Striped Halter Dress Outfit // Affordable Fashion Post

Hey beauties! I hope everyone is having a great week so far...it's almost the weekend so yay! Currently, I am [trying] to bury my head in the books and study for my state board exam for nursing (NCLEX) which is coming up in the next week. If you know anyone who has taken the exam (or you have taken it yourself) you probably know just have nerve wracking and hard it is to even prepare for it. It is sooo overwhelming! I needed a little break from it all, so here I am with an outfit post! Recently, I discovered the wonderful world of the outlet malls-probably a 25 minute drive from my apartment, but totally worth it. Pretty much anything I could want fashion-wise can be found at the outlets, including the dress in this post! The dress was only about $14...what?! Suchhh good prices and so many stores to choose from! I am definitely glad I started going outlet shopping instead of just "normal" shopping. You can save so much money! Enough with my epiphany though, on to the post!

Dress: Charlotte Russe Outlet (similar here and here)

Bracelet: Alter'd State

Sandals: Forever 21 (cute semi-similar option here) // Sunglasses: New York & Company

 I have recently become super obsessed with type of neckline-I am always in search of dresses and tanks with this style! I feel like it is so flattering on me and also is a bit more conservative, yet fun. What do you think?

Have you ventured into the wonderful world of outlet shopping? Do you have any other affordable shopping recommendations?  

Thank you for reading!

XO, Kelsey

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The Crazy Weekend Shenanigans

Or lack thereof. Hey thereeeee! This past weekend wasn't anything special...but I kind of like it that way. I like big, exciting weekends sprinkled here and there-but a nice lazy/relaxed weekend is also a luxury around here! I "moved" back to my hometown this past Thursday, and plan to stay here until classes start up again in August. I still have my apartment in Cincinnati, but because I have two jobs lined up at home, I think it is best to just be here. That doesn't mean that I won't be driving back to my apartment every now and then to clean and hang out with friends there! If there is one thing I have learned since having my own apartment it is that no matter how independent you felt before you had your own place, you are going to feel a lot more independent once you settle in. Now that I am back at my moms house for the time being, I just feel weird. Anyone else with me? So bringing a few things to my hometown and unpacking was a majority of my weekend. On Saturday, I did a bit of picture takin'. Now, in no way do I think I am a pro, or even semi-pro...but if I have the time and a good camera to take some pictures for fun, why not? I did some pictures for my sister and her fiance, and even though it's nothing professional, I still got a text from my sister saying:

That made me smile. A lot. Here are a couple pictures from that day :)

Not yet edited.

Why I am glad we took a few hours to do pictures. This. Right here. No pressure, just having fun and being around each other! This was after my niece stepped in goose poop. Yep, goose poop. She wasn't even that mad! haha. Obviously it was better for all of us to laugh before we helped her clean it off ;) She also ditched her button up shirt...typical 7 year old!

So in love with this. Ilauna and her mommy. To me it just shows so much love! Ilauna and her mom were just talking and it started getting a little breezy, and she just reached up and did that...and then my heart just melted.

I have so many others, but here are just a few of my totally amateur shots! After I took the pictures, I edited for awhile, and eventually I went to bed to get some sleep for.... Sunday. Back to work time! I started back at the restaurant I have worked at for years, and I also decided to take a second job! I will be enrolled in an online class this summer as well, so I might just be little miss busy over here, but I know I will still be making time for this blog! I can't say my weekend was too eventful, but I definetely still had fun! As much as I talk about weather on here, I am sure you know I will be enjoying this warmer weather Ohio is getting! Make sure to link up with Sami so I can read about your weekend too!

Thanks for reading,
XO, Kelsey

P.S-Don't forget to follow along with Bloglovin'!

A Great Weekend-food, wedding dresses, and squid?

Hey everyone! I had such a good weekend visiting my hometown and family and figured I could share my excitement with you! First off, I went to the hair salon and got my hair fixed (fo' free) because a few weeks ago I had some caramel highlights added, but at my roots they turned a crazy bright blonde! So we toned that beast down. I really love it..it's subtle but noticeable enough for me!

