Beachlife & Penny Shoes

While I'm a City girl at heart, every so often we all need a getaway for a little R&R. Earlier this summer my husband booked us a room in Atlantic City on a whim. The five of us piled in the car with two of my niece's in tow. It's been a while since I've shared a look for less than $50 - and this one is especially good since my Chloe Estel fringed wedges retailed for $645 alone.

Head to toe:

• Sunglasses: free from a friend's daughter's Bat Mitzvah LOL (cute swag, right?)
• Cover-up: Old Navy, free (I went to an Old Navy and they gifted me a romper which I swapped for this in-store.)
• Hat: Kooba, TJ Maxx, $12.99
• Bracelet: A.V. Max, sample sale, $10
• Shoes: Chloe, Nordstrom Rack, $0.01 (RV $645!)*

*For those of you new to my blog, you can find things for a penny at Nordstrom Rack. Penny items are pieces that should have been clearanced from the floor and pulled - but if you find them (some are actually marked $0.01 and some you have to hunt for) they typically sell them to you without too much of a hassle for a penny. I look for items that have been sitting around a while and make educated guesses. If you're familiar with your location's stock, it's pretty easy to do. Like any bargain hunting, it takes time and patience. And sometimes it's just dumb luck.

You can shop my style here:

As you know, the real star of the show is my daughter Ella. I'm proud to report that her Insta is at almost 3k! This was all shot back by the 4th of July - Justice was running a $3 promotion for all clearance tops so we scooped up this cute navy cold shouldered tee and floral headband for only $2. Once again, her sunnies were another $1 Dollar Tree find. We couldn't find any white shorts (she's particular about fit - wonder where she gets that from...) so she chopped a pair of white Gap capris which we had thrifted for about $1 a long time ago.

I have plenty of cute pics of her but I thought I'd share this one where she was literally attacked by seagulls LOL.

This is pretty much the only shot you'll see Ava in - when she's at the beach she takes playing in the sand very seriously. I don't even bother putting her in a cute suit at the beach because she just destroys them.

And because I don't give Akiva enough love - and because he woke up early to shoot me on the boardwalk, I wanted to share one with him and my niece Emma who I call the "Akiva Whisperer." She's just so sweet and kind and knows how to deal with his quirks. I love my boy but he doesn't always fit in - and she just gets him.

Back to Ella - Justice sent her this towel as a part of her #girlswithheart brand ambassador program. The bikini we picked up in Justice when they were running a $10 swimsuit promo. She usually has a hard time finding ones that the bottoms don't fall off (which is why we do a lot of mixing and matching) but these were ok. She's 10 years old and wearing a size 7 here. Typically with Justice she needs a 8/10 on top and a 7/8 on bottom. Ideally in swim she'd need a 8 on top and 6 on bottom though.

I probably have a dozen shots of Ella on the beach doing cartwheels, headstands, and leaping in the air but I'm just sharing my favorite. I don't typically feel mom-guilt but I feel a little bad that we never signed her up for gymnastics. It's really expensive around here - and we already sacrifice so much to send them to private school. I used to sign up my kids for a few after school programs and sports - but they have so much school work, and get home so late that during the school year that it was just too much. I didn't want to spend my life in one endless carpool. I have friends who spend their entire Sunday in their cars shuttling their kids around. Instead I make an effort to actually spend time with my kids. I figure they're gonna remember impromptu beach trips way more than some random little league practice.

But back to the fun stuff in shopping land. Fivestory was a disappointment - low stock and not that cheap. Most items were only 75% off retail - and nothing really drool-worthy. That said I did pick up a 90% off Edie Parker clutch and a pair of shoes that I'll have to share soon. I think I confused that sale with the Scoop sale - which the last one was epic, mostly because they went out of business. Today is the last day of Prabal Gurung which I heard got markdowns so you may want to hurry over. Nothing else really exciting to list from my picks from  previous weeks (which I relisted below).

Prabal Gurung
August 10, 8-7
247 West 37th Street, Suite 1501

Fivestory
August 8-13
T 9-8, W-Sat 11-7, Sun 11-4
150 Greene Street

Sachin & Babi
August 14-16, 9-6
132 West 36th Street, 9th Fl

Mahna Mahna Showroom
August 22-25, 11-6
134 Spring St, #304

Happy Shopping!

XO
Michelle