what's in a case.

in the short lifetime of my iphone {4}, i've gone through SEVEN cases. count that: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 fortunately, none of them were over $40 but add all that up and i've wasted a ridiculous amount of money on these things. here's a little story for each one.

no. 1 was my first. my baby. and the one i kept going back to. but also the one that i never really wanted- i bought it from the at&t store and while it's a good case, it seems that every one has some version of it and i wanted something unique.

no. 2 my first kate spade case. and then my first SHATTERED kate spade case. yes these cases are cute to look at and my phone survived the fall, the case just didn't make it.

no. 3 mr. adler. ohhhhh, mr. adler. how i love thee. but you need to find a new company to make your cases because if you're like me and you often put your phone in your back pocket, the print WILL rub off. and look dingey. and gross. and no cute print can make up for it.

no. 4 did i not learn my lesson the first time? i was drawn in like moths to a flame as soon as i saw the kelly green border around the edge of the case. but like no. 2, miss no. 4 also shattered on the first fall.

no. 5 seriously! what is my deal??? those darn baskets filled with goodies at the cash register get me every time! and so did this jonathan adler case. and again, just three days after carrying the phone in my pocket half the time, the print was gone. and gross. plus, it absorbed the blue dye from my jeans. so: lesson learned. if a case breaks when you drop your phone, or the print rubs off, don't buy another nearly identical case thinking it won't do the same {it will}.

no. 6 i really thought this was going to be it. but after cracking when i dropped my phone. bleeding red onto our kitchen countertops. i decided i was done, time to start looking for another case.

no. 7 and now we're here. thanks to society6 {an amazing artist based website with over 1500 prints for iphone cases}, we have yet another case. a really really pretty case. when i received it, i got worried that it wouldn't be very protective {it's very thin and doesn't do much for the front of the phone}, but a daughter of a friend of mine has had her case since december and, well, she's fifteen, so i imagine that she's dropped her phone plenty of times in the past three months and she said the case hasn't failed her yet.

so there it is. your "lessons-learned, incredibly experienced, she's really hard on her phones" iphone case review. hope it's helpful. and it saves you money.