I am back from the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale, and I'm just about dead on my feet-but had a wonderful time.

My experience shopping the Pre-sale was extra special this year because my mom was able to join my sister and I for our annual excursion. We had a ball! The three of us shop well together, and were paired with a very energetic and helpful sales associate who was willing to run all over the store for us. We let her walk us through her favorite finds and recommendations, and she was also kind enough to pull extra items for us to try that she thought would look great together.

Afterwards, exhausted, the three of us parked ourselves and our gear in front of a soup and sandwich shop to refuel and catch up. We enjoyed our girls' night out so much and really hope we'll all be able to go together next year too.

Each of us came away with finds that we were excited about. My sister brought home a colorful orange Clarisonic, more of her favorite Zella workout wear, a gorgeous Bellatrix digital print top that looks like its patterned with champagne and cream sequins but actually is a really fine polyester print, a slouchy mustard purse, the Halogen seamed pencil skirt in turquoise, and a cute black and gold patterned jacquard jacket.

Mom was a bit more discerning as she has a large wardrobe already, but found a great pair of Kut from the Kloth skinnies to wear under boots, a red Vince Camuto tiered long sleeve top, and an orange Caslon double knit blazer that looked amazing on her figure.

I scooped up my usual basics (Commando hose, Chantelle bra, Shimera undies) but found some great statement pieces too:

•Grey knit Olivia Moon blazer with ruched sleeves; looks like tweed. this was not originally on my list, but our sales associate strongly recommended that I try it out.

•Caramel buttery soft Halogen leather jacket

•Cream semi sheer chiffon Halogen blouse with tiny navy dots

I cannot wait to try them out! I'm especially thrilled with the jacket as that was THE big hope on my wish list. (I tried on armfuls of leather jackets today, and in terms of fit, feel, and color this was my favorite.)

Photos of the three items are included above, but as I'm too wiped out to even think about changing out of my pajamas, you'll just have to trust me that they look great on!

I have two additional items on order: a Nik and Zoe tweed skirt that we didn't see that I'm hoping will work, and a Bellatrix blouse; I tried on the pretty black floral Bellatrix blouse and loved the way it was cut, but the large was too tight in the bust. Straight sizes don't go up further than large in that brand. I'm trying a different turquoise Bellatrix blouse in a plus size to see if maybe I can get it tailored to fit.

5:50 PM on 7/13: Edited to add photos of me trying out the items at home per request. Please note that these are NOT styled, and I didn't straighten out the blouse underneath the blazer so there are lots of creases; not only that, it's the end of the day and my hair is flat, and my lipstick has worn off.
This is just to give you a general idea of the items. The blouse is perhaps not too exciting on its own, but the possibilities are myriad - tucking in, wearing with pants, unbuttoning and rolling the sleeves - I'm mainly intending to use this as a layering piece under jackets or sweaters.

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