Retro Summer Babes

You'd think that I love summer based on how much I love summer clothes. I hate the heat and being outside for too long, but I live for summer dresses, fruit prints, and sandals. So even though I may not be pumped for 90 degree days, I AM excited about this darling Lindy Bop dress and styling it all season long. 

As promised, here's my other matching outfit with Alyssa (scroll down to see!). Our matching in the last outfits was nothing compared to wearing the same exact dress and then going to get coffee and pop into a couple of vintage/consignment stores. Plus, not too many people dress like we do where we were so we didn't exactly blend in. It was a hoot, and people commented on it pretty much everywhere we went. A couple of women even asked if we worked in a diner. Fair. 

When we found out that we both had picked out the exact same dress this time, we thought it would be fun to show how we each style it. The funny thing was, we both expected the other one to accessorize it in the same way. I texted Alyssa the day before to see if she was going to wear a straw hat before I did, and she was convinced that I was also going to show up wearing my dress with saddle shoes too. 

Alas, we managed to style the dress in completely different ways. I love shirt dresses, and the color and arm ties screamed summer to me, so I really liked how it looked with a boater hat and these fun watermelon earrings. I felt ready to go to a BBQ or a picnic...but I was much happier getting coffee and going vintage shopping. 

1 Dress 3 Ways with May 68

Ya'll know I love a good remix (side note: is it weird that I like typing "ya'll", but I've never said that in real life?). I've been eyeing May 68's dresses for forever, so I jumped at the chance to work with them. May 68 is an independent brand who designs and makes all of their clothing in Los Angeles. Their clothes are sweet retro pieces, and they never shy away from a good Peter Pan collar or bow. That's not even to mention that they created the SSDGM dress that Georgia Hardstark wore. So to recap: locally made, vintage-inspired pieces designed by murderinos. 

And did I mention that this dress has pockets? 

SIGN. ME. UP. 

The moment May 68 released their new spring line, I've had my eye on this Patsie dress with its sweet bow. It's such a versatile piece that I couldn't decide on just one way to style it, so instead, I figured why choose just one? There's nothing I love more than showing how easily an item can be transformed so here are three ways to style this dress. 

Pineapples

I'm going to be honest with you here. I'm not really paying attention to what I'm writing because I'm watching the new season of Orange Is the New Black while I'm putting this post together. I've haven't exactly been loving the past few seasons, and I'm not sure how I feel about this new one, but I can't look away. So forgive me if this isn't the most eloquent post.

Why pay attention the writing anyway when this dress does all the talking? I took advantage of Modcloth's Memorial Day sale (as well as possibly a few others...) and finally got my hands on this pineapple print dress. Emily and Fin's newest collection is seriously the cutest, and I have my eyes on a few other pieces as well. I ended up stopping at my favorite thrift store, Saver's, on Saturday and picked up this cardigan, which will probably be making plenty of appearances soon. This may just be my new favorite outfit.

Other than a Saver's trip, this weekend was pretty uneventful, but nice. Some friends and I had a movie night on Friday night, and we had dinner with Jon's parents on Saturday night. The most exciting thing to happen, though, is that my work treated me to a Disneyland pass! I've been wanting one for ages, and my whole family is getting them so I can't thank my bosses enough. Despite the fact that I live right around the corner from Disney, I actually haven't been in three years. Those tickets are expensive! I'm so excited to start going all the time now. Well, as much as my pass allows. There are a ton of blackout days, so I might not be going all the time, per say. But hey, better than nothing.

Queso Queen

In case you weren't aware yet, Luella seriously gets me. I've made it no secret that I'm a huge fan of Caroline's work (and I'm lucky enough to have worked with her for two giveaways), but her newest collection really sealed the deal, in case there were any doubts. It's filled with girl power and cheese themed items, and it kind of feels like she read my mind. As I've mentioned, I'm starting to become a T-shirt person, but only because my favorite makers keep creating such cute ones. Case in point, I had to snag this Queso Queen tee the moment I saw it. I put cheese on pretty much everything, and I strongly believe that there is no such thing as too much. It is definitely the item Jon and spend the most money on while grocery shopping, but mostly because we run out of it so quickly and need to buy more every week. Basically what I'm saying is that if your shirt makes me think of cheese, I will buy it. I think it's a good use of my money. 

I hope all of you moms out there had a lovely day yesterday. Jon and I had his mom over for breakfast, and then we went to my family's for dinner. We invited Jon's parents as well, and I think we managed to show them a good time despite the screaming kids and crazy dogs. Those kids are pretty damn adorable, so I can't imagine anyone having a bad time around them. 

The rest of my weekend was spent binging (and finishing) season two of Master of None, grabbing breakfast and going to the Oh Hello Friend warehouse sale with my friend Nataly, and watching more Master of None while eating Italian food with my friend Jeremy. The food in the second season is insane, and I do not recommend watching on an empty stomach. The rest of the show is great too, but the food is really the best part.

