// WWDMAGIC Gift Roundup (ALL THE GIFTS!!!)

Y'all, the WWDMAGIC swag haul this season was INSANE! I photographed nearly 60 items from my haul, and there were still plenty of ("blind") gifts that didn't make the final photos, and probably ones that I've used and forgotten around the house (but don't worry, I'm sure they'll make it into future posts!) I should've gone about this differently, but after 2 hours of photographing and then another hour of editing, then an hour or two of citing and linking, I was just too pooped! (Then I uploaded them and Blogger sucked all of the contrast and color out of the photos... they're so desaturated!) But they'll do! I gave everything a number and will itemize it below the photos so you can quickly access the brand it was sent from. (Again, some of the numbers went wonky and got all big... argh!) Some of the brands are wholesale only so you'll only be able to find the items if you can find a retailer that stocks it. But if you have any specific questions about anything you see, drop me a comment and I'll get back to you! I'll try to make it as easy as possible haha Something about this needs to be easy! (Don't even get me started on trying to lug this stuff across the country while pregnant...)

* Some items are visible in multiple photos, but I kept the number the same. Feel free to view the first instance of the item for the proper link! Numbers 38 + 39 accidentally got used for 2 items each, so just be aware!

1 - LANY cat embroidered handbag  // 2 - Cabrelli rolling travel bag (this thing saved my life all week! hands down the *best* gift of all!) // 3 - Isle Apparel tiered tank top // 4 - Press draped sweater // 5 - Ampere Creations purse // 6 - Grace in LA jeans // 7 - Democracy jeans (love these!) // 8 - Two Lips boots  // 9 - PJ Salvage donut pajama set // 10 - Jacki Design Collection bag // 11 - Chinese Laundry platforms // 12 - Think Positive Apparel tank top // 13 - LeSportsac tote // 14 - Sisters draped sweater (LOVE this so much!)

15 - Magid totes (they sent me 4 bags straight to my house!) // 16 - Kaii lace tassel shrug // 17 - Nomad wedges // 18 - Fuchhi chiffon dress with crochet collar // 19 - Jaleh ivory chiffon dress // 20 - Ezra dress // 21 - David & Goliath tee // 22 - Delicious Agent phone case // 23 - Jsquad beach coverup // 24 - Natural Life tassel scarf // 25 - Halfsox by Trizzio (perfect for flats!) // 26 - Eva Varro tank top

27 - Carla Bravi lace dress // 28 - Elan Beach maxi dress // 29 - Peekaboo Chic skirt slip/extender // 30 - International Citizen tee // 31 - Hart Denim lightweight jacket

DETAILS:

ROUND TWO

32 - Urban Expressions purse (vegan leather!) // 33 - Van Goddy camera bag // 34 - Steps 4 Paws english bulldog tee // 35 - Kix'ies thigh highs // 36 - Beija Flor jeans // 37 - Rat Baby socks // 38 - Ducks in a Row dress // 39 - Eli Noir blazer/jacket

38 - Imoshion tote (vegan leather!) // 39 - By The Moon by Salome Falcon wallet // 40 - Melie Bianco wristlet // 41 - Masqueology face mask // 42 - Julie France shapewear // 43 - Velvet Heart socks // 44 - Boom Boom Jeans shorts // 45 - Girly Go Garter // 46 - Vintage Rose Wraps headband // 47 - Strapletz bedazzled straps // 48 - Love Me Knot hairties // 49 - Banded headbands // 50 - Suzywan Deluxe "be nice" necklace // 51 - Stella Nemiro bracelet

52 - Dragonfly by J. Claire jeans // 53 - Willow & Clay sweater (received a lovely handwritten note + goodie bag with this sweater last week!) // 54 - Three Bird Nestheadband // 55 - Bombshell Accessories Metal Mafia bracelet // 56 - Rocslide hairclip // 57 - Jolie USA headband

DETAILS:

PHEW! Are you worn out from just looking at the pictures? Because after about 5 hours+ of assembling this post, I'm exhausted! haha The gifting program at WWDMAGIC (for the official bloggers) is seriously off the charts. Last season we got a hefty amount of stuff, but nothing could have prepared me for what we would receive this year. If a free trip to Vegas and the chance to meet some of your favorite brands isn't reason enough for you to want to participate, surely this will be! I won't be vying for a spot at the next MAGIC since I'll hopefully have a newborn, but this is me strongly urging each and every one of you to give it some thought! It's such a fun experience and you get spoiled rotten haha I have no clue where I'm going to put all of this stuff! Let's just say I have some lucky friends who will get their hands on the goodies I can't wear! The rest will just have to wait until after this baby comes.

