Lilly Pulitzer After Party Sale

So this past week marked the madness and magnificence of the Lilly Pulitzer After Party Sale! Prepsters wait all year for this day when they score some Lilly love for 1/2 price or less.

You may think this sounds like a server disaster waiting to happen? The ever prepared Pulitzer brand has it covered. When you type in lillypulitzer.com, there is an online line that regulates the number of people allowed on the site at any given time. And don't worry about the wait keeping you from a big win. I was working all morning into the late afternoon the day of the sale, and wasn't able to log on until 2:00- and I think you'll see based off this post that I still came away a pretty happy prepster :) 

The best surprise, however, came later. On the website Lilly cautions that orders could take upwards to three weeks to ship, so I hadn't gotten my hopes up on seeing my score this summer (I live and go to school in New England so the warm weather months are few and far between.) But low and behold, just two days later this package showed up on my doorstep! 

This is the Mila Lace Shift dress. I was drawn to it based off the classic lines and super fun edging. It literaly reminded me of photographs of vintage Lilly Pulitzer dresses from her palm beach early days. The website cautioned that the fit ran tight in the chest arms so buyers should size up. I wasn't certain if I should take them up on the advice, since Lilly usually runs large and long on me even in the smallest sizes but I am super glad I did! I sized up and it fit perfectly right from the box (I mean I literally immediately stripped and put it on.)  Such a fun day! 

The Summer I turned French

Finally I'm getting around to updating the blog on what is currently on my bookshelf! When I first strated P&P a little over a year ago, fashion was just barely beginning to become an influence in my life. I thought for sure I would be talking about books far more than bags and shoes, but here we are! 3 months after my relaunch and I am just adding the first post to my Read tab. But I promise it's worth the wait!

Something strange and unexpected has been happening this summer. It's come about so gradually that I didn't even realize what was going on until somewhat recently when I found myself oggling over striped sweaters and vintage photos of Brigitte Bardot and Fraciose Hardy. The die-hard Anglophile was going to the French side.

It all started when, in a particularly bad and rundown mood I stumbled across The Paris Letters. The rebellious and wander-lusting sides of me were immediately drawn to the tagline of "How much money does it take to quit your job?" After reading this charming story, I suddenly had the urge to throw out everything that didn't fit into a suitcase, and to eat mountains of croisants (be warned this book and it's descriptions of food can have a dangerous side effect on your waistline...)

Then there is The Little Paris Bookshop, a story of a broken man who can heal everyone around him with the proper story aboard his floating book barge-except himself. A voracious reader since grade school I can certainly relate to medicating through books. In fact one could say I ran away from the stress of my freshman year of college and long days nannying all the way to the banks of Seine with these two novels.

But don't be fooled into thinking that these two French faves are a vacation. These are the sort of stories that get you thinking about what you really need in your life and what you are really running to or from.

Are you prepared to go on a hunt for you joie de vivre? Then pick up these two books (and a pretty journal and pens...trust me on this one, you are going to want them!) and get ready to sail down the Seiene all the way to a happier, more fulfilled you. 

Tickled Pink

                   

Shop this look: Dress from Lilly Pulitzer (vintage) Earrings from Kate Spade (Similar Here) Sandals from Jack Rogers (Available Here) Sunglasses from Vineyard Vines (promotion at the Whalehouse Sale)