Real Talk, Spring/Summer, travel diaries

June – According to my iPhone

I hate to admit it, but Labor Day is an unwelcome earmark of time in my life. As much as I protest and persistently point out the sun’s warmth and my ability to wear shorts well into September, it’s hard to deny that the last long weekend of the summer does, in fact, mean that summer is over. The last two summers in the city have left me wanting a little more. Hectic and weird work schedules meant that a getaway looked like one or two train rides to Far Rockaway or, if we were lucky, a long weekend in Connecticut. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love doing both of those things, but 12 collective hours in the sun does not make for a summer glow.

Thankfully, this year was a little different! Earlier in the spring, I mentioned that I had multiple trips lined up and darling, I did not lie. Pardon my absence over here, but with all this travel, I accidentally took summer sabbatical. Below is the month of June, according to my iPhone

Here’s what I learned in June:
– Weekend 1: The Hamptons is a beautiful place. It will make you feel poor while simultaneously making you feel like a rockstar. Andy Cohen really is the King of East Hampton and the Surf Lodge is too big for its britches. Uber Helicopter is a thing. And the Clam Bar has amazing ‘Lobby’ Rolls. When we went to the Hamptons, Ryan and I represented American amongst 12 Australians. I’m keen to do it again.

-Weekend 2: I feel just as passionate about Nashville as I do New York City. Barista Parlor is the most pretentious coffee shop I’ve ever visited and gives any Brooklyn roaster a run for its money. Although drastically different since I left, you can still improvise a photo shoot on a flatbed truck, which means that maybe Nashville really hasn’t changed much at all.

-Weekend 3: Weddings in Connecticut are beautiful. Also, good friends are the ones you can see once or twice a year and always pick up right where you left off.

-Weekend 4: Having visitors every 6 weeks or so really helps Ryan and I see all the lovely touristy things New York has to offer. In one day alone we brunched at Junior’s, traversed the Brooklyn Bridge, paid our respects to 9/11, explored Central Park and Grand Central Station, ate fresh guacamole, made a new friend or two, and watched the Braves beat the Mets at Citi Field. In New York, you really can do it all—as long as your friends are in town for 72 hours, that is.

-Weekend 5: Going to swanky NYC nightclubs will make you realize that there are entire subcultures in this city of which you know zero things. Also, nothing makes you feel older than hearing the words: “The reservation is for 11:15pm. See you tonight!” If your initial reaction to those words was a giant GULP, then you are old too.

June-baby, you were ages ago and boy do I miss you. We’ll always have Memorial Day weekend…oh, and all these pictures.

xx – Haley

Color, Daytime Look, haley hoover, Real Talk, Shopping Guide, Spring/Summer

Bare Boned

I’d like to start out by giving a nod to The Bachelor for keeping me in the know of what cool girls are wearing in fashion. Ever since our move to New York, I’ve been pursuing an NYC look; streamlined, darker, cool shoes. But every now and then, I find it wise to look west to our ~~rivals~~ friends in LA and see what they’re wearing, especially in summertime. In this case, I found my LA-inspo via Bachelor Ben’s gaggle of lovely, *mostly* mild-mannered honies (ps, there’s some debate on how to spell the plural form of Honey, but per urban dictionary this is right). Sure Lauren B and Amanda had some incredibly Cali Style, but I loved Jojo (of course)—she’s from Texas so we are kindof southern sisters and she continually rocked amazing off the shoulder tops. I’d seen shoulder baring tops here and there at the tail end of last summer, but once the girls on America’s Reality Show starting wearing them, I knew we’d be inundated with options this summer, because nothing says, “It’s summer. Let’s date.” like a pair of suntanned shoulders and collar bone.

Wanna climb aboard the trendy train? It’s so easy this summer! I love the off the shoulder top vs. the crop tops and deep v’s of days past because a) everyone has shoulders and b) almost always they are worth showing off and c) you can show them off in a decent, classy way. You can pop this little top on over cutoffs or distressed jeans or dress it way up with a fitted skirt and heels. I posted a picture of me in this outfit a few weeks back and someone commented that this is the “ultimate flirty outfit.” To that I say thank you, first off, and also I don’t disagree.

A little shoulder goes a long way.

I love how this top floats; it’s so easy to pair with whatever!

This is me thinking about how many times I’m wearing this top all summer.

I think this style has longevity. Get ready—I predict designers taking the off the shoulder look far into cooler months because it’s just so dang fun to wear. Plus these tops are flying off the shelves; retailers everywhere are thanking their lucky stars for The Bachelor, probably. It’s like they always say: Shoulder Sells.

Wanna get in on the action, but not sure where to start? I’ve pinned TONS of tops, outfit ideas, and dresses right here on my new Pinterest board to get ya going. Like seriously, there is so much to see. Click over and get to shopping. Don’t forget to email me if you have questions!

xx – Haley

Key Pieces: Top – Zara // Earrings – J Crew // Shoes – Sam Edelman // Nails – Be There in a Prosecco, OPI

haley hoover, Holiday, Spring/Summer

First Saturday in May

Many days, lately, go by without me thinking once about the little farm where I grew up. City life is busy; balancing a full-time job, business on the side, marriage, friendships, fitness, ministry, etc., often take precedent over my old Kentucky home. But when the weather turns warm and the grass smells sweet (you know, before the infamous New York summertime trash smell overtakes), I start listening to a little more country music on Spotify and begin to reminisce over Thursday riding lessons and weekends schooling my Thoroughbred over 4-ft jumps across rolling hills.

