Recent Acquisitions!

I've had a gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket since CHRISTMAS! Can you believe it? I was able to hold out on a LILLY gift card for 6  entire months. I know, quite a feat for this prepster! I wanted to make it worth it's while, so I wanted to pay the least amount out-of-pocket as possible. After being SO impressed with this last summer shipment, I decided on TWO pieces to spend my card on:

What says Annapolis more than boatflags? Nothing...also these shorts do feature the Whiskey flag...

I also topped off my packed with the Wiley tube top. I LOVE THIS TOP! I'm also going to get it in white from the store I like it so much. It is really flattering and long enough for me to wear. I'm considering the navy as well. So versatile and you could easily throw a cardi on top of this for a complete look to toss it into fall!

Anyone else get anything from this nautical line? It's one of my favorites that they've introduced!!

xxKatie

Preppy Princess

I stumbled upon this adorable perfume by Vera Wang:

I have the Vera Wang Princess Special Edition:

I really like it and it's my backup perfume! I love the little crown on top, and my mom was the one who picked it out for me. I got it for LAST Christmas and still have about half of it left. I was lucky enough to get the 3.4 oz size too so I have a lot to use.

Has anyone tried Preppy Princess? It seems like quite the perfume for the "Preppy Blogging Crowd"!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR Y'ALL!!

xxKatie

P.S. What an appropriate way to start off the new year with my 400th post from when LBP ever started!!

Lilly Bedding is BACK!

Raise your hand if you own Lilly bedding. I hope you're all raising your hands! I know I have it myself in my room back at home. Here in college I have Jillian's Closet bedding that I love. Anyway, Lilly bedding is coming back and looks better than ever! LP is pairing up with Garnet Hill this time around and it seems like both companies couldn't be more excited!

As Garnet Hill says, "Check back in January" and check back will I do! I LOVE LOVE LOVE my current bedding because its the Perfectly Patched bedding:

Just seeing a picture makes me want to get cozy and snuggle-y in my own bed!! Check out another Garnet Hill preview for the new bedding:

SO FUN! I can't wait to see what it all looks like in person! Yayyyyy! Lilly, welcome back to the world of bedding!

xxKatie

Preppy vs. "Preppy"

Since I've been at college, I've really started to notice what people are wearing. I went to a private school, so we had uniforms. They were more like dress codes, but for the most part we either wore khaki skorts and a polo or khakis or a navy blue skirt with a polo and tights in the winter. We looked VERY preppy as uniforms go. On assembly dress days I especially loved the way everyone looked with blue blazers and wool plaid skirts. Although this is a VERY silly photo, its like one of the only ones I have wearing my uniform.

When I decided to go to USC, everyone was like "OH! They're SO PREPPY down there! You'll fit right in." It seems like people are confusing truly preppy with trendy. Yes, girls wear dresses to class, but you're way more likely to find the very popular two-tone dresses that are usually black and white than you are to find anything Lilly or Madras. I think that people are confusing the preppy as we know it with a more "trendy" style. Or some people are even considering girls who wear dresses at all as "preppy". I consider myself very preppy, and I'm happy to wear a Lilly to class or a printed skirt and crew neck shirt, however I question what preppy is viewed as on campus these days. Certainly Lilly isn't the only preppy brand out there and I think that some people believe that it is the only way to be preppy. Whatever happened to the rules from the Preppy Handbook? Why don't people wear khakis anymore?

Even during rush, girls would be like "I'm SO PREPPY, sororities are perfect for me!" and the flipside too, "I HATE Lilly, so this house is immediately wrong for me." I think people aren't getting quite the right ideas. Maybe its just South Carolina's wrong impression or maybe its schools everywhere, I just don't know!

What are your campus attires like? What do you consider acceptable for class? For walking around? What is preppy to you?

xxKatie

kenwood lane!

There's this fab new store that I just found online as I was looking for preppy school supplies. I have a cute Lilly photo board and all the "Preppy Collection" stuff from Michael's, but I know I still need more. I'm bringing down a cork board but it really needed some "jazzing up". I didn't want to do anything like paint it or modge podge it (however that's spelled), so I looked up pushpins. In all my searching, I found Kenwood Lane! Become a facebook fan there, I am! Their website it kenwoodlane.com and it is adorable.

Look at how adorable they are! I am obsessed with the pink ones! Not only are they cute and stylish, but the prints have the best names: Pinckney Pink (my favorite pink with white polka dots), Grove Green, Bowdin Blue (too bad the only classmates of mine going there are boy football players!), Brimmer Brown, River Raspberry (my second favorite, but not pictured) and Newbury Navy (my third favorite, the blue with white polka dots).

