I am sooo over this challenge! I'm thinking...no, I'm certain that 4 months was way too long to do this. What the hell was I thinking? I know, I know...I wasn't. I don't think I've ever gone this long in my adult life without buying myself something. Not even as a teen working for minimum wage in retail did I go this long with shopping.  Every time I look in my closet now a days, all I see are items that are worn out and tired...tired of being worn and tired of being looked at. 

 I have to start packing for my trip soon and I'm already thinking that I don't have anything in my wardrobe worth taking.  I know for certain that I need a new purse because even though I just dug up 4 of them the other day from storage, none of them are appropriate for a vacation in Portugal, where I'll be doing a lot of walking...so a hands free bag would be ideal and it's still summer time so it needs to be...summer-y. And nothing I have meets those requirements. 

I stopped by a Kohls after work today to buy a bra...ahem, my 3rd one in the last month and a half (yes, I'm allowed...it's a need not a want, remember?) and I almost...ALMOST stopped and bought a new purse but miraculously, I was able to practice some self control and walked out of there with a bra and only a bra.

I Went Shopping Yesterday...

...in my garage.  Let me explain.  I have a collection of about about 28 (slight exaggeration) purses stored in my garage.  Why so many purses?  Well, it's partly because I take after my dad a little bit with his I-can't-throw-anything-away syndrome.  And it's also because I seem to get bored with my purses quickly.  And clothes and shoes for that matter...hence the 4 month wardrobe challenge.  So, the 2 purses I've been going back and forth between for last few months were nearing their expiration date and since I can't buy myself a new one until October...I decided to rummage through my existing collection for the first time since way before my challenge began.  Surprisingly, I pulled out 4 purses that got me excited enough to move them up the wardrobe chain to my hall closet from garage storage.  One of them, I realized, I had never even used before (a fabulous royal blue cross body purse given to me by a friend about a year ago). So I've changed up my purse rotation...a small but easy and effective way to propel myself through the remaining weeks of this neverending challenge. 

I've also been thinking a lot about what my first purchase should be when this challenge is over.  Surprisingly, I haven't really given this that much thought until recently.  I guess it's because I've just been so preoccupied with trying to 'reinvent' my outfits for the last few months.  But now that this thought has entered my head, it's what my focus has shifted to.  The excitement (well, kinda) of trying to put together outfits every day with the same old tired stuff I've been looking at for what seems like a lifetime now, is slowly wearing off. Ok, more like quickly.  It's a good thing I'll be spending 2 of the last 4 weeks of my challenge on vacation in Portugal...where (hopefully) I'll be so wrapped up with other things that I won't even notice I hate each and every single article of clothing I currently own. 

I Almost Cracked

I had a girlfriend visiting from Canada recently and upon her request while here, I took her to Kohls...which can't be found in Canada.  I've been to Kohls (one of my favorite stores) a few times during my wardrobe challenge but always steered clear of the departments that normally drain my bank account; shoes clothes and accessories...the very things I've banned myself from indulging in during this 4 month challenge.  But shopping with my girlfriend there put me directly into the lion's den as I found myself roaming through racks of clothes I've been avoiding for the last 2 and a half months.  I'm proud to say that I did pretty well despite the fact that I almost cracked and got myself the cutest LC by Lauren Conrad blush pink polka dot top that was just screaming to come home with me.  I didn't think of this at the time but maybe I should have asked them if they would hold it for me until October 1st, which is the day my challenge is officially over.  Oh yes, I would have risked getting looked at as if I were a crazy person if it meant getting this top. 

Ahhh, but every cloud has a silver lining and mine for the day was when my friend surprised me by buying me a beautiful antique looking silver bracelet.  She was very sneaky about it...showing it to me while browsing through the accessories and asking me to try it on, which I did of course, and like an idiot, raved about how pretty it was. Next thing I know, we're driving away from the store and she presents me with the bracelet and says it's mine. After I scolded her for being sneaky and told her I was going to return it...she scolded me right back and says I didn't break the rules since I'm not the one who bought it.  I quickly realized I had better shut my mouth and be thankful I have something new to wear...and for my wonderful friend who took pity on me and my foolish idea.

I'm going away this weekend again and while packing last night I realized something...I hate my wardrobe. No, correction...I hate this wardrobe challenge. I am so tired of everything I have but there's nothing I can do about it for another month and a half. How am I going to get through these last weeks??  I was singing a different tune earlier this week however; when I went to visit a friend in the hospital, I had about 7 different women tell me they loved my shoes and 2 other women tell me they loved my outfit. Just random people...ok, they were mostly nurses who wear dowdy scrubs every day and only look at other nurses in their dowdy scrubs and white reebok sneakers all day long so I'm sure anyone in a pair of cute shoes would have been a nice change of pace for them. Oh yes, I was loving my wardrobe challenged life that day. And now I've hit a brick wall.  My mind is swirling with thoughts of purging everything I own when this dumb challenge is over and starting from scratch with a completely new wardrobe.  Probably not the greatest idea though because that would cost beacoup bucks and would totally defeat the purpose of all this sacrifice.

I went to a Catholic High School which required me to wear an ugly ass uniform every single day of the week with the exception of a few days a year when students were allowed to 'dress down.'  Those dress down days are when I would bust out my Club Monaco sweaters and gazelle running shoes and later on in my high school years, anything I bought at Stitches or Le Chateau...2 of the stores (in Canada) that everyone who was cool but didn't have a lot of money to spend shopped at.  I remember very vividly thinking how 'hurting' (that was our slang back then) it was to have to wear a uniform every day, and let me assure you it was nothing pretty considering our school colors were gray and maroon...gross.  But now that I'm in this self made predicament of a restricted wardrobe, which is growing more and more boring with each passing day by the way, I am beginning to long for those carefree (well, not really) high school days when I didn't have to worry about what to wear every day.

The Half Way Mark

August 1st.  I'm officially half way there. If I had any doubts in the beginning that I could accomplish this challenge, they are long gone by now.  The only downside so far?  My bank account doesn't seem to be reaping the benefits of my sacrifice.  I don't know what I was expecting to happen; that my account balance would magically be twice or three times even what it normally is?  It looks no different than usual which bums me out a little bit because I certainly don't want to feel like this was all for nothing.  I would imagine it's because all those expenses I mentioned at the start of my blog, well that's definitely started to kick in.  So I guess I should be grateful that my balance looks no different than the norm.

I still haven't given in to temptation.  And yes, there have been many tempting opportunities.  I mostly just stay away from my favorite shopping spots.  Athough, I have frequented one of my favorite shopping websites, giltgroupe.com, every now and then...just to see what I'm missing out on.  And to see if there's anything worth spending my gilt credit on.  It's not a huge amount so anytime I think I've found something on there I just have to have, it ends up being $10 or $20 more than what I have to spend.  So...the rationing continues.  And so does the procrastination by the way.  I'm amazed that I've kept up with this blog as much as I have.  The true test will be come September when I leave for my vacation in Portugal.  There's nothing I love more than shopping for new clothes before a summer trip.  And what's going to kill me the most is that the weeks leading up to my departure date is the time of the season when all the fab summer clothes and shoes are on sale.  My only saving grace is that I splurged a little bit on new stuff this past spring when I went to the Dominican Republic for my friend's wedding.  Had it not been for that trip, I would definitely have cracked sometime around the end of August.