STYLE: Last Days of Summer 16

Depending on which calendar and calculation you use — and where you live, quite frankly — Summer 2016 either ended on August 31 or will last until September 22. I live in HOTlanta, Georgia where I can honestly say it feels like the summer season is here to stay … FOREVER! Not necessarily a bad thing for me as it gives me more time to wear more of my summer favorites like lace tops, ripped shorts, sandals and straw bags.

Summer is my favorite season of all because as a child the months of June, July and August always represented Family Fun time! It’s the time of year I got to spend with my extended family in South Florida and in Georgia. My Dad, who lives in Pahokee, Florida, a sleepy town in Palm Beach County nestled on the shore of Lake Okeechobee, would drive up to Orlando days after school ended to shuttle me to his home. Most times, I would spend the entire summer between his home playing with my sisters and brother, or at my very strict, but very loving and nurturing Great Grandmother Frances’ home up the road in Belle Glade. At Grandma Frances’ place, my first cousins Punkin & Cricket, and I would be treated to her home cooked meals while sipping on her diabetes-inducing sweet tea. More often than not though, I’d be at my Uncle Parker’s home with my cousins Dee Dee, Henry, Samantha and Francina, who essentially ran the entire block! With my Dad’s family, as a kid I felt like I belonged because, unlike with my Mom’s family, I looked just like everybody else.

When I wasn’t in South Florida, I was in Barnesville, Georgia, a small community about 45 minutes south of Atlanta where my maternal grandparents were reared before moving to Orlando in the 1950s. My Great Aunt Shorty’s home was my destination because I just love her to pieces and because my cousin Wendy, who is a year older than me, and I loved being together. Other cousins would join us and we’d sped our days and night on the trampoline, courting neighborhood boys and choreographing dance routines that we would showcase at the next gathering.

The 4th of July was reserved for our family reunion, a tradition that has gone on annually since before I was born. The family, more than a 100 of us most times, would gather in a park for a massive picnic and loads of family fun. As we grew older, we would sometimes converge on a cruise ship and take it completely over. Oh, the memories! So as you can see, summer has a very special place in my heart.

This look is an ode to the best times of my life, and everlasting memories ….