Also, it gets even better. They come to you, in-get this-CORK!

I know, I didn't think they could get better either. But they do. KWL has an etsy shop that you can get to from the website, and I am definitely going to order some of these little guys. You get 8 pins per pack for only $10. They're handmade and sent to you all wrapped in ribbon.

And I may have found my new favorite quote on their website: "Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first."

xxKatie

Resolution 2009: Planners

So at the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year, I told myself that I would get legitimately organized. I tried, and did pretty well actually. I modeled my planning skills after my friend Shannon, who is the ULTIMATE planner. Not only is she super organized, but she knows everyone's birthday, every possible due date you can imagine, ever important sporting event, and every other commitment that she has for the entire year. One can only dream to be as organized as Shannon. On top of all her organizational skills, it's all color coded with highlighters and colorful pens. Knowing I couldn't be as ambitious, I started out with a planner. It was pink and from B&N. Embossed on the front was "2008". I put all my work dates, cross country meets and everything else I could think of in the 2 x 1 box per day. I was impressed with my handiwork.

Then, the rest of the year rolled around. I have another school planner where I put my homework, and putting all that stuff in both planners drove me insane. Eventually, I just used my school-mandated one because I couldn't channel my inner Shannon enough.

For my resolution, I am going to try to get back into super-planning. I think I can do it. I'm crossing my fingers that my teachers don't assign as much work (although I know that it is only wishful thinking...). I already have my second semester mindset in check, and it's not even second semester yet! Not a good sign, not a good sign. Either way, I'm going to try to be more organized with this planner. I have my lacrosse schedule with tryouts, games, early outs, and spring break plans all in there already, so that's my start. (I manage my school's boy's varsity lacrosse, so it's pretty important that I know what's going on.) I am going to focus myself on putting as much stuff as I can into this planner and knowing what's happening when and where. I think I can do it, don't you? I mean I maintain a blog post just about everyday, so why can't I do this?

There are some great planners on bn.com if anyone is looking to put a little Shannon into their life too. I like this one, the "2009 Weekly Desk Mod Squares Magnetic Engagement Calendar". It will only run you about 10 bucks for an entire year! Happy Planning!

xxKatie

Ballin'

A silly blog title for a beautiful night!!! So, I've been talking about this debutante ball for ages now, and it finally happened! And what a night it was! Let's start at the beginning:

6:00 pm: My friend Adam picked me up to go to the Mayflower in D.C.
6:30 pm: We jam out to Disney, Beyonce and the like
6:45 pm: We make UNBELIEVABLE time and get to D.C. before 7:00. We look for the Mayflower and drive in a few confused gps-hazed circles.
6:50 pm: Adam and I get all of our stuff out of Adam's car and make it into the Lobby where we run into our Deb's mom. I get the keys to the girls' rooms.
7:00 pm: Adam and I shove our stuff into our room and check the place out. We call the rest of the "party" and tell them that our room is finally open.
7:30 pm: The rest of the group settles into our rooms and we watch Jeopardy, where I get the final answer question correct with a response of "Who are the Kurds?". We veg out until 8.
8:00 pm: Vegging is over for the girls at least and we all start to get ready. Since we're girls, we're naturally indecisive on what we want to wear, how to do our hair and what earrings match.
9:30 pm: The girls who got ready on the 10th floor come down for pictures.
9:55 pm: Everyone hops on the elevators and we all make our way down to the lobby of the Mayflower, which is now beginning to fill up with Debs from years past (who are wearing red and green dresses) and the rest of the people who didn't eat the 800 course meal. Also at this time, we run into our "friend" (codenamed Mistletoe) who tends to follow us around.
10:00 pm: We turn in our admittance cards and get cards that say "10:00 presentation: Upper Balcony" for our viewing spot. All 10 of us find a spot right above our Deb's table where she will be presented later.
11:00 pm: After a few more rounds of pictures, the real procession and presentation finally starts (almost an hour off of schedule) with a live band. The 7 debutantes, their dads, and their 2 escorts, are all a part of the presentation. The first was a parade of the debs around this ballroom by their dads, followed by a traditional Waltz. Then the first escort cut in, and for Caroline, this was her brother. After an ADORABLE Waltz with him, the second escort cut in, which was Caroline's dance class partner, Johannes. He can speak 5 languages, and later that night became "YO-HANNIS from YER-MANY". Then, the emcee of the night, which I use that term loosely, called everyone down to the dancefloor for some more Waltz-ing.
12:30 am: A fabulous breakfast room is opened because they know we're kids and we need food, mainly sweets, and lots of it. We all trek into the room to snack and get back out on the dancefloor.
12:35 am: Adam and I "creeper-cam" on Caroline and one of the boys to get a few candid shots of the pair dancing. (Let's just say, mission accomplished, pictured below.)
2:00 am: Yes, it is 2 in the morning on Christmas Eve. We all head back upstairs to get "ready" for bed. We all get into our PJ's and decide we're hungry. A few of the boys head back down to the concierge to see where/if we can get anything to eat. They return with a number of a pizza place, that to our happiness, stays open until 4 am. SCORE!
3:20 am: After eating 3 large pizzas, the girls retire to 2 rooms while the boys head back to their own. We sleep. And sleep. And sleep. Of course, after talking about the whole night in copious amounts of detail. We sleep.
9:00 am: It's an early morning. We all pack up our things finding all the hair devices, makeup and dress bags. Adam, Caitlin, and I all go to the valet parking to get the car and drive home. Again, we rock out to Beyonce, Legally Blonde The Musical, and others.

