A World of Dresses

My mint green dress and thoughts on leaving

09/07/2016 98 Comments

Today is Wednesday. In just two weeks, I’ll be either in the air or on a layover somewhere in Europe. Spain is actually getting close and real. It’s both scary and exciting.

For those of you who do not know, I’m moving to Spain to teach English. All summer I thought I was moving to the city of Jaén. Instead I’ll be living in Granada and plan to tell my lovely e-mail subscribers the whole story this Friday. Speaking of, have you subscribed to my Spain list? I’ll be sending out two e-mails a month with exclusive posts about my Granada and Europe experience, travel tips, travel deals and lots of beautiful photos. You will not want to miss out. Click here to subscribe.

Anyway, so the look I’m going with today is my mint green dress. I found this on Poshmark. I’ve actually been poshing a lot lately as I cannot take all my clothing with me to Spain. Honestly, packing lighter is better. They have most of the same things we do here and I know I’ll shop over there. So for now, I’m getting rid of dresses, shirts, accessories and a few scarves. You should definitely go take a look! Any money earned on Posh funds all my big moving expenses.

I initially downloaded the app back in I want to say April or May. This dress was so stinkin cute and from Modcloth. Modcloth dresses are normally $60 or more. I got this one for $25. That’s one of the coolest things about Poshmark. If you like a certain brand, you can follow that brand and find things on there. Like it’s great for people who love more high end brands like Kate Spade and Michael Kors. For me, I love looking for Modcloth stuff on there.

My mint green dress

My favorite thing about Modcloth are the vintage looks they create. I can spend hours on their website searching through their dresses and shoes. It can be addicting. My favorite thing about this dress was the neckline.

This is the only thing I’ll be buying from Poshmark for a while. As I said before, I have so much that I need to downsize (ps. you can shop my closet over there on the sidebar!). I know that I’ll still be left with having to leave things behind.

I have goals …

The other day, I wrote out a long to-do list of all the things I need to do before I leave. I’m sailing through it but still know I won’t be able to think of everything. That is okay. I need to keep reminding myself that all will be okay. I’ll arrive in one piece. I’ll find a wonderful apartment and I’ll have the time of my life. It’ll be one of the best and most challenging experiences of my life. I’m ready, or so I tell myself.

In short, I’ve learned that life is also about goals and self growth. One of the things I dislike about myself is my disorganization. I see it all over the place with my blog. I set a schedule and then I don’t stick to it. There are a million things I want to do and then don’t. I see it in my car and in my room. And I’ve known for some time now that it needs to change.

It’s happening

So right here on my blog, I’m proclaiming that I will be better. I want to note that better does not mean perfect. In this new chapter of my life overseas, I’ll be more structured with my life. I’ll run more regularly, keep a tidier room and stick to a better blogging schedule. I’m so excited to see where it takes me. And if I fail a few times, that’s okay.

Do you like turning over new leaves? What are some of the biggest changes you want to make in your life?

*This post contains affiliate links*

Also photos were taken by Paige Dunn. Check out her work on Facebook here.

Today I’m linking up here:

Wednesday

Jersey Girl Texan Heart, Shopping My Closet, Pumps and Pushups, The Pleated Poppy, Sydney Fashion Hunter, The Mummy Chronicles, Cappuccino and Fashion, Posh Classy Mom, Living on Cloud Nine

Thursday

Elegance and Mommyhood, Doused in Pink, Curly Crafty Mom,

Friday

Bright on a Budget, KT Cup of Tea, Della Devoted, The Closet by Christie, Life in Leggings, Style Elixir, Two Thirty-Five Designs, A little Bit of Everything, Liz Adventures, Hello Happiness, Nancy’s Fashion Style, Jeans & a Teacup, Claire Justine, Rachel the Hat, A Poketful of Polka Dots, Forage Fashion, Fashion Should be Fun, Sincerely Paula, Shelbee On the Edge, Birdie Shoots

Dress Picks, H54F

5 Reasons to miss that summer sundress

09/01/2016 31 Comments

I’m going to miss my summer sundress. As someone who wears dresses basically every day of her life, year round, you go through your phases. Tonight I was invited to an online Lularoe party and opted for a dress with longer sleeves because I was picturing myself getting up in the morning in Spain in like January. I’ll put on my tights, favorite boots, maybe a scarf and definitely a jacket. The sundress days will be gone until next year. And I’ll admit it, there’s just something about sundress season that I long for each year.

