Every 150ish times I click “add to cart,” I follow through with a purchase. I rarely buy something I don’t think I can re-sell and at least break even on, and it doesn’t seem like online is the best place for prices like that.

Because I am at the Goodwill Outlet ALL THE TIME, it’s hard for me to buy brand new items, so when I do it’s a big deal for me. Forever 21 was recently having an additional 60% off clearance sale, so I decided to pick up some items I’d seen. Plus I was shopping through Swagbucks (which is kind of like Rakuten) and I got $3 back on my purchase. and they had a free shipping code. It was the perfect day to spend $30 on a few things.

I purchased 2 rompers, 1 dress, 1 tee and 1 MacBook cover sticker. One of the things I decided at the beginning of my pregnancy was that I wasn’t going to buy maternity clothing, I’d rather just size up in items, so I was excited to try these on!

First this 90’s girl tee. Which I loved UNTIL I started thinking… does this imply that I was BORN in the 90’s or that I grew up in the 90’s? because I was born in the middle of the 80’s, but I lived my foundational years in the 90’s. This shirt is a little more cropped on me than I’d anticipated, but COME ON. once someone reassures me that the 90’s girl statement applies to me, I’m wearing this forever.

SPEAKING OF 90’s girl, this romper reminded me of Dionne’s black and white plaid in Clueless (reminds me of, not looks like!). I think I’ll wear this with a long sleeve top and tights under it for the fall. It’s super stretchy and really comfortable.

Don’t mind my dumb face but this dress is one of my faves for the last few weeks of hot weather. This is one of my favorite things I ended up buying!

OK my OTHER favorite thing I purchased: this lace romper! It’s SO PRETTY and I love how feminine it is. Will I wear it before next spring? Who even knows, but I really love it.

AND FINALLY.

I have this MacBook sticker on my MacBook case (I’m weird. I have a pink snap on case and then I put the sticker cover on top of it.) I love it so much and I have this weird fear that I won’t be able to find things I love again in the future, so I grabbed this on sale to hoard somewhere until I decide I need it.

So yeah! That’s my $34 Forever 21 purchase. I felt like those girls with online shopping addictions.. but I’m really not.

The best part is that I used a cash back site that gave me $4 back. The one I was using was Swagbucks (I’ve gotten back into it!) but another great one is Rakuten.

Thanks to Influenster and Dia & Co for giving me the chance to try the Dia & Co Box! I’m excited for the opportunity to share a Dia & Co Box Review!

I have ALWAYS been intrigued by the idea of clothing boxes. You tell people what your style is like and then they send you stuff they think you’ll love. When I was given the chance to try a Dia & Co box, I JUMPED ON IT! Then I realized I should share my experience with a Dia & Co Box Review!

Dia & Co is a personal styling service geared towards plus sized women. You can choose to order a hand selected box or just buy straight from their website. For the box, you pay $20 for the box. If you choose to keep anything, the $20 is applied towards your purchase. Your whole box is 25% off if you keep it all. If not, you have 5 days to choose what to send back. Shipping is free both directions. Influenster waived the $20 styling fee so I was able to try the box for free!

For my style, I shared where I like to shop and patterns to avoid (everything except polka dot and florals). Avoid all colors except blue, gold, gray, pink, purple and white. Daily laid back casual style and all items priced as low as possible. When I got home one day and saw my Dia & Co. box, I was so excited to try it on!

Okay let’s start with what I was wearing to start with so you can get some sense of my style. This was my outfit. A pair of thrifted maternity shorts (PRAISE HANDS), a shirt I found at the Goodwill outlet, and a pair of shoes I got from TOMS for free (more praise hands!).

DISCLAIMER: tiny human preparation has exploded on the other half of our bedroom. I didn’t brush my hair or even ask Justen to take better pictures than I could snap with my phone in our small over the door mirror. Hot mess on full display over here. 

Once I opened the box, I saw that they had a little list of everything I’d be trying on in my box.

My first thought was: THAT’S A LOT OF MONEY! The entire outfit I was wearing cost me $6.

First I tried on this Molly & Isadora Karlie Lattice tee in purple. HYPOTHETICALLY, I like the criss cross thing in the front, but not paired with a scoop neck. I liked the 3/4 sleeves, but the shirt just was NOT my style. Plus when I was looking in the mirror, I realized it already had holes in it when I received it! Yikes.

Next I tried on this Meri Skye Elsa Short Sleeve Tee with D-Ring Detail. The dark deal color was… alright. I didn’t love the black pattern on it. The v-neck seemed okay. But as I pulled it out, I said “oh no. There’s hardware. This will not work.” Justen asked me what kind of hardware comes with a shirt and I showed him the the rings on the sleeve. That took this MAYBE shirt to a HARD PASS right away.

