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Style, Travel

10 things: london edition

May 6, 2018 • By

Reformation dress | Abercrombie turtleneck | Zara boots (similar)

ASOS dress | Zara heels | Brixton hat | Vintage coat| Sezane bag | FIRKIN (fake as hell Birkin)

It’s a doubleheader, folks! I know it is incredibly tardy, but I want to share my trip to Europe, if only for my own sake of revisiting the memories down the line. London in particular far surpassed my expectations. We found better flights to Europe by going to London first, so when I was planning, the city was really more of a launching pad to Paris. However, we had an absolutely unforgettable time during our short 3-day stay. To be quite honest, we didn’t really do that much aside from eat and drink. But that is the best part about traveling, no? Here are some of the highlights of the trip!

  1. Of course, the number one memory from the trip is that Rob and I got engaged! I am going to save the story for another day, but it was so magic!
  2. I mentioned before that we were staying at The Hoxton Shoreditch, and I am so glad we did. The space was so hip, the service was great, and the location was walking distance to so many cool shops and eateries.
  3. After some plans got canceled on the first night, we stumbled upon a little restaurant called The Merchants Tavern and spent hours chatting with the bartender, eating cheese and olives, and trying new cocktails.
  4. At the end of that night, we headed back to The Hox to end the night, and as we were walking up, I asked someone for a cigarette (terrible for health, fantastic for starting conversations). We ended up making a slew of new English friends! We finished out the night at their table learning about lives, comparing cultural vernaculars, and complaining about the political idiocracies going on in each of our countries.
  5. The next day we were admittedly hungover and jetlagged, so we ordered room service (3 meals for 2, if I’m being honest) and lounged in the hotel room for a few hours. That’s what vacation is all about, right?
  6. When we finally dragged ourselves out of bed, we went to the Victoria & Albert Museum. While most people ogled the art, I was drooling over the sheer mass of marble that filled the entire building! It was breathtaking. I highly recommend visiting the V&A if you ever get the chance.
  7. That evening, we headed to sketch., the ever Instagrammed restaurant that is what girly girl dreams are made of. The food was good, but no one goes for the food. It’s the experience that attracts the crowd! Every detail is thought out, from the David Shrigley art adorning the walls, to the 60’s inspired uniforms that all the girls wore. I couldn’t get over how stylized everything was!
  8. On the third day, we had tickets to see Book of Mormon, a musical comedy about two Mormon missionaries who travel to Africa. It was equal parts disturbing and hilarious — we were crying tears of laughter. But be warned, this is not the musical for the light of heart.
  9. That night, we found a late night pub to drink local beer and eat a traditional English bar meal of fish and chips. Not the most exciting highlight, but it was a truly exceptional meal!
  10. It snowed! On our final morning, we woke up to a fresh blanket of freshly fallen snow. Could you ask for a dreamier departure?

Style

banana peal neal

May 4, 2018 • By

On Madison: Zara blazer (similar) | Pistola jeans via Stitch Fix (similar) | Bamba bikini top | Zara heels | Brixton hat (similar) | Sezane bag | Vintage scarf

On Lauren: Madewell jacket | Free People set | Vintage necklaces | Zara slingbacks | Madewell clutch (similar)

 

YALL. One of my best fashion friends just launched her blog, and it has got everything you would want and need.

Adorably charming mishaps and anecdotes ✓
Killer style and a personality to match ✓
Fruit of the phallic variety ✓

Lauren and I go way back to a time where life was responsibility-free and an average Wednesday afternoon was spent driving too fast on back country roads with the convertible top down jamming to Dashboard Confessional or poolside baking in the sun with a Modelo and beer salt in hand. Now we’re impersonating adulthood with grown-up jobs and grown-up lives, swapping momager tales and devising plots to trick our boyfriends into marrying us (success).

For her second post, she describes the moment we met and interviewed me on all things style, life, and Bravo. Head over to Banana Peel Neal to get the scoop!

Style

the only thing i’m buying right now: white tops

April 24, 2018 • By

Ester Penn top | Vintage Levi jeans | Earrings | Zara heels | Sezane bag

I’m of the belief that there is nothing easier to pull off than a white top and distressed denim. This proves growingly apparent by the mounds of denim I unsuccessfully try to squeeze into my dresser and the color seemingly shrinking from my closet. My inventory of white tees, blouses, tanks, and tunics is nearing never before reached levels, and yet I can’t stop swiping plastic when I spot a white eyelet top à la Chloe. The appeal is totally the versatility. Easy to dress up even a crew neck tee. Easy to dress down a silk blouse. And it’s a fun challenge to flex those creative styling muscles to create distinct looks with essentially the same puzzle pieces.

Here, I chose some of my current closet favorites — these black block heels by Zara (a steal at $35, my cost per wear is easily under a dollar) and this leopard bag by French cult brand Sezane I treated myself to as a result of being too impatient to wait for Christmas. I found these weird sculpture earrings on Amazon of all places, and think they add a unique touch. Last, you guessed right, my shirt is on backward. 🙂

Life Update, Style

ch-ch-ch-changes

April 1, 2018 • By

Vintage dress | Le Specs sunglasses | Stitch Fix bag

Happy spring! I am adoring the bursts of flowers, breezy weather and general lightness that accompanies spring. It feels so fresh! It is also Easter today, which is the Almost Madison revamp anniversary. I can’t believe I have been blogging for a whole year! Browsing through some of Rob and I’s first photoshoots, it’s clear how much we’ve grown already. We’ve definitely pushed our creative envelopes and developed our scope of knowledge on photography. I can’t wait to see where this journey takes us to next.

Though admittedly, I have not been the best blogger in 2018. My blog and Instagram presence have been less than consistent. In fact, March has come and gone without a single blog post. But! I promise there is a good reason. I’ve had some pretty huge life changes.

It started in fall of last year when I started preparing for a promotion that I wanted to be considered for. I knew that the job would be opened up sometime in early 2018, but I wasn’t sure when. I spent a couple hours a week working on projects, talking to people who already had the job and fine tuning my interview skills. When the position was posted in January, I began a rigorous month-long application and interview process. The time spent waiting after each of the three interviews was brutal, but luckily I had Rob and I’s European holiday to plan. I was offered the role of Styling Team Lead at Stitch Fix just one week before we left!

Europe was one of the dreamiest trips I’ve ever taken. As many of you know, Rob and I got engaged on our first night in London!!! The rest of the trip was spent celebrating and just enjoying being together. My heart is so full it feels like it could burst. I want to save the details for its own post (the story, the RING, the wedding plans) but for now, I’ll just say it was one of the most surprising, special, emotional nights of my life.

There are still SO many sets of photos I want to share from London and Paris. I’m planning to do some travel diary and city guide type posts in the near future. I will say, oh my god, it was about 20 degrees colder than we had planned for, but despite the chill, we had the most wonderful trip and can’t wait to go back.

We landed back in Dallas from Paris on March 4th and on March 5th, I started my new job. Talk about a quick turnaround! Since then, I have traveled to San Francisco and Austin for training and will be traveling to San Diego later this month for a conference. As a Styling Team Lead, I will be managing a team of around 40 remote stylists, interviewing, hiring and onboarding new stylists, and creating development opportunities and coaching stylists for both company and individual growth. It is definitely my first time in a role like this and I am beyond excited to jump in head first into this new challenge. I am trying to soak up all the new knowledge as much as possible!

So between the job, the engagement and the travel, I’m feeling like I’m living a whole new life. It’s been quite the whirlwind, but it feels so fitting for spring. Here’s to new transitions!