I link up my monthly budget posts over at Franish.

This was a weird month of shopping for me.  I didn't buy much, but I did spend quite a hunk of change on new underthings.  It was time.  I was in desperate need of new underthings.  So, keep that in mind when looking at the breakdown for this month.

Purchases

• by&by Dolman Top $21.67 (Worn here.)
• Pink Lace Top $10 (Purchased from Danielle from Goodwillista on IG) 
• Bras & Panties from Kohl's $52.98 (Told you I spent a chunk of change!)
• Jeans from Maurice's $35.12

Total Spent: $119.77

Budget: $150

Leftover: $30.23

I don't think I did too bad.  The Bs&Ps got me this month, but those are important too.  Not just for obvious reasons, but because when ya got a nice pair of panties and a bra on, it just makes ya feel good, doesn't it ladies? 

I am excited about the jeans from Maurice's.  I totally forgot about that store until someone mentioned buying a top there last month and I spent an evening on their website making a wish list!  I was excited about finding curvy jeans there, too, and the pair I bought fit great! 

Oh, and, guess what else Maurice's has!? Shorts with longer inseams!  I can't wait to order a couple of pair and try them out.  I hate the shorter inseams on shorts these days, so when I find ones that aren't going to cause my thighs to catch on fire, I grab them up.  I don't wear shorts hardly ever because of this.  I need the longer inseam, but I don't want them to my knees. Ya get me?

The pink lace top is just waiting in my closet for me to style it.  I promised Danielle that I would tag her in it when I did it, so, Danielle, if you are reading this, I'm going to do it, I swear! I'm just trying to figure out where to take the pictures because the lighting is so horrible in my house! (#bloggerprobs) 

My dolman top that I wore to the wedding earlier this month  hasn't been worn again, but it's going to look great with a pair of those new shorts I am going to try out or the jeans I bought this month. It's all about combinations, ladies!

Hopefully next month I have a bit more to show you all!  I am going to do my best!  

If you're coming here from a fashion link up, don't leave here without seeing my newest series: Wardrobe Staples.

Tops.  Ah yes, tops.  Of course they are a staple, right?  We gotta have 'em to keep the girls covered.  Tops are great, but do you know what kind of tops you should have in your wardrobe?  No?  Good. Then you won't be bored reading this post. :)

I used to just buy tops.  Whatever I liked and fit, I bought it.  So, I usually wound up with a bunch of tops I could only wear for one particular occasion.  That's never good because then you say, "I have nothing to wear!" and you end up buying a new outfit that is suitable for the occasion that you never wear again.  

When you shop, be mindful of what you are looking at and what other occasions you can wear the particular piece to.  That is the biggest rule I have when I shop now.  Always ask yourself where else you can wear it to or what else in your closet will it work with.  You save money that way and you save yourself some tears, trust me.

To tame ourselves, I discovered six different tops that you should have in your wardrobe before you go top crazy again:

• Basic white tee
• 1-2 neutral colored tops
• 2-4 solid colored tops in colors that look good on YOU
• 2-4 patterned tops in patterns YOU love
• Chambray shirt
• White button down

I will briefly explain each piece, and at the end of the post, you can go check out the How to Style Wardrobe Staples board on Pinterest I created just for this series so you can see how to style things and get the creative juices flowing.

BASIC WHITE TEE (BWT)

Find you a nice, white, basic tee that you can pair with a denim jacket, a blazer, or a cardigan. BWTs look great with jeans, skirts, and sometimes, you can even throw them over dresses. You can even add scarves and statement necklaces for fun touch. The sky is the limit with BWTs. Go get you one! Now!

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NEUTRAL TOPS

For starters, when I talk about neutrals, I'm talking about the colors black, grey, white, and shades of brown running from dark brown to beige. You need one or two of these in your wardrobe. I usually buy black, white, and grey tees and tanks. Neutral tops are good for layering or they can be worn alone with some fun accessories.

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SOLID COLORED TOPS 

Solid colored tops are great for adding some color to an outfit.  Got a black pants suit?  Dress that baby up with a blue or purple top!  Or yellow!  Or red!  Got a patterned skirt?  Throw some color on top! Whatever suits your fancy, dress those boring 'ole outfits up with some color!  You want 2-4 solid colored tops that YOU feel good in.  Confidence is a big key in fashion.  You have to feel confident in what you are wearing and, only then, can you rock any outfit you choose. 

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How many ladies can say they are confidant in their wardrobe staples?  Do you have all the basics covered or are you like me and are severely lacking in that department?  Or maybe you just read those last two sentences and thought,"What are wardrobe staples?  Basics?  Like underwear??"

No, no, I'm not talking about your bikini briefs-I'm talking about the basic pieces that every woman should have in her wardrobe that can be paired with almost anything in your closet to create outfits. I know, I didn't know about all of this hubbub either until I started doing some research on Pinterest.  Lo and behold there is a whole world out there for wardrobe staples!  The things we learn on Pinterest.....

