Whew. I swear I am getting old really fast. Literally still sleep deprived four days later. But seriously THE BEST WEEKEND! Last Thursday I headed west to Dallas, Texas for a three day RewardStyle Conference. The top 200 bloggers for the LIKEtoKNOWit platform RewardStyle. A really exciting invite and equally the most intimidating and downright terrifying. Think biggest fashion bloggers on Earth are there literally from all over the world. I have never felt so short in my life. And I am 5’7 with 4.5″ heels all weekend.
I arrived at The Crescent Hotel on Thursday around lunchtime and met up with some of my fabulous home blogger besties outside the hotel. They had the most darling little bike set-up right outside to “greet us” when we arrived.
Sharing the details on my cozy airport outfit below. I just got this new navy ruffled tee and it has the cutest back to it ever! Paired with my favorite leggings in navy and super comfortable flats. I also just found a great new layering tank that helps to lengthen my tees and make them more suitable or leggings. I hate when I am all booty in leggings 😉
From Left to Right: ME, Erin (Sunny Side Up Blog), Bree (ZDesign At Home), Kelley (Kelley Nan), Elaine (House of Hargrove) and Kris (Driven By Decor)
Ruffled Tee / Tank / Leggings / Lace-Up Flats / Tote
And then checked into our room…
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That evening was the “kick off party” hosted by Sole Society on the lower rooftop of The Crescent Hotel. I wore the same romper that I shared in my “The Atlantis Resort- My Honest Review” post two weeks ago. I am completely obsessed with it and I love that it ever so slightly covers my legs with the lace cover and has the short romper shorts underneath. Lord knows I DO NOT want to be all legs when every fashion blogger around me has legs the size of my forearm. Like for real.
Romper / Clutch / Wedges / Ring
From Left to Right: Erin (Sunny Side Up Blog), Bree (ZDesign At Home) and Moi!
My sweet friend AND roomie Elaine (House of Hargrove)…
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After the burning hot par-tay, I changed into my all-time favorite dress EVER and headed to dinner. I have been raving about this dress style on my blog for seriously like two years now. It is THE BEST FIT, comes in a bajillion colors (okay maybe 8) and is such a great length!
Bree (ZDesign At Home) and I…
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The next day, Friday, was our first day of actual conference classes. I learned soooooo much and got to meet and mingle with so many new bloggers and even some that I have stalked for a while now. Yes, I am a blogger AND a total blog stalker ;-)! I wore this new red jumpsuit/romper all day and got sooo many compliments on it! I felt comfortable but confident and not too showy but it is just flattering enough. We had brand meetings in between classes so I wanted to look professional but still stylish. These ladies below are my “tribe” and I seriously love them all. So genuine and talented and sweet. We literally could stay up talking all night and NEVER run out of things to talk about.
From Left to Right: ME, Erin (Sunny Side Up Blog), Kris (Driven By Decor), Elaine (House of Hargrove) and Bree (ZDesign At Home)
The super duper sweet Landyn (Living with Landyn) and I…
Courtney Kerr (Kerrently) and I… Blogger Crush!!!
For lunch that day, Banana Republic hosted THE CUTEST lunch picnic at The Shake Shack and I chatted with several other blogger girls I follow…
Local Georgia Girl Lauren (Edit By Lauren) and I…
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Here is a peek at my brand meeting that day with Sole Society. They have the cutest shoes and handbags EVER!!!
That evening we changed for a Cocktail Party hosted by Bumble BFF. I seriously think this new company is THE BEST IDEA EVERRR! It is a dating app but they are coming out with Bumble BFF which is a friend connection app! How fabulous is that?!? I always think how I would love to meet new people and make new friends but it’s so hard once you are out of school and in the real world. ANYWAYS, that night I wore the same dress I had on the night before for dinner but in royal blue! I told y’all I am obsessed 😉
Erin (Sunny Side Up Blog) and I…
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Saturday was another day packed full of classes and brand meetings. I wore the coziest off the shoulder dress that I also wore in the Bahamas. It’s one of those pieces that you feel girlie and dressy but totally comfortable in. I added some fun accessories to jazz it up and make it more Brittany-fied with color and pattern 😉
From Left to Right: Erin (Sunny Side Up Blog),Elaine (House of Hargrove), Bree (ZDesign At Home), Kelley (Kelley Nan), Kris (Driven By Decor) and ME!
Dress / Wedges / Clutch / Necklace
Mega Blogger Crush… Rachel Parcell (Pink Peonies)
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That evening we took a little extra time to get all dolled up for our finale party/black tie event. The venue was AMAZING and I took a little risk and wore something a little more showy and fitted than I usually do. I have to say though that I am IN LOOOOVE with this dress. It is basically one big “Spanx” dress. I mean it’s not but it felt like it.
