Not only do these Old Fashioned Palomas make for a perfect holiday batch cocktail, but I've also got the inside scoop on the ideal holiday...
This living room reveal is a great place to start if you’re looking for home decor inspiration and DIY projects that are budget friendly!
This Jalapeño Honey Simple Syrup serves as an fun and spicy foundation for crafting signature drinks that will impress your guests and...
With a smoky chili salt rim and fresh mangos, this spicy mango margarita is the perfect cocktail to celebrate Cinco de Mayo!
This strawberry biscuit shortcake recipe is a delicious southern version of the classic summer dessert…and it’s heaven on a plate!
This strawberry biscuit shortcake recipe is a delicious southern version of the classic summer dessert…and it’s heaven on a plate!
Overview Grandmillenial (aka granny chic) is a design style that has risen in popularity in recent years. But, what is it? You know that warm, familiar feeling you get when you walk into your grand…
If you’ve been reading for awhile, you’ve probably seen me mention James T. Farmer more than once. He is easily one of my favorite designers. His unapologetically Southern designs are rooted in tra…
Grandmillennial decor style is traditional design for younger generations. Find out more about this style and how to get the look yourself.
While the summer produce season is still in full swing, I wanted to share a list of 5 cocktails to try this summer before the season ends!
This Puffed Pastry Tomato Tart recipe will become your newest best friend. With beautiful heirloom tomatoes, a cream cheese feta spread...
Thanksgiving week is here and this Bourbon Pear Cider Cocktail makes the perfect signature cocktail! With spiced pear purée and…
This Puffed Pastry Tomato Tart recipe will become your newest best friend. With beautiful heirloom tomatoes, a cream cheese feta spread...
This deliciously refreshing Pineapple Paloma Recipe is one of the happiest cocktail recipes I’ve made! It’s perfect for...
Whether or not grandmillennial is a new term for you, or if you've been a fan for ages, I think you're going to enjoy us jumping in to study all about it today! Feature Photo Credit : Bria Hammel Interiors There's some debate about whether or not this style is called "Grandmillennial" or "Grand Millennial",
These Strawberry & Basil margaritas have always been a summer favorite of mine and figured they deserved their own place on the blog!
Digital download of this print. You will receive it in PDF and PNG formats for high quality printing. **THIS IS NOT A PHYSICAL ITEM-- THIS IS A DIGITAL DOWNLOAD**
I love this Slow Cooker Leek and Potato Soup because not as heavy as a traditional loaded baked potato soup but still so comforting!
(Images: Matchbook Mag March 2013) I can't get enough of the March issue of Matchbook. I shared their lovely feature of Sheridan French here and simply couldn't resist drawing your attention to the lovely piece above - How to Be a Southern Belle. They call it tongue-in-cheek, but honestly, it's almost spot-on. Being a southern belle does involve playing a certain role (a character) to an extent and Matchbook has managed to make it seem just as wonderful as it actually is! If you live below the Mason-Dixon you must click over and be completely charmed. If you don't, click over and be jealous you don't ;)
The beautiful part about this Arugula Pesto Potato Salad is that it’s so versatile! You can easily swap out the rosemary…
We hosted a Lowcountry Cocktail Party this past weekend and it was such a dream! It’s such a wonderful thing when an idea in your head…
Details: Katie Shirt Dress//Denim Tote//Floral Scarf with Tassels//Cushion Walk Faux-Leather Sandal with Flowers//Modern Elegance Bangle Set//Poppy Chandelier Earrings I’ll never...
