Last weekend, I had a great Memorial Day. I stayed in town for the Friday and Saturday (and had a great wine night with Monica!) and then on Sunday, my sister Lindsey and I headed to The Tides Inn on Virginia’s Northern Neck. I’m going to write a whole blog post on our wonderful stay at the four-star hotel, but we had the best time and it was such a beautiful place. Before we took a sunset boat cruise, we were able to enjoy their Rappahannock Riverfront Beach during golden hour, which is where we snapped these pics of this super cute lemon dress I impulse bought after seeing an Instagram ad.

Before I talk about this dress, I did want to say that it was so nice to be on the water, in a seemingly simpler place, away from the hustle and bustle of DC. The Tides Inn is in a small town called Irvington, and the drive out there is largely on backroads surrounded by cornfields and beautiful old or abandoned houses. While there, I spent a lot of time thinking about how life seems so much more simple when I’m away from home and off the beaten path. It really made me think about how I can try to bring some of that simplicity home with me and incorporate it into my daily life. Since I work in an office and commute by train, I don’t spend a ton of time outside, so I’ve been trying to take more walks and enjoy the beauty of my own neighborhood, which has been helping me keep it simple. Sometimes you just need to take a step back from your daily routine to see the bigger picture and come back with a fresh perspective.

About a month ago, I was watching Instagram Stories and was served an ad for this lemon dress on CKDress. I thought it was so cute, and knew immediately I wanted to buy it. I added it to my cart, but thought the website seemed a bit sketchy since most of the images look like they’re taken from other sources and literally everything is at least half off. I did read a few online reviews before purchasing that indicated people received their items, but the returns process was really hard. Since the dress was only $24 though, I figured it would be relatively low risk on my end if the dress didn’t fit or it never showed up.

I did order two sizes of the dress, both a medium and a large, and ended up wanting to keep the medium. I tried to return the large, but it was going to be such a process—first they offered me store credit for half the amount of my item, then when I pushed back, they wanted me to send the item to a random address in LA, at which point they might refund my money. So I just decided to keep and donate the extra dress instead. As such, I’d recommend that you avoid ordering a ton of items for size comparison or items you’re on the fence about, because there’s a good chance you won’t get your money back if you do try to return those items.

The quality on the dress is better than I expected—it’s definitely cheaply made, but it’s not see through, the fabric is rather thick, the elastic works well so it doesn’t fall off your shoulders, and it hasn’t fallen apart in the wash. It’s such a fun dress for summer vacations and I know it will be coming with me on all my trips!

*** SHOP THE POST ***
Lemon Dress
Steve Madden Jole Sandals—similar here
Baublebar Contessa Tassel Earrings
Round Retro Oversized Sunglasses
Circle Rattan Crossbody Bag—similar here