Grandma and Me: Blue and White Dresses

Alethea and I are so excited to show you our blue and white dresses for this month's "Grandma and Me" fashion post!  Prepare for cuteness overload as Alethea was super excited because it was her first birthday.  She loved playing with the balloons outside.

I bought this dress from JCPenney for Alethea before she was even born.  I loved the classic blue and white print and big blue fabric flower on the side of the waist.  The blue in the dress really brings out the blue in her big, beautiful blue eyes.

My dress I picked off a clearance rack at New York and Company during the off-season.  I think I paid only $27.00 for it...which was a steal for such a lovely piece.  The blue flower print is sheer and there is a shorter, white dress attached underneath.  Even though the dress is maxi-length,  you can still see my legs through the sheer fabric.

My dress has an elastic waist, flutter sleeves, and a pretty button loops and buttons down the bust line.  It is very lightweight, so it's cool and comfortable to wear on a hot day.

Oh, I just love this age!  She has me laughing so hard I'm crying somedays.  She is so funny.  She loves to laugh.  The other day we were all gathered around the dinner table and my husband said a joke making me and my daughter laugh.  Alethea looked at us with the most perplexed look on her face wondering why we were laughing.  Then she started this big belly laugh to join our laughter.  That made me laugh so hard I couldn't even breathe and my eyes started to tear up, making Alethea laugh even harder.  It was such a precious moment and all I could do was thank God in my mind for his wonderful blessings.

I have really been getting into these long tassel statement earrings lately.  I know I'm a little late to the party as they appeared on the fashion scene last year, but I'm making it up for it now.  I bought these at New York and Company the same day I purchased the dress.  They were on clearance as well.  Perhaps that's why I'm always a season behind the trends...I wait for the hot items to go on sale!

Because I wore statement earrings, I skipped the necklace and wore just a white beaded bracelet.

Here she is;  laughing again!  She is such a happy little girl.  Her personality is so much like her mother's at this age.

I have had the wonderful joy of having Alethea home with me for two weeks this summer, so if  you have noticed my absence from social media or commenting on your blog posts, that's why.  I'm treasuring every minute with this little one!

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

A Comfortable Tie Dye Dress For Summer

 I wore this dress to an outdoor church service followed by a picnic lunch and trip to the zoo.  It's a great dress if you want to be comfy in hot weather because the material is loose and thin.  It does show every lump and bulge, but if you don't have lumps or bulges, you don't need to worry about that.  I suppose if I wore Spanx underneath, I would have had a smoother look, but I don't believe in wearing those modern day torture devices except for very special occasions.  haha!

I purchased this dress for only $9.99 from JCPenney (no longer available, similar HERE).  And would you believe I only bought this dress to get free shipping?  I thought "Hmmm, spend almost $10 to ship, or throw this dress in the cart and basically get it for free?"  So, I bought the dress, even though I didn't need it, because I considered it "Free".  How many of you do that?

My husband bought these sandals for me from a local gift shop when we went out to lunch in a nearby town.  The support is absolutely amazing.  I've worn them all day and my feet never hurt!

For jewelry, I kept it simple and wore this lovely white and coral bracelet to match my dress.  It's from 10,000 Villages.

Lately when I've been getting dressed and figuring out my accessories to wear I've noticed I didn't have any rose gold earrings to match my rose gold necklaces or bracelets.  So I made a mental note to keep a lookout for some next time I was out shopping.  Well, I stopped at Francesca's and they had a lot of rose gold jewelry I loved, but I thought it was still pretty pricey even with a sale.  So I walked across the mall to Charlotte Russe and I found an entire set of beautiful rose gold earrings:  3 hoops and 3 studs for only $5.99.  I was worried they would hurt my sensitive ears being such cheap jewelry, but they did not!  

DSW had their summer bags on sale so I picked up a couple I've had my eye on for awhile.  I needed a larger white tote, so I was thrilled to snag this one for $19.99 plus a 20% off coupon (sold out, similar HERE).

I love the fringe, the gold metallic embroidered detail, and the leather straps.

I find dresses and skirts so much more comfortable to wear in the summer than shorts.  I have only worn shorts outside the house twice this summer!  What about you?  Do you wear shorts or dresses in the summer?

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Savannah, Day 4, Part 3, Tybee Island Beach

This is a continuation of a travel series to Savannah, Georgia.  If you'd like to start at the beginning, go HERE.  The rest of the posts in consecutive order are HERE,  HERE,  HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

On our last day in Savannah, we went to Tybee Island.  We spent the morning at Fort Pulaski, had lunch at The Crab Shack, and then we headed to the beach. 

We first stopped at North Beach which had the cutest lighthouse and light keepers cottage.  It is so charming, isn't it?  The lighthouse is the oldest lighthouse in Georgia, built in 1736.  It is 145 stories tall and actually has three light keepers cottages nearby.  You can tour the lighthouse, museum, and military battery for $15.00.  Because we just toured Ft. Pulaski we did not take the tour;  we wanted to save some time for the beach!

Right across the street from the lighthouse is the 1899 Military Battery.  It also houses the Tybee Island Museum.

You can also access Tybee Island North Beach from this area.  We stopped briefly at the North Beach and we also went to Tybee Island Beach.  Both are very nice, but North Beach is much more secluded and less developed.

I was so happy I wore this dress on the day we went to the beach.  I loved the way the wind whipped it up into the air.  It barely got wet, because the wind was always lifting it.

We found this sea creature laying on the beach.  We were not quite sure what it was, some type of sting ray?

My favorite part of the beach is always bird watching.  I just love all the different types of birds at the ocean.

 Next we drove down farther to Tybee Island Beach.  This area is much more developed and where more of the action is.  It's still quite small in comparison to other beach towns, but we liked it that way.  It was very quaint.

This is the main drag across from the ocean where all the gift shops and restaurants are located.

The best part of Tybee Island is that they have a free public pier.  You would be surprised at how many beach communities we've been to that don't have a free pier.  Most have a fee required to walk on or fish from.

 At the start of this piers this large, octagon pavilion where food is served and music is performed.

We had the exciting experience of watching some fisherman catch and release this large sting ray.

This picture was taken from the pier looking back at the beach.   You can see how much more developed it is that North Beach.

I love to see Pelicans flying in the air.

After spending some time on the beach and pier and visiting a few gift shops, we got back in the car and drove around a bit.  We loved all the gorgeous beach homes.  Most of these are available to rent for tourists.

 And finally, I have a funny story to share.  The entire time we were in Savannah my husband wanted a fish fry.  Now Savannah is filled with seafood restaurants, but we couldn't find a fish fry on any of the menus.  I don't know why.  We saw a lot of "Shrimp and Grits" and stuff like that, but no traditional fish fry.  Well, when we stopped at The Visitor Center there was a sign advertising Fish Fries at the American Legion Post.  It said "All Are Welcome", so we went and finally had our fish fry; and it was delicious!

We laughed and laughed through the entire meal.  We said that only we would end up at an American Legion post for dinner on a vacation instead of a fancy restaurant.  And the funniest part was when we left we saw a truck from The Crab Shack outside.  They catered the fish fry!  No wonder it was so good!

It was the best Fish Fry I've had in my life.  It was lightly breaded, so I could really taste the fish and not the breading.  And it tasted so fresh, like it was caught that day!

And this concludes my Savannah travel series.  Our next vacation will be in September where we will be headed to South Dakota to explore the Black Hills, the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park, and much more.  In the mean time, I will share a few local adventures we've had this summer.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!