Top: The Limited // Shorts: The Limited // Shoes: Michael Kors // Purse: Coach // Earrings: Tory Burch // Necklace: c/o Nava New York // Bracelets: c/o Taudrey // Lips: NYC Color ExpertLast Lipstick in Forever Fuschia Photo Credit: Deanna Kay Photography Ever since I was little, blue has always been not only my favorite color, but a go-to color of mine for fashion. I love all shades, although anything aquamarine I have a special soft-spot for. There's just something about a beautiful shade of blue that makes me happy! But in the past year or so, another color has taken up a special place in my heart: a distinct fuchsia or neon pink. This color is so fun to wear, and I have enjoyed incorporating pieces in it into my wardrobe (such as this Lilly Pulitzer top from this blog post, or my 21st birthday and Carolina Cup dress!). The two Pantone colors of the year might both be lighter colors, but currently this pretty shade is having me love all things BRIGHT- even more than I did before! When I saw this versatile top in my new favorite color in the mall recently, I knew that I had to have it! I love purchasing pieces such as this which I can dress up or down and style many ways, so this top was truly a win-win. And how fun are these striped shorts! I definitely can work on improving my shorts game for this season. I've always been more partial to skirts, but who says that shorts can't be adorable too?! Also for some exciting blog news: I have officially hired Southern Belle in Training's first photographer! I was very blessed during the first few years of having this blog to have various friends (at both of my colleges!) who helped me out over the years with the pictures for this blog. Most recently, my suitemate from senior year (and dear friend) Caroline did just about all of my photography for this most recent semester, and I think that she did a fantastic job! But with graduation and moving to a new part of Charlotte upon me, it was the right time professionally to hire someone. After going through the process of looking through many Charlotte photographers, I decided to work with Deanna of Deanna Kay Photography! So far I could not be happier! She is an absolute sweetheart, and I can't wait to see how her incredible work will help to benefit Southern Belle in Training. :-) You can check out her work on Instagram @dkourtneyphoto. xoxo Miss ALK
Details: Katie Shirt Dress//Denim Tote//Floral Scarf with Tassels//Cushion Walk Faux-Leather Sandal with Flowers//Modern Elegance Bangle Set//Poppy Chandelier Earrings I’ll never...
It has been amazing to see my blog grow so much over the past year, and with growth has come lots of new reader-friends! I have gotten to meet (both virtually and in person!) so many incredible bloggers in recent months, and this is absolutely one of my favorite parts of blogging. Getting to know the incredible women behind the blogs that I love to read is such a treat. Since we're all friends here, I thought that I would mix things up a little bit for today's post and share 10 facts that you might not know about yours truly! Photo credit: Meredith Sledge Photography 1. I've had a recent change in career goals: Ever since I was young, my dream career was always to work in radio broadcasting. After I went to college, that dream started to become a reality. During my freshman year at my former college, I spent the whole year as a student volunteer in the school's radio station, and even got to host my own show in the spring semester. Since I've been in the city, I was an intern for four semesters at Charlotte's location of the Ryan Seacrest Foundation (which places radio stations in children's hospitals). I absolutely loved all of the internship experience that I had in the field during the time that I've been in school, and I truly thought that's what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. However, with graduation steadily approaching, I have started to realize in recent months that I have different career goals for myself following college. My passions lie within blogging, social media, event planning, promotions, and possibly even hospitality or tourism. The city of Charlotte (and the South in general) are huge loves of mine as well. If I can find some sort of a communications job that can combine all of these things, then I would be so thrilled! I also do wonder if I will move to another city in the South after graduation, to work in a job something like what I described above. I have pretty much ruled out ever moving home to Maine at this point (God willing! Haha.) 2. Independently extroverted. I like to call myself an independent extrovert. I am fiercely independent (going to college so far from home has absolutely contributed to this), but at the same time, I hate being alone for too long. I thrive off of time spent with others. 3. The #1 way to make my day: For me to hear a favorite throwback song on the radio. Seriously! Let me be surfing the channels in the car and come across some *NSYNC or an old Britney track, and I'll be a happy camper for the rest of the day. 4. I'm constantly on a quest for cheap gas: Whenever it comes time to fill-up my tank, I'm always on the hunt for the cheapest gas in the area! The GasBuddy app is my BFF, and I'm known to drive quite long distances for a few cents difference in gas prices. A fun fact about the Charlotte area: in South Carolina, which is just a few miles south, gas taxes are much different so gas prices can range from .20-.50 cheaper! My friends know me as the girl who ventures quite far into South Carolina to find the cheapest gas around. 