Cup Dress Week: Katie's Dress

I'm officially announcing MY CUP DRESS!

I will be donning this Lilly Pulitzer Isabel Dress to the one and only Carolina Cup! It's yellow seersucker and has teeny pink horseshoes embroidered on it! It. Is. PERFECT! I'm IN LOVE. Best part: online the description of this dress says, "Tailgate Responsibly"!! How cute is that?

With my announcement, however, I would like to kick off Carolina Cup Dress Week! I'll be showcasing a special dress everyday this week since you have LESS THAN A MONTH until the big day! Hopefully with that, you'll be feeling a little inspired to snag your dress early!!

What are you wearing to Cup? Do you have it picked out yet?

xxKatie

Southern Beaus Giveaway: Winner!

The Southern Beaus winner is Miss Holly from Hey, Hey Holly! I was so excited to see Holly's number come up from random.org because she is one of my favorite bloggers!! I wish I could explain all the craziness that comes with tabulating winners of giveaways, but it gets CRAZY! So many spreadsheets and organizing. Anyway, Holly is the big winner!

Miss Holly, if you could, send me an email at letsbepreppy (at) gmail (dot) com.

Be sure to keep Southern Beaus in your memory next time you need a tie!

xxKatie

Weekly Gratitude

I figured it would be IDEAL to post my Weekly Gratitude post in it's scheduled time since it's the 4th of July. We're goin' RED, WHITE, AND BLUE style (with a little bit of humor thrown in...) for the usual WG:

1. I am thankful that we get to celebrate our 235th 4th of July today! Let's party like it's 1776!
2. I am thankful for all our soldiers, reservists, fighters, firefighters, police officers, and other civic workers who keep our country safe. You do a lot for us (and myself included) don't thank everyone in that category enough!

3. I am thankful for Betsy Ross and her AWESOME design skills and sewing abilities. Homegirl got it done for us. Looks like some of our founding fathers were impressed too.
4. I am thankful for Thomas Jefferson who wrote the Declaration of Independence. I am thankful for John Hancock for having the biggest signature (and giving us the idiom of the "John Hancock"). I am thankful for (while we're in the Declaration frame of mind) Charles Carroll for reppin' Maryland and Catholics, and being the longest-living signer of them all!
5. I am thankful for Toby Keith (cue historical change) for giving us "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue"..."Hey Uncle Sam put yo' name at the top of his list...!"

6. I am thankful for Robert Mills. He was the designer of the Washington Monument in DC AS WELL AS the Maxcy Monument built on the Horseshoe of USC to honor our first university president, Jonathan Maxcy!
7. I am thankful for the Han Dynasty (206-220 BC) for inventing fireworks by burning bamboo!
8. I am thankful for Old Navy for annually releasing their American t-shirt and American flag bathing suit every year. In store only, that is.

9. I am thankful for Steven's Hardware in Annapolis for selling "Made in the U.S.A. American flags" and only ones made here.
10. I am thankful that I am an American and am able to safely, excitedly, and patriotically celebrate the 4th of July!

xxKatie

Carolina Cup Week: The Horses

So its no surprise when you ask someone, "Did you even see a horse?" referring to Carolina Cup. Folks everywhere are partaking in the day's festivities...it is after all known as the largest tailgate in the Southeast!  Britton's of Columbia made a shirt this year poking fun at all of the horse jokes:

Isn't that a fun shirt?!

The race is a traditional steeplechase race held at the Springdale Race Course in Camden, SC. Camden is a well-known horse training district for the Eastern seaboard and more specifically the Southeast. The National Steeplechase Museum is even there. The description says that it includes:

Exhibits on the history of American steeplechase racing, a trophy room, trophies and memorabilia, jockey silks and a library with old books and references. Films and tours of race track. A gift shop is on site. Springdale is home to the nationally renowned steeplechase races, the Carolina Cup each spring and the Colonial Cup each fall. Race track owner, the late Marion duPont Scott, endowed and donated the course to the state of South Carolina.

In the official 2011 media guide, it specifically classifies a steeplechase horse as: All steeplechase horses are Thoroughbreds – a specific breed whose bloodlines trace back hundreds of years to the same three stallions — the DarleyArabian, the Godolphin and the ByerleyTurk.  The pedigree of each horse mustbe proven with official JockeyClub registration papers.  Horses maybegin their careers when they are three years old, butmoststartlater than that, as horses are notfullymature and developed until theyreach the age of five.

Now I don't know very much about horses, but all of this makes me think of Seabiscuit AND the Preakness Stakes in Maryland! Last year's winner was Spy in the Sky:

Check out Spy during this action shot:

I'm quite a fan of his competitor's ensemble!!

Who knows though, maybe we won't even see a horse! Did you see them when you were at Carolina Cup? Be sure to keep submitting your Cup photos to letsbepreppy@gmail.com OR the facebook fan page HERE!

xxKatie

Love Story 6.0

Remember when I wrote a post called 'A Free Wedding?' a few months ago? The gist of it is that a HRSM (Hotel, retail, and sports management) class here at USC is taking on designing a wedding. They handle everything, planning, venue, food, dress, everything! Well, THE WINNER IS BEING ANNOUNCED ON MONDAY! You can LIKE it on facebook and stay up to date with all the wedding details! Any USC readers here should certainly follow along. 

The class is going to announce the winner on USC's historic horseshoe. I work right on the horseshoe so I sure hope they're announcing it when I'm there! Annette Hoover of All About Brides & Events Annette Hoover is the class' professor and the organizer of the HRTM 362's "Free Planned Wedding" class! I can't wait to hear all about the plans and everything they're going to do for it!!


xxKatie