Strawberry Jam | Picnic Pretties Mood Board

Welcome to the second installment of my mood board inspiration series! For summer, I have been feeling the breezy, Americana, kitschy, vintage vibes of picnics and cookouts. All those slow and simple days in summer when all you need is good company, cold drinks, and the snack of your choice. Whether your lounging on a blanket, grilling in your backyard, or breaking for lunch during a road trip, it always feels like stepping back into your childhood when summer was endless and nothing could touch you.

I was inspired by Kristina's recent post about being a pin-up on a budget to go full on kitchy retro for this look. There was no holding back with this first picnic look! I started with these strawberry print dresses for me and my best girl and I actually made mine myself! I used the Lilou dress pattern from the book Love at First Stitch. As it was my first attempt at making a dress, I followed the author's recommendation and made a "working toile" which is a wearable test garment. The fabric was sourced from thrifted bedding and it took all the pressure off making mistakes. There are definite adjustments to be made the next time and steps where I certainly need to refine my skills, but that's the benefit of it being a test garment. For now I'm immensely proud of making a dress that is actually wearable!

I went a little nutso adding red, retro accessories because on this day I wanted to be the picture of a picnic pin-up and I loved it! My favorite bit is the strawberry jam brooch from Erstwilder. It's just right for topping off a strawberry print dress and actually prompted our food choices for the evening. I've always thought picnics needed specially prepared food like some kind of six course meal on a blanket. But, all we packed was bread, sausage, cheese, and some fancy jam. As a mom, it was so relaxing not having to dish and serve and force children to sit with plates. We just sliced and spread as we pleased and everyone had fun building different sandwiches from the simple ingredients. I have got to say...goat cheese and jam sandwiches...divine. Why is it that the simple things in life leave the sweetest imprint?

Let me know in the comments what your favorite summer time foods are!

Dress: Made by Me (Dress Pattern Here) | Belt: Target (similar, similar in plus) | Shoes: Thrifted (similar) | Headscarf: Thrifted (similar) | Brooch: Erstwilder | Lips: Anastasia Beverly Hills in Spicy

My Littlest Sister | Inspired

Everyone meet my littlest sister!

Having sisters is probably the best part of coming from a big family. I have a natural girl squad no matter where I go in life and we're fiercely loving, loyal, and protective of each other as sisters should be. I'm sure no one else can love us the way we love each other, with spectacular admiration that isn't blind to fault. We don't worship each other, we see each other. My sisters can tell me I need to tone down the crazy when I need to hear it because my sisters aren't surprised or put-off by it. They're quite aware of it and have been their whole lives and they still love and support me for exactly who I am and not who they want me to be. That kind of support gives sisters an exclusive ability to strengthen and enhance each other.

Each one of my sister has left a unique imprint on me. Not only are they very different people, but each plays a role in my life that is singular and distinctive and yet both can only be defined by sister. Tricia, who you can read about in this post here, was always my built in buddy. She was my best friend from birth and I knew I would never be alone in this world because Tricia was always there. But, Sam was an entirely unique experience for me. We're eight years apart in age and when she came into this world, she wasn't another pal for me, but my own special little baby. I took to caring for her like she was my own child and a part of me will always see her as the sunny faced, chubby baby that was my whole world.

I had a first row seat to watch her grow into the person she is today and I got to feel a tiny smidge of what motherhood has to offer. All I could do is watch as this itty bitty thing gained independence and suddenly decided it wanted it's own life with no regard to it's well being or safety. I suddenly needed to learn how to stand back and watch this little baby careen off into disaster and the value of being there when I was needed without trying to assert control. That's tough, yo! It's a real good thing she had an actual mother and I was just playing understudy. Just sayin'

The truth is that kids know all along who they need to be and what they need to do. We can hand them a blueprint and "say do this," but that's our plan built on the life experience that carved us into maturity. My little sister never would have developed into the adventurous, smart, sensitive woman she is today if she hadn't been able to learn those things about herself the hard way. 

