As of today I’ve officially made it through five months of my shopping diet. Hard to believe, not because it’s such a great accomplishment but because I still have seven months left. Are you kidding me? SEVEN more months? I feel like this has been going on for an eternity already!

Although I admit I feel like I cheated. A friend of mine hosted a clothing sale last week, and another friend noticed that I was coveting a pair of jeans and bought them for me. Isn’t that just too generous?! And then another friend sold me one of her brand-new Victoria’s Secret bras (buying undergarments and socks are acceptable if necessary) and then she threw in a dress for free (which is the item I really wanted). So now I have a new pair of jeans and a new dress and I’m feeling a bit guilty about it. Guilty, and giddy. Ha… ha?

Anyway, I may not be shopping, but I’m still gleaning plenty of late-winter style inspiration from my favorite retailers, like Kate Spade:

And J.Crew:

And Anthropologie:

There’s plenty of drooling happening over here.

Ooh! The blue lattice stool from Clayton Gray Home that I used in my blue and white inspiration board also looks good in a bathroom.

*Image from HGTV.com.

The Jason Wu for Target capsule collection launches in exactly two weeks, and it’s so sad that I won’t be buying this dress.

Someone please buy and enjoy it for me!

It’s kind of killing me that I can’t shop right now, considering the amazing clearance sales going on and that I could actually use so many of the items I’m seeing. Seriously! I’m cold and don’t have enough sweaters; many of my clothes are falling apart, and nothing fits right. I want new clothes. Am I going to fail my one-year shopping diet?

Oh, if only I could click right now…

I’m feeling hopelessly frustrated yet highly amused with myself. Think I’ll make it through the next seven and-a-half months?! Please tell me it’ll be easy! Ugh!

It seems to be a good week for discovering new textile designers! Today I stumbled upon Caitlin Wilson, a San Francisco designer with a very trend-forward aesthetic in both pattern and palette.

I love how each of her collections has some brilliant pattern-mixing going on. Pattern mixing is not always easy, so she does it for us! See her collections below, Fleur Chinoise I, Fleur Chinoise II, Fleur Chinoise III, Fleur Chinoise IV, and Hong Kong.

I have a particular fondness for birch trees. The backyard of my childhood home was full of them, like a cute-little birch-tree colony. If I ever move back home (it’s possible! We’re not planning to live on the Mediterranean forever!), I love the idea of working them into our décor. It doesn’t have to be literal, of course, but it could be. Like with this wallpaper, designed by Steve Abrams.

It may not look like much in 2-D, but take a look at it when applied to a rustic-chic room. You only see hints of it because of the limited wall space, but even when it’s just a hint, the illustrated, birch-tree texture takes the room from handsome to titillating (don’t you love that word?).

And check this out—even if you’re too timid for wallpaper, you’re not out of luck! Kristen Dougherty sells original birch-tree paintings on her Etsy page, and they evoke that same simple, graphic, and rustic elegance of the birch tree colony outside my childhood window.

It (almost) makes me want to pack up my things and head west!

I feel terrible. It’s just a cold (I think), but it feels so much worse than that. I’m achy and exhausted and so rundown. Ugh. So let’s keep it simple today, shall we?

I’ve only just discovered Sonya Winner. She designs incredibly graphic, punchy rugs and I need to remember her next time we’re in the market for a unique floor covering.

The first rug, titled After Matisse (I feel like I can say “titled” because it’s basically a work of art on the floor—right?), is especially compelling and so appropriate for a family. Hm, should I be nervous to look at the price tag on these?

There is no way I could ever wear a shirt like this—at least not until both of my kids are old enough to never have to rely on me to get food into their mouths—but I can daydream. (And I have.)

It’s a great little trend, and if you end up buying one (chances are you don’t have two small children!), I’ll live vicariously through you.

Aaand now I can’t get this color out of my head. Each of these pretty red things is under $100 and begging to be mine!

Pleats Be Red-y Skirt, Modcloth
Modern Denim Skinny Jeans, Ann Taylor
Red Peplum Ponte Dress, Dorothy Perkins
Lace and Peplum Blouse, Topshop
Suedette Messenger Bag, Forever 21

Because of my shopping diet (three months down!), I missed out on the opportunity to buy this ravishing green blouse from Ann Taylor:

And it seems that fashion bloggers around the world are rubbing it in my face with their gorgeous pops of green.

Curses!