Several months ago, my brother was in town and we went out for sushi. I was LOVING everything about my look. On a whim, I had ran my straightener through my super straight hair and created curls (perhaps it was the whole not having washed my hair that day thing). My pink lipstick and green jewelry were color coordinating with one of my favorite sundresses. The ensemble was simply easy and comfortable.

Why I’ll miss that summer sundress

5. I’ll miss the convenience

When you put on a sundress, 90% of your outfit is complete. Except for your shoes, everything else is basically optional. If you don’t feel like wearing earrings or you don’t think you have a necklace that matches, it’s all good.

In the winter, you have to find tights and a sweater. You have to make sure they go with the outfit. While I do enjoy that part of accessorizing, I will at times miss the simplicity of my summer sundress.

4. The accessibility

Okay, so I’m basically an open book when it comes to bodily functions. I mean, we all do it, right? Sundresses make for the easiest bathroom runs ever. You’re in, you’re out and you’re washing your hands maybe a minute later. When I’m out with friends at a restaurant or bar, I’m all for whatever will get me back to my group fast enough.

So basically … urination is my number four reason. Let’s be real here.

3. The breeze

Summer can get quite hot. However each summer I remind myself to be thankful that I’m not a woman in 1832 because those petticoats would have been terrible. I’ll gladly take my sundresses. I really do think they keep you cooler than shorts and a tank top. And depending on the material, you can stay quite cool.

2. They are incredibly easy to dress down

There are some dresses that just sit in my closet. I often feel like I can only wear them if I dress them up. However sundresses are the ultimate casual dress. Those black sandals that you see in these photos have been my go-to sandals all summer. I always like to buy one pair that goes with everything and wear them all summer.

If you want to put some heals with your sundress, you can also do that too. They can be dressed up or dressed down.

1. They can be as boldly colorful as possible … and white!

Sundresses come with no color restrictions. And I mean it’s not really that the other seasons have them, you just wear a lot less bold prints in January.

However in the summer, you can be as bold as you want. So thus … this dress. Enjoy!

Ladies are you going to miss your summer sundresses?

Today I’m linking up here:

Friday

Monday

Birth of a Fashion Blogger, Sincerely Jenna Marie, More Pieces of Me, Fizz and Frosting, Still Being Molly, Beauty by Miss L, Michelle’s Paige, Not Dressed as Lamb, Mahogany Closet, Color and Grace, and Not Dead Yet Style

Tuesday

Live Randomly Simple, Sandy a la mode, Two Peas in a Blog, I Do deClaire, The Fashion Canvass, Walking in Memphis in High Heels and Elegantly Dressed & Stylish

Wednesday

Jersey Girl Texan Heart, Shopping My Closet, Pumps and Pushups, The Pleated Poppy, Sydney Fashion Hunter, The Mummy Chronicles, Cappuccino and Fashion, Posh Classy Mom, Living on Cloud Nine

Thursday

Elegance and Mommyhood, Doused in Pink, Curly Crafty Mom, Jaymie Ashcraft

travel

How to avoid fees flying Spirit

08/31/2016 33 Comments

Several weeks ago, I was getting out of an Uber at the Portland airport.

“You don’t have much,” commented my driver looking at my backpack, the one and only backpack I brought on my journey.

“Well one of my life goals is to screw Spirit Airlines out of the money they try to screw out of us. It was nice meeting you!” I said.

I left him laughing (which I always love making people laugh). However with this trip, there was a lot of truth to that statement. The thing with these budget airlines is the price you initially pay is often not the price you pay in the end. The word budget can be deceiving unless you are smart about it. And in this post, I will show you how.

I had flown not only Spirit Airlines but Allegiant and Frontier in the past, and knew that added fees is what they do. However one of both my best and worst qualities is that I ALWAYS think there is another way. With everything. I’m always on the hunt for the creative alternative and Spirit was no different. “They can try, but they will not succeed,” was basically my mantra and thought process as we prepared for the trip.

Below you’ll find some of the most common ways travelers end up with surprise charges when flying on a budget airline such as Allegiant, Frontier, Spirit or Ryanair.

Also I created a budget airline checklist. You’ll want to download and print this handy thing. You’ll have it ready to check off next time you fly.

