Out on the lanai

Outfit Details:

Tilly Dress: Voodoo Vixen

White belt: eBay (similar here)

White flats: Yeswalker (on sale!)

Ahh, I like these photos so much better than the ones in my last post!  It helped that I waited 'til later in the afternoon to take these (that whole golden hour thing is very true).  I still don't fully have the hang of things, but I'm trying to make myself read a lot of tutorials (most of which I pinned a long time ago and subsequently forgot about).  I kind of have to do it in small increments though, haha.

It also helps that this dress just makes me smile.  It always makes me think of Blanche Deveraux from The Golden Girls for some reason (or maybe just Florida in general?), which is where I got the blog title from (if you're a diehard fan, you'll get the reference).  I'd been eyeing this dress for a long time a while back, and then it seemed to be sold out before I could purchase it!  I'd assumed it was gone forever, but then I happened to check the Voodoo Vixen website on a whim, and saw that it was back!  I had to order it immediately (after consulting with my friend Jana of Small Town, Big Smile on sizing -- thanks, Jana!), and I'm so glad I did.  Granted, the sizing is a *little* wonky on this dress, but it kind of has to do with my proportions more than anything else; the top gapes a LOT (I kept having to make sure all the buttons were buttoned), but the waist is quite roomy.  The latter was solved with the addition of a belt, but I think I'll need to find a matching camisole to wear under this before I wear it again, as I did experience a bit of a wardrobe malfunction a couple of times!  Oops.

It's strange to be posting these photos when the temperature here is in the single digits (and with the windchill, it's around -10 degrees -- which is like, -23 for those not in the USA).  I tried to take photos outside yesterday, forgetting how blasted cold it is, and I immediately regretted it.  I only took about 3 photos before I had to call it quits.  Sad, too, because I really liked what I was wearing.  I'll have to try again and hope that it warms up a little.  I really hate taking photos inside.  There's never enough light in my bedroom, and I'm still not satisfied with it as a backdrop.  I'm already anxious for spring to arrive.

I love my bangs so much more in these photos, too!

Have a wonderful Thursday!

xox Sammi

Orange you glad

Outfit Details:

Emily and Fin citrus print dress: ASOS (no longer available)

Green cardigan: thrifted (similar here)

Yellow belt: Forever 21 (similar here)

Black flats: jcpenney (similar here)

Here is my first set of Floridian photos!  I firstly have to apologize for the less-than-stellar quality of these.  I was determined to bring my new DSLR on this trip, and in all the craziness of getting ready for said trip, I didn't exactly have a lot of time to practice using my camera.  I also get really impatient and overwhelmed while attempting to read instructional manuals.  This means that I did a lot of putzing around with my camera during the first couple of days, and that I didn't get very many good shots the first day (a.k.a. these photos).  I also took these at a way too bright time of day and at my grandma's retirement facility, with lots of surprisingly busy older folks running (well, zooming in their golf carts) around.  I'm so used to the solitude of my backyard that I get kind of self-conscious with so many people around.  All in all, I'm not totally thrilled with these, but I guess they're not so horrible for a first attempt.  I'm such a perfectionist that it actually bothers me I couldn't have it down pat on the first try!

Also, my bangs look definitively janky in all of these.  They get better, I promise.

Anyway, I felt this dress was all too appropriate for Florida to leave it at home!  We ended up seeing tons and tons of orange trees on our way from Naples to Orlando, and I wished we could have stopped to take pictures there (and that I had been wearing this dress at the time)!  Lots of people asked me about this dress when they saw it on my Instagram, and it's regretfully no longer available.  It's by Emily and Fin, which is a great UK brand that often has vintage-inspired silhouettes and quirky prints.  ModCloth and ASOS carry a lot of their stuff, if you're not familiar with this brand!  You can see how I wore this dress over the summer here, and I love that it can work well as a jumper over a blouse, too!