What a fun night. Seriously, I haven't had this much fun in SO long! If anyone gets the chance to attend (and yes, I mean attend as a guest, not a debutante- too much stress) definitely say yes. It was SO much fun and I know I will remember this night for the rest of my life!!

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

The Legally Blonde Musical

OMIGOD! Well, I saw this little number a few weeks ago at the Hippodrome Theater with my mom, sister, and then me. We decided to go after my mom found out that it was heading our way and she got some "buy-your-tickets-before-everyone-else" email. Well, we loved it! What a seriously feel good musical. I'm part of a family of musical fanatics, my dad included. I've seen The Sound of Music, Into the Woods, Hairspray (x2), The Lion King, Wicked, and now Legally Blonde: The Musical. I think there might be one or two more that I can't think of. Anyway, was this show fun! It's pretty true to the movie, but also makes some diversions.

I loved this movie, obviously enough to dress up as Elle herself, and loved the play as well. I would tell anyone who can go see it that they definitely should! It was totally fun and I especially enjoyed the outfits. Among the musical numbers, our cast was chock full of members of the MTV show, Legally Blonde The Musical: The Search for Elle Woods. Rhiannon, the youngest of the TV show members, was Elle's best friend and fellow Delta Nu, whose name I believe is Margo, but it could be the other one. Check out this song "Serious", one of my favorites (second only to "omigod you guys" but everyone knows that one...) where Warner tells Elle that he has to find a Jackie not a Marilyn, which everyone remembers is the scene in the movie at the restaurant in the beginning:

For any preppy girl, who enjoys a good musical now and again, this is most definitely for you! Happy Holidays, and Drive Safely!

P.S. The Debutante presentation is tomorrow, and I'm super excited. PLUS I GOT INTO FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY!!!! I AM SO HAPPY!

xxKatie

Handmade Gifts

So obviously Christmas is fast approaching in only 4 days! I can't believe it myself! All of my friend's debutante stuff has kept me from really thinking about Christmas. One of my other friends, Maeve, just had an 18th birthday though too! It was a really fun night because it was just girls, and I couldn't remember the last time that I went to a party like that. I was a little overdressed because I thought it was a little dressier than it was in actuality. The gift I gave her, however, I had left up to the last minute, which is not something that I typically do. She held her party on the night of the day of our last exam (if the prepositional phrases in that sentence weren't confusing enough) so I barely had time to shop.

I was blog surfing and came across a site that had an entry on gift baskets for the holidays. I kept looking through it and then it came to me: MAKE YOUR OWN GIFT BASKET! Boy, did I run with this idea. I headed off to Target without a real idea other than what my friend really likes: cooking, baking, pastels, dark chocolate, etc. I knew that there were a few things that I would need: a basket of some sort, clear cellophane to wrap it all in, bows and ribbons to secure the top, and then the plethora of gifts to go inside.