 

Sorry for the terrible pictures haha

The super exciting part of my weekend was that I went dress shopping for my sisters wedding (I am the maid of honor)! She found a dress! I am so happy for her, and the dress is beautiful! She had one of those "when you know, you know" moments, and you could just tell how happy she was to have found it! The bridesmaids and myself also found our dresses, which are plum colored, one shoulder dresses (adorable!) 

what they put on every brides dressing room door :)

 After finding dresses, we went to eat at Buca di Beppo and I ate more than enough for a small family..yet I couldn't stop because it was delicious! I want to go back so bad right now! (show picture of food). I also tried calamari, which is crazy considering I don't eat any seafood at all, and I won't eat mushrooms. I guess squid is less disgusting to me than mushrooms? (What is wrong with me?! haha) To be honest it was actually good. I didn't eat the baby ones, which are whole and look like fried tarantulas (eeeewwww), but I did try the the ring shaped pieces. TMI for some people? Maybe. But coming from me, who hates seafood, I would do it again. Did I mention that the serving sizes are huge? The pasta I got was a small, which is meant to be shared between two people...Pretty sure it could of fed 4! 

 Take me back for thisssss.

 Huge brownie/ice cream/obesity in a glass dessert. We shared this, clearly!

We also went to the mall so that my sister could get a free engraved key chain with her future last name on it, from Things Remembered. She was so excited! It makes me want to have that special someone who thinks I am worth being with forever...[sappy sad thoughts for a few seconds] but whatever! I am so happy she chose me to be her MOH...and trusting that I could do it even though I am away at college! After all the fun stuff Friday and Saturday, on Sunday I drove to my dads to visit him, my little brother, and stepmomma. Then I had to drive back to college-wahhhh. End of my weekend :)

Thanks for reading!

xo, Kelsey

Sunday Social-Thankful!

I am thankful for all of my family members! (I am very close with extended family too, so this would be no short list!)

My sister Ciara somehow got left out of this?! But she counts too! <3

I am thankful for my real, true, amazing friends. [Imagine a hundred different pictures right here of everyone that is important to me!  : )  ]

via

I am thankful that I had the option and opportunity to go to college, and pursue being a nurse.

I am thankful for all of my favorite foods (and the fact that I have access to them if I want them; some people don’t have options to a mean, let alone their favorite).

I am thankful for the life I have. Not extravagant. Not above average. Just normal, making it by life-I am okay with that. Roof over my head, food available, and security knowing I have a place to live. For now as a college student, it is important to remember those who don’t have what they need, instead of what you always want!

I am thankful that I have met a few people by having a blog, and some of them seem to care!

I am thankful for being given life! Thank you to my mom and dad for bringing me into this world! I almost wanted to do a separate post about that on my birthday when I did a post, to thank them, but I will just say it here! It is crazy that those two people together made me, and I am here. That is a lot to think about! Haha.

I am thankful for my sister finding someone special. Someone our whole family seems to like. Who treats her right, makes her happy, accepts her for who she is, and is great with kids. Congratulations on their recent engagement!

I know I can list so many more things that I am thankful, but this is a good summary of the most important! I hope everyone had a great weekend!
Xo, Kelsey

My Weekend and What I Will Be Doing ALL WEEK

Hey there! First off... I missed Sunday Social : ( Seriously one of my favorite type of posts to do! Is it wrong to do a belated Sunday Social and just not link-up? Hmmm. Anyways, I missed the link up because I was visiting with my dad, and their wifi won't work on my laptop! Such a bummer. I used so much data probably on my iphone checking twitter and instagram, so I didn't want to try posting anything for the blog via phone! Does anyone remember me posting on twitter that since I got an iphone finally, I'd post a lot more on instagram? Well- maybe that hasn't increased much, but that doesn't mean I haven't taken a million and one pictures! I think everone knows by now (if you have been following me awhile) that I like having tons of pictures in posts! Soooo if you are ready to be visually entertained...

 So maybe this set of pictures isn't exactly from this past weekend-but it was recent! One of my brothers and I, together at a county fair; My brother sipping on his coffee (our family LOVES coffee...even at a county fair when it is 90 degrees); Caleb (brother) with my dads dog Jake. Jake has an inoperable tumor on his snout, and he was just adoring Caleb, cuddling up next to him! Can we all think happy thoughts for Jake? Poor guy could use so positive thoughts : (

On a lighter note, random pictures from the past week: From top left to bottom right: My nephew Kierce had me read to him (he is such a HAM!) Avocado sushi (the only "sushi" I will touch). My two brothers just being cuties in the car. Myself and the boyfriend after he FINALLY got back from Cancun.

