Midweek Ramblings + Recent Purchases (plus a GIVEAWAY!)

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Ramblings:

• My first Southern 4th of July: This past Monday I enjoyed spending my first 4th of July in here in Charlotte! Each holiday that I get to spend here makes calling North Carolina home seem more "real," and I love it. :-) Back in Maine, a cousin on my mom's side of the family has a beach house a few towns over from me so that side of my family always has a cookout on the 4th. And last year I was studying abroad in France for the 4th of July (You can read about the adventure that I went on during that day in this blog post!). So I was excited to see what this first year in Charlotte would bring. My blogger bestie Cara and I attended the first annual 4th of July Splash Bash at Craft City Social pool club in Uptown Charlotte. Our other Charlotte blogger friend Amy from Pastel n Pink and her boyfriend met us there, and we had a great afternoon! There were fun 4th of July drink specials, a live band, and the temperature of the pool was absolutely perfect for beating the heat. Amy and I attended the grand opening event for Craft City Social last month, and it was so fun to get to go back for the 4th of July celebration! Cara and I ended up finishing our 4th festivities by watching a fireworks show just over the border in South Carolina- it was a wonderful day! 

• A slow read: One of my latest books from the library is Summer with My Sisters by Holly Chamberlin. I've never read anything by this author before, but what struck me about this book is that it is set in a fictional coastal town in Maine that would be located within thirty minutes of my hometown! I haven't personally read a lot of books that are set in Maine, and where I was just home not even a couple of weeks ago for a visit, I thought this would be fun to read. I love the parts of the book that mention Maine, but I'm halfway through and I'm still finding the plot hard to get into! Don't y'all hate books like that?! Or is this just me haha?
• A comforting verse: A lot seems up in the air about life right now... both good things and bad things. I having always found comfort in this bible verse but am taking more comfort in it than usual: "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." -Jeremiah 29:11. What a comfort to know that God has our whole future planned out, and He always knows what's ahead- good or bad! 

Purchases: 

• After a week of no purchases last week, I definitely made up for it this week! First up are these super cute shoes which my sweet mom bought for me after we made it back to Charlotte from our road trip last week. I didn't previously own anything that looked like this, and I know that these will be the ideal fall transition shoe! I can see myself living in these come September and October.
• I am adoring this simple but chic swing dress which I picked up for my new part-time job last week! It's an ideal outfit from going from work to play, and can be dressed up or down. This is the dress that I have, but I also found a dupe version online that's under $10! 
• I shared a few weeks ago in one of these posts about a cute swimsuit from Nordstrom that I had ordered. It arrived and unfortunately did not fit well - always the downside of online shopping! Anyways- the good news is that I found a bathing suit this week that I think is loads cuter than the one that I returned! The top is here and the bottoms are here- I'm hoping to do a fun pool photoshoot on the blog soon.

     My question of the week for y'all: what did you do for the 4th of July? Do you have any special holiday traditions, or did you do something new and different this year like I did? Let me know in the comments!



     And last but certainly not least, mixing up this week's Midweek Ramblings with an incredible GIVEAWAY! The much beloved Nordstrom Anniversary Sale begins next week (for cardholders with early access, and opens to the public on July 22nd!), and myself and a group of great fashion bloggers are giving one lucky winner a gift card to shop the sale with! There are 101 ways to enter, so you have plenty of chances to win. All entries for the giveaway will be verified, so be sure to hit follow or like to complete each entry. This giveaway ends on July 13th and a winner will be chosen on July 14th. Must be 16+ to enter. 

Nordstrom Anniversary Sale Gift Card Giveaway

      xoxo Miss ALK