Under the Sea

chambray dress, white Converse

When: Friday // Weather: mid 80s // Real life: North Carolina aquarium

chambray dress, white Converse

chambray dress, white Converse

chambray dress, white Converse

chambray dress, white Converse

chambray dress, white Converse

similar Dress // Shoes* // Ring* (on sale) // similar Bag // similar Sunglasses // similar Earrings // similar Headband

This is one of those outfits I hope looks better in action than it does in photos. But even if it doesn’t look that great…what do I care? It’s a beach outfit. At the beach, my standards are decidedly relaxed. A fancier blogger would make more of an effort, but this is pretty much the most effort I make at the beach. I mean, I’m wearing a dress, shoes, and lipstick. What more do you want from me? I left my tiara at home.

You might have noticed by my bright red ankles, but I got a wee bit of a sunburn on Thursday. I’m like microwave popcorn…you might think you have everything under control, but leave me in the heat for 2 seconds too long and I’m burnt to a crisp and stinking up the whole house. That metaphor got a little out of control, but you get the point. So when the rest of my family was up for going to the aquarium on Friday, I was 100% on board. I hadn’t been there since I was a kid, so it was basically brand new to me. To distract you from my mediocre outfit, here are some photos of the animals I saw:

North Carolina aquarium

North Carolina aquarium

North Carolina aquarium

North Carolina aquarium

There were, of course, lots of fish, but it’s hard to get good photos of them in an aquarium. So instead, here’s a photo of the cool fish sculpture outside:

North Carolina aquarium

Sadly, vacation comes to an end today, and it’s back to the real world. But on the bright side, I’m going home to cooler temperatures that will be perfect for hiding my burnt popcorn thighs.

See more details of my vacation on Instagram (or just wait for the inevitable Insta-roundup).

*Shoes and ring purchased with gift card provided courtesy of Shopbop.

Save

Save

Save

Save

How to Save a Shirt

20120831-172308.jpg

20120831-172327.jpg

20120831-172353.jpg

20120831-172408.jpg

20120831-172420.jpgJust a simple and comfy outfit for a relatively quick trip to school! In case you didn’t notice, those are polka dot feathers on my shoes. Awesome, I know. But there’s a story behind this shirt. After I tell it, you will either think I’m a genius, or you’ll think I’m a hot mess. I like to think I’m an ingenious hot mess.

So I bought this shirt last year on clearance at a Theory outlet. I got it for around $20, which was probably a million dollars off. I think the fact that I got it for cheap made me forget the entire back panel is real silk (which is why it’s so lovely and drape-y and soft). I’m allergic to being domestic, so when my clothes are wrinkly, I just use Downy Wrinkle Releaser. I very rarely use an iron. Too much work.

Maybe you can see where this is going. This silk shirt was wrinkly, and my dumbass self sprayed this Downy crap all over it. After it dried, the silk was covered in little discolored splotches. Oops.

Never one to give up on a cute item of clothing, I devised a plan. You can’t see stains…if the whole shirt is stained. I filled a bowl with water and a little bit of the evil wrinkle releaser and soaked the shirt in there for a few minutes. Then I rinsed it off and let it dry. The shirt was a uniform color!! One trip to the dry cleaner later (to freshen it up), and it’s good as new. Success.