Start of summer styles

My first post with some of my summer style and fashion starting to come into play. I'm excited to be a brand ambassador for Wanderer Bracelets, Sand Cloud, Ettika Jewelry, Silver Jeans, Tara Lynn's Boutique, and some other amazing brands I will be sharing coming soon. Some of my new collaborations are so exciting I can't wait to share but going to try my best. I have some really amazing swimwear lines I'm going to be sharing and reviewing bikinis or swim suits for. I'm also super excited that I won another Boys + Arrows bikini over the weekend. Nomad Chic had a contest over the weekend for the surf open and I found out this morning I won. I also won a suit by L Brand and have some other super cool designers to share. I also have some stylish coverups, shoes, accessories then of course summer dresses and rompers to show off. I will have my July 4th outfit inspiration post coming this week with tank tops from Target, Old Navy, Tara Lynn's Boutique and The Light Blonde. Shorts by Silver Jeans and Vigoss, American flag scarf from Target, headband by Itsy Bitsy bands, lots of cute red, white and blue accessories and even more fun beach or BBQ finds. Recipes for finger foods, drinks, BBQ meals and desserts all with American pride.

Below are some shots of Pinterest of some of the styles and looks, as well as shots from the sites the products are coming from. I will add where to shop below as well as links to shops, and some exclusive promo codes. Hope you enjoy my summer launch looks, and inspiration, stay tuned for my red, white and blue post later this week. Xoxo 

Wanderer bracelets use code Melissa10 at checkout. My link: 

Tank is by O'Neill Women's, necklace by Blackblackmoon and Forever21. Silver bohemian ring is from Bohemian Vibe Boutique and my bracelets are all Wanderer Bracelets, they have such a great summer and beach vibe. 

My anchor wrap, feather button bracelet, custom coordinates with tassel back, and peace sign. Where do you wander? I know I will be wandering all over the east coast from the water to land. Can't wait to share my wanderlust adventures with everyone. 

Won't need anymore go away Monday tees for a while but since it was the last Monday of the school year it felt suiting paired with my grey Silver jeans cropped and distressed. I adore Silver jeans and have long before becoming an ambassador. I'm proud to be able to be an ambassador and share a brand I have been wearing for over a decade that I really love. 

Wanderer bracelets mixed with some Alex and Ani bracelets in silver. You know I love to dress up my arms with gorgeous stacks of brackets of all kinds. 

Old Pebby Forevee cut off the shoulder mermaid graphic tee, wore with my caged cropped tank in white, then paired with my favorite summer shorts, love them so much have two pairs already and ordering a third. These are the dark wash and the boyfriend style by Silver Jeans Co. 

Necklace with tassels is by 31ements, an amazing designer on Etsy. 

Wanderer bracelets made from Bali with love. Every purchase you help secure sub sustainable jobs, and work for local Bali artisans. I love this brand and the bracelets are all hand carved using sustainable water buffalo bone, not ivory. They are fitting to protect against Ivory trade using this amazing product and so many gorgeous designs. 

Pam & Gela bubble gum tank I scored off ebay for under $40 with another eBay scored kimono under $10. My shorts are Silver Jeans boyfriend in distressed light wash. Told you these are my favorites. 

Necklace is an Indian tribal gold headpiece pendant by Fawning In Love of Etsy. Also wearing my pink Lokai. 

New tank from Target I scooped up for beach days.

Overall obsessed, posted about my fave trend with summer overalls. Paired these short overalls by Cotton On with a Rip curl turquoise or aqua tone fringe sleeve tank. Necklace is by Fawning In Love and bracelets are Wanderer bracelets. 

Another shot of my wanderer bracelets wrist stack. You can always see more of my arm stacks using hashtag #melissasarmstacks #melissastees for my graphic tee collection and have some for my many hair colors also, on Instagram. Don't forget to use code Melissa10 when ordering for 10% off your order. 

