Typography

I really love working with and supporting fellow artists and small businesses, both in "real life" and here on my blog. So understandably, I was thrilled when Emily G. Clothing decided to advertise with me this month and offered to send me this adorable dress to review! Emily makes all of the garments she sells in Brooklyn, NY, and I love that she's so dedicated to making unique clothing for her equally unique customers. Everyone knows I'm a sucker for a good novelty print, and as a lover of (and stickler for) grammar and punctuation, this dress was the perfect fit for me. ;)

I'm not usually drawn to navy blue, but I love all of the colors in this print – and, of course, the ampersands, asterisks and exclamation points (which I echoed in my ring choices). I do love a good fit-and-flare dress (with pockets, yay!), and I like the fact that this one is definitely work-appropriate. I also love the fact that it's called the "Sally Dress," since I work for my mom (whose name is Sally) and we basically spend all day writing! Since I took these photos on a chilly morning, I opted to add a cropped cardigan, but I ended up liking the short cap sleeves more than I anticipated and would wear it without a sweater, too. The top portion is a tad more tight-fitting than I normally like, but it certainly won't keep me from wearing this adorable dress, as it's very well-made and feels so personal and special – as if it were made just for me.

Outfit Details

Sally Dress in Typography: c/o Emily G. Clothing

Cropped cardigan: similar styles here

Rings: ModCloth (similar)

White flats: Aerosoles

Have a great start to your week!

I've got no strings

There are many instances where I simply don't have the patience to wait until things I like go on sale; I'm always afraid they'll sell out before they can be marked down. But every once and a while, I'll bide my time and it'll pay off – like with this adorable marionette print dress from Swonderful Boutique. I'm dying to go to puppet school if I move back to New York, so I thought a marionette dress was a necessary addition to my wardrobe. 

I included this dress in a Friday Favorites post quite a while ago, but it was a little too expensive for me at the time, so I put it out of my mind. I visited their website again recently and was ecstatic to discover the dress was on sale (and they offered free shipping from New Zealand!), so I quickly snapped it up. I'm so glad I did, because the fit is perfect and I couldn't say no to this amazing novelty print. This dress is still available on their website, so you can grab one for yourself if you love it as much as I do. Swonderful has a ton of other adorable pieces as well, and I like to support smaller businesses like theirs (plus, it started as a mother-daughter operation, which I love!).

Outfit Details

Marionette Dress: Swonderful Boutique

Balloon animal necklace: similar

Boater hat: similar

Flats: similar

Today is your last day to enter my giveaway for an awesome red sparkle clutch from Sourpuss Clothing! The giveaway ends at midnight (EST) tonight, so don't miss out! Enter here.

Have a great Sunday!

xox Sammi

Do fries go with that shake?

Happy Wednesday! Between planning out my meals with Weight Watchers and celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow, I have food on the brain as of late... so I thought it'd be a good time to wear this dress! This print is really fun, but to be honest, this dress wasn't even on my wish list. I love a good novelty print, but this one always seemed a little too loud and busy for me. It's cute in person, and it's a great layering piece, but I'm definitely not as attached to it as some of my other kookier dresses. It's definitely grown on me, though. Plus, I felt like I had to get it after I got this purse! Out of my entire collection of novelty purses (which is ever-expanding), this one is probably the least practical. Although my other novelty purses are a little too silly for certain occasions, they are at least large enough to hold the necessities. My iPhone won't even fit in this bag! But it's a really cool piece to have, and it's by Kling (a brand I really like), so it'll stay in my collection for now.

The big news from last week is that I finally got my driver's license! I was incredibly nervous for this road test, and frankly, I thought I did worse on this test than the first one... but I passed, thank goodness! I haven't been driving myself a ton (I have to coordinate car usage with my mom for now, and because I've been working a lot of half-days and we have to pay for our own parking, it's been a hassle), but I drove by myself for the first time on Sunday -- and for the first time at night! I know it seems silly to be excited over something like this (especially when people 10 years younger than I am manage to do the same thing), but I feel a huge sense of accomplishment in conquering my anxieties about driving. I'm really happy about it, and feel very confident in my abilities -- not just with driving, but also with the idea of taking on other things that seem scary. I think doing something that scares us is the best way to grow as people, and I feel really good about about what I'm capable of doing.  :)

Outfit Details

Good Enough to Eat Dress: ModCloth

Eyes on the Fries pouch: ModCloth

Boots: ModCloth (similar)

Brooch: sweet and lovely

Ring: Claytime Designs

Blouse: old (similar)

iPhone case: eBay

Tights: similar

Have a great Wednesday!