1. Your boarding pass

I’ll be honest. Airlines such as Delta and American have spoiled me. When flying on any major, non-budget airline, I just print my boarding pass at the gate. It’s one less thing to worry about in the stress of preparing for a trip and those kiosks are so user-friendly.

When flying on a budget airline, do not print your ticket at the airport. These airlines love to tack on that fee. With Ryanair, I read that it’s 40 Euros. That’s absolutely ridiculous. Spirit charges $10 and Allegiant charges $5. I’m sure Frontier charges something too. Here are a few tips to avoid this whole thing:

Check to see if the airline has a free app. Most do. You can oftentimes check in on the app and some airlines will issue you an e-ticket on your photo so you don’t even need to print a boarding pass. Just make sure you download the app with an ample wifi connection before getting to the airport. When I flew Allegiant, I was not that smart about it.
If you have access to a printer, print the passes at home.
Are you traveling and need them printed? Check with your hostel or hotel. The hostel I stayed in in Portland offered printing for 50 cents a copy. That’s a heck of a lot cheaper than $5.
Don’t have access to a printer? In the US, Fedex Kinkos can print them for you for like 15 cents. I’m sure there are similar printing places in other countries too.

But whatever you do, make sure you check in before arriving at the airport. Many let you start the check in process 24 hours before your flight.

2. Your baggage

My friend Cece and I opted to avoid all baggage fees. We did not even pay one. How did we do that?

Well you see, there’s a tiny loophole to the whole paying for baggage thing. These airlines would love for us all to pay for our bags at the gate. They make more money this way, of course. And if they can’t get us at the airport, they want us to pay for bags online.

However there’s another way (see, I told you this is my thing). What they want you to gloss over is that you can take one personal item free of charge. On Spirit, it can be no taller than 16 inches, no wider than 14 inches and no deeper than 12 inches. In other words, just the size of my purple LLBean backpack that I’ve had since high school.

If you’re only going on a shorter trip, I urge you to look into this option. I was able to fit everything I needed for a 5-day trip in my backpack.

I packed light but smart. I loaded up on small bottles of shampoo and conditioner at Target. I also bought a travel tooth brush case.

To save space, I wore my bulkiest items on the plane. So the Chuck Taylors and jeans were worn while the sandals and dresses were packed. I rolled up my clothing for ample space.

If you are smart about what you bring, you totally can fit your whole life in a backpack for five days.

If you are flying on a longer trip where you need to take more baggage, paying online in advance is the way to go. It is much more affordable to do it online.

3. Seats

So this is a fly at your own risk sort of thing. You are not obligated to buy your seat but they kind of make you feel like you have to. If you don’t, you get assigned a seat at the gate. I almost did not get on a Frontier flight once because of this.

Reserving your own seat usually costs between $6-$25 or so. Yes it sucks to have to pay more. I always just buy my seat to be safe. Perhaps it’s the one fee I’m a sucker for.

No frills at it’s best

If you want food, you’ll have to either buy it in the airport or on the plane. The seats are not anything ridiculously comfy. It’s more or less a bus with wings. However if you keep these things in mind, you’ll save money time and time again. In fact, I made you a little checklist. This is your budget airline checklist. It’s just the thing to use next time you fly any one of these airlines.

Have you flown on one of these budget airlines? If so, what was your experience?

Uncategorized

What we wore in Portland part 2

08/29/2016 43 Comments

Today we are wrapping up our posts about Portland, Oregon with the second edition of what we wore in Portland. My packing was very light and minimal, so I ended up packing lots of dresses. Cece packed light as well. These are the outfits we wore on our last day. I wore my favorite (and only) pineapple dress and she wore some awesome striped shorts she found at a vintage store. We went down to a little spot by the river to dip our toes in and catch some rays of sun. Afterwards, I was told I looked red. Go figure.

What we wore in Portland (last day … sad)

I scored this dress on Zulily. How many opportunities do you have to wear a pineapple dress? It has become the perfect bathing suit cover up. Its comfortable and easy to slip off. I decided to pair it with a simple red statement necklace that I’ve had for years, some bright red shades that I found on the trip and the black sandals I’ve been wearing all summer. Each season, I seem to buy one pair of shoes in a neutral color such as black or brown and wear them with everything. This season was no different.

What Cece wore in Portland

I am just loving these shorts. They are so much fun and can go with all sorts of things. They’re definitely one of those finds that you can get a lot of wear out of.

So this outfit was from the day before but it is also awesome!

