APRIL / showers bring

a few favorites from this month

+ I know, I know, but I just can't believe I'm writing this post on the eve of MAY. Whether they were literal or emotional showers that clouded your April (I've had both), you know what those April showers bring! There is so much good stuff around the corner, guys!

ON THE BLOG:
+  This past month I was a part of two bachelorette parties; one here in Nashville for Anjali, and one in Portland, OR for Katie! I transitioned out of Winter wear with my one cold-weather-accessory, paid an homage to millennial pink and my new favorite purse, wore the most 90's outfit ever, and styled my culottes for Spring!

ON THE NIGHTSTAND:
+ Can I get a round of applause because I have finally finished East of Eden? Only took me 8 months. I'll be honest, I had to do a SparkNotes deep dive afterwards. It is undoubtably an incredible piece of literature and John Steinbeck is a writer rivaled by few. A couple gems (but there is SO MUCH good stuff):
"Act out being alive, like a play. And after a while, a long while, it will be true."
"Eventlessness has no posts to drape duration on. From nothing to nothing is no time at all."
"He had an idea that even when beaten he could steal a little victory by laughing at defeat."

BEAUTY: I'll keep this month's brief because next month is gonna be a doozy. 

+ 24K Nudes Palette | I randomly came across two rave reviews of this palette in one day. So far, not in love with it.
+ Urban Decay Vice in Tampered | I've been on the hunt for this since this post and found it in Sephora in PDX!
+ Too Faced Shadow Insurance | Still a beauty rookie who doesn't wear a "full face" daily, but I can't live without this!

NASHVILLE: We painted the town with an all-star line-up for Anj's bachelorette weekend!
+ Le Sel | Couldn't be more perfect for a Bach party (two words: pink booths) & I had the best lamb gnocchi ever!
+ LA Jackson | No, THIS is my new favorite spot in town. A top the Thompson Hotel a classy af rooftop bar?! Hello.
+ Margot | We had our aforementioned life-giving Bach brunch here, I had steak and fries and it was the ultimate.
+ Marché | Don't forget about Margot's free-spirited sister where you can't make a reservation & I had Easter brunch.

TUNES:
+ Have to give a shoutout to my favorite artist, Andrew McMahon. Saw him again this month & he has a new album!
+ Here's the playlist I'm listening to as I workout these days (I update it weekly!) and it's called Twerkout Now. 
+ Have you guys checked out the I Love My 90's / '00's R&B playlists on Spotify?? Just an anthology of classics.
+ Few more tracks I love right now: Don't Take The Money, Despacito, Love, Now or Never, Sign of the Times (duh!)
P.S. Are we following each other on Spotify??
SHOPPING: These Spring sales slayed me, you guys. Linked to similar for random items!
+ My girlfriend jeans from UO are my fave purchase of the month! They are a dream & I want to wear nothing else.
+ I was also dying for some tassel earrings and this pair from Madewell fit the bill, perfectly (and on sale!)
+ I love the Madewell courier shirt and picked up the dress equivalent to wear for a casual conference Friday. Love it!
+ This cord skirt (linked to identical) is the only remaining item off my Fall wishlist! I found mine at a local boutique.
+ Y'all know I can't resist a day dress and a trendy muscle tank one came home with me from the UO sale for like $10.
+ Two Poshmark purchases this month! First, some fabled Madwell floral jeans which are so cute and I think too small :/
+ Second, the most gorgeous Erin Fetherston silk romper (really similar to this) purchased with a Bach party in mind!
+ Scooped up another lacy bralette (can't stop!) from the Urban Outfitters additional sale on sale.
+ How amazingly 90's is this velvet dress (though mine is maroon) that I also found at the UO sale?!
+ My bridesmaid ensemb for Katie's wedding is shaping up to be so stylin, it includes these gold heels.

Always interested in hearing the latest and greatest in your life. Please share with me below! Thanks for reading!

March / February / January

Tornado Culottes

 | earrings: Old Navy {similar} | lip: Wet n Wild LiquidCatsuit in Give Me Mocha | blouse: H&M {similar} | culottes: Old Navy [still available!] | tote: gift (Nordstrom) [still available!] | heels: Nordstrom Rack [still available!] | 

click item names for additional wears on the blog / product names to shop identical or similar! 

If you're reading this, that means I survived our conference last week! You know, I would say I actually thrived. I got to emcee for two full days, & have I ever mentioned how much I love being on stage? It was a dream. I also got to sit in on some pretty amazing keynotes sessions. I'm so hyped to be apart of this team. I'll probably spend this week catching up from last week but, all good! I also had the laziest weekend in the history of weekends so, feeling alright. 

