glad to be a florida girl

So, there are a lot of things I don't like about our current living situation, but on days like today, there's nowhere I'd rather be. The air is just heavy with the smell of orange blossoms, and I can walk my dog at night wearing just a t-shirt. I really appreciate this since last year at this time, it took a parka, 2 pairs of pants, gloves, scarf and hat just to take Lola on her last walk of the night.
Also, it is warm enough right now to wear the Jovovich-Hawk for Target dress that I broke down & bought.

It is the dress that's had my eye since preview pictures came out, but I kinda avoided checking out the collection when it first arrived--low funds still plague my bank account! I had to go to Target today and decided to swing by the clothing section. It was very well picked over- everything left was a size 13. But, stuck in a corner of Mossimo shirts was this arrow-print dress in size 5. What luck! I had to have it. It's a little big, but it looks good loose, the colors are adorable and I love the ruffles on the bottom.
Also at Target? Every pair of tights on clearance. Um, double score?!!! It was hard to stop myself from getting more than the 4 pairs I brought home.
I'm sorry to all who are still stuck in the snow & ice, but you can come visit whenever you want.

update: Oh man, I totally forgot about this! I had to return the dress, boo! Even with its supposed-to-be-loose look, it was just far too baggy up top. My little A's just weren't gonna cut it. I haven't found a suitable replacement at all.

faux-mertime*

Wait, what? What's that you say? It's October? Sorry, the 90+ degree weather, blazing sun and 100% humidity are throwing me off. So how do Florida girls satisfy the craving for new, yummy fall clothes without sweating to death? You just have to mix it in where you can. And ladies, please, try to accept the loss of your tan. It has taken me about 3 years to become comfortable in any skin other than warm olive-colored skin, but it is so much healthier to your skin (& wallet) to stay away from habitual tanning bed-ing. In these here parts, it seems an absolute must for girls under 35 to have a year-round tan, I don't know, to prove that we live in Florida. But, let it go. Your future skin will thank you, and a little bronzer can fix everything.

Anyway, to me nothing screams "fall" more than chunky knits, schoolgirl-inspired choices, and a color palate of grays/reds/blacks. I tend to wear a lot of black, smoke up my eyeshadow choices (this in choco-latte plus this in black coffee are my everyday favorites), and pray for that day sometime in December when I'll finally feel a crispness in the air. But, even though we might not be able to stand wearing knee-high boots yet, there are tons of shoes that give you that cool October feeling.

MICHAEL Michael Kors, $129 at Nordstrom



Steven, $129 at Nordstrom



Calvin Klein, $110 at Nordstrom

Although these dresses would look fabulous with opaque tights and the above mary-janes, they also work with bare legs for now:

$78 at Nordstrom

$56 at Nordstrom



$58 at Nordstrom

Yes, I have been pretty much living on the Nordstrom website for the last couple days. I am trying to justify buying $95 worth of beauty/fragrance to get their new gift-with-purchase. It's probably not going to happen; that's more than I spend on beauty in a few months put together. But shoes, shoes I can always justify!

* say it fast. it almost rhymes with summertime, right?

summer dressin'

I have been pretty, well, preoccupied as of late, trying to find a new job and coordinate a cross-country move with myself, that man I live with, and a little brown dog. This is a good preoccupation, and I am very excited, it just hasn't left me the time to transform this fledgling blog into the witty, glamorous, popular blog it otherwise would have been. Right.
I know there are a lot of bad things to be said about living in Florida, the constant throng of tourists being one of them. But you can pretend you're always on vacation (at least on weekends), hop over to the beach for a day, or sneak into a fancy hotel's swimming pool. And you don't ever have to worry about bundling up (except for those couple weeks in January when it dips into the dangerously low 50's). As I am planning my move back to the Sunshine State, I can't help but think of what I'm going to wear. Anthropologie has answered my question with a few new dresses (under $200) that I can't help but love.


Oh, how I love Tory Burch. Oh, how I hate high prices. This dress (they call it the Billie Tunic) echoes Tory but is more affordable. Whether you wear it over jeans or with bare legs and strappy sandals, this print is chic enough that your accessories can be simple.


The Topographic Dress just oozes summer comfort. After a day sunning by the pool (that you may or may not have snuck into), throw this dress on with some flats & a headwrap and look like a relaxed vacationer out for drinks.


The Berry Bowl dress by Anna Sui has such a beautiful color of red. You could literally do anything or go anywhere in this dress with the right accessorizing.


This perfect LWD is is on sale for only $60. Again, I love a dress that is so versatile. I'd get a lot of use out of this one.

Now if only I can convince myself to wait til next week, when I am actually inside an Anthropologie store.