happy weekend!

After an amazing week at Alt Summit today I'm packing up my bags and heading home. This years conference was inspiring - building even stronger bonds with my best friends, meeting new faces and learning tips and tricks that will definitely help me in the near future. I hope all of you were able to follow along on twitter to learn some of the many tips I took in this year. If not, head on over to the feed now!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Photo by The Brick House

highlights from altitude summit

Many of you have been asking about my experience at ALT - my head is still brimming with inspiration and I've got a to-do list a mile long, boy do I have my work cut out for me. Here's a little recap of what I took away from the panel's I throughly enjoyed.

Tips + Tricks: (Megan Reardon, Erica Reitman, and Susan Brinson)

* Capture online screenshots with Skitch (sorry, only available for Mac users).

* Want a place to organize all of your images, links, notes, etc. check out Evernote. Best part - you can snap a photo of a business card with your phone and have it stored within your Evernote account. You'll never have to go searching for a lost card again - genius!

* I'm newly obsessed with Zinio - a magazine reading app.

* Lastly, most of you know about Pinterest but if you don't click on over because it's an amazing bookmarking website. Beware, you'll be sucked in for at least five hours.

Advertising Beyond Banners: (Erin Loechner, Liz Gumbinner, and Maggie Mason)

* Reinvent the wheel - get creative.

* Be sure to tell your readers when a post is sponsored. You don't want your readers to feel tricked.

* Measure your digital footprint. Be sure to have something beyond your numbers, like a press page. It gives you an "at a glance credibility."

* Always be authentic and transparent to your readers because if you are your readers will cheer you on.

* Pitch your passions.

Blogging Ethics + Etiquette: (Emily Newman, Grace Bonney, and Joy Cho)

* Commenting - If you start to get a lot of negative comments, be sure to come up with a comment policy. It's important to have it posted somewhere just in case you need to point it out to readers.

* Crediting - Always, always, always credit anything you put on your blog (photos, sources, etc.). Some sites you should look into that Grace recommends are tynt.com and tineye.com. Both tell you where the photo has been and can locate the original source (amazing!).

* Giveaways - They should be saved for items you truly love and want to feature. It's a special post about the product and you're giving it a lot of press by featuring it.

* Social Media - It's another outlet to get genuine readers, but always remember quality vs. quantity. Grace's way of using twitter - 30% business // 30% communicating with users // 30% fun // 10% to fill in where it's needed.

Another fun panel I was able to go to was "The Best in Up & Coming Blogs" with Amy Turn Sharp, Danni Hong, Joslyn Taylor, Liz Stanley, Melanie Blodgett - although some of my favorite blogs were outed (grrrrr...), I found some new blogs I'm loving. To see the full list click here.

Hopefully these notes helped you out a little bit - I tried to take as many notes as I could for y'all. If you have any questions feel free to email me.

I'm truly inspired by so many lovely ladies I met over this trip, including Lisa F, Karey, Joslyn, Rebecca, Megan, Camille, Suann, Anna, Crystal, Lisa and many more amazing bloggers! And I couldn't have asked for better roommates - Erin and Kirsten - I'm having withdrawals . . . and my outfits consultations aren't the same (Eric isn't as fashionable as you two ladies).

If you didn't attend this year, come next year - it doesn't disappoint. And for those of you who did attend this year, I hope to see you in Salt Lake next January! Only 360 ish days away.

Photos: Alt Summit flickr stream and Kate Spade photobooth

happy monday!

What a whirlwind the past few days have been! Attending Alt Summit was fantastic – my head is still spinning with inspiration. Highlights will be posted soon.

I'm ready to hit the ground running this week. What's a better way than with this lovely Parisian woman – she's drop-dead gorgeous with her black and gray ensemble. Is she classic or what? I might need to recreate this outfit sometime this week.

Hope all of you had wonderful weekend's! Anything exciting happen while I was away?

Photo: Vanessa Jackman via Global Atelier

Alt Summit Bound

By the time you read this I'll be airborne on my way to Salt Lake City for Alt Summit. I'm excited to be attending this year and can't wait to meet so many people. But don't worry, I've got posts regularly scheduled and if you're interested in what's happening at Alt - be sure to follow me on twitter, where I'll be updating about all of the fabulous things going on!

*Photo: That Kind Of Woman

fashion: alt summit wardrobe

With a busy week ahead, I had to pack this weekend for the much anticipated Alt Summit. You've been hearing me talk about it here and on twitter - everyone that's going has been counting down the days since October. Packing for Salt Lake was tough, because of frigid weather, lifestyle bloggers with amazing fashion sense and parties being announced that will be hosted by he Girls With Glasses and Kate Spade, HGTV, Wilsonart and Provo Craft - how's a girl supposed to even begin to pack?

Well, here is a little peek at what I'm bringing with me - lots of layers, sequined tops, jewels and belts to accessorize with and my favorite pairs of shoes. Let me tell you, there is a lot of black and navy going on in my wardrobe! Whoops.

Can't wait to board the plane and be on my way Wednesday morning! Plus, I have the best roomies (Erin and Kristen) - I think we'll be getting into trouble together.

See you all there!

ps. If you need help organizing your suitcase, you can print out this packing list created by the wonderful Kelly of Design Crush.

*Photos: 1. musings in femininity. 2. Envie Moi 3. Garance Doré

happy monday!

I am wishing I had another day to be at my leisure enjoying time with Eric and packing for Salt Lake, but alas I have work today.

This weekend San Francisco was graced with warm weather - no coat needed! It felt as though summer came early. I took full advantage by hiking along the Pacific Coast trail, spending time outside, and seeing friends. It was heavenly.

What did all of you do this weekend? Did you see any good movies? Eat at any new restaurants?

ps. I'll be showing you a few photos later today of what I'm packing for Alt Summit - I was lucky enough to have Alicia come over to help me style a few looks! She is good people, I think she needs to become a personal stylist.

*Photo: musings in femininity.