How I Shop the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale!

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Happy Monday loves! Hope you had a great weekend. Ours was a blast because we had a ton of family in town for a big reunion! This was one half of my Italian side and it was so fun to see so many people I either have never met before or haven't seen in a very long time. Definitely the perfect way to spend our last weekend in the DC area. Aside from that, my parents stayed with us and helped us more with packing plus getting our townhome ready for potential renters after we leave.

Ok y'all last year I feel like I was counting down the days until the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale but this year it totally crept up on me with everything going on! Aside from today's post on how I prep for the sale + my tips, I also plan to do a try-on post that will go live on July 13th so stay tuned for that. I probably will share a lot of the items on my IG stories first though so make sure you're following me there too. Also, If you want to see what I bought during last year's sale, check out this post!

To start off, below are the Top 5 things that I typically buy during the Anniversary sale because they are a.) items that typically don't go on sale and b.) closet staples that you will wear for YEARS to come.

1.) Jackets (blazers, leather, winter coats, etc.)

2.) Shoes (OTK boots, classic heels, booties, slides--the leopard ones above were part of the sale)

3.) Cashmere (last year I got the vest above and it was a HUGE hit)

4.) Leggings/activewear

5.) Denim

These are all the categories I'm typically searching and circling in the catalog. I never regret buying items from these categories during the sale because they always are worn on constant repeat season after season. This year the main items I'll be on the hunt for are 1.) a real leather jacket, 2.) a new pair of OTK boots (because my current ones aren't the best quality), 3.) more blazers to add to the collection, 4.) some comfortable black heels good for every day wear, and lastly 5.) a new pair of super dark wash denim.

Ok so here are a few of my top tips for shopping the sale:

--Apply for a Nordstrom card so you can shop the sale early PLUS you'll earn rewards everytime you shop there and use the card. If you're skeptical about signing up for a store credit card, do what I did and sign up for the debit card! That way you're still reaping all of the benefits without having to worry about interest/paying off another credit card/etc. If you do apply for a card, early access starts on July 12th while it doesn't open to the public until July 20th!

--Read through the catalog which is now posted here. I always go through the catalog beforehand and circle items that I want! Of course the catalog doesn't include everything but it does give you an idea of what kind of items will be part of the sale + how good the markdowns will be.

--Really focus more on investment items that you have been wanting for a long time that will be great wardrobe staples for the upcoming seasons. For example, I had been lusting after the Spanx leather leggings for years and picked them up super discounted during the sale! This year I am hoping to do the same with a good leather jacket. Even though they always have a ton of cute tops that go on sale, the discount isn't SO tremendous that I feel like they are worth purchasing when you could be putting more money towards a really great investment piece that rarely goes on sale!

--If you have the ability, order the items online then do in-store pickup. It isn't possible with every item and also depends on how close you are to a Nordstrom but last year I ordered a bunch of items online then I was able to pick them up at my local store that day! It was awesome because I could try them on, see if they worked, and if they didn't I could return them while I was at the store and also could browse more of the sale items in person.

Hope you found these tips helpful! Just a reminder that my Anniversary Sale try-on post/item review will go live on July 13th and then the following week I plan to do a post on everything I purchased + plan to keep.

[Linking up with Biana from B Loved Boston]