Welcome to my new series, Real Talk, where I talk openly and frankly about my experiences with brands, products, life hacks, etc. The following are my opinions based on my own experiences. Please remember that not everyone will have the same experiences so what may be true for me won’t necessarily be true for you. 

I have a love/hate relationship with ModCloth.

I was really excited when I first discovered them years ago because the clothes were really stylish but had a cute, unique spin to them. They offered classic shapes and styles adorned with animals, food, and/or planets. I loved the vintage feel of a lot of the pieces, and I always thought the outfits looked like they would be worn by cool librarians who wouldn’t shush you for laughing too loudly in the reading nook.

About a month ago, I tried to end Nikki by example (NBE) because I felt like blogging has changed so much in the last few years. It seems that, to be a successful blogger in 2019, you have to turn it into “a human-sponsored product” by being an influencer for companies who pay you to convince other people to buy their shit. But enough of you talked some sense into my head and convinced me that you actually like my realness. I mean, my blog name even says “by example” so being true to myself and to you all is the whole point. During a conversation with Nick the other day, I was complaining about the quality of certain clothes and how I felt like I wasted money on them because of it and he said, “you should blog about that.”

Well, hello there! I know I said I was done but I received enough encouragement from friends and readers and the like to keep it going. I guess I’m no quitter 😉 (j/k, I legit quit things all the time – a bad habit I’m working on). Anyway, I’m back with my bathroom mirror selfies/Instagram Outfit Roundup. This time I’ve decided to go with a theme: dresses!

These are some of the dresses I regularly wear to the office and out and about. I haven’t featured these on the blog yet so I figured this was as good a time as any to do so. Enjoy!

Dress: Loft Outlet | Cardigan: Banana Republic | Sandals: Old Navy | Sunnies: A New Day via Target | Necklace: via FabFitFun

Hi, friends! It’s been a busy few weeks but this dress just couldn’t stay off the blog.

I didn’t think Nick had gotten me anything for Mother’s Day – because he hadn’t! – so we went shopping at the Tanger Outlets in Mebane where I picked up this cute dress and a few other things from the Loft Outlet. It’s my favorite color (purple) and feels like those t-shirt sheets we all had on our dorm beds in college, which is to say it’s so comfortable. This particular Loft outlet has a great selection of petites and that’s why this dress fits so well.

Dress: Market & Spruce via Stitch Fix | Wedges: J. Crew Factory | Sunnies: Target

On Wednesday, Nick and I took the day off of work to celebrate his upcoming birthday. We decided we would go to a fancy spa nearby and pamper ourselves with couple’s massages, relaxation, and a fancy lunch. This cute little Market & Spruce dress I got from my latest Stitch Fix is what I wore. The spa day sounded great in theory but, what I didn’t expect when I got there was just how out of my element I would feel in that setting. You see, I’m from a working class family where I was taught that your work ethic should be strong and the little luxuries were buying the name-brand cereal. Taking a whole day (or even half a day) to sit around in fancy robes and sip citrus water elixirs while harps played in the background was unheard of.