I love the beach. The sound of the waves, the nice breeze, the cute lifeguards. Ha ha.  It's so nice to just relax and sit in a chair reading a magazine, or lay on a blanket and get sunburn.  I burned for the first time in a looong time this year, but it only lasted a couple days and turned into a tan.

Song of the Day: Surfin' U.S.A. by The Beach Boys

Bikini: Marc by Marc Jacobs, One-piece: Michael Kors

Welcome to the first of many vacation posts! Here is what I wore for the 2 hour drive to our beach house in Rhode Island. When I say our, I mean the house we rented for the week. I wish we owned house on the beach.  The house is literally right across the street from the beach, so we just wake up and walk right over! It also makes night walks on the small boardwalk convenient (more on that later.)  These photos were taken in Galilee when we first arrived. We were a little early to pick up our keys so we hung out on the rocks and had lunch there.

Song of the Day: Down to the Waterline by Dire Straits

Tee: Banana Republic, Shorts: Zara, Sandals: Ancient Greek 'Ikaria', Purse: Marc by Marc Jacobs (Shopbop), Sunglasses: Ray Ban 'Emma' (Marshalls),  Belt: Kenneth Cole Reaction (Marshalls), Watch: Skagen (Rue La La), Rings: vintage & Mom's

I'm finally revealing my "secret," I moved this past weekend. I'm now living with my 2 cousins (boys...that should be interesting.)  The best part? Our amazing backyard!  The house is also right next to my Grandmother's house, down the street from my Aunt and a mile away from my parents.  Can you tell I like my family?

I've always admired this house because of the brook and forest as a backyard, and now thanks to my cousin buying it I get to enjoy it for a while. It's so nice falling asleep to the sound of the water rushing by.

The view from my bedroom

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As Danny sang in Grease, "Sandy, can't you see, I'm in miseryyyy."  He wasn't singing about a hurricane in that line, but whatever.  I was fortunate enough to not be affected as badly as others but I have my Sandy story to share.  When my roommate and I heard about the storm we decided it would be smart to stay with our parents for the storm and take a lot of our things with us.  I took all my really good clothes and a few other things and moved the rest of my possessions off the floor and put them as high as they could go.  I figured the water wouldn't go that high if we flooded. Boy was I wrong.  The water went up at least 1 and a half feet in the house, the floor was soaking wet when my roommate went to check on the house on Tuesday.  There was also silt and dirt everywhere.  The driveway was covered in hay, driftwood, bottles and other random items.  Luckily everything I left made it through okay, except my mattress. I took the rest of my stuff back to my parents house and I will be stealing my brothers bed because he is at school right now.

Enough talk, here are some photos of how I spent my powerless week. We were out of power from Monday at 6pm until Sunday at around the same time. (We borrowed my grandparent's generator from Friday-Sunday because they got their power back so we had a tiny bit of power)

My house after the storm...all that brown is usually a driveway (the inside is worse and flooded)

Putting the rest of my stuff in the car

Sitting with candles

Eating ice cream so we didn't have to throw it away

Making Cinnamon buns on the grill

Yummy

Playing Tsuro with the family (a fun and really quick game)

Playing Mario on an old Gameboy!

Toast on the grill!

Playing Apples to Apples (ignore how gross I look)

Took over part of my brothers room	My street on the news
Candle	Power outage dinner

We had such amazing weather last Wednesday so I decided to wear a sweater my mom passed down to me. My Grandmother made it a LONG time ago and my mom used to wear it all the time, too bad she didn't give it to me earlier this Summer, I could've gotten a lot more use out of it! But no matter, I'll wear it again next year too.

She also gave me two long sleeve sweaters my Grandmother made, one is a pink one she made for my mom, the other is really over-sized because it was made for my dad and he doesn't wear it anymore! Total score because over-sized pieces are on trend this season, and this is even better than buying something because whenever I wear it I'll be reminded of my Grandma.

Sweater Vest: Made by Grandma, Shorts: Zara, Sandals: Target $15, Bracelets c/o 31 Bits, Watch: Michael Kors, Sunglasses: Michael Kors (Marshalls) $20, Bag: Marc by Marc Jacobs (net-a-porter) gift card

This past weekend when I was home, my mom and I went through her old patterns because we are trying to recreate this Michael Kors skirt (because I obviously can't afford it.) We came across one for a dress she wore to some weddings. I asked if she still had it and, it turns out it was one of her favorites, so she did!

She made the dress back in 1994 (when I was 5) and here I am wearing it in 2012, 18 years later, funny how things work out that way.  She used to make a lot of her clothes, clothes for my sister and I, and even our American Girl Dolls! Unfortunately I didn't inherit her patience so I'm not very good at sewing, though I have made a few pieces (and quilts)

The last picture is my mom in the dress at a wedding with my brother. Sadly I couldn't find a really good shot of my mom in the dress, it looks better on the videos we have, but I didn't have time to get a screenshot from a home video.

Dress: Made by Mom, Heels: Marc by Marc Jacobs (net-a-porter) gift card, Bangles: Burlington Coat Factory $7, Necklace: Acanthus giveaway win
I look freakishly skinny in the last shot, I swear I didn't Photoshop it, haha...

Sometimes it's nice to be a kid again and not worry about anything. Yesterday I went home because two of my aunts and cousins went over to go swimming.  I wore a really simple outfit and promptly changed into my bathing suit so we could go swimming.  It was me, my 16 and 21 year old brothers, a girlfriend, my 11 year old cousin and 4 year old cousin.  We had a water fight. It was glorious.  Some random photos from the day.

P.S. If you could "heart" this video for me I would really appreciate it! The Contest ends in a week and a half and I need to get back into the top 10 to have a chance!

Dress: Kohl's, Sandals: Seychelles (DSW) $35, Sunglasses: Michael Kors (Marshalls) $20, Bracelets c/o 31 Bits, Watch: Michael Kors // Bathing Suit: DKNY 

Flowers!

Fabric to make a skirt like this Michael Kors one

Reading material, sunglasses and cute owl from Christine

And a front tuck into the pool! :) Like my hair?