I began browsing through Target and the first thing that I came upon was their "1$" steals section. It's a fabulous area of racks of one dollar items like festive/seasonal items, dog collars, cookie cutters, plates, plastic utensils, coloring books, no-name brand art supplies and everything like that. I found these GREAT pink sparkly plastic plates and bought 4 as a set in that $1 section. I tied them up with a square knot of pink raffia and decided that they would be my first part of the basket. I then decided that I'd have a pink theme of baking and snacks, a combo many girl's would like! Then I proceeded to the baking section because I knew that I would be successful there. I found a fabulous silicone baking mold for flower cupcakes and then a shape that when arranged next to its mirror piece would form a basket. There were about 8 flower molds, probably 2 or 3 different models of flowers, and then the 2 basket shapes (pictured). This was my second basket purchase. I continued throughout the store and ended up buying Funfetti Cake mix, pink Funfetti frosting, sparkling pink lemonade, a princess crown, a princess wand (both from the "circo" children's line at Target), some great Bliss dark chocolate that has a pink foil wrapping, sprinkles, and pink nail polishes and then a pink basket. It was a great basket.

My next OOB (order of business) was to find that cellophane wrapping. I didn't find any in Target, so I headed down to the party supply store by my house. I still had a hard time finding it there on my own until I hit THE LAST AISLE in the entire store. I found this great clear wrapping with white polka dots on it that I had to have. With all my purchases, I headed back home to put my basket together. Our kitchen table became a tornado of pink metallic "grass", white paper Easter grass, pink ribbon and clear very static cling-y cellophane wrap.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of the basket itself, but thanks to a friend who enjoys taking pictures and Facebook, I got a hold of a few pictures. The top picture at the beginning of today's entry, although not the most flattering, shows the backside of the basket and you can see the great cellophane wrap! Here is the birthday girl herself in her crown and with her wand:P.S. Deb Ball Night #1 was SERIOUSLY the most fun I've had in a really long time. We had a ton of fun, stayed up too late, and I can't wait until the presentation on Tuesday! I'll keep you updated!

P.S.S. I got deferred :( but it was about 99% to be expected, the early action is a little weird for the Nursing College. That 1% was like exactly what my mom said, "Just a little part of me thought 'What if you did get it? How cool would that be?'" So, I'm fine now, moved on, and shall be hearing in a few months! Future: Wildcat, Stag, Duke, Fighting Blue Hen, Gamecock, or Tiger writing for you right now!!!!

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to everyone! Happy big 1-8 Maeve!

xxKatie

Monogram Jewelry

So, awhile ago I expressed interest of buying a necklace of my monogram. I was inspired actually by Cat Deely, the host of "So You Think You Can Dance" on Fox. She was wearing a lacy gold necklace and it got me wondering if you could do that with a monogram. I kept the idea to myself and kept looking. My mom, sister, and I went to go visit one of my great aunts in New York and took a quick trip to Park Slope. We were looking around the stores there and we came across this little quiet shop. We browsed and then I saw a lacy monogrammed necklace. It was gorgeous...and over $400. Totally out of my price range. I told my mom that I really liked it and she thought that a jeweler in our area would be able to do it. I didn't think too much of it until my mom brought it up when we got back home.
We looked into it at the small store and the saleswoman pulled out a catalog. There were all kinds of customized items like lapel pins, cufflinks, bracelets and necklaces. We finally flipped to the back of the catalog and there was the necklace I was looking for! There were two options and about seven different sizes per option. The first was traditional "interlocking script" that is typical monogram script. The second option was a circular design where all of your initials fit into a circle. This looked a bit too much like what you see on bath and golf towels so my mom and I went with the script. We decided on a $75 dollar, silver size and the woman told us that she would call us once the necklace was ready.
That order took so long because, I think, they had to create a custom mold for my necklace. My own monogram is "cRa" ("C" for Catherine, and yes, I do go by Katie. I don't know why exactly my parents went with this approach...). There were many loops in my initials and places where they could interlock, so I was excited. We got the necklace back and at first I, honestly, wasn't thrilled. I thought that the letters were too hard to decipher and I was just like "ehhh...". I have since begun to wear this necklace all the time. It's about the size of a quarter and falls right in the middle of my clavicle.
My mom said that she thought last night was the first time she'd seen me wear it! I couldn't believe it! I LOVE this necklace now because it is so different. No one really knows what it is until I tell them its my monogram and then I get so many compliments. I think the fact that it's hidden makes it special. No one else I know or have ever seen, besides Cat Deely, has a necklace similar to mine. This is definitely a cool buy and great for the holidays!

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

Do You Like Party Schools?

Well my friends, it's an important question on the minds of many a-college applicant. As I sit here, helping my friends study for our "Current Issues" exam, I was thinking about some blogs I can do. (Mom, I've studied as much as I can, I promise). Anyway, I was thinking about the Resort 2008 prints that I love. Back to the Party Schools, though. It's not what you're thinking. My ultimate favorite print this year is called "Party School" and it's a school of very preppy fish.

