Best of July

| Bag | Shorts | Flip Belt | Cliff Bar | Nail Polish | Jacks|

      This was one of my more boring months. I spent most of my month working as a lifeguard, and when I did have a day off I was normally in Door County. As much as I love Door County, it became pretty hectic as I didn't have too much time to do anything at home. 

    Since working was something I did a lot, I found myself loving my canvas bag that I got for my birthday. It was big enough to bring all of the food and water that I need to bring. I have used it almost everyday and it has made my life so much easier! At work I have also found that I like to eat Cliff Bars because they fill you up so much. I have a ton of breaks at work so it is nice to having something filling so I don't eat all day (this can be an issue...)

     Every morning I start my day out with a run that follows my training plan for my half marathon. If you like to work out, you need a Flipbelt. They are a belt that has pockets all around it so you can fit a phone, key and anything else that you could possibly need for your run. 

     Lastly, style wise this month I have been loving my Jacks. I got them at the end of June so this month has been spent breaking them in and wearing them all of the time. They are super cute and I have been loving them as a alternate to my Birkenstocks. I also got a pair of Lilly Pulitzer Luxletic shorts and I adore them. I appreciate the more casual Lilly. Although I won't wear them for working out, I like how comfortable they are to wear on a lazy day. Oddly enough, I have been really liking to paint my finger nails clear. I like how they have a shine in sun and aren't easy to tell if it is chipping. I find that it is the simplest way to keep your nails looking nice throughout the summer. 

What are you favorites this summer? 

xoxo,

Maddie

Thursday Three

This was a pretty typical week for me. I worked a little bit and had a few days off. I went up to Door County again, but this time it was just with mom as a girls trip. I had such a good time that I hope we can do it again. With that here is my week:

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It was one of my good friend's birthday this week so I wanted to make sure a special gift. I ended up making here the shell frame with shells I had collected from my trip to Florida this year. I then added a picture took this summer when boating to make it a cute gift. 

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I went out for brunch with my mom and sister which was tons of fun. I got a cinnamon roll and strawberry stuffed french toast. Both the food and the company were great which made for a fun brunch.

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My mom and I have always been fans of coffee. She likes all kinds and I like most, but especially love the "fancy" drinks. She found a recipe for cold brewed coffee and we decided to give it a try. This one had pretty strong coffee flavor to the point that it seemed a little over powering, but once I added some milk and chocolate syrup it was perfect. It was a very smooth coffee which reminded me of the Starbucks drinks you can buy at the grocery store. The best part of this all... it can keep for up to 2 weeks so you can make a big batch which will last for a while. This recipe is from Allrecipes magazine but the site isn't working at the moment so I can't link. 

I am thinking of doing a Q & A so do you have any questions for me?

xoxo,

Maddie

Guide to Longboat Key, Florida

I have been going on vacation to Longboat for the last 10 years and it has become one of my favorite places to be. Even though in all technicality I am a tourist, it doesn't feel like it which is really nice. Longboat Key is an island right off the coast of Sarasota. This allows easy access to a bigger city while still having the island feel. Most of the things that I have listed below aren't actually on Longboat Key, but in the surrounding area. With that being said here we go...

Where to Eat

The Salty Dog- This is a classic tourist destination, but don't let that stop you from going. It is right on the water which makes for some amazing views. When I was younger I used to get my meals served in a frisbee which I thought was so cool.  They serve good burgers and there is always some sort of fish sandwich or mussels which the fish lovers of my family really like. 

Portofino*- Portfolio is a cute little Italian restaurant. They serve great fish, but my favorites are the lemon veal, margarita pizza and calamari. There is also always amazing desserts here. I can always count on them for a good chocolate cake or some great gelato. 

Le Macaron- Even thought this place isn't a specialty to the  
Longboat Key area, it is one of my favorites to go to because it isn't near where I live. It is so fun to grab some macaron and sit outside watching the tourists around St. Armand's Circle.

Where to Shop

St. Armand's Circle- I adore the circle. It is a huge round about with shops all around it. There is Lilly Pulitzer (!). Sperry, Shore, a hammock place and so many others. My favorite places to shop are Lilly and a preppy store called Island Pursuit which has Vineyard Vines and Southern Tide. 