Thanks for letting me share one of the best parts of MAGIC! See anything that catches your eye? xo

// Top Ten WWDMAGIC Discoveries

Today I'm going to share with you some of my top favorite "discoveries" at MAGIC this season! Some of them are products, some of them are experiences, and some of them are just ideas. It's a nice mix of things if I do say so myself! Enjoy! xo

1. Tokidoki for London Sole! - Y'all, this line is unreal! And your eyes aren't deceiving you... that's totally a donut-inspired ballet flat. Every one of the TDxLS shoes are 100% made by hand. Every seam is hand stitched. Some of the shoes require more than 25 people to work on them. (25 people for EACH shoe! Insanity!) Of course the price certainly reflects the quality, but you get what you pay for!

2. Interviewing Kristin Cavallari - Kristin designed another (her fifth!) collection with Chinese Laundry this season and Cheryl and I were given the exclusive scoop on everything (along with Emily from StyleSmith). I was pretty nervous going into it, and even more so when I saw there were 100+ people crammed outside of the booth just to sneak a picture of Kristin. But all of my nerves melted away once I got to interviewing her. She's incredibly easy to talk to and I of course had to throw in a few questions about her baby boy on the way (Yeah, you know, KC and KB having something in common... ha!) and how she balances her style with her "mom" life. (I know I look a hot mess in the photo, don't worry. I've been told! But it was still a lovely experience!)

3. This gorgeous dress from Little Mistress - I saw it from the floor walkway and I made a mad dash to the booth to check it out in person. The mesh detailing with the layered waist and tulle skirt?! A ballerina dress for everyone!

4. Spring florals were everywhere! - Obviously we're gearing up for some Spring sunshine in the Northern Hemisphere and I couldn't be more excited. I loved seeing all of the floral fabrics and displays in the booths around the floor. I'm into it! (photo via WWDMAGIC)

5. Justin Pierce's Live Paintings - Justin was at MAGIC last season, too, but this time around I felt like I was actually able to check out his work. He paints with bold, black lines and bright, vivid colors. They range from abstract to portraits, and I'd be so stoked to hang one in my home. It wouldn't match anything else, but that's okay. His work is truly awesome and fun!

6. Personal Style vs. Trends - This wasn't so much a "tangible" discovery as it was just an internal one. After traipsing the floor for several hours and seeing a lot of the same things in different booths, I realized I'm a firm believer in personal style trumping trends. Don't get me wrong... trends totally have their place in the industry and forecasting those trends allows brands to be successful. But as a consumer I have to say that the best looks are the ones you feel comfortable and beautiful in. Even if it's "so 2010" or "out of season." Rock what you love. If you wear something trendy just for the sake of fitting in, you'll end up looking like a try-hard. The more you love what you're wearing, the less you need others to!

7. Statement Necklaces! - I don't care how played out or overdone others might find this trend, but I love it. It took me way too long to get into it, and I don't fully utilize my collection, but I love how a simple statement (oxymoron?) necklace can transform the most basic outfit. I've been wearing one with a maternity vneck and jeggings the past few weeks, and it makes me look slightly more pulled together. I'm all for casual outfits, don't get me wrong. But when I'm able to give it a sparkle, you best bet I'm gonna! (photo via WWDMAGIC)

8. Hyper  Feminine Meets Biker Babe - I spoke on a panel about trends in womenswear and to be totally honest, I'm not 100% sure if this would be considered a "trend." Like I mentioned in point 6, I'm a huge fan of personal style, and this one hits home for me. I love to pair something super girly with something tough and edgy. This Little Mistress dress goes so well with my new Anatomie leather jacket and Urban Expressions bag! (Update it with a studded black clutch for nighttime!) 

9. Unique displays! - I wrote a piece for the MAGIC blog last year about my favorite floor displays and I couldn't help but pay attention to them again this year. As bloggers we're incredibly visual people. Not only do we style our outfits and our homes, but also our online spaces. Many of us dabble in other areas of creative work and seeing these displays made me so excited to merchandise Honeybean when we open her back up later this year. It also gave me a hefty stockpile of ideas for if/when a brick and mortar shop becomes a reality. (photo via WWDMAGIC)

10. Panels - I mentioned them in my last WWDMAGIC post but it bears repeating: I love panels! In this particular one we were showcasing some of our favorite items on the floor. My choices included: a beaded bright blue crop top, a yarn adorned crossbody bag (with big poms!), a flattering pin-up inspired dress (always!), and the most incredible beaded, translucent shrug I've ever seen. My heart hurt when I had to return it to the booth! haha

And that's that! My Top 10 MAGIC Discoveries! I still have a couple more WWDMAGIC posts to share over the coming weeks, so I hope you'll stay tuned! xo

// WWDMAGIC Roundup

Being in Las Vegas last week for WWDMAGIC was such a whirlwind. It's so hard to even remember everything that happened honestly! I'm going to try and keep it short and sweet, but hopefully it'll inspire you to check out the tradeshow sometime!

