Joy the Store
Loving the simple pieces from new-to-me UK shop, Joy the Store. Unique, stylish and won't completely break the bank!
Loving the simple pieces from new-to-me UK shop, Joy the Store. Unique, stylish and won't completely break the bank!
Life's a Beach
Heidi Klein beach bikini, 63 GBP
Seafolly bandeau bikini, $76
Seafolly swimwear, $66
Marc by Marc jacob, $38
Volcom underwire bikini, $46
Volcom scrunch bikini, $38
Old navy swimwear, $28
H m, 6.99 GBP
Madewell flip flop shoes, $55
Forever21 platform shoes, $5.80
Big Buddha straw tote, $53
J Crew straw beach tote, $50
Kurt Geiger sparkle sunglass, 45 GBP
Retro sunglass, $89
COLLECTION XIIX floppy straw hat, $28
Tasha Polka Dot Wire Headband, $28
Fedora hat, $13
Seafolly bandeau bikini, $76
Seafolly swimwear, $66
Marc by Marc jacob, $38
Volcom underwire bikini, $46
Volcom scrunch bikini, $38
Old navy swimwear, $28
H m, 6.99 GBP
Madewell flip flop shoes, $55
Forever21 platform shoes, $5.80
Big Buddha straw tote, $53
J Crew straw beach tote, $50
Kurt Geiger sparkle sunglass, 45 GBP
Retro sunglass, $89
COLLECTION XIIX floppy straw hat, $28
Tasha Polka Dot Wire Headband, $28
Fedora hat, $13
It's official. I'm still pretending I'm on vacation, at the beach, soaking up the glorious Florida sun. I can't shake it. With summer temps here again yesterday it just felt like an extension of vacation. I'm practically refusing to let it sink in that vacation is over!
So since I still think I can just hop over to the private beach full of sea creatures, I wanted to share with you my favorite finds for a trip to the beach - all under $100.
Weekend/Vacation/Birthday Recap
Today it's back to the ole' routine - vacation is over, my birthday is over and the long weekend is too. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't bummed, but time marches on. These past several days have been incredible, to say the least. Some highlights of vacation include ::
- Delicious food every single meal
- The most perfect of views from the balcony at the condo
- The most incredible sunshine/beach/water you could ask for
- So much marine life - we seriously saw a shark right in front of us! Not to mention dolphins, seals, a giant sea turtle and various other things
- Many delicious tropical beverages
- Perfect sunsets every night
- The best travel buddies you could think of
My birthday was pretty terrific too. It was low-key, such a nice way to celebrate turning 28. I had some stuffed french toast made by my wonderful husband, followed by mimosas, mini golf with great friends, a great dinner out and we ended the night hanging out with some soon-to-be-married friends who are in town for their big wedding this Saturday! Hoorah!
28
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Today I turn 28. Which means, I survived the curse of the 27s! I enjoyed being 27 and wasn't really looking forward to turning 28, but the time has come.
We went to Florida this weekend for a sunny vacation on the beach. It was absolutely perfect - so relaxing and enjoyable. We met my husband's sister and her boyfriend there and stayed in their grandma's condo in Clearwater. We had this incredible balcony to sit on with a view to die for. Every night, the sun set directly in front of us. Every day we could see things in the ocean to get excited about from our view. I can't get over how awesome it was! The first day we sat at the beach, I kid you not, a shark swam up right in front of us. A man was jogging along the beach and stopped to stare; he said he had only seen one other shark in Clearwater in all the 20 years he's been coming there. It was a small brown shark, but still, IT WAS A SHARK! We also saw several dolphins (two up close while on a boat excursion), a SEA TURTLE and a group of seals swimming! It was glorious.
This past year has been incredible. Since my awesome birthday picnic last year, I've gotten married, honeymooned in Italy and now we've bought a house. What a big year! I'm hoping that this next year will only be better.
I hope you're all having a wonderful Memorial day/holiday weekend.
Farmer's Market with Maggie / Have a Wonderful Weekend!
Just some images of the Evanston Farmer's Market to end your week with. I love these pictures - the jars, the herbs, the flowers? I go nuts.
Have a wonderful, sunny and warm weekend! I'll be back Monday to say hi and how happy I am that everyone gets the day off for my birthday. Regular programming shall return on Tuesday.
Gardening with Maggie
The ferns are a whole wall of green. They're huge and abundant. What's really cool about their backyard garden is how true they keep it to the climate we're in. Everything they choose is native to the area and they let them go by their own cycle. If they die they die, if they live and come back next season it's a bonus.
Aside from planting a garden in their backyard, they also have ~ 12 x 8 feet of space in the Evanston community garden. Here you can see shallots sprouting up. While things to tend to take a little longer to sprout up in these parts, this space is direct sun and does yield a lot of produce with the right amount of work. Last year, the abundance of produce they grew from their double plot was enough to feed them for months as well as friends. So instead of wasting great produce, she sold it to local cafes!
I don't know about you, but these photos have me itching to use my green thumb!
* All images by Maggie Faircloth Gresham
Terrariums
Today I have someone very exciting to introduce to you - my sweet friend Maggie! Mags is pretty awesome. She takes amazing photographs, cooks, gardens, listens to great music and she's super funny (not to mention plenty of other things). Being the generous person she is, she is sharing amazing images with us while I'm off enjoying my pre-birthday vacation. Oh yeah, did I mention I was going on vacation? I'm heading to Florida today for a 4-day stint in Clearwater. We're taking advantage of family property with my sister-in-law and her boyfriend and it's going to be awesome. Then we come back and boom, it's my birthday on Monday! Okay, back to the point of the post...
How amazing are these terrariums? With inspiration from Chicago (and Brooklyn) store Sprout Home, Maggie started creating little worlds throughout her home in glass jars. Living in Chicago can be tough on plants if you aren't lucky enough to have direct sunlight - so the first round of experimentation didn't go so well. So instead of starting over completely with the real things, she took to the non-living. Above, you can see terrariums full of bird feathers, rocks and pebbles, a bee hive, books, skulls.
"I just wanted to try and take back control over these worlds that you get to create. It's almost like photographing, where you get to frame things yourself. That's what I do when I photograph, you frame stuff and it becomes this whole other world."
So awesome. Thanks for sharing these, Maggie! There will be more Maggie awesomeness tomorrow and Thursday. Be sure to look out for garden + farmers market posts!
* All images by Maggie Faircloth Gresham
Saddle Up
Ever since I was a kid, I've been into horseshoes. Mainly for reasons relating to my Papa Honey (that's seriously what we called my grandpa) and also really because they're just cool. Everything about these designs has me a little weak in the knees, especially the clever use of horseshoes in the wedding photos. Oh and the stationary. Man, I love the stationary.
And these women really know how to rock the hat, don't you think? Do you sport the cowboy look ever? All of my bridesmaids wore cowboy boots to our wedding and I loved it.
* Images
One, Two, Three, Four
One, Two
One, Two, Three
Enlightened!
Hope the weather is nice where you are!
Images via here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here
* This is the post that Blogger deleted during the bloggercompletebreakdown. Just thought it might brighten up your Monday afternoon/evening - get it? Har har.
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