I cannot even believe that we are entering into the month of JULY over the weekend! It seriously blows my mind. I feel like New Years was just yesterday! But alas … I thought it’d be fun to put together another ones of these monthly favorites posts for y’all! I thought I’d add a few little life updates throughout so read carefully. Hopefully there aren’t too many typo’s hah! At the end, I’m highlighting some of the things I’m looking forward to next month! 🙂 Enjoy!
FAVORITE UNDER $50 PURCHASE: This is kind of a random favorite but … I have literally worn these blue and white striped pajama shorts so many times since I bought them earlier this month. They’re so comfortable and cute. Perfect to wear to bed for your night time beauty rest or just around the house for a day of lounging, recoup and catching up on your shows!
FAVORITE SPLURGE: I have been wearing this YSL straw handbag that can be worn two different ways. It goes with so many outfits this time of year and I love to pair it with less expensive shoes like these Steve Madden sandals that I’m wearing in today’s OTHER post! Yes, today … you’re getting a double feature in honor of 4th of July! 😉
FAVORITE NEW SHOW DISCOVERY / OBSESSION: I shared earlier this month how excited I was that Botched is back with a new season on Bravo. I also am a huge fan of Southern Charm but that’s nothing new. Does anyone else LOVE Cameran as much as I do? I want to be real life besties with her! My newest favorite show is Million Dollar Listing. I have watched a little bit of each season, I feel like, but I really got hooked on it a couple weeks ago when they were doing a marathon. I forgot how funny Fredrick and Ryan are and, the new guy, Ryan, is really good looking! I’ve heard Bloodline is so good. I think that’s what I’m going to start next because Kyle Chandler is in it and I love him.
Does anyone have any good show recommendations?
FAVORITE INSTAGRAM POST: I love the movement of the tunic and all of the colors together! Taking good Instagram photos can be really difficult because you have to find places that are in good light at the time you’re shooting. One of my favorite spots to get a good shot, this pink wall, happened to be perfectly shaded when my friend and I were out and about. I love when it just naturally works out!
See more in this months’ Instagram Roundup!
FAVORITE BLOG POST ON S&T: I had two favorites this month! The first one was my 19 Summer Essentials Under $100. Look how cute all of these finds are:
Head HERE to shop all of these goodies!
And, I also always love the posts that take me a good bit of time to put together for you guys [it’s a labor of love kind of thing, you know?] so I’d also say that my 5 Summer Hair Products That You Need In Your Life. The photos turned out beautiful. I wish we had gotten a little more diversity in the product photos but, regardless, I loved it because I truly love every single product I reviewed and have been using them for awhile. It’s always nice to put posts together answering a question that so many of y’all have asked!
If you missed it, be sure to catch it HERE!
FAVORITE ACCESSORY BUY: These cat-eye mirrored sunnies are so sassy and fun! I can’t get enough of them and wear them as often as I can! You can buy the sunnies HERE and you can check out more photos of me from the shoot below HERE.
I also wore them with this adorable pink gingham skirt and crop top set!
FAVORITE BLOG SHOOT: Due to my deep love for the Trevi Fountain, my absolute favorite post of the month is THIS post showcasing an easy summer look with the most beautiful backdrop in all of Rome.
Although, shooting in front of the Duomo was a very close second:
Being able blend what Sequins & Things has always been about [style] with my current hunger to see the world has been so fun and extremely rewarding. I understand it’s a little different than what I’ve created and shared in the past, and not everyone is going to like that, but I don’t want to stay the same forever. I’m thankful for where S&T originated but I want this space to be a genuine reflection of me, all sides. It’ll take time for all of the sides to be reflected [home decor, beauty, pet care, travel, style, etc] but I wanted to focus on sharing more of myself with y’all this year aside from JUST style. S&T will always be predominately about ‘Sequins’ but it has to include the other ‘things’ that I love and am passionate about, as well. Travel is just at the forefront of that effort right now. I hope that, over time, you’ll see and appreciate the fact that there’s multiple types of content to explore and engage in around here. 🙂
FAVORITE LESSON / REALIZATION: I’ve been thinking a lot about where I’d like to see the blog go and what I’d like to see happen in my personal life and what I’d like for my focus to turn to more often. I’ve been thinking about the feelings I’ve had toward certain aspects of my life and why I feel that way and how I can find some kind of refreshment in that area. I’ve been thinking a lot about the goals that I’ve set for all aspects of my life and what the best approach would be to achieve them. The word that keeps coming to mind is boundaries and I’m realizing that I need to set more of those. Some of these boundaries I don’t really, at the heart level, want to set but I know it’s what needs to be done in order to get where I want to be and my hope is that I’ll have the understanding of the people that matter the most. A few quotes on Pinterest about boundaries have caught my attention and I thought I’d share in case you may be struggling with something similar:
“Do not justify, apologize for, or rationalize the healthy boundary you’re setting. Do not argue. Just set the boundary calmly, firmly, clearly and respectfully.’