This print is very traditional Lilly. I miss more prints like these! Resort is my favorite line of all the Lilly lines every year because it is so traditional. There are so many shifts and such great prints to look forward to. This "Party School" print is under the "Caw of the Wild" line by Resort Lilly. The best part about this print is that it comes in Women's, Men's, Minnie's, and Accessories. It actually my computer background on my family's Mac as I type this.

A great boatneck shift comes in this print called the "Florida Shift Basketweave Printed Poplin", which is a mouthful if I ever heard one. The top of the dress is exactly the name, a super cute basketweave shift. It is reminiscent of the limited edition shift dress of last Resort with the 2 lines of buttons around the neck. The length of this shift is my only worry, as with Lilly shifts I typically have to take out the hem. This dress is too fun though to pass up! Worn with a cardigan or light sweater, this can be worn in the summer, and then spring and fall. Try it with bone, light pink, platinum, white, light green, metallic blue or silver Jack Rogers, and you have a great little comfy outfit! I hope that you like this print as much as I do! Happy Resort 2008 shopping!

xxKatie

Spirit Week 2008

Well, semi-recently we had homecoming! It's one of the hands-down best days ever. There are only a few days that are better than homecoming, all I can really think about are prom video debut day and prom. As a hoco precursor, we have spirit week. It's a time to get pumped for homecoming, have fun dress up days and get a great competition between the different classes.

Spirit Week always has to do with the "overall theme" of homecoming. This year I was on the committee that helps to plan both homecoming and spirit week. The Senior Prefects, which I am one of, and Student Council jointly plan the festivities of the week. This year, we took a different approach one of picking days we thought that the students would enjoy and then finding an "overall theme". The days we picked included: decade day, movie day, consumer product day (we had to have something that the boys wanted...that's another story), and then the usual class color day. We then decided that our overall theme was "Americana" because "America" sounded lame, but "Americana" was just awesome.

I decided to be, as I am the token prep among my peers, Elle Woods for Movie day. That's me on the far right with my friends Caitlin (tinkerbell), Caroline (Holly Golightly) and Sarah (Mary Katherine Gallagher). Channeling my inner Delta Nu, I found the best pink and green stuff I could. I then had to craft a Bruiser Woods too, which was when I had to get crafty! I headed out to Michael's to see what I could find. I came back, hands full of things that I could get crafty with. I found a tiny pink poodle and bought some feather boas that I knew would come in handy. This was definitely one of my favorite Spirit Weeks ever, and most successful.

That day, my fellow newspaper editor, Katherine, came in dressed up as the same thing. Not only are we co-editors, but we have lockers right next to each other, AND we had to make an announcement about that week's edition of the newspaper that day at our biweekly morning meeting. It was such a coincidence when we both got to school. We both ended up in pink dresses, pink long-ish coats, and heels. Not only did I wear heels for the whole day, but I had successfully run the Baltimore half marathon the day before. That was one of THE coolest things I've ever accomplished. Anyway, I'm super disappointed that I have no more spirit weeks left because I'll be graduating in June, but I'm not ready to start thinking about that yet...

Everyone- cross your fingers over the weekend for me, I have a friend's deb ball (actually, the girl who's Holly Golightly is the debutante) and I find out from my first choice school on Saturday!!

xxKatie

It's Always Sunny in...December?

Yes, it is, in fact! I ordered these glasses a few months ago after a nice paycheck from working a bunch of hours, and boy are they worth it! These glasses are the perfect shape for my face, I think I have an oval face according to some magazines...who knows. I adore these glasses, PLUS I found them on sale too! I had originally wanted the Lilly Pulitzer "Dawn" sunglasses, but I was a little apprehensive about the $150 price tag. Instead, I did my research and found these bad boys, usually $130, for around $83 plus shipping. I mainly keep them in the car for a quick "it's-too-sunny-to-see-over-the-Severn-River-Bridge" fixes. It happens more than you'd think. I swear that bridge has a weather pattern all its own.

I went out on a limb ordering these without trying them on, and I don't usually impulse buy things like that. I went in to a Ray Bans store in my mall, but to my dismay, they didn't have any of this pair (RB 4099). I decided I was going to order them anyway, and worst comes to worst, deal with customer service. Lucky for me, I got them, and they were perfect! Well, actually, they got to my house super late, because I ordered them during the like hurricane over the summer.

