Grab a Suitcase

In my family, traveling was a pretty normal part of life. At least once a month for several years of my childhood, we would pack our bags, hop in the van, and go away for days. Back then and up until recently, I would use the same method for packing. I would count how many days we'd be gone and then grab that many items of each clothing category plus a few extra pieces for safety. Going away for five days? I'd grab about seven tops, six or seven bottoms, then I'd realize I would need five different pairs of shoes for the pieces I had picked, and I could barely get it all in a suitcase. As if that wasn't a train wreck enough, while on vacation, I would find myself only wearing three of the bottoms and not actually have something to match one of the tops, and I wouldn't bother changing into different shoes. I wasn't packing outfits; I was packing individual pieces, and that doesn't really work.

It seems so simple now, but I have finally developed a better method for packing. This is not revolutionary, but it has helped me and maybe it will click for you too!

The first step is to think about any main events of your trip. For instance, are you traveling for a wedding? For outdoorsy stuff like hiking? Or, in my case, for a baby shower? Having the main focus of your trip in mind will give you a starting point. Since I bought the Lily Dress from Loft, I've known that it would be my boy baby shower dress, so that is the first thing I decided on for packing. Once I had that dress established, I knew blue would be one of my main colors and that I'd need my tan sandals.

Once your have your main event piece picked out and you've picked jewelry and shoes, the next step is to find outfits that will reuse some of those pieces. I decided to bring in my Mosaic Tunic dress which I'll wear on the plane and can be worn with the same shoes and purse. Next, I selected my Teal T-back Top because it's brand new and I'm dying to wear it. For that top, I need my black sandals. Everything else fell into place to match those sandals that I'd already have with me. I'll grab a black sweater which will match most of my outfits if I get chilly, and I'll wear a heavier blazer on the plane with me since planes tend to be cold.

Now I know exactly what I'll wear, when I'll wear it, and I don't have a million pairs of shoes to weigh me down. :)

Sunset and Shorts

When I envisioned this outfit, I knew I had to get photos at sunset. This was not only idealistic (sunsets are beautiful after all) but was also practical. I don't care how open and light the sweater is; wearing a sweater in Florida in June is HOT. Only at sunset, it wasn't. When trying to catch a good sunset in Florida, there's only one place to go: the beach. So after dinner, Dan and I took a drive and spent a little time enjoying the fresh air and summery vibes. I only wish the camera could have captured the beautiful colors in the sky a little better. It really was breathtaking!

These shorts are from the Lou & Grey line and I'm crazy about the color. They just scream beach and summer and all the things I love. I've paired them with a simple navy button down, but I have a soft spot in my heart for a good sweater. I'm a person of extremes when it comes to feeling temperature. I'm either freezing or sweating, and unless I'm outside, I tend to be ice-cold. That's why sweaters and I go together like coffee and mornings. This top, while looking all chunky and warm, is actually a very light sweater. The open knit texture allows air to pass through, so as soon as the sun began to drop, even though it was probably still 89 degrees out, I was glad for the sweater.

This weekend, I'll be taking off to visit a very special friend of mine, Briana. She and I have been close since we were teenagers and she was the maid of honor in my wedding. Now she is expecting a precious baby boy and I'm excited to go celebrate with her! In tomorrow's post, I'll be sharing some of my tips for packing for a weekend trip, and more importantly, what I've learned not to do. I won't be back on the blog until Tuesday or Wednesday next week, but I'd love for you to check out my Instagram feed if you'd like to stay in touch and share my adventures.

Match the Walls

Sometimes, without even realizing it, I pick a spot for photos that I happen to match. I'm not sure what that says about my personality. I'm trying to hide? I want to blend in? But I don't realize it until we get home and I start editing the photos. "Ugh, I did it again." That's clearly what has happened here. My shirt blends in with the background, and I noticed too late.

This skirt had been a favorite for awhile. It's from Target and is surprisingly versatile. One of my favorite ways to wear this is with a bright royal blue shirt, a tan belt, and my tan wedges. This outfit was almost purely intuition because I've worn this top and necklace with printed shorts. Might as well repeat with a skirt, right? A good printed skirt is hard to find, and one in a soft linen is even harder, so if you find one, snatch it up and don't let it go.

