Packing for a Long Weekend

I can't contain my excitement - on Sunday at 6am, my honey and I are heading to VEGAS! Squeeeeeeeee! We haven't been on vacation for two and a half years, so we are overdue. I'm not really sure what to pack, though. It's supposed to be in the 100s, but it's dry heat.... we had 100s and crazy humidity as recently as last week, so I'm not sure what to expect. For now, my plan is to live in maxi dresses and bikinis, so that will have to do. However, it's always fun to day dream and plan the perfect "mobile closet" for a trip, so I popped over to Rent the Runway to browse the gorgeous pieces I could rent if I had the budget! Here are my top picks, and where I would wear them!

Parker Floral Ruffle Getaway Maxi - Rent it for $50!

This is the dress I would travel in. I always get cold on planes, so having my legs covered is muy importante. However, once I get out of that gloriously air-conditioned airport, I have a feeling a wall of dry heat is going to knock me on my ass, which is why the breeziness of a maxi dress is ideal! Besides, I like to look nice when I travel. And apparently I look sketchy to all TSA agents, because I always get tapped for a friendly feel and the wand, so the lack of hardware on this dress might help keep me out of their poke-and-prod line.

Elizabeth and James Share the Love Dress - Rent it for $75!

Mike doesn't know it yet, but he's taking me to Paris for dinner at Mon Ami Gabi for my beloved Chicken Grandmere. I went to Vegas with a girlfriend five years ago, and we ended up going to Mon Ami Gabi two nights in a row for this meal... I haven't stopped thinking about it. YUM. Anyway, about the dress - I want to show a little skin, and I love my legs, but I'm a firm believer in balancing out that skin with a little extra coverage elsewhere. The neckline and sleeves on this dress are perfect, and the little bit of shimmer on the sleeves makes the dress perfect for dinner and then crossing the street to watch the Bellagio Fountains. The black is perfect for hiding any mascara and tears that end up on my clothes thanks to this song. (And yes, I did in fact watch this YouTube video and cry... again. I love this song...)

 

BCBGMAXAZRIA Class President Dress - Rent it for $60!

I would stroll the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in this dress, and look fabulous doing it. Enough said.

Trina Turk In the Lead Shift - Rent it for $60!

I would wear this cute little color blocked dress to the breakfast buffet at the Wynn. Afterward, it would probably be cute to wear to Fremont Street to check out the Old Strip. Or maybe I would just dump Mike at The Gun Store and go see the early show for the Jabbawockeez.

Badgley Mischka Midnight Glamour Dress - Rent it for $75!

Finally, what would a long weekend to Vegas be without cocktails and dancing? And of course, I would insist on matching the glitter and glitz of Vegas in my own spangly dress. This one even has nice draping at the waistline to hide my inevitable cocktail belly. Winning! I wouldn't even need jewelry, so it makes getting dressed for a raucous night out that much easier!

Have you ever used Rent the Runway? How was your experience?

Following Up - Wedding Hair

Since yesterday's post was about wedding attire, I figured I might blog a bit about the hairdo. I mean... hair can make or break an outfit, right? I spent a bunch of time on Pinterest (where else?!) searching for inspiration... I knew I wanted to wear my hair up off my neck, and I wanted it to look soft and romantic. Here is some of the pinspiration I found:

Aaaaand here's what I came up with:

I have naturally curly hair, so I flat ironed the top half of my head (yes, just the top) for the bump and to have smooth hair framing my face. I have a couple braids in this mess, plenty of hair spray, and at least 100 bobby pins... if not more. Since I left the hair underneath curly, it was easy enough to just twist the pieces up and pin them in place. I was really happy with how it turned out... even though taking out the bobby pins and brushing out the back-combed bump was a pain. The things we do for beauty!

Have you been pinspired lately? Did it work, or did it fail miserably? I've found that I have an equal number of wins and fails so far...

What I Wore Wednesday - Wedding Attire

Since I took a fairly long hiatus from blogging, I never got around to posting one of my favorite outfits from this spring. I had the pleasure of attending a beautiful wedding on May 18th at the Hellenic Center in Ipswich, MA. In the months leading up to the event, I bought several dresses. I'm SO not that kind of girl, but it's like I kept forgetting that I already had a dress... so now I have all of these dresses I need excuses to wear to justify buying them in the first place! (Ahem... Michael, this means you need to take me out on some dates!)

Anywho, I ended up in a Lela Rose for Target dress in a beautiful watercolor print - I found it on an errands trip, and had absolutely no intention of buying a dress that day, but I couldn't leave this beauty at the store. I styled it up with a Lilly Pulitzer swing coat I found at a consignment shop the morning of the wedding, a pair of pink patent pumps by Bandolino (from Macy's, of course!), a rando pink belt from the depths of my closet, and some gorgeous lia sophia earrings. I wouldn't officially say that the Ray Bans were a part of the outfit, but they stayed on most of the day because the ceremony was outdoors.

These photos are a funky mashup of Instagram, shots I took, and shots taken by men who have no clue how important it is to include feet in a full body shot. This is what happens when you give up control and leave the tripod at home... bad idea.

Honestly, I love this outfit so much, I would even wear it again for a date or girls' classy night out. What do you think?

Have you had any outfit "wins" lately? Tell me about it!

Finding Color in a Sea of Black

I make it no secret that if I could wear every color of the spectrum every single day in the form of prints, patterns, color blocking and whatever else, I would do it. Unfortunately, I now work somewhere where the dress code mandates black. Black, black, black.

Black - /blak/
Adjective
Of the very darkest color, the opposite of white; colored like coal, due to the absence or complete absorption of light.

Are you as depressed as I am right now?

Being on the visual team, I am allowed to wear a colorful top (as long as I have my "black layering item," of course), accessories and shoes ... but every time I look in my closet, I realize that most of my colorful stuff is cardigans, dresses and collared shirts. So what do I do? I resort to wearing head-to-toe black. I even skip the fun shoes these days, simply because my feet get so sore that I now wear squishy Crocs flats, sneakers, and ohmigawd....... DANSKOS. Ewwwwwwwwwwwww!! I'm embarrassed to admit that I recently purchased a pair of Danskos, but I maintain that I did it out of necessity. They're clunky and strange to walk in, but my feet are so happy when I have them on, that I almost forgive these shoes for being so damn ugly.

Please don't judge me.

Let's pretend like I never confessed to that bit of fashion faux pas. Moving along.

So, here's my question: If you were forced to wear black every day, but wanted to infuse color into your work wardrobe, what would you do?

Chambray, Four Ways

There must be something wrong with me, because despite the heat and humidity, I can't stop thinking about my fall closet. Granted, I spend more time wearing all black than is socially acceptable (thanks a lot, dress code!), but I daydream about rich fall colors, textures and layers. I also daydream a lot about chambray. I have two chambray shirts, which is already one too many, but I keep seeing cute chambray tops everywhere and want to buy them all. I even styled one in my Cashmere display yesterday (see my previous post, here).

Since chambray is a relatively light fabric, I figured I would share with you a few ways chambray can be styled from the summer's warmer temps (and frigid indoor AC) through the chillier temps of fall.

Chambray, Four Ways by emilyofboston

Do you have a chambray shirt? What's your favorite way to style it?