Birthday Bliss!

So the Let's Be Preppy 5th birthday was a HUGE hit! A huge thanks to everyone who helped make it possible!

We were able to showcase the new Pink Sorbet renovations too, during the celebrations!

Our birthday spread was chock full of goodies to share with everyone!

My sweet Momma surprised me with cookies from a local bakery, Pink Magnolia Bakery, all the way in SC! The girls at Pink Magnolia seriously make the BEST cookies so it was MUCH to my delight that my Mom got them for us! How perfectly perfect are they?!?!?!

I had a bunch of fun pink drinkware that I brought with me to celebrate with!

We even celebrated with LBP Cruiseys too!

My boss surprised me with this Let's Be Preppy cake! Can you believe it?! Do you recognize that from a certain header and Facebook cover photo? I was obsessed. I was speechless for a few minutes because I really had NO idea that this was coming!!! Floor, surprised, shocked, honored, doesn't even begin to describe the feeling when I saw this cake!

This birthday was among the most fun I have been able to plan and celebrate! Thank you to my readers, friends, boss, co-workers, bakery, Mom and everyone else who had a hand in this wonderful day!!!

xxKatie

They're Here: Let's Be Preppy Cruiseys

They arrived yesterday!

I AM SO HAPPY! The front side features nautical flags of L-B-P for Let's Be Preppy and the back features the name and URL if anyone asks where you got it from! (...because they will!)

I want to make them available to everyone, so you can order them

HERE!

They will be available, first come, first serve and will be shipped on the Friday of the week that they are ordered! I am so excited for y'all to see them and use them on your campuses and tailgates! 

My friends and I wore Cruiseys all night last night to the Dierks Bentley concert we attended! Left and right people were checking them out and wondering where they were from!!!!

Obviously, as you can see, there are pink Cruiseys and green Cruiseys and in the Etsy store, you'll find two listings: one for each color!

A HUGE HUGE HUGE thanks to The Cruisey team for everything they did! Their product has been SO POPULAR that they're currently totally SOLD OUT! Check them out on Facebook for their updates!

xxKatie

You're Invited: Let's Be Preppy Turns 5!

Early next month, Let's Be Preppy turns 5! Can you believe we've been going at this since 2007!? I think that makes LBP one of the oldest blogs on the preppy block!

I hope that everyone in town can make it! If you're going to be in the best college town in the South, Columbia, SC, head on over to Pink Sorbet on September 14! Mark that in your Lilly agendas--it's a Friday!

I would love to see you and I have a few fun, fabulous tricks up my sleeve for the people who can make it! If you can, RSVP on Facebook! Girls, guys, moms, daughters, y'all are ALL invited! I can't wait to see your bright, shining faces for the big birthday!

Happy almost birthday, LBP!

xxKatie

Columbia Style Week 2012: Finale

Saturday night was the finale for CSW!

This MayaQoba dress was my favorite piece in the entire show! I was breathless when I saw it and squealed to Mikelle who was sitting next to me! I REALLY need it!

Both of these Lauren Devaughn designs were also among my favorites. I liked everything in this material really. They were great pieces that I loved!

This Luis Machicao set has my name all over it. That coral liner was such a fun pop of color and I was just thinking how much I want a white work-appropriate shift dress. Adorable!

This was another LM dress that I really liked! the ruffle was cute and that hidden color was fabulous!

There aren't many photos of me at the Finale event, but you can see me and the crew I was lucky enough to hang out with right there!

I loved Mikelle's Instagram caption of "Carolina Fabulous"!

I had a wonderful time being a part of Columbia Style Week 2012 and I look forward to working again with them in 2013 if I'm still in the area! A huge thanks to all volunteers, organizers, models, designers, VIPs, and everyone who attended CSW2012 and made it such a fun week for people like me!

xxKatie

Columbia Style Week 2012: Wedding 101

Wedding 101 was held on Saturday morning and I left work for about an hour to make it! I love all things wedding and figured this would be IDEAL for yours truly. After interning at Bayside Bride last year, I felt like I learned SO much, so I really knew what to keep my eyes out for!

Wedding 101 was also held at Tapp's and converted into wedding wonderland!

The showcase itself was presented by Weddings 101, a local wedding planning service. They did a wonderful job showing us all some great designs! (Minus the clamps used to secure dresses! I wish they found a different way to make them work because they were a teensy bit distracting!)

We got a chance to see designs for the Mother of the Bride, Bridesmaids, Brides, Grooms, Groomsmen, and even a ring bearer! My favorite options were the bridal dresses we saw!

This boatneck dress was my FAAAAAVORITE of all the dresses we saw--LBP loves a boatneck wedding style!

The white dinner jacket look was my pick among all the groom looks! This guy ROCKED it too!

In front of me, so technologically savvy, was The Fat and Skinny on Fashion--a blogger I was lucky enough to meet because of CSW! She's totally a local fashion blogger worth checking out. I also got to meet Josh Ratliff, a stylist who's gotten the chance to work in a TON of places and Mike Kelton, one of the US Weekly fashion police! I was lucky enough to get the chance to hang out with these guys for all of the events on Saturday!

Wedding 101 was a great event and I had a blast yet again getting to cover Columbia Style Week!

xxKatie

Columbia Style Week 2012: Kick Off & Beautiful People Party!

The first night of Columbia Style Week was a kick off and "Beautiful People Party"! The night's events included a panel of industry experts which was one of the highlights of the entire week for me!

Left to right: Katie Kern, Sonya Barnes, Anthony Simmons, Sonia Hendrix, and Alicia Zeigler (who organized the entire week!)

Some of the panel highlights included:

Alicia: "I like to make other people feel fabulous..."

Sonya: "An educated consumer is best.", "Net-work equals net worth!", "Great brands are built on trust, [it becomes] whether you build a great brand yourself or [risk an] image by default..."

Katie: "INTERN! Make sure you secure internships.", "Be professional at all times.", "YOU SHOULD GET PAID!"

What I enjoyed most about the panel was that most of the experts had to say was very business oriented. It wasn't all about fashion or all about the fashion industry but more about their business and entrepreneurial what-I-wish-I-knew kind of advice. I learned SO much at this panel and was excited to be able to network with these individuals and hear what they had to say! 

The venue was Tapp's Art Center which I had never been to and was excited to see!

There was a pre-panel meet-and-greet where everyone could socialize and schmooze. It was enjoyable--I got time to see the different rooms of Tapp's and what artists they were featuring. After social hour, we all headed into the room for the panel and announcement of the 25 Most Stylish People of Columbia awards!

I wore this one shoulder dress and crazy shoes to the first night! I was comfortable and definitely among the preppier attendees at the event--gotta show my preppy pride!

I wanted to thank all of the panel members for their advice and time to chat, I hope they enjoyed the night as much as I did!

Tomorrow's post is all about "Wedding 101" which was one of the Saturday events!

xxKatie

A Gift: Amanda C. Bee

As a surprise for my sister and I, my sneaky Mom asked good friend, Amanda Bee to do a few custom pieces for us! I've been itching to show y'all!

This is a custom copy of a photo from MANY MANY years ago of my sister and I:

How sweet did it turn out?! We LOVED the Amanda Bee version! My Mom gave Amanda a few more original photos and this is what Amanda came up with:

A lot of my facebook friends will know this photo from when my sister visited me for the Auburn game!

Y'all have ALL seen this one as well before on LBP--a few of my faaaavorite Baaaaaay ladies! All us Annapolitans just swoon over these Amanda Bee portraits!

Have you wanted Amanda to do one of yours? I know she's done a few for some other fabulous bloggers--be sure to check her out for a wonderful gift or memento!

xxKatie