Kappa Alpha Order, Commonwealth Birding, and Let's Be Preppy!

A few weeks ago, Brian over at Commonwealth Birding asked me if I wanted to come out to do a hunt in Richmond. Not only was I geographically unable to attend, but if you were to put this girl on a hunting trip with zero experience, I don't even know what could go wrong. I've always wanted to go clay shooting, but I could never just hop out there to go hunt quail like they do over at CB without any practice. Instead, I suggested that I do a product review and send some guy friends who go to University of Richmond in my place. Jack, a high school classmate of mine is a brother of Kappa Alpha Order, and I thought he might be interested. Jack and I are the two on the end in this picture, all of us are attending my friend Caroline's debutant ball function (I feel like this was a million years ago)...super awkward Katie.

Lucky for me, Jack and a few of his brothers were interested and after talking and exchanging number and names with Brian, the guys at CB were happy to host the KA's in my place! From the looks of all the facebook photos, it seems like they had a wonderful time! 

If anyone lives in the Richmond area with a hankering to hunt quail now that the season is open (thank you email subscription to Garden & Gun Magazine for informing me of that) definitely drop Brian a line. If you just like the little quail logo, they have a bunch of apparel you can buy online. I was sent croakies and a dog collar and both will definitely be used. A few friends of mine here actually have pets that live with them, and I want to find someone who has the initials CB to give it to! It's great that they have a few products beyond just croakies and hats, especially because of hunting, because it gives CB a different market than the usual preppy brands.

I want to extend a HUGE HUGE HUGE thanks to Brian and all his co-workers for hosting Jack and the other KA brothers. I'm so glad that we were all able to work together for a great day!

xxKatie

Merry Post Christmas!

After a whirlwind Christmas adventure, I am finally back and a-posting! My sister, my parents, and I all drove up North for a few family visits on Christmas day. After finishing gift opening, we hurriedly packed and drove up to Brooklyn, NY and spent just over an hour in a Nursing home visiting one of my great aunts who has recently had a stroke. We then headed up to Rockville Center, NY for a family Christmas get together for my Mom's side. The next morning we headed further north to Sudbury, MA to get a quick visit in with my Dad's side. In all, we saw every relative on both sides minus 1 very elusive uncle on my mom's side. It was great to see (almost) everyone on both sides for a chance, despite how fast we had to travel.

As Christmas goes, it was very fun and for my "wow gift" as my parents have begun calling them, I got a GPS. I am pretty excited, but I have made a promise to myself that I will not become dependent upon it. My parents/Santa got me a TomTom, and just tonight I have downloaded a few new color schemes, my current one being a 4.5 star-rated "Girly Pink" scheme. What else can I do? It's kinda tough to see from my MacBook, but its a good glimpse! I love it and on our trip I found myself watching it like TV. My mom said it was the perfect chance to "get to know it" so that it's not s gadget-y while I'm driving with it. I got a bunch of other stuff too that I'm really excited about, mainly Lilly stuff from the store and a couple other pieces that I can't wait to blog about.

Tomorrow will be all about the Debutante Ball. Let me just preview it by saying that I haven't had such a fun time in a LONG time!! It was great, and fun enough to make the background picture on my computer! Lots of pictures to follow!

xxKatie

I'm Going to a Deb Ball!

Yes! A real, Washington D.C. debutante ball, and I couldn't be more excited! There are two parts to this debutante ball: a holiday dance, and then the presentation ball. Tomorrow is actually the holiday dance where we all wear short, cocktail dresses. As advised by a guy friend of mine, very sarcastically he warned me to not "outdress" the debs themselves. Heeding his warning, although I'm sure he never expected this, I'm going in all black believe it or not. I have a beautiful Susana Monaco black dress that's nearly backless, that I absolutely adore. Paired with a pair of black pumps, I want to go very classic. That's me third from the left, I know, with short hair. The girl next to me on the right is the deb herself. She's been up here a few times herself! I am SO excited to go to this.

Now, the other night is the actual presentation ball, where each of the 7 girls are being presented by their fathers. There are two parts to that night itself: a huge 8,000 course meal and then the dancing portion of the ball (which starts at 10:00pm). Caroline, 2 girlfriends, her parents, her escort and her male floor committee are eating dinner and then the rest of the crew comes later. I'm one of the later arrivers. That night, we all have to wear floor-length gowns, prom-esque. The dress I'm wearing is the one on the far right, on my beautiful friend Audrey. Unfortunately, my LP prom dress won't be making an appearance a) because it's a bit too summery and b) because on a 6'0" tall girl, a size 0 prom dress is not floor-length (hence the shin-up picture). That dress was like barely to my ankles. Instead, taking advantage to post a prom picture, I am wearing a friend of mine's dress, a pale blue number that is made of the best material in the world. Along with my platinum Jacks and a little strap adjusting this dress is floor-length, or as close to floor-length as I'm capable of getting. I think the length is perfect really, because I don't need a dress that needs to be lifted up in order to walk around, especially if we're dancing the night away!

If anyone's been to a deb ball, let me know what you do and everything, because I don't really know what to expect! I'll post back with a deb ball debriefing!

xxKatie