5. Lightest sleeper on earth: I am one of the lightest sleepers that you will ever meet. I sleep (and travel with) a white noise machine, and during most semesters in college when I had roommates I had to sleep with earplugs. 6. I'm a huge makeup junkie: This is something that I don't actually blog about that often, but hope to change in 2016! I am kind of makeup obsessed. I never feel like my day has fully started or like I can hit the full extent of my productivity until I've done my face each morning! I love buying makeup, experimenting with new looks, and watching tutorials. I have certain holy grail products (such as this and this) which I've been loyal to for years, but I'm always up for trying new items as well! Later this year, I hope to either shoot or record some makeup and hair tutorials for my blog! The reason that I've waited so long to do this is because all of the dorms that I've lived in during college have had the worst lighting ever. That's why I barely even take photos for Instagram in my room this year, much less shoot a tutorial! (Sad but the truth- ha!) 7. I'm still rocking a dying iPhone 5S: I was one of the first to get the 5S back in 2013... in fact I preordered it before it came out! However, two and a half years later and I'm still with the same phone. Everyday I get a minimum of three different notifications telling me that my storage is just about full, but my faithful phone hasn't crashed and burned yet! My goal is to try and make the poor thing last until the next iPhone (7?) comes out this fall! 8. Give me some goofy comedies: I much prefer TV shows to movies, but I am picky about the types of TV shows that I'll get hooked on. More often then not, they're comedies. Three of my absolute favorite shows are That 70s Show, How I Met Your Mother, and The Big Bang Theory. Give me shows like these over something scary or dramatic any day! 9. I am the opposite of a neat freak: Something that people often say they're surprised to learn about me is how messy I am. It's something that I've been trying to work on this year, especially with adulthood and having an apartment coming up in my near future. But I still have a long ways to go for improvement! I've been messy since as long as I can remember. I hate making my bed, and more often then not I throw stuff on my floor. I am however a nut about keeping my clothing neat and organized, and I never leave old food out (some college students do that and it just disgusts me to no end! HOW?!). 10. The craziest thing I've ever done... is a tie between going swimming in a cave or kissing a frog! (...Techincally it was a toad- I was elementary school aged at a friend's birthday party and did it on a dare.) Do we share anything in common? :-) Leave me a comment letting me know a fun fact about you! Have a wonderful weekend! Here in Charlotte we are actually getting snow and ice this weekend... not quite sure how I feel about that yet! xoxo Miss ALK P.S. Be sure to check out the new "Currently Craving" widget at the top of my blog! I'm sharing some of my favorite early spring fashion picks, including this bag (which I am totally dying over- can't get over that beautiful color!), and this pretty dress- how perfect would this be for my graduation dress?!
A couple of years ago, I wrote a bucket list here on the blog. I was so inspired by actually writing out the items that I ended up creating it into a whole page of my blog, so that I could reference it in the future as I checked items off of it! Bucket list item #42 is to "Go to the Kentucky Derby." During the week of May 10th, 2015, I got two big steps closer to that dream! I am not a big fan of most spectator sports. I did not grow up in a household that was really big fans of any particular sports. Neither of my parents are fans of football, baseball or basketball. A few years back the Boston Bruins made it into the Stanley Cup finals for hockey (and ended up winning!), and my dad watched a few of the games on TV... and I honestly think that was the first time ever that a televised team sporting event (minus the Olympics or Super Bowl Half-Time Show) had been on in our house! Yet even though I was never exposed to it, something always captivated me about horse-racing. The beauty of the animals, the speed of the event, the thrill of the bets, and most importantly, getting dressed up in your finest attire, and topping off your outfit with a big hat! In the Carolinas, the biggest horse-racing event is the Carolina Cup, held in Camden, SC, annually in March. I have always wanted to go, but every year so far that I've been in college it hasn't coordinated with my schedule (it's on the senior year bucket list though!). During my sophomore year, in honor of the Carolina Cup and the Kentucky Derby, I dressed up Derby style for the Spring Formal dance that I got invited to at my former college! I never would have guessed that just over a year after this picture was taken, that I would be at Churchill Downs, the ultimate home of horse-racing in America, twice in one week! A couple of weeks ago I was in Kentucky, interning for the Fraternity Communications Association's annual conference. One of the evening events for all conference attendees, vendors and interns was to take in an evening of racing and dinner at Churchill Downs! We ate and watched races from Millionaire's Row, which is the private part of Churchill where some of the richest people in the country watch the Kentucky Derby each year from! It was an incredible and once-in-a-lifetime experience! But of course, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to head to Churchill Downs for a second time while I was in the area. I mean- since I couldn't make the Derby- why not