Fall and winter have always been my favorite seasons of the year, but secretly... I can't wait for warmer weather. I know Northerners throw their heads back and laugh hysterically at how uneventful our temperate winter's are in comparison to their own, but for Raleigh this has been a brutal winter. We haven't experienced cold like this since the snow havoc of '03 - when we didn't see it coming. Since then, we have over-compensated for our lack of preparation from our ice-attack with a simple solution: if at least an inch of snow falls, we shut down the city. For days.

We are no longer in the dead of winter, and we have been experiencing a few spring-like days. However, this time of year is the hardest to dress for. March doesn't know the meaning of consistent weather. It thrives on irregularity. Monday will be 80 and Tuesday will be 30. Our closets are stuffed with a weird concoction of every season: thin A-line skirts to heavy knit sweaters. And so the weather pendulum swings; back and forth, back and forth, back and.... I'm over it.

I was able to escape this bi-polar weather for a long-weekend a few hours east of Raleigh in Morehead City. Beaufort, small town famous from the Nicholas Sparks book-turned-film, A Walk to Remember, has been a favorite of mine since I was a child, and always a must-stop. Other than one cool and rainy day, the majority of my stay was full of sunshine - it looked and felt like a summertime day at the beach.

Ah, glory.

I took the heat by the horns and pulled out some of my favorite spring go-tos (and even wore my new Soludos tie-up espadrilles so I could begin breaking them in). This Lou & Grey waffle-weave dress is like a dress version of a chambray. It's perfect to layer under a bulky sweater with booties, but can easily be thrown on top of a bikini. It's a comfortable cotton knit - the dress that fits every need, easy to pack, versatile and practical. I casually rolled up the sleeves and threw on my J. Crew baja stripe hoodie for an extra layer. It's the ideal "no muss no fuss" outfit; just throw on and go. I was dressed head-to-toe in spring, just hoping and wishing maybe the warmth would follow me back to Raleigh.

My stay was short, but I soaked in those sunny days, and basked in the foreshadowing of weather to come. Eventually, the weather will mellow out and warm up. But for now, I have only these pictures to hold on to.

We have snow in the forecast later this week.

Pullover: J. Crew, Dress: Lou & Grey (similar here), Espadrilles: Soludos, Sunglasses: Westward \\ Leaning, Rings:Henri Bendel, Bracelets: vintage, Purse: Jennifer Nicole Collection