Have a terrific Tuesday!

xox Sammi

Mountain laurel

Outfit Details:

Vintage dress: swap from Elana

Vintage hat: Neely Auction (Etsy)

Seamed tights: similar here

Ida spectators: BAIT Footwear

Coat: ModCloth (old)

I'm back from my vacation!  And sadly, the landscape here no longer looks like this.  In typical Rochester fashion, we returned to lots of snowy, cold weather.  It was actually pretty chilly in Orlando (I had to wear my winter coat on Friday night at Epcot!), but it still nice to see palm trees!  Also, I didn't intend to take such a long break from blogging!  It got too crazy to schedule posts before we left, and every day when I vowed to blog at night, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow!  It was truly a whirlwind vacation, and it was great to get away... but I'm glad to be home.  I'll go into more detail on everything when I can upload pictures and such, but thank you for being patient in the meantime!  :) 

I actually got a haircut after I took these photos, so I have shorter bangs now -- I tried for Bettie bangs, but I'm not sure if they really count.  I wasn't sold on them at first, but now I really like them!

I cannot say enough about how much I love this dress.  When I saw that Elana had put it up for swaps for Flock Together, I knew that I at least had to try it on.  Amazingly, it just zipped, and I immediately fell in luuurve.  It's so springy, and it was perfect for the one day of spring we had here before winter reared its ugly head again.  I told Elana that if she ever wanted to sell it, to let me know... and I think we're actually going to do a permanent swap!  She fell for my hot air balloon dress by Sugarhill Boutique that I put up for swaps, and I know she will get FAR more use out of it than I ever will!  Elana is such a doll, and I feel so glad to have gotten to know her better through blogging.  You can see how Elana styled this beautiful vintage dress here!  

Have a happy Sunday!

xox Sammi

Faith, trust and pixie dust

Outfit Details:

The Ethereal Thing Dress: ModCloth (similar here)

Cardigan: ModCloth (similar here)

Tights: ModCloth (similar here)

Flats: ModCloth (similar here)

Necklace: Forever 21 (similar here and here)

Ring: Urban Outfitters (similar here)

Rococo purse: estate sale buyout store

The time is upon us!  We're headed to Disney World today!!  I'm so excited!  I've been scheduling some of these posts in advance (since the last thing you want to be doing during a vacation is worrying about blogging), so I'm waiting to go into more details about the first half of our trip until I can really sit down and take the time to write a full post.  I felt this outfit was pretty perfect for Disney-ing; this dress always reminds me of fairies and magic and all things happy.  I took these photos on an unseasonably warm day a few weeks back, which really put me in the mood for warm weather, too.

We'll be getting to Disney in the early afternoon, and after we check in to our hotel (we're staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, which is exciting since I've wanted to stay there forever), we're heading to an adorable-looking fifties soda shop place for lunch, walking around EPCOT, having dinner at the Flying Fish Cafe, and then walking around the Boardwalk.  We thought about doing Downtown Disney, but we both felt like there wasn't really much we wanted to do down there.  I have memories of Downtown Disney from when I was little, and it seems like it used to be more of an adult fun place (Pleasure Island isn't there anymore, is it??), and now it's just kind of like, indoor game places and the House of Blues, which is fine, but not our preference, I suppose.  We've never walked around the Boardwalk hotel and grounds though, so I'm excited to see some of that.

Tomorrow, we're headed to Hollywood Studios (I have a great cinematic outfit planned).  Although I feel badly for taking a vacation without my dad, my mom and I usually agree on what rides to go on (except I know that I'll want to go on Soarin' at EPCOT and she won't), and we can just have a girly time.  I have so many silly, fanciful outfits planned for the rest of our trip.  :)  I'll be posting lots of Disney photos on my Instagram, if you'd like to live vicariously.

I attempted to create a faux-bob, but I'm not sure what it ended up being.  I kind of like it though.

Have a terrific Tuesday!

xox Sammi