The cold is creeping up on us more quickly than I would like so I had to take one last opportunity to step out in my trusty-old rag & bone jorts. That being said, I’m super excited to pull out the sweaters, leggings & jeans that have been in hiding all summer. Plus, I just copped these rag & bone Newbury booties and Eliz & James Crossbody bag to kick off the season right because who doesn’t like starting off the season with a new pair of classic boots & a badass handbag? Shocker, all black. Be prepared to see lots of black coming up on TCP, seeing as no matter what we do, we end up gravitating to sleek monotone get-ups! Happy Fall, Y’all!
In the spirit of Halloween being in the October air, let’s start with a question about silly fear. What do you do that scares you or that causes you to step outside your comfort zone?
“Do one thing a day that scares you” can be found amongst numerous self help articles, books, and well…the Lululemon manifesto. Basically, it’s everywhere. I have come to reference this sound advice often, even in important situations like when debating dancing/singing to Shania Twain by myself in my car sans tinted windows. Why yes, this is my little way of scaring myself once a day: dancing and singing loudly while driving (hands on the wheel, obvi) when others can clearly see me. Do they care? No. Does it scare me still? Eh, kinda.
Confession: I consider what strangers around me think and I scare myself out of it by dancing obnoxiously in my car anyway. Ridiculous as it may seem, what I’m trying to say is I’m not one for facing my fear by sky diving or haunted hay rides or bungee jumping or roller coasters or anything the average joe would consider scary or at the very least, an adrenaline rush. I stare my fear right in the face by dancing visibly in my car by myself to super-dee-duper fun pop music in plain sight. We all have to start somewhere as the self-help gurus also say and at this rate…maybe I’ll watch a scary movie by the time I’m 50.
If you saw our pampering routine post, you know we went to Fashion Week in New York and have been busy busy! We spent our days in New York frolicking in the streets, seeing ALL the fashion and kickin’ it in Central Park (is there anything more #NewYork?). We spent our evenings celebrating NYFW with other fashion-loving bloggers and hitting some of our favorite spots. It was perfect for our first official Fashion Week as The Crystal Press.
It was important to have outfits that could transition from Day to Happy Hour to Night and this Free People (surprise, surprise) Drippy Crochet Maxi was the ideal transition piece for me. I’ll definitely be taking it into Fall & Winter over jeans and a tee!
What do you do when you wake up with a classic case of the Mondays? Whenever I wake up moving slower than I’d like and with a lack of motivation on a Monday, I try to remedy this less than ideal situation asap. (Disclaimer: some days it works more effectively than others.) My first move (besides waking up) is to get a nice, strong cup of joe. I know everyone has a different preference when it comes to strong coffee, but when I’m looking to put a big ole pep in my step, I grab a large iced coffee to combat the tiredness. After that mission is accomplished, I get all scholarly and consult my book of quotes for the mental part of my case of mondays. I have a few go-to’s* that help me shift my perspective from “another-work-week-FML-i-want-to -stay-in-bed-I-hate-my-alarm-I-hate-everything” to “a-new-week-equals-a-new-beginning-and-you-only-live-once-maybe-i-should-turn-on-drake.” All cathclaire gibberish aside, I try to shift my perspective from negative to positive. Maybe my simple two part remedy elicits a mere placebo effect but hey, I’ll take it.
“Leave some room in your heart for the unimaginable” – Mary Oliver
“Just look at life with more playful eyes. Don’t be serious. Seriousness becomes like a blindness. Don’t pretend to be a thinker, a philosopher. Just simply be a human being. The whole world is showering its joy on you in so many ways, but if you are too serious, you cannot open your heart.” – Osho
“Set your life on fire — seek those who fan your flames.” – Rumi
“Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don’t wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it’s at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savored.” – Earl Nightengale
Labor Day weekend has come and gone and as memorable as it was, I am having a hard time not thinking about summer coming to an end. We have 11 days left until the Summer Equinox and I feel like I need to make a bucket list to celebrate the end of one of my favorite season, just to be sure I cover all of my summer must-do bases. I can appreciate bundling up next to a bonfire in a chunky knit or cheering on Virginia Tech Hokie football as much as the next person, but it is hard to compete with the joy that summer brings to me. After all, what’s not to like about the long, sunny days & the way a Corona tastes in the heat of a summer? Here’s to appreciating this beautiful season for the next 11 days!
Collaboration with Bahama Shop boutique near the Ocean Front in Virginia Beach. Rebecca’s wedding at The Omni Homestead Resort. Happy Hour at Lemaire in The Jefferson Hotel. Brunch at The Boathouse, Short Pump. Free People Richmond #Summerdays event with 1213 Hair Salon.Beach Bar in St. John, USVI. Blenheim Vineyards, Charlottesville, VA. Home of delightful Rose.
Catherine with Tony Oller of MKTO after their concert in Richmond.The Crystal Press event with Ocie New York designer, Sarah Littlejohn. Reb on her Honeymoon at Couples Swept Away in Negril, Jamaica.Rebecca’s Rehearsal Dinner at the Shooting Club at The Omni Homestead. Rebecca’s bachelorette party in Isle of Palms, SC. Hilton Ocean Front, Virginia Beach.
When I got these Sam Edelman Fringe booties from Shoebox last week, I knew I wanted to recreate this all-white w black shoes winter lookfrom earlier this year in New York. I have no shame in admitting that these are the same white jeans from the February get-up, as they are a staple in my wardrobe along w my trusty Louis Sully bag. So, here we have the its-almost-fall-so-I-can-wear-booties version of the white on white plus black thing.
(Side note: Yes I know, summer is coming to an end and its not quite labor day yet but for the record the no white after Labor Day rule has been thrown out the window with many other fashion faux-pas that I do not agree with).
Since I got engaged last year, I have been collecting white dresses (as some of you may have noticed). From Free People to Alice & Olivia to this beautiful Milly number, I have collected quite a few and i just cant stop wearing them! This was a favorite on my honeymoon and I know it is sure to be a staple in my closet from now on – because, who says you have to stop wearing white after your wedding day? Hopefully no one.
ps. I haven’t taken off this OCIE New York Trina Triangle necklace since our party last week! Make sure to check out Sarah’s other beautiful pieces.
I write this as I nurse a well-worth-it hangover from the Brandon Flowers concert at The National here in Richmond last night. I was over served, if you will. To give you an idea, I was the girl that went to the “after party” advertised on the venue’s bathroom door with Brandon Flowers’ face plastered on it. This had to mean he was going to be there, right? I was convinced throughout the whole concert that he was going to the after-party at Coda (right next door) until I left one song early (to secure my spot, duh) and was sadly informed that Brandon Flowers was in fact not attending the after party. It was a devastating moment. So, here I am, nursing a hangover and googling him until my eyes fall out. Give his new album “The Desired Effect” a listen.
In Cath’s last post she introduced you to Lola Pepper Boutique in Richmond and accurately described how perfect this shop was for us. And by perfect I don’t just mean the clothes, the leather cuffs and the handmade necklaces but just the whole *vibe* of the shop that Jillian has created. Like Cath said, because of how perfectly she has curated the goods, you won’t walk out empty-handed. As a matter of fact, I scooped a piece to wear on my wedding day.
When Jillian first showed me this Skemo piece, I knew it was love at first sight. It is totally designed to be a dress but as we’ve seen in my past outfits, I like to try to pull off the dress-over-jeans style and this edgy-boho number was right up my alley.
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