folklife festival

a couple weekends ago anthony and i went to the smithsonian folklife festival at the national mall. they had a whole bunch of cool tents set up with music, crafts, and food! it was a hot day, so we just wandered around and tried to find shade to stay cool. the mall was absolutely packed with families, couples, and the usual bike riders. dc is definitely a city that is on the go. i know new york gets the rep for the city that never sleeps, but dc definitely wins the award for most active. 

i wore my crazy printed maxi skirt and felt like i fit right in with all of the awesome colors that were at this place. so many pretty fabrics, bags, and knick knacks, it took all of my self restraint not to just buy everything in sight. i'm such a sucker for a good pattern. whether it's on a piece of clothing, artwork, or a blanket, i just can't stay away. wait til you see my apartment!! there's so many colors and prints and random things throughout it. i'm still working on some last minute finishing touches and then i'm gonna post the full apartment tour. yay!

i couldn't get over this crazy awesome colorful wall! they had the festival broken up by different countries and this was in the china section. all of the details were just so beautiful. i loved that i unintentionally matched in my yellow crop top. this little thrifted shirt is the comfiest thing in my closet. and it's yellow so it matches everything. cause everything goes with yellow right? (oh is that just me?)  and the best part about this wall-- all of the tourists were taking pictures so anthony and i taking outfit photos fit right in :) 

well i'm off to spend my saturday lounging by the pool with anthony and a good book. happy weekend!
xxoo,
n
outfit details
crop top + sandals + necklace: thrifted
skirt: scout
sunnies: target

fourth of july roadtrip

this fourth of july was definitely my favorite one yet. my best best best friend brittany got into town on july first and we hung out around dc for a couple days. she grew up here, but it's been a while since she has visited this city. we spent a lot of time in chinatown, hit up some happy hours, and did a little too much shopping. but it wasn't long before we hit the road to visit anthony's family in pittsburgh! we had our own little roadtrip. the weather was perfect-- blue skies, a great breeze, we couldn't have asked for a better day.

we grabbed some outfit shots before we head out. my summer go-to outfit is a tank and a maxi skirt. you honestly can't get more comfortable than this. this floral skirt is one of my best thrifted finds to date. great length, great print-- you just can't beat it. brittany went for some cute denim cut-offs and a lacy tank. safe to say we were comfy and cool for our 6 hour drive! 

 once we arrived in ellwood city, we immediately went into holiday mode. we picked up plenty of beer, ordered some pizzas, and sat out on the front porch talking all night long. oh and there was a hot tub involved. lots and lots of hot tubbing! it had been way too long since i'd seen anthony's family so we had tons much fun just hanging out and catching up. they are truly my second family and i'm so lucky to have them. 

on fourth of july we all donned our red, white, and blue and went to the ellwood city festival. i wore new skirt i picked up at h&m recently with a giftcard i won through the lovely dylana of color me nana. i am obsessed with high wasited skirts right now! paired with this little crop top and red lips, i felt in the fourth of july spirit! anthony's town takes this holiday very seriously. there's tons of good food, booths with arts and crafts for sale, and live music. we wandered around for a bit and filled up on festival food (aka the greasiest and least healthy food ever and it's awesome). 

fourth of july is such a fun holiday, and this one was even more special because i got to spend it with all of my favorite people. i love having both anthony and brittany by my side. we're the three best friends that anyone could have (hehe). check out last year's fourth of july here. i just love this holiday! i hope you all enjoyed celebrating. 

xxoo,

n

check out this little video i made of our adventure: 

july in instagram

helloooo august! i'm currently sitting in bed with a cup of coffee catching up on my bloglovin feed. (follow me here). it's a rainy day here in emerald isle and we had pancakes for breakfast and will spend the day playing board games and relaxing. hopefully the weather clears up by tomorrow so we can enjoy the ocean some more!

these are a few of my favorite snapshots from july.

1. decked out in red, white, and blue with the lovely maddie for 4th of july

2. anth's parents breed cockerspaniel pups and they are cute

3. jukebox the ghost live and for free, y'all!