University Town Center- UTC is a big mall right by Sarasota. It has a Lilly Pulitzer, Dillard's, J. Crew, Lulu Lemon, and more. There are also a bunch of places to eat, so it makes for a fun day trip.

What to do

 The Mote Marine-The Mote is a research based aquarium which I would totally recommend. It is known for its shark research so there is a whole area with sharks you can see. The great thing about the Mote is that most of the animals there were found injured in the wild. The Mote helped them back to health, but if they could go back they stayed at the Mote. My favorite part of it is the manatees. Manatees have always been my favorite animal so I love the two there. 

 Beach- Longboat and the surrounding islands are known for the stunning beaches. With some of the softest sand and warm water, I spend most of my time at one of the area beaches.

Ringling Museum- There are about 4 parts to the Museum: the art galleries, the mansion, circus museum and the gardens. The Ringling Museum is on the property of John Ringling who made the Ringling Circus. He and his wife had an extravagant life, with a big house (which you can tour) and a lot of travel and art. I love touring his house because of how fun and crazy it is. I also think the art is interesting because it is impressive how much art they accumulated for being only two people. This is totally worth the cost of admission to see all of the museum. 

Parasailing- This is such a fun thing to do. Once you are in the air, it is so calm and peaceful. You can see for miles around. With luck, you can see turtles, dolphins or manatees in the water below you. This is something you could easily do as an afternoon or morning adventure.

Where to Stay

Longboat Key Club and Resort*- I don't stay at this hotel since to use my grandparents house, but since they are club members we get to use all the facilities of the resort. This place is so great. There beach is kept really clean and there are always helpful staff around. Also, by staying here you have access to about 5 restaurants on the island for guests only, most of which are amazingly good.

Rent- There are so many places to rent around the area. Most of the people are snow bird which means that they only live in Florida in the winter. In the summer there are a lot of open homes or condos available to rent through many different websites.


xoxo,
Maddie

(* must be a member or guest of the Longboat Key Club & Resort to use)

Outfit: Romping Around

| Romper (similar) | Sandals | Sunglasses |

Is this romper not the cutest thing ever or what? It is actually my sisters but it is only hers because she beat me to the rack. It is from Old Navy last year and boy did they hit the mark. It is super soft and comfortable. It is also really light which makes it perfect for the summer. I paired it with my jacks, which I happen to be in love with! I never thought that I would like them as much as I do. If you don't have a pair I would totally recommend getting one. The white color looks good with everything so I know I will get a lot of use out of them, and this outfit.

What color jacks do you like?

xoxo,

Maddie

Thursday Threes

This was a pretty busy week for me. I worked for 5 of the 7 days and then I filled my days off with almost as much as I could. I went to Door County for one of them.. surprise, surprise. As much as I love that place, driving there and back in a course of 24 hours is a little tiring. I'll be going back next week for a girl trip with my mom so I will hopefully have some cute pictures from that. So here's the rest of my week: 

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Every single time I am in Door County I make sure to hit up the Singing Donut. This place makes the best doughnuts around. You get to pick your glaze and topping to personalize them. You also see them being made, and they are fried to order so they are so good. 10/10 would recommend. 

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My mom ( her blog) and I tried the cutest dessert this week. These are mock cheesecakes in a jar. They were supposed to be strawberry flavored, but we happened to have a bunch of fresh raspberries so we used those instead. These were so good. I liked these better than a normal cheesecake because the texture was smoother since they weren't baked. Yet again this is another recipe I would totally recommend. (find the recipe here) 

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I had collected a bunch of shells over the past couple of years, but they had been sitting in boxes for quite some time. I decided to make a display out of them. I found some old mason jars around my house and filled them out. Later I added some gingham ribbon around the tops to make them more summery. I love the look they add to my room, reminding me about the beach even on the colder days. 

How was your week?

xoxo,

Maddie

Top Books of Summer

Summer is my favorite time to read. I get to chose every book, I can swing on my hammock and read, and it helps pass the time on my breaks at work. I love to read a great variety of books so I thought I would share my favorites so far.