These culottes are turning out to be my best random purchase, maybe ever (check out my first and second styling attempts!) I think, not shockingly, the move is to keep the rest of the look super simple, since these pants are such a statement. This look may be my favorite way I've worn them so far, and was perfect to wear to work. They are still available at Old Navy in pretty limited sizes, but this pair from Forever 21 is super similar.

This style of heel is everywhere right now and for good reason! They are so comfortable and go with everything (I'm wearing them today, actually!) They're also a pretty flattering style for anyone with short legs (raising my hand.) This exact pair that I'm wearing is also still available at Nordstrom Rack. 

I started down a SUPER dangerous path this week & started watching some beauty tutorials/product reviews on YouTube. Once I get my bearings a bit, I'll definitely share some favorites! Quick shout-out again for the Wet n Wild LiquidCatsuit lipsticks, the shade I'm wearing here is Give Me Mocha. It has been so funny to me that Wet n Wild is the drugstore brand that literally ALL beauty vloggers rave about; considering it's honestly the first make-up I ever knew existed. I bet there's still a couple bottles of crusty Wet n Wild glitter nail polish at my parent's house, from the 90's!

Ok lastly, I was absolutely dying at how beautiful all the blooming trees were a few weeks ago. I knew we had to get outside & get some pictures before they turned green, but on this day I SWEAR there was a tornado that afternoon so the wind was INSANE. A little bit of wind is a dream for blog pics, tornadic winds, not so much. The laughter in these pictures is real because I could not get my hair to stay put at all! The things we do for these blogs, I swear. 

photos by Adriane Smith Creative

Truly Madly Deeply

| lip: Wet ‘n Wild Liquid Catsuit in Nice To Fuchsia | crown necklace: Tiffany’s | dress: Vinnie Louise Nashville {similar} | sweater: H&M {similar} | socks: Target {similar} | boots: Doc Martens |

How do you determine if you have an obsessive personality? I mean, without science (I hate when people explain things to me using science.) If you have information regarding this, let me know. Or as my brothers would say, “Allow me to Google that for you.”

I’m obviously obsessed with the 90’s- and could this outfit be any more 90’s?? I’m actually more obsessed with the 80’s- but that’s a different matter. I was actually alive in the 90’s, and I think I was doing pretty well back then; but I have this theory that I would have absolutely freaking thrived if I were alive in the 80’s. I mean- my hair was meant for this decade. When I go on dates I actually like to ask the question “If you had to pick between 80’s or 90’s music for the rest of your life, which one would you choose?” (You know, just a fun, casual, icebreaker question.) Truly there isn’t a wrong answer- not with me anyways- what I’m really looking for is passion, maybe more specifically that they take this matter extremely seriously. The more worked up they get, the better.

But back to this look! I vaguely included this dress in my monthly round-up for March. Vinnie Louise has emerged as my new favorite boutique in town- it’s casual, trendy, and really reasonably priced! Nothing is worse than coming across a thin cheapy dress at a boutique that’s like $88- no thanks. I really want to write a guide to my current favorite shops in town (stay tuned!) There is really nothing I love more than a day dress and when I came across this in the shop, I couldn’t un-see it paired with my Docs- IS THIS REALLY THEIR BLOG DEBUT??

Guys. In an effort to not make this post too ramble-y, I’ll save my Docs story for another time. And oh there is a story. Every style has a story.

On a personal note- we are hosting our annual conference at work this week! It kicks off today and goes through Friday, and then I am headed to Memphis on Saturday morning (with Amanda to visit Meredith!) So, m-m-m-madness as usual! I am actually even more excited about our conference than normal, because I'm an emcee on one of the stages this year! I've finally arrived! So, trying to be a charming professional adult and simultaneously functional human. Stay tuned. And follow along on Twitter (blog / personal) for my "professional outfits" and marketing best practices lolololol

P.S. I read recently that tying a sweater around your waist is the easiest and cheapest way to transform your entire wardrobe. You’re welcome!

P.P.S. This title obviously inspired by my favorite 90's song of all time. I loved Savage Garden then, and they have TRULY stood the test of time. Thanks guys.

P.P.P.S. If you're looking for a good 80's and 90's playlist to get you started, here ya go: 80's / 90's

Shop the look below!Photos by Adriane Smith Creative

Pop, Suki, & Priya

| sunnies: stall in London {similar} | lip: NYX LiquidSuede lipstick in Tea & Cookies | button-up: secondhand Target {similar} | scarf: H&M {similar} | jeans: Old Navy Rockstar | oxfords: Primark {similar} | 

| purse: Pop & Suki (gift from Carina!) | 

Forgive me for not being fully reverent yet to this. PURSE. If you’re not impressed just because it’s tiny and pink, please understand that this is one of just a couple things I own with my name on it (and that’s only because my as-Southern-as-sweet-tea ex-boyfriend was super into monograms!) (No shade- hi Hunter, I still love you.)

