Things I've learned about timeshares

Hat: Forever 21 (options here and here) | Sweater: American Eagle (other colors here) | Necklace: House of Harlow (shop more sunburst necklaces here) | Shorts: Express (current season here) | Sandals: Sam Edelman (option)

This is totally not a fashion blogger topic, but I wanted to write about this because I knew nothing about this topic before and now that I've started to learn more, I wanted to document it, both for myself and for any readers out there who have questions. I mentioned in yesterday's post that the term "timeshare" used to be really scary to me. I always pictured it as a way to scheme people out of money. While I can't say there aren't places that don't exist like that, I'm comfortable with the decision the husband and I have made to purchase our own. Before I go any further I should say that this is in no way a sponsored post, just my real life thoughts and experiences.

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Orange Lake Resort - Orlando, FL

Hat: STL Cardinals store (option) | Sunnies: TOMS (option) | Chambray: Express | Swimsuit: Target (top options here and here with matching bottoms here and here, striped one-piece option here)

We spent 6 nights and 7 days at the Orange Lake Resort in Orlando last week. It was perfect. We take plenty of long weekend trips here and there, but it's been a couple of years since we've actually unplugged for a whole week and enjoyed a legit vacation. We really had nothing planned other than laying around the pool. Throw in a day at a theme park and a couple of nice dinners, and we were set. We are super low maintenance when it comes to vacations. Our first priority is to relax. 

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Hello Monday: Kendra Scott + Nordstrom giveaway!

Left to right: Jenna, Psyche, Jacqueline, Annie

How gorgeous are these ladies! It's quite intimidating to be quite honest! I can't tell you how much fun this collaboration was! I wanted to save the best for last, and these group shots are frame-worthy! Even though it was pretty cold outside and the sun chose not to make an appearance, we still managed to have a lot of fun with it!

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New Year's Eve-spiration

Sunnies: Ray Ban | Earrings: CS Gems (use code CARYLEE15 for 15% off) | Ring: CS Gems | Dress: Forever 21 (currently not online, but other options HERE and HERE) | Bag: Charming Charlie (c/o) | Tights: wine colored DKNY layered over grey colored DKNY for more opaqueness (similar here, more tights available HERE) | Jacket: Express (other colors HERE) | Heels: Joan and David (option, option)

I've done four shoots now with CS Gems, and this may be my favorite yet! It's hard not to love these photos though given the festive scenery! Stacy and Carrie asked us to wear some NYE appropriate outfits, so naturally I reached for sequins first and foremost. This shift dress from Forever 21 is perfect and very forgiving for a night of eating and drinking.

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Hello Monday: STLFW Wrap party

Sunnies: TOMS | Earrings: Forever 21 | Necklace: Bauble Bar | Bag: Charming Charlie (shop more fringe cross body bags HERE) | Top: H&M (shop more stripe turtlenecks HERE) | Bracelets: Misc handful from my collection | Skort: Express (option) | Boots: Vince Camuto (option, shop more over the knee boots HERE)

I'm sharing my fashion week highlights a little bit out of order because this outfit was too good to not share on a Hello Monday! If you'd like to catch yourself up, you can see my favorites from the Emerging Designer Competition here. Saturday was dinner and a wrap party for Saint Louis Fashion Week at Ballpark Village downtown. I've only been on a Cardinals game day before, so it was pretty fun to explore it from a night life point of view! I ended up getting sick and couldn't attend last year's wrap party - my last event was the Naturalizer event that you can read about here. Missing last year's party made this year's wrap event extra special!

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Hello Monday: Day of fun

Yay for being back to normal in terms of health and schedule! Although I say this and I somehow have three work trips from now until the end of the month, so perhaps I should just enjoy this while it lasts! Hope everyone had a great weekend! Ours was quite great, actually. I like to call Saturday the husband's and my "day of fun!" (Friends reference here.)

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Road Trip: Things I packed

Thanks for everyone who tuned into Monday's post recapping the bachelorette party weekend! I always love putting together packing posts, though the actual act of packing is horrible. Oh the irony! Well, let's not waste any time and just get this party started!

Sunnies: Ray Ban (other colors here) | Necklace: House of Harlow 1960 | Bag: Lo & Sons (in Thistle) | Romper: American Eagle (in stripes here) | Sandals: American Eagle (option, option) | Hat: Forever 21 (option)

This is the outfit that I ended up wearing to travel in on Friday. This romper is so crazy comfy, and a weekend by the beach certainly calls for anything lightweight and easy. I did end up layering a denim jacket over this because I do end up getting chilly in the car, and the weather ended up being perfect for the light layers anyway.