Here are a few of my second-season highlights:

- One of the best parts about MAGIC this time around: I knew the ropes. Last season I was so incredibly terrified! Luckily my nerves wore off as the week progressed, but this time around I was totally calm and collected.

- I had the best roommate EVER! Seriously! The Stylesmith gals couldn't have paired with with a better roomie. Amanda from Fashionablee Me is totally one of my new favorite people. She even surprised me with a tiny pair of shoes for Baby Flynn! We spent a lot of time gabbing away and getting to know each other. I'm just so bummed we're separated by 2,500 miles!

- Mai! I don't think MAGIC would be the same without this girl! I adore her so so much. I met her last season and I've grown to totally adore her (and her precious family). And since I was pregnant and she knows what that's like, she went above and beyond for me all week. I can't even express my gratitude enough. She helped me with my bags, carted me around in her vehicle, and gave me loads of great advice over the course of the 4 days. I'm so happy to know her!

- Social media panels. Our first panel each morning was a social media panel and I love talking about social media! It was great to get such varied opinions from all of the girls. I can definitely say I learned a few things. I'd say I've come a long, long way since my first public social media panel back in February 2012. I'd love to do more panels like them!

- The audience at The Social House. The Social House is where we held all of our panels and the audience was seriously triple what it was last season. It was so great to see so many people actually pay attention to what we were sharing. There were probably 100+ people at some of the panels.

- Getting to chat one on one with so many of the attendees. Even better than the audience at the panels... the people who stuck around afterward to chat you up! I connected with a lot of really great women over the 3 day tradeshow. It was so awesome to speak freely to people really looking to push their businesses into the next tier. I'll definitely be following up with them over time just to see their progress.

- The salad bar at Lucky's. I don't know why it took us until the last day of MAGIC to notice the (big) a la carte cafe in the convention center... but I'm so glad we finally did! Amanda and I were craving something fresh for lunch and we had the best salads. Maybe it was just because I was so incredibly hungry, or because it set off a crazy craving for me, but I've been dreaming about that salad. No lie.

- All of the gifted items! It's so superficial, but it's a definite perk! This time around there were something like 65 brands who sent items to the bloggers... Last season there were only about 20. Of course this proved to be inanely overwhelming when it came time to get those items across the country, but it was worth it. I'll be sharing a huge round-up of those items before too terribly long!

- The entire StyleSmith team. Those gals are something else! They're all so sweet and kind! It's been such a treat to get to know them over the past 7 months and I definitely hope our paths cross again soon. While I probably won't be trying for a spot on the next blogging team (I'll have a ~2 week old newborn! What!), I definitely don't want this to be our last interaction! (But I'm going to go ahead and encourage all of you to look out for the next tradeshow! Y'all need to get on that!)

- And while it didn't happen at the tradeshow, it was only possible because of it! I was able to hang out with Moorea all week! She was in town buying for her shop and we were able to spend loads of time together. It was our first time meeting in person but you'd never know it. We had dinner at ChinaPoblano in the Cosmopolitan, then just barely missed Cirque du Soleil's Zumanity. Instead we opted to eat ice cream and play the slots! We won $150 on the Judge Judy game, and then treated ourselves to Cirque's Ka the next night. Overall I'd say that was pretty darn awesome!

It was an awesome trip and I'm so fortunate to have been able to participate. It seriously couldn't have happened without all of your support though! Please know how grateful I am! Until next time...

// On The Floor: MAGIC Market Week

Somehow I've been home from Las Vegas for three weeks (!!!) and I've yet to blog the photos from on the floor! In case you missed it, here was my Las Vegas + MAGIC recap post, as well as my MAGIC Haul post! (You can also see me rocking some pretty pieces from MAGIC in this outfit post!) Anyway, here are some better quality images of what could be seen around the way. I've already admitted my focus was a bit limited to what I truly loved as a consumer, but goodness MAGIC is crazy! There are so many people and so many booths and so many bags! People will just hand you bag as you walk by and you'll end up looking like a coat rack by the end of the first sweep. I've got bags in bags in bags in bags! I know they'll come in handy though so keep 'em coming!

