Normally, this post would just be about the botanical print tunic that I’m wearing which is one of my lovely keepsakes from last week’s Black Friday shopping. But this post is a bit out of the norm because of the most awesome and fabulous day I’ve had since I started my blog a little over a year ago. Yesterday, I had the privilege of meeting in person (and spending the day with) Michelle, the creative genius behind Shelbee On The Edge, and Amy, Michelle’s good friend and behind-the-scenes blog support crew. In the evening, the three of us attended a private showing of SpyGirl Anne Bray’s Fashion Rainbow Art Exhibition, one of the current exhibits at the TAG Gallery in Santa Monica. If you are local to the area, there is an opening reception for the exhibits at the gallery tonight, December 3 from 5-8pm.
The Show, The Artist, And Two Muses
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Blogger Meet-Up
Earlier in the day, I met up with Michelle and Amy at their hotel as I had offered to be their chauffeur/tour guide for the day. This offer originated from a comment Michelle left on my In Real Life: East Coast Travels post where she said that she was planning to attend the December Blogger Meet-Up in LA and that I should let her know if I was going to be in her neck of the woods on my trip. Long story short, I reached out to Michelle and found out that The Husband and I would be close to where she lives (about 150 miles) but not close enough for an in-person meet-up. However, we were excited about the prospect of meeting each other in December and I offered to pick up her and Amy at LAX. Subsequent communications had us planning to spend Friday together absent any other Meet-Up activities that were planned.
A flight delay and missed connection had Michelle and Amy arriving at LAX much later on Thursday night than anticipated so they used Uber to get to their hotel. It turned out that Michelle was the only muse/blogger to come in from out of town so there were no Meet-Up activities scheduled other than what we planned ourselves. Fine, whatever … like I said, Friday turned out to be a most awesome and fabulous day.
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How fabulous does Michelle look? I adore her bold mix of floral, stripes, and leopard. So perfect for LA and a fantastic example of pattern mixing at its finest.
Michelle has recently opened Shelbee’s Shop, a traveling fashion boutique where she provides her personalized styling services and offers handpicked on-trend clothing and accessories from a “shop” that comes to you (click on the blog link to get more info). One of her goals for this LA trip was to visit the garment district to find additional suppliers and add to her inventory. Below, you can see Michelle and Amy hard at work selecting new items for Shelbee’s Shop..
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While it was fascinating to watch Michelle in action and to learn a bit about buying wholesale, the best part of the day was spending time with another blogger who has and is facing some of the same blogging struggles that I do and being able to talk about the whole experience of being an over-40 blogger. She is an amazing person (and so is Amy). We talked and talked and talked and no topic was off-limits. It was fantastic to learn about and from these wonderful women.
We were able to spend a little bit of time seeing some of the sights in Santa Monica and a stop at the TAG Gallery to see Anne Bray’s exhibit was a fabulous way to cap off the day.
The Botanical Print Outfit
I’ll try to keep the rest of this post short and sweet. I had started out late with my Black Friday shopping after spending the earlier part of the day working on last Saturday’s post and then driving my son back to UCSB. He could have gone up by train but I volunteered to take him so that I could spend some additional time with my son and it would give me the opportunity to stop at the outlet mall in Camarillo on my way back home. I got to the mall at around 5:30pm which gave me about 4 1/2 hours of shopping time.
My first stop was at the Loft Factory Store and that’s where I bought the botanical print tunic you see me wearing in this post. At 5’3″, there are times when a petite size fits me better than a regular size especially in a top/sweater/jacket because I’m a little short-waisted. Loft is a favorite of mine because, besides the styles carried, both the regular and the factory store offer most of their items in both regular and petite sizes.
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In a regular size, this botanical print tunic was a bit too long on me but in a petite, it’s the perfect length. I adore the old-timey quality of the print and the mix of mauve with taupe and black. It would be a natural to pair this tunic with black leggings or skinny jeans, but I thought I try it out with a recently thrifted black and bronze print skirt and my OTK black boots. If circumstances call for needing another layer, I can add my black knit vest.
