Summer Tie Front Dress

Tie Front Dress: Missguided (wearing size 2) / Wedges: Nordstrom / Tote: Adornlee on Amazon / Bracelet: India Hicks / Coin necklace: Similar / Tortoise Hoops: J.Crew (similar, love these) / Sunnies: Quay

Two things I learned while in Costa Mesa visiting Melayne.- I need to stop by Goodwill more often, and the Dollar Store is underrated. We usually always shop when we’re together and she was running errands so I went along with her.

I found new gardening gear I can’t wait to use this fall, and adorable woven circle placemats for $1 each so I bought 12! All new! I had no room in my luggage and then Melayne said she’d drive it out to see me in a few weeks on her way out to Arizona, such a good friend!

I also finished a book on my Kindle (really iPhone so the Kindle app) called The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life Is Worth More Than Anything You Can Buy in a Store. The kindle edition is just $2 and it’s written by a blogger who stopped shopping for a year – to get out of debt and have more savings.

I was so inspired and it was a great read, pretty raw and honest. I had a hard part identifying with consuming alcohol but I’m sure I have other vices (like overly shopping) that I could work on and I am so ready to purge even more, and be conscious about what I purchase. Instead of the spending freeze for a week I did with a friend maybe I’ll do it for a month! Or maybe I just really open my eyes and ask questions on if I really NEED it.

I read it while traveling on a few flights, it’s the best time to read and since I have a mophie my iPhone battery lasts forever.

Anyway, this dress is 50% off on Missguided, it ships from the UK so you have to be patient for it to arrive. It looks a bit wrinkly oops, but it’s real life and I’m not going to photoshop it. But if you wear it somewhere humid and tropical it probably won’t be wrinkly!

Pacific City is a little shopping area in Huntington Beach, it’s so beautiful and this little area is behind where they built some lovely apartments. I love the tile detail, I appreciate those creative unique touches like tile and stained glass. I’m an old soul.

I’m using my Fujifilm X100F more, these shots taken with the Fujifilm TCL-X100 II Tele Conversion Lens which easily screws on and off to make it telephoto (compressing the background closer to foreground). And it seems easy enough for my friends to use when they help me with the blog.

If you are looking to learn manual mode photography I have my online photography workshop class here, and also if you want to know which mirrorless camera works best for you, here’s this post.

How did I go from saving money to telling you about cameras? Oh how quick my mind goes from one subject to another. I figure I can at least give you some information aside from telling you to look at my outfit, haha.

Oh but wait, one more thing.

And my dear Melayne, thank you for taking these pics of me, you are the best! See her engagement photos I took of her here.

The hello sunshine tote (on Amazon) is a must-have this summer. I know I just told you to save money but I mean this is worth ever penny and you won’t need to replace it, just use this one forever! It has leather handles and thick structure canvas and 2 interior side pockets that can hold your tumbler (think eat pizza with one hand, and your drink is secure in the tote). Or maybe give it as a gift to a lucky friend?

It’s a cute tote to shop around with and there’s another phrase, daydream believer if you prefer that!

I’m daydreaming away in the sunshine. Hope you are having a great day and thanks for spending some time with me here. xx

Camera equipment: Travel Equipment listed here. Fujifilm X100F + Fujifilm TCL-X100 II Tele Conversion Lens