4. the beautiful DMV bloggers

5. homemade bloody mary's by yours truly

6. the first night's beautiful sunset in emerald isle 

7. me and my sis jessica being silly

8. corona, a book, and the beach = my favorite things

9. my mama's birthday celebration

you can follow me on instagram at nikkiwilliams11 <3

xxoo,

n

boardwalk empire

so we've only been in emerald isle, nc for two full days and i'm already in love. its a little island only 26 miles long but has so much to offer. there's consignment shops, sea food restaurants, and they sell beer in grocery stores (yay for awesome liquor laws lol). we are a two minute walk to the ocean from our house, and have been spending our days swimming, tanning, reading, and napping. talk about the good life. 

it's so great spending time with my family and just relaxing. i have so much fun with my siblings and it's awesome having all of us in one place. i can't even remember the last time i was on vacation with my whole family! it's such a good change of pace from work and school and the real world. i wake up and can hear the waves from my window and feel so blessed.

i've been keeping my style during this trip super simple and easy. it's hot and most of the day is spend in a bathing suit. lots of sundresses and flowy skirts for me! we've had absolutely great weather so far and the water is perfect. so warm and the waves are huge! it's so different than the beach at rehoboth, de (where i usually go). i feel like a fish because i love the water so much!

this is the little boardwalk that connects the road to the beach. everything is so beautiful here. the houses are colorful and the view of the ocean is mesmerizing. i'm so pumped to be here for two whole weeks! it's insane. summer vacations are the best things about summer and the beach is my favorite place on earth. i couldn't be happier to be here.

i got this skirt from forever 21 a few years back and i just can't get enough of the pattern. i love the flowers and it seemed like the perfect summer outfit paired with a simple white tank. i'm so excited for the rest of our trip. tomorrow's my mom's birthday, anthony comes this weekend, we are going to kayak, bike ride, and of course, swim and tan more! life is good, folks.

what are you guys up to this week? i'd love to hear! stay tuned for more posts. thanks for checking in.

xxoo,

n

outfit details

skirt: forever 21

tank: thrifted

sandals: thrifted

flower child

i don't know about you but i have this inner hippie side of me that i have to try to keep tame most of the time. but every once in a while i give up and just embrace it. and this time, by embracing it mean throwing on some lace and fringe and frolicking through a field of flowers. oh, how i wish i could time travel back to the 70s, just to experience the fashion. its definitely the decade that inspires me the most.

last weekend, anthony and i set out on an adventure to find a sunflower field. i had read an article online that there was a huge, beautiful field pretty close to our apartment and the photos looked absolutely perfect. i was so excited to see it in person and take some cool shots. sunflowers are my second favorite flower (daisies are number one) and a whole field of them sounds pretty magical to me.

we get in the car and start driving, and eventually we got to where the fields should be. and as you can see, the photos in this post are most definitely not sunflowers. we stopped and asked someone what happened and they said they didn't plant them this year! say whaaat?! there was only fields and fields of corn. ha! oh well, what can ya do? we tried not to let it ruin and day and we just decided to do some more exploring. we ended up finding these pretty white cotton ball looking flowers and i think they look so cool with my dress.

this lace dress is one of my favorites. i found it on the clearance rack at tj maxx a while back when i was shopping for work clothes. it's just so pretty. lace is one of my favorite things ever and i can pair this dress with so many things since it's off white.

and this fringe vest, i love love love it. it's so fun and makes me feel like i should be at woodstock or something. the color is awesome and can we just talk about the fact that i got it at walmart for like 10 bucks or something? keep your eyes open for good deals everywhere people! you never know what you will find.

what decade inspires your style the most? i'd love to hear.

thanks for stopping by!

xxoo,
n

outfit details
dress: tj maxx
vest: walmart
sandals: thrifted
jewlery: forever 21

nine to five

another week of this glorious summer is over, and this time, i'm a little sad. i've been at my internship with givecorps for the past 8 weeks and it has been an amazing experience. it's such a fun company and a great work atmosphere. my coworkers and awesome and the other interns were so cool! i truly feel lucky to have met such nice people and to have gotten the chance to grow as a graphic designer.