What do you like to wear when traveling?

Also linking up here today:

Monday

Tuesday

Live Randomly Simple, Sandy a la mode, Two Peas in a Blog, I Do deClaire, The Fashion Canvass, Walking in Memphis in High Heels and Elegantly Dressed & Stylish

Wednesday

Jersey Girl Texan Heart, Shopping My Closet, Pumps and Pushups, The Pleated Poppy, Sydney Fashion Hunter, The Mummy Chronicles, Cappuccino and Fashion, Posh Classy Mom, Living on Cloud Nine

Thursday

Elegance and Mommyhood, Doused in Pink, Curly Crafty Mom, Jaymie Ashcraft

Friday

Two Thirty-Five Designs, Nancy’s Fashion Style, Jeans & a Teacup, Claire Justine, Rachel the Hat, A Poketful of Polka Dots, Forage Fashion, Fashion Should be Fun, Sincerely Paula, Birdie Shoots, Shelbee on the Edge

H54F, travel

5 Reasons why hostels are better than hotels

08/27/2016 31 Comments

About two weeks ago, I stayed in a hostel in Portland, Oregon with one of my best friends. I’ve always thought that hostels were better than hotels and have even stayed in a few during my trip to Spain last year. However this past week solidified for me that hostels are better than hotels. Now don’t get me wrong, I do love a hotel stay too. I love the comfy bed, the maid service, the little shampoo bottles and everything else that comes along with a good hotel stay. However with this trip, the Portland Hawthorne Hostel was a better option for our wallets. It was between a hostel and airbnb. After looking at this particular hostel’s website, I went with the hostel.

For those of you unaware, a hostel is a place to stay for travelers just like a hotel. However you often share a room with strangers in addition to sharing bathrooms, the kitchen and other communal rooms. The price is often between $20-$40 per night. Depending on the hostel, there are often options for you to have your own room as well. You just pay a bit more for that vs. a dorm room with say six-eight beds.

Hostels are extremely popular in Europe and are sought out by the backpacking community. However in the United States, you’d be surprised to find more hostels than you think. Websites such as hostelworld.com make it very easy to look up hostels all over the world. In fact, that was how I found the Portland Hawthorne Hostel. So we booked two spots in the co-ed six bed dorm. We were ready and excited.

After spending more or less a week in a hostel, I am now a full hostel supporter. So I decided to make this short list for you. Next time when you’re planning a trip, look up the hostels and see if any strike your fancy. It really is a neat way to travel. So without further ado, here are five reasons why hostels a better than hotels.

5. A real kitchen

Traveling can get expensive. One of the biggest ways that travelers burn through money is food. Eating every meal at a restaurant can be expensive, especially when you are traveling for a while. However when you stay in a hostel, you have access to a real kitchen complete with everything you’d need to cook a meal. You are free to go out and buy your own groceries, and store things in the communal refrigerator as long as you label with is yours. We were literally a two-minute walk from a Safeway grocery store. So at the beginning of the week, I picked up an assortment of food to munch on for the week. I bought things like fruit snacks, hummus, bananas and canned soup. It helped us live a bit more economically.

Additionally, each morning the hostel has free breakfast complete with tea and coffee. Also the Wednesday during my stay they hosted a community meal where each person paid $3. Super affordable, if you ask me.

4. Lots of resources

Hostels always seem to have a lot of information about things going on locally. When I’m sure hotels do as well, hostels give you more of the heartbeat of a city. For example, our hostel had flyers up about local festivals and open mic comedy nights. Additionally, there was information about public transit and city tours. Basically, hostels seem to gather up any information that may be helpful to travels and put it out. It makes figuring out plans for the day so much easier. Furthermore everyone on staff was friendly and helpful. They consider helping travelers experience Portland as best as they can to be a very important part of their job.

3. Affordability

I think we paid around $32 a night in Portland. Some hostels are a little as $10-$20 per night. Hostels will always be less expensive than a hotel room. The reason they can charge less is that they host more people for their space than a hotel. So in turn, you exchange a bit of privacy for price. But honestly when you’re out exploring a city all day, all you really need is a bed and a nice shower.

2. Cross-cultural interaction

You end up talking to so many people when staying at a hostel. It’s kind of hard not to start conversations when you all have to eat breakfast at the same dining room table or share the same kitchen. During my stay I met people from South Korea, France, the UK and Australia. You end up talking and swapping stories about your cultures. Meeting people from other cultures is my favorite way to learn about the world. And you can do that by simply staying at a hostel instead of a hotel.

