Little red

Outfit Details:

Gretel Gingham Swing Dress: Collectif Clothing

Red bolero: Pinup Girl Clothing (get it here)

White belt & petticoat: eBay

Red boots: DSW (old)

Lips ring: Forever 21

This outfit was another possibility for a Valentine's Day ensemble, but even with the addition of a petticoat, this dress makes so much more sense for summer, and I ended up going with the beautiful dress I borrowed from Dus for the holiday.  I love the detailing on this dress, though; the heart-shaped buttons and the lace along the hem and top are such nice touches.  The only annoying thing about this dress is that I don't think the shape is entirely flattering on me.  Although I really love Collectif's designs, I've found that their sizing can be incredibly strange and inconsistent.  I've made the mistake of ordering clothing directly from their site before, and since they're based in the UK, returns are kind of a hassle.  Since ModCloth carries Collectif, it's much better to be able to read reviews and ask questions about sizing through them.  I think retro repro brands sometimes run a little big, in general -- am I the only one who feels this way?  Luckily, whatever sizing issues this dress has are easily fixed with the bolero & belt combination.  I just wish I had better boots to wear with this -- preferably ones that don't make my legs look impossibly stubby (which is not usually a problem for someone who is 5'7")!

I'd scheduled these last few posts in advance, since I've been away for the weekend.  By the time this is published, I'll be on a bus heading back home.  I don't schedule posts this far in advance very much (I find it kind of weird to not be giving current updates on my life), but it is sort of freeing to not have to worry about putting it together the night before.  I often wonder what other bloggers do in terms of scheduling posts... I always feel like people will know if I'm being inauthentic in terms of a timeline, but then I think about the fact that I really don't know what other bloggers are actually doing on a day-to-day basis, so everyone could be scheduling posts a week ahead of time, while I'm the schmuck who's staying up late to finish hers the night before it's published.  Truth be told, I always work best under pressure anyway.  

Have a beautiful Monday!

xox Sammi

Hooray for Hollywood

Outfit Details:

Red polka dot dress: eBay

Cardigan: dELiA*s (similar here)

Oxford saddle shoes: Payless

Necklace: ASOS (similar here)

Popcorn purse: Sweetbox Store
Hair bow: Dress Your Tresses
Frilly socks: similar here
White belt: eBay

I wish I'd been able to bring my petticoat on this trip, but alas, they're not so conducive to traveling.

Here they are... the first installment of Disney pictures!  It's strange, but it feels like our trip to Disney World was forever ago.  It was jam-packed and kind of a blur.  I wasn't able to take outfit photos with my DSLR during our first day there (we drove from Naples to Orlando and were running late to everything the entire day), but these are from our second day there.  We spent the entire day at Hollywood Studios (which was a little too long, considering I don't do roller coasters and we had some downtime).  But first, we had breakfast at the Boardwalk, at Cat Cora's restaurant, Kouzzina.  It was definitely one of the yummiest meals.  My mom had waffles with mascarpone cheese, nuts (I forget if they were pecans or walnuts) and honey, and I had sweet potato-turkey hash with scrambled eggs and an arugula salad on top.  I've never been a big coffee drinker, but goodness, the coffee there was particularly good (as was the multigrain croissant that accompanied it).

I seriously just want to live at Hollywood Studios.  Why can't that be a thing??  The aesthetics of everything are so perfect!  I think I enjoyed walking around more than anything!  But I do love the Star Tours ride, and the Great Movie Ride is always fun (though I honestly wish they'd update it a little -- it's a little stale).  We actually met up with my friend Carl, who now lives in the Orlando area, and it was really nice to catch up with him.  We've been friends for ten years, but we don't get to see each other very often (though his dad is directing the children's theatre show I'm currently in rehearsals for!).  My mom and I then had dinner at the Hollywood Brown Derby, which was a delicious experience, and I had this gorgeous grapefruit cake (with cream cheese icing) for dessert:

