Birthday Fun - Gifts, Sales, and Clearance

My birthday was two weeks ago and I thought I'd share some of the things I got as gifts and just gifting myself - haha! I'd like to say my latest Addition Elle, H&M, Reitmans,Torrid, and Taylor Swift orders that aren't in this post fell under that category, but maybe I can get away with blaming it on "Christmas in July"? Yeah, let's go with that. Technically, Reitmans and Torrid fall under the birthday category because I used my birthday rewards. I just don't have them yet and want to make sure they arrive before I share what I got. Perhaps, I'll post a collective haul on those purchases - minus the Taylor Swift items, because they said it might be two months before they ship.

So in this post, we have Addition Elle, some of my gifts, H&M, Shoppers beauty haul, Juvia's Place, and a few birthday pictures! Just typing all of this out makes me realize just how done I am right now. Like DONE. July was a fun month with a little getaway, my birthday ,and some retail therapy but I'm good to get back to normal and reining back the spending again. Though points, rewards, and gift cards made this feel a little less daunting on the wallet. (Except for the Taylor Swift order mentioned above. That one hurt. Don't even get me started on the shipping to Canada, but darn it Folklore is amazing and I just wanted the album and some of the merch to go with it. Who knows when we're all going to get to experience live shows again?!)

A birthday full of reading material, don't mind if I do! I've told my husband how much Beverly Cleary meant to me growing up and how she was my favorite author for so long. He listened and picked up all of the Ramona books for my collection! Beverly was the first author to teach me the escape that books provide. I also got the next illustrated edition of Harry Potter, catching me up until the new one comes out later this year. House editions of the books were on my radar, so now I'm caught up with those. Proud Hufflepuff, by the way!

My husband also found these two special edition magazines with two of my loves on the covers - Disney and The Golden Girls. Golden Girls is my favorite TV show ever. This magazine is perfect in every way. Who else here loves the Golden Girls? I'm a Dorothy through and through!

Addition Elle is going out of business. Sorta. They're merging with their sister store, Penningtons - the website already takes you there. I never really shopped there, but I love a good "everything must go" sale. Probably why I already have my second order coming. I'm waiting to share it when it all gets here, because with this order I was actually supposed to get a bra. It sold out as my order went through and they didn't tell me until the items started shipping out one by one. Total bummer because the bra was originally $60 and down to $12.

I grabbed these Skechers sandals while they were on sale (back to full price now), as they are one of the few shoe brands that aggravate my bad knee less. The skinny jeans are by Addition Elle and I didn't know what to expect, because denim is a real pain in the you-know-what to find a good fit. These are actually really decent. I hope they keep them in the merge. And I couldn't pass up shapewear when it was under $20.

H&M had a discount and my birthday reward and I love that they let you combine up to two codes, allowing me to use both. I needed a basic black tee. All of mine seem to be striped, v-neck, etc. and I was missing the classic crew neck fit. Most of my sweatshorts are pretty old and worn, so I bought a black pair not long ago and now this green pair. Their Disney collections are always adorable and I couldn't pass up this Lilo and Stitch hoodie. Now for it to get cool enough that I can wear it! And I've had my eyes on straw bags for the past two summers and I am so happy to have one now. It's my bag of the summer and probably summers to come. Bonus- it holds more than you think it would!

At Shoppers, I went a little ham. I hadn't bought many beauty items in a while. Unless you count antiperspirant and toothpaste! My husband went in with a list and had only one mishap. That's a win, LOL! I've tried many a cotton pad and none are better than the Shiseido ones. They don't pill as much and are so soft on the skin. I ran out of my epsom salts and I consider these a necessity. I'm including them because I will never stop shouting from the rooftops just how wonderful these are.

I love L'Oreal's Lash Paradise, so I thought I would try it in waterproof for summer. I don't love it as much as the original but it has lasted pretty well through heat. I needed a new base coat and Revlon was on sale. That was the reasoning behind that choice. Not hating it, but I think I still prefer the Essie ones. And then we have the two Physicians Formula palettes. One I asked for and one I didn't and that was the mishap. The Weylie palette was on the list, but the eyeshadows came home with him instead. The other palette took a bit of a search. I am loving them both, so I'm 100% okay with that shakeup. I have already swatched and reviewed the eyeshadow palette, Tropical Days, and the face palette is still to come.

These are two orders from Juvia's Place. I put one in during a sale and took advantage of the deals that were offered. Then, another sale came through during Blackout Tuesday so I put in another order. It didn't hurt that the coral palette (bottom right) that I had wanted was back in stock. Blackout Tuesday was about using your money to support black-owned businesses. I have the swatches ready to go on these and will get them posted soon. Spoiler? Believe the hype.

I got The Warrior, The Nubian, The Nudes, Nubian 3, and the blush bundle. The shimmer shades..wait until you see the shimmers!

After our little getaway, we stopped in at Sephora to get my birthday freebie (review to come). I was torn between the Sol de Janeiro or Briogeo sets, but they didn't have Briogeo in stock making my decision easier. Birthdays call for birthday cake pops from Starbucks. I very rarely get anything there besides coffee and tea, but my birthday called for something a little fun.

That's that! I opened some wonderful gifts, spoiled myself with some extra things, got lovely messages from friends and family that I will be forever grateful for, had a relaxing getaway, and I've got no complaints about any of it. My heart is full! And now I'm off to listen to the Taylor Swift Folklore album again. It's so good! :)