As I am wearing them on my head right now, they make a fabulous headband too. My hair's like 80142x longer than it was over the summer, so I couldn't do it then. My friend Maeve, who is super excited to have a blogging friend (me!) loves these too, when I got them she called them "beautiful" aka two thumbs up. She didn't think that she could "pull them off" but I seriously think that these glasses look great on everyone. They are definitely in the "oversized" category, if you couldn't tell in the picture!

They come in 2 versions: black with grey gradient, and tortoise shell with brown gradient. I am a huge fan of tortoise shell, but for practicality's sake, I got the black instead. I don't regret it at all. Black is much more advantageous for driving, which I learned in a magazine recently because apparently brown distorts the stop lights? I think that's a little bit of trash...but hey, I'll agree because I have the black.

Definitely these glasses are great quality, and well made, and when ordering online check that you get all the legit stuff! Happy shopping!

xxKatie

Natalie Franke Photography

So Senior Year is coming to a jolting milestone: second semester. I can't believe it. Among exams, college apps, and regular school assignments, senior pictures are a big event. I did this pictures with Natalie Franke, a freshman at Towson University's Honors College. I loved this shoot and had a blast! Natalie started her little enterprise a little while ago and already has many dedicated followers. With a website, http://nataliefrankephotography.com/index2.php , and Facebook group with over 250 friends, Natalie is your girl!

In this shoot, I decided to go with MY color: pink of course. I wore the Nancy sweater in Bookworm Argyle for the first half of the shoot, and then a pink long sleeve polo for the second part. Not only was a super comfortable in my Lilly Sweater, but I (think!) looked fun too. Along with Lilly Pulitzer Main Line jeans, and my black polka-dot wellies, from Target ($20 never looked so good!). I was all set for my early March shoot. With a simple J. Crew white T under my sweater I was warm enough to be able to move, and just cool enough not to have red cheeks!

The Nancy sweater is the perfect weight for just this temperature. My Main Line jeans have held up for almost a year to date, but I will need to replace them soon. They still have great color, but small signs of wear and tear are beginning to show up on the pockets. The best thing about these pants though, is their long inseam. They are higher-waisted than most jeans that are made for a 17 year old, but I like the fit a lot. Their boot-cut makes them perfect for wearing over Uggs, or flats!

Natalie was an AWESOME photographer who made me totally comfortable in front of the lens. A few of my close friends have gone to her for their own shoots, and one of my friends, an aspiring actress, went to her for her headshots. I want all of my readers who live around here to check out Natalie!! She rocks!

xxKatie

One of THE COOLEST Preppy Places Online!

If you haven't already found it, preppyoutlet.com is one of the best places to find older LP and Vineyard Vines, along with seasonal lines like Island Company, clothes! They seriously offer some of the best, and some of my own favorite items on their website. They are ALWAYS getting new stuff, so check back often.

All of their lines are organized by style. Women's has the most amount of stuff, but they have recently added a Men's section as well, which is pretty cool. I can't wait to order some stuff. As of today, they have over 10 pages of clothing items in their catalogue, the actually have 14 pages. You can even have a wish list, and gift registry. You can also order gift certificates for the preppy's in your family!

Their prices are even lower than the "Sale" or "Clearance" sections on some websites. Take for instance, the "Blayne Dress", one of my ABSOLUTE favorites from the Summer 2008 collection, is on sale for $79 and change. Seriously, this rocks! It started at $198 and is down to a fraction of that now! I mean how cute is this?! I was so disappointed when I saw that this dress was a shirt on my 6'0" body. Anyway, I love this dress, and this website!

Preppyoutlet.com has also recently added a shoe section, which is to die for! This section is great, because a lot of Signature Stores or Via Shops can't order a full selection of shoe sizes. Not only does preppyoutlet.com have a great shoe selection, but they have a variety of sizes to "boot"! They have shoes, for a much cheaper price, that some stores still advertise for full. Take "The Club Wedge", which are beautifully made and super super comfortable, are on sale for $99, while some stores still have them for $198, DOUBLE THE PRICE! They have flats, heels, sandals, McKims and wedges too. I want everyone to check out these guys!

I love this online store, and my only qualm with them is that they don't have a store I can come visit in! Thanks preppyoutlet.com for offering a great selection of Lilly Pulitzer at an even better price!

xxKatie

Shall We Go Dancing?