Go-To Summer Dress

My post title pretty much says it all, but I'll say more anyways. I bought this dress from Target on a whim two or three summers ago. I was going to use it as a bathing suit cover-up and nothing more. But then I realize it's the ease of a tank top that doesn't require shorts and it became a repeat piece. What I love about this type of dress is that it matches whatever style you put with it. I've worn it with wedges and a colorful clutch and suddenly it feels girly. Or, as I did in this look, it pairs with Toms and sunglasses and suddenly looks like I'm ready to explore the town.

Today is the first day of a three day teacher training I have to attend. Although I have no been looking forward to it, training so far has not been bad. Our keynote speaker is realistic about things like testing and the importance (sarcasm here) of having the agenda on the board every day, so he's easy to listen to. One of my favorite parts of summer is being able to reflect over the school year, let it go, and begin planning for the next year. It's a good time to really get creative and take risks because once you're bogged down in grading and unrealistic expectations, it's hard to do that. Hopefully the second half of training will continue to be inspiring!

Although this dress is no longer at Target, I've linked to a few similar dresses below.

Middle Ground / Steal / Splurge / Loft

Catch this post and others like it at Confident Twosday, Sweet Little Ones, and Style Sessions.

Lily Maxi Dress

>

Most often, when I find myself looking at dresses, I am only attracted to the ones I can wear to work (teacher, not shop girl). This dress isn't one of them. It's strappy and low-cut (for me) so I'd never wear it to school. That's the reason why I kept passing by it and talking myself out of it for about a month even though it kept calling my name. Then it went on sale. I figured that I might as well try it on just to see how it looked. Couldn't hurt anything, right? And that's when I realized I love this dress. It won't work for school, but for weekends, baby showers (I have quite a few pregnant friends), wedding showers, and basically any day I don't feel like wearing pants, this dress is an easy option. And since I donated my older blue maxi it's a win-win!

This weekend was almost a bust. I'm weird and when I spend my entire day at home I get pretty grouchy and feel like I'm wasting my time. I worked on Saturday and then went to a movie with Dan and my little brother for his birthday, but then on Sunday we had no plans after church. After three hours of sitting at home flipping channels, my frustration mounted and I decided that we had to get out, even if only for an hour. You know that feeling of wanting to do something but not really wanting to change out of pajamas or put on makeup? That's the story of my life. So we went to the pool...and it was worth every ounce of energy it took to move from the couch! We didn't really "do" much, but just getting outside and spending time together not staring at a TV is all I really needed.

[ The Dress / The Shoes ]

This post is being linked up with Fizz & Frosting for her Mix It Mondays and with Pumps and Push-ups on Shoe and Tell!

Seeing Stripes

I know I'm very late on the post today, but it's mainly because I didn't see the need to change out of sweatpants until this evening. That's not to say I haven't been busy! I added a bunch of stuff to my Poshmark store (@shopccr), cleaned the house, e-mailed some blog affiliates (coming soon!), and basically just knocked stuff off my to-do list.

Yesterday I spent the day with my mom which is why I didn't post. I mentioned awhile back that she was moving, but what I failed to mention because I didn't want to spill her news, is that she got married! For those of you who don't know me in person, my dad died of cancer 9 years ago. Mom went back to college, got her degree with honors, became a teacher, and then two years ago began dating a great guy who she just married. I couldn't be happier for her! Now we have the fun time of combining their homes and doing a bit of redecorating. Shopping is what my mom and I do best, so we made a stop at Marshalls while we were out. I've had in my head that I wanted a striped tshirt style dress for a while, but so many of them are thin fabric that feels too exposing. This dress, which I picked up at Marshalls, is by French Connection. What I love about it is the quality of the fabric and the thin shoulder pads that add a slight bit of definition. I think this dress will be getting a lot of use!

Second Time Chinos

Sometimes an outfit just doesn't work. The first time I styled these chinos, it was a train wreck. I woke up groggy Saturday morning and quickly pulled an outfit together that consisted of a T-shirt, a long statement necklace, these chinos, and my new Toms. I basically looked like the lovechild of a hippy and a hobo. I quickly realized how ridiculous I looked as the coffee kicked in, and you'll never see those photos.
For round two, I decided to mix the feminine with these somewhat boyish pants. I'm much happier with the result! In hindsight, I might lose the necklace, but you can't win them all, right?

How would you style these pants? Leave me comments and links to photo suggestions if you feel like being REALLY helpful. :) I'm new to the world of rust colored pants, so I need your advice. Thank you in advance!

Today I've linked up with Confident Twosday! Check it out. :)