visit twice on regular race days instead?! And to make it even better, my second visit to Churchill Downs was with one of my blog besties! My internship with the FCA ended late Friday night, and on Saturday morning my Kentucky blogging buddy Bailey from Becoming Bailey drove all the way to Louisville (in the rain!) to meet me at my hotel and pick me up for the races! We started our day with walking around the Louisville downtown area (and getting lunch at KFC- because when in Kentucky one must eat the Kentucky Fried Chicken!), but then we headed back over to the race track. Sweet Bailey and I! Unfortunately, my Millionaire's Row status from the previous evening wasn't still valid so we had to settle for General Admission seats. ;-) But I quickly learned that there is no such thing as a bad seat at Churchill Downs! The General Admission seats that I had booked for us ended up having great views of the races, and it was really fun for me to experience a different side of Churchill Downs!! The rain didn't dull the fun and excitement of horse-racing! As we headed out, we passed by one of the stables where the horses that are about to go out are kept. Bailey and I enjoyed this strange sight! Is that broom yummy, Mr. Horse? :-) My time at Churchill Downs this year was an experience that I'll never forget! Being able to visit there during Derby month, and having one of those visit be combined with my passion for Greek Life and the other involve a blog bestie made for two incredible memories! P.S. To read my guest blog post for the Alpha Delta Pi blog which gives more details about my time in Louisville and the FCA internship- CLICK HERE! :-) xoxo Miss ALK
I have so much to write about 2015, that I have decided to break up this year's recap into two posts!! Today's is all about my fashion blogging highlights (and some lows...) from this past year. I'll be sharing another post with a recap of my more personal blog posts, and some other recaps from my life in the past year over the weekend! Photo credit: Emily Sacra Photography I definitely have a lot to say about this year, so without any further ado... January ("Belated Holiday Style") - This was the first post where the pictures were taken on my DSLR camera- it was right after I got it for Christmas! February: ("Sale Rack Sequins") - Pictures taken by my blogger buddies Cara and Gina during a meet-up that we had in Greensboro, NC! March: ("Floral: A Family Affair") - This dress used to be my mom's, and I used to play dress-up in it as a little girl. Talk about a #TransformationTuesday! April: ("Black Diamond Formal 2015") - It's always a highlight for me to share about some of my sorority experiences here on the blog, and our spring formal is something that I look forward to every year! I did pictures for formal in Uptown Charlotte this year. May: ("Blackout Derby Style") - It's always a treat for me when I get to meet up with and shoot with my photographer friend Meredith of Meredith Sledge photography!! May 2015 brought an opportunity for us to meet up on my drive back home from school. :-) June: ("National Wear Your Lilly Day 2015") - A prescheduled post during my time abroad in France, but one of my favorites nonetheless! My tribute to every Lilly lover's summer favorite holiday! July: ("Southern Belle in The 'Bunk: True Colors") From my hometown summer posting series all about Maine and my region of the state- this post was one of my favorites of the series! My longtime bestie Katie took the photos for this post and absolutely killed it. August: ("I'm Blue [Da Ba Dee Da Ba Da]") - Is it any surprise that one of my favorite posts is one that I titled after an early 2000s one hit wonder song?! September: ("She Leaves a Little Sparkle Wherever She Goes") My dream 21st birthday photoshoot...thank-you to the amazing Emily of Emily Sacra photography for making this happen! October: ("Poncho in the Pumpkin Patch") - One of my favorite fall outfits that I've ever worn on my blog! November: ("Neutral Pattern Mixing") This outfit got a lot of love via blog comments and on social media! December: ("Holiday Party Outfit: Glammed Out Holiday Look") - Ending a great year of outfits on a sparkly note! 2015 was the biggest year by far that I've had in blogging yet! I made lots of new blogging friends, attending (and even planned!) meet-ups with other bloggers, collaborated with amazing brands, co-founded and launched the Millennial Blogger Network back in the spring, and truly began to treat my blog like a business, and not just a side hobby. Because I believe in being honest with all of you (we're all friends here, right?!), and after all of the wonderful feedback that y'all gave me last week on the fact that you enjoy when I pour more of my heart into the deeper faith type posts here on the blog..... I'm about to be real honest with all of you about something (actually not faith related- blog related)... Probably one of the worst things that I went through in 2015, both on a blogging level and also on a personal level, was that I was declined from rewardStyle yet again. If you are a fashion blogger yourself or follow any fashion bloggers closely on social media, then you know that rS is coming close to monopolizing the fashion blogging market right now. They have the best technology, networking and opportunities for fashion bloggers. I had first applied to join years ago, shortly after I started this blog, and it really is of no surprise that I was declined then. I didn't have much of following, and many aspects of my blog needed a lot of work. But the amount of time that I have put into my blog since that first application a couple of years ago