outfitted:: white and breezy

This gorgeous dress has been hanging in my closet for two summers now and this is the first time I've worn it. Not because I don't love it, but because I often find it not-quite-appropriate for whatever event I may have considered wearing.

But last Saturday was Mr. DU's birthday and we had reservations at Checkers downtown, and I figured that was as good as an occasion as any to rip off the tags. And so, I did.




{What I'm Wearing}:: Dress, Banana Republic; Espadrilles, Seychelles (circa, 2008); Jewelry, Sun Sugar Studio

PS - Sorry for going MIA last week. I've been a little busy with work and I was also enjoying my last week before the new semester starts. I can't promise I'll be posting every day, but I will try to get at least a few posts a week. I did buy a new laptop, which I'm hoping will help motivate me. I'd much rather veg out on my couch with a laptop in the evening rather than sitting at my desk at home for another few hours after sitting at a desk at work all day.

goodbye irene

Many of my favorite beach towns were hit this weekend by Hurricane Irene (we also got hit where I live, but not very badly). Thankfully, the damage wasn't nearly as bad as expected in the coastal areas in New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland.

We got ready for Irene by cleaning out our basement, which normally floods with the slightest drizzle, and waited out the storm with beer, food, and Wii. This morning, our basement is completely dry. I credit this to the fact that we cleaned it out. Had we not bothered with that, we'd have gotten a foot of water. Murphy's Law and all that. 

I hope everyone in the path of the storm stayed/stays safe and dry.


Yes, that is pumpkin ale you see. I was probably a little more excited than I should have been to see that at the beer distributor yesterday.

outfitted:: casual saturday

Quick outfit post today. And for once, it's actually what I'm wearing today (at least for the morning/afternoon). Today is Mr. DU's birthday and we're heading to one of our favorite restaurants tonight where ratty, cutoff jean shorts are not appropriate attire.

But this morning, we just grabbed a quick breakfast at a local cafe, so really all I needed to be was semi-presentable. I think I succeeded, no?

Happy weekend!


{What I'm Wearing}:: denim shorts, Forever21 from last year, I think; t-shirt: j.crew outlet; hoodie, alternative apparel (bought from local shop tellus360); shoes and bracelet, target; sunglasses, lc lauren conrad

outfitted:: red, olive, and butterflies

 I got beat up at the beach last week. No, not in a bar fight or anything that could have resulted in jail time. No, no. I got beat up by the ocean. Specifically, by a really big wave. And while I was crouching under the water trying to pull up my swimsuit bottoms, which I nearly lost in my fight with said wave, another wave pummeled me and tried to steal my swimsuit top.  It's a good thing my embarrassment threshold is fairly high, otherwise I may have run right off the beach crying in humiliation. After I pulled up my bottoms and re-situated my top, of course.   {Shop}:: red cropped jeans, lc by lauren conrad at kohl's; top: o'neill from a surf shop at the beach; cardigan: j.crew outlet; shoes: dolce vita for target; necklace: j.crew outlet; bracelets: madewell and j.crew outlet  PS- I'm participating in the Color Brigade with this outfit. Color Brigade is hosted by Kileen of Cute and Little. Visit her blog to check out the other entries.  PPS- Excuse my slowness on the uptake with getting back into the blogging groove. My sunbleached brain is still halfway in vacation mode and I have to use the precious non-vacation brain moments at the day job.

more beach time (and another mobile blog)

Okay, let me try this again. Hopefully, the images won't pixelate this time and if they do, well, I'll just give up on mobile blogging.

So anyway. Last week I spent most of the week in Dewey Beach, DE on a girls only vacation. Let me tell you, I love Mr. DU but there is something about a girls only getaway that us good for the soul. I highly recommend it!

Here are a few pics from the trip:
Beach time:



Relaxing at restaurants on the bay:














Lots of eating and drinking:









A random dragon raft:



And the bagel pizzas we made at 3 a.m. when we couldn't find an open pizza place:

beach time and mobile blogging

I'm posting this from my phone between beach trips. This past weekend, Mr. DU and I headed to Atlantic City and Ocean City, NJ for my birthday. I'm back in PA for two days and then I'm off to Dewey Beach in Delaware with my best friend. I am so looking forward to a girls only vacation! And in the meantime, here are some pictures from this past weekend.

The beach:





The boardwalk:






Caesar's Palace:



And Mack & Manco's!

PS- I just edited this on my computer because the pictures posted from my phone were pixelated. Boo.

outfitted:: cropped, slouchy, and time to celebrate

As you read this, I am en route to the beach (or quite possibly, on the beach). Today is my birthday and I'm a firm believer that birthdays should be celebrated at the beach. With a mojito in one hand and a mojito in the other. Oh. Whatever, I like mojitos. And they are perfect for celebrating things like final project for grad school class completed, second week at new job survived, and of course, a shiny new year. And as you probably guessed, I didn't wear this outfit today. I'm probably wearing something more like this. But I did wear this little getup to work earlier this week, and I have to say, I was pretty thrilled that that leopard print belt, which used to barely fit my waist when I belted a cardigan now sits quite comfortably on my hip bones. Finally, all of this working out is paying off! It's a good thing, too, because my little beach trip also requires wearing a swimsuit.

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{Shop}:: cropped pants: the limited, super old; top: thrifted; shoes: loft, super old; necklace: forever21, super old; bracelets: j.crew, last season, sun sugar studio

bloggers do it better:: arm party

My week has been crazy busy, but I'm taking a minute to have an arm party here to celebrate Pretty Shiny Sparkly's Bloggers Do it Better August Challenge. The theme is (duh) arm parties. In case your invitation got lost in the mail (or in translation), let me explained: An arm party is a phrase coined by Man Repeller to describe tons of bracelets of assorted styles stacked on one (or both) arms. Consider this your official invite to rock on with your very own arm party.


This arm party is my standing weekend date. It's perfect for throwing on with most casual weekend clothes, and it has a perfectly beachy vibe. Most of these bracelets are at least from last summer (except the big sparkly purple one, which I picked up at Target this past weekend). 


This one's a mini arm party; a small gathering at home rather than a full-on rager. But I love these two bracelets together and have been known to wear them a lot. Bracelet on the left is my own design from Sun Sugar Studio, bracelet on the right is from J. Crew last year.