Tutti Fruity

Hello there! We are still in a heat wave here, but the next couple of days it's supposed to get a little bit better. I don't have much going on this week, but I'm excited for my weekend to start tomorrow after work! Bob and I are probably going to New Hope on Saturday, since we didn't end up going last weekend because of the the weather. 
I'm bummed that women's gymnastics is now over with at this Olympics. I'm anxiously waiting last night's individual competition to hit "on demand", since it came on too late last night for me to watch.
In the pictures below I'm wearing my NY & Company fruit dress that I got on super sale a few months ago. It's the only thing I own from that shop, and it's a really great work dress. The neck is high enough that I don't need a bandeau, it's made of decently thick material, and it's comfortable. I have a lot of fruit print dresses, but there's no such thing as too many! I have a lot of BAIT shoes in this poppy red color, and they match so many items in my wardrobe; they match a lot more than my darker red BAIT shoes do.

Dress: New York & Company
Bracelet: Etsy (Luxulite)
Heels: BAIT Footwear

~Bye bye for now!

High Street

Hello there! Oh my gosh, this heat and humidity has been killer, and today's supposed to be just as bad (heat index of 110). We changed our plans for yesterday because of it. We were going to walk around New Hope and eat otuside there, but it was too hot for that. We went to Bethlehem instead, and ate lunch inside, and just walked to one shop, and then left. We weren't there very long, but at least we did get to go somewhere, and Brew Works never lets us down. I was disappointed on not going to New Hope, but hopefully we'll get to go next weekend. We haven't been since May, which Bob is fine with, ha, but not me! 
Tonight we're going over Bob's parent's house for dinner, and definitely eating inside.
In the pictures below I'm wearing a Bernie Dexter dress in the Veronique cut (the print is called High Street). I have two Bernies in this cut, and I wish she'd start making more of this cut again. I like the fact that the sleeves are wider than the Chelsea and Paris cuts, and there's more chest coverage, especially more than in the low cut Paris style. I love the colors in this print, and was happy my orange belt from a PUG dress matches so perfectly with it.

Dress: Gift (Bernie Dexter)
Necklace, brooch: Etsy (Luxulite)
Heels: BAIT Footwear

~Bye bye for now!

Crazy Cat Lady

Hello there! I've been watching the Olympics a lot; gymnastics, basketball, and swimming are my favorite to watch. I used to play basketball and do gymnastics, and gymnastics has always been my favorite sport to both watch and participate in. Last night I watched all of the women's all around competition. It was so exciting! It was amazing to see both US gymnasts in it win gold and silver! I figured Simone would win gold, she was predicted to, and is consistently almost flawless. I was really hopping Aly would get silver, especially because she lost out on an all around medal four years ago in London, during a tie breaker (she had been tied for bronze). The Russian girl she had tied with four years ago took the bronze last night. So, it was crazy, because they were again SO close to each other this Olympics, but it was so nice to see Aly get the silver. As soon as she finished her floor exercise performance, which was the last performance for her for the all around competition, she just burst into tears. She knew at that point that she would medal. I got a bit teary-eyed myself, ha. It is simply astonishing me what Olympic athletes are capable of; how dedicated, focused, and driven they are. I don't think I could handle the stress!!
In the pictures below I'm wearing my Bernie Dexter kitty print Kelly dress. I admit, I am a crazy cat lady, as in they're my favorite animal. I don't have any kitties currently, and my husband is quite allergic to them, so when we do get a cat, we'll try to adopt a hypoallergenic breed. Maine Coons are my favorite breed, but unfortunately they are not hypoallergenic. Long haired cats and dogs are my favorite kind. I think they're more beautiful.
 

Dress: Bernie Dexter
Necklace: Etsy (Scrumptiousdoodle)
Brooch: Deer Arrow
Heels: Pin Up Girl Clothing (Chelsea Crew)

~Bye bye for now!

