Weekend -- Ally: Kentucky Derby Spectacular

Wow! What a great weekend! And by weekend, I mean Thursday through Sunday :) Friday I didn't go to the Oaks - I was too sketchy about it raining (which it didn't) so my friend Jessica, who was visiting from Paducah, and I went to Makers' Mark Distillery for a tour. I'm an Ambassador for Maker's Mark (heh) so I was able to dip a special bottle - so much fun!

Sweater: Old Navy

Jeans: Gap

Flats: Liz Claiborne

Awesome apron, sleeves, gloves, and glasses: Maker's Mark

Bottle of sweet, delicious bourbon: Maker's Mark

If you'll look closely, you'll see the bottle doesn't have the signature red wax on the neck yet. I was just about to dip it.







Taking a dip! It's way harder than it looks!!













Excuse the blurriness of this next photo. I was in a HUGE rush out the door and only had time to snap one pic.

Dress: JCP

Hat: no idea what brand, bought at TJ Maxx of all places

Shoes: Stuart Weitzman

It's possible Jessica and I made a trip to Zappos. It's also possible I bought two new pairs of shoes. I cannot confirm or deny this information, but I do mysteriously have two new pairs of CUTE shoes :)










Some more pics from the weekend:
Me, Erin, Tracey, & Megan. We had front row seats right by the track - so fun.












With Tracey. That's the starting gate behind my shoulder.












Just rounding the last turn and on the straight stretch to the finish line. SO EXCITING!!












While I didn't pick the winner (I had him boxed with a horse who didn't win - boo!) I did pick the show horse (Musket Man) so I picked up $12! All in all, I was up $1.80 for the day - breaking even or better is ALWAYS good!!!

This was an awesome time despite the precarious weather - I can't wait for next year!!!

Thursday -- Ally

I don't have an outfit for today, but I do have a "hatrospective" of Oaks/Derby attire over the years. I even threw in a little Breeder's Cup action for you. I bet you'll recognize some of these faces too :)

Oaks 2007. It was a drizzly and cloudy day. Such a bummer.

Oaks 2004 with Leslie! We didn't plan on matching that day either!

Oaks 2006. We were in the Infield that year and I'm pretty sure I've never been so hot in my entire life. That's Kim with me. Tracey was there too but this is the only quasi-flattering pic of the day!

Oaks 2008 with Leslie, Jamie, and Kim. This was mere minutes before the sky opened up and rained rained rained.

Breeders Cup 2006 with Leslie, Tracey and Kim. We're a Superfecta!

At Maker's Mark Distillery with Tracey (Al was behind the camera) at a Hillary Rodham Clinton rally last May. This is one of her Secret Service guys. He was HOT STUFF. This picture is on my desk at work and I get a giggle out of it every day. I was so surprised at how good-looking all the SS guys were. Oh and so you all know, when HRC was shaking hands with everyone at the end, she looked up at me and said, "I love your hat!" I babbled like a fool about how I was reading her book and that I loved her too. Such a wordsmith. *sigh*

So I was wrong about not having an outfit. I found one from a couple of weekends ago! Tracey and I went to Keeneland to celebrate my birthday.

Dress: Charlotte Russe

Cardi: Old Navy

Flats: Sam Edelman

Sunnies: Max Studio

Hat: Tracey and I each bought two of these from a guy at the Chow Wagon last year. This one in particular is hers. I have it in green and black. LOVE.

Bag: Furla

Necklace: gift




The top of this dress is smocking, it's strapless and it ties in two places in the back. How's THAT for support? Ugh. It is, however, adorable when layered under something. As Tracey put it earlier that day, "No one over the age of 12 should ever wear smocking."

I hope you all have a GREAT weekend. I'll do my best to get a Oaks/Derby recap up on Sunday so stay tuned!

Brew at the Zoo with Ally and Sparky

Last Saturday my dear, sweet Sparky was in town and we (along with Al and Tracey and some other friends) went to the Brew at the Zoo. It's a fundraiser for the Louisville Zoo and a win-win for me :) Zoos make me kinda sad, but the ample supply of beer and food got me over that very quickly.

