A couple years back, I visited Burnside Farms durning the spring for their annual tulip festival. It was gorgeous & I MUST go back again this next year. Ever since then, I’ve wanted to go during their sunflower season because all the pictures I have been seeing on their Instagram have been giving me major FOMO. Yesterday, Ben & I finally got to take a little road trip up to see the gorgeous sunflower fields. To say is was dreamy would be an understatement. Plus, we went on a Tuesday afternoon so there weren’t many people there. We had such a fun time & even got to cut & bring home a few sunflowers as well.
On the drive home, we could not stop talking about how much fun we had in the sunflower fields. We loved walking through the classic sunflower fields & taking photos, but then we also saw some lovely white & burgundy sunflowers as well! Of course, we had to bring home a few of each color. They had chickens & turkeys on site as well which were thoroughly entertaining. I couldn’t help but think that one day when we have kids, we have to bring them back to see this. How much fun will that be?!
This was such a cute outfit to wear to the sunflower fields because the red & white really stand out against the flowers. Yesterday was my first chance to wear this dreamy long white skirt & I already can’t wait to wear it again. You may remember seeing it in a recent Sunday Try On where I mentioned that I had been looking for the perfect long white skirt for such a long time & this one is even better than I was expecting. It’s so light & flowy & is not see through either! An effortless white skirt like this is one is one I know I will wear for many years to come.
We are throwing it back to our honeymoon in Italy with these photos. We spent 2 full days on the beach eating pizza, swimming, & most of all, people watching. While lounging in total bliss, there are a few items in my beach bag that I found particularly useful. These things were easy to pack & made transitions before & after the beach a breeze.
For sunscreen, I like to use at least SPF 50 on my body, but on my face, I use my Coola Makeup Setting Spray with SPF 30. I’ve used this for years! It’s perfect to use & reapply whether you have makeup on or not. Also, on long days out in the sun, it’s so important to make sure you’re drinking plenty of water, so have a large bottle on hand.
This bikini bag was given to me as a wedding gift, & man was it so useful! It was the perfect size to store our wet bathing suits without getting the rest of our things wet.
First of all, I’m back & I’m a married lady now! Whoohoo! I have so many wonderful things to say & discuss about the wedding & the planning, etc, but before I get into all of that, let’s talk about our honeymoon! #OurItalianAdventure started in Napoli with a quick visit to Capri, then we finished up in Positano.
L e t ‘ s S t a r t I n N a p o l i !
This city holds such a dear place in my heart. The incredible architecture along with meeting some of the warmest people I know, makes this place hard to forget.
We stayed in the perfect location in the sweetest little Airbnb on the forth & top floor of a graffiti covered building. (But that was normal…I’ve never seen so much graffiti my life!) Booking a place early was key for us to find the right place for the right amount of money. We booked our place about 6 months in advance & spent time reading reviews & looking things up on maps to make sure where we were staying would be in a good location, but just outside of tourist central. It was just dreamy.
The colors. Everywhere you look, you see a different color. This city has so much texture (Ben says that he loves the architexture.), so much life, & so much amazing food.
G o a l s
Oh, I’ve decided our home needs like 20x the amount of plants! Why is something like this so normal in Napoli, but so new in the States? We need to make things like this our new normal. Who’s with me?!
D a y 1
On our first full day in Italy, we actually took a ferry to Capri! I have a whole post on that day coming soon.
L e t ‘ s E a t
But on our first full day in Napoli, we had a traditional cooking class. It was such an amazing experience! We met with our instructors, Lucia & Francesca, who took us to their home where we made bruschetta with fresh mozzarella (Did you know that fresh mozzarella sits at room temperature in a milky water? I didn’t! This stuff was FRESH!), gnocchi in a homemade tomato sauce, & ravioli. Each dish was prepared separately & served with a local wine. We noticed that each plate prepared had very few ingredients. They kept things simple, but used the freshest ingredients. It was delicious, & the post-pasta coma was REAL.
