White Picket Fence

I really like basic dresses like this one that allow you to choose more interesting accessories--like this orange floppy hat and color-blocked heels. It's like a blank white page waiting for you to scribble all over it. Sometimes I'll opt for something simple; white sandals and a ponytail, but today I styled it more colorfully. The joy is always being able to mix it up.

Outfit details:

thrifted hat (similar)

Sheinside sunglasses

dress c/o Sheinside

Seychelles heels (old)

Zara purse

*pictures by Jon, edited by me

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Shades Of Summer

I don't wear a lot of sunglasses in my outfit posts, but I do wear a lot of sunglasses in general and I always try to look for different colors or styles when I buy new pairs. Most of mine are pretty old--there's the red Rayban knockoffs I got in Greece during college from a street vendor after talking him down to a third of his initial asking price and then the large black cat eyes from the now defunct Fred Flare...The only ones I can still link to are the three in the top photo: the big yellow frames, my green Warby Parker's and white cat eyes from Shop Ruche.

Of course my favorite pair of sunglasses are these clear ones I got from Modcloth last summer...but alas I have broken them. Time to reorder?

Carnival Days

When I moved to Hawaii I was surprised to learn my high school held a school carnival; it was a way for the school to fundraise but with rides and booths it seems to me like something out of a movie or musical (the end of Grease anyone?). I didn't know schools could put on such elaborate carnivals! Apparently, it's far more common than I thought because here in Lancaster is another school with a carnival. It was definitely worth the entry fee to feast on fried oreos and experience some childhood nostalgia. While the junior high I attended in Washington State didn't have a carnival we did have a "fair day" every year where we didn't have school and got free tickets to the Puyallup Fair. I always enjoyed the junk food and rides and my parents would usually let me run around with friends for a few hours to play in photo booths and spend our money on ill-advised grab bags and dolphin balloons. Going to this carnival wasn't quite like being thirteen again, but I did have a good time and it was the perfect setting for one of my new favorite dresses. This dress is one of those pieces I like so much I don't wear it immediately, but rather hang it in prominent view in my bedroom and try to imagine the perfect outfit around it. In the end it was a hot evening and I decided the dress would look best with simple accessories, but I'd really like to figure out to how remix it in interesting ways since it is so pretty.

Outfit details:

dress c/o Sheinside

FOSSIL purse (old, similar)

old flats (similar)

*pictures by Jon, edited by me

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Summer In The Suburbs

I don't live in the suburbs right now, but visiting friends in the 'burbs definitely takes me back to the years in my childhood when we lived in similarly quiet streets with green lawns and friendly neighbors. In fact, this whole post from the setting, to my sparklers, and even my glow-in-the-dark dress of captured fireflies, calls back to my childhood. You can't see it that well in pictures, but this dress was really glowing--a year old and still so striking when the sun goes down, I think I need to wear it next time I'm invited to sit around a campfire. Anyway, I clearly can not get my fill of sparklers and with warm summer evenings luring you to stay outdoors why shouldn't you light one up?

Outfit details:

thrifted jacket (similar)

Book of Deer dress

Modcloth sandals

*pictures by Jon

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Asleep With Compasses In Our Hands

I keep forgetting that it's not officially summer yet when we have so many days that feel like summer. It's not just the temperatures--I see evidence in the fields turning golden and the children drawing with chalk on the sidewalks when they would usually be in school. There's evidence of a more energetic and free season when I visit lakes like this one, so quiet in winter filling with canoes and people swimming. Since summer is perhaps my favorite season I have few complaints. This dress is (as a friend told me when I put it on) a perfect summer dress; ideally I would wear the nautical themed piece by the ocean, but as I'm a bit land-locked the lakes and rivers in my area will have to suffice. It's really the colors of the dress that drew me too it--the cream base with splotches of teal, I have many things in my closet to match it with and I love how it looks with red accents.

Outfit details:

boater hat (old, similar)

Modcloth cardigan

dress c/o Modcloth

Seychelles heels via Hello Holiday

*pictures by Jon, edited by me

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