Good Morning Monday!

Boutique Girls Clothes

Good morning! How was everyone's weekend? Mine was great! On Friday I went out for a fancy dinner with a friend who just got home from Afghanistan. It was wonderful seeing him, and even more wonderful knowing he's home safe. Then, on Saturday night I went to a super swanky club to see a DJ from Sweden. Sunday was spent organizing my closet and reading F. Scott Fitzgerald (not simultaneously). All in all, it was a very successfull weekend, and now I feel ready to tackle Monday.

Project Finish Christmas Shopping Early is going pretty well so far. I've determined what I want to give both of my parents' and my brother, and I've decided what to tell my father to get for my mother (I always wonder, what happens to moms who don't have daughters around to help out the dads and brothers?). Now, I just need to decide what to get my future sister-in-law... would baby girl clothes be too presumptuous of me? Perhaps, but she could save them until they're ready for kids! When I send my wishlist to her, item number one is going to say "A Niece." Item number two will say, "Twins."

Since I probably won't have the gall to actually buy baby clothes for my brother's fiancee, you should take advantage of Sophia's Style boutique girls clothes for me. Sophia's Style is the most adorable girls clothing store on the internet. It's basically a sweet little boutique that you can access from your living room.

Also, from now until Wednesday, you can save 25% on an order by signing up for our emailing list here. Make sure you place that order asap, the code expires on Thursday!

This blog was first posted at Trendy Girls Fashion Blog.

Jessi

5 Tips for Flawless Family Photos!



Use flash outdoors and shoot vertical

The holidays are on their way, and since virtually everyone loves pictures, I put together a list of 5 tips to help you get great pictures of your family this holiday season! Some of these are things I've learned from experience, and some are things I found out about by asking one of my old photography professors about his tricks, so rest assured- they're all actually tried and true.

1. Use your flash outdoors. Even- no, especially when there's enough light already. This creates fill lighting on your subjects, so shadows won't look overly dark. It's especially kind to do this when photographing adults, it softens the light and you'll get far more flattering photos of everyone's faces.



Move the subject off-center


2. Move your subject off center. Having the subject of your photo centered in the frame can cause the image to look, well, rather dull. Try to move whoever or whatever you're taking the photo of slightly higher or lower and/or a little to one side of the frame. Make sure you focus your lens on the subject first, then move them off center, that way they are still in focus when you take the photo.

3. Get close. You can't just zoom in, your pictures will look grainy. You have to get close to your subject.


Get close, and don't pose

 4. Shoot vertical. Turn the camera sideways and shoot vertical pictures, a lot of times this allows your subject to fill the frame, rather than just getting their face and two feet of the wall behind them.

5. Don't pose, try to catch candids. Don't tell anyone to hold still, most cameras have a motion setting, just let them interact and start shooting when no one's paying attention.

More importantly than any of these tips, however, is to have fun taking pictures! Let everyone have a turn being the photographer, and you'll be surprised how many fun, silly, and fantastic photos you end up with!

This blog was first posted at Trendy Girls Fashion Blog.

Jessi

Yes, that's a photo of a beach towel, and yes, this is November. Let me explain...

I'm always telling you to buy things early, get ahead, take advantage of off-season sales, etc. Well, our girls swimwear is on sale, because unless you're lucky enough to live in a tropical climate, no one is doing any swimming right now. So I really recommend that you check out our baby girl swimsuits and little girl's swimwear, while practically everything is on sale for less than $10.

To make myself look less crazy, I've come up with a list of things your kids can do with swimwear and beach accessories during the winter:

1. They can use beach towels as magic carpets and pretend to fly.

2. They can use their beach towels to make tents, and pretend to camp.

Ok, those were the only two I could come up with. I'm crazy. But our swimwear is so cheap right now! Take advantage, you'll thank me next July!

This blog was first posted at Trendy Girls Fashion Blog.

Jessi

First Communion Gowns | Sophia's Style

Communion Dresses

 For your little girls 1st Communion dress, you'll want something beautiful, unique, and well-made. Even though she's only going to wear it once, you'll want to save it as a keepsake, and possibly even a heirloom for your grandaughter. At Sophia's Style, we have first Communion gowns and Communion dresses that are beautifully made in a variety of styles, so she'll be sure to find the perfect one and treasure it forever.

Make sure you also browse through our Communion accessories, you can find her entire ensemble in one stop with Sophia's Style.

This blog was first posted at Trendy Girls Fashion Blog.

Jessi

Girls School Uniforms | Sophia's Style

School Uniforms For Girls

Last night I had to furiously clean my entire apartment because we just got new management and they're doing inspections today. Granted, they probably aren't going to raise my rent just because all my dishes aren't done or my kitchen floor hasn't been mopped in ages, but I'm on month to month right now and I feel like I can't be too careful. Also, I secretly got a kitten about six months ago and never paid a pet deposit, so I'm hoping the tidiness of my residence will help them to overlook that paragraph in the lease agreement.