1. Friendship

Hostels encourage social interaction like no one’s business. Our hostel for example had a community dinner night, a pub crawl and an open mic, in addition to breakfast every morning. It’s not at all uncommon to form friendships and go explore the city with people you met at your hostel. I ended up befriending a traveler or two during my stay in Portland. It was great. If you’re looking to do a solo trip, hostels are awesome because you can find people to do stuff with. You can find people to go explore that really neat part of town with or go to the pub with. It’s wonderful.

Have you stayed at a hostel before? What was your experience like? If not, have you considered it?

Today I’m linking up with these bloggers:

Bright on a Budget, KT Cup of Tea, Della Devoted, Life in Leggings, A little Bit of Everything

Dress Picks, travel, United States

Part 1: Portland and what we wore

08/24/2016 14 Comments

For those of you new to A World of Dresses, I spent about five days in Portland, Oregon, with one of my best friends last week. It was good to have a little vacation after a year of both good and bad. The year of 28 was definitely an interesting one for sure.

When traveling, you want to have some comfortable outfits. I call these my Portland outfits. My Portland outfits are a mixture of trendy yet cute. I’ve also included my friend Cece’s Portland outfits. I absolutely love personal style. Mine and Cece’s are both very unique in different ways. I packed a lot of dresses and she packed a lot of rompers. I wore sandals and she wore combat boots. All of our Portland outfits were uniquely us and comfortable.

Our Portland outfits

I packed light for this trip for several reasons. First, we were staying at the Portland Hawthorne Hostel. When staying in a hostel, you trade money for space. And honestly, who needs a lot of space when you’re out exploring a city each day? I did not want some big bag that I had to lug up two flights of stairs and store in a room I would share with five other people. A backpack was the perfect thing.

The second reason I took only a backpack is because of my mission to not give any more of my money to Spirit Airlines than necessary. Spirit Airlines is a low cost budget airline with amazingly cheap flight deals. We got both of our round trip tickets Chicago-Portland for something around $400. The catch is that they charge for everything. You pay to check a bag and you pay to carry a bag on. You even pay $10 if you need to print your boarding pass at the airport (what?!?). You pay for any food on board. We even joked that they’ll ask us to pay for our emotional baggage. You just never know.

There is a loophole, my friends. You are allowed one personal item free of charge. It has to be under the dimensions of 16 inches tall, 14 inches wide and 12 inches deep. I have this LLBean backpack from like high school that still functions well. It has all these compartments and fits those dimensions. It was perfect.

So I simply rolled up my Portland outfits and stuck them in. Everything fit quite nicely. When thinking about ideal Portland outfits, sundresses came to mind. So I picked three and packed them in.

The Old Navy Sundress

This is a new find from this past summer season that I was excited to wear. I love how simple it is and I love anything in the color green!

Outfit details

Dress: Old Navy
Necklace: Charming Charlie
Sunglasses: Sidestreet Gallery
Sandals: Target

One of Cece’s Portland outfits

It was hard to pick which outfit of hers I’d post first. They were all unique and dynamic … just like she is! This one from the first day, though, just seemed fitting. It’s the perfect example of mixing several things together so well … a fun t-shirt, boots, a skirt and some purple lipstick to top it all off!

Outfit details

T-shirt: Go browse your local Thrift Shop
Boots: similar
Skirt (can also be worn as a dress): similar

Those were a few of our outfits. What do you like to wear while traveling?

Also have you seen our latest all about our 5 Portland favorites? Check it out here!

I’m linking up here:

Wednesday

Jersey Girl Texan Heart, Shopping My Closet, Pumps and Pushups, The Pleated Poppy, Sydney Fashion Hunter, The Mummy Chronicles, Cappuccino and Fashion, Posh Classy Mom, Living on Cloud Nine

Thursday

Elegance and Mommyhood, Doused in Pink, Curly Crafty Mom, Jaymie Ashcraft

Friday

travel, United States

My 5 favorite Portland spots

08/22/2016 54 Comments

I’ll admit that it was very hard to pick just five. Last week, a good friend of mine and I spent some time exploring Portland, Oregon. It was my second time to Portland and her first. We did everything from eating doughnuts to laying out in the sun to visiting a nearby winery. So after much thought, these are my 5 favorite Portland spots from this trip. Portland seems to have something for everyone … museums, doughnuts, swimming, shopping, beer, Indian food and so much more. If you are looking to visit an American city that’s accessible, pretty and friendly, Portland is the place to go. Everyone … literally everyone is nice.

