So funny story, I had tickets to see Taylor Swift on Monday night except when we got our tickets scanned we found out they were actually for Tuesday night. That made for a fun evening! So I am recovering from scream singing today, but I did have my rehearsal dinner outfit to share with you in the meantime!
The wedding outfit was recapped for you on Monday, and my love for the Express One Eleven collection was first introduced to you in this post here. My love continues to grow for the collection with every piece that I try on. Not only does the bralette add a little extra something in place of a necklace in the front, but the back view is just as stunning and fun.
And can we talk about this skirt for a second? It is the softest skirt you will ever own in your life. I'm such a fan of their elastic waist, pull on, midi skirts, and this one is no exception. But it may end up being my favorite because it is thicker but ridiculously soft. The stock photo doesn't really portray it accurately though. It really is more of a sweatshirt looking material in real life.
Anyhoo, that's all I got for you today! Hope you're having a good week!
Sorry for being MIA on Friday. It was a very long week, and I think two weeks of back to back weekend trips have left me both physically and emotionally exhausted. Not to be a Debbie Downer or anything, sorry! But traveling has forced me to blog during the week, and when I finally sat down to write my Friday post on Thursday at 9:30pm, I simply had no strength. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, so I won't dwell on it, but I'm hoping to make it up to you with this photo-heavy post!
I was sooo excited to find this skirt! I feel like I've been looking for a blush colored, pleated skirt like this for a long time, but they all seem to be more midi length, which isn't flattering on me. This ends up falling perfectly on me, and I love that the pleats don't start right at the waist. It's a perfect fit! I decided instantly that it would go with me to NYC!
You've been seeing a lot of Kendra Scottstuff on the blog lately, and I figured it was about time for me to properly post about it. Unless you don't have Instagram or you never read blogs, you've probably seen Kendra Scott pieces even if you didn't realize it. The signature and most recognizable pieces are theRayne necklaceand theDanielle earrings. These pieces have saturated social media to the point where I was just meh about them. They didn't bother me, but I didn't seek them out either.
A new Kendra Scott store is opening at Plaza Frontenac here in St. Louis, so to build awareness, a local Community Relations and Event Manager reached out to me to see if she could meet with me to discuss blogger opportunities. Needless to say, Kendra Scott is the biggest brand that has ever reached out to me, so I was definitely interested to hear what they had to say, and figured that for a company with this much clout, I should come prepared. I checked out all their other jewelry offerings on their website and was surprised to see more edgy pieces than their signature stuff. I even put together a social media kit thinking I was really going to have to sell myself to them and how I could provide value to their brand.
The meeting was amazing, and to be honest, I felt like she was trying to sell Kendra Scott to ME verses the other way around. She explained that although they're sold at big box retailers like Nordstrom, they had less than 20 of their own brick and mortar stores around the country. And while the number of stores will over double this year, there will still be less than 50 by next year. Small company but big success.
I feel like a lot of their success is thanks to how much they give back to the community, which is another thing I didn't know about the brand. Twenty percent of the proceeds made from these charms go towards various causes. They are also happy to host any charitable event whether on an individual or a national level. Part of the reason why I work at the current company I'm with is because they have these same cultural values on top of the good products they sell. So, it's great to be able to partner with another role model of a concept in my blog life as well.
At the end of the day, I found out that Kendra Scott has so much more to offer than colorful jewelry! And I'm not just talking about their edgier or more delicate pieces, I'm really referring to what they stand for as a brand. I was certainly enamored by their story. The jewelry they offer is really just a means to get their positive message out there!
After Jenna and I made our last minute plans to spend the weekend in NYC, I emailed our local brand rep to see if there were any Kendra Scott events we could attend while we were there. As I was sitting on the plane waiting to take off for NYC, I got an email back that there was an open house that very day to debut their winter collection called Mirror Mirror. We were so excited that the timing worked out!
I wish I could share photos from the designer showroom with you, but the collection will not be released until mid-October and they asked that we not post any photos on our blogs or Instagram accounts until after October 1st. You'll just have to believe me when I say there are a LOT of things I am going to need.
We snapped a ton of photos and mingled with the Kendra Scott girls, who were just so much fun. I'm pretty sure I want to be a Kendra Scott employee when I grow up. They act like such a close knit family and were extremely welcoming - I definitely felt at home.
I have to end the post with a disclaimer that while Kendra Scott has gifted me several pieces, it was made clear to me that I had zero obligation to even post about them. All of my opinions expressed in this post are my own and are sincere. If you don't know much about the Kendra Scott brand, I highly recommend reading up on them and seeing all that they have to offer! You won't be disappointed!
Happy Independence Day, everyone! I really love the 4th of July, obviously for everything it stands for, but also because it's in the heart of summer, which makes me so happy. While this outfit doesn't contain your typical patriotic colors, I felt it was still appropriate for the holiday because it's so summer chic. I want to walk on a boardwalk wearing this, on a cool summer evening, eating an ice cream cone! Or, perhaps, mingle around in the suburbs of St. Louis.
I'm loving these shorts so much (also seen here). They're so easy and low maintenance. They're perfectly distressed and worn in. They're a great warm weather version of my favorite distressed jeans. I sized up in them so they had an even more relaxed fit and could sit lower on my hips. So, if you're on the hunt for your perfect shorts, look no further!