I mainly photographed booths I absolutely adored (both for product style and booth setup) but there are so many I missed because I was too busy chatting up a storm! Ah! Hopefully I'll get the opportunity to venture back to MAGIC one day and I'll be more prepared! Here's a little bit of what I saw on the floor...

BETTIE PAGE

The girls at Bettie Page were stunning, stylish and oh so sweet! I had such a wonderful time chatting with Carla, Jillian, and the other BP gals. They each had such fabulous hair and makeup, and their outfits were just the icing on the cake. Their booth was overflowing with new dress styles that are currently making their way onto the website. I've already mentioned once that I'm so excited for the new Bettie Page store in Nashville, but sadly I didn't make it over on Saturday! It's at the top of my o do list once we return from North Carolina though! -- A few favorite styles currently on their site: this navy "alika" dress, this red "megan" dress, and this polka dot "malibu blue" dress (!!!)

LUX DE VILLE

The accessories at Lux de Ville were so streamlined and shiny! The sparkle vinyl is the perfect touch of retro class. I loved this little coin purse. A few pieces I love on their site: this baby green sparkle wallet, this black and white gambler purse, and this red clutch!

TRASHY DIVA

This little booth was by far the cutest of the show! I loved the 1950's cafe setup and it reminded me so much of our own kitchen! The light fixture and chrome detailing on the walls were too cute! During my first jaunt around to Trashy Diva I met Mallory, one of the sweet gals working the booth. She said she reads my blog so we chatted and took some pictures together! I ended up pulling the most amazing rocketship dress from TD to showcase on my "Discovery" panel during the week and I've seriously had dreams about that dress since. The print is unreal! I want to travel down to New Orleans to check out the TD shops myself, but until then I'll just drool over the insane collection of dresses online! -- A few of my favorite Trashy Diva pieces include: the Annette rocketship dress (plus the previously linked Trixie!), this red and yellow number, and this solid yellow dress! (I could easily link the whole site but I'll save you the carpal tunnel!)

KREEPSVILLE 666

This is where my snazzy eyeball and meat cleaver bags came from (and so many of you were incredibly stoked on them!) For some reason I have a soft spot for all of the eyeball accessories haha -- A few awesome K666 pieces: this cherry skull brooch, this eyeball brooch, and these mini bone hair clips.

RETRO-A-GO-GO

This booth was such a happy one to stumble across! I was immediately drawn in by all of the pinups on the items and quickly I found a new favorite shop! One of my very favorite things in their booth was the vintage-styled flasks that were made to look like milk, oil, soup, gasoline, etc! I need to place an order for sure haha -- A few favorite pieces: the entire metal sign section (these would look great in our 50's diner kitchen!), this motor oil flask, and this Buick compact!

HOLLYWOOD MIRROR

I ended up with so many photos from the HM booth because I wrote a MAGIC Guestbook post on them, but seriously - look at all of that stuff! Their booth was overflowing with adorable items that would be so perfect for gifts! The bulldog hanger made me miss Georgia haha I have a collection of novelty cheeseburger items and this booth did me in! Everything from wallets to onesies and knit hats! I also wanted every single one of the coffee mugs. The icing on the cake? Everything is so reasonably priced! I didn't know this until I got home and stalked their website, but I'm seriously so impressed! -- A few favorite pieces from Hollywood Mirror: this cheeseburger mug (boom! two collections in one!), this hot dog headband (WAT?!), and these finger pens!

BEACH BASH

Last but certainly not least, Beach Bash! I shared my BB dress in an outfit post on Friday, and I have so many other goodies to work into the blog over the next little while. BB is like a sister company to Bettie Page (Artem runs BB and is the son of Tatyana from BP! Fun fact!) and they do a lot of gorgeous retro-inspired swimwear pieces. I took one of the mint polka dot two pieces to my swimwear Discovery session and I also borrowed one of their parasols to show off! I can't wait for all of these great pieces to make their way onto the BB website, that's for sure. -- Here are a few of my favorite pieces on the current site: this cherry dress (that little tie at the collar!), this red and white polka dot dress, this "sailor bow" blouse!

And that's just a small handful of the booths I drooled over at MAGIC! I can't believe I didn't take more photos of Hell Bunny, Unique Vintage, or PinUp Girl Boutique! I'm sure I'll be making my way around each of their sites soon though... you won't be escaping my lust list haha!

I think I've finally started catching up with all of my backed up work since getting home from MAGIC in Las Vegas. My inbox is almost back to normal and I'm feeling pretty good about that! I definitely miss hanging out with everyone though. Thanks for letting me share my Vegas adventures with ya! MAJOR thanks goes out to Stylesmith and MAGIC for having me!