internships are tricky because by the time you get comfortable with the people and the company, they're over! it really sucks because it can be hard to get into the groove and make friends. since this internship was over the summer (and not during the school year) i felt like i got to spend more time in the office and can honestly say i felt as though i made friends and got to learn more than i ever could have expected. and the great news is, they hired me part time for the fall semester (when i'm back at school in pittsburgh) and i couldn't be more thrilled! *insert one million smiley faces here*

you can never go wrong wearing a pencil skirt and a blouse to work. in the summer it was my go-to outfit of choice. it's simple and professional, and easy to add pizazz with a statement necklace. this color combination is my favorite. salmon is the perfect color, i swear. 

anthony and i celebrated last night by picking up some crabs and shrimp from the grocery store and having a delicious seafood feast. he sure knows how to make a girl happy. (well me at least; i loooooove food lol) it was great! life is so good right now i have absolutely no complaints.

since it was my last week at givecorps, my wonderful coworkers planned a drinks/appetizers outing to this amazing restaurant in hampden called the food market. i got a delicious girly cocktail and we tried pretty much all of the appetizers on the menu. i was so glad everyone took the time to go and hang out outside of the office before i left! it was so great getting to know everyone and i am excited to continue working with them in the fall.

now that i'm done working for the summer, and i have a few weeks before i go back to school, i am so so so excited to be going on vacation with my family to emerald isle, nc!!! two weeks on the beach with my mom and stepdad, all of my siblings, and my newest little niece. i truly couldn't be more excited! we leave on sunday and i'm already all packed for probably the best vacay of all time.

does anyone else have any fun vacation plans this summer? i'd love to hear! and stay tuned for more posts coming up while i'm at the beach. thanks for stopping by.

xxoo,

n

outfit details

skirt: buffalo exchange

blouse: thrifted

sandals: old navy

necklace: forever 21

bloggers who brunch

this weekend was so fun and eventful, i'm still catching up on posts! recently, i joined a group on meet up with other style bloggers from the dc/maryland/virginia area. i was in contact with a few of them and had seen their blogs, but we had all never met in person! sunday, our group leader akinyi (from fits on me) planned a lovely little brunch in bethesda for all of us to get together and meet. it was so much fun and i'm so excited to get to know these ladies more!

check out their blogs (l to r): 1//2//3//4//5

we went to la madeleine, the cutest little french cafe, ate croissants, and talked about why we starting blogging and what it means to us. i was excited that i wasn't the only one who has just recently started blogging and was happy to meet other newbies. akinyi planned the cutest little get to know you games and we just chatted and of course ended the afternoon with a photo shoot! 

every single one of these girls is gorgeous and all of their blogs are so fun and unique. it was so nice to hang out with other people who love blogging as much as i do, and get some tips from the more experienced bloggers of the bunch. its so great how each of us had such a different perspective on blogging and how we interpret fashion, but for all of us it's just a great outlet to express ourselves.

akinyi was so prepared she even made us little goody bags and handed them out before we left! mine had a yummy cake, a face mask kit, nail polish, and a cool vintage post card. it was such a fun day and i can't wait for more outings and events so i can keep learning, growing, and meeting new people. the blogging community is such a fun and creative atmosphere.

it was so much pressure waking up sunday and picking out what to wear, because c'mon! i was getting ready to meet 5 super stylish ladies. but i decided to go with this pretty mint dress from forever 21 and pair a lace tank over top. if i'm wearing a sundress i am one happy camper. the day couldn't have been better and i can't wait to see what is in store for us DMV bloggers. it should be interesting!

what are some of your guys favorite blogs? i would love to hear! thanks for reading.

xxoo,

n

outfit details

dress: forever 21

tank: tj maxx

sandals: kohls

jewerly: forever 21