Technicolor Honeycomb

Hello there! I haven't had much going on this week yet, but tomorrow after work I'm meeting a friend for a drink, Friday night I'm also meeting a friend, and Saturday I'm probably going to New Hope with Bob for the day. Also, some of Bob's relatives will be up from West Virginia this weekend, so I will probably be seeing them as well.
In the pictures below I'm wearing my newewst Bernie dress. This one is in a new style; the Jodi style. I couldn't resist this very colorful print! It looks like honeycomb, and Bernie calls the print "technicolor honeycomb". There's a couple of other prints in the Jodi style that I love, and am considering getting one or two now, or just waiting a bit to see what other styles they'll come in. I emailed Bernie about this print, and she told me it'd only come in the Jodi style. This dress runs a little smaller than the other dresses I have of hers in the same size. 
I am one of two sizes in her dresses, depending on how much room there is in the bust. 
I ordered the bigger of the two sizes in this dress, and it's quite snug in the bust. I think the peasant sleeves are cute, and I have a few Pin Up Girl Clothing peasant tops. 
This dress came with a red belt, but I switched it out for an orange belt from one of my Pin Up Girl Clothing dresses. The red belt it came with didn't match the red in the dress, and I thought the orange went better (if you hadn't noticed, I'm crazy about matching).
 

Dress: Bernie Dexter 
Shoes: BAIT Footwear

~Bye bye for now!

Country Life

Hello there! Bob and I are just hanging out at home today. Friday night we went over my parent's for dinner, and my grandparents came, too. We had burgers, which I don't have much, but I like to have a good burger once in awhile, and these were really good. We looked at pictures from my parent's vacation out west a couple of weeks ago. Last night I met up with a friend for a drink.
In the pictures below I'm wearing my newest Retrospec'd dress. The print is called Country Life, and the style is called Connie. I already had one Connie, in the Gay Parisi print. Shirt dresses are my favorite dress style. I've gotten a lot lately, especially in the Bernie Dexter Kelly style. This print is gorgeous, just like so many of Retrospec'd prints. It looks like a painting. Even though I love going to cities, the print on the dress is pretty representative of the area I grew up in and still live in; very rural, with lots of farms. Speaking of that, it's funny to me how it seems most people think of New Jersey a very busy and crowded area, like the area right outside of NYC. We've had this happen a lot when we go on vacation, and we love to educate people about NJ, ha. Yes, NJ does have that area, but the area my husband and I are from couldn't be more different from that. The town I'm from is very small, and there are more cows than people there. There's a farm on the road I grew up on, and there's two stoplights in the town. It takes 40 minutes to get to a mall from there, 35 minutes to get to the movies, etc. The town I live in now is a little bigger than that, with more to do, but there are still lots of farms right around me. So, anyway, in case you didn't know, now you do! 

Dress: Grease Rags Clothing (Retrospec'd)
Bracelets: Splendette
Brooch: DNJ Retro (Erstwilder)
Heels: Modcloth (BAIT Footwear)

~Bye bye for now!

