I have some really talented friends. My friend Rena is definitely one of them—although don’t tell her I said that because her head will get really big and I’ll have to knock her down a few pegs to keep her in check.

Anyway, after talking about it for years and procrastinating with the best (worst?) of them, she finally opened up Rena Franco Design, an Etsy shop filled with her hilariously snarky paper goods. And I have to tell you, they’re pretty awesome.

I guess I have fashion on the brain because I’ve been talking about it an awful lot lately. It must be the whole change of seasons thing. It makes a girl rethink her wardrobe. And hate on it a tiny bit (or a lot in my case).

You know how I was just talking about how I don’t have any money to purchase new pieces so I’m going to shop my closet and get inspired by my favorite fashion bloggers? Well I’ve found a teensy little loophole to get around that.

I mentioned consigning some of my stuff to places like thredUP. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it at the time, but sending my old things to thredUP means I actually can add some new (or like new) pieces into my rotation.

For each bag of clothes I’ve sent back to them, I’ve averaged about a $20 payout. If the clothes I sent in were more expensive (or worn a little less), that amount would go up. Most of the pieces I’ve sent back have been from either Old Navy or Kohls, with a few places like New York & Company and The Children’s Place added into the mix here and there. More expensive brands like LOFT, Gap and J. Crew are generally better quality—which means they’ll pay you more for them. Either way, it’s like found money that you can either cash out or pick up new pieces with.

Add to that the sale they’re having right now and I’m in danger of shorting out my keyboard with all of the drool. Pieces from top brands like LOFT, Banana Republic, J. Crew, The Limited, and GAP are on sale for under ten dollars. Yes. You read that correct. That means you can buy something like this emerald top from The Limited (retail price, $50) for a mere $8.49. I mean, hello!

Since thredUP carefully inspects the stuff they sell before listing them, I feel totally comfortable scoring some “investment” pieces on the cheap from them. I also feel like I’m totally cheating the system—and I’m not gonna lie, it feels good.

Take a look at some of the fab pieces I found for under $10.

From the always-present fresh seafood options to the abundance of nautical themes, the town of Mystic, Connecticut (where we took our little getaway) is drenched in hints of the sea. My favorite little reminder were the mermaids. They were just about everywhere and reawakened an obsession of mine.

Of course, my obsessions always lead to online window shopping which I pretty much always share here with you. Here’s what I found…

1 LaFayette & Rushford wall decor :: 2 Design Toscano wall sculture :: 3 Art Nouveau hand mirror
4 Book Lovers Accessory bookends :: 5 Uptown Soap Co. soap :: 6 SPI standing mirror :: 7 Alex and Ani bangle :: 8 Design Toscano architectural wall pediment

Sigh. Aren’t they pretty?

While I’m kind of in love with the bookends, I’m pretty positive my husband won’t be. I may just have to settle for a bracelet instead. After all, my arm party always has room for friends!

Do you develop random obsessions as easily as I do? Please share, if you do–you might help fuel my next one!

Hello lovelies! Sorry I’ve been a little MIA of late. I haven’t commented on your blogs as much as I’d like to (but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been squealing over them!) and I haven’t had as much content on this blog as I’d like but that’s because I’ve been working obsessively on my new bridal blog and magazine, Bijou. It’s incredibly exciting and terrifying all at once and I can’t wait to share it with all of you at the end of this month (eeee!).

In the meantime, I wanted to share another current obsession of mine. I’m totally in love with all things bezel set at the moment. It’s so classic and clean! So when Anjolee offered to send me some diamond stud earrings, my interest was immediately piqued.

When I looked into the company a little bit closer and realized you can basically customize your own pieces and I learned that they’re committed to being eco-friendly, I was sold! I got my pretties in the mail about a week ago and I haven’t taken them out since (OK, so they didn’t send me actual diamonds, but they sent me a pretty sweet cubic zirconia version).

Aside from diamond earrings, Anjolee also has some gorgeous options for anniversary rings for women.

What do you think? Are you with me on clean, classic jewelry? Or are you more of a trendy statement piece kind of girl? I like to mix and match and as soon as I get myself together, I’ll do a few outfit posts so you can see both my new sparkly earrings and the cobalt pants that I finally bought in action!

* I received a pair of Anjolee studs for review, but the opinions expressed in this post are strictly my own.