So without further ado, here are my 5 favorite Portland spots:

5. The ScreenDoor Restaurant

Cece and I were looking for a good brunch spot and were recommended the ScreenDoor Restaurant. We were staying at the Hawthorne Hostel over in the South East area of town, so it was not far for us at all. The ScreenDoor was an easy maybe 5-10 minute Uber ride. We were on vacation, so why not take Ubers everywhere?

The ScreenDoor describes itself as “the best southern cuisine in Portland.” I would have to concur. I ordered shrimp n’ grits. My best friend lives in Charleston, South Carolina, and I’ve had shrimp n’ grits many a times while visiting her. I was wondering how it would stack up to what I’ve eaten where shrimp n’ grits originated. I was very pleasantly surprised. It was perfect.

Cece ordered the freshly baked short cake with fruit and whipped cream to start. I had a little bit and it was amazing. You honestly could fill up on just that alone.

I myself stole a few bites and I have to say that it was AMAZING. If you go to the ScreenDoor, you want to make sure you order this as at least an appetizer to share with your group.

Here are a few photos of my shrimp n’ grits. It had pieces of bacon in it and some vegetables too. It was absolutely perfect.

Coffee was very important to us. We kept drinking it and they kept refilling it. A brunch spot that understands my need for coffee is my kind of place.

For the main course, Cece ordered a sandwich that had some curly fries on it. I think it was the beef brisket, but I cannot remember exactly. We laughed that it was as big as her head.

If you are planning a Portland trip, make sure you stop at the ScreenDoor Restaurant.

4. Sidestreet Gallery

On our walk home from brunch that same day, we stumbled upon a fun and quirky shop called the Sidestreet Gallery. It was everything you think when you think of Portland being weird. Outside they were selling baby doll heads for 50 cents and sunglasses for $5. That was what initially caught our attention. As we made our way inside the shop, we found all sorts of little trinkets, model sets, Christmas decorations, other decorations, jewelry, masks, costume items and so much more. If Portland were just one shop it would be this shop.

I bought these rockin’ sunglasses for only $4!

My dress here is from Old Navy, necklace is Charming Charlie and shoes Target. I wore either these or my Chuck Taylors the entire time. I like comfort while still looking cute.

3. Voodoo Doughnut

So if you want touristy, Voodoo Doughnut is your place. There’s literally a line at all times of the day, I’ve heard. We went on I think a Tuesday at like 11 a.m.

The whole idea behind Voodoo Doughnut is that they make ridiculous doughnuts with all sorts of craziness on them. I got one with fruit loops on top, for example. If you have nut allergies, be warned right now. There are a lot of doughnuts with peanuts, peanut butter or other nuts. I myself have a peanut allergy and thus stuck to two doughnuts I knew I’d be absolutely safe with.

These were Cece’s doughnuts. Yummmm.

And MINE!

The wait was … fun?

Life is interesting and fun for sure. While at one of our 5 favorite Portland spots, we ran into the ALS people. Do you all remember the ice bucket challenge a few years back? Everyone was making those videos and posting them to social media where they would get dunked with a bucket full of ice/water. Well that was to raise awareness for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a disease that affects about 5,600 people in the United States and I’m sure many others world-wide. There was a group of people traveling the country to raise awareness. For their Portland stop, they felt that Voodoo Doughnut was fitting. They also felt that dunking the dunkee in icing and sprinkles was even more fitting, so they did just that.

If you have interest in contributing to their campaign, you can go here.

2. Swimming/laying out by the bridge

This place just had to be in my list of my 5 favorite Portland spots. Just off of the Hawthorne Bridge, which connected the neighborhood we stayed in to downtown, is a little spot that people go to lay out in the sun and swim. I love that people just swim in the river in Portland. In my hometown of Cincinnati, many people would scoff at swimming in our river.

The flight we took home left at like 11 p.m. at night. So we for sure had a few hours to kill on our last day. This just seemed like the perfect way to spend our early afternoon.

