Whew for a month there (the month of January) I totally forgot my blog name and was quite un-curated in my buying. I definitely purchased way too many things. Luckily I did a lot better in February. And since I’m working on limiting my spending for the rest of the year, I’m adding back in the section that I used to call “What I Wanted.” But I’m taking inspiration from the Luxe Strategist, and am renaming it “What I Resisted” since it’s a more accurate description. Funny how the MG Protea bag was something I wanted (and resisted) back in 2019, but in 2021 I still wanted it, didn’t resist it, but then ultimately was disappointed in it. I wonder if there’s a lesson in there somewhere lol (like if you can resist it, you don’t need to buy it ever?). What also helped reign in the spending this month was this article from Becoming Minimalists, which makes the case of not asking yourself whether or not you can afford something, but rather does a purchase help support your goals? By asking myself that one question, I have been able to resist quite a few purchases this month. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend!

What I Bought

Apple Watch: I’ve been wanting one for awhile now but always put it off because I’m not a big watch wearer. Plus I have pretty small wrists and thought the watches are just so big and bulky (which they are). But I recently decided to get one because I know I’ve been inactive and I wanted something that would help track my activity. I also wanted a remote for my iPhone camera to help with my tripod photos. I’ve only been using it for a couple weeks now, but yes I really like it. I not only use it for gamifying my activity levels but now I can easily check my habit tracker app and text messages. In general it has helped me to look less at my phone (though yes it can be said I’m still looking at a screen, albeit a much smaller one. But at least I don’t get sucked into looking at Insta or news once I check my texts or the time lol).

Everlane Renew Transit Weekend Bag (with credit earned from referrals): With Leah’s drama with Everlane (where they deleted her account due to having referral links on her blog, which they deemed a “commercial” site), I decided to try to spend up some of my leftover referral credit. Since I didn’t want to purchase anything I didn’t need, the only thing I thought might be useful is this Weekend bag (which I plan to use on my flight home to California come March) I have hence deleted all my Everlane referral links off my blog (mostly on very old posts from 2015) so we’ll see if they let me spend the rest of my credit later or if they’re going to delete my account as well. I have to say it’s been disappointing how they’ve been treating Leah since she was one of their earliest supporters. She done a lot of unpaid work for them, and I’m sure led a lot of people to the brand.

Irro Irro Chloe Dresses for Emi and myself (pictured above): I’ve been eyeing the Chloe dress for Emi from this LA-based WOC-owned small business, but wasn’t sure if it was something she would wear (she really loves bright dresses in pink and red). But when I saw that they were having a site-wide sale (and that all profits from that day were going to be donated to two LA nonprofits), it felt like the perfect time to pull the trigger. Plus I got a Chloe dress for myself too. This will be the first time I bought matching dresses for Emi and myself lol. Sale for 40% off ends 2/28 (use the promo code SITEWIDE40).

What I Was Gifted

Knickey Underwear: I guess I’m a pretty established ethical underwear influencer now (joking! lol) because another ethical organic cotton underwear brand has gifted me a pair in exchange for a review. I’m going to have to do a round-up soon of all the ones I’ve tried!

Aquamarine ring from Etsy (pictured above): So I blame binge watching Bling Empire (on Netflix) for requesting this ring as an Valentine’s Day/early birthday present from my husband. But this gorgeous ring was being sold from one of my favorite Etsy shops and I knew it was not going to stick around long (because Sara always has such good prices). It’s a little much I know, but sometimes we need a little bling in our lives. And now I have a daughter to pass these jewels to, I feel a tad less guilty when buying them/requesting them as gifts 😬 (and luckily she’s also born in March so her birthstone is aquamarine as well). And secondhand jewelry means no new materials were mined for this gift!

What I Resisted

Secondhand jewelry from Etsy: Well to find the ring mentioned above, I went back to my old Etsy treasure hunting habits. And I found these beautiful pieces in a new Etsy shop I discovered. I really love Jewel Conscious because the owner, Dimitria, has a lot of the same views I do when it comes to valuing vintage and antique jewelry. She creates her pendants and earring studs from antique stick pins, and she tries to reuse/recycle all metals when modernizing her pieces. She has a long history in the jewelry business and that has led her to focus on finding old treasures and giving them new life instead of continuing to exploit the earth and people for new baubles. That’s also why I buy the bulk of my jewelry secondhand. Anyway here are some of the pretty things I resisted (the pictures are linked to the listing).

This post contains affiliate links.