Getting Ready for the Fourth of July

I know that the poppy mural in back of me might not necessarily scream "the Fourth of July" but the red, white and blue colors it utilizes are somewhat evocative of the holiday. (Just imagine the poppies as fireworks bursting in the sky!) This eyelet navy dress I'm wearing, along with all of the red accents, is definitely very appropriate for Independence Day! I just recently purchased this dress, which was part of my most recent "haul" from the J. Crew Factory, and I thought it would be perfect for the upcoming holiday, plus it was a great deal! I love that it's eyelet and has a cute tie detail as well!

This is definitely a cute dress to wear all summer long but also for a Fourth of July BBQ or get together! I'm actually not yet sure what our plans will be to celebrate Independence Day, but some burgers and corn on the cob will likely be involved! We usually stay in on the night of the Fourth because of our dog, William. He's not really frightened of fireworks (he just goes outside and barks at them!) but we don't want him to develop a phobia of them if we aren't around and he's all alone. So that means I'll probably be dressed much more casually on the evening of the Fourth but this is a great dress to get the party started a little early!

Dress: J. Crew Factory here
Sandals: J. Crew here
Bag: Forever 21 similar red, white and blue camera bag here
Earrings: J. Crew similar red earrings here

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All Dressed Up With Nowhere To Go

Sometimes it's fun to get a little dressed up for no reason at all. It's fun just to wear something a little special for the sake of donning a pretty dress, even if you have nowhere exciting to go. Since I've been busy at work, I haven't been going out much and this gorgeous colorful striped dress from New York & Co has just been sitting around on a hanger waiting to be worn. I finally decided that I didn't need an occasion for this dress because an ordinary weekday was occasion enough!

This dress could also be made more casual with a little cardigan or even a denim jacket for work. I decided to keep things simple, though, and show off the dress in all its colorful splendor by wearing it by itself, save for a few key pastel accessories like my Mansur Gavriel circle bag and mint suede shoes. Come to think of it, isn't there a royal wedding this weekend? I guess if I was invited to it, I might actually have someplace to wear this dress, even if it is a dress that only cost a mere $40 because it definitely looks more expensive than it is and worthy of a royal wedding. The only problem, in addition to not being invited, would be getting a fancy hat or fascinator but that could easily be arranged!

Dress: New York and Co here
Shoes: J. Crew Factory
Bag: Mansur Gavriel here
Sunglasses: Celine

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Little Green Dress

You've all heard of the little black dress and maybe even the little white dress for spring but I'm here to purpose a new classic: the little green dress! Yes, I'm sure now that you've seen it on Hello Katie Girl it's going to become a "thing"! Well, here's the story behind the little green dress. Last year, J. Crew had a similar eyelet dress that I had been eyeing but I wanted to wait for a sale before purchasing. It turns out that many women were equally enamored with the dress and thus it sold out before hitting the sale rack. Sadly, I missed out but that's what's so fabulous about the J. Crew Factory: they always bring back favorites the following year and so this green eyelet dress was a must buy for me. To top it off, the price on this dress is fantastic, along with the fit. So as you can see, it's the all-around perfect little green dress of my dreams!

Today, I'm breaking out my green dress in celebration of the annual birthday bash for Ada from Elegance and Mommyhood! If you check out her blog, you'll see not only my dress featured but also other lovely ladies in their festive dresses and skirts to celebrate the occasion as well, so head on over! There's also a great link up to share your looks with her viewers! While this dress isn't the dressiest of pieces, I thought it would be just right for a birthday party, even if it is a online virtual birthday party!

Speaking of parties, how fantastic are these shoes? The colorful straw accents on them make them a party for your feet! Just like the shoes I featured in the post, Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone, these shoes are a bit higher than what I normally wear. Again, since these shoes were so cute and so fabulous, I decided to take a chance on them and I'm glad I did. As it turns out, they are not only incredibly festive but also very comfortable as well!

Dress: J. Crew Factory here
Belt: Kate Spade
Shoes: J. Crew here
Bag: Zara similar here
Sunglasses: Celine

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Party People

It's been my goal for quite some time to get to this colorful people wall. (I'm not sure, however, if they are actually people or if they are strange and colorful creatures from another place!) Regardless, I finally made it to the wall! Last Sunday, we went to a concert in Downtown Los Angeles and this wall turned out to be precisely a 12 minute walk from the theater. (What did I do before Google Maps to plan all of my adventures?) It was the perfect opportunity to visit the colorful party people/colorful creatures!