“I didn’t set this boundary either to offend or please you. I did it to manage the priorities and goals I have set in my life.”
“The first thing you need to learn is that the person who is mad at you for setting a healthy boundary is the one with the problem.”
I’m excited to read this book “Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Have Control Over Your Life” so that I feel more confident in setting them and sticking to them! 🙂
FAVORITE DEVELOPMENT BEHIND-THE-SCENES: This month was the first month that my assistant, Justine, has worked with me as the one and only client she manages. She usually likes to have her hand in a lot of different things but found the most enjoyment working with me and wanted to dedicate more uninterrupted time to our partnership. She is giving me all of her allotted work time to helping me behind-the-scenes on S&T and I literally couldn’t be happier. Justine helps me more than I could possibly put into words and her being more present around my apartment and in the office, the more I’ll be able to streamline our roles. I’m totally the kind of ’employer’ who is often has the thought ‘oh, I need to tell Justine to take care of this ….. actually, I’ll just do it real quick‘ and then the more pertinent things that I really need to be focusing on and getting done gets pushed down the list. I’m more distracted than ever these days and I have more content than ever to focus on putting out there to you guys so I literally feel so behind for that reason.
So, Justine has helped me brainstorm processes to put in place to help me focus better. *Goodbye push notifications for most apps!* We’ve come up with a weekly schedule that I’ll stick to to prevent me from misusing my time. I’ll only go out and run errands on Wednesdays. Mondays and Fridays are dedicated writing and getting back to email days and Tuesdays and Thursdays are the more collaborative, creative days. It’s been working well so far so that’s encouraging. We’re also coming up with new ways of getting back to your questions. I’m usually so good about getting back to you on Snapchat and / or DM but it seems the number of questions is growing immensely and it has been harder for me to get back to people as quickly while also getting the back-end blog work done. So, I’ll keep y’all posted on any new system we put into place on to how to reach me and get answers to your questions. 🙂
Another big development behind the scenes is the new website re-design. I chose what the homepage will look like from a few options that my designer came back with and I could NOT be more excited. There are so many fun features that we’re adding to make your experience here a little more unique and interesting, as well as making it much easier to find the content of mine that you’re looking for. I promise you’re going to love it!
FAVORITE FIND: I actually found these dupes of my favorite Celine sunnies! I have the Celine’s in black and always get so many questions about where they’re from, and used to have them in the tortoise. Here’s what the actual ones look like:
And, here is what the dupes look like on:
The best part about the dupes is the fact that they’re only $50!
FAVORITE SONG: My favorite song is STILL ‘No Promises’ by Cheat Codes and Demi Lovato. I literally never get sick of it! I also love Despacito by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee with Justin Bieber. It’s so catchy! I wish I could speak Spanish, hah! I had to look up what Despacito means and also had to Google the spelling of Despacito. But … I’ve honestly gotten back into listening to the Hamilton Soundtrack, which I loooove and have listened to to death since last year but still find it to be so fun!
FAVORITE BEAUTY BUY: I don’t know that I can pick a favorite! Honestly! I’ve tried so many hair products this month so I have to say I have five favorites and they can be found in THIS post that’s all about how to achieve the best summer beach waves:
WHAT I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO IN JULY:
• I’m heading to Atlanta this weekend with two of my girlfriends to celebrate the 4th. We have to leave on the 4th so, unfortunately, we won’t be watching fireworks anywhere BUT … we are looking forward to explore Atlanta a little bit! Where should we go?? So many of you have already reached out and given me so many great suggestions!
• I’m partnering with a new hotel down in St. Augustine, FL, one of my favorite cities, next weekend so I invited my best friend, Kristan, to come down there with me to enjoy it and have a fun and relaxing weekend down there. I can’t wait to show y’all more of how cute the city is! It’s really charming!
• After that, I’m not traveling until the Fall, as of right now, so I’m really just excited to be with the pups and just spend more time at home!!
• The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale opens for early access on July 13th and I cannot WAIT for that!! Anyone else??
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT TO SEE ON S&T IN JULY:
• My outdoor space reveal
• My living room reveal
• Full Nordstrom Anniversary Sale coverage
• Reviewing Nordstrom Anniversary Sale Beauty Buys
• Reviewing Nordstrom Anniversary Sale Purchases [Hits & Misses]
• Reviewing Nordstrom Anniversary Sale Shoes
• Best Nordstrom Anniversary Buys Under $50
• Weekend in Review: St. Thomas, Ritz Carlton
• Travel Guides for Florence, Rome, Nice and Venice
• Travel Itinerary: Sorrento / Amalfi Coast
• Lots of Summer outfits
Please let me know if there’s anything else you’d like to see from me! Love you guys! Thanks so much for stopping by! xo.