My sister who, ironically, keeps me informed on all the blogger trends, was filling me in on Pop & Suki before Christmas last year, and innocently asking me which one she should get and which one was my favorite, and then this showed up on my doorstep (on today’s episode of: My Sisters Spoil Me!)

The “camera bag” is truly a purse for only your essentials- cardholder, phone, lip- I even have to detach my gaggle of keys when I use it. Which makes me a little panick-y, because I’m the kind of person that likes to tote a suitcase around, but it’s also pretty liberating. They also just released some dreamy new colors for Spring (lavender and robin's egg blue- swoon!)

And this is the last set (for now!) of pictures Steph took for me in January. This look was really just planned around showcasing this purse, though I’m all about the simple chic of a button-down and oxfords, as well as a pink, white, and gray color combo. The oxfords I've linked to are pretty dang similar, and such a versatile shoe to own!

I’m always a fan of areas of Nashville that make it feel like you could be in a different city (which…is there some sort of lesson in there?) and that’s how I always feel in Hillsboro Village by Vanderbilt. I’m not sure exactly what this beautiful marble building is…besides a great backdrop for some blog pics amiright?

Thank you Steph for all these photos! Check out the rest of the photos by her from that weekend right here.

Thank you Carina for my favorite lil purse! Check out other things Carina has given me...literally all over my blog.

shop the look below! photos by Stephanie B Photography

Weekend Update: #KTWonginPNW

I’m back in Nashville after a whirlwind weekend in Portland, Oregon! This trip was supposed to be for business and pleasure but ended up being mostly pleasure. My plan was to work out of our Portland office on Friday and Monday and in between, celebrate #KTWonginPNW (I try to average like one bachelorette party/weekend.)

Before you say “aren’t all of your weekends a whirlwind? Isn’t your life a whirlwind?” Basically yes, but I at least tried to set myself up for success by flying out on Thursday afternoon to work an entire day before the party started. But what actually happened was that my flight got cancelled in a Delta cluster…so after a few hours at the airport, watching my hopes of making it Thursday or even Friday steadily decline, I just went home! And had about 1.5 “bonus days” that were super strange but actually great. Let me be clear- I was super bummed to have my plans ruined and miss half of the party. But I felt like I was off the grid there for a moment.

ANYWAY I made it to Portland on Saturday (I have to note that I got upgraded to first class for the first time in my life and it was THE life) for what I’ll call an ultra-marathon of a day: met the Bride Squad at a winery south of the city (I felt like I was in Europe, it was so beautiful, I could have done that all day, but we had a full itinerary!), we stopped by the Rose Garden, the original Ace Hotel (I’m such a fan) & Stumptown Coffee, an epic block of food trucks (steam buns & potstickers), and Powell’s Book Store (!!! that place is incredible!) all while celebrating the sweetest bride-to-be with a great gaggle of girls.

We stopped at the house where I was just really happy to brush my teeth, honestly, and very quickly got glammed up and turned around to go to dinner which was so wonderful. And then we got home and I could have slept anywhere!

Sunday was super chill and cozy and after French toast the bachelorettes started splitting one by one until finally just Katie & I went to Sephora to pick out the make-up for her wedding day, which I don't have to tell you I loved.

Sunday night my fantastic co-worker who I am obsessed with (and is a blogger, among other things! Hi Alison, if you’re reading this!) was sweet enough to host myself and another co-worker for dinner in “the couve” – yeah, I went to Washington for the first time! It was very great.

On Sunday I stayed in a hotel for the first time by myself! It was weird and cool. I feel like I’ve been doing a lot of things lately where I have to recite the pep talk mantra “THIS IS SO GOOD FOR YOU PRIYA!”

And finally, on Monday I walked over to the office which was SO cool- after years of working with our staff based in Portland and mailing things to the address and seeing the space on video chat, etc. It really is a great spot. And one really wonderful co-worker took me to get Nong’s chicken to hold me over for the trip back and it really did!

I was pretty delir all weekend, but I am totally charmed by Portland and can’t wait to go back, hopefully sooner rather than later and for longer than a few days. Everything we did just had the coziest feeling- I guess it’s that perpetual PNW gray.

