OTS Maxi

dress c/o // shoes (old - similar) // bag (under $40!) // necklace c/o // sunglasses

I love, love comfy sundresses for summer time! With the temperatures already in the 90's here in Arizona (sorry for the rest of the country who is getting extreme snow!) summer heat is in full swing. I love the doubled sided slits in this dress, allows for so much comfort and room to move. Sometimes I feel a little trapped in maxi dresses but not this one! The dress is much nicer quality than the price tag suggests, its only $18!

ASU Sun Devils

As an Arizona State Alumni I love sporting school sprit whenever I can. In college I had many tees, short, hat not only was it great to wear to class but also to those all so fun tailgates I attended every Saturday during football season.  Now, 10 years after graduating from ASU I still love my sun devils gear, and when I first started dating Stephen that was something we had in common. Stephen is also a huuuuge Arizona State Sun Devils fan and can often be found in ASU shirts and hats. Needless to say, we have passed down our Sun Devil love to Sofia who is always looking for an opportunity to show up her fitch fork sign!

What if I told you, your favorite ASU gear would be free?! I am so excited to share with you the new Sun Devils Rewards App that has come out for not only ASU students but also Alumni and Fans. This app has so many great features which allows you to earn rewards points which can totally be used to purchase Sun Devil clothing! (download the app today with secret word LOVETEMPE and receive 400 free points towards your first reward!!!)

The Sun Devil Reward App is super easy and fun to use! It allows you to stay connected to ASU life and eating points by some of the following: reading new articles, participating in polls, interacting with ASU social media,and even checking in at different ASU events. Once your points add up you can use them to redeem your favorite ASU gear! (remember use secret word: LOVETEMPE for 400 points!) 

Stesha: hat + shirt c/o || Stephen: shirt c/o || Sofia: shirt c/o 

It's no secret that I dress the family many times when we head out for family events. Not crazy, as in "you must wear what I say" but our house is just usually hectic so its easier for me to just grab their clothes when I am searching for my outfit. Stephen is always easy; jean, tee, and a hat. *side note, sometimes he is randomly picky about things I would never guess. Men are strange!) Sofia on the other hand is my favorite, she does not care at all what she wears which makes my life so easy (at least for now!). If I ask her to pick out her own outfit she will be in her room for hours and come out in some sort of old Christmas dress, so I have learnt to just pick the clothes out and lay them on her bed. I am obsessed with her little clothes and most of the time wish they came in my size. I mean how adorable is her ASU fringe top? When going to sporting events I like to keep our outfits simple and comfortable. Especially for children who are running around, eating junk food, and often get 'cold' even in the middle of summer. For me, I love a great baseball tee like the one I am wearing and usually wear a hat! This allows me to not actually fully do my hair and I feel a little more sporty for the day! 

As a family we love heading down to Tempe and walking around ASU campus or heading over to Mill Ave. for pizza. We usually end up down by the lake because more often than not there is some sort of fun event going on! Sofia loves seeing all the college students walking around, and although she usually ends up feeding the ducks at the lake or climbing random rocks (see where comfort needs to come in?!) and just in general loves the campus vibes! 

You can download the Sun Devil Rewards App by clicking this link HERE and make sure to enter  secret code word: LOVETEMPE for 400 free points! Seriously, its so fun to use and if you are spending time and money on different activities already why not earn points so your ASU gear is free! ps. secret code is only valid for 3 days to make sure to download the app asap! You can see the full list of how to redeem points by visiting this site!

I want to thank ASU for sponsoring this post, all opinions and reviews are my own. 

the t-shirt dress

dress ($45, comes in 5 colors!) // jacket // wedges // bag // earrings c/o // sunnies

One of my favorite thing to wear when the weather heats up is comfy loose t-shirt dresses! They are easy to throw on and go, plus you look like you actually put effort into getting dolled up. This t-shirt dress is one of my favorites I have found this year. I absolutely love the color and it comes in 4 additional colors, I may need to pick up the lavender one as well!

Did you notice the hair change today?! I have been teaching myself braids via tutorials on Pinterest and I am loving it! My hair tends to last 1 or 2 days at most when down, and with trying to grow it long I am trying to not wash it as often, insert braid! I am loving it up and off my neck for the hotter days as well. Can you believe Arizona almost hit 90's this week?! I think we skipped Spring and went straight to summer!

