THAT’S Lands’ End? Mom 2.0, part 2

 

As you know, Emily and I were sponsored to Mom 2.0 Summit by our favorite company to work with EVER, Lands’ End.  Let me tell you how we felt like rock stars in these beautiful outfits. Over and over and OVER again we heard two things from attendees at the conference. Number one was: “THAT’S Lands’ End???” in a shocked voice, and number two was: “I am going to have to take a look at Lands’ End now! You make me want to shop them!”  I am not even kind of exaggerating when I say we heard that numerous times.  Of course, those remarks were always preceded with, “I love your dress!”  Emily and I were posting pictures of our outfits on Facebook this weekend, but now we want to include photos along with some of our favorite features of them as well.

For travel, I went with my favorite – classic Starfish Collection comfort:

It was blissfully comfy and oh-so-adorable!  I have on the Starfish tunic, striped scarf, and cropped leggings, which you can’t see, but they are adorbs (that’s how we cool kids say “adorable” these days) and I want to marry them.  (Sorry, honey.) Also, I carried this gorgeous linen and leather handbag.  It was big enough to be my carry-on on the plane, and it held my prized possessions – my iPad, my breast pump, and my makeup bag with room to spare!  It has all kinds of pockets, a detachable wristlet, and even a place for your business cards. It’s pretty much the perfect bag!

We neglected to get a photo of Emily in her traveling gear, whoopsie!  But she was also looking splendid in these pincord pants, matching drapeneck tee, and pointelle cardigan:

She had these shoes (pictured) on as well and they were so cute!  I wanted to steal them!

(Emily jumping in here – I loved this outfit so much! It was super comfortable and I know I’ll probably wear it about once a week for the rest of the summer. The shoes were SO cute, and comfortable as well.)

When we got to the hotel, we immediately changed for the much-anticipated WHITE PARTY!!! We were both just soooo over the moon about our white linen dresses.

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I loved my dress because it was so comfortable.  The pleating on the bodice was a fantastic detail that really made the dress stand out. I felt great in it and very beachy.  Emily’s halter was actually from the Lands’ End Canvas line (which you should totally check out if you’re not familiar with it!)  Hers had pockets, too, which was so convenient.  We felt amazing and confident in our white! (I was kinda bummed though, that Emily’s spray tan turned out so good. Dangit! My creamsicle dreams were totally melted.)

Friday’s dresses were my personal favorite.  Em and I were both all decked out in linen.  I must tell you – these linen dresses are gorgeous, the colors are SO vibrant, and they fit like a DREAM!  This green portrait collar dress made me feel like I was straight out of the offices of  “Mad Men”.

Here’s a look with my gorgeous Kinzie Linen Tote. The freshwater endless strand pearls are Lands’ End as well!

 

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I really felt super-glamorous in this portrait collar dress.  (And the shoes are great, too! More on those later.)  Everywhere I went that day, people stopped me to tell me how much they loved it, especially the color (which is called “Asparagus”.)  By the end of the day, Emily and I were saying, “Asparagus is the new black!”  Everyone loved it!

Emily’s v-neck linen dress was equally beautiful.  And check out her striped handbag!  I was soooo jealous of it! (I know, my greed for Lands’ End cannot be satiated. It’s a DISEASE!)

(Emily here again – this was one of my favorite dresses too. I just loved both the fit and the cut. I am also slightly obsessed with that handbag.)

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Something we both loved about these dresses is that they have little snaps inside the shoulders that hold your bra straps in place!  Genius!!  And again, I cannot emphasize enough how amazingly well they fit & flattered!  The backs of these dresses were also so pretty and lucky for us, the Mom 2.0 official photographer caught that detail!

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Friday night the party was a little more casual and Emily and I chose dresses that were super fun and comfortable.  Once again I was jealous of Emily’s dress. Seriously I could easily own one of everything!

Print dress

Don’t you love this bold print?  And the belt was such a great touch. This dress also had pockets, FTW!  And I know it’s kind of hard to see but she was wearing these shoes, which are sooooooo cute – I wore the same ones in white to the white party. Hers were orange and I LOVE them (orange is my favorite color. If we wore the same shoe size I totes would’ve ganked ’em.)

I chose a cotton modal print dress.  This was without a doubt one of the most comfortable pieces of clothing I have EVER worn.  It traveled SO well too,  I did not have to do anything but pull it out of my suitcase and put it on!  And I loved the print, but it also comes in lots of great solids.  The matching espadrilles were the icing on the cake!

cotton modal print

Saturday at the conference found me back in linen again and Emily in this great v-neck chambray dress.  Her “sherbert frock” as one conference attendee called it, was much-coveted!  And isn’t her necklace gorgeous? I wore the same one later that night.