This awesome graphic tank with mermaid  design is from Old Navy. I want to get a new tattoo thinking partial arm sleeve since I'm running out of covered space and don't care anymore what other people think, I think the hair shoes that. Anyways loved this and was only $5 and had 20% off extra. Paired with wanderer anchor bracelet that matched perfectly. Excited for my mermaid take to arrive this week. 

Even though its summer and everyday is Saturday for me, Sunday will still always be my funday. This tank is paired with a palm tree printed gauze kimono I got off eBay, new boyfriend fit cropped, distressed SilverJeans. 

Close up of the amazing stone wash dark detail, distressing and tassels from this summer vibes kimono I got last summer. 

Target ruffle top, tassel belt, strapless summer dress. Looks amazing styled wit this lace kimono from awhile back at Pacsun, but will find similar items for where to find below. 

My Jewelry, starting with crescent moon double chain, was part of a three necklace set from Forever21, the arrowhead came in my Rocksbox, use code MelissasBFF10 for a free trial month no string attached try it and if you don't love it like I did, cancel. You get to enjoy your free month with unlimited exchanges of borrowed jewelry free that first month. After that it's only $19.99 worth every cent, I have had many boxes and am enjoying this one the best. My arrowhead necklace from my Rocksbox is by one of my favorite designers they carry, House of Harlow1960. I then wearing a blue and gold detailed risk, horn necklace by Fawning In Love on Etsy. Check out her shop because all her new designs are amazing. 

Sand cloud graphic tee with sea turtle log and one of their glass water bottles which is perfect for me since I'm drinking a ton of water to get bikini ready for shot for my blog. Will have more to share on my diet, healthy eating and cardio, exercise routine for summer time. 

Enjoy and have a fabulous week. Red, white and blue post next, then summer patio inspiration, recipes, BBQ tips and more. Xoxo

Where to shop: 

Silver Jeans, tees, lightened hair and pink manicure

Happy Sunday Funday, excited to say I finally was able to take some photos for the blog. Next weekend is my scheduled styled shoot but tested out setting up my tripod and using my remote with my Nikon D610, it was a success. I don't know why I waited so long especially since I have such an amazing camera and gear. I haven't been feeling amazing with the cooler weather my aches stand out more and seem to get worse. I mostly wanted to test doing this so instead of trying to squeeze every look I want to shoot for the month into one weekend collaborating with a makeup artist, photographer and coinciding with getting my hair done. This worked great and now I know I can easily set up a shoot anywhere, anytime.

Enough about that, I will have the photos later this week once I have some time to go through and edit my favorites for the blog. For now I have my recap from the end of the week. 

French Terry Oil Wash Green Top, Fashion Junkee

Thursday was a rainy day but had an important doctors appointment. Luckily my hubby is on a Thursday and Friday off schedule this month so he was able to come with me. Didn't get the best news ever but wasn't awful either. Being sore j wanted to dress comfy so went with my army green long sleeve top from Fashion Junkee paired with some old Silver Jeans and my camouflage Tom inspired sneakers I got last spring when we went to Jacksonville for Rockville. It rained the first day and my converse were still soaked when we woke up for day two so we went to Walmart to grab some sandals but I found these. Didn't want to get flip flops because I knew it would be mud pits and didn't want to be splattering mud up my back side all day lol. These were under $5 and best move I spent because they are so comfy. It was my last day with my dark red hair also because Friday I had my hair appointment to start the lightening process. I wore my Pandora feather charm my hubby got me to match the ring he got me back over the summer. 

I also paired some of my favorite Alex and Ani bracelets. My birthstone, initial, spiked green bracelet, pineapple, Buddha and feather charms. I try to grab ones that go with my necklace I pick out or match with my clothes and he green from my birthstone went well with the army green and camo I was wearing. 

A quote I found on Pinterest while waiting at the doctor's office. This is so true. I don't like hate at all, it's a strong word and a strong feeling that we shouldn't allow ourselves to ever feel. Sure there are a lot of things or people I don't care for or like but I don't hate anyone. Even people who have done horrible things to me. I find it's easier to not hold onto feelings of anger or remorse. 

