Every Sunday, I stop by to share with you a few raw and real stories from my week in The Sunday Edit. Stories where I edited struggles into strengths and found Gem moments when shining seemed impossible. In a world where everyone filters what they share online, I want you to see you’re not alone and I want to inspire you to have more good days. You’ll also find what products have been making my life easier, what new Gem finds I’ve come across, and the best sales going on right now!
**This post may contain affiliate (which means I make a small commission when you shop from them) and sponsored links (gifted items are indicated with a [c/o] and sponsored links with a [sp]) because we all have to pay our bills, and I’d rather keep creating awesome content for you than get a real job. All opinions are my own.**
Last Week on The Gem:
- A Perfect Purple Dress at Pitt (makes a great wedding guest dress and it’s only $27.99!)
- Basket Bags for the Beach
- 6 Ways to Wear Summer Stripes
- The Sunday Edit – Volume 7
Life Stuff:
College was a challenging time for me. Partially because it was just weeks before I got my acceptance letter to The University of Pittsburgh when my dad committed suicide. Partially because I’m not the best test taker and “choose the best answer” and “select all that are correct” questions are trickery that simply should not exist. And yet, going back to shoot some photos and video for the wedding guest look I posted on Friday was quite a lovely day. Just like college was a major life chapter, there’s another chapter in my life right now closing as well – the relationship I’ve been in for over 4 years.
As I was enjoying the scenic architecture of the Pitt campus, I remembered how hard those college years were and I also reflected on the good memories I had made during them. Despite all the hard moments, I was able to look back to both appreciate and remember the beauty of that environment.
This relationship is really hard to let go of because it’s filled with so much beauty and strength. We’ve spent a lot of years putting in the work to build a lifestyle together that we both enjoy (we just want different things for our futures). But just like my old college campus, it’s grounds I’ve done a lot of learning on. I’ve tried hard to forget most of my other ex’s and I don’t want to do that this time. I want to be able to walk through our memories and appreciate the beauty that’s in them. It would be so much easier to shut myself off and repress all of our wonderful times together in order to get through this with less pain. But I’m going to stand here and work through it, because this isn’t a chapter I want to forget.
Sometimes, no matter what, we simply can’t have what we want. And that’s hard. It makes us want to run and hide and point fingers and block things out. It makes us want to turn off and shut the world out. It makes us want to forget. But forgetting is a dangerous path to go down because there’s no guarantee we’ll be able to recall those moments and the lessons and stories hidden inside of them once they slip away. It’s much, much harder to stand still and be present when a chapter closes and when we’re faced with something we must walk away from. But we can do this. We don’t have to shut our eyes and close off our hearts until it’s over. We are strong enough to keep our eyes open. Strong enough to stand in this part of our stories and take all we can away from it.
If this message landed with you at all or if you have had any similar experiences, I would be SO honored if you’d share a little bit of your heart with me in the comments section!
Latest Finds & Sales:
The Nordstrom Anniversary sale is now open to the public! I know that Nordstrom can be a bit pricey, so I wanted to round up some finds for you under $100:
- This $98.90 crepe jumpsuit is the perfect transition look for both summer and fall – it comes in black, red and a stunning cobalt blue! There’s also this $58.90 option for a jumpsuit too!
- They also have a wonderful selection of fall ankle booties for under $100 like this perforated pair, these edgier booties that look quite comfortable, and I love the ruched cuff on these ones.
- I’m head over heels for the deep teal shades we’ll be wearing this fall and you can get a head start with this $92.90 fit and flare dress (how lovely are those shoulder ruffles?!) and also this $98.90 floral curve-skimming dress.
