Brimfield with Karina Dresses

Have you ever found a dress you love so much that you have in not one, not two, but three different prints?

...just me?

Karina Dresses just launched their new Brimfield collection today, and oh man, it's all so cute. I've worn this Ruby faux wrap dress in two different prints prior to this, but I just couldn't resist adding the new Meadow print to my collection. I sincerely love supporting Karina Dresses because, for starters, their dresses are some of the most comfortable I've ever owned (plus they don't wrinkle). But more importantly, it's a small, woman-run business that makes all items in the US. I've been fortunate enough to work with them a few times now, and every time I wear one of their dresses, I just want more. 

Now, let's talk sizing. I'm typically a size large or size 10, and admittedly I've started buying some things in an XL/12 lately (no shame in that - the best wedding diet is the one that doesn't exist). Most of my Karina Dresses are in a size M/L, but when I got my last dress from them, it was sold out in that size so I decided to try a S/M. Surprisingly, I actually love the fit of the smaller size! I've found that necklines of the faux wrap M/L dresses I have tend to roll and need to be adjusted, but this S/M is actually perfect. All of the dresses are extremely stretchy, so there's some wiggle room with sizing. 

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. 

Colorful Summer with Dolly and Dotty

It's hard to believe that it's not actually summer. It's hot as hell most days, and it just feels like summer is in the air. Naturally, I'm already dressing like it is too. The folks at Dolly and Dotty were kind enough to send me this dress and one other recently, and I can honestly say that this dress is spectacular. It's one of those pieces that took me forever to figure out how to style just because there were so many ways I could have done so. It's so versatile and fits perfectly that I can already see myself wearing it to death all year. Not only is it very well made, but it also has pockets - obviously that in itself is reason enough to love a dress. It feels perfect for days at the park (like this one) or days walking around downtown. 

Speaking of perfect, yesterday included both of those things and more for me. Jon and I spent the first half of the day taking pictures (yes, he's an experienced Instagram boyfriend) and walking around both the park by our apartment and the downtown area across the street where a little farmer's market happens every Sunday. In the afternoon, we headed over to my parents' house to celebrate Mother's Day. My brothers, sister-in-law, and nieces and nephew were there, but Jon's parents also joined. We're incredibly lucky that not is Jon's immediate family small, but our parents get along really well so we've be able to do some holidays together in the past year or so. It's really the best to have both sets of parents in one place and see our families like each other so much.

Don't forget to enter my 6 year anniversary giveaway!

Meadow

Oops, I certainly didn't mean to take a week off of blogging. I've still been taking outfit pictures and posting on Instagram, but work has been so busy that I've been crashing early every night. I couldn't keep up that, though, because this Apricity dress deserves a full post. As you know, I've been a huge fan of Apricity since its inception, and I've been fortunate enough to be in touch with Eileen, the brand's designer and founder. When I last talked to her a couple of months ago, she mentioned some new designs, so I've been eager to see what she was talking about. She sent me photos of her new design, the Meadow, early last week, and I couldn't believe how perfect it was. 

I'm such a sucker for a dress with a cute back, but being on the bustier side, I can't pull off backless pieces that require going bra-less. This dress is the answer to all of my struggles with its sweet back panel. I have a few other Apricity dresses, all of which I'm in love with, but this one is quite possibly my favorite. It's so lightweight and feminine, and I love how versatile it is. I'm already thinking of a million ways to style it. 

Pinata

Oh man, the Memorial Day sales got me. Part of my closet redo/mission to feel better about my style has included stocking my wardrobe with novelty print dresses. Why? Because novelty print dresses are true happiness. This pinata print one from Lindy Bop is exactly that. I knew that the recent Lindy Bop dress I wore on here wouldn't be my last from the brand, but it really didn't take me long to get another. This dress was on sale about a day after I posted that last one, and I couldn't resist. I'm pretty sure most of my posts are about me trying to justify my purchases, so if you're still reading at this point, thanks for humoring me. 

I'm keeping this short so that I can go to bed early. I'm going to Disneyland after work tomorrow with my friend Casey, and I am crazy excited. It's been too long, and you can look forward to plenty of photos this time and all future times.

Pulling it Off

I can hardly believe myself, but I am officially a hat girl. I have loved straw boater hats for years, but I've never been able to find one (let alone any hat at all) that I thought looked good on me. Lately, though, I've been trying this new thing where I wear whatever I like regardless of whether or not I believe I can "pull it off." That concept is entirely in my head, and I'm done being a slave to it. It's funny how growing up (if you can call being a couple months shy of 25 growing up) will do that to you. 

Ever since I decided to finally try wearing hats, I've been on the search. I immediately went to the queen of boater hats, Sammi, for suggestions. She gave me a few great places to start, but I've been hesitant to bite the bullet. Well, get this - I went into a Daiso (a Japanese dollar store if you're unfamiliar) and saw this one for $2. What a great way to finally try wearing one without actually committing, right? Turns out that it's actually perfect. It's a little bit small, which is strange considering my issue has always been that hats are too large on me, but I think it actually works. I'm still hoping to find a better quality one soon, but this dollar store one has definitely convinced me that I can, well, pull it off.

Also, don't forget that there's still time to enter my blogging anniversary giveaway to win prizes from Apricity and Femme De Bloom!