Cover up: Target (similar) | Tank: Express | Necklace: CS Gems | Shorts: Express | Booties: Pulse (c/o)

For Saturday, I wasn't sure how many outfit changes I was going to make, so I wanted to make sure I packed a couple of pieces that could easily be mixed and matched. Out of this outfit, I ended up just wearing the denim shorts and the cover up over my bathing suit to and from the beach. I never needed the cami since I did the dress for the night out, but it was still nice to have as a backup.

Necklace: Strung Out and Wired (via The Foundrie) | Tee: The Foundrie | Bracelets: The Foundrie | Shorts: Express | Sandals: Sam Edelman

I knew on Sunday we would want to get on the road as quickly as possible, so I wanted something fast and brainless. I had stopped into The Foundrie last week and picked up this adorable tee shirt! I couldn't resist taking it with me, so I ended up wearing this outfit in its entirety except with my House of Harlow 1960 necklace instead of the tassel. I forgot to pack the tassel after all was said and done. Figures!

Doesn't seem like that much stuff, but after all my toiletries and beach towels and bachelorette party favors, I ended up with 4 heavy bags! This was the first time I was able to use my Lo & Sons weekender, and it worked out perfectly. All in all, a pretty successful trip!

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Cookies/No Cookies

And here is the last of the CS Gems trilogy of outfits and necklaces. If you missed the other two, you can catch yourself up here and here. This one was probably my favorite of the three, though it's really hard to choose to be honest! And I just loved this clever sandwich board sign! Plus this necklace - so gorgeous and the perfect amount of bling for my outfit. I really hope these posts have inspired you to check out their goodies! I have five of their pieces now, and I couldn't be more pleased with them! Fashionable and affordable. You can't beat that!

Two of my latest acquisitions from CS Gems 

(use code CARYLEE15 for 15% off!)

Sunnies: Vince Camuto (option) | Blazer: Express | Necklace: CS Gems (use code CARYLEE15 for 15% off!) | Clutch: Forever 21(option, option) | Ring: Topshop | Tank: Express (other colors here) | Bracelets: H&M (gifted) | Bottoms: Express (similar) | Shoes: Vince Camuto (option)

I got to know Stacy and Carrie a little better during this shoot, and come to find out, I work with a couple of people they know! I had to laugh and warned them that if they ever said, "Oh hey, I photographed that fashion blogger you work with!" they may get deer in headlights looks. Though I don't really mind if my coworkers know about my "moonlighting," it's not necessarily something I actively advertise at the office! If you're a blogger, do your coworkers know?

NOTE: CS Gems asked me to style this necklace in exchange for these photos, however, all views expressed in this post are my own. All outfit photos were taken and edited by CS Gems.

Enter the $600 Ultimate Cash Giveaway HERE!

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Flat lays: Random roundup and how to

Happy New Year!!

My random roundup is just a little bit different today. I've found that the same outfits are received differently depending on how they are showcased-- a proper photograph, a mirrored selfie, a top down or "from where I stand" selfie, or a flat lay. I feel like it has something to do with not only the composition or quality of the photo itself, but also the reader's/viewer's ability to relate their own personality or lifestyle to the person who is wearing the clothes. 

Flat lays are one of my favorite ways to showcase outfits because I feel like they are the least personal. There's no physical person (i.e. body type, age, personality, etc.) attached to these clothes, so the outfits can speak for themselves, and in theory, be universally relatable. I decided to grab some familiar outfits, but share them on the blog in the form of their flat lays.

Full outfit here

Vest: JCrew | Necklace: Kate Spade | Bag: Forever 21 | Sweater: Express (option, option) | Top: Rubbish (option, option) | Bracelet: Nadri | Bottoms: Express (option, option) | Shoes: Joe's (50% off!)

Blazer: Express | Top: Express | Necklace: Express | Bottoms: Express | Shoes: Tory Burch

Full outfit here

Necklace: Stella and Dot | Scarf worn as a shawl: Zara | Bag: Chicastic | Top: LOFT (other colors here) | Bottoms: Express | Boots: Coach

Full outfit here

Jacket: Pulse | Scarf: H&M | Top: LOFT | Bottoms: Express (option, option) | Booties: Hinge (option)

Coat: Wilson's Leather | Necklace: Kate Spade | Dress: c/o Boohoo (in grape) | Gloves: Target/Neiman Marcus Collaboration | Heels: Kate Spade

Flat lays are something that I've started to get into - they're a lot of fun to put together, and I always enjoy seeing others on Instagram and Pinterest. Jenna is really great about doing these, so the first time we met up, that was one of the first questions I asked her -- how do you do your flat lays? Lucky for you - she put together a whole post about it, which is awesome! See it here - needless to say, I pinned it right away, and I've been Pinspired to do my own ever since.

