june in instagram

happy july! the month is starting off better than most because my best friend in the whole entire world flies into town TONIGHT! there are not enough capital letters in the entire world that could show how excited i am to see this girl. i visited her in seattle last october for her birthday/halloween and we had the most incredible time. we are going on 8 years of friendship and 5 of those years we have lived on opposite sides of the country, but that hasn't stopped us. we save up for trips to see each other once or twice a year and keep in touch with a lot of long facebook messages and funny snapchats. she is the greatest of ever and i can't wait to hang out with her for seven whole days! no work, no stress, just eating good food, drinking beer, and having fun. be sure to follow along with our adventures here! 

1. beer that comes in cute packaging is my fave
2. morning runs around the national mall
3. true life: i'm addicted to jewelry
4. not a bad view for fish tacos and margarita
5. slices of zucchini + sauce + cheese = healthy pizza bites!
6. smoothies and shopping with sister #1
7. birthday shenanigans with sister #2 (she's 16. #ifeelold)
8. natty boh, crabs, and good friends are the best way to celebrate summer
9. am i the only one who's a sucker for these?

you can follow me on instagram at nikkiwilliams11 <3

xxoo,
n

dream in neon turns one!

to me, dream in neon means thinking outside of the box, having fun, being crazy, testing your limits, and going after what you want. when i started this blog one year ago i had been reading style blogs for years, and always imagined having one of my own. it seemed like so much fun! create awesome outfits, take cool photos, and go on adventures. it would be like visually diary of my life. and on top of that, i loved graphic design! i could make my logo and create cute graphics. i had it all planned out. but i was nervous. of what? i'm not exactly sure. it just seemed like something that was easy to think about but would never actually happen.

then one day i just did it. i had just moved in with my boyfriend anthony, was working an internship part-time and was honestly kinda bored. it was summer and i wanted a hobby. anthony had been encouraging me and said he would take my photos. i thought, what the hell? let's just do it!  i put on a new dress and we met up for a date after work one day and he took a bunch of pictures of me and they turned out kinda dark and blurry, but i didn't care. i had outfit photos! i edited them and wrote a post about our night out in dc. i clicked publish. it was scary but i did it. i didn't tell anyone about it at first. i just kept planning outfits and taking photos. i had so much more fun than i ever expected.

now that i was planning posts, it gave anthony and i an excuse to get out and do cool stuff. we went on picnics, hung out at the maryland seafood festival, had our best friend visit, went to an awesome wedding, hit up the county fair in anthony's hometown, visited emerald isle with my family on vacation, went to NYC for the day, and so much more. it's so fun to be able to look back on all my posts in the past year and have a photo recap of all the fun things we did and all the cool places we went to.

i never knew how much i would fall in love with blogging. i got to meet a bunch of lovely ladies from the DMV area when we had a blogger bunch, i've worked with some awesome brands such as chloe + isabel and adore me, and i've created my two favorite kinds of posts-- totally thrifted and nine to five, that showcase my favorite thrifted finds and what i wear to work.

while there is so much about this space that i love, there is also so much that i want to improve upon. my goals aren't to post more or get more followers, my goal is to make this blog a representation of me. all of me. not just a few snaps of an outfit. i want to talk about things that are real and important, i want to focus more on writing out my thoughts and feelings, sharing more photos of family and friends; to put it simply-- i want to write from the heart. i am a writer by nature and want to dig deeper than just the color of a dress or what the weather was like today.

starting this blog has been one of the coolest and most interesting adventures in my life thus far and i'm so excited for the next year! thank you to every single one of you who reads this. whether you're my friend, acquaintance, or a blogger yourself, thank you. thank you. thank you. sharing bits and pieces of your life on the internet might seem strange, but if you're out there with an idea for a blog of your own my only advice is-- just do it!

thanks for reading and cheers to year two!

xxoo,
n

outfit details
skirt + headband: forever 21 (old)
shirt: random store in the mall (similar here)
shoes: buffalo exchange

all dressed up

well hello there! happy summer! i can't believe how fast june is flying by. summer is most definitely the greatest season of all and this summer is no doubt going to be a good one. we are 90% settled into our new apartment. pictures have been hung, furniture has been placed, bookshelves have been painted. i have had so much fun making our little one bedroom apartment feel like home. the next step is to get some pretty plants and flowers to bring some green to our balcony and spice the place up. we are having a "we just moved in so let's drink" party this weekend and i am really looking forward to showing the place off. i will be sharing photos soon!

this dress is officially the most beautifully crafted piece of clothing i own. i was lucky enough to win a giftcard to mata traders from the lovely rebecca of the clothes horse. after browsing their site i realized i was in for a challenge because i was in love with every. single. dress. or almost all of them, anyway. this one was my runner up. and this one was the runner up to the runner up. yes, i was having a huge inner dilemma here people! in the end, the colors and the subtle pattern of this blue beauty won me over. the quality of this dress is unreal. and bonus-- it's a fair trade company that works with organizations that educate, employ, and empower women. i couldn't help but to fall in love with this brand. i will definitely be going back for more purchases. 

it would probably be very un-style-blogger of me to admit how much i wear these sandals. but considering i don't take my title that seriously i will admit it-- pretty much every day. and by pretty much every day i mean i practically sleep in them. they are even ripping a little bit and that still won't stop me for reaching for them every morning! they are comfy, match everything, and are really, really comfy. i am just not a shoe person. yes, i have a decent shoe collection, but i still tend to wear the same pair over and over until they disintegrate. but shoes will never get me like a dress does! (i'm weird i know)

i hope you all are having a lovely tuesday!
xxoo,
n

outfit details
dress: mata traders
sandals: old navy

june in instagram

can't believe that's it's already july! this summer really is going by way to fast. these are a few of my favorite snapshots this month.

