Arty Abstracts....

Painterly prints are everywhere you look right now. Not just water-colored florals from seasons past, but big, bold abstract chunks of color. Normally I HATE primary colors, can't stand them. But something about these dresses just feels right.

 

Bright Abstract Dress $298; Anthropologie

Balloon Ride Dress $110; Modcloth

Glamourai Dress $75; Modcloth

Social-lite Dress $51, Hallelu

Rolled-trim Dress $28; Forever

Finish it off with a pair of superadorable flat sandals of course:

RaRa Sandals $53, Modcloth.

Long Dress Overkill?

 Cheap: San Miguel Dress; Ruche $50

On the other end of the spectrum from the mini romper, there is my alltime fav, the long dress. Although I hate that it's called a "maxi dress". Sounds like a frikin maxi pad and thats just too horrible to even think about. Ok, so we all know that long dresses are super flattering and versatile.  They are so easy to find now and on the verge of being over done, so, if you are going to wear one this summer, you better find one in a flattering style and a print that not every skank at the jersey shore is going to scoop up from forever 21.  

Cheaper: $35 Old Navy (in stores, not online)

 

CHEAPEST:  "Fab Find" Dresses $15 each at Forever 21. 

These dresses have a lot going for them. I show them in colors bc its easier to see -- but they do also come in black. Accessorized the right way these under 20 gems can look like a million bucks. I think the coral dress would look really cool with  a huge chunky turquoise necklace. Or if turquoise is too flashy for you, black jewelry would look good too.  

DuCk UmbreLLa Update.

I guess I became dangerously obsessed with the duck umbrella after mentioning it a couple days ago. Ang guess what my dears!?!?! It was raining today and I was obsessing all over town and I found them!!! The Seaside Market has them near the door and they are 6.49 and come in all colors. HALLELUJAH!!!!! 6.49!! Steal.  QUACK QUACK!!!

Speaking of umbrellas.... my sister G has a fabulous umbrella that she received for her last birthday. I wish I still had a picture of her smiling face with the best birthday gift she ever got, but, I don't. You can imagine. I'm not sure if this is the exact one, but it's a close match.  What girl doesn't want a $40 umbrella??

Onward with cute raingear for cheap. I have owned several pairs of rainboots and never wore them, not once. But I have seen girls out and about looking so chic in their boots and trenches. (Jessica from What I Wore is a great example) Nothing beats the classic yellow, but I did see some frikin adorable liberty print rain boots at target.  That whole line is pretty cute, but I think I'll wait til it goes on sale. 

So adorable trenches at every price point? (ie: cheap, cheaper, cheapest)You got it:

 Cheap. Old Navy $50

 Cheaper. Forever21 $32

CHEAPEST
My own trench (and i think the most cute) $15 (clearance) from TJMaxx. A total score. On that note, if you can handle the searching, TJ Maxx and Mrashalls are worth the trip if you have seen something that you are coveting but can't afford. I can almost always find the same look for a hell of a lot less there. xo S 

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! Lily Pullitzer's & NC frat boys fav holiday!  I was just thinking about my Easters past and i just realized how fd up it is that my sisters and i used to get chocolate babies in our Easter baskets. Yep. Chocolate babies. (mom was friends with the chocolate shop owner)  Another sick tradition in our house was "the Easter bunny" leaving cocoa puffs all over the house while he was hiding the eggs. Charming. Now, our baskets were filled with delicious hand made candy from the Third Avenue Chocolate Shop in Spring Lake and lost of pretty little toys,  BUT the real treat was going to aunt k & grams for eggs goldenrod on white bread toast with butter and all of the crap candy we could handle. i'm talking whole coconut or peanut butter eggs (the big ones) handfuls of m&ms, reeses cups, snickers, and whatever other garbage we could stuff ourselves with. did i mention the white bread?

I think that white eyelet definitly screams "Easter!!" or at least spring so lets go with that today.

Eyelet mini dress $195 Bloomindales. Eyelet Scalloped dress Calypso $165 Skirt Anthro $168 Top F21 $20

Chick Chic

our frikin dinosaur of a computer was failing massively this morning so today's blog is a little late.... and i want you to know i am writing this whilst drinking a pbr, b/c thats the kind of day i had, and times are tough, and sometimes, you just need a drink.  holidays are tough on me and also B brings out my inner redneck. so. there. i said it. moving on...... i love those little yellow chicks that are everywhere around this time of year... therefore todays fashion notes are chick themed.