Last year when nostalgia set in, I invited as many people that could fit in my apartment over so we could watch The Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May. Eager to introduce all of my buddies to what life was like back home, I cooked and baked every dish that even so much as nodded towards southern hospitality: pulled pork, Kentucky Caviar, sweet tea, strawberry salad, Mint Juleps, and Kentucky’s own Derby Pie (you must make this pie, it’s divine). The Derby is all about tradition, so I preemtively wrote “First Annual” on the invitations. You can imagine how excited I was when the first glimmer of spring rolled around and I received a text asking if I was having the party again. Duh.

This year our party roster was comprised of new and old friends, a fresh menu: ribs, chicken and waffles, Hot Brown Sliders (an actual sandwhich type—see above), and some crowd pleasers: Juleps! Pie! We crowded in our one bedroom and all became racing experts for about 20 minutes.

I highly recommend overspending on food and drinks and fresh flowers, just once a year. Draw names out of a hat and scream at the TV. And give everyone pie. Pro tip: after the race, take a camera and all of your friends up to the roof to watch the sunset.

One time, my husband had an interview in which he was asked, “What is the fabric of you?” We laughed hysterically afterwards because #WUT. The joke’s on me though, because I’ve realized that the South is in the fabric of me. That’s why I always look forward to the first Saturday in May.

See y’all later! – Haley

Casual, Daytime Look, Real Talk, Spring/Summer, travel diaries

There’s More to Explore

As the dog days of summer truly start to become their most dogged – long hot days that drift into nights, last minute trips into Zara because you’ve worn all of your sundresses at least thrice, and the ~~fear~~ fact that fall and winter (!) are just around the corner, I’m beginning to reflect on the places I’ve seen since Memorial Day.

Many plane rides drew me southward while numerous other free weekends led my husband, Ryan, and I to new sights in the city. There was a weekend a failed attempt to visit the Bronz Zoo on a dime turned into a full on exploration of the Bronx and a new venture into Ecuadorean food. Another weekend we lounged on an old blanket at Rockaway Beach and watched the surf set catch wave after wave. There was also a hot Saturday in July when we attended the DETAILS magazine pool party at the McCarren Hotel and then afterwards I dragged Ryan ALLL the way to the upper east side to take in China: Through the Looking Glass at the Met.

We’ve had picnics at dusk in Central Park and an evening where we ran through a torrential downpour on the way to catch Jurassic Park at the Battery Park movie theatre. The streets were so empty I thought maybe we were living out the plot from I Am Legend and two of us were Will Smith and the dog.

My husband always laughs at me come May because my alter-ego, “Summer Haley,” comes to life. Summer Haley does more, sleeps less, and takes in absolutely everything possible. Summer Haley is my best me, for sure. When my photographer friend, Julia, suggested we shoot up in Harlem, I was so game. Welcome to the best wall mural you’ve ever seen, in all its Sesame Street, primary-colored, happy-drawing glory.

My best piece of advice for loving where you live? Experience it. Every part of it. Get outside, because there’s more to explore.

Lots of love,

Summer Haley

Key Pieces // Tank – Vince | Hat & Pants – Joe Fresh | Shoes – Sam Edelman | Clutch – Anthropologie

Casual, Daytime Look, Spring/Summer

The Beautiful & Damned

“Mine is going to be outstanding. It can’t, shan’t be the setting – it’s going to be the performance, the live, lovely, glamorous performance, and the world shall be the scenery.”

I’ve been reading F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Beautiful and Damned since my first summer trip waaayyyyy back in May. I feel super literate and cultured when I sit on the train and read this book, but honestly, I’m reading it because that one season of Gossip Girl when Serena is hired to intern on a movie set and oversee the script adaptation of the book. (OH TO BE SERENA VAN DER WOODSEN)

The story chronicles New York’s privileged and eccentric who are kind of just kicking around and spending money and avoiding having to work for anything (this is probably why Serena VDW loved the book). In the book, the two main characters keep having these seasons of panic where they realize they’re running out of money but also don’t have any skills to keep afloat. I can empathize with the panicky times, but differ from them with the lack of skills category. I feel a huge swell of pride when I think of the things I can bring to the table in life – for one, I can cook, so I can literally bring things to the table. Another skill in my repertoire is dressing for summer – this week I’m wearing my most favorite print-on-print, two piece playsuit. This outfit is especially special to me because I bought it for my first trip to NYC and subsequently lost it during my move to NYC but then FOUND it at the beginning of this summer. A whole year gone, but now we’re back together. #truelovewaits

On an unrelated, but related note about NYC’s eccentric. We shot these looks in front of the house featured in Wes Anderson’s film, “The Royal Tenenbaums.” Be still my perfectly symmetric heart.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some reading to do.

xo – Haley

Key Pieces // Playsuit – ASTR Clothing c/o Nordstrom | Necklace – Vanessa Mooney | Bag – Longchamp | Shoes – Rowan

HI, HALEYANNIE | STUDIO H

style, self, & motherhood

Tag Archives: summer