War Brides: This is based during WWII in England. It is a story of 5 young women and how they navigate the war. There is everything from missing family, handsome men, hidden Nazis and elaborate schemes. There is a little bit of everything in War Brides which makes it great for all readers. 

All the Light We Cannot See: Oh. My. Gosh. is this book amazing! It also takes place during WWII but this time in France. It follows two separate tales. One about a blind french girl whose father worked at a museum. This museum house a famous jewel that Hitler himself wants. The second one is about a German boy who has a gift with radios. He was orphaned at a young age, but his gift gains him entrance into the best school which is ran by the state. The stories weave together at the end to form the most tragic, but beautiful ending. 

The Last Song: Yes this book is like almost every other Nicolas Sparks. But what makes this love this book is what makes it stand apart from the other Sparks books, it isn't as much about romance but a tale about a girl finding herself and building her relationship with her father. Even if you don't like Nicolas Sparks I would still give this one a read. 

The Firm: There is no romance is this book. The Firm is a legal thriller about a young lawyer who mistakenly takes a job with the wrong place. The FBI starts to question and follow, which puts him in a position that threatens his life. Every book that John Grisham writes is so gripping that you simply cannot put it down. Just this summer I have read 5 different books by him, but The Firm is the best of them all. 

Love & Gelato: Back to the romance and teen read. This is such a fun and easy summer read about a girl whose dying mothers wish is for her to go to Italy and meet her long lost father. Of course, while in Italy she meets this amazing boy, while actually two. The story follows her time in Italy with special attention to her two relationships, her dad and her boy(s). 

Which of these books sounds good to you?

xoxo,

Maddie

Saturday Morning Breakfast

My favorite thing about the weekend is that my mom will make me waffles for breakfast. Waffles are by far and away my favorite food. My mom always makes this recipe and its so good! I have had these waffles since elementary school for breakfast and they never get old. My mom changed the recipe a little and I would totally recommend making it!

Ingredients: 

-3 eggs beaten

-1 T vanilla

-1 T baking powder

-1 1/2 cups milk

-6 T butter -melted

-2 cups AP flour

Instructions:

-Mix everything together and make according to your waffle maker. 

-Makes 8 for our waffle maker

Toppings for waffles are so important. I normally just have maple syrup or powdered sugar. Other topping ideas would be fruit, flax seed, butter, chocolate chips and almost anything else you can think of. 

I hope you enjoy!

xoxo,

Maddie

Thursday Three

This was my first full week back from Florida and it went by so fast. I worked almost everyday, but the weather was cold(er) so life guarding was pretty boring. I finally got to go to Door County this month and I am so glad I did. It has always been my favorite place to be and I plan on going almost every week for the rest of summer (or at least the month). So here's what I've been up to this week: 

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Like I said, I was in Door County. Something about the water is always refreshing. It was so great to a rainbow Tuesday morning. It was the best way I could've have thought to start the day.

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I went to a drive-in movie to see The Secret Life of Pets and.... It was horrible. Well at least the movie was. But if you ignore the movie, it was fun to just to sit in lawn chairs and chill. One of the best parts was being able to see stars and curl up in a blanket.

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I have been making a point to try new coffee places this summer, and I found such an adorable place. The muffin was so good- it was chai chocolate chip. Going for coffee is my favorite way to treat myself and It is such a good place to meet with friends because no one cares how long you are there.

How was your week?

xoxo,

Maddie

Outfit: Swimin' in Lilly

| swimsuit | hat | glasses |

Last year I got a Lilly Pulitzer swimsuit and it has become my favorite one. The bright colors and fun pattern make is so unique that I know I will be the only one at the pool with a swimsuit like it. The Vineyard Vines hat is the perfect touch. It matches perfectly with the swimsuit. I wore this outfit almost everyday when I was in Florida and I know I will keep wearing it at home.

