Swingin’ Through The Vines

20140701-195820.jpg

I have decided that my favorite silhouettes for my body type are shift dresses and swing dresses. I do not like tight things. I find myself pulling them down or pulling them up, forgetting to suck in my stomach or sucking it in too much. It is more of a hassle than I am willing to bear.

20140701-200302.jpg

So, when I saw this swing dress at Forever 21 for less than $30, I was sold. But it was a tad short. Probably because although the store’s name suggests that we will always be of a certain age, my body parts have not received that message.

20140701-200336.jpg

I paired it with my favorite slip, Free People’s Trapeze Slip. I want another color in this, because I wear the one I have constantly.

The necklace is Simply Livly’s Turquoise Necklace. The shoe’s are Anthropologie’s Tarara Gladiator Sandals.

20140701-200231.jpg

We took my husband’s VW Bus for a spin and I love that the color of the bus matched the color of the slip.

20140701-200201.jpg

We ended up at a vineyard with amazing views.

20140701-200405.jpg

I love when we stumble upon a gorgeous piece of scenery. Actually, I love stumbling upon anything unexpectedly good.

20140701-200457.jpg

Have you stumbled upon a beautiful piece of scenery lately? Did it make you want to spin? I will admit, this day was so gorgeous, it made me want to embrace the sky. Thankfully, my unrestricted garments made that possible.

Not the actual embracing of the sky, but the insane act of trying.

Keepin’ It Real: May 2014

Every month, I try to do a summary of that month with outfit outtakes and a quick wrap up of things I might have missed blogging about in that month. May had some doozies in terms of outtakes. And it was a doozy of a month for a lot of people I know, my family included. When I told my friend we had to endure one more day of May, she exclaimed, “NO-O-O!”

I hear ya, sister.

If you missed last month’s “Keepin’ It Real”, you can find it here.

On to this recap. May, I will not miss you:

20140530-194251.jpg

Recipe fail. My mom asked me the other day, “Do you post everything you make?” Oh my gosh, no! When you are experimenting with a new recipe there are going to be some misses. I have even made some recipes from very acclaimed chefs and have had to throw the whole dish away. So, no, I do not post about every recipe. Only the ones I would absolutely make again. And again.

The other day, I made this dessert. So bad. Tip: Do not add raspberries to Strawberry Shortcake. It sounds good. It is not good.

Outfit Outtakes:

20140530-072313.jpg

As promised. A glimpse of Holy Holey Girdle. It is such a small glimpse. We saved over the other original pictures with the revised ones, so this is what we have left. Here is the actual outfit post.

It really is more like an extra pair of skin colored shorts than anything else. And to be even more forthright, the only reason I wore them on this day was to hide my colored underwear. The dress is so flowy, it hides a lot of flaws. The girdle is not the typical spanx. It does not offer much support, but it makes me feel more confident.

20140529-140149.jpg

And I could not resist adding this picture because of the unfortunate placement of my hand.

20140529-140227.jpg

So, I fell in a cactus (picture of my cactus hand is in “Keepin’ It Real: April 2014. Link above). And my twirling has never been the same. The outfit post for this photo shoot is here.

This picture makes me laugh.

20140530-194034.jpg

“True Detective”, anyone? Just a bit of an odd thing to find around town.

20140530-193030.jpg

20140530-192959.jpg

Peonies! Everywhere?! Yes, please! Tip: Trader Joe’s will let you take the plastic bucket if you ask nicely. : )

20140529-142009.jpg

Does this alert ever make anyone’s day better?

20140529-173827.jpg

At San Diego Children’s Hospital, the ceiling tiles are randomly painted overhead. Isn’t that just a nice unexpected thing? That way, when a child is being wheeled through the halls and into various rooms, they have something to look at and look forward to.

I could hug whoever thought of this.

20140530-194218.jpg

My mom gifted me a gift card to Anthropologie and these for Mother’s Day. Isn’t that the sweetest?!

20140530-193659.jpg

Father’s Day idea. My kids each made my dad and my husband some of these hammers a few years ago. We just painted a wooden hammer and then shellacked it. I found the idea on Pinterest. Easy peasy.

20140530-195216.jpg

And my most exciting purchase of the month. Seriously. These barf bags. I have a post about them ready. If you ever get car sick or have children that get sick, these are priceless.

With that in mind, May, you can be on your way.

20140530-193821.jpg

Oh my gosh! Last night my husband and I were dancing with the dogs in the kitchen to “I like to move it.” When we sing it to the dogs they dance with us. It is actually quite cute and comical.

The dogs are funny, too.

