Barbecues + Boat Docks

Happy 4th of July! Since this is the quintessential cookout holiday, I thought it was only fitting to wear my new BBQ print Bernie Dexter dress. Honestly, I had never really lusted after this particular dress, but the more I saw it, the more it grew on me – and I realized how perfect it would be for the summertime. I've been trying to venture to places other than my backyard for blog photos, so I headed out to Irondequoit Bay (a short 15 minute distance from where I live) to see if I could find a place to take photos near the marina.

I hadn't been out to the Bay since the tail-end of my relationship with my ex, which is almost two years ago now. I was worried that I would feel sad being there, but it's amazing how a little time and a change in perspective can help you give up the ghosts who once haunted you. I'm still affected by our breakup (more so than most people would be, I think), but I've been really happy to discover that, as cliché as it may be, time does heal all wounds. I guess I still miss what our relationship was at one time, or maybe what it had the potential to be... but I think I'm ultimately thankful that I found out that things weren't "meant to be" (if you believe in that sort of thing). Finding myself has been the greatest gift to come out of our breakup. And I don't ever want to lose myself again.

I'll be watching fireworks (and eating copious amounts of cotton candy) tonight with my best friend, Wayne. I feel very grateful for the supportive people in my life and the opportunities I have right now. And my freedom. I guess that's kind of what Independence Day is all about, right? Being proud of how far we've come and being thankful we're free? (And also, eating.)

Outfit Details

Dress: Bernie Dexter

Necklaces: ASOS (old)

Boater hat: similar

Pettislip: Amazon

Flats: Amazon

Have a wonderful & safe holiday!

Shortcake

I'm lucky to have friends who are as sweet as strawberries. Case in point, this Emmy dress used to belong to Amanda – and because she knew it was one of my "unicorns" (and it was just my size), it now hangs in my closet! This yellow color is so cheery, and I'm in love with the embroidered strawberry collar. I'm so thrilled to have both this dress and such wonderful people in my life.

I can't believe it's already July! I feel like summer has just begun, but this season always goes by so quickly, doesn't it? This month is going to be pretty busy; in addition to the show I'm in, I'm crossing my fingers that I can go down to New York for a weekend towards the end of July. As far as the Independence Day agenda, I'm hoping to watch fireworks with my best friend, Wayne, again this year (assuming he feels up to it and the weather holds out). I sort of wish we were doing a BBQ sort of thing, but since my dad has a gig, that won't be happening this year. Do you have any fun 4th of July plans?

Outfit Details

Dress: Emmy Designs (from Amanda)

Strawberry ring: Urban Outfitters

Shoes: BAIT Footwear

Petticoat: similar

Have a great day!

When life gives you lemons

In this case, it's actually a good thing that life (or rather, one of my best friends) gave me lemons – in the form of this adorable lemon print dress! Ashley sent me this Pinup Girl Clothing dress as a gift, and for someone who's as obsessed with novelty prints and cute details as I am, I was thrilled to add it to my ever-growing PUG collection. I consider myself to be of average-to-tall height (I'm 5'7"), so I was surprised that this dress is a bit lengthy on me (both in terms of hemline and in the torso). But it's such a beautiful, summery dress that I was determined to find a way to make it work!

Outfit Details

Nancy Dress in Blue Lemonade: Pinup Girl Clothing (gift from Ashley)

"Sammi" necklace: c/o oNecklace

Petticoat: similar

Flats: similar

There isn't a whole lot else to report; I've just been busy with rehearsing for the show I'm in right now. It's a 1960's revue called Beehive, and it's a lot of fun (and a lot of work)! I'm actually wearing mostly my own dresses in the show, which is kind of great because they're pieces I love and look good on me. If you're interested, you can check out our little promotional lip-sync video below (fair warning: I look like a goon most of the time!).  :)

Have a great Sunday!

Friday Favorites #99

Happy Friday to you all! Here are some new favorite finds to kick off your weekend!

I've been a fan of Dig For Victory's incredible vintage-inspired dresses for quite some time, but this picnic print dress is currently at the top of my wish list. It's the perfect combination of classic + kitsch! Check out all of the amazing pieces for sale in their shop here.

I absolutely cannot take credit for finding these (that mention goes to Amanda), but I'm totally taken with the Disney-inspired brooches from Tangerine Menagerie. One of these Dapper Dans hats and the Dole Whip brooch are both sitting in my Etsy shopping cart at the moment.

