Uh, so it seems that summer is fast approaching. I won't go too far into how much I hate the blazing hot sun or when it's hotter than 77 degrees but I will say that I've made it my goal this summer to embrace my air conditioned preferences. Don't judge! I am a winter baby after all. :)

Even though I'm mostly planning to hide away in the a.c., I'm still thinking of cute summer outfits! I've never been organized enough to have separate winter and summer wardrobes, so I've always just had one that works year round and I'd simply layer more or throw on coats in the colder months. It's worked okay but every year I vow that "next year will be different". Well, this year is that year since that's kind of the point of the blog, no? I absolutely love certain sundresses (structured, with pockets are my fave), gauzy tanks and light summer pants or bermuda shorts but don't own a single one of those pieces currently. And right now I absolutely live in jeans and quickly getting tired of it, so it'd be awesome to mix it up a bit for the summer. I'm considering a jean-free challenge, which would be a month or so where I can't wear jeans or just limit them to nighttime or 1-2x a week only.

With all that in mind, I've been busy online shopping to get an idea of what's out there now and to start my summer must have shopping list. Here are my favorites so far (in gallery form since there was a lot I wanted to include):

love the colors and the print. McQ Alexander McQueen, $480

love that this dress is double layered for more interest than a plain black dress. Enza Costa, $162

I want to pair this drapey tee with shorts, asap. Michael Lauren, $68

I love classic pieces with a twist like this simple maxi dress with cutouts. 291, $89

flowy and hot pink = love. Myne, $275

total eye candy, file this one under "trust fund shopping". Valentino, price: don't ask

And let's not forget shoes! Apparently Birkenstocks are the thing this year. I didn't wear them in college like most of my friends, so I just may go for it this time around. Only thing is, I'm still having a hard time seeing the classic version as fashionable no matter who says they are chic (Vogue, I'm looking at you). But after some time checking out the selection on Zappos, I'm definitely falling for this newer style in patent:

Could these be my first pair of Birkenstocks? Birkenstock Mayari, $89.95 at Zappos.com

I'll post my shopping hauls once I make my final selections!