I made a deal with myself at the beginning of summer. Save EVERYTHING I make from working as a waitress-except the loose change. Then, all the change at the end of summer would be spending money. I actually didn't stray too far from that deal with myself. I spent maybe $200 on miscellaneous things this summer (snacks, some gas, a makeup item or two, and a few other things here and there). However... I had A LOT less change than I thought I would. I guess that is good, because I had way more bills, instead of people leaving me change. So, I cashed in my $63 in change, and bought 3 shirts from H&M, a MAC lipstick, and a face primer and makeup bag from the body shop (2 items for $10 total!) this past weekend when some of my family and I went to the mall. 

 Top left: UD Naked Skin Foundation Sample, & Cover FX Matte Primer something something something : ) ;  brown thing=a thing to help do buns (bought it four my cousin!); random lotion sample; shoes my mom bought me from Journeys for $10!; MAC bag; The Body Shop products.

The new lipstick I got! MAC "Hot Gossip" which is a cremesheen. I adore it! The bottom picture of me wearing it is obviously a little off. Keep an eye out for a post about my favorite items recently, and you should see it more true to color!

Tired of pictures yet? Almost done : )

What I wore! Sheer navy top from Abercrombie, shorts from American Eagle, necklace from Forever 21, and shoes from Payless!

Quick family pic before leaving the mall!

That is everything from my weekend-as for what I will be doing all week and upcoming weekend? Packing, getting stuff done, and cleaning because Saturday I move into my apartment! Yay! Can't wait to show some pictures!

Xo, Kels

If you made it all the way through, I hope you enjoyed! 

Catfishin'!

Hi beauties! How is everyone doing? It feels like it has been awhile since I last posted! I was pretty busy the past two weeks with final exams, and then moving home for the summer until my new apartment complex is built (can't wait because that place is going to be GORGEOUS!). Here I am though, with a quick wrap post on...family! Well-sort of. Last night I went night fishing with my grandpa (pappa), brother (Cameron), and cousin (Kyleigh). We were wanting to catch catfish, but obviously any bites would have been fine. Let me just put out there that I do not eat/like fish. So I was going for the fun family time! Within the first five minutes of being at the lake, I had got a nibble on my line. I was excited; reeled it in and I had a small catfish (really small... smaller than a banana-weird comparison? ha). I WANTED a picture of it for blogging and memory purposes but my pappa threw it back into the lake because his line had gotten tangled in mine & did not realize it was a photo opportunity [whoops]. I did not catch anymore fish that night, but I did get some nibbles on my line! My poor grandpa didn't catch anything, nor did my brother. Kyleigh got a few bites, and she was the one that was the least interested in fishing! It was so funny though, and I think we all had a good time. We kept singing older songs, mainly bluegrass or old country. It sounded like a hillbilly mix tape live! The best song was probably "Fishin' in the Dark" by Nitty Gritt Dirt Band. That's right passerby-ers... don't mind us, we are all just reminiscing butchering ever song that comes to mind : ) I thought it would be fun to share a few of the pictures we took (taken with Kyleigh's iPhone because my phone was dead!)

I was not aware they were being goofy : ( Darn.

 My pole and my grandpas'. 

My pappa and I!

Right before I caught the big one! [or extremely small one].

How pretty!

I could stare at this for days!

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend, although it is not completely over yet!

Do any of you like to go fishing?

xo

Dinner & a...Relay for Life!

Last night was my boyfriends night off from work, So we went to T.G.I Fridays for dinner. Afterword we went to a Relay for Life Event on campus to just walk around. They had a lot of tents and booths set up with different fraternities, sororities, and clubs running them to raise money for cancer. All in all we had a good night together! I wanted to get a picture of my outfit, but my boyfriend was in a hurry (I don't know why!) So all of the pictures kept coming out blurry, then I was getting frustrated and stopped smiling so nice. This is the result:

 

You might not be able to tell, but I am annoyed in this haha. Not so cute as the blurry ones that we took at the beginning! (& excuse the white tank top hanging out!)

My next plan was to get a picture of him and I together. I can never have enough pictures of us, and he does not like taking pictures together (lame, right?). So I finally got him to take one, but again, they pictures kept coming out blurry. So the best one out of the bunch was:

Completely adorable if it wasn't so blurry : ( I adore his dimples. AHHH!

Dinner was yummy; we both got the same thing, so I have no idea how it filled him up! I hope to get him to take more of my outfit pictures so I can share them, but I need to get my pictures to not be blurry!

** I came across a blog that you may or may not have heard about. It was featured in a Yahoo! News article, which is how I heard about it, but it would be awesome if you could go check it out. It is about a little baby girl with an incurable disease, written in her perspective. Her parents write about her own little bucket list, while also trying to spread the word about her disease. The blog is called "Averys Bucket List" and here is the link. Get the word out!