Also I know I’ll write more about my friend Katie as she gets married next month (!!! 40 days but who’s counting!) but I truly would travel any number of miles at any hour of the day (or airline…) because she is a friend that is one in a million. Love you, Katie! (Alternate hashtags: #naughtyornice #JonGotTheFinalRose #NiceDayForAWongWedding.)

After I sleep for like 3 days, I’m ready for whatever’s next. Anyone have a bachelorette party they want me to crush next weekend? Make it a three-peat? Holler at your girl.

If The Mitten Fits

| coat: Old Navy {similar} | sweater: H&M {similar} | mittens: rand-me-downs from Finland {similar}| skirt: Old Navy {similar} | socks: Target {similar} | booties: Rag & Bone | mani: Sunday, My Off Duty Nude by Ciaté {super similar basically the same thing!} | 

You know what I just realized I’ve forgotten to be irritated about lately? We had *such* a mild Winter in Nashville this year! We had a grand total of 0 “check my work email and cheer and roll over and go back to sleep and then spend the day eating carbs and watching 80’s movies” snow days. So that was a real bummer. The other bummer being that basically all of my cold weather accessories were left untouched all season long. I try to be pretty strict with my closet, and get rid of anything I don’t wear over a season, but what’s the solution here? Accept that global warming IS the new norm and give all my scarfs away? (I really only wear one scarf every Winter all Winter long anyway.)

So looking back at this outfit it looks a little silly like, if it was warm enough for bare legs, it wasn’t cold enough for mittens, but fashion is pain and aren’t these mittens the cutest thing you’ve ever seen? I always say that I’m not a sensitive person but I am *extremely* sentimental, and especially when it comes to what I wear. These mittens were randomly given to me when we spent Christmas 2014 in Finland. I can't be sure exactly where they came from, but I'd like to think they belonged to my mom or someone in the family when they were younger. Otherwise I think this is officially the last outfit I'm cataloging as Winter around here. 

As of this afternoon (!) I am headed to the Pacific Northwest for my girl Katie's Bachelorette weekend AND to work out of our Portland office for two days! I am excited for a little Spring adventure and some time with my best girlfriends. Plus I kinda feel like I knocked it out of the park with packing, but, stay tuned.

I’ll be back in Nashville Monday night with Bachelorette shenanigans to share, but in the meantime, follow along with me on Instagram and Twitter (blog / personal.)

shop the look below! 

photos by Adriane Smith Creative

Weekend Update: #AnjsNashlorette & Christine's 30th!

This WEEKEND, y’all, was nothing short of a bender.

Once in a lifetime (twice if you’re lucky!) you have the kind of friend that Anjali is to me. So all weekend long when I was running around and describing this bachelorette party that I was crashing, I had to clarify, yes it’s Carina’s best friend but yes it’s also my mom’s best friend’s daughter and yes I have known her since I was born. I have a bunch of funny stories about Anj actually, most notably, we look more like sisters than Carina & I do and Anj’s dad even called me “Anjali” a couple times when I was younger and running around their house.

So it was truly really special to participate in her festivities all weekend long and I am exorbitantly glad she chose to have her Bachelorette party in my city!

I helped Carina make a few reservations and piece together an itinerary for the crew of 10, that came to town from the Bay Area, and I was pretty tickled that they stuck to my suggestions! Imagine my relief too when, I think everyone had an incredible time and things went really smoothly! I basically got super lucky a few times over the weekend (think, inadvertently helping us skip lines) which made me the hero of the party, which, I didn’t mind at all :)

Then smack dab in the middle of all of this, on Saturday during the day was my friend first, boss second Christine’s 30th birthday brunch! These parties never disappoint and especially because “this was the last brunch” (though she’s said that a few times) she pulled out ALL the stops. A highlight of my entire weekend was the temporary tattoos she made of “Christine’s Rules to Life” (most of which she had given to me at some point…and I helped brainstorm back to her.) By the time I left her party Saturday evening I had five temporary tattoos (gems like, “When wearing a high pony, I always take an ibuprofen as a preventative measure.”) I also know she’ll be reading this because she’s one of five people on my blog mailing list so HBD again Christine, I love you!

The #bridetribe (I actually hate this term more than anything) stayed at an incredible air&b super close to my house, and covered the Nashville staples (hot chicken, karaoke, a night on Broadway, porch hangs) but also checked out some real local gems, LA Jackson, (new to me, newish to Nashville, and incredible!) Bastion, (another super neat cocktail bar), Le Sel (perfect for our party- from the pink suede booths to the delicious lamb gnocchi I had!) and Margot (nothing short of a life-giving brunch on Sunday.)

All-together, a lovely group of girls that I enjoyed meeting and a pretty grandiose Bachelorette party weekend for Anjali (that I am still 100% recovering from!)