Who Wears Short Shorts?

I hardly ever wear short shorts. 5'' shorts are my game, and I rarely ever buy anything shorter than that. I did find though, a FABULOUS pair from Target in the store last time I went:

I snagged these shorts to wear on those occasions when you want dressy, possibly going out shorts. I prefer dresses to go out, but I remember a few times over the summer last year and in the early fall, where I really wished I had a pair of black shorts to go out in. I envision these shorts with knockout wedges and some cute top with a big, chunky, statement necklace.

Thoughts?

I'm really excited about these shorts! They also come in a few different colors that I might have to go back and check again:

This color is called "Calistoga Blue" and I'm slightly obsessed.

"Bright Coral" is also calling my name.

These shorts are fun because they have a bit of stretch and even some sheen to elevate them a bit. Best part? ...they're $17.99. Yep. Just under $18 for these awesome shorts!

xxKatie

Style for a Steal: Lilly Pulitzer Edition

An email I often get asks about where to get preppy fashion for a discount. When you're a college kid or living on a budget, luxury goods are often out of our price range. This leads me to deal hunting!

(via)

Today is the day ladies and gents! I'm going to start a series on where to find different preppy brands for less than full price! No guarantees, but I'll do my best. We're starting with Lilly Pulitzer today. More often than not, I'm donning the bright pinks and greens Lilly prominently features. I've been wearing Lilly since I could decide what I wanted to wear and I've worked the retail side of Lilly as well.

The best place to start is at your local Lilly Pulitzer store. There are both corporate Lilly stores as well as merchant-owned ones called "Signature Stores". Most likely, you'll find that your store has a great sale rack that you can check out. Maybe your state or town doesn't have a store? Pick up the phone and call another store! You'll find that most stores are more than happy to ship to a new customer! Click HERE for a map of all Lilly Pulitzer stores! Lilly P also just finished up a great "New Years Cheer" sale--be sure to hop on the mailing list to make sure you get emails of when big sales like this happen throughout the year.

For flash Lilly sales, Rue La La is a great place to start! TODAY there is a Lilly sale going on! Flash sales can sometimes be harder to track down since they have such a short duration. RLL typically has Lilly one or so a quarter, and items will be a little older, but if you have your eye on something, this is the place to look! You will need an invite to many of these flash sale websites. Get yours HERE!

Depending on where you live (or how much of a Lilly lover you are) the Lilly Pulitzer warehouse sale is another great option! The warehouse sale is a 3-day event held close to the Lilly headquarters in King of Prussia, PA where they are able to unload merchandise for Lilly lovers on a budget. Deals here are among the best! Scarves and shorts--items that you hardly ever find on sale--can sometimes even be tracked down. I've been to the sale twice and each time we've been very successful. My trips and the loot I was able to score were documented here in 2010 and here in 2011.

6pm.com is also a great resource for discounted Lilly merchandise! I shared this site with my Mom who was looking for a co-worker of hers shopping for her daughter and I referred them to 6pm. The prices do change on this site though, so do know that going into shopping. I have purchased a few things from 6pm and the shipping is reliable and fair. The returns are as well--I made a return recently and had no problems. They are a company owned by Zappos (read about it here), so that really comes as no surprise.

I'm very hesitant to say eBay is a good place to find Lilly items. This can be very hit or miss and I'd say it's far more often a miss. eBay items have very little guarantees and you have to trust the seller. What's REALLY stopping someone from saying their gently used item is "NWOT"  (new without tags)? You'd like to think that sellers are honest, but I worry very much about the quality of items on eBay. I would venture to say that eBay is good for finding SPECIFIC pieces that you might be looking for that are very old or harder to find. 

These are just a few ideas of where to start your Lilly bargain hunting! Where do you find your Lilly steals?

xxKatie

Weekly Gratitude

In my not-so-busyness of being at the beach, it seems that I'm a day behind for my weekly gratitude!

1. I am thankful that I was able to come out to the beach for 4 days! This rules!
2. I am thankful for ROCKING my summer classes and as a bit of a reward my Momma treating me to these babies that should be awaiting my arrival at home tomorrow:

3. I am thankful for Shop It To Me's reward program because I'm getting FREE SHOES! What's better than ordering free shoes? The shoes arriving of course! I'm expecting these espadrilles coming soon (and with free shipping!) from Piperlime:

4. I am thankful for the week off that my hair got as well. No straightening it, no blow drying, just salty air, sand, sun and the elusive, natural, air dry. I'm thinking about getting my hair cut soon but having this super long hair has been really fun! Tough decision...

