Pencil Shavings

As I wrap up this week of Alt Summit posts, I find myself looking to what’s next. What is it I want to do? Where do I want to go? Opportunities are popping up everywhere I turn. I’m learning to say no to the things that don’t mesh well with my brand. And I’m excited about new collaborations coming in the future.

Right now there’s a gorgeous box (courtesy of Smock Paper!) of business cards sitting in one of my lucite trays. I find myself picking up that box and sifting through the beautiful cards over and over again. I think those are my favorite souvenirs from Alt.

Happy weekend to you all! I am so thankful for each & every one of my readers!

One of the recurring themes at AltSummit was “stop thinking about it & just do it already.”  Because frankly, if you don’t do it, then who will?

And as silly as it sounds, the first thing that came to mind was the idea I’d been tossing around in my head to throw a fancy party. A deck-out-to-the-nines dress-up party. You know the kind – odds are you’ve thought about it, too!  Bust out the sequins & glitter, put on those shoes you never have an occasion to wear them to. Heck, even put on that heinous old bridesmaid dress (appropriate since Bridesmaids was nominated!) and let’s give our acceptance speeches as we check out all the fab fashion and toast to the winners.  And Oscar night seems the perfect time to do it.

So mark your calendars & save the date for February 26th, OKC peeps. If you’re not local, why not consider throwing your own? We can have a fantabulous Twitter party along the way!

Ok, so I lied yesterday. I said I was going to talk about my favorite business card designs, but we had a slight issue w/ photos, so I’ll have to reshoot them today.

Moving on.

Today is all about new-to-me blogs that you should be checking out. This is by no means a definitive list of the amazingness I met at AltSummit! Also? If you attended Alt Summit, would you do mea  huge favor & comment on this post w/ your URL? My only complaint about AltSummit is that they didn’t give us a directory of all the attendees. Wouldn’t that have been helpful?

Little Pincushion Studio – along with fellow Virginians Petals in Prose, Art.Fashion.Furniture, Tribal Times. (the cutest girls you’ll ever meet – and the nicest, too).

Maiya – Design. Art. Robots. What else is there?

I LOVE Style&Pepper. Plus, I can’t wait to show you her business cards.

Best wardrobe of Alt Summit award goes to Mara with A Blog About Love.

Separated At Birth Award goes to The Alison Show. Y’all, she gave glitter nailpolish out with her business cards. This is my girl.

Blue-Eyed Yonder has the most gorgeous branding ever.

You can’t not love a guy who goes by “Uncle Beefy.”

These girls need no introduction. I absolutely adored everything they’re about.

Again with the fabulous branding – Michelle Edgemont is wicked talented.

There ya have it – and like I said, AltSummiteers, add your link to the comments below!

One of the things I was most looking forward to at Alt was having a fantastic reason to dress up everyday.  I experimented with bold color, bright tights, and pushing the boundaries on layering jewelry. And I loved every single minute of it. It really motivates me to be more experimental and fabulous in my everyday life. Get dressed up to go to the grocery store? Sure! Put on layers of necklaces to pick up Jude at school. Why not? Life’s too short to not be as fabulous as you can every single day.  It mostly reflects on how I feel about myself.

The biggest style challenge was the white party on Thursday night. Sure, there was a lot of grumbling about “how am I supposed to find something white to wear in the dead of winter?” But I loved that there was a sartorial challenge.

Check out Susan’s fabulous Zara frock. It was perfection on her petite frame.

And as for me, I went with a gorgeous Kate Spade Melody frock that I found on eBay. I believe it was from last summer, and I got a great deal on it. The color was just right on me — not too white — but it had great vintage appeal.

Then I layered on all the pearls & gold chains that I own.

The finishing touch were my Kate Spade Charyl sequin heels. I MUST find a way to integrate these into my everyday life!!

On Friday I sported this bright chartreuse dress from Old Navy  that is my new favorite. I absolutely adore this dress and got tons of compliments on it. I paired it with black tights, and gold accessories such as  my all-time fave glitter flats from J.Crew.

For the final night of parties, I brought the Tracy Reese cocktail dress that Simon bought me a few years ago. I absolutely adore that dress and look for any occasion to wear it.

But what was everybody else wearing at Alt? It was kinda funny to see how similar we all really are in our style preferences. It was all about bright jeans, hair up in a topknot, and some black-rimmed glasses.  In fact, there were so many girls in adorable bright green jeans that I had to track a pair down online. Can’t wait to get them in.

Check out this cutie. I LOVE that necklace.

I sat with the Girls with Glasses at the keynote lunch on Thursday, and I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed them. Not to mention the fact that their party Friday was pretty rockin’.

Again with the buns. And that fabulous leopard swing coat she had on. Ba-nanas.

So there you have it. A full wrapup of all the style awesomeness at Alt. Coming tomorrow: the best in business cards!