1. shopping with my sistas

2. finally got the apartment decorated

3.morning routine

4. nightly smoothie

5. new jewelry

6. hon fest with anthony

7. pretty in pink

8. second beach trip of the summer

9. kabobs and corn on the cob

you can follow me on instagram at nikkiwilliams11 <3

xxoo,

n

picnic in the park

well folks, it is officially summer in baltimore and it is HOT. there is no doubt summer is my favorite season. trips to the beach, tanned skin, sundresses, ice cream cones, swimming, what's not to like?! last summer i was in pittsburgh, so it was hot, but not hot. maryland summers are a totally different story because of humidity. it's rough but i try hard to appreciate it because when i'm back at school in the fall, and pittsburgh is in the single digits, i will be daydreaming about high-waisted shorts and crop tops.

saturday was absolutely gorgeous and there was no better way to spend it than at a park. we headed over to columbia and visited lake kittamaqundi. we had never been there before, but it's right next to mall so that was awesome, and it was so beautiful. it was just one of those days where the sky was so blue and the clouds were perfect and fluffy. i really love maryland because we get the perfect dose of all four seasons. yes, i loveeee summer; but if it was in the 80s on christmas, it just wouldn't seem right. i like how i get to enjoy each season individually (and the fashion that comes with each one).

       

to keep cool in the heat, i paired this thrifted crop top/tank with this fun skirt from scout. it was light and comfy. plus, combined with a fun pair of sunnies, i was basically wearing all the colors of the rainbow and it was awesome. this colorful outfit was definitely due to the fact that my mood today was above average because a.) i slept til eleven, b.) it finally didn't rain today, and c.) IT FINALLY DIDN'T RAIN TODAY!!

                   

we brought a little picnic of yummy snacks like fruit and carrots and hummus and packed our books and lounged in the shade all afternoon. it was relaxing and a great way to spend the day. sometimes you just need to lay in the grass and forget about work and computers and money and just de-stress.

              

we spent the day laying and reading and enjoying the pretty sights of the lake. i was so happy to spend the day with anthony and not have anything to worry about. i'm so lucky i have this kid, he makes me so happy. i'm glad i have someone who wants to go on little adventures and just really enjoys life. :D

                        

                 

how do you usually spend your weekends? what's your favorite activity when you need to just get out of the house? comment below!

thanks for reading.

xxoo,
n

outfit details
tank: thrifted
skirt: scout
shoes: converse
cross bracelet: buffalo exchange
flower bracelet/sunnies: flea market

date night in dc

thursday night i headed into dc after work to meet anthony to grab drinks and sushi.  his mom and sister are coming into town for the weekend and we had to pick them up at union station around 10 so we just decided to make a night out of it.

i put on a new dress that i haven't worn yet, that i got from marshalls. i was super excited when i found this dress because i'd been dying to experiment with the high-low style. plus, the lace cutouts on the side and the back give it some edge. it's a unique and fun twist to a simple little black dress.

  

we headed over to wok and roll downtown. its this great little place that anthony always goes to for lunch during the work day and i am pretty much always in the mood for chinese food so it was a great choice for us. we were stoked to find out that it was happy hour til 8! it's we ordered some sushi for appetizers at $1.50 a piece, and also got a few miller lites.  it was great catching up and relaxing after the work day.  

                              

dinner was great and afterwards we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather by exploring the city.  i grew up about an hour outside of dc, so coming downtown was never a big deal.  i sometimes forget how amazing of a city it is, because it's always been so accessible to me.  anthony is from pittsburgh and thinks dc is the coolest place on earth.  between the monuments and the museums and all of the important government people, it's basically his heaven on earth.

we just headed out of chinatown, and towards the mall, where the washington monument is and stopped by some cool spots on the way.  no matter where you look in dc, things are beautiful.  the streets, the shops, the parks-- it's just so much fun taking it all in.  i'm so lucky to have grown up so close to our nation's capital. there's so much history here.

  

 

i got this headband from american eagle a while ago.  it was super cheap but i never knew how to wear it. i always feel like headbands are so tricky.  like you have to decide if you want to go full out hippy and wear it on your forehead, or if you put it in your hair you have to worry about it falling out every two seconds.  but i discovered this way of putting it over all of my hair and then bobby pinning a few strands over top in the back so it holds it in place.

                        

since the dress is such a statement piece, i decided to go easy on the accessories.  i popped in some gold

studded earrings from forever 21. and of course i couldn't resist wearing my favorite boots.  i ordered

these babies for $35 on amazon through zooshoo and it was the best purchase i ever made. i have a deep, passionate love for combat boots and if it was up to me, i would wear them all day, everyday.  and these are obviously a million times cooler because they have studs on them and i would buy a pink polka dot sweater if it had studs on it. but since i don't plan on joining the armed forces anytime soon, sadly, this is not an option and i have to switch it up from time to time with flats, sandals, converse, etc.

  

so for the rest of the night we walked around and held hands and got ice cream and enjoyed each other's company. his mom and sister arrived at the megabus later that night and we're super excited to be having our first guests in our apartment! we plan on playing board games, cooking, drinking beer, exploring baltimore, and heading to the beach on a day trip! i'm so excited.  also, my mom and his mom are going to meet each other for the first time. which is pretty cool since we've been dating for a year and a half. it should be fun.

     

 

the "high-low" look is one of my favorite trends happening right now.  whether it is a dress or a skirt. what are your favorite trends of the moment?

i'll be back with another post soon. thanks for reading.

xxoo,
n

outfit details
dress: marshalls
shoes: zooshoo
earrings: forever 21
headband: american eagle