I'm also obsessed with these Disney "D" brooches by Match Accessories! They offer both a classic Disneyland "D" and a more modern signature "D" in several colors. I can't choose between them, so I might have to get both. :)

This list of bizarre beauty queens from the 1950s and '60s is wonderful!

I love Aziz, and a friend reaffirmed that I need to read his book right away. His take on relationships is always one of the best parts of his live shows, so I'll definitely have to order this soon.

I finally got my hands on this umbrella print dress from Pinup Girl Clothing! It's been on my wish list for months, and it finally became available this week. I can't wait to try it on!

Why didn't they have this mini-fridge back when I was in college?! Would it be totally crazy to get one now? ;)

This radio (which has an iPod hook-up on the inside) is the prettiest!

I do love a good plaid dress like this one (plus, its name is a Twin Peaks pun, soooo):

This Sims-inspired pin by Rosehound Apparel is hilarious and I might need it just because.

What kind of Friday Favorites would it be without novelty bags?

a   ||   b   ||   c   ||   d   ||   e   ||   f

I'm not usually big on separates, but I really love this dandelion top:

I would really, really like these lavender ballet flats, please.

And this gorgeous corset looks like it was made for a ballerina!

This Buzzfeed article on Bea Arthur's 10 craziest outfits on The Golden Girls is fantastic (though I definitely think a few important ones were omitted). 

I love this matching dress + cardigan! Such a perfect summer ensemble.

1    ||    2

This article really resonated with me. I may be 26 and not 22, but I don't want someone else to be my entire world. I've realized that I need to feel whole on my own in order to move forward, and I don't want to be the type of person who depends on a relationship to make her happy. Maybe it's because I've had my heart broken, or maybe it's because I don't want to make the same mistakes again, but I am very content right now with taking this time for myself – and only myself.

And finally, please enjoy these 17 times Salem from Sabrina the Teenage Witch summed up being in your twenties.

Have a great Friday!

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Retro Swim Picks || Unique Vintage Style Society

It's finally getting to be swimsuit weather around here, so I'm sharing my vintage-inspired swim picks (and talking about why I love this style of suit so much) over on the Unique Vintage blog today! Unique Vintage carries a huge selection of retro swimwear, and there are so many suits on my current radar! If you love these modest-yet-sexy suits as much as I do, follow me over to UV to read more! <3

Strawberry Patch || Unique Vintage Style Society

I hadn't been strawberry picking since I was a little girl (the farm we used to go to stopped offering pick-your-own strawberries years ago), but when I received this amazing strawberry print dress from Unique Vintage, I knew I'd have to find a new place to go picking! A lot of farms weren't offering picking this season – it's apparently been a particularly bad year for strawberries – but we decided to visit Gro-Moore Farms, which is about a half hour away, and we got a TON of beautiful berries... which we later enjoyed over frozen custard. ;)

I'd been wanting this delicious dress by UK brand Collectif ever since I saw it on their site, but because I've had bad sizing luck when ordering directly from them in the past, I was delighted when I saw it at Unique Vintage. One of the things I love about UV is that they have exact size charts for every garment they sell, which is incredibly helpful when certain brands don't run true to size. For instance, Collectif is a brand that tends to run very large (for reference, another dress I own of theirs is a size small  – with room to spare – and I'm never a size small!), so I was very grateful for the size chart Unique Vintage provided. I probably could've sized down to a small in this dress as well, given the fact that the elasticized back provides a lot of stretch, but the medium works just fine. The coolest thing about this dress is that it can also be worn multiple ways! You can wear the bust wings down like I did, or wear them up for a full print dress; the straps are convertible and can be worn halter style or in a criss-cross fashion, or you can remove them completely to make a strapless dress! I think this dress needs a fuller petticoat, but that wasn't exactly a practical option for traipsing through a field, so I'm going to wear it a completely different way next time. I love pieces with built-in versatility! For more vintage dresses, check out Unique Vintage's website!

Outfit Details

Strawberry dress: c/o Unique Vintage

Necklace: Sourpuss Clothing (available here)

Flats: Urban Outfitters (similar)

Pettiskirt: Amazon (similar)

Have a sweet start to your week!