Anyway, there is nothing more satisfying than waking up and getting ready for work in a sparkling clean apartment. It's easier to focus when everything around you is in order. Tonight my plan is to get all my laundry done, so I'll have clean clothes to go with my clean home. I also need to replace some of the more basic clothing items in my closet that are starting to look a bit shabby.

Speaking of wardrobe items that get so much wear that they sometimes need to be replaced, how are your girls school uniforms looking? Does she have enough of everthing? If not, Sophia's Style does have some pretty sharp looking school uniforms for girls. She'll feel and look much better if she has clean, crisp uniforms everyday. Now that the weather is getting cooler, I recommend going through her closet and making sure she has at least five nice-looking shirts, three to five sweaters, three to five pairs of nice pants, two good belts, and ten pairs of nice socks. This way she'll always have something to wear, and you'll be able to keep up with her laundry on the weekends.

Keeping her closet organized will help her to learn the organizational skills she'll be needing for the rest of her life. You might be able to save her from ever having to stay up late on a week night to scrub her kitchen floor in fear of her landlord's wrath.

This blog was first posted at Trendy Girls Fashion Blog.

Jessi

Holiday Dresses | Sophia's Style



Christmas Dress by Kate Mack

 I always love Christmas dress shopping, the holidays make the best excuse to wear especially pretty clothing.
This holiday season, you can find the most beautiful girls Christmas dresses at Sophia's Style. I can't even believe how many we have and how gorgeous they are. The one featured to the right is especially gorgeous in person, it's made of silver satin and shimmery silver netting. The leggings come with it, and they're shimmery silver as well. For family photos with the Christmas tree, this silver dress will look beautiful.
We carry all different sizes, so you can find baby Christmas dresses that are just as stunning.
Enjoy finding the perfect dress for your little girl this Christmas, at Sophia's Style.

This blog was first posted at Trendy Girls Fashion Blog.

Jessi

Christmas Dresses | Sophia's Style

Christmas Dresses

Halloween is just around the corner, and I am SO EXCITED to get dressed up! I bought all the supplies I need to make my mask for the masquerade. There will be lots of glitter and feathers involved, and I have the most beautiful satin champagne colored party dress!

Speaking of beautiful dresses, once Halloween is over, it's going to be time to start shopping for Christmas dresses! I want something either emerald green or royal blue, and I want it to be velvet. I'm very into velvet right now, my boyfriend has a black velvet blazer and I've got half a mind to steal it from him.



Christmas Dress

 I'd also like to steal all of our girls Christmas party dresses at Sophia's Style, but unfortunately they don't come in my size. That's lucky for you though, because that means you can buy them for all of your gorgeous daughters and neices and granddaughters! We also have some really pretty girls Christmas outfits, which I like because they're exceptionally unique.

Now's the time to start shopping for that perfect dress, and they go fast, so don't miss out!

This blog was first posted at Trendy Girls Fashion Blog.

Jessi

Happy Halloween!

Girl's Halloween Costume

Have you seen this gorgeous Belle costume?! This honestly makes me wish I was a kid again, I loved Beauty and the Beast! Belle was so awesome, she liked to read books, she totally ignored the big, arrogant jock guy, Gaston, and then she fell in love with the Beast instead. Fabulous story, great music, too.

If Belle isn't your little girl's favorite herione, not to worry, we have a huge selection of other princesses, mermaids and more, so you'll find the perfect girl's halloween costume or baby girls halloween costumes for your family.

It's been awhile since I've had time to post activity ideas, but you're in luck- because today I have three adorable Halloween ideas for your family and neighbors! I didn't come up with these on my own, they're courtesy of my wonderful office-neighbor, Jean.

Idea 1: Host a neighborhood safe party!
Serve chilli or soup, and request that each family in attendance bring a side dish. Set up classic Halloween games for the kids, like bobbing for apples. Require all the adults to bring a picture of themselves when they were little wearing a costume. Kids love to see photos of their parents as children, and the adults will have fun laughing about how cute and dorky everyone was!

Idea 2: Visit a local nursing home or retirement home (call first, of course) with the kids.
A lot of times, the people in these homes don't get to see kids in Halloween costumes, so it's a sweet way to brighten up their Halloween season. Bring "treats," like large-print magazines and playing cards, and maybe hard candy.

Idea 3: If you live near a college or university, call and see if there's something you can do for the freshman dormitories. A lot of those kids are away from home for the first time, and come the end of October, might be getting quite homesick. A little bag of Halloween treats made with love might really cheer them up.

Hopefully you'll find those ideas useful! Don't forget to check out Sophia's Style when you start shopping for that perfect Halloween costume!

Happy October (tomorrow's the 1st, so don't forget to pay rent!)