So my dears if you need to add a quick dose of yellow to your wardrobe i's suggest you hit up old navy. I found a bunch of cute stuff there for super cheap PLUS if you join their emial list you can usually get an extra 15-20 percent off online. So lets go shop old navy... 

Dress 29.50, Flops 3.50, Tank 7.50 oldnavy.com

This cute little top is so cheap chic. I can see it with cute shorts and t-strap sandals and a nice big chunky turquoise necklace. And for how much it is who cares if you only wear it once!  Seniorita top: 9.50 Forever21.com

The perfect yellow and orange combo in an up-to-date tribalish print. Dress: tulle.com  $50

And the splurge, the best and most classic yellow avaiable to us: hunter rainboots.Btw, who remembers these umbrellas?? Gotta fine a yellow one, I'm pretty sure  I saw one at the grocery store, in NC. Oh well. I'll find you my pretty. The boots are a splurge for $115 from Bloomingdales. Plus yogurt so that makes them about $125. hmmm. i will have to look into this further. Ciao for now my sweets. xo S

Happy Birthday, H.C.A!

In honor of Hans Christian Andersen's birthday I thought we'd have a fairytale brunch. Andersen's fairy tales were definitly favs amongst my sisters and I. Who didn't love the story of the Princess and the Pea?!? I wonder how many injuries we sustained whilst piling every couch cushion in the house into a stack to see if we could feel the pea to find out who the real princess of the family was. And then Thumbelina.  Gah, I frikin loved thumbelina, that lucky little bitch! She could sleep in a walnut shell, sailed on lily pads and got to play with fairies. And we can't forget The Little Mermaid , whom  I have no sympathy for. If I were a mermaid princess, which I'm pretty sure I was in another life, I would never want to leave the ocean kingdom. "wouldn't you think i'm the girl who has everything?" well, yeah sweetheart, you do so stop being so flippin greedy. what a spoiled brat.

Anywho, the gangs all here, and I think Tracy Reese and Rebecca Taylor are fighting over who gets to be the costume designer.  Dress, Luphia (about 42$)

And for CHEAP FRILLS AND THRILLS:

 

Lace Dress $28, Floral Dress $15, Tea Dress $15...

 

And lets add some fairy tale accessories to complete the look: 

Earings all at Forever  $4, $7 &$6...

And of course, a couple of wishlist items from you know where.....

Binu's Necklace $58, Sparkle Hair Pins $15, Rising Battenberg Dress $288,   Wind Catcher Dress $168.

Now go and  be pretty and wear something that reminds everyone of your favorite fairytale!! xo S

Things that I am a little bit obsessed with #1: Nautical EVERYTHING

First of all, I'd like to note that my closet is organized by navy, white, navy and white stripes and anchors. Seriously. Button down with vintage gold anchor buttons? check. Shirt dress with a giant anchor printed on? check. Thirty five navy and white stripe tops?  Gold rope sandals?  Pretty much anything that should belong to a sea captain? (better; a sea captain's fabulous wife?) check. check. cheeeeck. Ok, now that that's out of the way........ you have to admit there's something so timeless and elegant about nautical style.

 Adorable striped straw tote. Guess how much?  

 You can def put together some cute things dirt cheap from f21. Especially if you're not really a nautical type gal and you just want to try it out. I think the belt was like 6 bucks and the tunic maybe 10.   Ok, enough of the cheap shit. Onto Anthropologie, the store i HATE to love... which just so happens to be on board (eek that was bad) with the nautical trend. Anchors away dress in yellow($148), curls and coils rope necklace($42), and crow's nest top($68) are a couple of my favorites.  How cute would that top be with some navy shorts and gold sandals? So, about the piece of rope for forty two dollars. My friend C wore this to my sister's nautical themed wedding rehearsal dinner with a navy dress. At first I wasn't really sure why anyone would pay 42 dollars for a piece of rope. I saw this maybe with a smidge of jealousy, as i picked it up in the store and though maybe since it's just rope, i can afford this. Nope. Alas, it grew on me, and C was forgiven.

These are just a couple of examples -- nautical stuff is literally EVERYWHERE. You can really find it at any price point. More to follow later... B is home and ansty for me to get away from the computer. xo S