I loved the way my shirred linen pattern dress fit. The shirring on the top is hard to see in the photo but you’ll see it later when Em rocks a solid color.  Once again, Emily and I both got tons of compliments on these dresses!  Despite the fact that it is linen, I didn’t have to iron this one out of my suitcase, either. I couldn’t believe it!  The ultra-fashionable Nicole of Momtrends loved our dresses so much, she included us in her fashion wrap-up!  We were so honored!

photo courtesy of Nicole Feliciano of Momtrends

Finally, we were SO excited to get our looks together for the big closing party of the conference, at the VERSACE MANSION!!! We were both feeling very glamorous in RED – me in red butterflies, Emily in red linen with the shirring detail on top.

butterflies

This dress was soooo FUN!  I adoooore the print.  It was ultra-comfy, and had pockets and the snaps to hold my bra straps in place.  I felt super-fabulous in the bold print and color.  I honestly felt like I fit right in at the Versace mansion!  And check out my gorgeous and comfy Elizabeth buckle sandals.

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Emily’s shirred linen dress was super RED hot.  Look how beautiful she looks! The shirring on the top is so elegant, and it fit like a glove.

red linen

She had cute linen & red matching espadrilles, too! We both carried the Kinzie linen tote in red to complete our looks for the party. We got some great photos in these dresses!

two red girls

Like this one, and of course, again for your enjoyment, the soon-to-be-legendary shot of us in Versace’s shower!  Lands’ End REALLY infiltrated the Versace mansion in this one!

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I can’t tell you how much we LOVED every minute of wearing these amazing pieces of clothing.  We couldn’t have been any more proud to be representing Lands’ End – the brand that truly took us from the conference room to the beach to the Versace mansion!  We hope you’ll head to their website, get your shop on, and show them some love!

Which one of our looks was YOUR favorite?

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Mom 2.0, part 1 (of gazillion)

I hate to throw the word “amazing” around too much (because I know I do) so the word I’ll use to describe our experience at Mom 2.0 Summit is “spectacular”.  And I’ll also add on “life-changing”.  Because I believe the after-effects of this conderence are going to change Emily’s and my lives.

It was just…so well done.  Simple words that carry a lot of weight.  So. Well. Done.  The content was excellent, and effectively communicated!  The people were fun, open, friendly, supportive.  The venue was breathtaking!

The view from our room at the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne

We cannot think our generous sponsor, Lands’ End enough for sending us to represent them at this epic conference! We will have a whole Lands’ End fashion recap for you this week. We hope you enjoyed the photos of all our outfits over the weekend on our Facebook page!

 

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decked out in Lands' End for Thursday night's White party

A highlight of Mom 2.0 was making some new friends, Jenny and Rachel. They are AMAZING and deserve a whole post just about themselves, which we will deliver later in the week! But in the meantime click on their names and check out their blogs!

Rachel (left) and Jenny, we LOVE you girls! (photo by TimeDog)

 

But let me talk a little about the content. Right off the bat, in Brene Brown’s keynote the first day, we were reminded to be vulnerable. There is power in being vulnerable! I have said before that we need to share each other’s hard stories. Those are the stories that we learn from, and that we benefit by sharing. I haven’t been sharing those with you for awhile. But I’m no longer afraid to or ashamed to. I do my best, I do – but I fail. And I’m tired of pretending that I don’t.

The first session Emily and I attended also had some brilliant and inspiring content. I was so excited because it was led by Kat Gordon of Maternal Instinct. I first connected with Kat a couple of weeks ago after my rant about the over-“mommifying” of us by marketers. Kat asked me to guest post on her businesses blog, (and I’d love for you to read it here if you haven’t already), so I was THRILLED to meet her at Mom 2.0!

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Me with Kat Gordon of Maternal Instinct

Kat and her co-presenters did a great job at their session – it was all on how you can use social media to effect change. You guys saw Emily and I do that last year when we asked you – and you SO DELIVERED!!! – to help our friend E cover her cancer care expenses. (You guys, I got teary-eyed just typing that. YOU are so generous and amazing!) Emily and I want to to more of that – of using this blog and all the other media that go with it to support local businesses, non-profits, and women in business. So look for that, and thank Kat, Shelly, Kathlene, and Kami for inspiring us!

Speaking of inspiration – we got to see so many successful women speak at this conference! Raise your hand if you were CLOAKED in Liz Lange during your pregnancies!! We got to hear Liz speak along with Pilar Guzman of Martha Stewart Living, and Lee of GlassyBaby, and they were (there’s that word again!) AMAZING!

You know who else is amazing? Amy Clark of MomAdvice (she is also a human kitten. Meow!) We knew this already, but we LOVED the face time we got with her this weekend!

 

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Liz Lange (in the blue)!!!

