July Favorites

Can you believe it's August?! Summer is truly flying by and I hate it! Summer is my favorite time of year, my soul just feels RIGHT in the summertime. However, I have to admit I was smelling some fall candles over the weekend, and I won't be TOO disappointed  to see fall come...

With a new month comes new favorites, here's everything I've been loving all of July!

  1. Eyelet midi dress: This dress is the easiest throw-on-and-go dress! It's under $30, super comfortable, and lightweight to keep you cool for summer. It also comes in ivory and coral.
  2. Canned vodka sodas: I spotted these on sale at the grocery store and had to give them a try. I got the lime and the grapefruit and they're SO good! They have 5% ABV and 99 calories. There are also a bunch of other canned cocktails available from the same brand, including bloody Marys, gin and tonics, and palomas, as well as some more unique concoctions.
  3. Peony hand soap: My mom has this at her house and it smells so good! I love the Mrs. Meyers brand, and they have some really unique fragrances. She got hers at Target but it looks like they're sold out, but the Mrs. Meyers site still has it!
  4. "Viva OPI" nail polish: In the summertime, I love a good firey orange-red nail color. I have a handful of favorites, but this one may just trump them all. It's much more vibrant and beautiful in person!
  5. Mercer crossbody: I've had this bag for a couple of years now, but it truly has been my quarantine hero. I used to only wear it on the weekends when I wanted a smaller hands-free bag, but it's pretty much been all I've carried the past several months so that I didn't have to worry about holding onto a bag whenever I went out. It's plenty big for all of your essentials, and it has a zipper pocket in the middle for anything you don't want "exposed."
  6. Sam Edelman Bay sandals: I was in need of some dressy-ish black sandals that were easy to throw on but nice enough to wear to work. These fit the bill, and I love them! They're super comfortable and true to size. They come in a bunch of colors and patterns, and they go on sale often. I just ordered another pair in rattan, and they have a gorgeous deep mahogany leather. 
  7. JD Glow Cosmetics eyeshadows: I discovered this brand on Instagram, and saw that they have a beautiful shade of bronze eyeshadow. I've been looking for the *perfect* bronze single eyeshadow for my skin tone, and the Metallon shadow in "deep bronze" is the one! I also ordered the Metallon shadow in "rich," and the shimmer shadow in "gleam." They're so good, and affordable! The formula of the Metallon shadows is my favorite, and I'm also itching to try their Galaxy shadows, too. They're a small company so many of their products are often sold out, but they're worth waiting for a restock! The eyeshadows ship as a single pan without a compact or any true packaging, and I tragically DROPPED and DESTROYED my deep bronze one one day when I was using it, so I immediately reordered it, along with a magnetic palette to keep my single pan shadows safe. That's how you know they're good! 
  8. White Tea Mandarin Blossom perfume: I ordered this perfume blindly because it's relatively inexpensive and I was intrigued by the white tea element. The notes are mandarin, white tea, and luminous musk. It's a super fresh and yummy floral for summertime! The only downside is that it doesn't last all day, and once it's gone, it's GONE. Like, no TRACE of scent left on your skin. 
  9. Purito Comfy Water sunscreen: My Insta-friend Nicolette recommended this sunscreen to me, and I absolutely LOVE IT. I had asked her for a mineral sunscreen she liked because I've been interested in trying one, and this one is SO good. I was a little nervous to start using it because mineral sunscreens have a reputation of leaving a white cast on your skin that never absorbs, but I have no trouble with that with this sunscreen whatsoever. Plus, this one is Korean, and it's well known that Korean sunscreens are more carefully formulated than a lot of domestic options. I trust this one more than the one I had been using previously, plus it's affordable compared to all of the luxury options out there! 
  10. Unsolved Mysteries: I love a good true crime show, so I was excited to watch the new iteration of Unsolved Mysteries on Netflix. The first episode was the most intriguing to me. I woke up in the night stressing over it, and that NEVER happens to me, ha! I feel so bad for the families of the victims, I cannot imagine going through life just wondering what happened. The rest of the episodes are really good too; the French one was super enthralling, but I thought the UFO one was pretty hokey, ha. I wish there were more than six episodes! 
  11. Tropical detox smoothie recipe: I posted my tropical detox smoothie recipe last month, and you guys have been loving it! It's my take on the "detox island green" smoothie from Tropical Smoothie Cafe, and I enjoy my version just as much, if not more. 
  12. Orzo with roasted vegetables recipe: My friend's mom made this for my bridal shower last summer and gave me the recipe, and it has become my go-to dish for bringing to cookouts and potlucks. It is SO addicting, and I have to admit, if I had first seen the recipe without trying it, it's never something that I would've thought I would like. Eggplant? Pine nuts? Ehh... But trust me, it's SO good, and such a crowd-pleaser (although I shouldn't have expected any less from Ina Garten). I've had a weirdly difficult time finding orzo in stock lately, so I've made this using ditalini and I might like it even MORE that way. 

Have a great week!!

xoxx, Laura

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