Decided to throw on my Wifey tee from ILY Couture and some Pam & Gela tie dye grey stuffed sweats when we got home to relax. 

These pants are the ones mentioned above by Pam & Gela, they are so comfy. I went with a large and they are big have learned a lot of their items run big but I remember Juicy was the same way years ago when I wore the brand often. I use to wear a P or XS then, yes I was smaller but not a lot smaller then I am now. I have found I am a medium or small in the Pam & Gela pieces. Some of their tees or tanks are fitted but most are looser or oversized fit. 

Livin On A Prayer tee, The Light Blonde

Was excited to receive my newest pair of Silver Jeans. For sure my favorite ambassador program, they are and have been my favorite jeans ever for over a decade. These are a light grey, and are the Suki mid ankle jeans in distressed look. They fit amazing, have some patches under most of the holes to keep them reinforced, but then some are regular holes that you can see the skin underneath. Love this look. My tee is by The Light Blonde, another package I was so excited to receive. I am planning to use the tees from Ali's website for my upcoming feature. I was so happy when she emailed me back to tell me she liked my blog and social media, that she would be happy to collaborate and have me feature her online boutique, and amazing tees with such positive messages. Excited to share them all styled after my shoot this weekend. Have some cute looks in store and ideas or inspiration for styling graphics tees. Tees use to be paired with jeans or shorts but not anymore. I know I wear graphic tops with everything and to all style events.

Livin On A Prayer, such a good 80's jam and such inspiring words for a classic graphic tee. I can't get enough of graphic tees and tanks, I own hundreds now and you can see some of my collection on Instagram under the hashtag #MelissasTees. Again wearing my Pandora feather pendant and more Alex and Ani bangles. 

Silver Jeans Suki Mid Ankle Slim $99 Grey

Close up from the front of my new Suki Mid ankle slim fit, grey distressed jeans. 

Side and pocket view. They really are an amazing fit and the color is gorgeous. Not like any other pair of grey jeans o own. They are so light and have that nice washed look to them. These are for sure my new favorites. A must have for spring and the warmer weather coming soon for those in the colder climates right now. 

A few selfies from the weekend with no makeup, and my hair after attempting to lighten less than two month old dark burgundy red hair. It looks lighter and it's really pretty. Can't wait to get it all light so I can reveal my next color idea. I never have changed my color this fast. Usually I wear it for six months to a year but red isn't my favorite shade on me. It was really pretty and I got tons of compliments on the color but really want to go lighter. Been wanting to for a while and was there with the orange after the blue craziness but for the holidays wanted to try red. It was fun the Pravana colors are always a lot of fun because they are so bright and vivid but I am so excited for my next color combo that I am eager to get it light enough. It has to basically be white to do what I want to do. It will be a pastel lighter color combo for sure. Stay tuned.

Sunday Funday outfit was this Inc International Concepts metallic star 3/4 sleeve sweatshirt paired with you guessed it, my new favorite grey jeans by Silver Jeans. 

Can't get enough of these jeans. They are so comfy and cute. 

My pink sparkly manicure I got done today. Broke a few nails so went short. Even have a cut in my knuckles from packing away Christmas decorations. I did good I had long nails for a few months, since October and my nails grow fast so by next appointment they will be long again. 

Nails after my manicure, I use the gel polish now because it lasts on me the regular polish works on my toes but my nails tend to chip within a day or two without the gel. My toes I painted myself this time and they are Zoya Storm which is a light black glitter based polish. It has a grey tone which I love. The pink polish I picked is so pretty and girly, I love it. 

I will add shopping links below for items that are still available. Was super excited to score a Pam & Gela Sophie white tee with black lip graphic from Nordstrom's. Was surfing eBay and on the bottom they showed the tee on sale for $50.98 clicked the link and they only had mediums so I ordered it. Good timing because when I went back to share with a friend they were sold out in a few minutes, great price for sure. Have some amazing deals coming this week like always, and check out my prior post featuring a shop I found late last night. They have some amazing trends for bags, shoes and clothes. 

