Frock Fridays: March in Maryland

Happy Friday, dear readers!  I'm over on Elembee today helping out with her Across The USA series - we're taking you on a tour of Maryland, so I thought it would be fun to coordinate today's Frock Friday's post with that!  I talk a good game about Washington, DC around here, but I grew up in suburban Maryland, five minutes out from the city lines and inside the infamous Beltway.  I have wonderful memories from childhood and adolescence of spring in the classic suburban neighborhood of downtown Bethesda - grabbing breakfast at Bethesda Bagels after my sister's soccer games, browsing the Barnes and Noble until Mom and Dad yelled at us to choose a book already, trying on dresses at Luna with girlfriends for a school dance, and roasting s'mores at Cosi on awkward group dates.

I still head to Bethesda every so often, but both it and I have evolved in the past decade.  Now I schedule appointments at the Apple store Genius Bar, sneak a treat from Georgetown Cupcakes, work out how many miles I'll have to run to justify spending $80 at Lululemon, test out the beauty samples at Blue Mercury, and dream about all the amazing things I could cook if someone just gave me the contents of the Le Creuset store.  Bethesda Row has some really cute - if expensive - clothing stores, so I challenged myself to come up with an outfit entirely from local shops.  This would be perfect for a late March brunch with friends at Redwood or Café Deluxe!

[ scarf / earrings / bracelet / bag / shoes / dress ] linking up with {long distance loving}