Summer Blues

Hello blog, I know, I know-- it's been a while!

It seems like I was holding my breath all year long for summer to arrive and now, all too soon, my favourite season is about to end. Luckily, I was incredibly blessed over the past few months as I was able to enjoy several vacations within a relatively short period of time. For instance, I went to Whistler and L.A. in June; Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia in July; and, finally, am going to Banff this week (where we intend to spend almost the entire time hiking the surrounding mountains). Plus, there are a few autumn trips in the works... So I can't say that it's been a dull summer thus far!

While I have plans (albeit greatly delayed ones) to write about those previous trips, I thought that I would throw an outfit post out there-- just to get the ball rolling again. For the first time in a year and a half, I visited Park Royal Mall in West Vancouver in order to check out their latest addition: Simons. This popular department store, which originated in Montreal, was a delightful surprise to my friends and me. Firstly, I was under the mistaken impression that it was a boutique store and therefore was overwhelmed by its enormous size. Luckily, my friend and I quickly oriented ourselves by making a beeline to all of the sales sections we could find. After buying several pieces and home decor pieces, I managed to find some great pieces on sale at Anthropologie and J. Crew. Luckily, by the time we hit Zara, I had managed to regain some measure of self control and stayed willfully blind to all of the greatly reduced sales items.

Dress + Necklace // J. Crew

Shoes // Aldo

This particular dress was a great summer piece that I found on a sales rack at J. Crew. If there's one store that I can't resist for sales, it's J. Crew-- I often manage to find some of my favourite statement pieces there. As soon as I tried it on, I fell in love with the lightweight material, the practical pockets, the blue-and-white pinstripes, and criss-cross straps on the back. The additional 40% off the sales price didn't hurt either.



While this dress is a bit revealing on its own, I was able to make it work-appropriate by wearing a white turtleneck shirt underneath. After seeing all of those Instagram fashion posts of gals wearing white tees and shirts underneath dresses, I was excited to finally create my own take on the trend.




Long story short, if you live in Vancouver and need to refresh your closet, head on over to Park Royal for some great sales and additions to your summer wardrobe. Your credit card company will thank you.

On the other hand, I plan to spend much less money on this upcoming trip to Banff. After a long road trip, I will be sightseeing, eating, and relaxing in the company of two of my very best friends. Within the following three days, we will embarking on three epic hikes and hoping for some spectacular views in between. Wish us luck!