Where: Haircut with my sister-in-law, niece, and daughter, here in Georgia. Apparently I only cut my hair away from home. ;-)
Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) This Boden casual weekend dress I bought last year and I fell in love with it then, and still love it now. They have the same style this year, but none of the colors spoke to me, so I just said no this time 'round. Had they had a pattern I really loved, I would have probably gotten another one. The pockets are the best, and it is so soft.
You have already seen these sandals on me before, but they really are quite a buy. Target did good. The original review of them is here. I am very glad I brought these with me on vacation.
Outfit Details: Dress, Boden (find this year's version here); Sandals, Target here, but if you want the real thing (Birkenstock Arizona), you can find them here at zappos.com
Anecdote of the Day: I got sick in North Carolina (food poisoning) and haven't been able to eat much since the incident, so to get calories, both Monday lunch and Tuesday lunch I ate milkshakes. Well, half a milkshake each day. It is a sad day when a milkshake, half-drunk, gets passed to a husband to be finished off. :-( On the plus side, I usually gain a couple pounds on vacation (hello, yummy Steak and Shake!), but this time I will probably not have to worry about that.
INSTAGRAM HERE.
INSTAGRAM OF OUR HAIRCUTS HERE.
Where: Church and a Mexican restaurant.
Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) I made these dresses for both CW and me for a Fabric Mart blog post back in May. If you are interested in the construction, fabric, or thought process that went into these, definitely check out that blog post. (Also check out my latest make--a button-up shirt for my husband for Father's Day--yeah, he got it early!)
They are Lilly Pulitzer inspired, you are not imagining it. The fabric turned out to be actual Lilly fabric from the summer of 2014, and you better believe I was thrilled to find it and buy enough yardage to make the two dresses (and have a touch left over for an American Girl dress).
I used a vintage pattern for my dress, and while it fits fine, I feel like I should have shortened the torso since I feel like the extra length there puts a narrower bit of the dress's body at my larger hipline. The next time I make it up, I will shorten it by an inch at the bodice and lengthen it by an inch at the hem to make up the difference.
Because I made the dress for me to my needs, it is long enough for church, and even though it is not as loose as I would like it at the hips, it still fits great. Most actual Lilly dresses are too short AND too tight in the hips. I rarely purchase Lilly Pulitzer for myself because of that. (The only one I have, in fact, is an altered size 10 dress I found at a consignment shop, its bodice is much smaller than a size 10, but the hips are still the larger size 10.)
I wish I had a different pair of shoes to wear with this dress, but since we are on vacation, we are limited in our choices, and no one threw things at me because I dared to wear Birkenstocks with "Lilly." In fact, if I am being honest, I kind of think it looks cute together. Kind of 1960s Palm Beach. ;-)
Outfit Details: Dress, handmade; Sandals, Target here, but if you want the real thing (Birkenstock Arizona), you can find them here at zappos.com
Anecdote of the Day: The Mexican restaurant we went to that day is the restaurant that made me sick. I forgive them as they have never made me sick before, but dang, what a vacation bummer, you know?
INSTAGRAM HERE.
Where: Mellow Mushroom and downtown Greensboro.
Ease of Wear: (4.25 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) We had driven the whole day after being at Rex's baseball game early in the morning, so no matter what I wore, I was going to feel not the best. Considering all that, though, the comfort level was pretty high. These Bistro shorts are from last year, but this year's versions have some cute designs. One thing to note about this year's version is that the long is a very long inseam, at 9 inches, I think they added 2 extra inches to their inseam from last year. I don't mind the extra length, but I think seven inches makes them more casual and easier to style. In fact, because of the extra length, I haven't worn them yet since I am still a bit stumped on how to wear them and not look too frumpy.
The shoes are awesome, duh, lol, I already loved on them in the above outfits. The tee is from American Apparel and while it's cute, it is very thin fabric and required both a cami and a bra. That's a lot of coverage for someone who is not especially well-endowed.
Outfit Details: Tee, American Apparel; Shorts, Boden here; Sandals, Target here, but if you want the real thing (Birkenstock Arizona), you can find them here at zappos.com; Necklace, J. Crew.
Anecdote of the Day: I point a lot in my photos. I don't know why I do that. It's weird. And sometimes when I point, I think I am pointing at what I should be pointing at (this time yummy drink), but instead I am pointing at something I didn't even know was in the background, this time the waiter putting an order into his till. It looks like I am pretty excited by him doing that instead of the amazing drink I received. Hee.
INSTAGRAM HERE.
Where: Last Day of School! YES!
Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) How did this knot detail dress get so long? I mean seriously? Last year it wasn't this long (three inches below my knees) but this year it is. It grew! I don't want it to be that long, so I dinged the points on ease down. The outfit, though, is seriously very comfortable.
And though I am not usually a Birkenstock fan, I guess I have changed my tune. I guess I was so oversaturated with them in the 90s (I wore them a ton--I seriously looked just like this girl on a daily basis, minus the socks), I never thought I would want to wear them again. I still am not sure about my current "I am wearing them all the time" choice either. :-)
But, like the white Target versions above, I do really like these J. Crew Birkenstock Metallic Madrid sandals. I think these are a whole lot more sleek than the white ones, so I think they can be worn more easily with more outfits. I had to try two sizes before I discovered what worked for me. Because I have a very narrow foot, I often have to size down, and I kept reading how the sizing was big on these, so I chose to try the 39 first, which is equal to about an 8-8.5. That would be a full size down from my normal J. Crew size. And while the 39 fit me, they were too short, by a lot. (I do have long feet, though.) I had very little hope that the 40 would fit since I figured they would be too wide, but nope, as long as I did the closures up to the next to last hole, they were fine. Eventually I will have to cinch it to the last hole, but that won't be for a summer, at least. For those of you with thin and long feet, go to a half-size down (the 40 they say is a 9), but remember to cinch the closure tighter. After having done that, it was perfect. :-)
Outfit Details: Dress, Boden; Necklace, tru.che here; Birkenstock Metallic Madrid Sandals, J. Crew here, but you can also find them at Amazon
(which I recommend if you have Prime for free shipping, since the price is the same as J. Crew right now, they also have more sizes!); Sunglasses, Anthropologie.Anecdote of the Day: I got a farmer's tan that day. It was so flipping hot and sunny. So not only did the dress grow on me from last year, I got the world's funkiest burn on my shoulders and neck. Drrrr. I am so good about SPF normally, too. But, on the plus side, NO PICKUP from school for a couple months. Woo!
You all have a great day. I should be back on with more vacation outfits soon. If you want to keep up with the vacation, I am posting at Instagram a bit. :-)