So prom 2008 is rounding the corner, and only a select few are currently feeling that crunch: PROM COMMITTEE (so thank them at your school, they're putting a lot of work into it...sometimes). I personally, am on my school's PC to plan, organize, conceptualize, and throw Prom 2008. We've decided on a theme, a date, and a location (2 of which are secret but people probably know...) and all we need are gifts, decorations, food, money, tickets, aka EVERYTHING else. But what's a preppy girl to do in this season of shoes and hairdo's and dresses and tresses?! Well, my solution happens to lie in the preppy queen herself, Lilly Pulitzer (as usual!) and I am most excited!

My dress is actually part of the Resort 2007 line, but I've been looking at the dress (of my dreams) (secretly) since about August. Its pink and green and the title of the print is something about being Loopy. I love love love it! It supposed to be floor length, but because of my excessive height and needing a smaller size, it actually isn't. It has a babydoll neck with a gold ring with pink and green rhinestones inlaid in it! It is called the "Jillie Dress" and it is going to be perfect for me and my prom. Here it is:

I am planning on wearing flat sandals that happen to be the same color as the ring on the dress(Platinum Jacks) so that I don't tower over everyone else (and I already own them, which means I can focus those dollars on another area of my prom budget). I can't wait to wear this dress and hopefully no one else is wearing it either (actually, to prevent this, I started a school dress registry, copying some other area schools after seeing how popular and how well it was working, online!)

"But are there any other options??" you ask. Well, of course. There are multi-millions of options out there. Some may not be as preppy, but if you rock the same pink and green color scheme, you will most definitely get the point across. The "Chellis Chiffon Dress" by Lilly is a floor length dress (that my boss wanted me to get) that can most definitely be dressed up or rocked the way it is. It comes in Fishalicious (in Chiffon) or Ok Coral (in Cotton Lurex). It is very cute, but has a very deep V-neck which made me feel a little uncomfortable. (Additionally, I would advise all girls not to go strapless. I heard a horror story from the girl who sits next to me in my math class that last year, she stepped on the front of her dress, tugging it a little, and ended up FLASHING our principal. OUCH! Don't let that wardrobe malfunction happen to you, don't go strapless!) Anywho, there are other (non strapless) Lilly options that shouldn't be too difficult to locate.

**Here's a tip: to check if an item is still on the market/available/in your size, always check inthepinkonline.com they have a huge selection of Lilly clothing and are a signature store which means upwards of 80% of their stuff is solely Lilly.

Continuing, options for those who want to stay in the Lilly genre include the Amber Dress (Chiffon), the Angelette Dress (Cotton Lurex, Chiffon) and the Jackie Dress (Silk Oxford). Their respective lengths are long, short, long, and the come in great colors (really you have your pinks, greens, blues, and yellows covered in these babies!).

But what if I want to be preppy, but not Lilly, per se? Well, there are still options. A big trend in this year's prom is "Ombre". Ombre is a type of coloring where a solid color flows into another color. At Bloomingdale's there is a specific dress that I am thinking of: it has the Ombre style and fades from green to pink, it is pretty extreme, but if you like it, I'd say totally go for it! Its a cool, different dress that many people won't have the guts to wear. http://www1.bloomingdales.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=107632&CategoryID=8493&PageID=8490*1*24*-1*-1*Y*38 it does have a pricey tag, but it is prom! (And I know, for any moms out there it is so not worth is and "we always buld it up to be so great and then it stinks"). That's a cool option, either way. Another emerging trend for '08 is short dresses. They are really making it to the forefront advertising comfort, ease of movement, and a canvas to accessorize! Now, with a less-traditional short dress, you can go in a gazillion directions! The dresses range from plain green, to wow-za! zebra, and you can take your dress in a multitude of directions, which is cool for you really creative types (I've always been totally jealous!)

Prom should be a fun experience, but the dress shouldn't mean everything. Ok, so you may not find that perfect dress, so go in a cotton dress that you like, and hey, you're the most comfortable girl there, not to mention, you're breating easily, and your SWEETSWEET hairstyle is now the focus of your night! After prom find some fun, comfy (+preppy) clothes to crash in at your school's after prom party. I can't wait for all of this to really start coming together, stay in tune!

xxKatie

Plaid Shorts Boys vs. Hip-Hop Boys

So my mom and I were on a college trip to Fairfield Unviersity and Quinnipiac University. Both had beautiful campuses, spacious "Quads" and nice buildings. At Fairfield, we saw your typical Vera-Bradley-clutching-ribbon-wearing-let's-decorate-our-dorm-in-posters-and-pink-and-green girls. The boys were rather non-descript, t-shirts and knapsacks, sneakers and a "FU" sweatshirt (that's Fairfield University, of course!). When we arrived at Quinnipiac University, however, the kids were not exactly the same. At least, the kids that we saw, while we were driving around from the College of Liberal Arts (which we named "Oz" because it was hidden in a forest) to the Lenders' School of Business (yes, Lender the bagel tycoon). They just weren't the same as th FU kids.