is, well, a ton. I've rebranded, completely revamped the photography quality and content of posts, built a following, etc. I am by no means the biggest blogger on the block, but I have definitely grown and have work to be proud of. Most of my fashion blogging friends are now rS members, and I would be lying if I said that it definitely was a personal blow to me at times this year that I still wasn't in. I'm not sure if this is a good analogy of not, but it felt like I was going through sorority recruitment again, but the blogger edition, and all of my friends had gotten into sororities but I had been dropped from every house. Don't get me wrong- I am beyond thrilled for each one of my blogging friends who is a member, they all deserve it, and I can't wait to see how their blogs will continue to grow and flourish. The blogging community should be about supporting each other's successes and lifting each other up. But at the same time.... as the months literally have turned to years for me, I wonder when my time will come. I genuinely hope that posting the above paragraphs here on my blog won't harm my chances of re-applying for rS in 2016- but at this point, what do I have to lose?! ;-) Haha. I know that I am not the only blogger who has been declined before, and I feel like this subject can be a bit taboo and "hush hush" in the blogging community. Coming into 2016- I don't want any bloggers to feel like a failure. No matter if you have 10 followers or 10,000, whatever your goals are, you will someday achieve them. And if you don't achieve them on your own personal timeline, that is okay. Sometimes different but still good things can happen in the meantime. I didn't get into rewardStyle in 2015, but I absolutely kicked butt at making my blog the best that it could be (despite being a full-time college student, and actually getting a 4.0 this past fall semester!). I also still managed to work out some collaborations with some incredible companies, and for that I am proud and grateful. Thank-you for letting me be brave and share a bit of my heart about blogging with you today! And most importantly, thank-you all for reading my blog in 2015, and for being such supportive and wonderful followers! Here's to 2016..... <3 xoxo Annaliese / Miss ALK
All pictures credit to Olivia Miller Photography Dress: Spool 72 {Birthday gift from my bestie Jules!} || Shoes: Nine West || Sunglasses: LOFT || Necklace: Charlotte Russe || Bracelet: {Local Boutique} || Ring: {Old} || Purse: New Look {Bought on my trip to the UK last year} || Lips: Maybelline The Elixer ColorSensational in Nude Illusion Y'all don't even know how excited I was this past weekend to finally be able to do some blog pictures! :-) The spot where I did these pictures is currently my favorite spot in all of Charlotte to do blog pictures at. (You might even recognize the location from this post and this post!) My fabulous photographer for these pictures was a sweet friend of mine from school, Olivia from Olivia Miller Photography. How amazing did she do on these pictures?! If you're in the Charlotte area and need portrait photography services then definitely contact her! I'm sure this will be the first of many times that I will be featuring Olivia's photography on my blog... So today I am linking up for the weekly Trend Spin Link-up for fashion bloggers hosted by Laura from Walking in Memphis in High Heels and Erin from The Fashion Canvas. (Check out a previous Trend Spin Link-Up post of mine here!) This week's theme was "Dressed Up" so it really wasn't even a question that I would be participating. ;-) I think that putting together semi-formal or formal outfits during transition seasons can be difficult, so I wanted to share one of my favorite options for this time of year, which is to go with neutral colors. I am normally all about dressing up bright and bold colors, but I think that early Fall is the perfect time to make neutrals glam! Save the darker colors for the winter months, and keep the brights for the warmer months. The dress that I'm wearing in the post has a special story attached with it. It was my birthday gift this year from my Maine bestie Jules! She had told me before my birthday this year that she wanted to send me something special and unique, and hopefully something that I could style on my blog. When my birthday package from her finally arrived in my school mailbox I was so excited to open it! This dress was the best surprise! It's from the online boutique Spool 72 which is one of Jules's favorite online places to shop (and somewhere I need to check out ASAP!), and it fit perfectly. I love this dress because you can easily dress it up or down. Last week I put together a more casual outfit for class with it by pairing it with a jean jacket and cowboy boots, and it looked great that way too. Thank-you Jules for such a sweet and thoughtful birthday gift! (She also mailed me two Maine whoopie pies- a favorite dessert of mine from home.) I kept half of my accessories neutral; nude pumps and nude lipgloss, tiny stud earrings, and a simple bracelet and a glam cocktail ring. And then I finished off the look with a bold statement necklace and a colorful clutch for an element of surprise. I am still obsessed with this Charlotte Russe statement necklace! I have featured it in more casual OOTD posts before, but here it shows that it can easily be dressed up as well! I got the necklace last Spring for only $5 at a Charlotte Russe outlet store in NC- such a great bargain!! How do you dress for semi-formal or formal events during transition seasons? Do you also like to go with a nude color scheme? xoxo Miss ALK
