What's in the stars?

Happy 4th of July weekend, all! My birthday is coming up quickly, Sunday in fact, and I was happy to find this pretty little envelope in my mailbox today. Anthropologie has managed to introduce a few adorable pieces in their July catalogue, any one of which I might choose to splurge on to celebrate. I've got my fingers crossed this small list ends up in one of my local stores this month;

Hopefully I'm not the only one a bit excited by the July catalogue! I'm honestly shocked there are no dresses I would try (even a on second sale cut price) but there are some beautiful skirts, shoes, and blouses.

50s frocks for spring

If you're shaped at all like me, the current 70s trend that retailers like Anthropologie are embracing for spring doesn't do a thing for you. Sure, it's beautiful in theory, but put those looks on my wide, short, curvy self and it's a non-starter. Thankfully, one of my favourite UK high street chains, Monsoon, has some ultra feminine frocks to thrill me for spring. They're embracing the 50s housewife silhouette, which is a look near and dear to my heart. I hope for those similarly unsuited for the 70s boho look, this list provides a little eye candy for the season.

I'm currently hoping to indulge in some of these beautiful things;

Rosie Dress, £85

Posey Prom Dress, £65

Dot Spot Cardigan, £48

Hazel Peeptoe Shoes, £55

Juniper White Leather Bag, £65

Fusion Peony Dress, £65

Mint Ruched Sleeve Cardigan, £38

Meadow Dress, £95
(Oh how I love thee!)

Mia Dress, £180
(If not for the unfortunate price tag, this would already be mine!)

Anthropologie, blooming back after a dull winter.

My days have been so long and so busy, I haven't been able to do a lot of outfit snaps. The gloomy weekend weather didn't help, so I'm back to browsing online. It looks like I'm eating my words after Anthropologie boring me through the winter. Sounds like it's time for another quick wishlist, since they deserve credit where credit is due. I will be singing their praises for some genuinely lovely new spring and summer clothes. I'm all over everything that's flowers and lace, which is always in style in my life, and thankfully seemingly always in style for spring.

Tuileries Dress, $158

Wisteria Halter Dress, $148

Garden of the Spectrum Mini, $198

Picked Plaid Skirt, $98

Wispy Cirrus Blouse, $118

Back Porch Blouse, $98
(Okay, that one isn't new, but I love it!)

I've already placed an order for one item on this list, and I'm considering letting my credit card hate me for a few weeks for the sake of a reviewing experiment. I'll definitely be posting if I decide to give it a go. I'm excited to go peruse other Anthropologie blogger's wishlists. I'm glad there seems to be items to please quite a large faction of us!

To splurge or not to splugre

The one upside to being uninterested in Anthropologie's latest offerings is that I have been able to focus on some older desires. For instance, I've found three items off my Anthro "White Whales" list, which has brought me quite a lot of satisfaction. I've also been able to sell a few items from the back of my closet so I'm looking at having a bit more disposable income than usual come next month. I've been thinking of saving up for a purchase (shock) outside of Anthro.

Thanks to Anjali's influence, I've been lurking a lot on Kate Spade's website. I was previously indifferent to her designs, but now a couple of items have caught my eye. I'm thinking one of these beautiful things will make the cut if I close my eyes and decide to splurge.

Emma & Great Expectations book clutches, $325 each

Karolina patent leather heel in strawberry, $298

Melody Dress, $445

White Whales

I always have fun reading other bloggers talk about "the one that got away." I have a number of Anthropologie pieces from the era before I could really afford the store's offerings that I'm hoping one day to track down. Since the current catalogue at Anthropologie is disappointingly devoid of items I'm crazy about (the Sing Sweetly dress as a notable exception), let's talk about past beauties!

I am far too obsessed with dresses for my own good, so most of my past wants are dresses.
First, the Preserves Party Dress. I never saw this in stores so I couldn't even try it on for fun. What is not to like about a strawberry coloured party frock? I keep hoping Anthropologie will release another pink, structured dress like this but so far no luck! This is probably the one item I've never seen on eBay.

The Whooo...Are...You...? Dress wins the prize for silliest product name. I tried this on in stores and despite living on $100 a month at that point, I had a crazy fantasy of charging it. The print is beautiful birds and fairies, and with an Alice in Wonderland, ultra quirky name, I must own this!

I have lost The Long Look Coat Dress on eBay at least three times now. I fear this one was never meant to be mine.

Though I own the very similarly coloured Tawny Garden Dress, I still loved the Elding Slip Dress when I tried it on. The gold overlay is so dreamy and old-world.

The Lantern's Glow Dress was the first item I went on a quest to track down, though it was ultimately a failure. It was definitely a case of trying to own something I couldn't afford, so it was probably for the best at the time. Still, with a sweetheart embellishment and birds in the skirt, I hope I can find this one day.

I had actually forgotten the Flute Song Skirt until my mum unearthed my old Anthro catalogue collection. Pink, scallops, flowers and this skirt is the cutest.

I think both the mint Art Deco Mary-Janes and the Floe & Current Coat are items every Anthropologie lover has on their wishlist. My mum is even still bugging me about the coat, and the next item, the Scalloped Spat Boots, telling me to stalk eBay. I've never seen my size in either but I still look!

I've never seen the Spiced Wine Boots in person, but I dream about finding these too. If any blogger out there has these, I'd love to see them shown off in outfit posts to live vicariously!

The last two items are home pieces. I didn't notice the Plucked Petals measuring spoons going on sale and suddenly they were gone from my local stores.
When I moved last summer, my dad accidentally broke my beloved flower shaped bowls. I haven't found any bowls to replace them that I fancy, though Anthropologie's Latte Bowls come close. I did a search and found they used to come in petal pink and now I'm hoping Anthro will re-release that colour!

Phew, this is a long post, I know! Please share your own wishes in the comments, I'd love to commiserate!

Sing Sweetly & lost imagination...

This will be brief, dear blogging world, because I must run off to do about a thousand things for Christmas preparation. I just had to check in with some new arrivals at Anthropologie and I was delighted to find this new dress. Oh yes, Sing Sweetly Party Dress, you will be mine. Anthropologie always seems to know there is no resisting birds. Their last bird themed dress, the Snowy Egret Shift, was a disaster on me, much to my displeasure. I think I will have far more luck with this frock. I have to tap into my restraint until after Christmas though and oh will that be tough. Are there any early January arrivals tempting your wallet?

Speaking of a lack of will power, I picked up a few sale and FP items during Anthro's unexpected 25% off sale. Sadly the item I was most excited to get, my blue Artist's Imagination Necklace (right), was canceled from my order. It's so small I'm not sure I'll track it down and pay for shipping on a charge send since that would negate the brilliant discount. I was dying for this necklace to go on sale and it slipped through my fingers. My local store never had this lovely thing so alas I think I'm going to go without it. I did at least pick up a few belts and a blouse for a tidy price. Did anyone else indulge in this rare percent sale?
The rest of my order; Floating Gardenia Headband, Celia Blouse ($28), Soft Bow Belt ($11), Dewy Dash Belt ($15), Climbing Ticket Pullover.