Snaps from Draper James

Something I've been meaning to share ever since my trip to Nashville is all of the photos I took at the Draper James store. I had been dreaming of going to the store ever since it opened a while ago and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. It's located in the cutest little area called 12 South, nestled in with adorable shops and restaurants. After getting donuts at Five Daughters Bakery down the street, we walked over to Draper James and I quickly fell in love with how beautiful everything about it was. The outside is absolutely gorgeous, and the inside is just as pretty, if not even prettier. As I've gotten older, I've grown to take note of the interiors of spaces more - I used to walk in a store and not think twice about how everything was set up, the fabrics used, etc. However, with time, I've appreciated interiors more and more, especially Draper James. I mean just look at how gorgeous every little detail is! It's how I imagine Reese Witherspoon's home - classic, southern and bright. I bought my mom a few little goodies for Mother's Day and was beyond excited when they handed me the adorable blue shopping bag. #Typical 

Have you been to Draper James before?  

If you're ever in the Nashville area, I highly recommend stopping in!

xoxo

Must-Do's in Nashville

Even though we were only there for a few days, I had such an amazing time in Nashville in the beginning of May. Since my roomie Caroline lives there, it was really fun seeing such an infamous tourist destination from a local's perspective. I seriously can't believe how close she lives to a lot of the popular spots! In no particular order, here are six of my must do's in Nashville, ranging from restaurants to shopping to pretty places to take pictures. 

+ "I Believe in Nashville" Mural 

Right when we booked our trip, I told Caroline getting a picture in front of this mural was 100% necessary. It's located right next to the Draper James store at 12 South with a bunch of other cute stores nearby, so luckily it was right on our way down the street. There were a bunch of other girls taking pictures there too - I guess I wasn't the only tourist that needed a photo! 

+ Draper James Store

Speaking of 12 South, the Draper James store was another major reason I wanted to go to Nashville so badly. Reese Witherspoon is one of my biggest style icons, and after following the brand on social media since they opened a few years ago, I was dying to see the store in real life. Oh my goodness it did not disappoint. The surrounding area is so gorgeous - the building is literally painted blue and white stripes (does it get any better?!). Since Mother's Day was the following weekend, I bought my mom a few little things that she absolutely loved. I brought my camera so I'm going to dedicate a full post to the interior of the store next week - keep your eyes peeled for the post! 

+ Five Daughters Bakery 

Right in the same area as 12 South is the most adorable donut store called Five Daughters Bakery. I hadn't heard of it before but Caroline knew I would love it, and wow was she right. They have the cutest little area to sit outside and eat, and the entire thing is very photogenic (a major plus in my book). I tried the lemon donut as well a chocolate one (I don't remember the exact kind) and I highly recommend both. 

+ Broadway

A more traditional tourist spot, Broadway is a beautiful street downtown full of bars, stores and restaurants right by the river. Whenever you hear people going to honky-tonk bars, this is where they mean! We had so much fun walking down them and exploring little shops and restaurants. I heard a country song I love being played in a bar, so we stopped in and sang along to all of our favorites. It was honestly one of the most fun parts of the trip because it was so authentic to Nashville. 

+ Hattie B's Hot Chicken 

 I told Caroline I wanted the real Southern food experience, so naturally we had biscuits and fried chicken every. single. day. Hattie B's had to be my favorite restaurant (besides a really delicious place we stopped in Louisville) because it had the cutest outdoor seating area and the best food ever. Ugh, I could eat fried food forever! 10/10 recommend the mac and cheese and slaw! 

+ Dress Up Boutique 

Shopping wise, Dress Up Boutique had to be my favorite store we went. We popped in not knowing what to expect and I found way too many pieces I needed wanted. I spent a good amount of my money on apparel at the Kentucky Derby so I didn't have a ton left for shopping in Nashville, but I would have easily spent my life savings at this store if I could have. 

 Have you been to Nashville before? 

What were your must do's?

xoxo

Outfit: What to Wear to an Internship

 dress / lace up sandals (this year's version) / Tory Burch bag (similar / similar) / sunnies / gold wrap bracelet / coordinates necklace 

After finishing my first week of my internship, I can officially say I have figured out my own personal dress code for the rest of the summer. On the first day, I went to work wearing my favorite neon pink fluted skirt, a lace tee and flats only to realize that everyone in the office dresses a bit more laid back than I expected. Because I'm interning for a company that houses several footwear brands, everyone dresses stylish but not necessarily super formal - which I love! (Think the J.Crew Style guide for reference.) That being said, I've been wearing a lot of outfits like white jeans and nice tops with wedges, or dresses with sneakers and a statement necklace. This look is what I wore last Tuesday and I can't get over how cute and comfortable the dress is. The color is so pretty for summer and it pairs perfectly with my cognac bag from Tory Burch and my lace up sandals. (It also comes in the cutest army green which I'm considering buying too!) I can't wait to get more wear out of it this season! 