From Left to Right: Elaine (House of Hargrove), Sarah (Life on Virginia Street), Kris (Driven By Decor), Bree (ZDesign At Home), Kelley (Kelley Nan), Erin (Sunny Side Up Blog),and ME!
Bree (ZDesign At Home) and I…
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The entire evening they kept surprising us with new “party destinations” and we moved from one location to the next within the venue. Finally around 10:30pm we decided to leave because we had been mingling for almost three hours at that point. SO we called an Uber and were JUST about to drive away when a high school band came down, played for a minute and then started leading everyone to a new spot. I was so bummed we were headed out so we asked the Uber driver to follow him. Once I saw that there was a dance party in a “pop-up” building outside, I was like OH HECK NO! I am getting out and whoever wants to come can come! So Erin, Bree, Elaine and I hopped out and the other girls headed back to hotel. Ummmm BEST DECISION EVER because the next three hours were the best girl’s night I have had in a LOOOOONG time. Let’s just say that I MIGHT have had a little too much fun.
The following day, Sunday, we woke up early and all headed home. So sad to leave but SO excited to see my sweet family. We even had a “black tie” event at church that night so I got to dress up again! Which y’all know is my fave. Except maybe on a little more sleep ;-)…
Whew! Okay I know that was super mega long and more than half of you MIGHT not have made it through the entire post BUT I wanted to add a little extra… Some advice for those who want to start a blog, have a blog or anything in between. But first, let’s get started with my “signature disclaimer”. Mark says I apologize and preface too much but I have this fear of being misunderstood in a blog world without emojis, facial expressions and body language. I just want to say that in writing this I know that I am NOT the biggest blogger in the world. Like not even close. I know that there are thousands of bloggers and thousands of blog types and thousands of ways to write and post and grow your blog. I am simply sharing some “tips” on how I grew mine seemingly faster than most. Well that’s what other people say and they e-mail me asking for advice. Every day. So this part is for y’all!
1. Be Known For SOMETHING… Anything at all! Like maybe you are really amazing at creating gallery walls. Or making margaritas. Or really owning the fact that your house is always a mess and you just don’t even care. Okay I totally just said all of those because I’m terrible at all three. So if you’re good at those, send me a link to your blog ;-). I learned very early on that people were intrigued by my style. By my crazy use of color and pattern. I feel that sometimes people fail to see their own gifts because to them it’s just no big deal. Like I legit had no clue that everyone else couldn’t pick colors and mix patterns like I can. So I grabbed hold of that and ran with it. My mom always says that suddenly my whole life makes sense and she finally gets why I picked out the craziest color combos in outfit pairings when I was little and wanted to re-decorate and paint my room when I was like 14. Find your “thing” and freaking OWN IT.
2. Connect… If there is even just one thing you can say about my blog, you can always say that I am me… 1,000% ME. We have been talking a lot at church and in my women’s bible study group about the intense human desire for connection. How true happiness is found more through genuine connections than money or success or anything else in the world. And I truly believe that we all seek to connect with those we can relate to. Those who share our flaws and in whom we see ourselves in… even in the ever so slightest of ways. I think one reason that I have grown my blog is through that connection. Whether through my “Weight Loss Story” or my personal struggles “My Journey to Today” or even in the random tidbits I share in almost every post, I am not afraid to tell each and every one of you that I totally suck at a lot of things. That I have trouble maintaining my weight or I was kind of depressed as a stay at home mom or sometimes my house is just one hot mess. I seek to connect with you guys just as much as you may seek to connect with me. The biggest compliments I EVER receive are either when people meet me and say that I am exactly like I am on my blog in real life or that they already feel like they know me. Connection is key.
3. Be Unapologetically You… I love bold colors and crazy patterns and nice dresses and red wine every night and I just don’t even care what anyone thinks about that. I think that the second you try and be who everyone else wants you to be or try to succeed just like everyone else is succeeding, you lose YOU. I know for one million percent that I could have a much larger following if I had jumped on the farmhouse bandwagon many moons ago simply because I started my IG back in the day when we all grew really fast. But I would be a fraud and I would have eventually sunk my own ship really really fast. As Dr. Seuss once said, “Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.”
4. Be Your Own Biggest Fan… During the conference someone spoke on “Earned Media” and told this story about how way back in the day before he was big, Evil Kenevil used to call around to venues as a random person and talk up this “crazy huge up and coming star” named Evil Kenevil. And then the next day he would call back as Evil Kenevil’s “publicist” to see if they wanted to book him for a show. Everyone in the world starts somewhere and if you are not going to promote yourself, than who is? As I chatted about in my last post, I continue to struggle with this concept to this day. But I have absolutely learned that to further your own success, you must gleam and celebrate every single triumph. Even if that means telling everyone how fabulous you are 😉
Okay, I am all finished blabbing! Go enjoy your day now 😉 Hehe thanks for reading!
XOXO, Brittany Hayes
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