What to Wear to an Amusement Park

This summer Chris and I made use of season passes to Kennywood. Kennywood is a beautiful, historic park located along the Monongahela River just south of Pittsburgh. It provided the dreamy  backdrop of Adventureland and if you grew up in SWPA you probably feel at least some nostalgia for the park and its many classic rides.

 
Chris and I are both lovers of Kennywood. As a child my hometown's community day at Kennywood was also my most highly-anticipated summer event. For all of these reasons we were so excited  to take Emilia to Kennywood. In 2013 she was too tiny but in 2014 she was able to ride plenty of things.

We managed to buy our season passes for a song on Black Friday the year prior. Because she is under 2, we could bring Emilia with us for free so we went often, usually at the end of business on random summer week days. This way Emilia could have her normal mid-day nap, during which I wrote and worked from home. We'd pick Chris up from campus where he was working and be on our way for a few hours of fun and stimulation before bedtime. But planning an outfit for an amusement park has always stumped me. I don't want to be too hot or impractical but I also want to feel like myself.

 

My gut on one of our first trips was to reach for a casual dress and flats but dresses make it a bit difficult to get on and off of rides with modesty. So by the end of the summer I was wearing khakis, a tshirt, and sneakers. I was comfier for it. 

Sometimes we would meet family there which made for even more fun AND bonus child care flexibility that enabled me and Chris to ride a few roller-coasters!

 
We developed our own Kennywood routine this summer. We'd head to the back of the park, ride the train, get some Potato Patch Fries, go to Kiddieland, ride the swings, airplanes, and rockets, get in line for the cars and hope they don't break down before our turn, split an ice cream cone, ride the carousel, and say goodnight. I already miss it! 

I'm fully prepared to purchase season passes next year, Black Friday deal or not!

Outfit Details:
Anthropologie "Readymade" dress (old)
Gap factory cardigan (old)
Chloé flats (old)
Gap tee (old)
Old Navy pants (old)
Catherine Popesco jewelry* c/o Perfect Details



Remember, there's still time to enter my eShakti giveaway! 

*From reading my previous posts on Perfect Details, it probably seems like their selection is best suited for formal occasions like weddings and glamorous evening events. But that's only part of the story. I found these cute costume jewelry pieces by Catherine Popesco on the Perfect Details website a while back and they've become my workhorses. I dress them up and down and they're great staple pieces.

Left to right: bracelet, necklace, necklace

I especially love the art nouveau touches on the vintage-inspired bracelet. I also noticed that the Perfect Details website mentions that rental options are "coming soon." I think this is a really great idea because often special occasions might make you want new, fresh accessories without making a huge financial investment. Thanks again, Perfect Details!

Outfit for a Summer Wedding

I feel like a broken record but I have been in a shopping slump. I am not sure if it is my work schedule this summer (balancing writing projects while developing an app to help moms meet other moms), some  body image stuff I have been trying to work through, the summer season (when I tend to want and buy the least clothing), or that the trends just don't align with my tastes. Perhaps it is a combination of everything?

Above is my "wow I look tired!" selfie. Regardless, when it was time to decide on what to wear to the second wedding  I attended this summer, I went with the same old standby I had worn the month prior. Although each of these were family weddings, none of the guests overlapped except for my date. This made it a bit easier to repeat the dress. 

Necklace, Bracelet 1, Bracelet 2, Ring, Earrings

And even though my dress was a rerun, I was able to borrow a new set of beautiful costume jewelry pieces from Perfect Details. This helped me up the outfit excitement level for sure. Lisa from Perfect Details made the selections based on my dress and she did an amazing job styling me! I highly recommend contacting her if you are having any difficulty accessorizing a look for a wedding, whether you are a guest or the bride-to-be picking for yourself or your bridesmaids.

I am in love with these gorgeous pieces from the Sorrelli Stardust Collection! They really sparkled and it was so fun to get to wear them. I felt so glam! But what was even more exciting for me was that it was Emilia's very first wedding!

She loved it! She was enthralled during the ceremony. She was excited to see so many little kids running around during cocktail hour. She enjoyed feasting from our dinner plates, the Pittsburgh cookie table, and the wedding cake. And her absolute favorite part was the dancing.

We got this family photo during cocktail hour. She is making a shy face because she only just met the cousin who took the picture. So far I have three more weddings on the docket through the rest of 2014. Maybe I will be able to find a new dress or two before the big days? We'll see. Thanks again to Perfect Details for accessorizing me!

Outfit details:
Nanette Lepore Ottoman dress (old)
Marc by Marc Jacobs pumps (also old)
Sorrelli Stardust Collection necklace, earrings, bracelets, and ring from Perfect Details

On Chris: Shipley and Halmos suit; Rag and Bone shirt; Vintage tie
On Emilia: Hartstrings dress; Stride Rite Mary Janes; bow and socks from Gymboree

Perfect Details Indeed!

 

Sorrelli Evening Moon Pieces:

Rectangle Drop Necklace, Black Crystal Cocktail Ring, Jet Black Crystal Cuff, Tiara Crystal Cuff

Not long ago I was browsing for statement necklaces and came upon Perfect Details. I noticed that a lot of the stock felt reminiscent of that of Anthropologie's wedding-themed site, BHLDN. Although I haven't shopped BHLDN much, save for when the sale was on sale (cause it is otherwise too rich for my blood), I was surprised to see that this smaller boutique managed to have more competitive retail prices and a larger selection of jewelry than the bigger fish in the pond!

I decided to contact the proprietor of Perfect Details to talk about her business. Being wedding season, I've been thinking a lot about its surrounding e-commerce. The owner of Perfect Details, Lisa and I hit it off and I was floored when she generously offered to style my jewelry for the many weddings I am attending this summer. The first of these weddings was two Saturdays ago. I was thrilled to be sent from Perfect Details a slew of sparkly Sorrelli pieces from their Evening Moon collection. They paired wonderfully with my Nanette Lepore Ottoman dress (a favorite that I bought many years ago). I got many compliments on the Tiara Crystal Cuff bracelet and the Rectangle Drop Necklace in particular. Wearing them once makes me wish they were mine forever! Thank you so much, Perfect Details!

I'm so excited to see what Perfect Details sends me for the next wedding!