Katie Rudder South Carolina I'm a Senior Marketing major with a minor in Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior at University of South Carolina! Go Gamecocks! In addition to writing Let's Be Preppy, I am active in the Carolina community, work at a South Carolina Lilly Pulitzer store, serve as an marketing intern for the American Red Cross and lead tours for prospective students at USC. Any questions or comments? Email me: katie@letsbepreppy.com
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My family isn't really too keen on Black Friday shopping, but this year we happened to be shopping ON Black Friday because it was the only day that my mom, my sister and I all had together before she left and I left to go back to school!
We didn't go to Target or WalMart or anything crazy, but instead just walked around downtown Annapolis. Of course, we had to go into the Pink Crab, and I actually found a top (shhh, I don't know about it!) that had sold out in South Carolina so that ended up making it's way home for Christmas. (AGAIN, SHHH! IT'S A SURPRISE!)
I think that big bow ring that, a gift with purchase from the Pink Crab (and I'm assuming all the Lilly stores), was my favorite part of Black Friday! There's a matching earring set too:
These come in all gold (AMAZING) and navy too!
One of my favorite parts of Christmas time, and especially working during Christmas time, is wrapping gifts! These bow accoutrements are right up my alley--too cute!
My VERY talented friend, Amanda Bee, has been painting these designs very recently! If you follow me on Pinterest, I'm sure you've seen a bunch of them since I'm pinning them all too! The one above is my absolute favorite she's done so far, but check out some of my other picks too:
Maryland by Amanda Bee
Loafers by Amanda bee
Crosshatched by Amanda Bee
Knotty in Blue by Amanda Bee
Monkey's Fist by Amanda Bee
Argyle II by Amanda Bee
Colorful by Amanda Bee
Umm how amazing right? You MUST check her out!! See more of her full-size designs on her blog!
1. I am thankful today is Saturday because thanks to Rebecca Black, we know that Sunday comes after Saturday and I get to leave on SUNDAY!
2. I am thankful that my wonderful, loving parents took me back this summer. I feel like I was so busy I hardly got to take an extra breath, but they put up with me, school, a crazy work schedule and all kinds of girl drama.
3. I am thankful that my sister and I got to spend another summer together. Everything is SO completely different than it was just a year ago and I'm glad I get to spend some extra time with her because before we know it she'll be heading off to college!
4. I am thankful that all my friends are literally going to be within a spitting distance of me in a matter of hours. I plan on seeing everyone within my first week back. Mark. My. Words. Y'all. (Read: you'll get lots of hugs and maybe tears and lots of jumping!)
5. I am thankful for the close friends I have here at home. They have filled voids, made me laugh, helped me through crazy situations this summer, and most of all, listened to me and my craziness. All of it.
6. I am thankful today is my last day of work at the Pink Crab (but I will miss it tons!). I have had the best summer ever working this year, loading up hours! I will miss this place SO MUCH and I'm not sure what I'll do without the lovely ladies that I get to share a store with. I have the world's best boss, a great staff, and fun clothes to sell to cheery people. Oh yeah, and we have a sick view. Does it get better than that?
7. I am thankful for all the packing I've been doing. In the words of my smart Daddyo, "Katie, you can't pull an all nighter Saturday and expect to drive all day Sunday." He's a very smart man.
8. I am thankful for Amazon Prime. I've been looking up textbook prices and it's consistently saving me between 9-32% on every book. And giving me free shipping. But like I tweeted, big girl textbooks mean big girl prices. YIKES! (Thanks Dad!)
9. I am thankful to be going back to a school that I love. Bring me Gourmet Shop chicken salad, sweeeeeeet tea, Bojangles, Cocky, Publix, the VC and my UA family, sweltering heat, Williams-Brice, my little pink and green room, Wal Mart, 1704, Eric San Jose, football, Rosewood Drive, and YOUR CAROLINA GAMECOCKS!
10. I am thankful for Little, my car. It got a lot of work done this week that we weren't expecting and in the words of Jessie James "is lookin' fresh and brand new" for our drive back down South. (Dearest Little, sorry you have to get covered in disgusting bugs in North Carolina. I've never really understood that phenomenon, but it happens trip in and trip out.)
So I'm completely stealing this recipe from a woman I work with. She introduced it to me and since I tried it I can't get enough!
For this wildberry iced tea, all you do is combine 2 kinds of tea bags, sweeten to taste and add accoutrements as you wish.
Take one bag (or more if you're brewing a pitcher or larger amount) of Celestial Seasonings Wild Berry Zinger and one bag of a Green Tea of choice (I just used Celestial Seasonings too because they were close on the grocery store shelf).
+
And let it steep for 5-10 minutes. It will be apeachy-pink color and have a very light scent. It is VERY refreshing as is, but with a sprig of mint or a lemon it really does the trick!
It has gotten SO HOT here in Annapolis, we're breaking records left and right. The last thing I want is a soda and I get sick of boring old water so this really does the trick!
Once you're done steeping, let it fully cool and throw it over some ice in your favorite BIG ol' iced tea tumbler!
I barely even remember this week. Flew by SO fast...I guess that's a good thing but maybe not for the summer!
1. I am thankful for my parents and how much they listen to me when I need venting time, advice or just to chat. They've been especially awesome recently.
2. I am thankful for Saturday night "New Country" on my local station. Any Annapolitans listen to 93.1? Shows how cool my summer is...blogging on Saturday nights
3. I am thankful (more like SO unbelievably, ridiculously, kiss-the-ground thankful) that my summer classes end this week! Thursday is my LAST DAY OF SCHOOL UNTIL I'M BACK AT USC! #4weeksofFreedom
4. I am thankful for a tall lady who came into the store on Sunday and mentioned CAbi clothing. Apparently the owner is rumored to be 6' tall! Tall girls gotta stick together! We gabbed about jeans, how we never hem stuff and how we're always dropping hems! She was so great. (Now all I have to do is find someone hosting a party!!)
5. I am thankful for my Jack Rogers. I just realized my Platinum pair toe part is ripping big time. Care of the above night, my Jacks were "flat-tire"-ed one night when we we all out. I had duct tape in my purse...yeah...and was able to repair them. I didn't realize though, was how stretched the toe became. If these little guys men make it through the summer I will be STUNNED. (Sorry to anyone who was sent this message--the original version--in picture message form from Sara's birthday...)
6. I am thankful for the BEST manicure I've ever had in my life that I got on Saturday. If anyone in Annapolis needs an acrylic manicure, go to Fiona at Bella Salon by the Annapolis Mall.
7. I am thankful for getting the power back in Annapolis. That was a mess!
8. I am thankful for all the quotes I find on Pinterest. The one at the top of the post is from Pinterest. It's chock-full of bit of wisdom put to wonderful typography. Very cool.
9. I am thankful for the couch in my room that serves as a wonderful place to store clothes. As my mom reads this she's going to cringe.
10. I am thankful for everything that's on it's way in the next few weeks. I think it'll be a lot more of the summer I had planned! I'm ready for freedom, ready for a break, and ready for Bethany Beach in a few days!!
So the 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays! It's such a fun holiday that as a coworker put it, "has no pressure, no pressure of gifts, of anything!" There's fun decorating, DELISH food, fabulous company and great outfits! I've put together a few of my holiday weekend outfits:
I wore this to work July 2! It was channeling the red, white and blue except with pink and some fun accents! Probably a little bit of a stretch but I was close!
I was adding in the flags for the holiday fun! I really like gold to go with red (pink), white and blue so I've been wearing out my gold Jacks for the long holiday!
