New year, new Lilly. Am I right?

Every Lilly Pulitzer loving sorority girl knows that twice a year, January and August, Lilly Pulitzer holds their semi-annual After Party Sale. The sale applies to all corporate warehouses, the online website, and participating signature stores. Twice a year, the beautiful $200 dress you've been drooling over goes on sale for $70. Twice a year, you add another splash of color to your wardrobe. Twice a year, your savings account is even more non-existent than usual.

Growing up in California I had no idea who, or what, Lilly Pulitzer was until my freshman year of college. After joining my sorority, I started to notice girls who owned phone cases, agendas, and dresses in this fun, matching pattern. I was in awe. Fast forward two years and I'm a Lilly advocate myself, and a firm supporter of the After Party Sale. I have nice taste, but I'm also on a college budget. Not to mention, I live in a state that has all of two Lilly Pulitzer signature stores. Luckily for myself, and my fellow California Lilly lovers, the internet is here to assist us with the draining of our bank accounts.

With that being said, here's a break down of my experience with the most recent sale:

January 1st:*scrolling through Instagram* That's the cutest shift I've ever seen! Lilly has really outdone themselves this time. Wait, it's January. That can only mean one thing. THE AFTER PARTY SALE IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER!

January 3rd: *scrolling through Instagram, discovers After Party Sale starts tomorrow* YAY! YAY! YAY! I can't wait!

January 4th:

4:45 am:Only 15 more minutes. I'm so excited! The summer sale was so great. I know this sale is going to be just as amazing.

4:48 am:*refresh* *refresh**refresh*

4:49 am:Oh. My. God. I'm in. The app must be glitching! I can't believe I skipped the virtual line (#blessed #HeartEyesEmoji). Wait, no. Why am I being kicked out of the app?!

5:00 am: *refresh* *refresh* *refresh* Number 1,264. That's not bad at all! That's seriously like a six-minute wait. I'll definitely get everything I want.

5:10 am:Ok, I'm in. Let's do this!

5:15 am:Ok, great. The six items I really want aren't included in the sale. So glad I woke up in the middle of the night for this.

5:22 am:Why do I hate everything in this sale? What did I do to deserve this?

5:25 am:That dress is nice. *add to cart*

5:30 am:At least I'm not walking away empty handed. Time to check out and get back to bed.

5:32 am:"Item no longer available."

5:33 am: *I died.* (Just Kidding)

5:34 am:Maybe the dress runs big or small and I can order a size that's still in stock. It's worth checking, I mean really what do I have to lose at this point? *checks item reviews*

"This dress runs really big."

"I had to exchange this dress for a smaller size, it was so big!"

"Go down a size, you'll be happy you did."

5:36 am: *puts extra small dress in cart and prays that it runs big enough to fit and that I did not just buy a non-refundable $75 dress*

5:38 am:I gave it my best shot and that's all that matters.

January 5th:My order has shipped! That was fast. Snaps for Lilly.

January 8th:*package arrives* It's here! I hope it fits. Maybe I can find someone to switch me for a small in case it doesn't. Or I could always sell it. *tries dress on* IT FITS. IT ACTUALLY FITS. God really does work in mysterious ways. So #blessed right now. Time to go upload a picture of my super cute dress to Twitter for all to see.

Another year, another sale. For those in my same situation, I leave you with this advice: Trust the reviews written by the women who have already purchased the item you're about to order. Absolutely do not trust the true fit guide. The true fit guide is not your friend. For those of you who live close enough to a signature store, go in and try the dress on. For my fellow Californians, do what you can with what you have. After all, if your purchase doesn't work out, there's always the Re-Lilly group on Facebook.