Affordable Fashion Finds | Black Denim Overalls

Happy Monday friends!  Just kidding;)  Mondays blow.  At least we have 4th of July to look forward to though, right?  On a Wednesday.  Smack dab in the middle of the work week….sigh.  I suppose the little break will be nice, but it’s been several years since the 4th has fallen on a Wednesday, and for some reason it just seems way more inconvenient for party planning.  I know, I know….partying is totally not the point of the 4th of July.  We should just be happy to celebrate our independence, but what can I say?  I’m good at multi-tasking;)  Basically we’ll end up with three celebrations when all is said in done, which definitely isn’t the worst thing in the world. =\

We kicked off our first 4th of July celebration this past weekend out on our boat with some close friends.  It was supposed to rain, but thankfully it ended up being a gorgeous day filled with lots of laughs, and singing….there’s always, always singing on boat day. =)

While there’s almost never a bad day when you’re out enjoying the Charleston waterways, I’ve been a bit depressed this year about the summer boat season.  Basically, we’re one of two remaining couples in our circle of friends that don’t have kids, so when we first got our boat six years ago, we’d have like 13 eager people ready to join us for some fun out on the water, and alternates on stand by in case someone canceled and a spot opened up.  Lately, however, it’s become very apparent that the glory days are over, so to speak.  With unpredictable weather, and other obligations (kids’ birthday parties, baby showers, work travel, vacations, etc), we only end up getting the boat out like eight times during the peak of the summer, which is super sad in and of itself.  And to make matters worse, it’s now like pulling teeth to get some of our friends to join us (I can write this freely bc my friends don’t read my blog haha;)).

I totally get that people want to spend their free time with their kids, but I have to admit it’s hard not to be offended when it seems some can’t manage to carve out even one Saturday during the course of an entire summer to spend time together sans infants and kids.

At the end of May I even sent out a list of the weekends that we’d likely take the boat out to give everyone a chance to plan ahead, and hire a sitter for whichever date(s) worked for them  Welp, that didn’t even seem to help.  I feel like I’m doing the right thing by being considerate of the fact that most of our friends can’t just drop everything and hang out, so I try to plan any non kid-friendly events waaaay out in advance, but again, my efforts don’t seem to be helping.=\

Last year Michael turned 40 and I had to schedule his surprise birthday party almost two months after his birthday, as the month was already booked with other birthday celebrations and two baby showers.  Which was fine bc it meant that he would definitely be surprised at his party seeing as his birthday was far past over.;)  So I sent out his surprise party invite almost two months in advance too, and the day of his party literally half of the people who had RSVP’d that they were attending didn’t come bc they couldn’t find a sitter, or they showed up with their child and then left within an hour.  I literally cried about it after the party bc I just wanted Michael to feel special, and I was so disappointed that it seemed so many others didn’t think his 40th birthday was worth making more of an effort (and bc I was stuck with several pans of leftover enchiladas and rice and beans lol).  It really broke my heart.

I would love to hear the perspective from other’s who do have children, so you all can tell me what I’m doing wrong in my approach.  We don’t plan get-togethers often anymore, so it’s not like we’re trying to monopolize anyone’s time.  We used to have cookouts, wine tastings, or other parties at our house all the time, but we realize our friends are now busy with play-dates and other family fun activities.  So again, we don’t ask for much.  At least I don’t think we do (?) and we do try to plan kid-friendly events too. =\  Either way, the situation has been quite a bit depressing for me.

Michael and I would love to move abroad for a few years (at least), and this is sort of a motivator, as it sometimes feels that there’s not much of a reason to stay in Charleston.  Well, other than it being Charleston.

Anyhoo….sorry for that unplanned tangent…I guess I’m in a funk.=\

Now let’s briefly chat about these budget-friendly black denim overalls I just got!  Cute, right??  The best part is they can be worn any season.  Can’t you picture these with your favorite boatneck sweater and some booties or sneaks?  You all know I love to mix trendy, affordable fashion finds with higher end closet staples, and I’ve been having so much luck lately on the budget side of things.  I can’t wait to share some other winners with you in the coming days:)

I’m actually wearing this bikini top with them, and the whole set is now only $12 (gasp!).  They have a several other adorable OTS bikinis available that I’m swooning over too.  Like this one, and this one🙂

As far as sizing goes, I ordered the overalls and the bikini in a large, as their clothing generally runs small.  I probably could’ve gotten a medium in the overalls, but they fit me fine.  For reference, in regular department store clothing sizes 4-8 fit me depending on what it is, and how many tacos I’ve had that week.  Not sure how helpful that is, so it’s best to just go by the measurements provided on the website.;)

Hope you all have a great week and that I didn’t bring you down with my whining;)