5. I am thankful for AmazonPrime. If y'all haven't signed up for it and you're a student, YOU NEED TO. It's free and you get free shipping on so much stuff. Besides my Momma ordering those boots with my AmazonPrime account, I ordered a few DVD's with it and they were all shipped FREE! Seriously look into it. Now.

6. I am thankful for Burt's Bees Lip Balm. Big time. This stuff works real wonders. I got some of my topical face gel on the tippy top of my upper lip and this stuff has really helped to heal it! This girl is ADDICTED.

7. I am thankful for some of my new purchases that I've made recently. Recap to come soon. Summer shopaholic? Not exactly. Getting close? Maybs, but a lot of it has been FREE! I heart free stuff as much as the next college kid!

8. I am thankful that my FAHBULOUS manicure from last week has lasted ALL week long with only minor bumps and scratches to speak of. Manicure win thanks to Bella Salon in Annapolis!

9. I am thankful for the beyond perfectly perfect beach weather that I got to share with Momma (and Daddyo for a day) all this time at the beach! I'm talking warm weather, no humidity, beach breeze kind of perfectly perfect. Yeah, that JUST happened.

10. I am SO THANKFUL THAT I GET TO GO BACK TO COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1 MONTH! 1704, GAMECOCKS, VC + UA, DENSE SC AIR, SUN, FOOTBALL, FABULOUS FRIENDS I MISS SO MUCH, AND ROOMMATES, HERE I COME!

xxKatie

Shop It To Me: Round 2

Just yesterday I updated all my Shop It To Me settings and it showed me so GREAT new stuff:

Kate Spade--I am ABSOLUTELY in LOVE with this dress! Ohmygoodness...(remember a few days ago how I said I had a problem with shopping for fancy dresses I don't need...yeah, about that)

Trina Turk

J. Crew

Shoshanna

Trina Turk

Trina Turk

J. Crew

Trina Turk

Want to get in on the sales? CLICK HERE to start seeing your own, personalized list of FABulous sales! You get to customize ALL the settings! Be sure to snag an invite if you missed the boat last time I wrote about my picks!! I love shopping...it to me :) (I think that made sense...?) Start shopping...it to you!

xxKatie

Sweet Tooth: Momofuku's

It's no secret I have a huge sweet tooth. Actually with all the sweet teeth I have, it's like I have an entire sweet mouth really. I love all things sweet. Just yesterday we got some caramels to get us through the rest of the workday! Candy and sweet snacks are an everyday occurrence for me (I know, all you dentists and health critics are shaking your heads in shame...). Just the other day I reblogged this from ichatblog on tumblr:

I think I've found the sweet find of a lifetime though! I was stumbling (via stumbleupon...yep) and came across these:

Momofuku's Birthday Truffles 

How GOOD do they look?!

I really want to try to make these on my own! With the rise of Cakepops and how everyone's attempting their own spin on those, I think Birthday Truffles could be the next big thing! Imagine how fun you could decorate these? Personalization? Everything! The possibilities are endless!!

The recipe for these Birthday Truffles is very elusive...you know what that means? That these MUST. BE. THAT. GOOD. It means that the recipe is vaulted somewhere with the likes of Coca-Cola, McDonald's french fries, and Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream...that good.

Anyone ever been? Let me know! I'd love to hear about it!!

xxKatie

My Computer Advice

I get a lot of questions about my computer:

I got it from a website called uniqueskins.com! You can find my detailed post here all the way from November of 2009. I still have the same cover on my computer and definitely recommend the company. I didn't really want to buy a super expensive hard top cover, so instead I looked around to find this option. You can google or use different websites to find your favorite print and then with an easy upload you can add/move/copy/paste it all around on the workspace provided in the website! It's literally as easy as 1-2-3! They're not expensive and everyone here at school who's used the same website have been able to find a good coupon code online!

