Jersey Shore Core: A Photo Album

Surprise!  Last week's bit of a breather was actually a family vacation.  The husband and I, my parents, and my sister and her family piled into a house in Ocean City.  And one of my favorite things to do on vacation (aside from eating my weight in salt water taffy) is take colorful pictures.  So here are (more than) a few of my favorites.  

Free taffy for the first one to spot Gritty.  

Un Coffee Cake Break

I'm taking a bit of a breather this week.  So whatever you're up to, make it summer camp cool.  Although not really, because summer camp bites.  Better to bite into a cookie!  Here are some choice ones to try.  🍒🍪💖🎀😍

The Old and the New: Red, White, and Not Blue

Dress: XOXO; Bag: Tatty Devine, ModCloth; Shoes: Jessica Simpson Collection, DSW; Sunglasses: Zulily; Headband: New York & Company

Necklace and bangle: RETMOD

Dress: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's; Bag: Betsey Johnson, ModCloth; Shoes: Madden Girl, Kohl's; Socks: Xhilaration, Target; Bow: Carole, JCPenney

Dresses: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Cherries Jubi-Twee Necklace

Dress: So, Kohl's; Bag: Delia's, Dolls Kill; Shoes: Betsey Johnson, Macy's; Sunglasses: Zulily

Dress: So, Kohl's

Bag: Delia's, Dolls Kill

Howlite Delight Necklace

Dress, bag, and hat: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's; Belt: Belt is Cool, Amazon; Shoes: Jessica Simpson Collection, DSW

Cherry Gem Necklace

Hat: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Dress: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Dress and shoes: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's; Bag: Xhilaration, Target; Bow: Carole, JCPenney

Lettie Ladybug Necklace

These outfits feature stuff from all the usual places.  Mostly Kohl's, a little Macy's and DSW, and some ModCloth and Dolls Kill tossed in.  But they also include two somethings of a very different and therefore special origin: Etsy's RETMOD!  I stumbled upon this rad retailer on Instagram, hooked by its dazzlingly bold vintage product posts.  In particular, I'd admired a huge red heart necklace and was psyched to see that it was still in stock.  So I made it my own, along with a matching bangle.  I have so many things that go with both, but for their inaugural outing, my old XOXO polka dot shift dress was the obvious swinging '60s selection.

That said, I've moved on from red, white, and blue to red, white, and black, the colors of, not patriots, but pirates (there's a sports joke in there somewhere, but I'll leave it -- like myself in most of these pics -- on the bench).  And I couldn't let this opportunity of a color palette pass without making some of my own red, white, and black necklaces.  Not surprisingly, all are cherry-themed except one, which has ladybugs -- the cherries of the insect world.

Just think of it as me doing my part to create the vintage jewelry of tomorrow. 🍒🐞

Liar, Liar, Grants on Fire: Love, Academia Style

Ali Hazelwood's latest, Love, Theoretically was even better than I expected.  Once again, Hazelwood gives us a genius-yet-down-to-earth heroine who has only one foe more formidable than big, bad academia: herself.  This time her name is Dr. Elsie Hannaway, and she's a theoretical physicist with a concentration in crystals.  She also has type I diabetes and an uncontrollable habit of lying.  It's not that she's a bad person.  To the contrary, Elsie wants everyone to like her so much that she chameleons into the versions of herself she thinks they want to see.  It's an exhausting existence made even more so by her low-paying, no-benefits job as an adjunct professor -- and her side hustle of fake dating.  You read what you read.  Elsie pretends to be dudes' girlfriends for money.  But before you get it twisted, she's not that kind of escort, something she makes crystal clear when a lowlife client offers her seventy dollars to go above and beyond a dinner appearance.  So she's at the end of her rope when she discovers that the guy who can give her her dream job at MIT is none other than one of her fake bf's brothers and the guy who discredited her profession with one righteously indignant article.  

Ah, experimental physicist John Smith.  Because, yes, that's his name.  Or, as he prefers, Dr. Jack Turner-Smith.  Now, I have no understanding of physics whatsoever, but Hazelwood explains the theoretical-vs.-experimental rivalry in such simple and entertaining terms that I didn't miss a particle.  To that end, Jack may just be the most Hazelwood of Hazelwood heroes yet, calculatingly cockblocking Elsie's career only to end up being the key to unlock her best self.  The thing about Jack is that he doesn't like lying.  So he challenges Elsie to stop doing it, promising her that she'll be happier once she starts putting herself first.  It's a tricky trope, this alpha-male-means-to-an-end of unparalleled compassion.  Especially when Elsie discovers that Jack's been telling a pretty big whopper himself.  But as always, Hazelwood gets the formula just right one witty one-liner at a time, showing the world that the strong, silent type can also be strong and sensitive.   

Bonus of bonuses, Love, Theoretically includes a cameo from The Love Hypothesis's Olive and Adam as well as two references to Love on the Brain's Bee.  STEM academia really is a small world.  

And a surprisingly romantic one. 

Taking a Stand, Fresh Food on Demand

Dress: Mudd, Kohl's; Bag: Excel, Delia's

Enlightened Elephant Necklace

This isn't a rant about the importance of uncompromised produce in an increasingly GMO world.  It's just an account of a Sunday at our local farm stand.  Even if the husband's the one selecting the choicest tomatoes and peaches while I pose by the flowers.  To be sure, my sleepy stare and bedhead hair (just add a bow!) reveal that I've once again traded slumber for cucumbers and marigolds.  But I'm jumping for joy on the inside at the thought of fresh garlic bread and tomatoes.  Also, for the chance to wear my Enlightened Elephant Necklace, which I made ages ago but listed only yesterday.  Bold yet simple, it reminds me that happiness is less complicated than we make it.

Also that I should've gotten a shot of the awesome elephant ears. 🐘🍃