Off to relax, spent the day at the nail salon with my girls and then my Aunt's house to exchange Christmas presents finally. Sad she got news she will be most likely leaving for Alaska do to her job. She works as a traveling nurse and has been lucky to be here close to us for a while now, her contract ends in March and they wanted her to go to Miami or Alaska. She told us she would rather be in Alaska then fight the traffic from her current home to Miami daily. Sad to see her go since we reconnected last year during the holidays and have grown very close again. Hoping that because the doctors aren't happy at her hospital to see the girls leave that they will reconsider the contract so she can stay. If not I will finally get to see Alaska. That's one good thing. Lol. Everyone enjoy the evening. XoXo 

Where to shop: 

If I can't find I do my best to find similar styles, and items that are not on Shop Style I added links below the photos above to make it easier for you to know which link is for which items.  Enjoy and happy shopping 

Charming Christmas presents

I adore my new Alex and Ani chain station necklace and charms. Just learning how to adjust and add charms along with moving the beads. Have two more charms to add, the cosmic balance and Godspeed, then plan to get a P for my girls. Love the peridot crystal which is my birthstone and then hubby gave me the love and lotus flower, my friend gave me Godspeed and my aunt got the cosmic balance charm. Once I have it all laid out and finish adjusting will add more photos so you can see why this is the best charm necklace ever created. Love that you can adjust the length and add on new charms so easily. 

I also got the cosmic balance ring to add to my collection, and many new bangles in gold and silver. I am ready to focus on adding more color to my stacks and a few last charms I love. I feel blessed to have received so many new pieces for my collection. These are for sure my favorite accessories. 

Love my top green spiked bracelet and birthstone additions. I also got the silver spiked bracelet a couple of weeks ago. Not pictured here is my lotus, p, sunflower, and leaf bracelets. Also you can't see my quill feather good, I have two of them, long story but kept them both. I have the feather, pineapple, Buddha, hand of Fatima, monopoly dog (we have a mini schnauzer) and have a few of the silver beaded bracelets. 

My gold stack is the one that has grown the most. I am really hoping for more rose gold pieces in the future. I left out my FSU, Godspeed and Cosmic balance bracelets because I was wearing those but have my compass, love, heart wrap, feather wrap, feather, romance beaded, vintage 66 filigree beads and a few others in there that are hard to make out since they are stacked so close. 

I also gifted a lot of these bracelets this year. My aunt, mom, mother in law and bestie all got Alex and Ani charms for Christmas. 

I have the rose gold vintage sixty-six gypsy wrap here with some of my gold Alex and Ani. I enjoy mixing and matching the different metals. Again like j mentioned above I have added many new pieces but want to add more of the color beaded bracelets to break up some of the metal ones. One of my fab rotors not worn here is the Stargazer silver wrap, I had to buy it because it was on sale and couldn't keep it out of my mind after trying it on awhile back. My daughter has a few of her own but that is one of her favorites that she borrows and wears often of mine. I don't mind sharing since she shares her clothes and accessories with me when I want to borrow. 

Couldn't remember if I shared this vest I found at Target that is made of this soft plush blanket like material. Again an option if you like the faux fur styles without wearing the heavier fur looks. This is soft and light weight but still has that look.

My new jacket by Jet by John Eshaya. Scored this $395 jacket for under $50 on eBay. Love the black high waisted leggings and cowhide camouflage heels by Nine West. 

I think I have shared most of my other outfit posts and flat lays in prior posts last week. This week will wrap up the year with a few posts and celebrate the start of 2016. Can't wait to share my adventures and fashion faves for the new year with everyone. Already working on some spring styles and new trends I have been seeing a lot of from work. Excited to share some of my favorites. 

Hope everyone had an amazing Christmas and received what you wished for this year. I know we had an amazing holiday in my home and everyone was good this year, so Santa brought us lots of amazing goodies. My youngest is now working hard to learn how to ride her new bike so we can remove the temporary added on training wheels. We got her a beach cruiser style bike and it was difficult for her to balance but she is getting the hang of it. I got my hubby a bike and my oldest also got a new bike, so now we all have beach cruisers to take down to the beach and ride this year. Looking forward to it. Also looking forward to planning our annual family trip for spring break. Right now trying to decide between a cruise or a trip to the mountains, we love to visit NC and TN in the spring I am dreaming of moving there within the next three years. 