All pictures credit to Olivia Miller Photography Dress: Spool 72 {Birthday gift from my bestie Jules!} || Shoes: Nine West || Sunglasses: LOFT || Necklace: Charlotte Russe || Bracelet: {Local Boutique} || Ring: {Old} || Purse: New Look {Bought on my trip to the UK last year} || Lips: Maybelline The Elixer ColorSensational in Nude Illusion Y'all don't even know how excited I was this past weekend to finally be able to do some blog pictures! :-) The spot where I did these pictures is currently my favorite spot in all of Charlotte to do blog pictures at. (You might even recognize the location from this post and this post!) My fabulous photographer for these pictures was a sweet friend of mine from school, Olivia from Olivia Miller Photography. How amazing did she do on these pictures?! If you're in the Charlotte area and need portrait photography services then definitely contact her! I'm sure this will be the first of many times that I will be featuring Olivia's photography on my blog... So today I am linking up for the weekly Trend Spin Link-up for fashion bloggers hosted by Laura from Walking in Memphis in High Heels and Erin from The Fashion Canvas. (Check out a previous Trend Spin Link-Up post of mine here!) This week's theme was "Dressed Up" so it really wasn't even a question that I would be participating. ;-) I think that putting together semi-formal or formal outfits during transition seasons can be difficult, so I wanted to share one of my favorite options for this time of year, which is to go with neutral colors. I am normally all about dressing up bright and bold colors, but I think that early Fall is the perfect time to make neutrals glam! Save the darker colors for the winter months, and keep the brights for the warmer months. The dress that I'm wearing in the post has a special story attached with it. It was my birthday gift this year from my Maine bestie Jules! She had told me before my birthday this year that she wanted to send me something special and unique, and hopefully something that I could style on my blog. When my birthday package from her finally arrived in my school mailbox I was so excited to open it! This dress was the best surprise! It's from the online boutique Spool 72 which is one of Jules's favorite online places to shop (and somewhere I need to check out ASAP!), and it fit perfectly. I love this dress because you can easily dress it up or down. Last week I put together a more casual outfit for class with it by pairing it with a jean jacket and cowboy boots, and it looked great that way too. Thank-you Jules for such a sweet and thoughtful birthday gift! (She also mailed me two Maine whoopie pies- a favorite dessert of mine from home.) I kept half of my accessories neutral; nude pumps and nude lipgloss, tiny stud earrings, and a simple bracelet and a glam cocktail ring. And then I finished off the look with a bold statement necklace and a colorful clutch for an element of surprise. I am still obsessed with this Charlotte Russe statement necklace! I have featured it in more casual OOTD posts before, but here it shows that it can easily be dressed up as well! I got the necklace last Spring for only $5 at a Charlotte Russe outlet store in NC- such a great bargain!! How do you dress for semi-formal or formal events during transition seasons? Do you also like to go with a nude color scheme? xoxo Miss ALK
Grandmillennial interior design home tour chintz classic traditional style timeless beautiful pretty floral pastels
Gal Meets Glam An Everyday Dress featuring a roundup of Julia's favorite mini, midi, and maxi dresses for easy and comfortable daytime outfits.
This is Week One for my Friday summer post series here on the blog, called Southern Belle in the Bunk. This blog series combines my love of fashion, beautiful scenic locations for fashion posts, and the fact that I'm spending this summer back in my hometown area of the Kennebunks region of Southern Maine! You can read more about the inspiration for this series in the intro post HERE, and Week One HERE! Xo Dress: Lilly Pulitzer for Target {Sold out, Similar here} || Shoes: Nine West || Earrings: Talbots || Bracelet: c/o Stella & Dot || Lips: NYC Color Expert Last Lipstick in Forever Fuschia I am oh-so-excited about today's post! First off- I just cannot get over the amazing natural lighting in these photos! Lately I have been very inspired by the fashion blog Gal Meets Glam by blogger Julia Engel. If you aren't familiar with Gal Meets Glam, Julia's husband Thomas does all of her photography, and he always captures Julia in the most beautiful natural light! I guess this post was my attempt of being inspired by their photography. :-) This is also the second week of my summer series, Southern Belle in the 'Bunk. More on the location of this post later, but first for the outfit details! This was the second dress that I was able to score on Pink Sunday during the Lilly Pulitzer for Target launch! (I featured my other shift dress in the #LillyforTargetLinkUp that my blog bestie Michaela and I held a few weeks ago!) Despite being a self proclaimed girly-girl, I don't own that many clothing pieces that are this pink! So I was excited to score this Lilly dress at Target and bring a little bit more pink cheer into my closet. Like my other Lilly for Target dress, I was very impressed with the quality of these shifts for the price, and I thought that they fit well! Since the dress is so bright and eye-catching, I paired it with a classic pair of nude pumps, delicate gold jewelry, a fun side pony hairstyle and fresh blooms from my Grandma's garden! For one last pop of color I used one of my favorite NYC Color lipsticks which perfectly