#PHOTOADAYJULY

Yes, this month I will make my second (and final) attempt to complete this challenge!

So, with that in mind, this is what happened so far this month:

July 1st - Self portrait

July 2nd - Busy (te he he)

I am looking forward to this evening and once I post today's photo you'll know why! 

I am also pumped for the 4th of July! Racine has this awesome parade that's miles long and goers start claiming their spots as early as 5am. Visit the Racine 4th Fest <- website to check it out! I hope to get a shot in my maxi dress from Target so I can review it for ya'all on my next post :)

Have a great Independence Day!!!

The ON Yellow Maxi Dress

First I'll start by stating the obvious. Yes, I have bailed on the #PHOTOADAYJUNE challenge. While not one for excuses by wedding weekend did distract me from my mission and I lost my motivation. Hopefully in the months to come I will revisit a photo a day month project :)

Now to the Old Navy yellow/white striped maxi dress that I wore for our gift opening the day after the wedding

As seen here the dress hits perfect, slightly pooling at my feet, allowing for no heeled shoes to be worn!

My older sister always stepping in front of me ;)

Showing off our pedicures from Elements Salon and Spa

The dress has adjustable spaghetti straps and the bust fit true to size. This is surprising as ON dresses tend to run large in the busts of their dresses. 

The skirt of the dress was just loose enough to not create that potato sack look that us fatabulous girls know too well! If you carry a lot of your weight in your middle you shouldn't have a problem with it being too fitted. 

And, I didn't have to wear a slip or cami underneath it because the material wasn't too thin. 

It looks great with my three sisters and my new sister-in-law!

Striped-Jersey Maxi Dress - Old Navy

Willow Bay Plus Knit Cardigan - Shopko

Multi-colored Stone paired necklace - Unknown

Pearl plugs - Ark's Endeavors

This dress will be a staple in my wardrobe this summer. It can be dressed down with some flip-flops and a beach tote or up with some dressy sandals and a nice cardigan! It's a jersey dress so it doesn't have to be delicately laundered. And lastly, it's on SALE right now! 

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Today is the day of my wedding ceremony rehearsal.
Around 6 o'clock the rehearsal was wrapping up.

With no opportunity to take photos this is one snapshot of the moment.

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not my cup of tea but I know two lil guys that love this drink:

maybe they'll make an appearance sometime this month?

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1 hat, 2 hat, knit hat, straw hat.
3 hat, 4 hat, black hat, big hat.

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I didn't have to venture too far out of my apartment or out-of-the-box for this sign.

But it was taken in a box....an elevator "box" :)

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the stone tiles on the fireplace in my apartment building's foyer

real up close.

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There is a lot on my plate right now. I could have gone the way of the new job, new apartment, or even wedding in six days!! But I went with what was looking me straight in the face this morning.

A sink full of dishes. With some literally on my plate.

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Empty.

A&W Root Beer Stand & Carhops

Sweet Tooth Satisfied.

It may be because I'm super overwhelmed with the wedding but I've let my sweet tooth go wild! Yesterday, while picking up some essentials at CVS I spotted this guy:

CVS $1.19/each or 3/$3.00 (Also available Caramel & Coconut and Peanut Butter Creme)

Conveniently, there are two separate bars in each package allowing you to save the other half for later. Unfortunately, I would be surprised if you did. That's like saying you're only going to eat two Thin Mint cookies. The bars have cookie wafers along with the minty goodness covered with chocolate and then those crunch bites on top. They were delicious and while a Limited Edition item I hope something that comes out after Girl Scout cookie season yearly!

TIME Newsfeed (Online) gives a concise review of all three bars and is available here:

The Girl-Scout-Cookie Candy Bar: It's Real, and It's Spectacular

Support Girl Scouts and go pick up a bar or even a BOX :)

Oh and my sweet tooth grumbled at me this morning that it wanted to try O&H Danish Bakery in Racine, WI. It's lucky with my new job that I have trouble sleeping past 8:00am now. There are two locations at 1841 Douglas Ave and 4006 Durand Ave. O&H also has locations in Sturtevant and Oak Creek, WI. Now to my experience! 

I visited the Durand Ave Bakery. It is a large location and the bakery is located on the left side when you walk in. The store uses a ticket system which is handy but I wish the girl at the counter was a little more pleasant. It only put me off probably because everyone else had a more welcoming demeanor.

Regardless, I glanced at the case and decided to try their mini danishes. If I wasn't eating alone I would have tried their award winning kringle but I feared it would go stale before I could finish it. Their danishes were available in pecan, custard, apricot, raspberry, apple, and lemon. The variety may be greater but that's what they had this morning. 