Over the next couple of weeks, I am going to be showing you what you should have in your closet as the foundation for your wardrobe.  Notice how I just got all crazy with the text edits on 'foundation', yea, there's a reason for that.  These wardrobe staples are what you build outfits from.  I like to look at staples as starter pieces when building an outfit.  Once you have these pieces in your closet, getting dressed will become a whole lot easier.

There are six sections I will be covering:

• Tops
• Pants
• Skirts
• Dresses
• Completer Pieces 
• Accessories (shoes, belts, bags, etc.) 

I haven't posted a lot this week because my brain is just mush.  I have been trying to plan my blogging calendar and get posts written in advance and scheduled so I can breathe a little, but coming up with new content is rough when your brain is mush.  

choice 1 || choice 2 (more colors available) || choice 3 And here's how I found some of them styled via Pinterest

As most of you know, our road trip to Arkansas was for a wedding, so that meant I had to style myself and L in clothes that would be comfortable, nice, and offer warmth since it is still chilly here in the Midwest.

L's was easy-leggings and a tunic from Target.  I also found these shoes for her to wear.  She will be able to wear the outfit and the shoes well into early summer so I did good there.

 As for me, I started planning my outfit back in March when I snatched up those maxi skirts from Target.  I wanted to be comfortable, yet still look nice for a wedding that was a laid-back affair.  I spent some time browsing Pinterest and decided that a banded top and a cardigan would work for what I was going for and I came up with this:

Please excuse basically everything about this photo. Just concentrate on the outfit, not it's surroundings. Ha! Top: JCPenney Cardigan: Target Maxi Skirt: Target Flip Flops (not seen): Old Navy This post is linked up with the ladies over at the Trend Spin link up.

I had so much fun doing the post on my fave beauty products, that I decided to do one on my make-up bag!

Now, my make-up bag is nothing to write home about.  I have worn make-up since I was a teenager, but I always just kept it minimal up until, well, recently.  I just figured out eyeliner last year if that tells you anything.  I do, however, like to try new things and am always looking for ways to enhance (okay, and cover up, too) my face.

As I have gotten older, and especially after L was born, the skin on my face has changed.  I have to use under eye cream (which I am still trying to find the best one) and a moisturizer (still looking on that too) on my face?  What?  My make-up bag is getting fuller by the month with all the "extras" that I have to put on my face before I even get to apply foundation.

With that being said, my make-up is not from Sephora, it's from Wal-Mart, Target, or e.l.f. I have found that I can get comparable high-end products at these three places and spend less.  I'm all about saving money and still looking fabulous, so...

I am back from our road trip to Arkansas for a wedding.  I was ever so glad to sleep in my own bed Saturday night. We did a lot this weekend and L did really good.  She was a real trooper and I am really proud of her.  She's getting to be such a big girl!

We left Thursday morning and pretty much battled rain for half the drive to Northwestern Arkansas.  What is normally a six hour drive, turned into being almost eight or nine due to the weather and a toddler who discovered that if she told the adults in the car that she had to potty, they would frantically look for a gas station (which my toddler also added to her vocabulary this weekend) and she would, in turn, get to get out of her car seat and ransack every gas station from Illinois to Arkansas.

We got to our hotel about 8 in the evening, let L release some pent up energy in the indoor hotel pool, and promptly bathed her and put her to bed.......until she decided that she didn't want to go to bed until MIDNIGHT.  She had a brief moment in time where she was upset.  She wanted her bed and she missed Daddy and she wanted to go home.  It was very hard to make her understand why we couldn't just drive back home.  So.  I did what any mother who is delirious from a car ride with a toddler would do...

I proceeded to jump on the king sized hotel bed her and I would be sharing.  I told her that the best thing about trips is that we get to do things we normally wouldn't do...like jump on the bed.

She bought it.  Hook, line, and sinker.  I have video of my toddler jumping on a king sized bed in a hotel in Arkansas and I am proud of it.

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We woke up Friday morning with time to kill  before the wedding that evening so we took L to Build-A-Bear to build her a new bear.  Well, she chose a Princess Kitty...ya'll this thing is so sparkly....and she promptly named it "Kitty".

We went back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding (I'll have outfit deets later) and left with enough time to stop and let L see some "choo choo twains" before we had to be at the wedding.  She enjoyed the heck out of herself there and then we went to this beautiful chapel  and participated in a very intimate wedding.

We left the wedding, stopped for a bite to eat, headed back to the hotel, and promptly passed out.  It had been a long and exhausting day and I was more than happy to crawl into bed at 10:30.  Ha!

The next morning we got up, packed up, and left so we would have enough time to stop at the zoo in Springfield, Missouri so L could see some "ephants, jaffs, and hoppos". She had a blast and wore me the heck out!  I slept a lot on the way home while she slept, snacked, played on her LeapPad, and asked to stop at "gash shations".

We got home about 7 in the evening on Saturday and then I immediately got her in the tub so I could put her to bed.  After she went to bed, I had to assess the damage that The Hubbs had to deal with while L and I were gone.  Our basement sprung a leak while I was gone and he had to shop vac a bunch of water out of his man cave and the storage room next to it.  We spent Sunday cleaning up and moving a lot of stuff out to the sun porch  to be taken the curb on trash day the next two to three weeks.  We didn't lose anything valuable, monetarily or sentimentally, so we are thankful for that.  However, now we have to figure out what to do with a leaky basement. :-/  Joy.  Thrill.

And that, my readers, sums up my weekend!  I'll back tomorrow with another beauty post and the last post in my five key pieces for spring series will be coming later this week.  Be sure to be watching Facebook and Twitter for new post alerts!

Alright, so we've talked about denim jackets, striped dresses, and harem pants. That leaves just two items left in this series: the classic white jacket/blazer and the (weirdly) named flippy skirt.  Because I am in the market for a couple of blazers, I thought that I could just combine all my browsing into useful information to share with all of you.

So, we know that black blazers were all the rage in the fall/winter.  Well, now you need a white one to go with that black one.  Here's what I have found lately:

h&m || forever 21 || target  I am leaning more towards the Forever 21 blazer.  I like the cut because it will still look okay on my short-torso'd body and I've always been a fan of two-button blazers.  I also like the faux pockets.  I think that adds a bit of character to a plain piece such as this. I always like to go to Pinterest and hunt down style ideas on the pieces I talk about.  It is easier for me to see how something is styled and then put my own spin on it, than to just think of something from scratch.  Very rarely do I come up with an outfit off the top of my head.  I'm usually always inspired by something I have seen and then I take it and run with it.  I believe that is the beauty in finding our own style: to be so inspired by something that we wish to recreate it in a way that suits ourselves as an individual.  Okay, so, you know I'm going to show you what I've been pinning, right? Browse my board and get I N S P I R E D! This wraps up my posts for the week since I will be out of town for a wedding!  Please be sure to follow me on Instagram (@lifenleopard) to see a sneak peak of what I wore to the wedding, how we entertained ourselves, and how well L fairs on a six hour road trip.   Then, come back here Monday to hear ALL about it! Have a great rest of the week and a fabulous weekend!

I was washing my face the other evening and had the fun idea to share my favorite beauty products with you.  Everyone wants to know what everyone else is using, right?  That's the nature of women-we gotta know what the other ladies are doing.

Here are eight of my favorite, religiously used, beauty products straight from my bathroom!

1. Tresemme Platinum Strength Shampoo and Conditioner || $4.48
I just love the Tresemme line.  However, this particular combo has done wonders for my hair!  It's much softer than it used to be.  It also helped promote new growth, which I needed since my hair is so thin anymore.
2. Neutrogena Hand Cream || $3.97
The Hubbs got me started on this.  He uses it for his hands and I tried some out one day and was impressed.  It keeps my hands moisturized and stops the chapping that I usually experience.  It doesn't really have a scent, which is fine by me.  I only like certain scents anyway.
3. Aquafina Lip Balm || $2.44 (3 pack)
My SIL introduced me to this stuff and it is great!  I am pretty addicted to it-probably because it gives a nice mint burst to your lips when you put it on.  It also makes my lips pretty soft.
4. Secret Clinical Strength Deodorant || $7.92
This stuff is not cheap, but it works.  After L was born, regular deodorants just didn't cut it for me, so I tried this stuff out.  It definitely keeps the underarms dry throughout the day.
5. Nivea Extended Moisture Body Lotion || $5.92
This stuff is so good!  My skin just soaks it up and leaves very soft skin behind.  I don't like my lotions to leave a film on my skin-this doesn't.
6. Oil of Olay Regenerist Cream Cleanser || $5.97
I wash my face twice a day with this stuff and it just feels good on my skin.  It has the tiny granules in it to help exfoliate your face while you wash.  I always feel refreshed after using this.  It also doesn't make my skin feel tight-which is a plus!
7. Dove Deep Moisture Body Wash || $6.88 (2 pack)
Anything that adds moisture to my skin, I am drawn to.  This is actually the best body wash I have come across for my skin.  Like my lotion, I don't like my body wash to leave a film on my skin.  This doesn't.  It also works well to shave my legs with which is a HUGE bonus for me.  I don't know about you, but I don't necessarily have all the time in the world to shave my legs.
8. Witch Hazel || $3.19
This is one of my beauty secrets that I am sharing with all of you.  If you have old acne scars, recurring acne, or want to even out your skin tone, buy yourself a bottle of Witch Hazel.  I use this after I wash my face at night and apply a thin layer over my face with a cotton ball and let it air dry.  I have been doing this for about six months now and I have noticed some fading with my old scars and my face looks brighter, even without make-up.  This is also good for bug bites in the summer, too, so it's a double use beauty product.