10 Years

This past Saturday was my 10 year anniversary. I can't believe I've been married for 10 years, it's crazy! We celebrated by having dinner at an ocean side restaurant in NJ. It wasn't overly fancy or overly casual so I went with a dress that fit the atmosphere.

Dress: Loft Outlet (summer 2011)
Sweater: NY&Company (spring 2011)
Shoes: Bandolino (spring 2011)
Wristlet: Coach Factory Store (summer 2012)
Necklace: Charming Charlie (spring 2011)

Orange, White, and Blue

Another color combo that I love is orange and navy. I added the striped orange cardigan for a stripes on stripes look. I always bring a cardigan with me if I know we're headed to an indoor place during the summer because the cranked up AC makes me shiver! I also added some of my fun new orange accessories for an extra pop of color.Do you think orange and navy are a perfect combo?

Dress: Loft (summer 2012)
Cardigan: Loft (spring 2011)
Shoes: Kenneth Cole Reaction (summer 2012 still available and on sale!)
Bracelet & Ring: Sunshine Daydreams local jewelry shop 

Things I Love About Summer: Iced Drinks

I stopped at Wendy's today after Robert's swim class to get a skinny vanilla ice coffee and found out that small iced coffee at Wendy's is free for the month! That prompted me to create this post about my favorite summer iced drinks. This is something I really do love about the warm weather. I actually prefer iced coffee to hot coffee and usually switch over as soon as the temperature rises above 50 in the early spring. I've started making my own. I make a single cup in my keurig after my morning cup, stick it in the fridge until afternoon when I'm ready to have it, throw in some ice and my favorite flavored creamer and presto! It tastes as good as any store bought brand.
I DO however, still like my store brands of iced drinks as well. Here are 3 of my favorites:

Wendy's skinny vanilla iced coffee
(small is free this month!) 

Starbucks black tea lemonade 

Dunkin Donuts iced coffee in blueberry or french vanilla flavor

Cupcakes & Polka Dots

I picked up these green polka dot shorts at the Old Navy sale last week. I thought they were fun and super cute and first color that came to mind to pair them with was navy. I love navy and green together. This navy cardigan was perfect for when the weather cooled drastically down this past weekend. 

I headed down to my parent's house by the beach to for a visit and picked up some adorable new accessories at a local shop. I also picked up a delicious cupcake and thought I would add the picture.. for anyone who appreciates sweets as much as I do :) 

Tank: Loft Outlet (recent)

Cardigan: Old Navy (spring 2010)

Shorts: Old Navy (recent)

Shoes: Bandolino (a few years ago)

S'mores cupcake.. Yummy! 

Typical

Today is one of those days that you either have to be at the beach, in a pool, or inside with the AC on. We have the AC/pool plan going on today. First with errands that have to be run, in places like the supermarket where it's always cold. That's why I'm wearing a sweater on a 95 degree day. Then we'll go home and go in the pool. And then probably back inside the with the AC. And this is pretty much a typical summer mid-week day for us. And a typical mid-week summer outfit for me!

Shirt: Target (several years ago)
Cardigan: Loft (summer 2011)
Shorts: Loft Outlet (summer 2012)
Shoes: Kenneth Cole Reaction Flower Gem (Summer 2010)
Jewels: Sunshine Daydreams local jewelry shop

Green and White Stripes

There is something about stripes and summer. Well stripes are great any time of year, but I especially love to wear them in the summer. This green and white dress is another Old Navy sale item I picked up last week and I wore it out to brunch on Friday.

I'm happy to report that Thursday's pedicure with R went just fine. He helped me pick my color, sat and played his electronic game, and the ladies loved him!

Dress: Old Navy (recent)
Sweater: Loft Outlet (recent)
Shoes: Kenneth Cole Reaction Flower Gem (2 years ago) 

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Plaid Shorts

I know I said I was done shopping for myself this summer, but when I headed to Old Navy to pick up a birthday gift, I couldn't resist the cute printed shorts. The 40% stuff and save sale made it all the more enticing and I left with these shorts, a green polka dot pair, and a green and white striped dress. Never the selfish shopper, I also picked up a another bathing suit, pair of shorts, and shirt for Robert, 2 t-shirts for hubby, and 2 baby outfits for the birthday gift. I left spending only $85 which I couldn't believe, considering all the stuff I bought!

Today we are heading to a library story craft and then I am going to attempt the nail salon for a pedicure... with Robert. I tried this once a year ago and it.. didn't go so well. I'm hoping being a year older will help. And I'm not past bribery. Wish me luck!