It was going to be a hot one (95 degrees) and the event is outside, so lots of cotton, sunscreen, and prior planning was required.

I think we looked ready for a long, hot day!

This is the third year Tracey and I've been to this (or is it the fourth??) so we know how critical it is to either get a table under the tent (shade) or grab a table next to trees (shade). Either way, shade is key. I don't slather on spf 70 for nothing! Not about to sit in the sun and get burnt.






Dress: Target

Belt: Target

Shoes: Target (see a pattern?)

Hat: street vendor at Kentucky Derby Festival

Bag: Lands' End Weatherfield Plaid Tote (mine's pink/brown, but it's a discontinued color now)









The shoes were a very last minute purchase at Target earlier in the day. I needed some brown flats and these were not only super comfortable but they were under $10. However, they're not the cutest things in the world and I pretty much have a love-hate relationship with them. I love how great they feel and I hate how I wear them with anything other than jeans. Oy!

All good Kentucky girls (should) love a hat. I think they're fashionable and VERY functional. Nothing keeps the sun off your pretty face and shoulders better than a big hat. It helps your friends find you in a crowd too! I have this in black also (I wore the black one to The Oaks). Tracey has it in pink and brown (I think, right?). All I know is that between the two of us, we have four of them - and different colors too. Think we planned that? :)

When we saw these hats at the vendor, Tracey dragged me over b/c she said she'd seen the exact same hat online for $80+. The guy was selling his for $35 but we got him down to $30 since we bought in bulk :) Here's a link to a site selling the exact same hat for a little more. It's the raffia Madagascar hat.

And now, the part you've all been waiting for...our first guest post!!!

Here's Sparky!!!!!!!!!!

Ally took me to Target to get a non-black and non-menswear outfit for brew and the zoo and we found the whole outfit from the waist up. The halter top and sweater were claimed from the clearance rack at $13 each. I already owned the skirt, which is Eddie Bauer, obtained from a store closing last winter for a cool $15 (originally $50, I believe). The sandals are Haviannas and when I got them at Urban Outfitters, it was part of a buy 1 get 1 50% off and I picked up another pair in gold. I can't remember how much they were total, but one pair was 50% off so I'll call that cute on the cheap-er. Accessories were obtained from Target too - hat for $12 and bag for about $20. I see myself getting great mileage out of both pieces. Sunglasses were another already owned item, but they're from Target too, which means I scored them for less than $15.




Note the detail on the sweater and halter - it's very Daisy-Mae meets ladies who lunch, you think?











I love this pretty, summery outfit on Sparky. I'm sure the folks in Target thought I was nuts yelling "You're too pretty for that!!" every time Sparky held up a black, gray, or mens shirt above the racks for approval. :) But it's true - she's too pretty NOT to wear color, right?

Thanks to Sparky for contributing to the blog!

Weekend - Tracey

T-shirt dress - J Crew

Bag - Devi Kroell for Target

Shoes - Walmart George

Hat - Festival vendor














This Saturday was the Indianapolis Microbrewers Festival so I took a little trip to visit our neighbors to the north! Actually this was my 2nd trip to Indy this weekend, but more on that another day! I knew it was going to be rediculously hot, so once again I went for a dress. This was a dress that I tried on at Jcrew a few months ago and liked it a lot, but just couldnt allow myself to pay $88 for it. I stalked it until it came down to $30 and snagged it!

I decided that a hot sunny day spent outside would be the perfect opportunity to bust out one of my sun hats and I'm so glad I did! Allison and I both own these hats. We picked them up at one of the festivals around town that happen at Kentucky Derby time. Between the 2 of us we bought 4 hats. He had so many great colors that we just couldn't decide which ones to buy! The guy cut us a little bit of a deal, but not as much as we had hoped! It's made of straw and it's totally packable and crushable. I know this because I stuffed mine inside my tote bag on the trip up. :)

These gold sandals are becoming a summer staple. Definitely a good find for $10!!