Please Excuse My Absence!

So you've probably caught on by now or have assumed that I've taken a blog and Instagram break. Well, in a way I have, but not by choice. I figured I would spend this post letting you know why I've been absent as of late and sharing some photos from my phone explaining my whereabouts.

Let's just right in here now. If you didn't already know this, I'm in an accelerated BSN program. While it's kept be busy thus far, it's never kept me as busy I am now. This current semester I am taking an entire years worth of nursing courses (crazy, I know!) and as much as I hate wishing time away, I'll be happy when it's done. On top of all that craziness, most days after I end school for the day, I nanny a 5 year old boy. This is probably the best part of my day because this kid is fricken hilarious. We recently wrote a book together about the Ninja Turtles (aka, he narrated the text for me to write, and he did all of the illustrations) and I literally cry each time I read it because it's so hilariously cute. So yeah, I spend most of my days with a 5 year old and it's surprisingly the most fun I've been having.

Also, being that I live alone, I haven't had much of an opportunity to snap blog-worthy photos. So instead, here are some of my recent photos IRL that haven't all been shared on social media and some of the stories behind them.

I love my girlfriends because they never complain about taking a few outfit photos of me. I have family and particularly an ex that always have to/have complain(ed) about it. I think it should be a rule that if you can't kindly take a photo of me when I'm wearing a cute outfit, we can't be friends OR date. I should at the very least be worth a minute of your time, am I right?!

So these three gals above are frequent fliers at our beach house. It seems only natural that we make a visit to the winery each time they visit because AFTER ALL, my friendship with these them began all because the cute blonde with the braid decided to pick me up at a bar years ago. Totally platonic, but I have yet to have any other girls say to me "So umm, I really like you, we should be friends. Can I get your number so we can hang out?" Some stolen glasses of wine and 2 bars later, it was clear we had formed a lasting friendship. (EDIT: Last night I was in fact picked up by another girl while walking down the street. She complimented me on my outfit and we got to talking and it turns out she goes to the same school where I am getting my nursing degree, but she's getting her law degree. I suppose I spoke too soon with the above claim!)

One of my favorite things to do down the shore (especially by myself), is ride my bike to this one location and view the sunset. I decided to throw my DSLR (DLSR? I don't frickin' know the abbreviation, but you get my gist) into my bike basket and bring it along this time and I was really happy with how the photos turned out. The sunsets down here are absolutely gorgeous, and this view is over a bay (behind me is the beach)

So we very rarely get good family shots. We got particularly lucky with this one because my entire family happened to be together for LDW and our neighbor kindly snapped this photo for us. It was quite a chore to get my brothers to come down for a photo (confession: I wasn't all that crazy about going out either because we all had a late night the evening before). However, my mom kept texting me asking for us to come down so we all pulled ourselves together so my mom could get this photo:

My mom has been bugging us all so she could recreate the top photo (which she had printed onto a large canvas and is hanging in our beach house). We did it, and she's happy, so no complaints there.

This has to be one of my favorite Zulily purchases, like, EVER. The brand is called Paper Plane London, and everything about this dress puts a smile on my face. It's durable, yet light. It doesn't wrinkle. It has birdcages (so naturally I had to pair it with an owl necklace AND purse!) and I just feel like it hugs in all the right places. Unfortunately, I have yet to get a great shot of me wearing this, so this will have to do for now.

I took a weeks vacation down the shore before I started up classes for the fall. I had taken some classes over the summer that just drained me, so I needed a pick me up to help get me through the first few weeks of school. Something about the beach and the salty air and spending time with my family always helps to get my head straight.

I got this dress on sale at ModCloth for like $8 or so. It was during a 75% off sale, and I couldn't resist grabbing at least a *few* things. I actually ordered two of these without realizing, so my friend Yasmina was quite excited when I asked her if she wanted the extra one. #dresstwins. Not a lot of my IRL friends shop at ModCloth, so I was excited that she actually really liked the dress and planned to wear it.

So I decided to take N (the 5 year old I watch) on this relatively cooler summer day to the Tyler Arboretum. If you're relatively close to Media, PA, I highly suggest making a trip here. I think it's definitely geared towards entertaining the younger kids, but I would definitely come back here again on my own, especially to shoot some blog photos.

These were some shots from another shore trip (hey, it's the summer, a girls gotta get in her beach time before the cold air starts rolling in). This Bernie Dexter skirt is also all sorts of amazing. The waist has been altered because I just wasn't digging the height of the waistband, but I have had fun finding new ways to style it (Previous styles found here and here). And a vacation down the shore (especially on LDW) isn't complete without a delicious family breakfast.

On top of all the things I've been doing in my spare time, there is still a lot more to share. I've also attended a handful of concerts this summer which I will be sharing all in one upcoming blog post. So be sure to check back to follow along with my other summer adventures. Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

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