This post is sponsored by Le Tote.

Confession: Fashion Magazine Junkie here. As an awkward far from stylish adolescent, I was dog-earring outfit inspiration in the pages of Seventeen and tried my best to recreate what I could with my few babysitting dollars and base closet staples of–sadly– church logo sweatshirts and pegged mom jeans. I’m still dog-earring now–although Style Watch has replaced Seventeen, and I read it from the bathtub on Saturday night rather than the periodicals corner of the Flint Public Library. But let’s be honest–there are limitations. I mean, I can’t just run out and buy every outfit dog-ear or new trend I want to try. But wouldn’t it be fun if we could at least try them on? Borrow them for a little bit and give them back after we wore that fun pencil skirt to the cocktail party or tried the pantsuit romper without the commitment to keep it? (Don’t even get me started on the pantsuit romper–I want one so bad, but I can’t commit!)

Le Tote was created for those of us who like to dabble in styles and rotate fun pieces in and out of our closet. It’s a super fun service that allows you to rent fashion. For $59 a month, Le Tote rotates your closet–clothes and accessories–as often as you want. You get a box of 5 items–3 clothing and 2 accessories–delivered (for free) from an online closet you get to curate. You keep and wear the items for as long as you want–2 days, 3 weeks, whatever–and return them (free shipping back too with a prepaid envelope!) when you’re ready for another box of new items to be shipped. The best part? No laundry! Le Tote will wash the items for you! I mean, we could actually scratch the whole Trying Fun Style angle of this post and simply go with the No Laundry thing, and Le Tote just appeared on the presidential candidates list. Plus, Le Tote carries several of the same upscale designers you’ll see at Nordstrom, Anthropologie, Bloomingdales and Piperlime and offers top brands including Free People, Kate Spade, Rebecca Minkoff, Max Studio, French Connection and many more.

Here’s how it works.

Start by filing out a super quick profile with your style preferences and sizes.

Then, the fun part–browse the site and build your closet by liking things you’d like to try.

Le Tote stores your closet and builds your tote from things you’ve chosen. You get a chance to swap out styles and customize your tote before it ships.

Here’s a peek into the closet I built…

…and my tote arrived shortly after.

The 5 pieces included:

It was so much fun to have some new things to wear–things I wouldn’t necessarily buy to keep but loved going out a few times in them before I was ready to swap them out.

The Rebecca Minkoff hinge bracelet? Love. It’s super simple but really pretty. (Oh, and if you decide you want to keep anything, you can purchase items at 20-50% off the retail price.)

You can cancel at any time–no commitment. Want to try it?

The first 50 readers who sign up will get 20% off their first month when you sign up using this link with the discount code KELLEHAMPTON. The code KELLEHAMPTON will automatically be applied to your order when you go through the sign-up process through this link, so no need to re-enter the code–just make sure you use this link to access the 20% off.

So dog-ear away! Build your closets.

This post is sponsored Børn in an ongoing partnership because we like their shoes, they like this blog, and we’re going to sign each other’s yearbooks with heart-dotted i’s and braid each other’s hair. But seriously, we love them and their continued support of Enjoying the Small Things. 

Five new things got named here this weekend–another thrift shop Barbie whom Nella named Kayak, a little crab we found on the beach–bestowed with “Fred”–and three new stuffed animal dogs from a puppy party we attended–Latte, Tooby and Harrington. The names now join the archives of Objects We Bestow With Names and are preceded by pretty much anything and everything in our house–plants, cars, toothbrushes, my camera, pillows, you name it–no pun intended.  I’ve passed my obsession now down to the kids–we name the trees in our yard (Mr. Sam and Penelope), our bikes (Little Red, Flying Frida) and–I’m sorry to say–Dash waved goodbye to something in the toilet the other day, squeaking out a little, “Bye Bob!” as it swirled and funneled down the hole.

I’m not the only one in our family who has naming issues. My brother calls us all a different name every time he talks to us. I practically don’t even notice anymore when I pick up the phone and he says, “Hey Janet” or “What’s up, Pamela?” and just keeps on talking. And then he’ll end the conversation with, “Seriously though, Nancy, I miss you. Tell Bill I said hi.”

I was feeling like surely this naming things must mean something psychologically, and usually I assume the worst–I’m lacking something, I’m searching for something, I have attachment issues–but, alas! Guess who approves of the naming things? The Queen, dude: Anne Shirley.

I give you Exhibit A, a passage from L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables:

“What is the name of that geranium on the window sill, please?”

“That’s the apple scented geranium.”

“Oh, I don’t mean that sort of a name. I mean just a name you gave it yourself. Didn’t you give it one then? May I call it–let me see–Bonny would do–may I call it Bonny while I’m here? Oh, do let me!”

“Goodness, I don’t care. But where on earth is the sense of naming a geranium?”

“Oh, I like things to have handles on them even if they are only geraniums. It makes them more like people.”

 

See! I knew it! It’s my love of people. My Thanksgiving table might not have 30 people around it, but if you count Cecilia the centerpiece and Rodrigo, the gravy boat and the 12 named members of the Plate family, it’s a complete houseful. So many little friends lining our shelves and covering our beds and getting us to and from school every day!

