Cheryl Shops

Back in the golden days of blogging, I used to follow all of my favorites via Google Reader, an RSS feed. As it does with many of its (presumably money-losing) free products, Google shut down Reader in 2013. And as long as there've been RSS feeds, I've relied on Feedburner, another free Google product, to publish mine. The good news is that Feedburner is not (yet) going away entirely—if you follow this blog on a traditional RSS feeder like Feedly or on Bloglovin, you can still continue to do so. But, if you subscribe to my posts via email, sadly, that service will be going away in July. 

There are many amazing things that happen in July: Independence Day, Bastille Day...and the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale, or, as I like to call it, Christmas in July. Most of the bloggers you follow are probably losing their minds over it, and that's because it's one of the only sales in which seasonal product gets marked down at the beginning of the season, rather than at the end. In other words, it's the perfect opportunity to score fall staples like coats, boots, and jeans at sale prices. If you are a Nordstrom cardmember, you get to shop the sale starting Thursday, July 12; otherwise, it opens to the public on the 20th. Here are my top 10 sale picks, and keep scrolling all the way to the end for your chance to win a $500 Nordstrom gift card! Let's do this!

Even though I've been out of school for (cough, cough) awhile, there's still that feeling of excitement and anticipation around the end of the summer. Especially when I was in high school, I spent weeks painstakingly planning my first-day-of-school outfit in the hope that I'd appear to have transformed into a Cool Girl over the summer. It never really worked, but it at least provided hours of entertainment. And all the shopping that went into it was kind of the best part anyway.

Speaking of back-to-school shopping, I've teamed up with TheFind for a $50 gift card giveaway! Here's how to enter: Leave a comment below with your email address and tell me what's on your back-to-school shopping list, real or theoretical. (Note: All entrants will be placed on TheFind's email list for promotions.) You'll be entered to win a $50 gift card, as well as a grand prize $100 gift card, winner to be announced September 12. Spend it on new jeans, kicks, Trapper Keepers, or whatever you want! Entries are due by 11:59 p.m. PST on September 8, 2013.

Need some motivation? Here's my dream first-day-of-school outfit.