My First Shopping Trip Of The Year!

I knew it was bound to happen eventually.  I would be faced with a shopping trip or a Girl’s Day Out and I would have to go and “test my metal”.

Well guess what – the day came and went and I passed that test with flying colors!

Here’s the backstory: I went down to Nashville to spend the weekend with my best friend, Amy.  Anyone who knows Amy knows that if shopping were an Olympic event she’d be on the metal podium every week.   Not that Amy spends thousands of dollars on clothes, she’s just a really savvy shopper and doesn’t mind going to 17 stores to find the perfect pair of brown ankle boots.

This was my first trip to visit her since beginning this year long challenge and I didn’t want to skip the shopping part of our typical weekend.  Amy really does know the best stores in the trendiest parts of any city.

So we headed to the trendy neighborhood of Franklin for a day of shopping and talking.

And y’all would have been so proud of me!  I went into cute store after cute store and didn’t even LOOK at the clothing!  I’m not saying it wasn’t a challenge, but I did it!

By the end of the day I had bought a coffee cup for my sister and some spices for myself.  That’s it!  I can’t begin to even describe how pleased I was with myself and how good it felt to not have “shopper’s guilt”.

As an added bonus Amy gave me a couple of her scarves she’s no longer wearing.  Score!  She asked me, “Am I allowed to still give you clothes?”  I reminded her that the blog was called My Year of Hand Me Downs, so used clothing was perfectly ok (and appreciated).

When I got home I paired that light brown scarf with a grey dressier sweatshirt and it looked adorable!

So far this year I’ve added 3 scarves and a blouse to my wardrobe and I haven’t spent one penny!  I love that I don’t feel guilty or wasteful about my closet anymore.  Now when I go to my closet I feel creative and challenged to put together a new look out of what I already own.

So this week I thought it would be fun to challenge everyone to do their own “clothing swap”.  Exchange a couple of pieces with a sister or a friend.  I do that with my twin sister all the time and it’s a win-win for both of us!
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And as always, I’d LOVE to see some of those outfits you’re putting together!  Please post a comment and let me know what you swapped and how you used your “new to you” item.