The Mane Event!

I'm a firm believer in giving oneself bunny ears. It's what all the cool kids are doing these days.

(Blazer detail)

Dress: Pointelle Sweater Dress/Anthropologie

Blazer: Twill Honeybee Blazer/Anthropologie

Beetle Necklace: Anthropologie

Charm Necklace: La Vie Parisienne/Blue Ruby (jewelry boutique in Vancouver, B.C.)

Earrings: Marc Jacobs/Nordstrom Rack

Shoes: Old Navy

Last Thursday night, Cascade Ice Water hosted an event at the amazing Mane Blow Dry Bar in downtown Seattle. I had never had a blow out before, but I figured they had to be marvelous and magical because I've routinely seen women come walking out of blow dry bars looking like they stepped out of an Herbal Essences commercial. SO, I squealed with delight when I realized that I would finally get to experience a blow out for myself.

I was not disappointed. Look at my curly hair! LOOK! LOOOOOOK! (Excuse the flash... the camera was being temperamental). I'm already planning a Girls' Night return trip for the full treatment!

                                 

                           

Our very generous hosts, Cascade Ice, provided us with delicious refreshments for the entirety of the evening. I took advantage of their tasting bar, and sipped on four or five different flavors. My favorite: their low calorie margaritas. They were absolutely delicious. So were the Cosmos. Grapefruit was good, too. Coconut was pretty awesome. Okay, really, there wasn't a bad flavor in the bunch. They were all fantastic. 

And perhaps most exciting of all, they had chocolate covered strawberries. Sooooo many chocolate covered strawberries. They also had delicious food on skewers. Side note: can I just tell you how impressed I was at some of the other bloggers' abilities to eat these things daintily? I saw at least two or three people use the skewers in seriously creative ways so they wouldn't have to eat the chicken like a popsicle. Alas, I'm not a skewer ninja, so I embraced my more barbarous instincts, and just ate it like a chicken popsicle.  It was glorious.

To Mane, Nunez PR, and Cascade Ice Water: thank you so much for a wonderful evening! I had an absolute blast meeting each and every one of you. To my fellow bloggers in attendance: it was so amazing to meet all of you! Thanks for all the laughs!

Guessing Game

Okay. I had fully intended to remain strong in the wake of all these Friends and Family, and Mid-Season Sales. For the most part, I managed to control my shopaholic tendencies by avoiding those websites that were both the most tempting, and still out of my price range (I'm looking at you, Kate Spade).

And then... and THEN Dorothy Perkins happened. I logged on to DP's website intending to add a few things to my already lengthy wish list, only to find that they, too, are in the throes of a Mid-Season Sale. I tried to walk away, folks. Really, I did. Sort of. A little bit. Okay, I meant to walk away and make myself a pot of tea, but somewhere along the way I got confused, added two items to my shopping cart, and purchased them. And then I made tea.

Which brings me to the guessing game. Which of the items below do you think I ordered? ;)

Blue Spot Print Denim Dress

Neutral Damask Prom Dress

Ivory Fan Stitch Cardigan

Cream Poodle Print Scarf

Taupe Bird Box Pleat Dress

Bright and Cheerful

Dress: Torchon Embossed Ponte Dress/Anthropologie - Gifted (here)

Cardigan: Anthropologie

Tights: Target

Head band: Nordstrom

Shoes: Aldo (similar here)

Sorry for the radio silence lately. The bleakness of winter and spring here in the Pacific Northwest tends to leave me feeling a bit apathetic and sleepy. As a result, I haven't really been wearing anything of note. I've pretty much been living in PJs, yoga pants, and shapeless t-shirts. I want to get better about posting regular OOTD's again, though, and this post is a step in that direction.

I wore this outfit to go shopping with Mr. CP over the weekend. It's easily the brightest item in my closet. Eye-searing tangerine isn't something I ever would have been drawn to in the past, in part because I live in a place where pretty much everybody wears variations of black and grey. You can imagine how much I stood out in this number! I felt a bit out of place for a while, until I looked down and realized how happy the color of this dress made me. And at the end of the day, at least in my mind, that's what fashion is about: wearing things that make you feel happy. I had random strangers stopping to compliment me on the dress, so it appears that it was a hit with other people, too. Even Mr. CP said this dress put him in a cheerful mood, so this is my new go to "happy dress."

Mr. CP has a conference in beautiful Santa Barbara, CA later this week, so we'll be flying down the coast to sunnier climes. One of my very best friends from high school and college is finishing up his PhD in the area, so I'm going to spend some quality time with him while Mr. CP conferences it up. Mr. CP presented at the same conference a few years ago, and we met some really wonderful people while we were there. Thankfully, they're all going to be in attendance again, so I'm sensing lots of group meals and laughs.

I'm planning on doing a series of posts featuring the outfits I wear while we're in Santa Barbara. I typically like to pack pretty light, so I'll probably be doing lots of mixing and matching. 

*Which brings me to a question for all of you! I really want to take my beautiful tangerine dress with me, but I'm having a hard time figuring out alternative ways to style it. How would you style the dress?*