I wore this fun blue dress from J. Crew to the occasion. J. Crew says this dress is a "no brainer" on their website and I can see why, as it offers a fantastic style paired with a lovely color that goes with everything. I decided to add some more color to the look in the form of tassels on both my bag and earrings. I love these tassel earrings that were sent to me courtesy of Rocksbox.They are dramatic and make a bold statement, just like how I am theatrically posing like a damsel in distress in these photos! Best of all, the earrings are super light weight. I love how every month I get to try new styles in jewelry thanks to Rocksbox! If you want to switch up your jewelry game, you can use code Hellokatiegirlblogxoxo for a free one month trial!

Well, I hope you enjoyed my colorful journey to this part of Los Angeles! You never know what you might find around any given corner in Los Angeles. It might be a colorful creation like this wall, a cool dumpling place (like the one we ate at before the concert), or a beautiful historic building that you never noticed before. These are some of the many reasons I love Los Angeles so much!

Dress: J. Crew ruffle neck dress here
Earrings: Rocksbox use promo code Hellokatiegirlblog
Bag: Rebecca Minkoff Sofia tassel bag here
Shoes: Marshal's similar mint flats here
Sunglasses: Celine here

Baubles and Daisies

I wore this dress on two occasions in the last two weeks. (Even though I got it for under $100, which is a steal for most things Kate Spade, I still wanted to get my money's worth!) The first occasion was for my wedding anniversary. To celebrate, my husband had tea at the former Ritz Carlton, now the Langham, hotel in Pasadena. The second occasion, which was the first day of school, was decidedly much less glamorous!

On both occasions wearing this dress, I reached for my Kendra Scott "Rayne" necklace to accessorize it, because the necklace added a little pop of color to my look. This necklace was part of my latest set of jewelry that was delivered to me this month courtesy of Rocksbox. For those of you who might not have heard, Rocksbox is a jewelry subscription service that lets you try out three pieces of trendy jewelry at a time. It's really fun way to try new styles! If you happen to fall in love with something, you have the option to buy any or all of the pieces in your set! Normally, Rocksbox is $21 a month (this fee is credited towards any purchases that you make from your set), but for my readers they are offering a one month free trial with the promo code: hellokatiegirlblogxoxo

Obviously, the other accessories that I wore to my anniversary tea I definitely did not take to school with me, like this Chanel bag! It was swapped out for my beat-up tote from Target that I use to lug around stacks of papers, books and my lunch on a daily basis! In a way, going back to school made me feel a little bit like Cinderella when the clock strikes midnight at the ball and the party is over. Luckily, unlike Cinderella, I still had the pretty dress and the gorgeous necklace to remind me of my former glory!

Dress: Kate Spade similar daisy dress here
Shoes: Kate Spade
Bag: Chanel budget version here
Necklace: Kendra Scott here
Sunglasses: Prada "Baroque" here

Easy, Effortless Embroidery

We are in the middle of a major heat wave here in Southern California. It's enough to make a girl not want to go outside, but if you absolutely must, then you better have something cool on! This embroidered dress from J. Crew Factory definitely fits the bill. It's sleeveless, lightweight and has just the perfect amount of color in the embroidered details on the neckline.

I've noticed that lately I've been doing a lot of shopping online, which is convenient given that you don't have to go out in the heat to go shopping! The drawback to this is nailing the fit of certain pieces. You would think that given the amount of shopping I do at J. Crew and their factory outlet I would know my sizes, but there's definitely some fluctuation among the actual sizing among different pieces. For example, the reviews online said that this dress ran really big. I'm usually a little hesitant about just blindly following the online reviews because sometimes they seem off, but this time the suggestions regarding sizing were spot on. Usually I am a size 4 in J. Crew Factory stuff and sometimes a 6 in their dresses, but I took a 2 in this. The advice turned out to be perfect, just like the dress!

Dress: J. Crew Factory embroidered dress here
Shoes: J. Crew similar gold sandals here
Bag: Louis Vuitton  similar here
Sunglasses: Prada
Earrings: Sugarfix/Target here

Linking Up With: Jersey Girl, Texan Heart, Midweek Inspo, Living on Cloud Nine
Thursday Fashion Files, Oh Hey Girl! ,Spotlight Weekly