Tank: Gap Outlet (old)
Shorts: Old Navy (summer 2012)
Belt: NY&Company (spring 2011)
Shoes: Bandolino (via Macy's summer 2011)
Bag: Kenneth Cole Reaction
Necklace: Charming Charlie (spring 2011)

Shades of Blue and Red

The heatwave has broken in the northeast which means I finally felt like attempting to style my hair and put on a pair of flats because I didn't have to worry about my toes sweating. Actually, I had white sandals on at first and then felt like I needed a little punch of color so threw on the red flats. I'm not a huge fan of wearing closed toed shoes in the middle of the summer, only because I have to wear closed toed shoes the majority of the year here in NJ, but I figured I would step outside of my comfort zone.. flats in the summer, wow I am really living on the edge :)
You can't really see in this picture but the tank top has these cute metallic details on the shoulder which makes it a little more interesting then your plain tank.

Tank: Loft Outlet (last summer, but they had the same tank in other colors, I picked another one up in a bright pink shade last week)
Shorts: Loft (last summer, but they had a similar style in the Outlet also)
Shoes: Gap Outlet (spring 2010)
Necklace: local jewelry shop Sunshine Daydreams 
Bracelet: local jewelry shop Sunshine Daydreams 

Another Day Another Dress

One of the things I love about summer is getting to throw on a sundress and look a little more sophisticated even if you're just running errands or heading out to a quick dinner. As a bonus you don't have to worry about tights and boots and all the other cold weather accessories that go along with wearing a dress in the fall/winter. Of course there is that little annoyance of having to shave your legs all-the-time... :)

Dress: Loft (summer 2012) Still available on-line
Shoes: Kenneth Cole Reaction (2 years ago) 
Sweater (that I'm holding not wearing): Old Navy (a couple of years ago) 

Blog Awards

Thanks to M @ Cardigans and Cupcakes for awarding me with 2 blog awards. My first ever blog awards, how exciting! M is a fellow New Jersey teacher and I love her style! It's always great to find stylish teachers to get more inspiration!

 

Here are some blogs that I think are "lovely"!

Once you get awarded this award follow these steps:

1) Link back to the person who gave you the award.
2) Follow the person who gave you the award.
3) Pass the award on to 15 new bloggers!

A Working Mom's Closet  Check out Melissa, she has great style and is an adorable person!

Casual Chic Mom I just started following this blog. Cute outfits and a fellow Loft shopper

Dressed up Mom Another stylish mom

Economy of Style  Great blog great outfits

Me, Myself, and Style  Love Kish and her blog!

Moms Have Style Too  Great style and a sense of humor about motherhood.

This Life Redefined  Another lovely blog

From the Mixed Up Files  Always very put together 

Amy Fashion Blog Amy always looks adorable!

It's My Cardi Stylish and great sense of humor

OK I only have 10 and they aren't all new, but all still great! 

Things I Love About Summer: Beach Bags

Vera Bradley Very Berry Paisley Large Resort Tote
Although I have this bag, this is not mine pictured. I found this image on Ebay. 

I thought it would be fun to start a weekly post about some of the things that I love the most about each particular season, be it a style item or something that is simply "fun". Of course it's summer and we are in the middle of a massive heat wave so I'm going to start with a fun beach/pool item.

Everyone loves a beach bag.  I got this Vera Bradley beach tote as a Mother's Day gift from my sister and I think it's great! I love the bright colors and that it's vinyl which allows for easy clean up of sand and water. So far we've used it for beach outings, picnics, and R's weekly swim lesson.

The Color of Summer

Tank: Loft (last summer)
Shorts: Gap Outlet (last summer)
Shoes: Old Navy flip flops (old) 

Hope everyone had a great 4th! I love this orange tank from Loft that I picked up last summer. It's a fun looking shirt. I have had a little trouble wearing/styling it as it's a tad voluminous due to all the tiers of fabric that overlap. But I still always find myself pulling it out because I love the color and the white dot print. Orange is really my color of summer. I have a lot of stuff in various shades!

Oh and it's obviously little R's color too so it's fitting he jumped into the picture with me. We went outlet shopping yesterday and for anyone with little kids, try to hit up your Gymboree outlet. They were having a great sale and I picked up about 7 shirts and 2 pairs of shorts for R for only $35. I also picked up 2 pairs of shorts, 3 tanks, and a shrug sweater at the Loft outlet for only $60! We are getting ready for our trip to FL in August and I figured I would stock up on the warm weather clothes with all the good sales going on. I think this might be it for me shopping wise for a while. I have a ton of sundresses, enough shorts and tanks, and 3 bathing suits for our trip. The only thing I do NEED is a pair of comfortable walking type sandals for Disney World. Other than that, it's time for me to cool it with the shopping. Let's see how long I can last :)

Plain Dress Bright Shoes

This dress is so comfortable and casual and I have to admit that whenever I wear it I kind of feel like I'm in my nightgown. So I try to fancy it up a bit by wearing bright shoes or accessories. Such as these bright orange shoes I just picked up during a half off sale on the Kenneth Cole web site. These are definitely a lot more neon than I'm used to, but they will spice up a neutral color palate.

Dress: Loft Outlet (a couple of summer's ago)
Shoes: Kenneth Cole Reaction What a Square Sandal still available here
Bracelet: Gift