Good Morning and Happy Friday!

I don’t know about you, but I think the only thing lovelier than a perfect blue sky summer day in June is a perfect blue sky summer Friday in June! Boom!

I have my son Shane coming home from Chicago for a quick visit, a dear family friend coming in town for the weekend, a blue sky forecast and a summertime song in my heart! I hope you have some time for fun and relaxation this weekend too!

So lots of lovely things to cover today, lets dive in! I have four different tops all being shown with white pants. As I said last week, white pants aren’t always the most slenderizing but I love the vibe, its like you are celebrating all things bright and beautiful! So I say go for it! (Just watch where you sit!)

First I have this Floral Embroidery Top by Allison Joy from Evereve (currently on clearance!)

The fabric of this top is light and airy, and it has this beautiful embroidery on the sleeves and around the base of the top. My bag is a little Kate Spade bag I purchased on one of their super sales, maybe 75% off? Mine is out of stock now- they go fast when they have a super sale- I got this bag for $79. You can go to their Kate Spade website and sign up for their emails. They notify you when the big sales happen.

It feels dressy enough for a nice night out with crisp white pants. But I think it would be cute with denim or shorts too.

You can see our hostas are thriving! And so am I!

Now I’m switching gears to a number of sleeveless tops. This summer they are all over the place. In fact, you kind of need to hunt to find summer tops with sleeves! So, I’m calling this the motivational series… I have a little bit of work to do to tone up my arms! But the tops are lovely and elegant!

I found this one last weekend while shopping with my mom and sisters. Its the Print Trim High/Low Blouse from Vince Camuto, and we found it at Nordstrom. I tried on a lot of things, but Mama said this one had to go home with me! I couldn’t disappoint my Mama!

You can see why they call it a high/low blouse… high in front and low in the back (thank you kindly, Vince!)

Just a fun top that feels both casual and classy at the same time. Very easy to wear.

If you look closely in the front door, you will see my bloggy doggy Kasey… a bit upset she is not outside with us. While we were shooting, a young opossum was traversing back and forth my next door neighbor’s yard, and we just know how social Kasey is…

Next is another Vince Camuto Top… (40% off, too!) Friends, Vince keeps playing my song this year.

And check out this fun bag from Target! It looks like its straight from the 60’s! (not that I would remember that, cough cough). In all honesty, there are about 20 bags I like at Target right now. I was talking with a friend about it, she said she can’t walk through that department anymore… I showed her I had actually taken photos of the purse display (photos are a little cheaper), LOL.

I wasn’t quite sure what to do for a necklace, but then I found this one in my collection (Double Horn Pendant Necklace from Stella and Dot) , and it looks like a perfect complement to the handles on the bag! The bracelets and ring are all Stella and Dot as well (from left to right, “Cage Cuff”, “Illuminate Cuff”, “Addison Cuff”) and my ring, “Maylee”.

Finally I have this bright tropical print top from… yes, Vince Camuto… I realize I may have a little problem, the first step is admitting it!

The Havana Tropical High/Low Blouse 

The outer fabric is this sheer flowy layer with a gorgeous tropical print. And safely attached underneath is a built in cami that perfectly matches the color! Vince always has your back! (or maybe your wallet in my case, Hah!)

It was about 7:30 or 8pm when we took these… I half expected to see a 4 ft ravenous mosquito over my shoulder photo bombing this shot!

I wish I had taken a better shot of this little cork clutch. Its adorable, and a great color for summer! Its from White House Black Market and its on sale! Cork has been an interesting and fun addition to the fashion world for a few years now, you find it in shoes, bags, and all sorts of things. Its an eco friendly statement and the color is a fabulous neutral with rich and interesting texture.

Ok, next item of business. There is this incredible lip color product out there that is all the rage right now, and I of course had to investigate it… and I love it! Its called Lipsense, I’ve been seeing it on my Facebook page and hearing about it for months. A lady I am friends with is a distributor for it. I started trying the product about 2 months ago, and its now my go to for pretty much every single picture I use on my blog because the color stays so bold and strong. These are the ones I have purchased thus far… one more on order right now. Yes I am wearing it in these photos. When you first apply it, it tingles just a little bit, but dries super fast and gives a pretty solid opaque coverage, and it stays put. No need for lip liner. Its a little bit addictive because their colors are gorgeous!

I asked Carrie if she would be willing to do a little video about the product with me and she did!

If you have questions for Carrie, I have a link and info below the video.

 If you want to see more colors and/or buy product, you can connect with Carrie at “All Day Lips by Carrie Bettinger” on Facebook or email her at bettintwins@yahoo.com

Carrie has also provided a link if you want to sign up to be a distributor. You will need to use her Sponsor’s Distributor ID Number: 195209

https://seneweb.senegence.com/us/career/sign-up/

Finally, I wanted to share some pictures from the great family time we had last weekend at my nephew’s graduation party. Thank you Shannon and David Shanks for hosting such a lovely party! And congratulations to my nephew, Jonny Shanks! Way to go!

These were the members of my family that were able to be there, my parents down front, all 5 of my siblings and spouses, and as many of my siblings’ kids as were available and a few of my parents’ great grandkids too! It was simply a lovely evening! As an FYI, the graduate Jonny is at the top of the mountain in a patterned shirt with my son Jake in a gray shirt. These are such great times!

My sister Susan (holding the cactus) had flown in from Florida with her daughter Megan, so we snagged the chance to go shopping and they had just opened a Kate Spade store with this cute little photo booth! One of us (not me, honest!) was weak and bought some simply fabulous things… (The one holding the Kate Spade Sign!) Maybe I can get her to let me snap a pic and show you! She has fashion in her DNA… for real. She is a fashion warrior!

If you scroll up to that picture from the reunion above, you will see my sister Stacey in the front row wearing a tee that says “All You Need Is Love”, and I thought, “what a perfect statement for a family gathering… and for life in general!” When you look at that mountain of people, each one comes with their own story, victories and trials, hopes and dreams, disappointments and challenges. Just like all of us. But when you step back and look at the beauty of the people you’ve been planted here with, they shine like jewels in a treasure box. You know that saying, “Can’t see the forest for the trees”? Sometimes we forget our greatest asset truly is love… and its bigger than whatever Goliath you are facing. That can give you real strength! Real peace and fortitude to wake up each day, lift your chin and shoulders up and press on! Each person in that picture has a small army of people rooting for them on this earth… even though sometimes we can feel quite alone when we are facing the valleys in life. But step back and take in the view.

One of my all time favorite movies is “The Princess Bride”,  and when Westley is being revived with a pill from Miracle Max after being “mostly dead all day”, his two friends explain the seemingly invincible enemy they are about to face. Westley asks them to list their assets. One of their trio has the brains, one the steel (sword prowess) and one strength. Westley responds “If only I had a wheel barrow!” (which of course they forgot to list that in the assets!) Sometimes we forget our greatest asset is love! That is a powerful resource! And its always in our list of assets!

As sure as the sun rises and sets each day, you can know you are loved, by family, by friends, by me (yup its true) and far and away the strongest love you are drenched in is by the one who created you! And nothing nothing nothing can ever separate you from it. That is a great comfort! Because whatever comes in this world we can face it, all we need is love, and that is something we all have in our closet and its perfect for every occasion!

Have a great weekend! I’ll be back for Tasty Tuesday next week!

Love Always,

Amy

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow – not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.”  Romans 8:38  NLT