I was the absolute most excited about this Meri Skye Vita 3/4 Sleeve A-line Tee dress. Pockets! and 3/4 sleeves! and it just looked super comfortable. I’m 8 months pregnant and have been LIVING in t-shirt dresses. This had a little bit of a thicker material than a regular tee, which I was so excited about.

The pockets were right at the hips, which made it look a little wider without your hands in them, which was a bummer. Ultimately I thought about keeping this dress, but it was just too much money for what I would have been getting.

Finally, I tried on the Celebrity Pink Merida Shorts with Fray Hem and the Ginger Faux Leather Trim Pendant Necklace at the same time, with my trusty ol’ cheap tee. These shorts fit the best of everything I tried on. I’d ordered them bigger to accommodate the human I’m growing, and was super impressed with the stretch they had going on. I didn’t even really mind the fray hem. But the patches. I COULD NOT GET OVER the patches.

The necklace was an absolute no go, though I really liked the length and the pretty pendant at the end. It seemed really boho compared with the rest of everything I had received.

The return process was super easy – I (disappointedly and) immediately folded everything back up and put it in the included return bag. It started tracking right away and they received it within 2-3 days, notifying me of the final receipt for the box ($0).

Overall, I was fairly disappointed in the styles I was sent. The clothes seemed to be better suited for someone older than me, and the items seemed a bit overpriced. I’m glad I was able to experience it for free thanks to Influenster, because now my curiosity has been satisfied!

If you’re interested in trying Dia & Co, you can use my link and have your personal styling fee waived on your first box! I’d love to hear what your experience is 🙂

I’ve been doing these for over 5 years and have just hit 20 posts. I guess that’s 4 per year, or once per quarter (though it rarely/never evens out like that).

Before I left for Nashville, I quickly snapped a photo of the massive pile of empties I’ve been waiting to post about so here we are.

Look at all those things I’ve been saving to blog about.

Batiste Dry Shampoo in Tropical
My favorite dry shampoo! but I’m in the process of trying to find a new dry shampoo that better aligns with my desire to clean up my beauty cabinet. I’ll let you know how it goes 🙂

Raw Sugar The Moisture Smoothie Shampoo + Conditioner
I actually bought these at Goodwill because I AM A SUCKER and couldn’t remember if I had conditioner at home (spoiler: I did). I loved the way they smelled but I won’t need to be purchasing them again.

Soap & Glory The Righteous Butter Body Butter
Speaking of getting things at Goodwill, I found this at the Bins! I’ve been using it for months; I liked the smell and the thickness of it, but because I’m doing the whole cleaning up of my beauty cabinet, I won’t be seeking it out.

Derma- E Vitamin C Micellar Cleansing Water

I was really into Micellar Water for awhile, but now I’m over it. At this point I’d rather just use witch hazel. Cheaper and one less thing on the shelf.

MAC Cleanse Off Oil

This stuff is amazing if you’re looking for a makeup remover. Pump the oil into dry hands, rub on face, wash off. It’s really effective and great. But again… cleaning out my beauty cabinet. I HIGHLY recommend this, though. Plus it’s so much less wasteful than makeup remover wipes!

Kenra Platinum Leave In Conditioner

I don’t know how I got this. I didn’t want it. I got rid of it.

Suki Exfoliate Foaming Cleanser

This is honestly one of my must-have products. It starts in the shape of your average sugar scrub but it turns foamy with water. It smells amazing and is great at exfoliating! I use this in the shower. I 100% will be – okay actually already have – replacing this.

Eve Lom Cleanser

I first got a small sample in a Birchbox years ago and fell in love. You rub a small amount of the cleanser on your face, then you use a muslin cloth to wash it up. I love the earthy smell of it and it makes my face feel so clean. It is REALLY EXPENSIVE, so I’ve stocked up as I’ve seen it on the Birchbox sale page. I think I have one small tub left.

Cashmere Glow Body Lotion

I try to put lotion on my hands every night before bed, and I found this small bottle and decided to start using it up. I like the smell, but I am also in the process of breaking up with Bath & Body Works. This also applies to…

Marshmallow Pumpkin Latte Body Mist

Read above. I will miss you, sweet smell of fall.

Benefit They’re Real! Mascara

Let me just shout my adulting from the rooftop. This mascara was old enough to need to get replaced, so replace it I did! I really liked this mascara. In general, I think Benefit has some really great mascaras (my current one is Benefit!) but I’m on the prowl for a more natural option.

Some random tube of lip gloss

That says it all. There was no labels or identifying packaging. I didn’t like the color. Goodbye.

Ciate Dewy Stix

I couldn’t actually figure out how to use this. I believe it’s a highlighter of some sort, but it was a bit too high maintenance for me.

Kiehl’s Nightly Refining something concentrate

I started using this and it actually got me to start integrating a serum into my nightly routine.