My rule of thumb for my new dress code is to pick one or two elements to dress up a normally more casual look. For example, a pair of wedges with jeans or a skirt with a tee. That way, you're still comfy for the day but look put together at the same time. 

I'm interested to hear: what do you wear for your job or internship?

Look out for a post soon all about my work bag + what I bring in it! 

xoxo

Friday Fours

Even though I've technically been done with school for over two weeks, this week felt like the first real week of summer because I started my internship - it got me in more of a routine which I absolutely love! More and more of my friends are coming home too which makes me so excited for what's to come this summer. 

::one::

After nearly 150 days of being apart, Fran and I finally reunited!! We talk every day but getting to curl up on the couch and chat in real life is something I love so much. Fran, my mom and I always hang out together in the summer and it's my favorite thing ever. 

::two::

I never thought I would get an internship this summer, much less I truly love so much! I get to do social media, research influencers, prepare projects and several other tasks that really don't even feel like work to me. It definitely keeps me busy and tires me out by the end of the day, but it was something I really needed this summer. 

::three::

I've finally been going to the gym consistently and I love my new little workout routine. I'm such a creature of habit and I really need to mix up the cardio machines I use, but I'm finding that overall I feel so much better after I eat healthy and work out everyday. Look out for a post all about this soon!

::four::

Ok this weather lately has been all over the place... Is anyone else starting to go nuts?? All week when I work it's 85 degrees and sunny, and then the minute I leave my office it starts pouring rain and gets cold. This weekend when I can finally spend time outside, it's supposed to cool down too. If there would just be a streak of even 3 days with warm weather and sun, I would be very happy. 

I hope you all have a lovely weekend! I'm excited to get to sleep in and do some shopping with my mom and brother. 

xoxo

Productive Things to Do This Summer

Now that my internship has started and I work 8 hours a day Monday through Friday, I don't have a lot of free time on my hands besides the weekends and the chunk of time every night when I get home. I'm really fortunate I got the internship and wouldn't trade it for the world, however it has forced me to get a little more creative with how I spend my free time. Honestly, I think this was just what I needed! In recent summers, I would get so bored sitting at home and then school would roll around and I would realize too late that I didn't accomplish everything I wanted to. This summer is the perfect opportunity to use my free time to do things that I've been wanting to do for a while but never got around to doing. That being said, here are some ideas I've come up with for things you can do this summer that you'll thank yourself for later!

+ Form a consistent workout routine 
With finals and then road tripping with friends after move out, my workout schedule has been all over the place. It wasn't until the end of my freshman year that I really got into a workout habit that I liked, so now that I'm home for 3 months, I'm determined to find one that I will actually stick to for a long period of time! I finish work every day at 4:30 so my goal is to hit the gym around 5 and get in a good workout before dinner. Let's see how this goes :)

+ Clean out your closet
I currently have 8 giant moving boxes to still unpack, not to mention a disaster of a closet from when I would be home for a long weekend and never put things away before going back to school. Needless to say, I'm long overdue for a major closet clean out! I want to get rid of a ton of clothes and make room for new things I've acquired in the past year. I also have a ton of clutter that needs to be thrown out.

+ Go through your photos
I have over 4,000 photos on my phone that are really starting to take up a lot of storage, so one day I plan to go through them all and delete as many as possible. Printing photos from Walgreens is something I love to do, so I'm going to take the best ones from the year and hang them up on my bulletin board in my room. I may also start a college photo album with printed photos because I'm just a #mom like that.

+ Perfect your skincare routine
During the year, I always mean to try out some new skincare products, but I always get so busy that I never get around to doing so. After living in the dorms, sleeping less than I should have and eating a fair amount of unhealthy foods, my skin could really use some TLC. This summer, I plan to get a few facials and finally find the products that are best for my skin to make sure it's as healthy as possible!

+ Re-do your space 
After moving out of a room that my roomie and I decorated less than a year ago, I have an itch to re-do parts of my room at home to make it a little more updated. My current bedroom at home is very colorful and bright from when I was younger, so I would ideally want something with more white and gold like in my dorm. While I probably won't be doing anything too drastic anytime soon, I plan to take a few bigger pieces of furniture like my bulletin board and desk chair and make them more simple (ex. painting over the pattern on my bulletin board with gold paint).

What have you been meaning to do that you could get done this summer?

xoxo

Kentucky Derby: My Recap & What to Wear

Happy Monday friends! I'm so excited to share a recap of my first ever Kentucky Derby today. It was pretty cloudy and gray the day of, so unfortunately I couldn't get a bunch of pretty pictures. Buuut I did snap a few and they make me so happy to look back at and remember how fun of a day we had! Instead of going home straight from school, my roomie and 3 friends and I drove down to Louisville, Kentucky because it just so happened the derby was 2 days after we moved out. It was perfect timing and the best way to end our freshman year. Since it was our first time going to the races, we arrived around 10 am to get the full day experience. In the future, we definitely wouldn't go that early since the big race is at 7 pm and we were pretty exhausted by then. 