Even though I want to hand it all to her, the self-worth and confidence to feel good about the person she is, the knowledge that hardship passes, the comfort in knowing one's place in the world, I know it just doesn't work that way. I also know that I can trust her. She's an independent little stinker who knows how to work hard and take care of herself. Sam is truly capable of knowing her limits and asserting her needs and not everyone can do that. I have such admiration for her ability to be her best advocate and I'm comforted in knowing how well that will serve her in life.

In the meantime, I will always be there whenever she needs an extra push or a soft landing. I might not always know which to offer, but it's only because I'm still learning, too.

Sunburst | Shaped by Style

I'm over at Shaped by Style with my second crack at the dress that changed my life forever because it's fantastic and it ruined me for every other dress in the world. Phew. Go check it out!

Two-Toned | Outfit

Hello from the house that illness is determined to destroy! My husband brought home a bug that did an angry little tap dance on our family this week. There were fevers, chills, sore throats, and stomach aches galore! We're all on the mend now and getting back to normal so we actually managed to get some photos taken, yesterday.

My outfit was inspired by two things. I'm taking part in Kristina's lipstick challenge (follow along on Instagram with #eolipstickchallenge) and the rules are to wear a different lipstick every day until you're through your whole collection. I have several dark and moody colors that don't suit my summer vibes very well and I wanted to challenge myself to make the darkest shade I own work. I came up with this two-toned look based on my marvelous and magnificent new shoes (they're worth the redundancy). They combine two contrasting neutral shades in a striking way and between the patent leather taupe and textured black I'm simply a goner.

The totally neutral base of this outfit allowed me to layer on the dark lipstick with ease. Both the sweetness of the sweater, with it's textured knit and peter pan collar, and the white color close to my face lightens the drama of the lipstick despite the predominant color of this outfit being black. The blush colored belt is another player in the game of girly tug-of-war going on here, as well. It plays in the same color family of the lipstick but at the same time punctuates the softer elements of the whole outfit. 

I'm a little verklempt at the overall affect here. Like, I want to give it a gold star and pat it on it's head. "Look at you outfit...being all classy. I'm so proud of you!"

I'm curious. If you had to wear your whole collection of lipstick, how long would it take you?

Sweater: Thrifted (similar in straight sizes, similar in plus) | Skirt: Target (similar) | Belt: Target (similar in plus) | Shoes: Macy's | Lips: Colourpop Ultra Matte Liquid Lipstick in Tulle

Floral Romper | Outfit

Happy Friday, everyone! I'm glad to see this week end because it was not the easiest one. Hopefully, I will come out of this weekend with renewed vigor that allows me to tackle everything I need to do with zest. Fingers crossed! I'm definitely exited about these pictures though. It took some schedule juggling to get the lighting and the setting right but I knew I had to capture this romper next to the puffy, purple flowers that are everywhere right now. It was totally worth the photographic evidence of my run in with a gigantic bumble bee that now exists.

This little treasure was my second Forever21+ purchase last Friday. It was the only one in the store and I know it was just waiting there for me. Sometimes we believe certain clothing items don't suit or flatter our bodies and for the longest time I believed this of rompers. But, I've come to discover that even if the majority of a certain syle doesn't suit you, there are a few out there that are cut just for your body. I've found a small collection of rompers that I love, yet none of them can compete with this one. Besides the lovely print and the sweetheart neckline, which is always a favorite of mine, I discovered something entirely new with this romper. The way the long seams in the front cut the waist in and the way the shorts flare out and float away from my bottom half complements my shape wonderfully. If you're a pear-shaped person seeking friendship with a nice romper, I highly recommend this cut.

Romper: Forever21 (similar, similar in straight sizes, similar, similar in plus) | Shoes: Torrid (similar) | Lips: Anastasia of Beverly Hills in Pure Hollywood