If anyone needs one of these covers for any piece of technology: iPod, iPhone, smartphone, iPad, computer, laptop, Nook/Kindle, anything, I'd definitely try these! You can even coordinate all of your different items to match! At one point, my old phone had a matching cover on it too:

Such a fun DIY (sorta)! Naturally I chose my favorite Lilly print from Jubilee Resort and couldn't be happier to still have it! I haven't gotten sick of it because there are so many colors and options. My desktop on the inside of my computer even has a shade of pink that matches the outside. Be sure to play around a little to perfect your design!

xxKatie

NYE Statement Picks

New Year's Eve says one thing to me: go big or go home. Events are big, lights are sparkly, everyone's a little bit more bubbly from the bubbly. I think that if you're attending a NYE party or event, your outfit should speak all about it. Here are my choices for NYE dresses:

Lulu's

ModCloth

J. Crew

Adrianna Papell

ModCloth

Aidan Mattox 

J. Crew

ModCloth

Lulu's

Victoria's Secret

J. Crew

Numph

Eliza J

Lulu's

Victoria's Secret

J. Crew

If you hadn't already guessed, I'm a big fan of sparkles for the holidays! I would love to wear some of these dresses, but I rarely get dressed up for NYE! It's always chilly whenever my friends and I decide what we want to do!! 

What will you be wearing? Anyone have any fabulous plans to share?

xxKatie

Disney Princess Goes Bridal

Disney Weddings by Alfred Angelo

My friend Laura told me about the Disney Princess wedding dresses over the weekend and I just had to share! I wasn't sure if anyone else had heard about these, and when I originally did I couldn't believe it! Make sure to watch the video to catch all the fun stuff! These dresses are all "inspired" by the 7 Disney Princesses, talk about a real life fairy tale! They're being designed by wedding dress company Alfred Angelo and designer Michael Shettel and according to one article, the gowns will run from $599-$1199. 

This certainly seems like a fun idea, however it's been done before. I'm quite interested to see what will happen with these dresses! Would you want a Disney Princess Wedding? I'm sure my mom could dig up some dress-up photos of me in many a Disney Princess dress...

xxKatie

Sidebags/Crossbodies

So another "all the rage" item on campus that I'm seeing is the sidebag. Or that's what I'm calling it. I think the proper name is the "Crossbody" bag. Anyway, they seem to be everywhere. I've seen them going out and at football games, both of which seem like great places to be able to be hands-free. I'm thinking they're the new version of wristlets. Here are a few popular styles:

I love this Dooney and Bourke one! This pink shade is actually on sale for $32.25. I may have to treat myself to this after payday next week! The pink is too much fun and I know I would use it often!

This khaki shade is super versatile! I may try this instead since it's also on sale!

D&B but not on sale! Too bad!

I've seen the Garnet choice a lot too! It's cute too, but I think I'd only use this at football games and it wouldn't match too many of my outfits if I was going out.

This is a Kate Spade version of the Crossbody. It's very cute, but MUCH more glamorous! Maybe for a special event!

Marc Jacobs...oh so luxe! Look at that quilted leather and the fabulous pink color!!

How do we feel about the Crossbody? Is it the new Le Pliage? Should I snatch up a D&B one for myself while the fun color is still on sale??

xxKatie

UPDATE: Nashelle Necklaces

I was looking at the website for a local store (at home) and found these adorable necklaces:

Just the darling charm is $25! How cute?

I love that little whale, summery, fun and nautical!

I've never been big on luck or superstition, but this horseshoe is so much fun for anyone at USC. Our biggest, greenest, prettiest, most historic area of campus is called "the Horseshoe" because it's shaped that way. The buildings are gorgeous and I swear this area alone seals the deal for some prospective families!

Here are two of the charms: the stamped initial charm and the anchor. Both of these are very Annapolis! The stamped charms were SO popular in my high school, and it was funny to see them combined with anything else. I really like the shade of gold and how its not SUPER shiny. It's still very pretty and feminine!

Here are some of the other designs. I'm a big fan of the starfish one and the open circle!

You can buy NASHELLE jewelry at Nordstoms, some local stores (like where I found these), and online! Happy shopping! 

xxKatie

UPDATE 9:39 PM: The necklaces are by a company called Nashelle!! I'm sorry for misleading you all! The website is here!!!