What's your favorite swimsuit brand?

xoxo,

Maddie

5 Things You Didn't Know About Me

As much as I share things about my life, I don't share everything. Due to this I decided to share some of the weird or different things about myself. Now when I say weird, these aren't all necessarily weird things, but they are things that you might not know about me just from my blog. Every person has random things about them that no one would expect. Its always interesting to hear about other people quirks. They always make me laugh, whether some one absolutely loves carrots or that they are afraid of circles.

1. I am afraid of ringing doorbells. I always question myself whether I should just walk in, especially at a party or if I should ring the bell. Then I get worried about what to do if the parents open the door. I know its a simple thing, but I just can't ring the bells without becoming super worried that I am doing something wrong. 

2. I am a goalie for my soccer team. I play varsity soccer at my high school and have played goalie since 6th grade. I get this rush whenever I make a great save which makes me want to keep playing all of the time. I don't know if I will play in college, but for know I love being a goalie. 

3. My favorite animal is a manatee. They have this adorable ugly/cuteness about them that makes me love them. They truly are gentle giants. The manatees that I have met just captured my heart with their playfulness. 

4.  I think that eggs are the worst food in the world. I have tried a bunch of different preparations of egg and I can't stand any of them. Both the smell and the taste, I find disgusting. I honestly wish I liked eggs because I feel like it will be harder to make inexpensive breakfasts when I'm older without eggs. 

5. I am terrified of worms. I'm not talking about the ones that you find in your garden, but the ones that can be found in your body. Even though I don't live anywhere with worms as an issue, it is still something that I can't handle the idea of. Just thinking about something living off me, especially in worm form, just grosses me out. 

Now that I have shared some of the stranger things about me, I challenge you to comment something about yourself. 

xoxo,

Maddie

Thursday Threes

This past week was really cut up into two parts... being in Florida and not being in Florida. Needless to say I definitely prefer the being in Florida part. It was just so nice to not have any responsibility for a while. Here's what I've been up to in the last week:

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Vacation was a blast. I was in Longboat Key for about 2 weeks and loved every second of it. The beach is always my favorite part, but I just adore being able to do nothing but read, relax and add in a little shopping. Hint: look for a post about Longboat coming up soon!

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Speaking of shopping, I went to Lilly so many times I can't count it. I tried on over 10 different styles of dresses for my graduation dress. Yes, you read that right, I did buy a dress for an event that will happen in 10 months. I was just so happy to find two that fit me that I bought both... oops. (this and one other that was on sale) I spent too much money there, but had a great time doing so. 

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I am happy to say that I have been slowly but surely checking things off of my summer bucket list. My list is 24 items long and I have 9 done. This picture is from the sunrise that I got to see, which is the latest thing off of my list. 

How was your week?

xoxo,

Maddie

Summer Playlist

Summer is the perfect time for listening to music. There is nothing quite like having the windows down, hair blowing, and jamming out to your favorite tunes. I have been listening to a variety of music types but I have found myself liking country more and more. This is probably because my work only plays country but either way there are some really good songs out there right now. I have other songs that I like, but I can never figure out the names of them which can become an issue. 

What are your favorite summer songs?

xoxo,

Maddie

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy 4th of July! (Isn't this picture my best friend took so good?) I hope you have fun and safe day!

 p.s. if you use any of my outfit ideas please send it to me so I can see it! 

xoxo,

Maddie

Outfit: Fourth of July pt. 3

 

 

| shirt (code: madeleineplatten16 for 10% off)| shorts (code: platten20 for 15% off) | flip flops | glasses | koozie  (similar) |

With the Fourth being only 2 days away, here is the final outfit. I will be wearing this for my family dinner and cook out. The Shorts are so comfortable, as is the shirt that it makes for an easy outfit. In this, I can easily run around and have a good time. My favorite part of the outfit is the pocket tee. Fraternity Collection has always done a great job with their shirts and this one is no exception. The pocket is made of quality material so I can put things in it with it being too weighed down (like my phone). I just got the koozie, and have never used one before, but now I'm in love with them! This one really does keep your drink cool and looks super patriotic in the proccess. 
I am happy to say that I am now a rep for Fraternity Collection so use the code madeleineplatten16 to get the shirt 10% off. I totally recommend getting one!

What will you be wearing for the Fourth?

xoxo,

Maddie