matched the dress! I don't mind splurging on lip products in neutral or lighter pink/peach shades that I will wear all the time, but for very bright lip products, I always buy drugstore brands since I don't wear them as much. The Expert Last Lipsticks from NYC Color are $1.99 at the drugstore and have amazing pigmentation and last well throughout the day! They are a go-to for me when I need a bold lipstick in a specific vivid shade. (And no this post isn't sponsored at all- just me raving about a product that I love!) With the light and locations being so stunning in these photos, of course my photographer had to jump in a shot at the end!! This is my best friend of over 12 years, Katie! She has a passion for photography and takes a lot of my blog photos when I'm home in Maine (and this isn't the first time she's been on the blog!) The location: In the first week of Southern Belle in the 'Bunk, I did my blog shoot on the bridge over the Mousam River, one of two rivers in Kennebunk. When looking at a map of town, one can see that the Mousam River runs through the Southwestern part of town, and other river, the Kennebunk, is Northeastern of the Mousam (#geographynerd). Both rivers end up coming to meet the sea within just a few miles of each other though! I thought that it would be fitting for this week's pictures to be taken where the Kennebunk River comes to meet the sea. I did them in two locations: one on a bridge similar to the bridge that I shot at on the Mousam River, and the later pictures in a small field with beautiful flowering trees near the banks of the river between Kennebunk and Kennebunkport. Katie took these pictures for me right at sunset, and I already said this, but the natural lighting was truly incredible! I am luckly to be from a town that has not only ocean coastline and wonderful beaches, but also two beautiful rivers flowing through it! This might not be the last time I feature these two rivers for this post series... P.S. Since my dress was sold out, I have linked instead some similar pink shift dresses from the regular Lilly website below! xoxo Miss ALK
Dress: c/o Francesca's || Sandals: Rack Room Shoes || Scarf: Lands' End {ON SALE!!} || Sunglasses: LOFT || Purse: Forever 21 || Necklace: c/o Taudrey || Bracelets: c/o Taudrey || Ring: {Local boutique} || Lips: Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Demure When packing for any sort of trip abroad, you sadly have a weight limit within both carry-on and checked luggage. I'm one of those types of packers who always thinks that I'll be way below the airlines baggage weight limit, and then I always come so close to going over it! One thing that I always have to cut back on packing a lot of for vacations or other types of travel is jewelry, since it is so heavy (and I never want to risk losing any of my nicer pieces when I'm away!). So the jewelry that I do pack when I travel has to be items that will match most of the outfits that I have packed, and are simple yet bold pieces. I'm so happy to say that I have found an excellent solution to my jewelry packing woes! Taudrey Jewelry is the one-stop shop for the most dainty, delicate, and one-of-a-kind jewelry that is high-quality, lightweight, and doesn't break the bank! My blogging friend Lauren from The Fashionista's Diary works for Taudrey, and was excited to coordinate this product review for me. I was sent two items to style, and I honestly don't know which I was more excited about! I have been wanting a social media nameplate necklace for quite some time now, after seeing several bloggers having them! This necklace is completely customizable, and although I chose for mine to have my Instagram username on it (perfect for any blogger or social media fanatic!), Taudrey also makes similar styles for names, dates, initials and more! The bracelet set that I chose is even more special, because Lauren helped to design it herself! One of the reasons that I love Taudrey is because they love to support bloggers, and recently launched their first-ever blogger jewelry collection! Many favorite fashion bloggers got to help create pieces for the collection. This bracelet set is called "The Fashionista's Diary" after Lauren's blog! Each bracelet comes customized: one has your astrological sign, one has an important date in Roman Numerals (I picked the date that I moved to NC for college - 8/17/2012), and the last can say anything up to a certain number of characters, so I just picked my name with a heart. :-) My jewelry arrived right before I left for France, but just wearing here abroad I have received so many compliments on my pieces already! I know that I will be living in both pieces when I get back to school later this year. Be sure to check out Taudrey for all of your dainty and personalized jewelry needs (and to support the blogger collection!). I am also loving this green sundress from Francesca's! Francesca's is such a fun place to find summer dresses at. I thought that bold blue would be a nice accent color for it, so my favorite new bag and this coloful scarf helped to bring the whole look to life! For a France update, today is my first day of school here in Nice- my second destination here in France. If you aren't quite sure what I'm talking about- check out THIS post from last Thursday. :-) And did you see my post all about summer fashion with online retailer eShakti from this weekend? They're offering all SBIT readers a coupon code for $35 off any purchase through July 10th- the code is SOUTHBELL35! xoxo Miss ALK
This Limoncello Thyme Fizz is a refreshing take of a classic Limoncello Spritz, making it a perfect summer drink! So let's get to it!