After dinner, we saw the Fantasmic! show, which is, well, fantasmic.  It was really cold (and I had only this thin Minnie Mouse sweatshirt to keep me warm), but we had SUCH great seats, and it's such a great show.  It might be my favorite nighttime show I've seen, because I love the Disney villains (and I play villains pretty often!), and the show involves so many of them.  I don't think Disney World will ever stop being magical to me, no matter how old I get.  I'm just glad I was able to "reclaim" it again, because being there -- or even the thought of being there -- just makes me very happy.  If I ever get a whole bunch of money, I'm organizing a Disney blogger meet-up, because for some reason, I feel like almost every blogger I know would feel almost the same way I do about Disney.  I tend to dress very nostalgically (either for other eras or for my own childhood), and Disney brings that out in me!

Have a wonderful Saturday!

xox Sammi  

PS: Don't forget, you have until midnight tonight to enter my 1-year blogiversary giveaway!!  The winner will receive a $50 gift certificate to ModCloth, as well as a whole haul of goodies from ASOS and Forever 21!  Don't miss your chance!  Get the details and enter here!

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

Coffee and tea and the java and me

Outfit Details:

Ice Coffee Circle Dress: Bettie Page Clothing (on sale!)

Telephone brooch: Kitty Cat Shop

Ampersand ring: ModCloth (part of a set)

Lady in Rad Boots in Ink: ModCloth

Coat: Bettie Page Clothing (gift)

Belt: from another dress

Tights: ModCloth

Crinoline: eBay

These photos were taken a few weeks ago, so no, we do not have this much snow on the ground right now!  I must have been crazy to go traipsing around in this!  Although I don't exactly love these boots with this outfit, there was kind of no way around it (that is, if I didn't want to wear the ugliest snow boots in all of creation).  Plus, you can barely see them, since it looks like I'm being eaten alive by these snow drifts.  I'm already kind of sick of snow, truth be told.

I'd been eyeing this dress forever (as well as the pencil dress version, which is adorable but would not be flattering on me), and I finally took the plunge during Bettie Page's sale on Black Friday (with some encouragement from the ever-lovely Amanda).  Bettie Page's sizing chart seems to slant on the big size to me (which is often true of a lot of pin-up-esque lines, I've found -- anyone else?), and I probably could have stood to order down in this dress, at least in the waist.  Luckily, I was able to swap out the belt this dress came with for another from my closet, and that pretty much solved the issue.  I was actually really afraid this color wouldn't work on me; neutrals are often tricky on me, especially ones that have yellow or brown undertones.  But I was so pleased that this wasn't the case!!  I also love that it's a long-sleeved dress made out of fabric that's quite heavy -- that certainly comes in handy for this polar vortex we're currently experiencing.  Can you tell I'm tired of the cold?  My mom and I are leaving in 6 days(!!!!!) for our Florida vacation, and even if it's not going to be super hot, I'm so excited to be getting away from the cold and dreariness. 

I don't think I ever went into detail here on our vacation plans, come to think of it!  My mom and I are heading down to Naples to visit my grandma for a few days, and then we're driving up to Orlando and going to Disney World!!!  This is precisely the kind of thing that we both need right now, and I'm really looking forward to spending time with my mom and doing stuff we both love (i.e., experiencing Disney magic and eating everything in sight).  I'm not sure if I ever mentioned this, but my ex and I had talked about marriage on a pretty regular basis, and we had always planned on going to Disney World for our honeymoon.  Like, this was a topic of conversation VERY often.  And I decided that I really did not want my idea of Disney World -- a place I truly love -- to always be intertwined with this painful breakup and a relationship that went down in flames.  I've given him too much power over my emotions as it is, and I decided that I'd be damned if I was going to let him take away the Happiest Place on Earth from me, too.  So I'm not!  We are going to have an amazing time and I really can't wait.  I'll be posting a lot more about Disney, and I'm sure you'll probably get sick of it, so suffice it to say that I'm ecstatic and I have so much to do before we leave!!

Have a happy Saturday!

xox Sammi