Stars & Stripes

Can you tell I love stripes? And they were quite appropriate during MDW. I was in a patriotic mood and channeled my inner patriot donning this shirt last weekend as we went to brunch, explored DC's Capitol Hill Flea Market and soaked in the wisdom of our nation's heroes at their memorials. 

shirt: madewell, jeans: american eagle, sunglasses: forever21 *ended up buying those bracelets. 

local market-fresh strawberries

watch: michael kors, bag: zara

y makes a cameo in an OOTD post

with the great MLK

Friday Favorites

I thought my 4-day work week was going to be fairly "easy peasy" but boy was I wrong. With several scheduled meetings and the expected unexpected and "end of the school year" chaos, I am exhausted. But somehow I was still able to squeeze in time to run (in preparation for a 5k this weekend) and these late night runs with Y have been what have gotten me through. 

I hope you all have a great weekend. I'm definitely looking forward to mine. 

i know i recently blogged about my bullet journal being a favorite. but meet one of my other journals: my thanksgiving journal

my current favorite pair of earrings: one of my chelseamarket finds 

lemons: a staple. in pasta, salad, dressing, juice, water. 

a quiet moment after work at a favorite cafe. a yummy veggie sandwich & hazelnut coffee are good companions for a work session. 

and last but not least. a favorite moment of the week. meet my brother, tim. he has the fabulous ability of always making me laugh.

it was a humid and uncharacteristically hot may evening. with no central air and our AC units not yet installed, my brother thought it would cool us down by putting on face masks. half way through putting on the face mask, he told me the one i had chosen was making his face feel warmer (origins clear improvement) so i swapped it to queen helene mint julep masque (hence his appearance). then i proceeded to choose yet another mask for myself (i admit, i love me a good face mask) mine, being aesop's parsley seed masque [review to come]. turns out aesop's masque was the most cooling. oops. sorry, brother. 

Stripes Galore

Today I bring you another OOTD, this one from our anniversary dinner. My dear husband snapped a few pictures before we headed out for a delicious sushi/sashimi dinner. 

dress: madewell (similar here), cardigan: borrowed, belt: thrifted, bag: zara, shoes: target 

The orange belt adds a bit of interest to a relatively simple dress. I love that this dress is versatile. I have dressed it up and worn it to a school function with a tailored blazer. I have dressed it down with flip-flops. And this night, I mixed patterns by pairing it with a pair of comfy leopard-print smoking loafers. 

My favorite part of the dress? The pockets!

Sailboats & a panama hat

A belated OOTD from my weekend in NYC. It was a relatively warm day but I was glad for the extra layer because the wind picked up midday. I love this anorak. It's the perfect color, shape and I love the gold details. (And it doesn't hurt that I found it at F21 for $30. A steal!) 

hat: a fleamarket find, shirt: target, jacket: forever21, jeans: gap, shoes: naturalizer, sunglasses: rayban, bag: burberry, watch: michael kors 

This outfit is comfortable and casual, perfect for a productive day of exploration in the city. 

bracelets: vintage and gifted, ring: H&M, nails: essie lights cupofjoe: joe's (haha) 

Insta-grace

This past weekend, Y and I drove down to Virginia to spend the weekend with his family. It was a weekend full of some of my most favorite things: family, food, flea market. 

On Saturday morning, Y and I went on a walk with my in-laws and their dog, Coco. The weather was perfect: the sun warm but the breeze refreshing. We discovered a few turtles sunbathing (can't blame them).

i spy two little sunbathing turtles

And then we came across this. 

i spy a rainbow

How magical. It was one of those moments I will cherish forever. Rainbow: a symbol of God's mercy and promises. It may just have been exactly the type of reminder I needed. 

Another highlight of this trip was getting to visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.  

"Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope" 

MLK has always been my favorite historical figure. Being in Washington DC, our nation's capital and being able to visit the MLK memorial was the best way to spend MDW. 

And with that, I leave you with one of my favorite MLK quotes: