My Chickens

Earnest Lee is a famous artist in Columbia, SC. On my bucket list for college, I wanted to acquire a few Earnest Lee paintings for myself. He's famous for his chicken paintings, and is even dubbed "The Chicken Man" around South Carolina.

These chickens were the ones that ultimately made it home with me! I knew I wanted a chicken with Gamecock colors, and I knew I wanted a pink chicken (to be the Katie chicken) and I figured a palmetto would complete the collection and always remind me of the state of South Carolina.

I was SO excited to start my little art collection with my chickens! They will forever remind me of Columbia and my graduation.

xxKatie

Big Changes

It's no secret I've seemed to drop off the face of the earth. Between graduation, moving to a brand new city, and starting a new job, I haven't had ANY time to devote to blogging.

I have gotten SO many emails about what's been going on, and I'm 100% still alive, and honestly doing nearly better than ever! I finally am beginning to understand my new city, I am LOVING my job, and starting to get the hang of post-grad life.

Kudos to all those bloggers who have made the transition whlie still blogging--I commend you. Even with scheduled posts, I couldn't quite swing it.

SO NOW WHERE DO WE STAND?

I am going to continue Let's Be Preppy! It's going to become more of a fun, hobby and less of a daily committment. I felt very stressed toward the end of the semester coming up with content that wasn't totally worth your time to read. So I'm committing to posting, but it just won't be as regular. I'm still going to be blogging about my new start, my new city, and the beginning of my new life.

In an effort to be fair and transparent, I have changed a lot of my handles, so where I used to be @letsbepreppy in everything, now I'm @katie_rudder to make it a little more personal. That way, if you still want to follow me as me, it'll be your call. I'm still going to be posting all the same content, just not as "@letsbepreppy" anymore, and not daily.

I promise that I'm still around, and I'm going to deliver fun content, a lot more regularly than I have been. I'm excited to be back, and committed to sharing a lot of fun experiences I'll be going through as I make these big changes!

xxKatie

It's a Wrap: The Carolina Ball

So a week ago today, I attended a wonderful event, The Carolina Ball! It was a great time and I ended up running into a bunch of people I knew.

My fabbbbbulous date Hannah and I were able to go to the ball! We both wore floor length dresses, taking the night to get all dolled up! How often does that really happen!?

I got my dress from Tradesy online! I felt like I was channeling my inner Rachel from "Friends" with this 90s-loving choice. I never, ever, ever want to take this dress off. I LOVE it!

 The band, Blind Manifest, was great! They amped up the crowd, danced and interacted and really kept us going. I really enjoyed listening to them, and gave us an awesome variation of music: slow songs, fast songs, beach music, covers, everything!

The decor at the venue was minimal, but it didn't need to be very fancy. The venue, 701 Whaley, is a beautiful spot on its own and really doesn't need much to make it look good. There were simple swags throughout the main hall we were in and it looked perfect.

All in all, we had fun at the event! I hope that this continues to be an annual event and grows bigger and larger for Palmetto Health Children's Hospital! FTK!

xxKatie

Pink Sorbet Loves Winston's Wish

Last Monday we had a big celebration party for Winston's Wish, the Autism awareness organization that fosters friends of Autism here in Columbia, SC! Pink Sorbet, Lilly Pulitzer print designers, and Winston's Wish all teamed up to make a one-of-a-kind Autism awareness Murfee Scarf! It's so special, and we were honored to be able to have an in-store event during Autism Awareness month.

Winston himself, front and center, is known for wearing his bowties, which he is PROUDLY donning for the day's event!

These special scarves are available exclusively at Pink Sorbet! 

xxKatie

Outfit of the Day: Seersucker and Sass

Shop this look:

Shorts

Shoes

Top (similar)

Necklace (similar)

This has been one of my favorite outfits recently! I love the way that the wedges ties in PERFECTLY with the seersucker Buttercup shorts!

One of my favorite looks for summer is a strapless top with a big, chunky necklace, so this outfit was right up that alley. These seersucker wedges are about the cutest thing I've seen in awhile, and I LOVE the way they look on. Lilly wedges are very comfortable, but definitely make sure that you have enough room in the toes. One of my other metallic pairs isn't as comfy as these ones, and they really squish my toes.

In my book, seersucker is such a fun sign of spring and summer! Seeing it all over makes me so happy and I try to wear it as often as possible since it's so seasonal. Seersucker is one of the most classic fabrics and will never go out of style.

Happy Seersucker Season y'all!

xxKatie

Cinderella's Shoes for the Ball

With the Carolina Ball right around the corner, a big concern is what dancin' shoes should a gal wear?

Do you go with sassy pumps? Flats to show off your fancy feet?

What is a girl to do?

Before my big dress reveal, I will say that my dress is black, so my shoe choice most likely will be black as well. I have a good feeling I will be wearing these:

Why my black Jacks aren't QUITE "formalwear", I do trust them very much and my dress entirely covers my shoes. I hope to do a LOT of dancing and so I know I want my shoes to allow me to do so!

If I were wearing a short dress, I would absolutely wear my Jessica Simpson Calie Nude Pumps! I actually have a banquet that I will be attending on Wednesday and I'll be donning these with a blue, short cocktail dress. I am so excited to be pulling these out of my closet, I love the way they feel on and how they REALLY extend the look of your legs.

These stunning gold Tory Burch heels would match almost anything in your closet! I have tons of different options that these heels would look great with. The heel and ankle strap make it dressy enough to go from gala to wedding to bridesmaids brunch to the Carolina Ball!

What do you usually wear to your most formal events? Do you usually stick to one certain pair? What are your best dancin' shoes?

Hopefully I won't be Cinderella of the Carolina Ball myself and lose my shoes!

xxKatie

Polish Change: Madison Aven-Hue

Since all I've been wearing these days has been neutrals, I have been longing after a new pink!

I was really looking for a color that was pinkish-purple and Essie's newest collection had a color that perfectly fit the bill. Enter, Madison Ave-Hue.

This party pink is such a good color and I know it will become part of my regular rotation. I also really wanted a color that was going to be opaque and not translucent, and this color is just that as well. I can't wait to check out what other colors Essie rolls out for the rest of spring and summer!

xxKatie