Natalie

This weekend really felt like fall (and yes, I know it's October), but it's supposed to warm up again this week! Since the weather can't seem to make up its mind, I'll keep on wearing cute florals for as long as possible. This adorable little dress from Dolly and Dotty has been a great summer staple but it'd be easy to layer for cooler weather. For this post, I decided to go full-out garden party and opt for a hair flower and parasol.

Dolly and Dotty has definitely become one of my go-tos for affordable, cute dresses. Although their gingham halter dresses are my all-time favorite, their other patterned dresses are really nice, too. This fabric has a bit of stretch, which makes it super comfortable. The only downside is that there's probably slightly too much room up top as a result, which is a rare occurrence for me. I've become accustomed to longer skirts, but this dress is actually a really nice length. Plus, it has pockets! It'll be a great option for occasions that require a bit of dressiness without dressing to the nines.

I spent most of this past weekend cleaning. It was MUCH-needed. I'm a horrible housekeeper, to be perfectly honest. I'm incredibly messy and it stresses me out a LOT. I always vow to be better... but then I get lazy and then pretty soon it looks like a bomb went off in my apartment. The best thing I've found is to take care of little things right away instead of procrastinating, but it's hard to get up the motivation sometimes. Any tips you've found for staying organized?

Outfit Details

Natalie Retro Floral Dress: c/o Dolly and Dotty

Hair flower: similar  ||  Parasol: similar

Necklace: similar  ||  Heels: Amazon

Have a wonderful start to your week (and month!)

Florals Galore || Unique Vintage Blog

Spring has finally sprung here in Rochester, so it's high time to break out my floral print dresses! Personally, I'm of the mind that floral prints can be worn at any time of year, but there is something that feels so much cheerier about wearing them when everything is starting to bloom. I'm sharing some of my favorite florals over on the Unique Vintage blog today, and sharing a few tips for making the most out of your floral frocks and pretty prints.  Follow me over to Unique Vintage, won't you?

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

xox Sammi

PS: Don't forget to enter my giveaway with Hey Viv! The winner receives a peasant top of her choice, plus an awesome retro accessory prize package. Enter here!

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

Cornucopia

Outfit Details:

Plant by Numbers Dress: ModCloth (no longer available... similar here, here and here)

Burgundy tights: not sure... similar here and here

Lady in Rad Boot in Camel: ModCloth (no longer available, similar here)

Necklace: Forever 21 (old)

Squirrel ring: Forever 21

Orange belt: ASOS

There are many times where I love seeing the different ways I can wear a specific piece.  I really do think there is something magical about remixing, especially when a piece is unique or tricky in some way.  But there are other times when I like to wear a particular piece in my closet a certain way, and end up styling it the exact same way every time I wear it.  This dress falls under the latter category, for some reason.  It's one of my favorite fall dresses.  I love the print (it reminds me so much of Thanksgiving, for some reason -- hence the post title), and it's super comfortable and flattering.  But I always end up wearing it with burgundy tights, these boots, and an orange belt (the dress came with a different orange belt, and it was so flimsy that it broke after one wear, so I went on a crazy orange belt hunt for a time).  In case you don't believe me, I wore this outfit very early on in my blogging, and I wore it the exact same way.  I will probably challenge myself to style this in a new way sometime soon (probably with a skirt over it), but this dress is kind of classically fall for me now, so I figured I should wear it in my favorite way the first time it came out of my closet this season.

I'm having trouble sleeping, and I have no doubt it's the result of anxiety, because logically, I should sleep like a baby every night with all the activity I'm doing.  I feel like I can't turn my mind off.  I knew this month would be difficult.  October was always my favorite month, and now I kind of can't wait until it's over, which makes me even sadder, really.  My birthday is in 5 days, and I sort of feel like it doesn't even matter.  I'm really glad I'm keeping so busy, because if I had to spend the whole day with my mind unoccupied (with the exception of these consuming thoughts), I'd probably lose it.  I'm desperately trying to stay positive and be my normal self, and I do succeed a lot of the time.  I'm constantly reminding myself of what I have to look forward to: hanging out with my cast mates on Friday, having a little birthday celebration on Saturday night, going out for tea with my mom and grandma on Sunday... getting a bunch of things to make over my room, thinking about taking a mini-vacation with my mom in January... these things cheer me up a little, but it's a little fleeting.  When you've made someone your world (whether he wants to believe that or not) for the better part of three years, you end up feeling very isolated when your world gets turned upside down.  I don't feel like I have very many people I can talk to, so I resort to writing down my rambling thoughts here.  Which is therapeutic in a way, but I don't want my blog to be a downer blog.  I want it to be a means of escape, for both myself and for those who read it.  I've always wanted it to be an upbeat, lovely fantasy place.  I want to get back to that, but I also want to be honest.  I'm trying to figure out that balance.  So please bear with me, friends.  I'll get back in the swing of things sooner or later (though I hope it's sooner).

   

Have a wonderful Wednesday.

xox Sammi   

Garden of simple

Outfit Details:

Put Things Bright Dress: eBay (originally from ModCloth)

Flats: yeswalker

I saw this dress on eBay months ago, and lost a bidding war (at the last second!) on it.  I tried to forget about it, even though I couldn't get over the beautiful off-the-shoulder sleeves and unique floral print.  Recently, I saw another one pop up on eBay to be purchased without an auction, in a size I could definitely fit into... so how could I resist?  I didn't even realize that there's a layer of tulle netting sewn right into the skirt, which makes it even prettier!  I was afraid it wasn't going to zip up, but I can juuuuust squeeze into it, and the silhouette is so lovely, so I can't complain!  I have a great dress from Urban Outfitters that's now too big on me (I should either sell it or see if I can get it altered, since it's such a beautiful piece and deserves to be enjoyed) that has this same kind of off-the-shoulder detailing with a fit & flare silhouette, and I think it's such a gorgeous combination.

The next two photos are the result of me playing around with settings on my camera.  Almost all of my photos are at least a little bit blurry, and because I've been learning things by trial and error, I really don't know the solution to a lot of my photography issues.  So I just started trying things, and though they aren't at all the result I would want for my regular photos, I still thought they were worth posting. 

Seriously though, if anyone has photography suggestions, I'm all ears.

This would be my go-to "petticoat alert" face.

And what I meant to say is xxoo, which means I'm thinking of ya

Which means I've been thinking of you

All along

Hope you have a beautiful Saturday!

xox xxoo Sammi

PS: you have 'til midnight on Sunday (really, 12:01 EST on Monday morning) to enter my Dupenny tote bag giveaway!  Two lucky readers will win a retro, cheeky tote!  More details here.