One Set, Three Outfits

September 22, 2018

For the longest time I have been trying to find the perfect set! The struggle I always came across was that either the top was too cropped, something was see through or the set was really fun but not something I would actually wear out in public. Luckily this cute set from Forever21 ended up coming back in stock and I bought it right away! The key with sets is to find the option where you can buy the top and the bottom separately. I wasn’t sure about my size so I ended up buying the top in two sizes. I’m honestly super happy I did because I ended up picking the larger of the two. The great part about sets is that you can style them so many different ways which I wanted to share with you all below!

Look One

The first and simplest way to wear the two pieces is together. They were literally made for each other and so it is pretty much guaranteed that they will look cute together. Kind of like a romper or a dress except that it is cute in half so you don’t always have to wear it as your whole outfit.

Look Two

Another way I styled this set was by pairing the top with jeans and a hat. It is a great way to transform the outfit for fall and you can easily add a sweater or jacket if it is cold that day. The funny thing is that seeing this outfit alone, you would have no idea that the top is part of a matching set. It really just looks like a cute top that you paired jeans with. When picking out bottoms, I made sure to choose ones with a similar rise. The shorts are high waisted so I paired the top with my high waisted jeans so the hem would hit at a similar spot.

Look Three

The third outfit I created was using just the shorts. i paired them with a neutral colored top since there is already a pattern on the shorts. Although I could have added a different crop top, it can be hard to find one where the hem hits in the same spot with the high waisted shorts. I love crop tops but I like when the do not actually end up showing my stomach. To avoid this problem, I picked a longer tank top and just tucked it into the shorts.

SHOP THE POST

Polo Noir with Provenance Hotels

August 14, 2018

A Summer Day at the Polo Fields

This past Saturday I was honored to be invited to Portland's third annual Polo Noir by Provenance Hotels. I had never been to a Polo match before and had absolutely no idea what to expect! When I heard "polo match" I immediately thought of that scene in My Fair Lady at the horse races as well as the Gossip Girl episode where Serena steals one of the horses and rides off in hopes of getting her Dad's attention. In both of those scenes, everyone is dressed very fancy and of course has elaborate hats on. Although I expected the event would be somewhat fancy and bougie, the polo event was also being held in Portland which is the opposite of fancy.

I brought along my old co-worker and fellow blogger Sophie of Gracefully Worn as my guest. We both decided on long dresses and sun hats with block heeled shoes. Since the fields are decently out there in the country, there was plenty of parking and tons of golf carts shuttling guests from their cars to the entrance.

At the entrance we headed to our special check in tent and collected souvenir wine glasses as well as our VIP pass. The check in tents were at the top of the hill overlooking the massive polo field which really is HUGE. One nice benefit about a huge field though is that there is plenty of room for tents and chairs. There were tents along both sides of the field for optimal views of the action! On the side of the field where our tent was located, there was a music stage as well as booths offering samples of a variety of things ranging from mini tequila drinks to water-proof blankets. There were only three VIP tents besides the smaller private tents that individuals can purchase for the events. Scattered between the tents were rows of provided seats for guests to sit and watch the game though it was still recommended that attendance bring their own lawn chairs since there were far from enough chairs for everyone.

Our tent provided by Provenance Hotels and Stoller Family Estate was absolutely adorable! On the outside was a hedge advertising Stoller Wine and Provenance Hotel which made for a really cute photo background. Upon entering the tent, there was a table to the right which was the private bar offering various drinks for purchase including wines and champagnes from Stoller Vineyards as well as other spirits. To the left was the massive complimentary feast provided by Bullard which is the restaurant that will be a part of the newest Provenance hotel. There was enough food for the several hour long event and every time I revisited the food table, there was a different type of meat to try. In the right corner of the tent near the entrance, was a photo booth with a fun, leaf print backdrop as well as a staff member to assist with the photos. The middle of the tent was scattered with seating arrangements and then the far end of the tent, right next to the field, was lined with rows of chairs to offer guests a front row view of the game.

I was incredibly honored to get invited as one of the Provenance Hotel's guests for the event. If you follow me on Instagram, you probably saw that earlier this summer I met up with some Seattle bloggers who came down to Portland for a girls weekend trip. We met up at The Dossier which is actually one of the Provenance Hotels. They have hotels located in several states but their newest hotel called The Woodlark is set to open in Portland this coming December. The interior of the tent was decorated in a similar manner as the hotel will be so if you love plants and aesthetically pleasing interiors, The Woodlark is the place for you.