My roomie and I knew we wanted to wear our favorite Lilly Pulitzer shifts, but it ended up being pretty chilly so we wore our jean jackets on top. It was super muddy and wet (especially after it rained a few times), so I highly recommend wearing rain boots. Mine were packed away in my boxes being shipped home so I opted for my Tory Burch flip flops (not the best decision, but they sufficed!). Make sure to bring a clear rain poncho with you if it's supposed to rain too - I don't know what I would have done without mine! How cute are our  matching monogrammed sun hats from Marley Lilly?! 

Churchill Downs was absolutely gorgeous and even bigger than I had imagined. We all bought infield tickets (#collegebudget) but I hope sometime in the future I'll be able to have an actual seat or even be in one of the boxes! 

Right before it started down pouring on us while we waited to go into the gift shop! Definitely worth it for the Vineyard Vines derby collection though :)

Ugh I would kill to be in the covered seats or a box. How beautiful do all the people look in their suits and floppy hats?! It was so much fun seeing what everyone wore - so many girls were wearing heels or wedges while trekking through mud! 

After doing a little research beforehand, I pretty much knew what to wear for the derby. However, after going, I realized how important it is to wear shoes that can easily be washed off or that you don't care about that much. I recommend rain boots or jelly sandals like these that you can wipe off when you get home! See my guide for what to wear below:

Lilly Pulitzer shift /  white + gold shift /  monogrammed sun hat /  navy Hunter rain boots /  bow fascinator headband /  Jack Rogers jelly sandal 

I'm so grateful I was able to road trip down with friends for such a fun weekend and hope I can go to the derby again before my time is done at Indiana. If you ever have the chance to go, I couldn't recommend it more! 

Have you been to the derby before? What did you wear?

xoxo

Friday Fours

After moving out of my dorm, going to the Kentucky Derby, visiting Nashville and flying home, I'm finally back! The past couple days have been a whirlwind and it's hard to believe my freshman year is officially over. I have a lot of exciting things coming up so I can't complain, but I have to admit, it's really sad to think I won't be going back to school or seeing my friends until August. To recap, here is a little summary of the past week :)

::one::

In Nashville, one place I knew I needed to go to was  Draper James (Reese Witherspoon's store). It was in the cutest area of the city and completely exceeded my expectations. I brought my camera with me so stay tuned for a post next week with a ton of photos - you're going to die when you see the inside!

::two::

A few friends and I went to the Kentucky Derby last Saturday and oh my goodness was it quite the experience. We had so much fun and I can't wait to recap that in a full post too! 

::three::

Even though I miss school and my friends so much, it is really nice to be home. My mom and I spent two days shopping, eating and running errands together which was just what I needed. How delicious do our tacos look?! I'm trying to eat really healthy now that I'm home and these tacos were the perfect light lunch (even though it would have been a little more nutritious without the side of chips :).

::four::

Last night one of my best friends from home and I went on a walk by the lake to catch up and get a little exercise. It's definitely a little chillier here than down south but I can't complain because look at that view! I never knew how much I would miss living by the water while I was at school and I'm so glad I'm just a short walk away again. 

My internship starts Monday so I'll be back in my blogging routine starting then! I'll be doing Marketing and Social Media Content for a shoe company and I could not be more thrilled to start! I can't wait to start dressing up a little more than my usual Lulu leggings and oversized tees everyday - I'll have to start sharing what I wear everyday with you all! 

Have a great weekend!

xoxo

7 Pairs of Shoes You Need Right Now

Vans slip ons  / Tory Burch fringe Miller sandal / Jack Rogers Lauren sandal / Suede slip ons / Gap suede espadrille / Multi-strap sandals / peep toe bootie 

Lately, I've been in the biggest shopping mood. I don't know if it's the internship I just accepted for the summer (more on that later!) or the fact that summer is very quickly approaching, but I want to stock up my wardrobe on some goodies for the new season. If you let me, I would wear my slip on sneakers every day of the week... it's become quite the problem. The solution to this problem you ask? I guess I should buy another (or 6) pair to add to my collection. These Vans are so simple and chic but this pair is a little more interesting (and a muuuch better deal). I have always wanted a pair of Tory Burch Miller sandals, and this season they came out with the most adorable pink + orange pair - very appropriate for me, amiright? I may have to justify snagging those somehow :) I must really be into neutral footwear right now or something because clearly there's a theme to 7 of the 8 pairs of these shoes! 

Happy shopping!

xoxo