Her tutorial is already pretty thorough, so I'll only touch on my own personal nuances. I use a few things - I have a 24x36 sheet of white foam board, a 36x48 white, trifold presentation board, and a light box (very similar to this one.) I switch my background depending on how big my subject matter is.

I posted the above on Instagram last weekend here. It definitely looks a lot less glamorous to get to that point. I normally like to take these photos near a window with natural light, but I think I was just antsy to take one after being flat lay-less in California all week, so I was too impatient to wait for morning. While the background I used was my trifold presentation board, I did use my spotlights and rigged my lightbox a bit so I could diffuse the light.

Light box - very similar to this one

And this is where the magic happens. I play around with the composition until I find something that looks "right" to me. And then I take about 1278676 photos, keep the best one and delete the rest.

And this is the raw photo I took using my iPhone 6 camera. With a little photo editing using the same apps Jenna mentioned in her post, I was able to brighten this up a bit and eliminate the line of my photo box wall.

Bracelets: H&M (Gifted) | Necklace: Stella and Dot (Gifted) | Polish: Essie "Penny Talk" (Gifted) | Gloss: Chanel "174 Daydream" | Heels: MICHAEL Michael Kors (similar) | SKIRT: Express (option, option)

The end result is what you see on Instagram. Yes, I'm crazy, as I'm sure this is way more effort than someone should do for an Instagram photo, but it's FUN and therapeutic, just trust me on this!

Anyway, I thought this would be a good way to end the short week! Hope you enjoyed this for one reason or another, and if anything, I hope I inspired you to play around with your own flat lays and photo projects!

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Manic Monday: Another vest

OK, first, I know what you're thinking. Before I go any further. Let me just address the elephant in the corner. 

Yes, I'm wearing sunglasses and the street lights are on.

But! In my defense, it was only 4pm, so the lights had no business being on anyway! Ok, I feel better, let's carry on, shall we?

Sunnies: Tom Ford | Vest: JCrew | Necklace: Kate Spade (option) | Bag: Forever 21 | Sweater: Express (option, option, option) | Top: Rubbish (option, option) | Bracelet: Nadri | Bottoms: Express (option, option, option) | Shoes: Joe's (50% off!)

I'm so obsessed with vests lately, I just can't even control myself - I want all of them!! I just love everything about this look. I thought it was perfect for a double date night. I had met the boyfriend we were eating with, but not his girlfriend.

It's always hard to figure out what to wear when you are dressing for strangers and have no idea what their style is. Do they even like shopping? Is it safe to talk about how I share my OOTD photos on Instagram?! You don't want to look like a basic b!tch, but then again, you kind of do because you don't want to look overdone.

So, I wanted to be easy breezy and casual with the boyfriend jeans, but still interesting with the layers, and still sassy with the heels and clutch. In the end, I felt completely appropriate, and relieved with my outfit selection. Yes, getting dressed is HARD.

Enter here!

The giveaway runs until midnight, so you still have a few hours to enter! We will be announcing the winner on Wednesday, so hopefully that's instant gratification for you! Good luck!!

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Sequin skirt remix

I'm actually on the road again for work, but the Spotlight Weekly linkup theme this week hosted by Elle and Jacqueline is "Sequins and Sparkle" and I really wanted to participate. Remember this skirt from the Nordstrom Anniversary sale? No? Let's refresh your memory.

See original post here

I always like to see how I styled things last, so for the sake of comparison, I pulled this out of my archives. Not a completely different night and day transformation between the two looks, but I did decide to make this a little more work to holiday happy hour friendly with my styling today. 

Sunnies: Vince Camuto | Earrings: Kate Spade | Necklace: Express (option) | Bag: Forever 21 | Top: Express (similar in Tile Blue) | Ring: Banana Republic | Bracelets: Stella and Dot 1,2 and Nadri | Skirt: JOA (budget option, splurge option) | Shoes: Christian Louboutin

Since I hadn't worn this skirt since the summer, I was excited to style it a little bit differently for the current season. I almost reached for my black portofino instead, but at the last second, decided to pick up the blues in the skirt with this cobalt one. My new clutch was the perfect finishing piece. The arm strap is actually quite convenient, and it visually looks stunning as well. When I saw that it was marked from its already low price of $16.90 down to $11.24, I started trying to think of anyone and everyone I could order this for! It's a great piece at an unbeatable price. (That's code for: BUY ALL OF THEM.)

The $650 EXPRESS Gift Card giveaway runs until Monday! 

Enter here!

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