This blog was first posted at Trendy Girls Fashion Blog.

Jessi

Start Christmas Shopping Now!

Christmas Dresses

Christmas can be so stressful sometimes. I love buying gifts for my family and close friends, but I hate when I can't think of anything original. My poor brother, he must have an entire closet full of sweaters from me- he's been getting a few for every holiday since I was sixteen. Don't get me wrong, they're great sweaters, I have impeccable taste, but there isn't really any suspense when it comes times to open gifts. This year, I'm hoping he'll ask his girlfriend to marry him, and then they can have babies and I can buy them this gorgeous diaper bag next Christmas!

I've already planned all the ways I'll spoil their kids when they have them- which irritates my brother to no end (weird, right?). Hopefully there'll be a girl, so I can take her shopping and buy her beautiful girls clothes from Sophia's Style. I also want him to have a girl every time I look at the stunning Christmas dresses we've got on the site!

If you need a baby Christmas dress or a little girl Christmas dress, you have to see our selection. Everything looks so lovely and festive, it reminds me of shopping with my mom for my Christmas dress before the Christmas pageant at school every winter. I had this one really pretty black velvet dress that reminds me this beautiful Bonnie Jean dress we're carrying right now.

There's no avoiding the holiday stress altogether, but at least you can start your shopping early and avoid the nightmarish mall scene this year. Find your little girls dress on Sophia's Style, and don't forget to check out all our other catagories, you might find some unique gifts!

This blog was first posted at Trendy Girls Fashion Blog.

Jessi

Girls Leotards | Sophia's Style

Check out Sophia's Style girls dancewear and ensure that your little girl is ready for ballet, tap, or gymnastics this season! We've got tons of adorable girls leotards, tutus, and dance accessories.

She'll be ready for her first recital with complete dance outfits from Sophia's Style Boutique.

This blog was first posted at Trendy Girls Fashion Blog.

Jessi

Christening Gowns | Sophia's Style

Christening Gowns

A child's Christening is an incredibly important family event, and you want every detail of that day to be as special as possible, right down to the Baptism dresses. At Sophia's Style, we carry beautiful, handmade Christening gowns that will look precious and last. Many families choose to save Christening gowns for future generations, or just as keepsakes. For such an important day, and for such a precious heirloom, you want real quality, and if you choose a gown from Sophia's Style, you can rest assured that's what you'll get.

This blog was first posted at Trendy Girls Fashion Blog.

Merry Christmas!

Girls Christmas Dress

 Pay attention to your upcoming emails, folks, because we're gearing up for the holiday season at Sophia's Style. It's only a matter of time before we start sending you all sorts of amazing deals on Christmas dresses!

If there's one thing Sophia's Style is known for, it's our gorgeous and unique special occasion wear. We carry some of the most amazing girls Christmas dresses I've ever seen, and our customers are constantly telling us how much their girls love our products.

Find a beautiful forest green satin gown, an girlish red babydoll dress, or a pretty blue velvet baby girl Christmas dress. We've got everything you need to make holidays their most beautiful childhood memories.

This blog was first posted at Trendy Girls Fashion Blog.

Jessi

First Day Of Fall | Sophia's Style

Bonnie Jean Dress & Coat Set

Here's a fun fact to share with the kids: Last night, the full moon of September arrived on the same night as the autumnal equinox, to mark the official start of the fall season in the Northern Hemisphere, as well as spring in the south. This hasn't happened since 1991, and won't happen again until 2029!

Anyhow, it's officially fall, and I think we all owe it to ourselves to go on a fall shopping spree. If you've got a little girl in your life, you should be noticing the adorable Bonnie Jean set pictured to the left. Adorable, right? I know. I linked it, so you can click it and go right to it's page on Sophia's Style.

If you decide this outfit's not her style, then check out all the other amazing girl's clothing, boutique girls clothes, and baby girl clothes. I assure you, you'll find just what you're looking for, plus about ten other things she simply shouldn't have to do without any longer. The great thing about Sophia's Style is that all of our clothing is boutique quality with discount price tags, so you can go ahead and shop as much as you want!

This blog was first posted at Trendy Girls Fashion Blog.

Jessi

Lovely Easter Dresses | Sophia's Style

We get some of the most gorgeous photos from Facebook friends of their children in Sophia's Style clothing! I found this one today of a little girl in a girls Easter dress, and I can't believe how great it is! If you're curious to see what our clothing looks like on children, you should definitely go to our Facebook page and check it out. We get adorable new pictures all the time, and they're so much fun to browse through.

We have lots of other beautiful Easter dresses and baby Easter dresses, so you can dress your pretty daughters, grandaughters, and neices up and get perfect photos like this one! Stop by and shop, it's never too early to start looking for her perfect Easter ensemble!

This blog was first posted at Trendy Girls Fashion Blog.

Jessi