Manna Eye Candy Shadow Stick

This stuff is seriously one of my favorites! I love how easy it is to just draw on my eye shadow. It’s a pretty muted pink color. Unfortunately it’s not available on Birchbox right now, ugh!

Root Pretty Beauty Sleep Serum Sample

I ended up buying this serum! After trying the Kiehls stuff, I decided to try a Root Pretty night time serum and I LOVE it. I’m currently trying another one I got as a sample and I don’t love it as much as this one.

Red Earth Deep Dive Water Cream

This was a lightweight almost gel like cream, and I liked it! I’m realizing that I have my favorite products and the samples are really fun but it’s gonna take a LOT to sway me from those faves.

Avene Hydrance… Cream?

I tossed this one because I’d had it for awhile with literally no interest in trying it.

Amika pink charcoal cleansing oil

This stuff was confusing for me. It’s a… hair product. I can’t remember how you use it, but I know that my hair is the hot mess express and this did nothing for me.

Root Pretty Makeup Samples

A few months ago Root Pretty had a sale on their samples and I took full advantage of it. I’ve been slowly trying to swap out my products for ones I feel better about, so I loved getting to try these (and eventually purchase full sized ones!)

CAI All That Glitters Eyeshadow 

I saw some blogger share about this Stila glitter eye shadow she wore and I fell in love. I dipped my toes in the water with this glitter eye shadow from.. Target? Walgreens? and loved it enough to order the real deal.

Darphine Intral Toner

This toner was so light and refreshing! I like my toners to pack a bit more of a punch, though, so I traded this in for my normal witch hazel/lemon oil toner. I feel like my home made option makes my face feel clean and crisp.

Phew. I think I covered it all!

See years of things I’ve used up in previous empties, found here.

Oh man, it’s been a whirlwind few weeks! After working really hard to create a productive routine in our little studio apartment, we got a call one Wednesday asking us if we’d be interested in moving back into our spacious one bedroom apartment across the hall that weekend. We quickly packed up and carried everything down the hall and started making an empty room our home again… for the second time in two months.

Man, that’s emotionally exhausting! Especially because we’d just sold our couch(es). The couches took up almost ALL of the space in our apartment, so we suddenly had TONS OF SPACE to deal with. It’s almost all together and I’ll share a new little apartment tour.

But until then, I’m working really hard at getting everything organized and in its place ASAP so we feel at home and rest in our apartment. Sharing my little pile of empties from the past month!

Rosewater Argan facial cream

I’m actually REALLY CONFUSED about why I can’t find this listed in a previous empty post, because I’ve definitely used this up before. Kristen got me this face cream from Soap & Sunshine a few years ago (for my birthday, I think?) and I FELL IN LOVE. It’s so soft smelling, lightweight and moisturizing without being greasy. I love this stuff so much that I literally swiped EVERY LAST BIT out of the jar while I waited for my new one in the mail! (ps I did find a previous post where I wrote about this product, but it wasn’t an empties post!)

Benefit the Porefessional balm

This is my favorite pore-minimizing primer of all time! I’ve written about it before, here and here and here. 🙂 It’s great on its own or under makeup, matte and does a great job filling in pores.

Kiehl’s midnight recovery eye

Birchbox sample. It was okay, though I already have eye creams I love. It was nice to have a night time eye care routine, but probably unnecessary. Plus it’s pretty expensive, but Kiehl’s is a pretty fancy brand. I have no desire to buy this.

L’Oreal Voluminous Base Lash Primer

I first wrote about this over a year ago – I’d been looking for a lash primer and was so excited to find this one! I realized it’d been like… A YEAR since I’d replaced it, and in one of the greatest acts of adulting I’ve exercised lately, I went to Walgreens and bought a new one to throw away my old probably nasty one.

Michael Kors perfume…?

Yeah IDK. Small perfume samples are real hard for me. 😀

Garnier Whole Blend Honey Treasures Repairing Conditioner 

I first discovered the Garnier Whole Blend line when I did a sponsored post for them a few years ago. I found this conditioner at Goodwill for dirt cheap (I have no shame and didn’t even take the GW sticker off, haha) and decided to try it because I LOVED the coconut line. This was really good – I liked that the conditioner was thick and lasted a long time!

Suave Professional Almond + Shea Butter Shampoo

Here’s the thing. I have this terrible habit of going places and forgetting things like shampoo, so last fall when I was in Nashville I grabbed this on clearance because I don’t want my mistakes to have a high price tag. It’s alright, nothing great, thank u, next.

Glamglow Supermud clearing treatment

This mask was pretty great! I bought it from Birchbox and really loved it. My face always feels really clean and tight(?) after using this. I think all masks are the same, so I won’t be replacing it.

Catch up on my past Empties here.