Leather Jacket on the Trail

I'm so excited to share these photos that my friend Hanna and I took over the weekend! I've known Hanna since high school, but despite the fact that we always had a ton of mutual friends and got along well, we never really hung out for some reason. Fortunately, she and Jon are good friends, so when she moved back to Orange County last year, we were able to "reconnect." As luck would have it, Hanna happens to be an amazing photographer, and we finally got around to taking photos together on Saturday. She took me out of my homebody comfort zone and into some trails in my old hometown, where we had a blast. It's always so wonderful to have someone helping me with photos who actually enjoys it as much as I do, and I can't wait to do this regularly. If you're in Southern California, I highly recommend checking out Hanna's website and working with her!

Also exciting? This skirt from Lands' End, which I can't get enough of. I honestly didn't think I'd like the items Lands' End sent me as much as I did since their audience tends to skew a little bit older, but I'm in love. I've been stocking up on midi skirts for summer, and I've already worn this one twice. I wore this outfit with a gray cardigan for a client meeting with a high-end clothing brand, and it felt perfectly professional and stylish. I also decided to go to my favorite thrift store on a whim before taking these photos, and this jacket was the first thing I spotted. It happened to be half-off (for $5!) and in my size. Thrifting never lets me down.

Pink Gingham Skirt + Collared Top

This is the only pink thing I own so I am officially dubbing this my Valentine's Day outfit. I actually really like pink these days, but it doesn't work well with my hair so I don't often buy clothes in the color. This skirt though? I can definitely get behind this skirt. ...I've written these exact things before, haven't I? I'm sure I have. Regardless, I couldn't help but do a little bit of themed dressing for the holiday, even if I don't do much to celebrate. I definitely enjoy it more ever since being in a happy relationship, but Jon and I don't really make it into a thing. 

The biggest reason we don't do much for Valentine's Day is because our anniversary if February 8th, so we do our celebrating early. Last week marks two years together, but seeing as we've known each other for nine years, it always feels like much longer. We went to Balboa Island yesterday (as we did last year and do for most special occasions) and had a lovely time looking at our dream houses and eating at Ruby's on the pier. That and spending too long trying to work up the nerve to ask a stranger to take our picture. We're both terrible at that. I always feel weird getting too cheesy here, but I'm can't explain enough how happy I have been the last two years. I'm even happier now considering we live together and don't have to say goodbye at the end of the night. Things are good now, guys. Like disgusting good that makes me want to throw up, but so good that I'm talking about it anyway. Please forgive me.

Head to Toe Remix: Accessories

Today, I am very excited to introduce a brand new series to you: the Head to Toe Remix! Each week, my darling friend Priya of Perfectly Priya and I will be remixing a different article from our closets that hasn't seen much love lately, starting from the head down. As two bargain shoppers, we decided that challenging ourselves to wear items that we had previously ignored or forgotten about would be the perfect way to make the most of items we already own. Today, we're starting off easy by remixing accessories. If you've been following my blog for a while, you've seen this necklace before. I got it from J. Crew factory while I was in Arizona for my brother's graduation in 2014 and I barely took it off that summer. After a few months of wearing it excessively, though, it went back on my necklace rack and has barely been touched since.

This challenge was a great way for me to remember what a gorgeous piece it is. Even though it's a little much for every day wear, I was able to make it feel like a natural addition to a simple black tank and a gingham skirt. My friend Lory and I found this beautiful doughnut shop in downtown Santa Ana, and it happened to be closed that morning. While I was bummed that I couldn't run in for a doughnut (or two or three or four), it was almost kismet seeing as we were able to stand in front of it taking pictures for as long as we pleased.

I'm over the moon excited to finally be collaborating with Priya, who will always be one of my favorite blogging friends. She's been killing it even more than usual lately (which is saying something as she always kills it), and her remixing of her summer scarf is beyond gorgeous. Be sure to head over to her blog for more!

Secret Santa

Merry Christmas Eve! Despite ruining the coffee this morning and making my brother fix it for me, I'm in a fantastic mood thanks to what day it is. I get to spend the first part of the day with one my oldest and best friends and then I'm going to my older brother's house for food, board games, and lots of time with my 2-year-old nephew. Then later, I'll watch a Christmas movie (most likely Elf) with my parents and inevitably fall asleep during it as I always do. Great day or what?

I'm also excited to debut this lovely dress that I received from the wonderful Erica of Sweets and Hearts as part of Flock Together's Secret Santa exchange. We each picked out a dress for someone and the results are incredible. Make sure to head on over to Flock Together today to see all of the dresses we picked out for each other, we all had so much fun! I love that Erica picked out something in a cut that I adore, but that's still different for me in the color. It's actually making reconsider wearing pink. This dress is just so pretty and crazy soft, Erica did a fantastic job. Part of what I love about Flock Together is that it challenges us to try to new things, which is why I also decided to dress this one up a bit and wear heels for a change. We each picked out a dress for someone and the results are incredible. Make sure to head on over to Flock Together today to see all of the dresses we picked out for each other, we all had so much fun!