O&H Bakery 55¢/each

The danishes were delicious! Flaky and generously filled with fruit, custard, and nuts. I tried a raspberry, lemon, and pecan. My favorite was the pecan because it reminded me of a pecan shortbread cookie.

A Racine breakfast treat, when you're looking for a quick bite to eat!

For more information and a chance to Win a Kringle visit their website here:

O&H Danish Bakery

And follow your fatabulous friend by clicking here: I want to follow Squishy Trishy!

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Taken on my 5:15am bike ride along Lake Michigan:

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Hiya!
First off I need to apologize, I've been ridiculously absent these last weeks but I have a good reason! I am employed! Yay! A big 150 mile move came with the employment but I'm finally settled in. Unfortunately my husband-to-be (in 7 days!) won't be joining me until late summer/early fall due to our lease and his employment. Until then I should have plenty of time to stay on top of things I need to do - like this blog :)

I will get to June! Photo A Day in a second but first I wanted to follow-up on my eShakti situation. I still haven't tried on the dress but that's because it arrived after I moved so I will have a chance next week and review it then. It should have came before my move but of course it didn't ship out until 27 days after I ordered it (May 2-29). I finally received it on May 31st. At least this time they contacted me on the 5th day letting me know that they were, as always, very busy and unable to meet their set deadlines. They stated that I would receive a refund posted on the credit card I used calculated for every day my order was shipped late. Twenty-three days (minus the weekends) equates to a $5.00 eShakti refund. At least it was something. Let's hope this one isn't mid-thigh length and the neck isn't cut deep to my belly button. :/

Now to the fun stuff!!!! #PHOTOADAYJUNE

My sisters and a couple friends are going to be working through out this month to take each picture per day. I'm a little worried about the day of my wedding but find it fitting as it is "your view today"! 

See my June 1st picture on the next blogpost!

eShakti Exchange!

Received my gift card this morning from eShakti due to my return of a very ill-fitting dress. Unfortunately, I can't reorder the same style so I need to choose another dress to try!

I have so many dresses that are strapless or sleeveless that I want to purchase one that I won't have to wear a cardigan or jacket over to cover up. Here are the dresses I'm considering:

Dotted blue dress - eShakti

The birds who gossip dress - eShakti

Singing in the rain dress - eShakti

I love the print, waist, and skirt of the Dotted blue dress but I worry about the neckline. I want to be able to wear this to work and even with a cami, deep V-neck dresses can expose too much. 

This worry is alleviated by the The birds who gossip dress because eShakti allows you to customized the neckline on this one. I could order it with a standard V-neck instead of the deep. The sleeves worry me on the second one though because of how fitted they appear. 

The Singing in the rain dress can only be customized length-wise. I love the sweet-heart neckline but again the sleeves worry me and they expose a lot of arm that I fear I would want to wear a cover-up.

Well, tell me what you think! And if you own or have ordered and returned any of these dresses let me know what you liked or disliked about them!

Have a happy hump day =)

When Fashion Meets Nature

I donned my winter floral print dress in some of our engagement photos too! This was a quick and lucky online buy to replace an eShakti dress that didn't work out. I'm hoping to get a chance to show off one of their customized pieces but it just hasn't happened yet!
I love Torrid standard shipping because it only takes 3 days to receive anything from them for me. When this dress came I kissed my computer screen and thanked it for being true to color!
I'm in between sizes but I'm glad I went up with the 4 because the stretch polyester lining likes to bunch up underneath if it's too small and will make the chiffon lay awkwardly on top. The elastic in the cuffs was forgiving and I could even pull my sleeves up! It does comes with a thin black belt but it needed to be exchanged out with a thicker statement belt. I thought the thin one got lost in the print and I went up to a larger size in the dress resulting in the shoulders and chest being almost too large on me; the dress had to be gathered in with a capable belt.
I also recently purchased a couple pairs of We Love Color tights and had just the ones to accessorize this dress!

All in all the outfit ended up complimenting where we were shooting beautifully....

We were at L.H. Barkhausen Waterfowl Reserve and I was glad the days had been warmer and drier because it made these moments happen with ease. I also have to note that that day was the most I've been in heels since knee surgery last April; I can't wait until I can walk in heels from 8-5 again!

Black Floral Chiffon Dress by Torrid

Charcoal tights by WLC

Black belt by Torrid

Kylie Wedge Pumps by Dexter®

Seven Weeks

That is all what remains of 'engaged' life. We have made it thus far through: moves to new homes, new jobs, new pets, illnesses and even a surgery. I have no idea what the next seventy YEARS will bring but I can't imagine a better partner. Who else would make me look this good in a lace party dress?

And damn, did I feel good from head to heel-wedged toe!

Lace Party Dress-Watermelon by LucieLu

Instant Sleeves by LucieLu

Kylie Wedge Pump by Dexter®