Summer Dressing

Sometimes in the summer it just just so hot, you just can't be bothered to do anything too fussy. After getting way too much sun my first day of "vacation", everyone just needed to be thankful that I got dressed at all!

My family has lived on the lake for over 15 years, but we've always spent summers there (since my mom was a little girl)! I love getting away from everything for a few days- no internet, unpredictable cell service- and just relaxing in the lake, on the boat, or from the screened-in front porch. It reminds me of a simpler time in my life, you know?

Striped Hi-Lo Dress- Cato's, not available online (similar, similar,similar)
Bronze Wedge Sandals-???? (similar, similar)

This dress is trendy in so many ways. Cool hi-lo hem? Check. Colorful stripes? Check. Light and airy and not rubbing against any of my painfully sunburned parts? Check! If you are lucky enough to have a Cato's nearby, they've got lots of awesome dresses in right now!

I'm home right now because I had to go to a training meeting last night, but as soon as I publish this post, I'm headed back up to that little piece of laid-back, summertime heaven, and scenes similar to these below will be waiting for me when I get there! Hope you are having a great Wednesday :)

Fit to be Tie- Dyed

I love wearing super bright colors in the summertime, and this NY Collection dress borrowed from Gwynnie Bee this week was a dream come true. I was a little uncertain at first, so I tried it on and showed my toughest critic, my five-year-old son Sean. He looked up from his video game, and said (mostly sincerely, I think), "You look great, duh!" That decided, we went out to lunch!

This dress was super light and airy, perfect for hot summer days. It's the first time I've worn a hankerchief hem, but I liked the flowy, twirly effect it provided. This reminded me of the tie-dye shirts we used to make in the summers of my youth. Super bright, super saturated, super swirly- I'm clearly super smitten!

NY Collection Dress: c/o Gwynnie Bee

I'll be honest, I usually send my Gwynnie Bee dresses back after one wear, so I can get my hands on something else, but I'm keeping this one to wear a couple more times!

After my most recent complaint about "chub-rub", the ladies at Bandelettes offered to send me a sample of their inner thigh guards to try out and review for you- my fellow chafing sufferers. The idea is simple. Imagine wearing the upper band of a pair of thigh highs- keeps your thighs from rubbing together, right? Well, that's what Bandelettes are, except better!

I hate wearing thigh highs because they are constantly rolling down.However, Bandelettes are about twice the size of the band on traditional thigh highs and have a double-row of stay-put silicone. I wore them all day in the southern heat and humidity, and they didn't budge! In fact, I totally forgot about them completely. The only thing I missed was the stomach smoothing capabilities of my Spanx or bike shorts. However, when it's 90 degrees or hotter outside, it was wonderful to not feel suffocated with heavy Lycra.

The price point of $14.99 is very reasonable as well. I got the nude pair for review, and I will definitely be buying a few more pairs to keep in rotation. I pretty much live in dresses and skirts, so this is perfect for me. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Disclaimer: The Bandelettes were provided free of charge for review. However, all opinions are mine.

7 X 7: 7 Pieces, 7 Ways

I don't usually participate in link-ups but I adore Audrey from Putting Me Together so much- I just couldn't resist. I am a total failure at "remixing" my outfits, so this was a perfect opportunity to practice my skills. And I am going on a little vacation at the end of this week. Packing done!

The idea is simple- pick seven pieces from your wardrobe (including shoes) and create seven outfits. Audrey truly is the queen of this, so I followed her "formula" closely, picking three tops, three bottoms and one pair of sandals. Here are the seven pieces I picked!

My pieces include:

1 Black Maxi Dress from Old Navy (Similar)
1 Slouchy Top in a Bright Color from Old Navy (Exact)
1 Brightly Colored, Lightweight Cardigan from Lane Bryant (Similar)
1 Funky Printed Tank Top from Forever 21 (Exact)
1 Pair of Neutral Wedges from Kohl's (Similar)
1 Pair of Cut-Off Shorts from Old Navy (Exact)
1 Pair of White Pants from Old Navy (Exact)

Here are the outfits I created by mixing and matching my pieces.

Outfit # 1

Funky and bright was the intention of most of my seven outfits. I flipped for this elephant tank from Forever 21, and I know it will be well-worn this summer. I paired it with simple cut-offs and a light-weight cardigan. Even though I live in the South, cardigans are still a summertime necessity thanks to super-powered A/C in the car, the house, the theater, the restaurant, etc.,etc.

Outfit # 2

I replaced the tank and cardigan with an oversized, slouchy orange top for this outfit. I am in love with the color orange for this summer, so this top was a no brainer! I am wearing a tried and true pair of neutral wedges with all of these outfits. This is great for packing because I am usually the gal who packs more shoes than clothes!

Outfit # 3

I love how the turquoise in the sweater and the mosaic colors in the tank pop against these great white pants. I don't get a lot of wear out of pants in the summer months, but these can easily be interchanged for my white shorts!

Outfit # 4

I think this was my favorite of the bunch. Instead of picking a maxi skirt as one of my pieces, I chose this dress. The dress is an outfit all it's on, and it can count as a bottom when layered with my tops- like this off-the-shoulder one!

Outfit # 5

Or maybe this one is my favorite... I really can't get over this tank top! I could also take off the cardigan if I was somewhere that was super hot.

Outfit # 6

I didn't pair jewelry with any of these outfits, because later I want to do a post talking about how easily you can use jewelry and accessories to dress up or dress down an outfit! Stay tuned :)

Outfit # 7

Wondering why this outfit is inside while all the rest were taken outside? Well, I am an English teacher! I thought I had already taken 7 outfit photos until I started putting this post together late Tuesday night... then I realized, I am an idiot and scrambled to take another one! Yep.