Hope everyone has an amazing weekend, as always I am so appreciative for your kind words and support! Happy Weekend! xx, S

SHOP THE LOOK:

Spence Diamonds Scottsdale grand opening

I am so excited to share this post with you today! If you follow me on Instagram you would have seen that last week I was able to attend the grand opening of Spence Diamonds here in Scottsdale, AZ. Spence is a Canadian based diamond jeweler who now had 3 stores here in the US; Scottsdale, San Jose, and Austin. I am so SO excited they put a store here in Scottsdale because it is literally the prettiest, most welcoming jewelry store I have even been too. 

As a brand ambassador for Spence Diamonds, I was able to wear some of the diamonds on opening night. I literally felt like a princess, the earrings I wore were absolutely gorgeous. 

Spence specializes in “Spence Artisan Created Diamonds” that are made from a ball of plasma vs. mined from the Earth. Identical to mined diamonds in every way, but created in a plasma chamber instead of being dug out of the ground, these diamonds are physically, optically and chemically identical to the finest. This allows for you to be able to chose exactly what kind of diamond you would like ad get a larger size for a smaller price point. 

All Spence Diamond stores are set to a more modern look, so instead of dark colors and bright lights, everything is white, bright, and open! They give you what is called the "Spence Experience" where the Spence associate goes over each and every part of the diamond in detail with you. This allows the consumer to really have a full understanding of what they are purchasing. After all, a diamond is one of the most important purchases you will ever make!

I want to than Spence Diamonds for having me as an ambassador and sponsoring this post, all options are my own!

SONY A5000 review

Sony A5000 // case

I am so excited to share this review with you today. I am still learning the camera so I can't touch on everything but I will give a few of my favorite shots, why I chose the camera, and what I use the camera for. 

Why I chose the SONY A5000

Being a professional wedding + portrait photographer I do A LOT  of traveling. It is one of my favorite parts of my career and I always feel so humbled when we get a great trip booked. When I used to travel I was constantly worried about something happening to my large DSLR. I would never want to chance hurting it or getting it lost, and most of the time it never fit in my bag anyways. I would end up bring my entire camera bag (which was not convenient) or not taking my camera at all and using my phone which would make me frustrated!

I did some searching around and decided I needed a few things; 1 - needed wireless option to send photos directly to my phone 2 - small enough to fit in my purse 3 - wanted the selfie mode. The Sony A5000 does all of these things! 

When we booked our trip to Tahiti I knew I was not going to take my big DSLR but no way was I going to miss out on photos of a life time. Take a look at some of my favorite shots I took on the Sony A5000

^^ The best part about the camera being small was I could take it out into the ocean and not worry about dropping it! That allowed me to get some amazing one-of-a kind shots!

^^ The camera picks up so many levels of color contrast. Especially when shooting the sky and clouds which can be difficult at times to capture.  

^^ You can set your aperture (or F stop) when shooting Manual just like your regular DSLR. This allows for you to control the level of depth (or the blurriness) of the background.

^^ It takes super sharp images even from a distance!

^^ The selfie mode is amazing! A small screen the pop up and allows for you to line up your shot perfectly. Also, great new angles!

^^ The camera has a panoramic option as well! Look how crips this frame is?

^^ Another reason why I love the SONY A5000 is for the attention to detail in your far away shots. You can have your subject in the photo and still capture small scenic details if needed.

^^ If you are looking for a great portrait camera this one is so clean and sharp!

^^ Even when shooting in lower light, your subjects show up clear!

^^ I used to struggle so much with sunset photos, capturing the unique colors, but with the SONY A5000 I shoot in manual and the shots show up incredible!

This camera saved my life in Tahiti! It is amazing to not have to constantly be worried about breaking or loosing my large DSLR, to be able to whip out the camera at any moment and snap the perfect photo was so easy! Then to be able to just wirelessly transfer it to my computer or phone to upload saved so much unnecessary work so I wasn't on my computer all trip!

One feature I have not used yet is the video. I have read amazing review, however I do not use video often so I will learn that in the next little while. 

I am so excited to keep using the SONY A5000 especially when doing fun activities with the family. It has given my DSLR a break, eased my mind, and still allowed for me to have photos I am so proud  of!