Cheryl Shops

As I alluded to in last week's post, having a dog is an incredibly rewarding experience on many levels, but you also need to put in a lot of work. There's the physical work, like exercising your dog, and there's mental work, which is often the more challenging kind. In order to make life easier for you and your dog, a certain level of training is in order. The most basic is housebreaking, followed by sit, stay, and come; you can get fancy and teach your dog tricks, and if they have the right temperament, they can be trained to be a service animal. However you train your dog, repetition and reinforcement are key—we practice training Zuni every single day—and in order to make it stick, you need to reward your dog. Some dogs respond better to action-based rewards, like getting to play with a favorite toy, whereas others respond best to treats. Zuni falls into the treat-based category, and when she's being stubborn (which is fairly frequently) it helps to have some that are really rewarding. Thankfully we've discovered Old Mother Hubbard, and Zuni loves them so much, she'll do just about anything for one. 

I will preface this post by noting that this is probably the spendiest outfit I've ever featured here, although as you read on, I will detail how it can be had for much less than the retail price. Now that we've taken care of that, this is one of my favorite outfits I've ever featured on this blog, because every piece is meaningful and was carefully considered. One of my big goals for 2020 was to be more thoughtful about what I buy, and several of the key items here were long-planned and saved up for, while others are just some of my all-time favorites. So to set the scene, let's go back in time to my birthday trip to Paris back in March...

Anecdotally speaking, people have been adopting dogs in record numbers over the last few months, and they're onto something. For one, since we've been staying at home more, it's an ideal situation to both focus on training your dog and bonding with it. For another, having a dog brings a sense of normalcy and stability to your life: you have to feed and exercise it on a very regular schedule, which forces you to take much-needed breaks—and for me, especially, walking my dog, Zuni, has been critical in terms of both my physical and mental health. But most importantly, Zuni and I have an emotional bond that's hard to put into words that don't sound cheesy. But I will try. 

I didn't do a trend report this season for multiple reasons. For one, I didn't feel like (or have the need to go) shopping for new things this spring, because I've been staying at home since mid-March. For another, I'm trying to buy less, so following trends kind of seems like a recipe for disaster. That said, I have been shopping a bit, and now that it's finally summer and I am starting to venture out into the world, I've had one thing on my mind, and that's dresses. I will probably never tire of buying summer dresses—they look great, they're comfortable (even more so than sweats, I believe!), and they're just so effortless. There are some trends emerging this year, and basically, the key look is a boho prairie thing, with puffy sleeves, a voluminous tiered shape, and a ditsy floral print here and there. You can often find more than one of those elements in a single dress, if you want to get even more bang for your buck. So without further ado, my top summer dress picks are below, plus I'm trying new widgets that let you shop even more of my favorite styles—let me know what you think! 

Smocked

More smocked dresses:

More wrap dresses:

Puff sleeve

More puff sleeve dresses: 

Ditsy print

More ditsy print dresses:

Tiered

White

More white dresses:

Based on how things are going in most of the country, I'm assuming that many of you are going back to your office soon, if you haven't already. I am a bit jealous—I'll be working from home until Labor Day, if not longer, and while I don't miss commuting every day, I miss the camaraderie of being in a workplace, plus all of the "let's go grab a coffee" or "let's meet up for a drink after work" normalcy. I also miss the temperature control of an office building; while air conditioning can be a bit much, it does wonders for one's seasonal allergies, as I'm now discovering after months of at-home watery eyes and sneezing. Anyway, for those of you dealing with the 90-degrees-outside-to-68-degrees-inside daily transition, here's my take on how to wear a summer dress to work. 

You know when you have something in your wardrobe that's just so good, you pray that nothing ever happens to it? That's how I feel about this shirtdress. It's a very special dress in the realm of Cheryl Shops; you last saw it in Carmel, but it has the honor of being what I wore on the day I decided to bring the blog back (also, coincidentally, in Carmel!). Long story short, you don't have to spend a fortune on a white shirtdress—this one is from Gap—but when you find a keeper, wear the hell out of it. Here's how I'm wearing it this year. 

As I mentioned on Monday, it's dress month at Cheryl Shops, so it's fitting that the most repinned look on my Outfit ideas for ageless style Pinterest board features a dress. It also features a blazer, which makes it very similar to last month's most-repinned look, but obviously you guys are vibing on this combo. I think it's perfect for summer; there's nothing easier than a flowy dress, and the blazer keeps you from freezing in the air-conditioning, plus the accessories make the whole thing feel casual yet chic. Here's how to put it all together. 

The last week has been a little heavy; as I write this, helicopters are circling my neighborhood, thousands of protesters are likely spending the night in jail, and the world feels even more unsteady than it has the last few months. I will always argue with people who call fashion frivolous, but writing about it does feel a little off right now. That said, life is beautiful and everyone deserves to enjoy it. I was reminded of this today when I ate lunch in a real restaurant (!!!) and looked around to see so many families and friends reconnecting with each other after months in isolation. We have more in common than we realize, and we have to fight for each other. So I'm opening my eyes and ears to the experiences of people of color, opening my heart to their struggles, and opening my mouth to fight institutionalized racism on their behalf. To start, I highly recommend reading this op-ed from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Next, here's a list of things you can do to help the Black Lives Matter cause. And finally, I know you probably didn't come here for Woke Cheryl, but thank you for taking the time to read this. If you can change one mind, you can change the world.