Cece can do a bridge …

And I wore my Zulily pineapple dress …

1. Brooks Winery

Okay, so this technically is not Portland at all. It was a good 30 minutes- 1 hour drive from the city. But it was so amazing that I just had to include it with my 5 favorite Portland spots.

Last year around this time, I spent about a month in Nicaragua doing volunteer work. I befriended Jana who was a Peace Corps volunteer there at the time. When you are overseas, you just have this way of finding people from your culture. It can be comforting and also inhibiting if you really want to immerse yourself in the culture. That, however, is a rant for another time.

Since then, Jana has returned from the Peace Corps and is living back in her hometown of Portland. I just had to see her while I was in town. It turns out that her parents are members of Brooks Winery. They were having a members night our first evening in town and brought us along. It was such a nice treat.

The story of this place is fascinating as well. It all started with the founder Jimi Brooks. He spent some time overseas in Europe traveling. Thus when he ran out of money, he found himself with work at a winery in France. After spending time in Europe learning all about wine and how it was made, he returned to Oregon to start his own winery and farm. He sadly passed at the young age of 38. However Brooks remains in the care of his family and they keep his legacy going by producing quality wine and carrying out biodynamic farming practices. You can read the full story here.

We for sure had a great time trying out the different types of wines and appetizers.

Thanks for reading all about my journey. Have you been to Porland? What were some of your favorite spots?

Dress Picks

My Easy Portland dress revisited

08/17/2016 41 Comments

H54F

My 5 Spain worries and woes

08/11/2016 41 Comments

Oh. my. gosh. Spain is getting nearer and near each day. For those of you who do not know, in September I’m going to move overseas to Spain to teach English. I plan to spend my off time immersing myself in the Spanish culture, blogging and traveling. Expect some travel posts for sure. I also wrote a post about why I’m moving to Spain at age 29 a few months ago. You should click here to go read it!

However as with any big move come with worries. I in fact have some Spain worries of my own. How could I not? I’m sure everyone who has made a move to another country has experienced worries similar to my Spain worries. So I thought I would write a bit about the things on my mind each day as I make my move.

5. How am I going to sell all my clothes, shoes, accessories, etc?

Friends, it’s no secret that I’m basically always drowning in dresses. I mean it’s kind of why I started this blog. However I plan to pack pretty light come September for several reasons. First, 98% of the things I need I can also find in Spain. Except for some medication and a few other things, everything can be found over there. There is no need to pack a lifetime supply of tampons or every over the counter medication I can think of.

In regards to my clothing, I’ve been going through my stuff and putting it on Poshmark. What is Poshmark, you may ask? Poshmark is a website where you can buy second hand clothing directly from everyday people. I always have a Poshmark button over on the righthand sidebar of the blog where you can browse through my stuff. I have 23 listings and counting. Any purchase you make from me on Poshmark funds my trip to Spain. So click here if you feel like it and take a gander.

4. Money

Okay so if anyone moving overseas says they’re not worrying about money … they’re lying or are ridiculously wealthy. I know that it’s completely normal to worry and that is okay. When I start to worry, I just reassure myself that it’s all okay. A. I’m working two jobs and each week add a chunk to my savings and B. There are so many people who will pay decent money to learn English with native speakers. In fact, I’ve already come across several decent opportunities for next year in regards to teaching English on the side and I haven’t even arrived yet!

It will all be fine, I tell myself.

3. Making friends

Again, this is another thing that I think we all worry about a little bit. Then we add in the language barrier and it at times feels a little scary. I’m such a social person … your classic extrovert.

Do you know what reassures me here? I try to think back to a time when I had no friends and could literally not think of one. I’ve always made friends wherever I go and Spain will be no different. Furthermore, I’ve already found my American travel buddy via Facebook and haven’t even arrived yet. She’ll be teaching English too through my same program and we already have a trip to Ibiza planned to attend a bachata festival.

I’m sure six months from now I’ll think back to this post when I’m out at the bar with my friends and just … laugh.

2. Spanish

I absolutely love speaking Spanish but mine is still nowhere near perfect. There are still times where people speak at a rapid fire speed and I’m like “Que?” “Cual es la pregunta?”

I’m sure I’m going to have more moments like that. I’m sure I’ll forget or not know words all the time. And you know what? I’m just going to roll with it. It’ll challenge me and force me to grow in all kinds of new ways.

1. Travel

This is more of an excitement. I’m going to see so many cool new places. I’ll meet new people and try new foods. I feel alive when traveling and I cannot wait to do it. Expect lots of travel posts, friends.

