The Right... Pieces That Move Me

Following up to my quick life updated on Monday, I am so excited to share details on my next travel adventure: I'll be spending 9 days in France in April.  If you've been following me long enough, you know I went to Paris, Florence and Milan a little over two years ago.  I'm so excited to go back to France, I can hardly contain myself.  I'll be spending a few days in Paris, running the Paris Marathon and exploring a few things I didn't see the first time, and then heading to the South of France (Nice, specifically) for the remainder of the week. I'm using Nice as my base for the week and plan to adventure around so if you have any suggestions (things to see/do, places I must eat at, etc.) send them my way!
In true Tracy fashion, I've been working on my packing list for quite some time now.  My goal is to travel as light as possible (which will be a little tough considering I need to pack all my marathon gear!) so I can do some shopping while I'm there.  I did some pretty light shopping buying souvenirs last time I was in Europe but my goal this time is to actually spend some money on myself.  I also want to travel as light as possible because I've gotten quite used to only packing a carry on (even for trips home in the winter!).  I fly standby a lot and carrying on is really the only way to go.  






My travel outfit lists usually include versatile pieces that I can dress up or down or mix and match to get the most wear without having to pack different outfits for every single day.  I was so excited when Banana Republic asked me to participate in their "What Moves Us" campaign.  I'd say two of the biggest things that move me include versatile wardrobe pieces and experiencing new things by traveling to new places. 





  Versatile wardrobe pieces, like this amazing shirt dress, are great for traveling and also great to take from desk (with a blazer and heels) to weekend (with a scarf and flats).  It'll definitely be making it into my suit case.  And I can't forget about these ballet flats because I know they'll be super necessary while I run around France for the week.  

Travel/Weekend Look: Banana Republic Shirt Dress (c/o), Banana Republic ballet flats (c/o), Gigi New York crossbody bag (c/o), Georgio Armani sunglasses, Scarf borrowed from Megan

Work Look: Zara boucle jacket (similar linked below), 3.1 Philip Lim Pashli, Nine West d'orsay pumps (similar linked below)

Would love to know - what moves you? 

Shop the look:

Photos by Megan Zietz 

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Early 2017 Life Update

Hello friends! It's been a while since my last post and I apologize. Let me fill you in on life as of late:

After the NYC Marathon I went home for a quick weekend to surprise my grandma for her birthday (I still owe you a post on the NYC marathon - I could relive that day over and over again, it was so incredible!)

Celebrated my 29th birthday with SoulCycle, friends and bottomless brunch

Work was crazy through the end of the year which I was not prepared for

I went home to Reno for the holidays and had some solid couch/downtime 

I have officially drank the SoulCycle koolaid and have been going just about every week since December

Started Training for the Paris marathon (at this point it's a short FOUR weeks away!)

Went to Tulum, Mexico for a friend's bachelorette weekend (working on a post for you soon because it was absolutely amazing)

And that's just the big things!  I have been so excited for this year's adventures and challenges and so far it has not disappointed.  I am working on a winter marathon training update to share with you because that's been one of the things taking up most of my time (and one of the biggest challenges I've faced this year).  

In the meantime, tune back in Wednesday for a new outfit post with a brand that I absolutely love!

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The Right... Bourbon Trail Adventures

Happy Monday friends!  I hope you all had a great weekend!  I must say, I forgot how much I love spending time in the kitchen on Sundays.  Summer makes me much less motivated to meal prep and with all the traveling I've been doing lately, finding the time has been near impossible.  I finally had an afternoon in the kitchen yesterday and it was really exciting.  I also finally have a calm(er) week at work which means I can actually bring my lunch instead of eating out!


Speaking of all the traveling I've been doing, I'm finally catching my breath from all the weddings and finally have time to post more about our Bourbon Trail adventures from our trip to Lexington!  We had a goal to tackle three distilleries - Maker's Mark, Woodford Reserve and Four Roses - and set out super early since it was a 1.5 hour drive to Maker's Mark.  I had no idea what to expect because I did minimal research leading up to the trip so luckily Jen did the Bourbon Trail planning for us.  We pulled up to Maker's and I was instantly drawn to the dark grey and red color scheme of all the buildings.  I also loved that it was nestled away in the hills and we later found out its because the water used in the distilling process comes straight from a lake nearby.  The whole distillery felt very homey and welcoming.  We learned a tremendous amount about the Maker's brand history and how the specific bourbon is made.  Unfortunately the plant was shut down for cleaning for the month so we didn't get to see the fermentation in action.  One of my favorite parts of the tour was in the rackhouse because you could literally smell the bourbon (call me crazy but bourbon is my liquor of choice and it smelled so amazing) - they call it "angels breath" and for good reason haha.
We were able to visit the bottling room where they were hand-dipping each bottle (yes, every bottle of Maker's Mark is hand dipped, making each seal unique).  During the tasting I discovered a new favorite: Maker's 46 - it was so much smoother than regular Maker's Mark!   





