30th birthday party

My sweet friend Susanne and I both turned 30 back in July and thought it would be fun to have a little celebration with some of our blogger friends! Susanne lives in the most beautiful high rise down in Montrose and while we originally planned on hosting the party at a local restaurant, it worked out to have everyone at her place instead. There's a big open venue on the 9th floor overlooking downtown with the most amazing pool that I'm pretty sure I'd never get out of if I were Susanne. The whole building is so modern and stunning!

85C Bakery was kind enough to give pastries for the party which were delicious and almost too pretty to eat, and Winc provided all the wine. Ban Avenue took all the photos and did the most amazing job, especially given the wind and poor lighting that day. You're the best, Yash! We picked up a few other decorations here and there, a fun unicorn cake at HEB (because I'm 8 and not 30), and threw in a few salty treats to even out all of the sweet ones. It was such a fun evening and I can't thank Susanne enough for opening up her place to all of us! And for everyone who came, love you girls! Some of the girls sadly didn't make the photos below- I think there were 14 of us total. Such a special celebration!

my dress | shoes | earrings

Details:
photos by Ban Avenue
baked goods from 85C Bakery
wine from Winc
unicorn cake from HEB
confetti napkins from Home Goods
tassel balloon/paper straws from Target

We had plans of attending a birthday party today but unfortunately Bear is still feeling really sick- we attempted lunch and groceries earlier and he was miserable the whole time. He still has a fever and his little eyes look so droopy and sad, it's breaking this mama's heart! Isn't it the worst when our babies are sick? Such a helpless feeling. Selfishly I love all the snuggles but other than that, not a fan. We are resting the remainder of the day so hopefully he'll feel better tomorrow.
What have you been up to this weekend? Any fall festivities?! I'd love to hear!
xo, Britt

NYFW day five

my similar dress (one pictured is from Dillard's) | shoes | necklace | clutch

photos by Ban Avenue Photography


It's finally here, the moment you've all been waiting for- my last NFYW recap post! I know there have been a lot and they've all been super-winded, so thank you for sticking with me while I relive this amazing trip! Day five, while it was my last day in the city and I flew out by 5:30pm, happened to be the most jam-packed of all. I woke up really early to get ready, pack my bags (had to leave them with the concierge since I wouldn't return until after check-out), and be at a meeting by 9am. I met one of my friends who works at Elizabeth Arden and we chatted over cappuccino in the cutest coffee shop, Daily Provisions. If you're ever in NYC, make the trek over to Union Square for lots of cute bakeries, a farmers market on the weekends, and the most charming little park in the city. Lauren brought me lots of amazing Elizabeth Arden products that I've started trying and am loving, like this Eight Hour Cream Skin Protectant. 

From there, I ran a few blocks over to meet the girls from Style House PR at Breads Bakery, also in Union Square. The girls were so sweet & we have some collaborations underway so it was nice to put faces with email addresses yet again. We also couldn't get over how yummy the Rugelach were at the bakery- I think another NYC trip is in order just to get my hands on some more of those delicious chocolaty croissants. After we'd finished all the carbs we could consume, I ran across Union Square yet again but this time for a showroom appointment at Tracktenberg & Co. As soon as I arrived, I knew I hadn't allotted enough time for the fabulousness that stood before me. Not one, but two large rooms full of endless beauty products, clothes, hair care, perfume, food, etc. were all being gifted and I wanted hours and hours to get to see all of it! Some of the reps were kind enough to offer to mail products home to me which was a dream because Lord knows I didn't have an ounce of room left in my luggage. One thing that I did bring home with me were these Yummie coated leggings that I'm absolutely obsessed with- I'm actually wearing them right now as I type this post. They're my new favorite leggings because they're so comfortable, flattering, and can be dressed up or down. There were also salon stations doing lashes, makeup, hair- anything you could ever want. I only had about 30 minutes so I rushed to see/do as much as I could before having to head to my next appointment, a photoshoot with Lauren of Laurel Creative (my fav NYC photog- always shoot with her when I'm in the city!). We shot around Soho (I think?!) and knocked out 3 outfits in about 40 minutes before I hopped in an Uber and headed back to the hotel to grab my luggage. I made it to Newark in plenty of time to stuff my face with food, catch up on work, and make my flight home to see my boys. I ended up missing 3 more runway shows that day that I was supposed to attend- I was bummed especially to miss the Australian RTW show because I was dying to see the collection and I love the venue, Pier 59. Over all I can't complain though because it was a busy but successful day!
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I'll be sharing more New York photos on the blog over the next few weeks, surprise surprise- I think I still have around 8 outfits that were photographed there (very obviously with yellow taxis in the background!). I'll try to sprinkle them in here and there because I have other content I'm excited to post like Susanne & my 30th birthday party, some fall recipes, and baby updates! If there's anything in particular you'd like to see more of around here, please don't hesitate to tell me in the comments! I love hearing from y'all and it helps inspire future posts. :)
We are having a bit of a lazy Saturday, watching football and pretending that it actually feels like fall outside. Bear caught my cold so he's been under the weather the past few days- he isn't eating at all really and has a pretty high fever but he seems a little more like himself today personality wise, which is a good sign. Prayers for our little man, please!
Hope you've having a great weekend (with some actual fall weather)!
xo, Britt