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I have several snowflake and wreath style brooches that I like to wear in December as a show of my holiday spirit. This bronze snowflake one with amethyst colored stones seemed to be a perfect match for the tunic and my years old dark rose purse adds a pop of color against the black.
Let’s Wrap This Up
Now, onto the Fine-Whatever link up for this week. My featured contributor from last week’s post is Joi from In My Joi. It’s like we were twinning with sparkles and tulle. This fabulous gal believes that style is a way to express who you are, without having to speak and that each day offers up a blank canvas, a fresh opportunity to use style to express different dimensions of one’s authentic self.
What was your most awesome and fabulous day this past year? Are there muses in your life that inspire you? How do you meet and connect with new people? And last but not least, how do florals fit into your wardrobe?
Let’s connect! Subscribe, tweet, follow, friend, love, pin, stumble … all options are available and waiting for you. I look forward to hearing from you. And don’t forget to add a post or two to the link up.
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18 Comments
I can’t tell you how jealous I am that you got to go to the exhibition/meet up!! I was so hoping we’d be able to attend too…but alas, it wasn’t meant to be!!
How fun, how fabulous & fantastic—-all in one!
jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
I can t say anything else then Jodie already did! Fantastic!
It looks like a fantastic day ! Nothing better than a blogger meet up! x
http://www.vanityandmestyle.com
My most fabulous and awesome days recently have been this entire fabulous and awesome weekend spent in LA with amazing women! I cannot express how grateful I am for this entire amazing weekend! It was so wonderful to meet you as well. And I will add my links when I get home and can work comfortably on my computer!
Thank you for everything!
Shelbee
http://www.shelbeeontheedge.com
This looks and sounds like such a positively fabulous weekend! I really like what you are wearing. The floral top is beautiful and I enjoy the loose way you have styled it – my natural inclination would be to tuck, so I will definitely keep this in mind.
So fun you got to meet with Shelbee and her friend/crew. It’s always fun to put a physical face on a “virtual” friendship. I don’t know Shelbee or you other than from your blogs but you really seem like super nice gals 🙂 Would love if you can link up to http://the-wardrobe-stylist.com/2016/11/27/best-gifts-for-guys/
What a lovely time you had in LA, Rena, it must have been fun. Also being a model for the artist’s creation is quite a compliment. I really like the blouse, nice colour pattern
https://lookingfabulousat50.blogspot.com.au
How fun – and you three all look so wonderful and happy! thanks for sharing and linking up, xo
Patti
http://notdeadyetstyle.com
It was so wonderful to meet you! The three of us were a good team, and it was nice to have adult conversation and fun outings in a beautiful city (mom to two young boys in the cold northeast). Thank you for the new memories and for spending time with Michelle and I! Amy 🙂
Sounds like you had a wonderful day. I’ve had the privilege of meeting one blogger at a meet up and it was a day I’ll never forget! We had so much fun and still stay connected to this day. Love your outfit. The vest is fabulous.
Hi Rena
What a fun time! Sounds like you had a great time meeting Michelle and also the exhibition looked great. How fun to have a fashion drawing of yourself! You look lovely, the OTK boots and burgundy bag are a lovley mix with the floral blouse and black vest.
Have a great week!
stop by when you can
jess xx
http://www.elegantlydressedandstylish.com
What a wonderful time you must of had. How lovely to meet up, I aim to do that next year! Nice to ‘meet’ you. Jacqui
http://www.mummabstylish.com
Thanks for joining the Ageless Style linkup party.
thanks for linking up with Turning heads tuesday ( i commented earlier.. enjoy your weekend)
jess xx
http://www.elegantlydressedandstylish.com
How fun!! You girls look fab 🙂
Love your top, specially with the tie
Thank you for hosting
xo
Mel
Great write up of our little gathering! And you came to the show twice! Wonderful to meet you!!!!
xxox, Anne
Looks like you had such a fun time – I love blogger meet ups 🙂
Emma xxx
http://www.style-splash.com
We had a great time. Emma, thank you for stopping by and for commenting.