July Journal
Highs
The biggest high that lasted the whole month was finding out that I will be an auntie to my first ever niece next year. 100% stoked about that and I am pretty sure that now all algorithms will think I am the one having a baby thanks to all of the searches I have been doing. After living at our new place nearly 9 months we finally found the perfect piece for behind our couch to store our books. That meant we could finally take them out of boxes and give them a good home. I finally picked up, read & finished Eggshell Skull by Bri Lee, such a compelling read. We had a lady bug join us for lunch one day which was the best visitor I could hope for. For the first time in 5 years I don’t have a tax bill and am actually getting money back! I started to enquire about treating myself to my dream dress (*see below for how that turned out) I went and spoke to someone about my finances and opened a new savings account to earn more interest. After getting over $1200 stolen out of my bank account I got it all back within just over a week.I bought tickets to see The National next year. I started booking in times to go for a walk in my work day. This may seem silly but I found it easier to leave the house when there is a dedicated hour for it.
(Hardly) Lows
I had a weird week for money luck this month. I had someone use my card to go on a $1200 shopping spree and had one of my online orders ‘lost’. Luckily they were both resolved but for a week there I was without a card and feeling a little anxious about it. I emailed one of my all time favourite designers this month to enquire about a dress I had seen on their instagram. After about 6 emails to try get any details about its release and price I found out that I had fallen in love with one of their most expensive dresses. It crushed me a little but I also know that for me, it wasn’t going to be worth it as I could also spend a couple of weeks in Europe for the same price.
New In: Designer bag
This month I made the choice to order the Acne Studios Mini Musubi Bag, my second designer bag purchase. I bought my first ever designer bag in 2015 and it was the Givenchy Pandora cross body in black. I am not really someone who buys designer things to sit in dust bags in a cardboard to re-sell at a later date. I want them to be used, I want them to age with me. That Givenchy bag has seen some shit. It has travelled through Europe and japan with me and still is my go-to daily bag. Then there was the Musubi. I think it first caught my eye over 6 months ago because I have been looking for a go-to brown/tan bag. There were some other bags that I looked at in the meantime but either the style didn’t come in a tan or I was concerned it was too much of an ‘it bag’ for me to consider for the long term. So why do I like the Musubi? Even though this is the Mini/Small version, it’s surprisingly roomy. However I wouldn’t like to pack it to the brim so that the shape still pinches at the top. The branding on the exterior is minimal including only a blind deboss of the logo, whereas there are some special branding details on the inside including a logo stamp and a branded tag for the zip. It is a super clean designer while the knots on each side adds interest. It also comes with a longer strap so that you can wear it cross body.
Beauty Stand Outs
Had a few new beauty bits arrive this month so I wanted to mention a couple of stand outs. The first one is for the cream beauty lover - The Mecca Cosmetica Duo. It is only $42 and includes both a cream cheek/lip colour and their raved about illuminating balm. I have been using it non-stop. The second is for those who love a gel moisturiser like the Clinique Moisture Surge Gel or even the Water Cream by Tacha. The next of its kind is the Glow Recipe Watermelon Juice Cleanser. Its consistency is a lightweight gel which soaks into the skin really nicely. Might not be your winter favourite but as it warms up I think I will be reaching for it a lot more.
For the month ahead..
Not to sound like a typical Leo but august is my birthday month so I am feeling pretty amped hah. I am scheduling light for mid August so that I can take a couple of days off and head to the beach for a long weekend. I haven’t taken any time off since Christmas so I am looking forward to that. I also am trying out a new ‘budgeting to spend’ method. Instead of just buying things week to week, I am aiming to not buy any ‘want’ items week to week and pool all of my left over ‘spending' money’ at the end of the month. That way I will have a larger sum of money and can look at my ‘want’ list and spend accordingly. I am just about to pool my money from July so I will let you know how it goes.
Is anyone else’s birthday this month?!