The beautiful part about this Arugula Pesto Potato Salad is that it’s so versatile! You can easily swap out the rosemary…
Do you have a “name” for your style? Lately I have been thinking about the best words to define my style. A couple words that when I say them, people will just…get it. However, since I am drawn to so many different styles and types of room decor, this exercise ended up being much harder than […]
Top: The Limited || Skirt: J. Crew Factory || Shoes: BCBG {Bought at Macy's} || Headband: Glitter {Local NC accessories store} || Earrings: Talbots || Lipstick: Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Demure Today I am participating in the Gossip Girl Link-Up for fashion bloggers, which is being hosted by Michaela from The Monogrammed Midwesterner (who I have done style collabs with before!), Carrie from Carrie from Carrie on Blogs, and Courtney from Behind Her Monogrammed Macbook. January 26th is actually National Gossip Girl Day (no joke!) so this fun link-up was created to celebrate this. I am especially excited since I just started watching Gossip Girl on Netflix while I was home over winter break! I know, I know... I am way behind on watching this show! But I am almost done with the second season now and enjoying it a lot. My outfit for the link-up is inspired by the one and only Blair Waldorf! When I think of Blair's style, I think classic, preppy and conservative, and I tried to capture all of those elements with this look. And of course I had to add in one of my favorite bow headbands for that Blair accessory touch! :-) Surprisingly though my favorite character for style on the show is actually Serena Van der Woodsen. I love how Serena's style ranges from preppy to glamorous to boho chic and everything in between! And Serena's HAIR. #gimme When thinking about my favorite moment from Gossip Girl... I feel like I don't have a lot to pick from since I'm only still in the second season! But so far my favorite moment has been from the first season, in the fifth episode, when Dan and Serena had their first kiss. Dan and Serena are like the ideal unlikely couple and I just adored watching their romance play out over the course of the first season! (It will be interesting to see where things go for them later in the show- no spoilers please!) A couple last notes about my outfit: these pictures were taken by my blogging friend Cara from Caralina Style! A couple weekends ago I had a blogging meet-up with her and another dear blogging friend of mine, Gina from Gina Alyse. Stay tuned soon to hear a lot more about the meet-up (and to see lots more pictures!). xoxo Miss ALK
Dress: H&M || Coat {Old} || Shoes: Nine West || Purse: Michael Kors || Earrings: Forever 21 || Rings: Charming Charlie || Nails: Essie in Merino Cool || Lips: NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Sponge Cake Do you ever have a week that's just a little bit longer than usual, and you know that to celebrate the end of it you need a night of dressing up and going out with some girlfriends? That was me after the first week of spring semester (how was that only a few weeks ago?!). My first week back at school was absolute insanity. I have a demanding course load this semester so that in itself was something to get used to, plus it seemed like I was getting hit with some personal stuff all at once. I knew that by Thursday night I needed a night out on the town with some of my favorite ladies! After I got out of my internship that night, I headed to the mall with Jess (my Big in ADPi), and her two suitemates, Haley and Hannah. The only stop that we needed to make was H&M! All three of the girls wanted to get some new going out clothes for that night and I was actually the one who didn't really want to buy anything (I was just at the mall for the Chick-Fil-A in the food court... ;-) ), but I made the mistake of browsing the sale racks and fell in love with this gorgeous dress! It was orignally $70, but marked down to around $33. After the week that I had, how could I ever pass it up?! Dressing room selfie for the win! Two days after my night out was my blogging meet-up with my fellow NC Her Campus Blogging Network bloggers Gina and Cara! Even though I had only worn the dress just 48 hours before, I hadn't had enough of it yet, and I brought it along as my final outfit to wear for all of the photo shoots that the three of us had! (The pictures in this post were taken by Gina.) While Gina was taking these pictures (on my new camera!) I felt like I was in a fashion magazine! It was the perfect ending to a long week. Sometimes a glam new dress is exactly the perfect pick-me-up, dontcha think?! In the future I can't wait to try re-styling this dress with different jewelry, shoes and hairstyles! Especially with wearing my hair up since it's a low-back dress. The exact dress that I'm wearing has sold out from H&M since I bought it on clearance, but they're currently selling a very similar dress in black! And better news- it's much cheaper then my dress was! I have it linked in the shopping widget below. :-) xoxo Miss ALK
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