NYFW day four

SIMILAR DRESS (mine's from Zara) | HEELS | EARRINGS | BELT


photos by Ban Avenue Photography

For some reason when I look at these photos all I can think of is that song by The Carpenters: "I'm on top of the world lookin' down on creation...". You know the one?! Surely my parents weren't the only former hippies to introduce such music to their kids. Random thoughts aside, this view from The Top of the Rock was absolutely breathtaking. Funny story (Shelbi may kill me for sharing this)- for weeks we'd discussed with our photographer, Yash, shooting at "The Top of the Rock" while in New York. Shelbi and I both just assumed that to mean the Empire State Building for whatever reason and so when the time came to meet Yash for our photos, that's where we went. We had already bought our tickets online for a specific time so when we showed up to the Empire State Building, walked up several flight of stairs, and were slightly humiliated in front of a crowd of tourists when we were told we were at the wrong place, we were afraid we'd screwed the pooch. Luckily we made it to the actual location, the Rockefeller Center, and they still let us go up (all the way up). And Yash didn't kill us for being over an hour late (#saint). Top of the Rock...Rockefeller Center...makes total sense now. And I get why this is the money shot- you want the Empire State Building in the backdrop! 

Okay so day four! Shelbi and I were supposed to shoot with Yash that morning in front of the Flatiron Building but ended up both feeling too sick/tired to make it in time. We took our time getting ready that morning and I headed to Soho at 10:30 for a meeting with Socialyte. I got to see the office and grab coffee with the sweetest employee there I'm currently working on a campaign with, so it was nice getting to meet her in person. After coffee, I hustled back to the hotel to meet Yash for photos. We had planned to knock out a lot of outfit shoots during his last few hours in the city and we made it happen! We really lucked out with the best weather on this trip, in the 60s most of the time, which made shoots pleasant and fun. After that shoot, Shelbi and I walked from the hotel over to Grand Central Station to shoot yet again, this time with good friends of ours from Houston who are launching an online boutique. Saltflat will be officially open for business on October 1st and I'm so excited- every single piece I've seen is stunning and affordable #winwin. We got to model some of the pieces which felt like a dream and after all that "hard work" ;), we headed back to the hotel to change quickly before venturing out for an evening of exploring.

We had to return a few pieces to Rent the Runway and then decided to take the subway to Central Park where we wandered around aimlessly, snapping photos and people watching to our hearts' content. We laid on our backs on a grassy hill and took in the perfect fall weather, sipping Starbucks Caramel Apple Spice and just enjoying the pause from all the hustle and bustle of fashion week. When the mosquitos rained on our party and started eating us alive, we walked a mile or so to Dylan's Candy Bar (one of my fav places on earth) before meeting up for dinner at Serendipity 3 (another one of my fav places on earth) with seven other girlfriends. Serendipity is one of my all time favorite movies and I can't resist going to the restaurant anytime I'm in NYC, and of course ordering the frozen hot chocolate! Shelbi gets to play the role of my John Cusack for the occasion and it's oh so (quasi) romantic. It was such a fun night with friends, all nine of us huddled around a table drinking our desserts and sharing stories until we realized it was almost 11pm. That's when you know it's been a great dinner.

Shelbi and I caught an Uber back to the hotel and crashed hard that night, our last night in the city. So bittersweet! I'll be back tomorrow with one final recap of the last day- if you've stuck with these posts, you're amazing. I'm mostly documenting Fashion Week happenings for my own terrible memory but the fact that any of you care to actually read them too is so sweet. Hope you have a great weekend!
xo, Britt