All aboard!

Outfit Details:

Trains Scoop Neck Dress: Cath Kidston (sold out)

Wide red belt: Pinup Girl Clothing

Kimchi Blue T-Strap Skimmers: Urban Outfitters (now half price!!)

Grandma readers: Urban Outfitters

JumpFromPaper Travel Fever bag (knock-off): AliExpress (try eBay or the original)

Watch ring: Mom's

First things first... the bag.  JumpFromPaper bags look really neat in person, but they photograph even better!  I really love this one.  I feel like a bad person because I've bought both of my JumpFromPaper(-esque) bags from eBay type sites - and I know neither is actually the real deal.  They're really similar to the real thing, but there are subtle differences with the decorative aspects (especially on the suitcase one).  Unfortunately, real JumpFromPaper bags are pretty pricy, and even though I want to support businesses like theirs, I'm also a selfish American who wants cool features at cheap prices.  So eBay and AliExpress (the latter of which you should use at your own risk - I had a fine experience, but many do not) won out in the end.

The print of this dress is so charming.  I feel like I need to be going on a trip whenever I wear it.

I feel like it's kind of okay for me to wear obviously-fake glasses because I actually do wear glasses/contacts.  Maybe not as tooly.  Maybe.

We're having a bunch of extended family over today for a belated July 4th celebration while my grandma is still in town.  Patriotic pictures will be forthcoming.

Have a wonderful Saturday!

xox Sammi

Happy 4th!

Outfit Details:

Gingham dress: Forever 21 (and Forever 21+ version here)

Necklace: Forever 21 (old)

Wicker purse: Chicwish

White flats: yeswalker

Charm bracelet: Mom's

Okay, I will admit it: this is not what I'm actually wearing today.  I took these photos last week when I had some downtime.  My truly patriotic outfit is reserved for our party on Saturday, so I will be taking photos of that and sharing them later.  This was the most patriotic outfit I had in the set of photos I took in advance.  So you will just have to wait for more Americana attire.

Also, these were a weird set of photos.  I really didn't like many of them at all.  Usually I have a problem with not being able to narrow down photos, but I had the opposite problem with these.  Which kind of makes me think I don't love this dress.  It's cute, but it's one of those dresses that I'm just not in love with.  Fine for casual, everyday wear.  But not for special things, I don't think.

I do love this charm bracelet, though!  It was my mom's, and before that I think (?) it may have originally belonged to my grandma.  The charms are hard to see, but they're so adorable.  One of them is a water well with a little handle! 

I think we're going downtown to see fireworks tonight and hear the RPO play, if the weather holds up! Not the most exciting 4th of July, but at least I'll be with my family.  :)

Have a wonderful holiday!

xox Sammi

Periwinkle

Outfit Details:

Dress: dELiA*s (old)

Floral garland: Urban Outfitters

Black flats: jcpenney

Unicorn ring: I'm Your Present (free with purchase)

My camera battery died as I was taking these photos.  Luckily, it was my favorite time of day, so the lighting was decent and I was able to get some that I liked.  I enjoy looking like a flowery ballerina.

Not much else to say today, really.  I'm working tonight at the Independence Day concert for the orchestra here.  It's a bit of a drive, but it'll be fun if the weather holds out!

Have a lovely Wednesday.

xox Sammi

L'amour

Outfit Details:

Cutout Dress (L'Amour Nanette Lepore): jcpenney

Jelly flats: J.Crew (old)

Heart ring: Urban Outfitters (sold out)

Daisy ring: Mom's

This is the dress that I mentioned in yesterday's post.  I wasn't planning on getting a dress from JC Penney (is it JC Penney or jcpenney?  Has this changed?  I never know), but when I saw this one in the juniors section, I knew I had to at least try it on.  I love the shape and vibrant color, and the print is so interesting, with the hand-drawn anchors, lions and daisies. 

I thought these two rings were really appropriate for this dress (and the name of the line)!

I learned a really valuable lesson about sizing the day I got this dress.  Specifically, a lesson about not getting hung up on sizing!  This dress (and whole line) is from the juniors' section.  When clothes are cut for a juniors line, they really aren't well-fitted for larger bust or hip sizes.  Logically, I know this, but there is a certain amount of vanity involved when shopping for me; not only do I want to look good in clothes, but I do get a certain satisfaction about knowing I am a size ___, etc.  There have definitely been times where I don't want to buy something in a size larger, because I don't want to have to think of myself as wearing a size 10 (instead of my normal size 8)!

When I went to try on this dress, they were out of size 9, which would be my first pick for my size in the juniors' section under normal circumstances.  So I tried on the size 11, thinking it'd maybe be too big, but could work.  To my shock, I couldn't even zip it up!  I really loved the dress though, so I decided to try it on in a 13 for kicks, expecting it to be too big.  Lo and behold, the dress was pretty much perfect on me.  It looked great, but I definitely felt bummed about having to wear a dress that was two sizes larger than what I thought my normal size would be.

And then I tried on a different dress from the ladies' section.  They were out of my normal size 8, so I took the size 6 they had into the dressing room, assuming it wouldn't even zip.  It ended up fitting perfectly.  So here I was, able to wear both a size 6 and a size 13.  I'm fairly certain the other dress I tried on probably ran a little big, but it just goes to show that you can't get too hung up on the size you wear.  Because I've bought quite a number of vintage items on Etsy, I've gotten pretty good with knowing my current measurements, which has been helpful.  But when buying items in a store, you kind of just have to take a chance sometimes, since we don't have universal sizing.  I know people who cut out the tags in their clothes, which I think is a good self-confidence booster, but I think I can just be secure in the knowledge that you never really know what'll work until you try it on.  :)

I love these little jelly shoes.  I bought them 2+ years ago, before jellies were back in fashion.  I'd like to think I was ahead of the curve on that one.  But I guess it was just that J.Crew was, really.

My grandma is coming up from Florida today!  She's here for the 4th of July, though we're not doing really anything exciting that day -- we're having our big family party on Saturday instead.  But I don't get to see my grandma very often, so I'm looking forward to spending time with her!  

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

xox Sammi