This was one of our very favorite parts of our trip because not only did we make incredible food with recipes we now get to take home & make forever, but we got to spend the afternoon with real Naples natives who spoke English & learned so much about the city & it’s culture. We had such a good experience, that now we want to start taking cooking classes everywhere we visit! Such a fun way to learn. If you are interested in taking the same class we did (highly recommend you do if you find yourself in Napoli!), you can find all of the info here.
(FYI – We got to our cooking class by taxi, but Lucia encouraged us to take the train back which was so easy & very inexpensive. We walked almost everywhere, but we never took a taxi in the city for the rest of our trip.)
We spent the rest of the afternoon sipping on cappuccinos at our favorite coffee shop, House Café, & walking around our little neighborhood. One of our particular favorites was walking through the street markets where you could find everything from pajamas & baby clothes to the fresh fish of the day. It was a little bit like sensory overload, but an incredible sight to see.
We spent our last evening in Napoli at the amazing Castel Sant’Elmo. This fortress sits on top of a hill that overlooks all of Napoli. The view was absolutely breathtaking. Seeing the city we had been exploring for the past few days from that vantage point was just the icing on the cake. We loved seeing all of the wonderful colors & buildings & homes from up there along with the best view of the coast. What a sight!
D a y 3
This was our last morning in Napoli, so naturally, we went back to House Café for our final cappuccino there & to say goodbye to the owner & workers there with whom we had become friends. We then decided that we could not leave without getting some gelato, which wasn’t too hard to find! I got fresh lemon & strawberry & it was divine.
We really grew to love this unique city. So glad we started our magical honeymoon here.
If you have any other questions about our trip to Napoli or our travel details, leave me a comment or shoot me an email & I would love to share more with you.
I’m back with another round of print mixing (see previous post & tips here). This look combines two takes on stripes & I love how it turned out. I’ll be honest though, it took some guts to put this together. Print mixing can be risky business, but it pays off big time when you get it right. This look stands out in all the right ways. Let’s find out why this stripes on stripes look just works.
How To Make Stripes On Stripes Work
In my previous print mixing post, I mentioned that it’s important to pay attention to the size of prints your mixing. The stripes on my puffy sleeved top are much larger than the stripes on my skirt. That is the most important thing remember: mix a larger print with a smaller print.
Colors are obviously important in a look like this as well. The shades of blue play off each other & compliment one another quite nicely. Also, the added texture of florals on top of the stripes on the skirt make things not so monotonous.
One last thing to keep in mind it to make sure that the stripes are going the same way. I’m sure there is probably a way to make mixing horizontal & vertical stripes work, but keeping them unified is a much safer approach.
I challenge you to play around with some prints in your wardrobe. Or next time you go shopping, grab some prints & play around with them in the dressing room without spending any money! Would you rock the stripes on stripes look? xx
These four items have been quite essential this past week while visiting my friends and family in OKC!
1. These sandals are perfect. They literally go with everything (and only $12.80)! Be prepared to see me in them allllllllll summer long:)
2. My friend, Melissa, has shared her lip stick obsession with me. This Revlon Colorburst Lacquer Balm in Coquette is only $8.99. Perfect, fresh summer shade.
3. I love, love, love candles. This one was given to me as a present from my mom and is quickly becoming a new favorite.
4. My sister and I both have this tank. It is so versatile! I paired it with a flowy floral midi skirt and can you guess what shoes?!?!…;) ^^^
I wore these things while catching up with my best friend who is getting married later this summer. I always feel more alive and at peace after spending time with her. I love those kinds of friends…you know the heart friends. The ones you can go for months without seeing and then the moment you are reconnected it is like nothing has changed. Those are the friends that shape you and strengthen you during the good times and the bad times. I hope this makes you feel thankful for those people, those heart friends, who are in your life. Maybe, if you’re like me, you need to reconnect and intentionally make the effort to stay connected even in a small way like a weekly text. Long distance relationships, both friendly and romantic, are hard to maintain…and I have both.
If you have any long distance relationships, how do you keep up with them? Do you have any advice or tricks?