I’ve also decided to start a bi-monthly Spain update newsletter. It’ll be just like any other blog newsletter except with a focus on my life in Spain. I’ll have all kinds of exclusive content and photos about my new adventures. I’d love for you to be a part of it. You can subscribe to it here:

Today I’m linking up here:

My Closet, Nina's corner

Green is one of my colors and how to find yours

08/03/2016 41 Comments

Green is one of my colors. We all have a set of colors that look killer on us and green just happens to be one of mine. Our colors may be different than our favorite colors. For example, I absolutely loved pink in middle school and high school. In fact my old e-mail address was pinkchica474@fuse.net. And little did I know back then that Spanish would later become my second language. However pink, unless it’s a very dark pink, tends to just wash me out. I have fair skin and blue eyes, so lighter colors like yellow and pink are often a no-go.

So green was never necessarily a “favorite” color like pink, blue or purple. However I look amazing in it. I’m not just saying this because I have some big ego and think I always look amazing (because really, who does?). Whenever I put on green, I get lots of compliments. A royal green tends to be a nice, warm contrast to my fair skin, blue eyes and light hair. So because of this, I’ve sought out more green in my wardrobe over the years.

Do you know what your colors are? If you are a tad unsure, I’m here to help! When we discover what our perfect colors are, it makes shopping so much easier and worry-free. If we buy a cocktail dress in one of our colors, we are way more likely to wear it over and over again. So in reality, the biggest benefit to discovering our colors is that it makes us wiser shoppers. And more than anything, I’m a huge fan of shopping wisely.

Here are a few of my tips for discovering your colors:

1. Start by looking in the mirror

You’re simply going to want to take a close look at yourself. What is your skin tone? Is it dark? Is it more of an olive? Or is it incredibly light, like me? What color are your eyes and hair? Write all these things down!

2. Let’s look at colors!

Go through your wardrobe and start holding stuff up. For me, for example, yellow or beige just washes me out. Perhaps light green or blue look awful on you. Perhaps pink goes perfectly with your olive skin. Here are a few cheats that generally tend to work:

Blue eyes: blue or green
Olive skin, dark brown eyes: orange, pink
Green eyes: grey, light pink
Darker skin tones: yellow, beige, pink

3. Dress accordingly!

So blue maybe isn’t your color and it’s your favorite. That doesn’t mean you have to completely shut all blue out of your life. Perhaps you can add blue accents to your outfits. I personally love adding little pops of color here and there to my outfits.

Overall, no one needs to like buy a whole new wardrobe. That’s ridiculous. However knowing your colors can make shopping for new things a little more easier. I don’t know about you but the older I get, the more cautious of a shopper I become. I really take the time to think about what I’m purchasing and when I’ll actually wear it. I’ve found knowing my colors really helps when doing this.

My look and my colors

Dark green is one of my colors, so I was initially drawn to this dress. This was, oddly enough, the first dress I bought on Modcloth. While I have been a fan of the online shop for years and have spent lots of time looking through all their AMAZING dresses (they have so many), I had never bought anything. Perhaps it was the online plunge? I’ll admit that when buying things online, the sheer fact that it’s the Internet can be daunting. What if it fits funny? What if the pictures are misleading?

Well you know what? I actually had to send this dress back when I first got it. In a way, my fears came true. When I initially got my order in the mail, the slip stuck out from underneath the green lace part by about two inches. It looked awful. However if you’ll take a gander at the pictures below, you’ll see that this is not the case. That’s because their customer support is so ridiculously easy!

I often work in the evenings and return to my house around 8:30-9 p.m. It’s too late to call a call center and I’d honestly probably not have time the next day between the hours of 9-5. However Modcloth offers a customer support online chat feature. I chatted with someone and she right away put in to send me a new dress. It arrived just a few days later and was perfect! I love how easily accessible their customer support is and how friendly they are. I have also bought things from Modcloth since with no issues.

This dress was in one of my colors and it was on sale. I’m glad I bought it! I ended up wearing this dress to my friend Sara’s rehearsal dinner. And this necklace unexpectedly paired so nicely with it. I oddly found this necklace at a craft store for $6! Sometimes some of your most-loved accessories are found in the most unlikely places.

These photos were shot by a lovely photographer named Paige Dunn just as the sun was starting to set.