The overall event included two polo matches followed by an early evening concert by The Head and the Heart which is a somewhat local band from Seattle, WA. For those of you who are not familiar with the game of Polo (aka me still), each team has four players and then there is a referee. In the case of these games, all of the players were on brown horses whose tails were braided and whose manes had but cut short. The referee then rode around on a white horse in their striped referee jersey. All of the players except for one, were male. During the awards ceremony, it was really cool getting to see the one woman player up there who also ended up winning a trophy for most improved.

During the game, there are two goal posts at opposing ends and the team's goal is to knock the ball between the goal post of their opponent. Unlike soccer or lacrosse, there are no goalies in polo nor are there nets between the two goal posts. Although the players were aggressive in trying to steal the ball from each other, the horses seemed quite tame and very well trained. The players had to use one hand to hold and steer the horse while using the other hand to hold their wooden mallet and try to hit the ball. Out of the many team sports our country has, polo is definitely a fun, fast-paced game to watch! The ball can however fly at very fast speeds so there is the potential to get hurt if a stray ball hits you.

Due to the many hooves running across the grass as well as the divots caused by the mallets, by the end of a game, there are tufts of grass everywhere as well as a few piles of horse poop. One of the best traditions of polo though is the divot stomp that happens after the first game. During this time, all of the viewers get to come on the field and "stomp the divots" back in place. Overall, I had an absolute BLAST at Polo Noir and definitely plan to attend next year. If you are able to, I highly recommend attending a polo match plus it is the perfect excuse to get dressed up for a day! I am so glad Provenance Hotel invited me and that I got to share my experience with you all!

SHOP THE OUTFITS

Shop both of our looks here

Please use my link if you end up purchasing any of the linked items. I work really hard finding similar items and great deals for you all so I really really appreciate it when you shop through my link. Each sales (even if it is a different item but from the same site) gives me a small commission which helps me keep my blog up and running. Thank you!

OTHER LINKS

Polo Noir

Provenance Hotels

The Woodlark

Stoller Family Estate

Bullard

[this post was not sponsored and all opinions are my own]

white summer romper

June 7, 2017

My favorite type of shopping is online shopping and this post focuses on my latest mail delivery. BUT before I dive into how awesome this romper is, I first need to share the bit of backstory that goes along with it...

Originally I had seen the maxi version of this overlay lace romper featured on someone else's blog and immediately fell in love! The one that she was wearing was in Ivory and sold at Nordstrom by the brand Socialite. For a while the ivory color kept going in and out of stock until one night when I was doing my nightly online shopping, there was one small left! I couldn't quite decide whether I was a small or xs but since xs was not an option, I went with the larger size (that's one thing that can be hard about ordering online since it is hard to know what size to get without being able to try it on. Thank god for customer reviews and free returns though!)

When the maxi lace romper came in the mail it fit like a glove except for the length. Similar to this shorter romper, the bottom had a natural scalloped look and so the only way to shorten it would have been to undo the waist and resew it with a shorter skirt. I tried a handful of heels on including my tallest, five inch ones with no luck. Honestly it can be really hard to find maxi dresses when you are short (I'm 5'3") and I usually have to get them altered which over time definitely adds up especially if you factor in all of the jeans and pants I have to get hemmed as well! I SO wanted to love the maxi romper but after trying it on every day for five days straight, I had to face reality and had to return it or else it would spend the rest of its life just hanging in my closet. After facing this sad truth, I started to do some research and found that the brand Honey Punch makes the exact same maxi romper AND makes it in a shorter version. After comparing online prices I found this white romper on the website of an online boutique based in Napa, California called 2weeksnotice.

To my luck, this shorter romper ended up being the perfect compromise since I am able to achieve the same look with the same beautiful lace but at a length that suits my short frame much better! The only difference I noticed between the Socialite maxi romper and this Honey Punch shorter romper is that the v-neck is a lot lower on the later one. Although I have a pretty small bust, I still felt more comfortable with a higher neckline so I took my sewing kit out and sewed up part of the v-neck as you can see in the picture to the right

For those of you interested, this romper is now on sale for $45 from 2weeksnotice boutique in the color white but it is going fast (shop it here)! Click on the following websites to view the romper in other colors as well as the maxi version for you taller babes!