Till next time lots of love to everyone xoxo 

Where to Shop:

Wild and Free outfit posts from the week...

Wild & Free

My week of fashion, this week I was trying to get back into my daily routine and schedules. Snapped a few ootd shots and working on some new posts. Above wearing a floral kimono with fringe bottom from Day Trip, purchased at Buckle.com awhile back. My jeans are tomboy distressed jeans by Vigoss, my top is by Maurices.com and is a wrap front burgundy burn out top. Wearing a cream marbled tank under my wrap front top, from Target, and fossil brown braided belt. My purse is a brown fringe cross body tote with chain strap by Steve Madden. Jewelry is a Black Black Moon crescent moon pendant with crystal stone purchased from Ehler's Co Passion for Fashion on eBay, link is in my favorite shops and you can mention my blog to receive 20% off your purchase. Since it is eBay a lot of the items are auctions but once you bid and win just message Pam the store owner to let her know you found the link to her shop on my blog she will give you 20% discount. She is awesome and has so many amazing accessories and great fall/winter trends in stock. Will have more on her store and Nita Angeletti's amazing designs, along with photos of the two Black black moon necklaces I have from her shop. My other crystal bar necklace is from Tilly's I will also add a link for similar items since I got this necklace on clearance awhile back, I have some great Etsy shops I love that have similar items that are hand made and you can support small businesses. My bracelets are by Alex and Ani. 

A black and white shot of one of my arm stack wrist parties featuring all Alex and Ani pieces. Just got some of their newest collection of charm bracelets, wraps and a crystal beaded piece I love. Will have lots of amazing arm stacks to feature. Also purchased a couple hand made bracelets for my collection. 

Here I am wearing a fabulous army green vest I got on sale from Pacsun made by Gypsies and Moondust. My graphic tank has studded shoulder details and is older think I got back four years ago in the summer. It's from Macy's and made by Material girl, says young love and has the studded shoulder, high low cut and is worn look, burnout cloth with gold foil details. My awesome necklace is the Warrior necklace by Precious Heart Designs link in my favorite shops, I am a brand rep for the company and love their graphic tees and jewelry check out the page for sure, you're for sure to find some items you love.  My jeans again Vigoss brand capri jeans in distressed finish. More Alex and Ani bracelets. 

Love this brand featured above, Spiritual Gangster. Have a few tanks and tees along with sweatshirts, pants and yoga style pants. I purchased the above and a lot of my items off eBay then a few from their sale section on their website. Will add a link below to my shop on eBay and the link to their sale section also. Necklace is from the Lacey Ryan for Maurice's  fall line. www.maurices.com. I love this three layer necklace with a bar, arrowhead stone and gold feather. I love every piece I own and many other pieces I have on my wish list from the amazing designer. Her line with Maurice's is awesome and super affordable then she has her higher end line which is my favorite, I want every piece and wish I could afford them all. 

My daughter still has the Julep Maven box, I have not featured them lately because I have either opted to not get the box or swapped out items for eyeshadow, eyeliner, lipstick or gloss and other items. Got some great new makeup brushes and an eye brow kit last month. I was out of town so didn't get to pick what I wanted so get my monthly box, love the matte metallic and really excited to try the facial milk.  

Some of the new Alex and Ani pieces I liked, I also got a couple of the stackable ring charms as a spoon ring. I loved the older compass, new celestial charm and the feather and eye charm. I purchased both gold and silver. My collection has grown a lot since last year when my mother gave me my Buddha as a gift. Love to stack them and add other bangles I have also. 