20140530-193847.jpg

Well, Ollie got too rambunctious and did a back flip! He hit his head so hard. We immediately stopped dancing, but I felt so bad for him. You can see the beginning of it in this picture. Who knew he had it in him?

Coming up in June:

Maui posts! We are heading back to Maui next week and I cannot wait to blog about it!
My Husband’s Secret Part II… She had to find out sometime. ; )
Honey Ice Cream! My favorite treat in the summer.
Whirlin’ Twirlin’ (Free People Mixed Print Tunic).

What did you think of May? Will you be happy or sad to see it end?

One Last Look Overall

20140517-194907.jpg

Before the blasted heat wave hit California, we were enjoying gorgeous, beautiful weather. The kind of weather that made you feel like all of the taxes were worth it. The gentle breeze just blew them away.

20140517-195109.jpg

I decided to get one last wear out of my overalls (previously shown here and here) before the sweltering heat began. I think these overalls have sold out, but I am also lovin’ the Free People Railroad Printed Overall.

I adore yellow and black together. This obviously having nothing what so ever to do with growing up on an apiary.

20140517-195137.jpg

Nothing makes a day better than getting love from a dog. He is my gentle giant.

20140517-195240.jpg

The top is from Anthropologie last year. It has hedgehogs all over it. It is sold out but Modcloth always has amazing printed shirts in their online store. I have my eye on this and this.

Are you ready for the heat? Have you been wearing overalls or gotten nuzzled by a monster? Trust me that doing both will make your cares go away. Or at the very least, doing both will guarantee that the drool from the messy-but-sweet creature will be confined to just one article of clothing.

* I shared this on The Pleated Poppy!

*This post contains affiliate links. Clicking on or purchasing from select links will result in a small commission for cleaning monster drool this site.

It’s The Little Things: Bracelets

20140514-180114.jpg

I started this blog while I was still discovering my personal style. And I still am discovering it. I think self discovery is always an on-going cycle. With that said, I used to not like to wear more than one accessory. And sometimes that is still true.

But lately I have wanted to layer more and more.

The less clothes I get to layer as the weather warms up means the more accessories that get to take their place.

I bought my first bracelet last year.

It was so exciting.

I have since added a few more:

20140514-160631.jpg

This Free People Hammered Stacked Multi Cuff was a recent acquisition as I try to push myself past my comfort zone.

My husband thinks it looks like shower curtain rings.

When is he going to learn that when he compares something to something else weird or funny, that just makes me like it even more?

Forever 21 has a very similar version in gold. I really like that one, too.

20140514-160602.jpg

I wore these Forever 21 Globetrotter Cuffs yesterday. They are my absolute favorites. They are also less than $5 each. I love them so much, I hope they last.

The turquoise layered bracelet was one of five that I purchased last year for $4 each. They are sold out, but Forever 21 has some fun colored bangles in a similar color vein here. And I saw almost identical ones at Target yesterday.

20140514-160721.jpg

I own two of the Anthropologie Scalloped Monogram Bracelets. One with my husband’s initial and one with my own. I think these are feminine and sweet. I like the little details on them.

20140514-160912.jpg

One weird fact (of many… Too… Too… Many) about me is that I love octopuses. I think they are brilliant creatures that we still have not studied enough. So, when I saw Modcloth’s My Pet Octopus Cuff, I knew it was being added to my collection. This bracelet is fun, but I will say that I have small wrists and this moves around a lot. I think this would fit better on a girl with larger wrists.

20140514-160846.jpg

I purchased this yellow wrap bee bracelet two weeks ago at Nordstrom Rack for $10. I could not find a link for a similar bracelet (or rather, I could not find a link to a similar bracelet at a reasonable price. I am not going to link to a bracelet that costs more than most dresses). The brand is Dazzle. Each bug had a different color. There was a pretty kelly green one, too, but my heart belongs to the bee. Ever since my grandmother passed away, I feel more drawn to my heritage as a daughter, granddaughter and great granddaughter of many generations of beekeepers. So when I see a piece of jewelry with a bee or bees on it, I pounce.

20140514-161003.jpg

It’s The Little Things: A small accessory to bring a little more fun to an outfit. And a little more joy to my heart.

Have you gotten into the bracelet love this season? Do you layer them? Do you have weird jewelry rules like me (you will never see me wearing a necklace and earrings. It has to be one or the other)?

*Disclosure: The links in this post are affiliate links. Clicking on a link will result in a small commission for this site.

P.S. Speaking of bracelets, Heather from the shop, Peacock Fairy, has some pretty bracelets, too. She is giving away a beautiful necklace.. It ends tonight at 9:00 p.m. PST. Please do not forget to enter. Thank you!