Southern Belle in Training

Fashion, Travel & Lifestyle Blog || Est. 2012 || Virginia Beach, VA

July 5, 2013

Summer of Something New blog challenge: Week 2

     Happy belated 4th of July everyone!! Hope that you all had a great holiday. I spent the beginning part of my day working at my day camp job, and then I headed to the beach with my parents! My mom's side of the family has an annual 4th of July party in a nearby beach town. My extended family is small but is was wonderful to see everyone. And one of my cousins announced that she and her husband are expecting a baby this winter! I ended my day with going out to one of my favorite Mexican restaurants with a co-worker from the day camp. Is it un-American of me to eat Mexican food on the 4th of July?! Haha. I was very grateful to have the night off from work and to have some time to relax! I have been working a ton of hours the past couple weeks so I haven't had much time for friends and family.

     But highlight of the 4th was the fact that I got to be "twins" with my grandma:

Beach cover-up: Talbots

     Anyways, now onto the main subject of today's post: week 2 of the summer of something new challenge! I was originally working on a Pinterest craft project that I found, but due to my crazy work schedule I didn't have the movitation to finish it. Hopefully that will be next week's "something new." The thing that I chose to do for this week was half inspired by Pinterest and half by the 4th of July- I did 4th of July nail art!

     If you go to my Pinterest you will see that I have been pinning a few nail art designs with anchors and nautical themes lately. I decided that if I stared at some of my favorite nail pins for long enough, I could hopefully try and replicate the design on my nails! For my toes I just wanted to do my own thing. Here are some pictures of the steps that I took! (Ignore the fact that the polish job was very messy at first- I later cleaned up my nails with q-tips and polish remover!)







The finished product on my new favorite summer sheets! :-)

     The stripes on my big toes didn't come out as well as I hoped, but I didn't think it was too terrible for someone who has terrible handwriting and isn't good at fine details. ;-) And I love the way the anchors came out! The anchor design was much easier than I thought it would be, and it's definitely an idea that I will keep in mind for future nail art endeavors!

     My nail art got me in such a 'Merica mood that I had to wear a festive 4th of July outfit as well!




  • Tank top: 579 stores (August 2012)
  • Shorts: J. Crew (March 2013)
  • Belt: Forever 21 {came with a different pair of shorts} (January 2013)
  • Sandals: Target (May 2013)
  • Earrings: Belk (September 2012)
  • Bracelet: Christmas gift from my former boss :-)

      I didn't have time to shower and formally "get ready" for my dinner out after our afternoon at the beach. My hair was a damp and frizzy disaster, so I decided on a simple bun. The length that it's at now makes it hard usually to stay up, but since it was damp it held just fine. I also used gel to make my bangs disappear. ;-) That's why I love side bangs- it's not hard to disguise them! I'm not usually a bun person but I think it worked alright with this outfit.
     I'm obsessed with this cute ruffled tank top that I got last summer. It literally matches everything and was one of the best basic pieces that I've ever bought! Lately I've been tucking it into various pairs of shorts and pants, like I did here. 
     I love the way that these J. Crew shorts fit my body! I've worn them a bunch since I got them this spring at a J. Crew outlet down south. Since the tank top is so "ruffly" I decided against wearing a necklace, so instead I wore a bracelet with a nautical touch and patriotic colors, and some small red hoop earrings. I had gotten those earrings last fall to wear to games and spirit events at my former university since one of the school's colors was red. Glad that I can still get some use out of them! 


     Be sure to check out these blogs today to see more Summer of Something New posts:
     Also- be sure to check out my blog tomorrow! I don't usually post on the weekends but I will have some exciting news about my first ever group giveaway!


     xoxo Miss ALK
Share:

4 comments

  1. congrats to your cousin and your nail art is super cute!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the bracelet! Is it from the Maine Ropes?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Awesome nail art! I've never done nail art before, mostly because I'm horrible at painting my nails! But maybe one day I will take a chance and try it out :)

    Your outfit is adorable! And you could definitely wear it on regular days too! The shorts are so cute--just went into J Crew today and I saw similar ones.

    Hope you have a great Friday night!

    xo, gina

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love the outfit! I think it's really cute. I've never done nail art but it looks like it'd be fun to try for a special occasion. We went to the beach on the afternoon of the 4th too!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for reading Southern Belle in Training! Comments make my day- so feel free to share your thoughts on this post! I read each and every comment.
If you have a question in regards to one of my posts, or just want to say hi, the best way to get ahold of me is by e-mailing me directly at: rainbowflash94@yahoo.com. I am better about responding to e-mails than blog comments sometimes!
Xoxo

Blog Design Created by pipdig