. Stop by tomorrow to check out the outfits  I am planning on putting together while I am away. How soon in advance do you usually pack?

I cannot even tell you the last time I went to Coney Island. I mean I used to go all the time as a kid but the last time may have possibly been when I was in high school (which was only a few years ago anyway). I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Things have definitely changed around there. Maybe I will make it a point to visit again next summer. Oh yeah and I am wearing zebra print flats. See I told you I've been a bit obsessed with animal prints lately. 

It was another crazy week at work which left little time to do anything else. I did get to go to the Yankee game with DH earlier in the week which was the highlight of my week. I am extremely excited for the post season. I am hoping I can get out to another game soon. Besides going to the Yankee game I also decided to start a little personal challenge. In an effort to shop my closet I am challenging myself to wear a different outfit everyday for the next 30 days. I managed to do it this past week (unfortunately I only took two #ootd pics). I am one of those people that despite having a closet over flowing with clothes I tend to wear the same five outfits in rotation over and over again. That needs to change. Lets see how this week goes. It is gonna be another crazy week at work so I will try my best not to succumb to the temptation of settling for one of my "uniforms". 

I am stating the obvious when I say that I love shoes and I am guilty of having a massive shoe addiction. In my endeavor to re-organize and refine my wardrobe I am discovering that over the years  I have managed to curate a nice collection of animal print shoes. I have everything from ballet flats to sky high booties consisting of  leopard, snake skin and even zebra print. I love pairing snake skin flats with jeans and a white tee or throwing on a pair of leopard booties with a red dress. How do you wear animal print shoes?