At the end of the tour we went to the gift shop and dipped our own bottles of Maker's!  I went a little heavy on the wax on accident and it was more intimidating than I expected (notice my fully covered arms and apron - it's serious business)!








We then went to Woodford Reserve which was in the middle of the beautiful Kentucky horse farms and I could tell right off the bat it was a little more commercialized (definitely not in a bad way though).  The plant was fully operational so we were able to taste some of the sour mash in the fermentation room and it was definitely not as bad as I expected!  Unfortunately we ran out of time and didn't make it to Four Roses but on the way back to Lexington we had the crazy idea to hop out of the car and take some photos in the middle of the country road.  Such a fun adventure (minus a few fast-driving cars) and also such a long day!  We finished the night with beers at a local brewery and BBQ - more on those places to come!

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In My Bag: Travel Edition

I'm still prepping all my St. Louis Fashion Week posts so in the meantime I thought I'd do a "what's in my bag" post.  When I travel I make sure I have the basics I carry around on the daily and also add some travel essentials: snacks, reading material and a blanket in case the plane is cold.  I know, you're probably thinking I'm crazy for toting around a blanket in my bag but hear me out on this one.  I randomly kept the blanket from a past United flight and discovered it folds down pretty compactly making it perfect for those times it's a little too chilly on the plane.



Other daily essentials I tote around: business cards, lip stain, lip balm, sunglasses and wallet.  Throw in a bottle of water and you're all ready to jet set.

Bag: c/o Folli Follie, Wallet: C.Wonder, Sunglasses: Tory Burch, Lipstick: MAC, Lip Stain: Sephora

What do you keep in your bag when you travel?  Anything I'm missing?


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Cheers to 2013

Photo credits: Left, Top, Bottom

Above are some of my "resolutions" for the New Year.  I'm not a huge "wait til the new year for resolutions" type of person.  I strongly feel that if you need a change or want to make new goals for yourself you can and should do it anytime.  Prime example: I uprooted my life last year to move to NYC.  With that being said though it is fun to make some resolutions at the start of each year!  Above are mine.  They are pretty simple/straightforward:

I've always wanted to take ballet classes and there are plenty of place in NYC to learn the art! 

 

Get a passport and use it! 

I really wanted to go to New Zealand to visit Kyle and be there to ring in the New Year but when I was looking at a $2,500 round trip plane ticket I had to re-evaluate.  2013 will be the year I get a passport and use it - even if it's just for a weekend in Montreal.  Although I've heard London and Paris are just a hop skip and jump over the pond from NYC :).

 

Send handwritten birthday cards to loved ones. 

It's easy to get lost in the technological world we live in and being so far away from most of my favorite people I want to send cards for everyone's birthdays.

 

Cross some items off my East Coast Bucket List.

I've been curating a bucket list of things to do while I live on the East Coast.  They consist of some things such as visiting Boston, Washington DC, Maine, etc.

 

Dress for myself and not others. 

This one seems pretty easy, however it can be really easy to let others influence your decisions, and especially your styling decisions.  I think I'm slowly finding myself and my sense of style and I want to really start letting it shine.  I also came across a great quote one day that supports all of this: "In the end, people will judge you anyway.  Don't live your life impressing others.  Life your life impressing yourself."  I've been working to make this my philosophy because it's so true in so many facets of life.

 

I hope you grab 2013 and run with it!  I can't wait to see what it brings us all - it's party time!

Photo credit

 

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Blogger to Tumblr to Blogger

So I think I've finally figured out which blogging platform I want to use. I used to have a Blogspot blog but I literally wrote novels and only my friends followed me. Then I went to Tumblr back in March and it was a little more user friendly but I found myself constantly reblogging things from other people. Which is great but I realized that's what everyone and their brother is doing on Tumblr as well. So that brings me back to Blogspot.

I've also finally figured out what I want to do with my blog. I want it to be a source of inspiration and full of things I love - fashion, food, traveling, interior design, and fitness. So, here goes, again.

Oh and to give a little bit of background on the title of my blog? It comes from the quote by Marilyn Monroe, "Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world."

So with that said, here goes!