Designer Boat Shoes

Just yesterday I saw on Twitter that Milly NY would be designing and pairing up with Sperry to design some B-E-A-UTIFUL boat shoes! I am so excited to show them to y'all! According to the site, they will be released in February! Check out the beauties:

See the "M" charm?

I think I need these for Summer 2012!

Imagine these with a Lilly shift on a rainy day or with jeans for fall and winter!

Recognize this print from earlier this year? Yep, it came in salmon pink too--looks great in navy on sneaks!

Last but CERTAINLY not least, these are my favorite product of the entire line! They're so nautical with the navy and gold with the brown. I love love love them!!

There are more heels and shoes too but all these boat shoes were the ones I couldn't resist sharing! Aren't they so great?

xxKatie

Summer Essentials

Summer is good for warm weather, hanging out with friends, rockin' playlists and tanning. Here are some of my top choices for summer must-haves! They apply to girls and guys so keep that in mind!

1. White shorts: not only are white shorts flattering on nearly everyone, they make you look very tan. Find a good length that you like and voila you're set! I stick with the classic 5'' Chino shorts from J. Crew. Good length for me, crisp white color and durable! For guys, this can be adapted to khaki, just as versatile for summer days!

2. Koozies: you can't go through summer with a sweaty beverage. Koozie's keep your drinks cold and your attitude chill. Keep one (or 3) in your purse before you go out. I often coordinate mine with my outfit. Yep, happens.

3. Boat shoes: Since it's summer you need a pair of shoes you can throw on at a moment's notice and not have to worry about how they look or where you're going. Boat shoes can get wet, dirty, and keep you dry. They look cute with shorts, skirts and  capris. You basically can't go wrong tossing on a pair of Sperry's even if you don't know what the rest of the day my hold!

4. Sunglasses: Running around, day to day, sporting and sunning from the early morning hours into the night, sunglasses are a must. And there for so are croakies. Since I've gotten my Chums (different than your typical croakies but still "sunglass retainers"...) they haven't left my sunglasses! My favorite brands are Costa del Mar and Ray Ban for everyone.

5. Swimwear: Ladies and gents, swimsuit season is upon us! Embrace it with wild patterns, the brighter the better! Animal prints, floral prints, plaid, and polka dot--rock them all! I find swimsuits all over the place from Target to Victoria's Secret to Belk. They sometimes take a little more trying on than other swmsuits, but it'll be worth it once you find a brand you can stick to! Maybe you'll even be able to find your own teeny tiny yellow polka dot bikini!

What are your summer essentials? Something you can't go without??

xxKatie

Quack Quack Quack!

About a month ago my Momma called me inquiring about duck shoes. Not only were these your regular Bean boots or anything. Nope. They're pink and shiny and have my name written ALL OVER THEM. Here they are:

Sperry Topsider does Duck Shoes

It is supposed to be rainy, rainy, and more rainy here at home so I'm wondering if these will make their big debut this week! Should be fun to take for a test run huh? Looks like chances are they'll be debuting with the khaki monster (the nickname for my rain coat) and a big ol' umbrella too! Hopefully our power doesn't get knocked out because we resorted to this (although this isn't me...):

And if anyone saw my tweet, I said, "Why yes we have resorted to hand puppets in the ceiling via candlelight. My dog/alligator is chomping and eating everyone." My dog was kind of missing that top ear so it more resembled an alligator. We seemed to enjoy ourselves for enough time because the power ended up coming back on before we went to bed. Thank goodness that AC came back on just in time!!

Anyone getting a lot of rain this week? It's just about time for those summer soakers to start...

xxKatie

Outfit of the Day: Shagging Class Choices

January 24 by letsbepreppy featuring handcrafted jewelry

This was the outfit I wore to shagging! My shirt was a little different, but the color and sleeveless style from J. Crew was spot on! My shirt had a big rosette instead of the ruffles, but you get the idea. Our room was so warm that I can't imagine ever wearing anything besides sleeveless or MAYBE a cardigan. Anyway, it was super functional and the dress "code" was a pretty big range. A few of the sorority girls came in like 80's workout gear which looked a little out of place, but their leggings and t-shirts were comfortable for our "workout" type parts of class. Boys had all kinds of clothes on, but the most popular outfit of choice was a t-shirt and khakis with legal shoes (which ended up being, for most of us, socks). I had SO much fun and I can't wait to go back! I'm really looking forward to starting some of the harder moves and one of my close friends is pretty much a shag expert who even teaches at a local Jillian's! Depending on the weather and other variables Monday, I'll probably end up in a similar outfit!

xxKatie

Shagging Shoe Shopping

Today at 6:15, I have my first shagging dance class. (Read: I'm very very nervous). I've posted about shagging before, but decided to bite the bullet and enroll in a class. I figured it would be fun to take a random class with no one I knew and put my best foot forward. Low and behold, a know very many people in class (which I think is good and bad) and one of my best friends, Colleen, signed up for my moral support (I'm still thankful...). For anyone who's not entirely familiar with shagging, here's a good video to watch:


My professor is pretty strict about what kinds of shoes we can wear to class and sent us (5) an email about all the kinds of shoes we couldn't wear. They had to be closed toe, no black bottoms, no sneakers, no streak-leaving, no sandals, no heels, that were comfortable enough to dance in. What was I left with? Nothing. She said boat shoes were acceptable, but this girl doesn't own any...can you believe that? In an effort to go shagging shoe shopping--say that five times fast--Colleen and I hurried over to the mall yesterday morning. I was lucky enough to find two pairs of boat shoes (a preppy pink and green pair and a standard brown pair that would match anything) and they were included on a BOGO sale!

I used to have two pairs of Sperrys, but one was the wrong size (there's a HUGE difference between a 9.5 and a 10!) and the other was a pink leather traditional boat shoe that gave me horrible blisters (also a 9.5!) and now I have two pairs that I can rely on. I'm really looking forward to having both pairs because they're so functional plus I can pop them on with shorts or in place of Jack Rogers with some outfits! I definitely needed a pair of these for a few years!

So here goes nothing...I haven't taken a dance class in YEARS! The last formal dance class I took was Irish dancing and this is certainly a departure, but how can you graduate from a Southern school and not know how to properly shag?! You just can't! Even my dad knows how, so here goes quite the class. Hopefully I won't be as nervous once 6:00 rolls around!

xxKatie

Sperry MUST HAVE

I'm in heaven.

I will probably be buying a pair of these PINK sperry Cormorant Slip Ons very soon for fall/winter. I'm not very big into rainboots (although I have a fabulous pink pair from Target) because by the time you're rocking a size 10 like me, the boot shaft is way too wide to look cute with pants. These little kicks however, would look GREAT with just about anything! These are a super fun alternative to the bean boots I was considering AND they'll match about 85% of my wardrobe. (Skyler I would so rock these to the Crab one day it was raining in Annapolis if you wear your chucks...deal?) 

Thoughts? Necessary...I think YES!

xxKatie