4th of July Style Inspo!

I can't believe 4th of July is already around the corner! The first few years of my life the 4th of July meant a huge party at my house that was a shared birthday party for my aunt and I.  Now I almost feel like the 4th of July is the start of the end of summer. Soon school supplies will be back on shelves and fall clothes will be hitting the racks. Nordstrom sale will be on every blogger's mind. Summer seems to fly after the 4th!

I bought this cute dress a while ago with the plans to shoot it as the weather warmed up and link, but of course by the time the weather has warmed up it is now sold out. I have scoured the internet for other cute USA pieces, some of which I own and others that I just think are really cute.

I have a similar pair of red flat sandals from last year that I loved to pair with my USA sweatshirt and to add a pop of color to other outfits. This year Target came out with a wedge pair and I had to have them. I will almost always buy a wedge over a flat because I am so short and last year it wasn't an option.

I am going to link below a bunch of cute 4th of July options and the pieces that I am wearing that are still in stock!

Liketoknow.it Day coming sunday!

What is Liketoknow.it (LTK) Day?

The app LTK has partnered with a group of retailers to do exclusive discounts this Sunday, June 23 through the app. The participating brands include:

Abercrombie and Fitch
Anthropologie
Colleen Rothschild
Express
Kendra Scott
Outdoor Voices
Serena & Lily
Sole/Society
The Styled Collection
Urban Outfitters
Victoria Emerson


What is Liketoknow.it?

LTK is a shopping app. I have been using it even before I was an influencer on it. It is like a Pinterest for shopping for lack of a better way of describing it. It has a feed that updates that can be browsed multiple ways. You can browse the feed of the influencers that you follow, you can browse all influencers, you can browse by putting in search terms like maxi dress, or by using the categories on the top such as family, under 50, etc. Unlike Pinterest though, all the items are linked and shoppable. You just click the product and it takes you directly to the store to buy it! I also use the app for fashion inspiration to browse styles and save them to recreate later.

It is easy to shop the sale! All you have to do is:

1. Download the Liketoknow.it app
2. Shop!
3. When you click on a product that is part of the sale a popup will appear with the LTK day code for the discount, just copy the code, and paste when you make your purchase!

Starting yesterday, I have been posting in my Instagram stories (youngwidowedstylishmama) looks from the sale. I have been linking everything in my LTK profile on the app (youngwidowedstylishmama). You can get a head start by "hearting" looks that you love from stores that are offering the promotion to go back and shop when the sale starts on Sunday.

Widow Wednesday--Blog update/ End of the school year!

I know my blog has been quiet, not for lack of things to post about, but because of the weather and how busy life has been. I haven't been able to keep up with shooting outfit posts because the weather here in Michigan has not cooperated at all. It is the middle of June and still pretty rainy and cool. I had some indoor ideas, but no one to shoot them if I am in them. Now that the kids are home my mini photographer can get back to shooting some looks for me. We already did one this week so look for a post soon! 

Plain busyness has also kept me from being able to post. The end of the school year is always so busy with dance recitals, end of year field trips, school activities, and photo shoots. It seems like time just flies after Easter. We also went on a cruise at the end of May which seemed to only make things go by faster. I am thinking of doing a post on cruises too. What to bring, helpful tips, etc. 

So that is a little blog update and why it has been so quiet, but I also wanted to touch on the end of the school year and this one in particular. This one ended a chapter for us here in the Chaptini household, we are out of elementary school. I am so sad about this. They say time flies and it really does. I can't believe both of the girls are done with the longest span they will have at a school and it went that fast. That just means the rest of schooling will probably go by just as fast. This also means we are that much closer to them being 18 and tested for the gene, which is something that makes me so anxious. I know I have talked about this before but while most kids are thinking about what they want to do in the future after high school I can't help but think about this being the beginning of what might be a long journey for them having to make a lot of other choices. College may not be a priority for either of them, but instead their health. Even though this is quite a ways away I just know how quickly it goes and it will be here before I know it. 

School endings used to be very exciting for us because Daddy would be home with us. My husband was a teacher, for those that don't know, and although he worked during the summer his other job and even summer school we would still see him more. 

School endings and ceremonies at school are just another time that I feel sad and think about how much their Dad is missing out on. I know he is always there, like on Lily's graduation morning my memory that popped up was a picture of us on her 2nd birthday (his last one alive) and some songs played that day that always make me feel like he had something to do with them coming on. In fact, the last little bit before school ended I heard a lot of songs on the radio that reminded me of him. I know I am lucky that the girls have a lot of support from other family that were at the graduation but it still made me sad to have to stand alone when they asked for parents to stand that were leaving the school that year. I know he would have been so proud to be there. 

Now that summer is officially here I hope to have the time to get back to my blog, because this is something i have truly missed doing!