Off to bed but have a great weekend, I will update with links tomorrow and more. Hope you are having a great start to November and the holiday season. Xoxo. ✌️❤️🎶

What I wore update for last week

Week of #ootd posts

Below are my weekly roundup of ootd posts from Instagram. I still need to link my Instagram account to my blog but working on finishing the editing of old posts to fix typos and adding links I haven't had a chance. For now here is lasts weeks fashion posts. Some I shared on some other posts this week so I will do my best to leave those out. Hope you enjoy. Happy weekend. Xoxo 

Sunday funday is always my favorite day of the week next to Friday. I love weekends but who doesn't lol. Shorts are from Target and tee was from Bealls Florida. 

On the top I am wearing a BBF, Save the sharks tank. 

Hella Good tank by Pam & Gela paired with Target gray and white marbled joggers. Got this tank off eBay for $20 was excited to add it to my collection of graphic tees and tanks, along with my Pam & Gela top collection. Love their designs. 

Had Dr. Appointments so always like to be comfy. Decided to wear a cotton gray maxi skirt from Marshall's, with a basic black tank and a striped grey and black tank over it. Horn necklace is by Lacey Ryan and you can find it at Maurices.com. Bracelets are silver bangle Alex and Ani charm bracelets. 

My arm candy that day, Alex and Ani. Also have on one of my PuraVida bracelets, you can use my promo code MelissaSep10 for 25% off your order. 

A night out in this sexy little fringe maxi I got on eBay for under $15. Paired it with Turkish bohemian inspired pieces I also got off eBay, the necklace was under $10. 

My bracelet is from Forever 21 and the hand bracelet is by Lacey Ryan.  The feather ring on my middle finger was a hand made artisan bracelet from Rockville in Jacksonville back in April and pointer finger ring is from Bohemian Vibe Boutique. 

My Free Spirit tank is by Bohocircus, paired with a floral kimono vest with fringe from Target, JCrew boyfriend jeans, Bohemian Vibe Boutique ring and fringe tote, and Adam Rabbit raw citrine necklace. 

Comfy clothes for relaxing on a raining day. Distressed boyfriend jeans by JCrew and Hollister boyfriend cardigan. Been on doctors orders to take it easy so comfort has been my main fashion focus. 

Striped vneck tee from Kohls, paired with a long black ecote skirt from Urban Outfitters, my necklace is a Indian made piece from Cherokee, NC.

Be Local tee from a shop on eBay, have to get the name off my Instagram, saw this on my feed and had to have it because I love cattle skulls. Paired it with an army green military jacket that has a removable fur collar which I don't have on here too hot in Florida. Jacket is from American Eagle many years ago. 

Aztec print dress from Kohls paired with a knit cream long vest from Maurices. Paired with Adam rabbit citrine necklace and leather cuff from Disney. 

Bohemian definition tank top by Boho Circus. Lace kimono from Pacsun and my skirt that I have had on major repeat from Forever 21. The belt is a beaded piece with a wood clasp, sent to me by one of my readers.  The necklaces are a feather gold charm necklace which was part of a set from Forever 21 and then you have the longer necklace from Buckle.  It is a long double chain with a crescent moon, then a circle with a silver stone, arrowhead and two quartz style crystals that dangle. My leather cuff is a personalized cuff with my kid's names, is a souvenior from Disney. 

The Easy Rider raglan by Spell Byron was just the right tee for a rainy dreary day on bed rest. Paired with their jogger style pants, I was super comfortable and warm. This tee is so soft and light weight, I love these types of tees. Who doesn't love a soft tee shirt? 

Last up my post from today, to get me in the fall and Halloween decorating spirit. Wearing a cream plain basic tank and Buckle brand distressed boyfriend shorts with this gorgeous coral and orange ombré, ecote poncho from Urban Outfitters. Accesorized it with some Lacey Ryan beaded bracelets and my leather cuff from Disney, then layered up some of my favorite necklaces, including a babe charm, (my hubby always calls me babe or wifey), my rhinestone feather pendant and a long raw citrine necklace made by Adam Rabbit Jewelry on Etsy. 

Hope you enjoyed my weekly ootd posts from my Instagram account and have a great weekend. XOXO ❤️✌️