These guys had hats turned to the side, slicked back hair, and gangster hoodies on. (My mother so called them "Hip-Hop kids" to my dismay. She doesn't really understand the gangster style, I guess) These Hip-Hop kids were spotted from a mile away. This temporarily changed our view of Quinnipiac. A college is nothing if you're alone. If I couldn't find kids who looked like me, what fun could college be. Well, we were wrong. So maybe the kids aren't your Vera Bradley girls, but they're not freaks. They wore basically the same things 75% of girls my age wear: a black NorthFace fleece, jeans, and UGGS (its like standard issue).

My mom then told me a story about one of her friends. She has 2 sons at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, and made a comment on all of the "Plaid Shorts Boys". Hey lady, What's wrong with plaid shorts boys?! I like THEM! She herself, has several sons who may not be full-blown Hip-Hop boys, but do have gold chains and white man-tank-tops. My mom and I agreed that these boys were usually very nice and we like the way they dress. This little anecdote reminds me of when my cousin Ryan came down from Long Island, NY to go to Georgetown. Now NEWSFLASH to some of you, but Georgetown has a reputation for being extrmely preppy. (Again, we like those boys!) During his first few days at this new school, he called home and told his mom how "all the boys wear plaid shorts! I need some plain shorts!" (Keep in mind its late August in Washington D.C. so that is prime plaid short wearing weather!) She shopped around, being the shopper she is, but came up empty handed. She frantically called my mother begging her to find Ryan some preppy shorts. Well, in Annapolis, plaid shorts are not tough to come by. She found 2 pairs in his size and he kept them (or he kept one and gave one to his roomate, I can't exactly remember). He became a plaid short boy.

Now, of course, I don't have anything against the Hip-Hop boys, but I do love my plaid short boys. If I ever get a Hip-Hop boy as a boyfriend, well he has another thing coming for him...I WILL convert him. But don't worry...yet. Since the Pink Crab has begun carrying a few men's items, well, I have to find a boy to wear them (my dad won't let me buy him that stuff because he "already has polos" and I try to convice him, he doesn't have THESE ones, but he won't budge).

So I ask you, bloggers: Hip-Hop boy or Plaid short boy? Choose Wisely.

xxKatie

I scream! You scream! We all scream for Vera!

So a few minutes ago, I got my copy of the spring and summer 2008 Vera Bradley catalog! I was immediately drawn in by the print on the cover. Very summery colors are so in for this season and I can't wait! BUT something even move interesting caught my eye: a collaboration between Jack Roger (the unofficial shoe of the preppy) and Vera Bradley (tote bag queen). On the front cover was a hybrid pair of both.

A slew of new colors is in for the new season as well. With names like Raspberry Fizz and Pinwheel Pink, I am very excited. There are obvious patterns to fill in for more popular-but-retired colors. Raspberry Fizz, for example, is a replacement for the old color of Sherbet, the old but very popular pink, orange, and yellow combo. Pinwheel Pink is a

much more recent replacement for the soon-to-be-retired Capri Melon (which is one of my

favorites) and Petal Pink (which I have the small duffle in). The pink and g

reen combination is a very popular addition to the new fleet.

About these shoes however, I am still very interested. I searched on Google to see what I could find and typed in "vera bradley jack rogers" exactly like that. I wanted to see what I could come up with. On (http://www.villagebootery.com/VillageBootery/scripts/prodList.asp?idcategory=247&curPage=3&sortField=description) website, they have several versions of the Vera Bradley/Jack Roger combo shoe. Very cool right? They run about the same price as the regular shoes, about $85. In many of the 2006-2007 colors like Capri Melon and Botanical prints. I think that it is a great idea for the two brands to collaborate, if the results are as cool as this!!

One problem: as I search further and further (like vera bradley jack rogers, or vera bradley shoes, or very bradley shoes 2008) less and less becomes available. Eh, small dilemma. I want the shoes in the catalog! I mean if you're going to put them on the FRONT COVER, in one of your own prints, you should PROBABLY sell it!!

AND! For any of you readers, how good was I at predicting the cute Lilly Pulitzer Sunglasses? EY, EY? I believe I nailed that on right on the head!!

xxKatie