Southern Road Trip, Part II

Hello there! So, this post is about the second half of my recent southern vacation. We left Charleston on a Tuesday morning, and stayed in Savannah through Friday morning. It rained less in Savannah, which was definitely a plus. But, it was EXTREMLY hot and humid every day. It's the humidity that kills you. Regardless of that, Savannah was our favorite stop for the trip. There are tons of Irish, Scottish, and English pubs there, and we both love those pubs. We like casual atmospheres, and we usually will just sit at the bar, and order our meals from the bartender. So, we liked the restaurant options a lot better in Savannah than Charleston. 
I also liked the shops better there. I found some great things, like Pyrex dish towels, some lovely antiques (salt and pepper shaker, snack bowl, and a bowl with cherries painted on it), a vintage reproduction tablecloth, and cute potholders. We went in a few antique shops there, but the place whiere I got all the kitchen antiques was from an antique mall called Picker Joe's. I read about in Miss Victory Violet's blog post about when she visited Savannah. Otherwise, I wouldn't have heard of it! Their prices were very reasonable, too. 
We checked out a few bookstores there too, and I picked up a book on sale. I go to the library in my town, so I don't like to spend money on books, and rarely do. One of the bookstores had two kitties sleeping in it! They looked like they were Maine Coons, which is my favorite cat breed. I posted a picture below of the gray one. I had a gray Maine Coon, who ran away a year ago. She lived with my parents, not with me, but I probably paid more attention to her when I was over there, than they did living with her, ha. I just think they are the most beautiful cats, and they are also one of the most intelligent breeds.
The riverwalk is really neat too; it's a street that has a lot of little shops and restaurants and bars right along the river, so on the other side of the street is a sidewalk and the river.  We went to a rooftop bar for a drink one night, which overlooks the river. 
Right by our hotel was a very famous ice cream shop; it's 100 years old. It's called Leopold's Ice Cream. The lines are crazy there! They go out onto the sidewalk. We went there twice. 
I was disappointed that every ice cream place we checked out on our trip didn't have cookie dough ice cream, which is my favorite flavor. So, I just got vanilla ice cream at Leopold's.
It was good of course, but I wish they had cookie dough or birthday cake, which one of their menus said birthday cake was coming in August, ha. So, we just missed it.
On our way home, we stopped in Raleigh, and stayed there for a night. We got there around 3:00 p.m. So, after we checked into our room, we went walking. We were staying on a street that had a few restaurants and bars very close to our hotel, which was great. Of course, we found an Irish restaurant right away, ha. We went there for a couple of drinks, and then we walked to Raleigh Beer Garden, which has more beers on tap than anywhere else in the world (350)! I don't drink beer, but my husband does. We sat outside there for awhile (there's a lot of outdoor seating), and the weather had cooled off a bit by then, so that was nice. Some people had dogs with them, and one was SO adorable that I had to go over, and ask to pet it. It was a two month old puppy mixed breed that the woman had adopted for a shelter. I also asked to pet another one; a 150 lb Great Dane! I can't wait to have my own dog someday (when we have a house). 
We ended up walking back to the Irish restaurant for a last drink, and shared some chicken fingers there. We went back to our room after that, and left for home the next morning. 
We had a great time on the trip, but I wouldn't go back down there in the summer, ha! I'd go back to Savannah, but the other places I probably wouldn't.  

Our hotel in Savannah

Fireplace in our hotel room in Savannah

 

The Irish restaurant in Raleigh

Raleigh

Raleigh

On the drive to Raleigh, at a rest stop

Cranes L'amour

Hello there! Ah, one more day of work to get through for the week. Today I went out to lunch with my boss and two co-workers, which was nice. I've never gone out to eat with a boss before. It's cooled down a bit here, and the humidity has also gone down somewhat, so that's been a relief. 
This week's been pretty quiet, but Friday night Bob and I will be going to my parent's for dinner (my grandparents are coming too), and Saturday night I'll be meeting my friend for a drink.
In the below pictures I'm wearing my new Trashy Diva dress. This cranes print was released last Thursday, and I love it! Trashy Diva has been coming out with prints so much more frequently lately than they used to, and I love almost all of their recent prints. This is my third dress in the L'amour style. It's a comfortable style, and I think it's a little more on the casual side than a lot of their dress styles. It zips easily too, which is always a plus.
 The shade of blue in the dress goes perfectly with my Mak cropped cardi in viola. I wore this dress paired with that cardi to work today. I don't have shoes other than black ones that match this dress, unfortunately, and surprisingly! I'm glad my green Splendette bracelets match quite well, though. 
I love this print so much, I was even considering ordering it another style, as well, but decided to hold off on that. What makes this print even better is that a portion of the sales are donated to the Gulf Restoration Network!

Dress: Trashy Diva
Necklace: Modcloth
Bracelets: Splendette
Heels: BAIT Footwear

~Bye bye for now!