Thursday Moda #122: Happy Birthday America!

Happy  Independence  Day!

Happy  4th  of  July!

Happy  Birthday  America!!!

I hope you all had a great 4th of July you all! Four days off in a row was good for my soul and Vivian and I spent a lot of time outside and at the beach, just like in today's post. This post is a little different than my norm (lol). First of all I am wearing a bikini and showing it all to you. I don't mean the bikini, I mean my body with all of its flaws, curves, nooks, fat, cellulite, beauty and imperfections. This is me in all of its glory ...or not. Without touching or re-touching any of my pictures, except the phone and Instagram filters in some of these photos (since every photo below is taken with my Samsung Galaxy cellphone). So here I am in my size 4 (sometime size 2) yet very curvy body -- vulnerable, real, raw and in my skin, ready for the world to see and that scares me but also gives me confidence at the same time, as well all have to accept and embrace the bodies we are in. This post is different too as I am editing the pictures we took yesterday - a lot of these you saw on my Instagram Stories throughout the day, yesterday - and starting to write it late at night as these photos are from yesterday, 4th of July 2018. And these are the outfits we wore, except Vivian wore her Red+Navy Stars Minnie Dress earlier in the morning and in the evening (after the beach) too.

For this week's Thursday Moda Post I had an entirely different post planned/on my mind to post but I scraped it and decided to go with these in the moment cell-phone 4th of July Outfits and Photos instead. Yesterday I wore my Nautical, Laceup-Neck, Navy+White Striped Dress (over my swimsuit) and my new 2-Piece American Flag Bikini from Target. I love purchasing swimsuits from places like Target, Old Navy or American Eagle because when choosing a two-piece bikini, you can opt for a different size bottom and a different size top. Because let's face it: almost no woman is the same size on the top or bottom. I mean I wear a size Small or a size 4 in almost all of my clothing (sometimes XS and rarely a M) but my bra size is far from a small. In case you are wondering the bottoms are an XS (though I would preferred the S but my local store didn't have them, however I am ordering them) and a size L in my top. The Retro-Looking Twisted Bow American Flag Headband (also new by Forever 21) ended up being perfect for yesterday as were my White Raybans. And I always think a woman should wear Red Lipstick for 4th of July. That is all I wore as far as makeup goes (and sunscreen too). Also, you can't notice them but I am wearing Teardrop Mini Light Red/Coral-ish Stud Earrings by Loft. And yes even-though I am a size small and around 130 lbs (probably 128-129), I still have cellulite and I need to work into toning my body, getting some muscle and flattening my belly a little bit. But oh well this is me, imperfect, curvaceous and still beautiful in the skin I am in! What do you think?!

 Sweet Vivian wore her Asymmetric Fuchsia+Green Striped Octopus Swimsuit by target.com and over it she wore a Linen White+Red+Blue Popsicle Tank by Old Navy with a Multi-Patterned Denim Skirtall by Wal Mart. Her Matching Red+Stars Americana Bows are by Meijer's but for the beach I did her hair in a bun and she wore a Canvas American Flag Bow by Forever 21. Last, she accessorized with her Shimmer Pink Peppa Pig Sunglasses. But truly her beautiful smile and smiling eyes are her two best accessories - who cares what she wears!? I loved all the photos we took and they turned out so cute though they are just cellphone pics and selfies. I ended up loving our outfits - both for the beach or over our swimsuits - and despite my 'issues' with my tummy and some problem areas (I could tone my thighs and butt a little bit, too lol) I still felt confident, beautiful and happy wearing this 2-piece bikini. Plus it made me proud and happy to confirm it to myself how lucky and blessed I feel to be an American (for over 20 years now).

Vivian's Outfit:

Last week there were around 80 outfits linked. A lot of stripes, florals, red/white/blue, dresses, rompers, jumpsuits and skirts. I was truly attracted to front-tie dresses, gingham and all the cute casual yet put-together 4th of July-Inspired Outfits. You all truly loved my Light Linen White Romper with the Navy, Red, Baby Blue & Pink Stripes and thought it looked great on me - boosting my confidence a little. I actually wore that romper again earlier this week and plan on wearing it a lot this Summer and styling it a little different each time. Stay tuned. ;-)

This week's featured blogger is DI from Di-alog - a lovely and super stylish lady I have only followed for a couple of months. But the super elegant Di always links up with me and I have featured her on my Thursday Moda Favorites before. She puts together the best work-chic look and is always super sophisticated like you can see from the collage above on a post where she styled Tie-Waist Dresses. I love both of the dresses above (especially the white grid midi dress) but she also has a gorgeous bright-colored dress on this same post so take a peak. I also love her sophisticated short pixie haircut. What I love about DI is that she is not afraid to wear color, yet she looks just as stylish and elegant in black+white and many pastel looks. She also mixes modern with vintage and has a great collection of vintage bags. I also love her indoor photos. I am sure she shoots her own photos at home but the background is always simple, clean and fresh. Like the little placement of flower vases or bouquets on that mini side coffee table - cute, neat, simple and perfect. I could have taken tips from Di years ago when I started my blog and almost all of my photos were taken indoors.

Tilden was the '#BirthdayBabe' last week. Her 2-piece Floral Breezy Pants Outfit is stunning. Her post is so meaningful and personal, too.

Another 50s babe whose style I always love is Nancy. She wears many skirts and dresses and looks so posh, always. Loved her 'gingham skirt' last week and the minimal pops of red were brilliant.

Kim and I were twins because I wore a similar pair of shorts and red-striped graphic tank on Monday which you might have seen on my Instagram. With her peace sign fingers she was ready for 'July 4th'.

Claire rocks the new short haircut and always looks great in vintage-style dresses like the ravishing patterned dress she wore to the stunning 'Nottingham Castle'.

Usually mixing edgy and bohemian pieces, this time Floridian Shannon looks sexy+sophisticated too 'Wrapped in Gingham'. Love her dress so much.

Have  a  Great  Weekend  You  All!!

An InLinkz Link-up