xox Sammi

Cake and presents

It's my 26th birthday today!  Honestly, it doesn't really feel like anything special this year; maybe it has something to do with the fact that being in your mid-to-late 20s isn't as exciting, or maybe it's just the circumstances in which I currently find myself.  I'm not doing much of anything to celebrate, other than going out to dinner with my parents.  This year has sort of been weird, but I'm trying my best not to feel down.  Fortunately, it's difficult to feel down while wearing this dress!  It's originally from ASOS, but I'd been searching for it on eBay for what feels like forever -- I even missed out on it once before in a smaller size.  This was truly serendipity though, because I happened to find it one day in my exact size for a reasonable price, and I knew I had to have it!  It's such a fun print (especially for someone who loves tea parties as much as I do!), and I just adore its little details, like the built-in crinoline and heart cut-out in the back.  It really is the perfect birthday dress, and wearing it feels like a present to myself.

Speaking of presents... I had an unexpected, extraordinarily-good mail day the other day.  I came home to find packages from two of my favorite internet friends!  Amanda had sent me a beautiful dress and blouse (from Voodoo Vixen and Steady Clothing, respectively) that she couldn't use, and Kate sent me an absolutely gigantic mystery box!  I couldn't imagine what she had sent me, and I gasped in surprise when I realized that Kate had sent me tons of dresses and sweaters!  Turns out that she was doing a big closet clean-out and thought I would be able to put them to good use.  I was so incredibly touched that she had thought of me, and that she would be so sweet to send me all of those pretty things -- including another ASOS dream dress that I had missed out on!  I feel very lucky to have two such wonderful friends in my life (especially because we've never met in person!), and these packages were so timely and made my birthday feel much more special.

Oh, and let's just talk about this donut clutch for a second.  It's perfect, and I was powerless to resist it.  This exact clutch is included in my Big Birthday Giveaway, and there's still plenty of time to enter, so make sure to do that if you haven't already!  In addition to this sweet purse, there are gift certificates to ModCloth and Unique Vintage, a copy of Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham, art and jewelry from some wonderful friends (Modern Girl Blitz, Flapperdoodle, Wanderlust Print Co., Rachel Sullivan Illustration & She Loves Cute Stuff), and so so so much more up for grabs!  Get all the details and enter the giveaway here!  :)

Outfit Details

Tea Party Print Dress: eBay (originally from ASOS)

Teacup necklace: ModCloth (similar)

Hair bow: Clip a Bow Boutique 

Donut clutch: New Look

Tea set ring: exact

Heels: Amazon

Have a sweet day!

xox Sammi

Gonna make a pie with a heart in the middle

Outfit Details

You're In Luck Dress in Pie: ModCloth

Betsey Johnson pie purse: Macy's (similar)

Shoes: BAIT Footwear (similar)

Fork necklace: ASOS (similar)

Pie ring: gift from Kate

Belt: Forever 21

Anyone get the reference in the post title?  It's a very sweet song from one of my favorite movies, Waitress.  If you haven't seen it, you absolutely should do so immediately.  It's a little gem of a film, and I thought it was a very fitting reference for one of my favorite dresses, since it's all about a girl who thinks only of pies!

This pie print dress is incredibly dear to me (is it weird that a dress is "dear to me?").  I've styled it a couple of other times on the blog (you can see those posts here and here), but this might be my favorite styling thus far.  I knew that when I got this purse, I would have to style it with this dress.  Sadly, the purse is no longer available, so I'm glad I got it when I did!  I thought the yellow belt (with hearts on it - how perfect is that?), red spectators, pie ring and fork necklace would complete the outfit really well.  Also, did you notice that all of my outfit posts this week were food-themed?!  It was totally unintentional, but I sort of love that my week consisted of ice cream, popcorn and pie!  I guess I have junk on the brain.

Speaking of Waitress, did you know that it's being made into a stage musical?  And that Sara Bareilles is writing the music for it??  I tend to dislike when movies are made into musicals, for a couple of reasons.  One reason is that I hate that it isn't a fully original concept.  Another is that film is sometimes a better medium for the story in question anyway, and something gets lost in translation when it's adapted for the stage (the opposite is also true, for when shows are adapted into films).  However, I am pretty eager to see what happens with this one.  Since the film has an offbeat, indie quality to it (even though I'm pretty sure it was handled by a major distributor), it's not a super well-known movie.  In my opinion, it's a little less likely to be ruined in its adaptation.  I get kind of territorial about little cult classics that I love, so part of me sort of wishes it could remain a well-kept secret, but on the other hand, it's a great story and it deserves more recognition.  I think the fact that there are also really tragic circumstances surrounding the death of the film's writer/director/actor, Adrienne Shelly, could also mean that their creative team will take pains to stay true to her vision.  Plus, you know, Sara Bareilles is great.

Have a scrumptious Sunday!

xox Sammi