So admit it–does your family vehicle have a name? What is it? My minivan is Rhonda, and she’s a real free spirit.

Sorry–carrying on.

When we’re not naming things, we’re enjoying lately…

 

The Return to Isle of Capri.
…where everybody knows your name…and they’re always glad you came. You want to go people know…people are all the same. 
Who needs Cheers when you have a basket of grouper fingers and a crab friend named Fred?

 

My friend Katie introduced Dash to a water gun, and I felt the earth shift when it entered his hands. We shall never be the same. I was talking to someone later on the beach and wasn’t really paying attention to what he was doing as he walked up to me. From, like, 4 inches from me, he unloaded half the Gulf of Mexico on my face and laughed hard.

This has only happened a couple times since I’ve lived here–the tide pulled way back to reveal sea stars everywhere. We couldn’t collect them fast enough and made a little pool for them to stay in the water–kids got to touch and feel, and then we made sure they were deep enough to carry on their merry way before we left. In case you wondering, pictured below is Lyle, Gina, Shorty, Babs, Rita, Knuckles, and Emilio Esteves.

…and this is Huckleberry.

Fred makes his reappearance. Dash was the only one fearless enough to hold him.

 

Also enjoying…current salad obsession: romaine, gorgonzola, chopped almonds, dried cherries, chopped granny smith apples and covered with something vinaigrette-ish.

Spring watermelon.

My sweet and simple gold sandals from my fave Børn picks for spring–they go with everything!

All 3 on a bed.
I love when anything brings them together in one small space. This bed does that a lot.

Sweet Puppy Faces
(for Ivy’s puppy party–Dash wasn’t feeling well, so he stayed home.)

…and a Blue Sky/Water Cocktail.

Damn straight that cocktail needs a name. Let’s see, Sea Breeze is already a cocktail. So is Blue Horizon–I looked it up. Little Piece of Heaven–taken. A Day at the Beach–also taken. Seriously, how are all these already cocktails?

How about Larry? If you can’t think of a name for something, Larry always works. Blue Sky meets Cerulean Sea–also known as Larry. There’s gin in there. And some sea salt. And it’s delicious.

I’ll have a Larry on the rocks with a twist please.

…sunny day to you.

Forgive me, I get very excited about kids’ swimsuits. It’s one of my favorite things to buy for my kids, and fortunately ours get a lot of wear out of them. We tend to lean towards bright and bold colors, but of course we never say no to stripes or some good red, white and blue nautical action. And now that spring is here, all our favorite companies have released their new designs and, as expected–we’re not disappointed. I cannot take the cuteness. I want beach day to be every day.

Whether you’ve already hit the beach and pool this year or are dreaming of sunnier days to come, here’s some tiny style inspiration to brighten your day.

1. Double Button Retro Swimsuit, Janie and Jack. Janie and Jack owns the retro swimsuit market for little girls’ suits. There isn’t a suit on their site I don’t love. And they wear so well–we’ve had several.
2. Positano Rash Guard Set, Tea Collection. I love the bold colors and pattern!
3. Cat Eye Sunglasses, Gap.
4. Red Watermelon Suit, Vindie Baby.
5. Manarola Bikini Top and Bottoms, Tea Collection.
6. Floral One-piece, Gap.
7. Parrot One-Piece, Crazy 8. This suit is super affordable, and I love the bold summer colors on white. You don’t see white kids’ suit very often, but they’re so pretty!
8. Black and Pink Stripe Suit, Retro Baby Swimwear on Etsy.
9. Sol Sailor Suit, Target. Super affordable–classic American summer style.
10. Palm Print Swimsuit, Janie and Jack. They did it again. Ugghh! Nailed it. I see a big straw hat and Jackie O sunglasses.
11. Imperial Stripe Ice Cream One-Piece, Mini Boden. Stripe Love! This was Lainey’s pick for this summer.
12. Multi-stripe Skirted One-Piece, Land’s End.
13. Smocked One-Piece. I’m so in love with everything about this suit–the faux tie straps, the smocking, the rainbow stripe. Classic summer suit.
14. Marimekko for Target Rashguard Set, Target. Set your alarms. This line hits Target April 17, and it’s going to go cray.

1. Indigo Starfish Swim Trunks, Mini Boden. Just ordered these for Dash–love!
2. Striped Crab Print Trunks, OshKosh
3. Kanu Surf American Flag Swim Trunks, Amazon.
4. Boys Side Pocket Surf Board Swim Trunks, Children’s Place.
5. Striped Boxers Swim Shorts, Zara. So Euro! Love.
6. Tortoise Retro Sunglasses, Gap.
7. Sun Ready Rash Guard, Hanna Andersson.
8. Bermuda Surf Swim Shorts, Zara. I love the shorter swim trunks on little boys, and Zara offers several.
9. Straw Fedora, Old Navy.
10. Aloha Beach Tank, Gap.
11. Shark Graphic Swim Trunks, Old Navy.
12. Stripe Swim Trunks, Little Adi & Co.
13. Sport Swim Trunks, Hanna Andersson.

Now get out there and enjoy some sunshine (…and if you’re waiting for it…don’t worry, it will come soon!)

See that Barbie she’s got tucked behind her back? Always.