This is my outfit for tomorrow! I just got the Wynne top in white and plan on wearing it one-shoulder for the big day! I work until 4 and then I'm HIGHTAILING it out of Annapolis as quick as I can and waiting until the evening to head back! Again, I added the gold Jacks into this look and I'm going with the REAL red, white and blue combo this time around! We haven't decided what our plans are just yet but it should be fun! We're cooking out tonight and then tomorrow's still a bit of a mystery but I'm SO excited nonetheless!
Summer is good for a lot of things: re-evaluating, starting fresh, getting serious (or not), catching up, catching sun, cleaning (or not), clothes collection, tons of stuff. It's also great for learning what you like. I've learned a lot about myself this summer, some of which are my absolute-no-matter-where-you-live-must-haves:
1. Front Runner and Most-Compliment-Getter of the summer, ladies and gents I present you with, Sinful Colors Pink Forever 313:
Never in my life have I gotten as many compliments on my nail color (weird thing to notice, am I right?) as I've gotten wearing this puppy. Might be the best $1.99 I've spent, at Happy Harry's nonetheless, all summer long.
I'm a FIRM believer in the 5'' shorts (Michael if you're reading this you can laugh at the 3 vs. 5 inch debate we had a million years ago) and Lilly does it particularly well. I have 2 pairs from last summer and have added 3 pairs this summer that I adore. They're the tall girl's short shorts...
Along those same lines, I've hit it big with this shirt. I WAY missed the boat with the navy and didn't snatch it up in time, but I have the white and the pink and I try to convince people to at least try it on daily. If you don't have a Wiley grab one "wiley" you still can!
I have never been a makeup girl. I'm a get up and go girl. Until this summer when I was diagnosed with adult acne. Sista needed a little help and the lovely ladies at Clinique did exactly what I needed and fast. I've relied on this with Sephora Brand Primer and it's great!
4. Croakies, Croakies, and more Croakies
If you give a girl a croakie...
5. Ke$ha
New K-E-Dollah-Sign-HA (as Glee's principal says) fave. We'll say Kesha and I have connected. Because we're the likeliest of pairs...I like it!
6. Steamers:
I steam a lot at work. We get new shipments in weekly and they all need to be freshened and given a bit of life after they come out of the boxes! We joke with our UPS men that they're always delivering gifts to us! I love to steam all of our goodies and have started browsing them with my boss for our own personal use...professional grade steamers...for our personal use...you know you work in retail when.
7. Movies:
Although not my favorite of the summer movies I've seen, I've seen a bunch and have a hankering to go to one this weekend. Not sure which one, but I want to go to a movie, and veg out for 2 hours in someone else's way too cold AC. Sounds so nice after these summer steamy days we've been having!
8. Shopping for formal dresses (that I don't need):
I literally have ZERO need for a floor-length or remotely dressy dress. I don't go to proms anymore, I'm not in a sorority and don't have formal, and none of my friends are having black-tie weddings, so I'm at a loss. Does it stop me from fancy dress shopping? Absolutely not.
9. Carolina Gamecocks
No matter where I am, I'm cheering for the Gamecocks. Having been through this week, I think this is enough said.
It has never been easier to connect with Gamecocks, alumni, school friends, Lilly lovers, random friends from high school, Charlestonians, bridal companies, and so many other people than through Twitter! I have had a blast using it and learning it's ways--and tweeting my way through the College World series!
It has been quite the Lilly-fied week for me! I think that automatically qualifies it as a good week, huh? Anyway, National Wear Your Lilly Pulitzer day was on Tuesday and it took some careful planning for what I was going to wear! I decided on my Bowen Dress from last summer because it's got everything good that Lilly makes: animals, plants, bright colors, fun fabrics, a great shape, and is perfect for the summer!
What did you wear for National Wear Your Lilly Day?! Even my fabulous bohemian-wearing friend Colleen (whattup Cape Cod shoutout!!) knew it was NWYLD! So cool--she's so in the know! Did you add any photos to Lilly Lovers Days too??
