From Bangkok to Cabo

Hat (Jessica Simpson, Nordstrom); Dress (Target); Bag and Shoes (TJ Maxx)

My husband recently returned from a business trip to Thailand bearing gifts, including a new necklace!  He knows me well, and the piece he chose reflects colors I wear often:  orange, turquoise and green.  I was excited to wear it.  I was even more excited to find that it was a perfect match to a dress I purchased in 2010 for a vacation in Cabo, but didn't end up wearing.  The dress still had the tags on it when I pulled it from the back of my closet Saturday morning for a day of sightseeing, people watching and alfresco dining in our own fair city.  The necklace gave me good incentive to finally wear it, and helped me stay on track with the personal closet challenge I first talked about here.  Thanks, Lovely!

I really don't feel too bad about having let the dress languish in my closet for a while since it only cost me $14.99.  It's supposed to be a maxi dress, but I got it from the girls' department at Target so it fits me more like a midi.  The stretch smocking across the bodice reminds me of countless blouses my mom used to sew for me in the 70s.  In fact, I was very "anti-smocking" for a time and refused to wear them after a terrible bout with poison ivy on a childhood vacation at Dale Hollow Lake.  Smocked tops were all I had packed for the trip, and let me tell you, all that elastic itches like the devil when you're covered in poison ivy everywhere it touches.  I suppose I would have itched like crazy no matter what I was wearing, but for whatever reason I decided the smocking on my tops made it worse and moped around the whole week.  No moping for me last weekend - the dress was super comfortable and now that I have the perfect necklace for it, I'm sure to keep it in the mix.  Maybe I'll get the chance to wear it on a return to trip to Cabo...

Sporting one of many smocked tops sewn by my mom for my kindergarten school picture.

Fashion is what you buy; Style is what you do with it!

I'm linked up with Hat Attack - check it out!