Mom 2.0 also had some generous and wonderful sponsors. Thanks SO MUCH to companies like Dove, Intel, ALDI, and LG for taking such amazing care of us, and for speaking frankly with us about how we can work together.

Ok, so – we learned A LOT! And we also had some FUN!  The parties were a blast, and the company was superb!  Here we are enjoying the white party with our new BFFs, Jenny and Rachel:

these. girls. ROCK! (photo by TimeDog)

The party at Gianni Versace’s mansion sponsored by the spectacular INTEL was OFF THE HOOK! You guys would not believe this place! Here Emily and I are just chillin’ in Versace’s shower – like we do!

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we just wanted to freshen up...

The “shower” was a circular, ornately-tiled room with several gold shower heads – nowhere near a sink or a toilet. I really do not want to know what actually went on there but it made for a great photo-opp!

Here are some other breathtaking sites from the mansion.

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Open air courtyard with pool. Unbelievable!
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I only took this picture because I have the exact same tiling on my floor at home. Weird, right?
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courtyard when you first enter the mansion
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another view of the second courtyard with pool. I stepped on a lizard near here! Indoor/outdoor for real!

As great at allllllllllllll this was, let me tell you what my true *favorite* moment was. It was Emily, my buttoned-up cuz, getting goofy and silly over the Bloggess. If you don’t know who the Bloggess is, please smack yourself in the face, then go read her blog and buy her #1 New York Times best-selling book! She is the funniest, ever. The end. AND as we were heading out to Versace, there she was standing right outside the hotel! OHEMGEE!! So, in the spirit of celebrity awe, Emily PHOTOBOMBED her!

PHOTOBOMB w/the Bloggess!

Seriously, THIS is my favorite picture EVER in the history of the world. I love it MORE than my children’s newborn photos. Feel free to judge. I can’t help it! I am going to frame it and put it on my desk for inspiration!!

Despite the fact that we are HUGE nerds, the Bloggess graciously agreed to have her photo take with us and Rachel in our red dresses (if you know the Bloggess, you know why the Red Dress is important to her!) If not, GO READ HER!

superstar!

You guys. Mom 2.0 was the BEST conference we have ever been to! We can’t wait to share more about it with you, starting of course with our GORGEOUS outfits from Lands’ End. (Seriously, I cannot TELL you how confident I felt in those clothes!!) We also want to share with you ALL the wonderful women who attended the conference. So I am leaving a linky below for them to post THEIR Mom 2.0 recap posts, so you can all get to know them to.

More to come this week…leave us a comment about what you want to hear about, or what you enjoyed about this recap so far. We’re back and we LOVE you! We’re excited to make this here blog even better for you!

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Besprayed. I mean Betrayed.

You think you know someone.

And then she goes and gets girly on you.

If you’ve been reading this travesty blog for awhile, you know that I have a smidge of a vanity issue.  I likes to look purty. I also enjoy looking at myself in any and all available mirrors, and taking self-portraits on Instagram (where you should totally follow me, BTW, I’m @jennyrapson.)   Additionally, I enjoy lots of eye makeup and scarves.  Jewelry I like but don’t wear as much since Jonah pulls on necklaces but one day I’ll  be back with the necklaces, just you wait.

Emily, however, has seemed to view makeup and accessories as more of a necessary evil. I mean she likes to look nice, and fortunately for her she is the opposite of ugly, which helps, but she’s been a bit less fussy about her appearance than moi.  In fact, her pattern has been to openly mock me for my vanity and eye-roll at my primping.

Has been.

(Well she still mocks me about the Instagram self-portraits.  I secretly think it’s because she WANTS TO DO IT HERSELF.)

Sometime this past year, I began noticing Emily with a little more bling on her outfits.  Her shoes got fancier and cuter.  She began pinning outfits on Pinterest, and for Christmas?  Her husband bought her A NECKLACE TREE.  Because, you know, SHE HAS SO MANY NECKLACES.   Let’s take a look at exhibit A, here people a pic of Emily and me from Christmas 2011.  Who is the most fussy, I ask you?

 

Not only does Emily have on two necklaces, and large earrings, but look at the bottom of the photo – she also has like, legwarmer thingies over her boots. They are super cute but I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT THEY’RE CALLED!  Remember when I used to be fashionable?  Well, I am here to say that Emily and I have switched places.  And now, she is taking her newfound vanity to a new level.

As you read this, Emily will…have…I can’t even bear to write it…a SPRAY TAN.  That’s right.  Miss Vanity USA 2012 couldn’t embrace her natural white color.  In preparation for Mom 2.o in Miami, she went to a friends’ BASEMENT, stripped to her skivvies, and got a spray tan.

Something I will NEVER – mark my words – NEVER do!  God made me white and the only way I want to be brown is if I am in the SUN. I was downright shocked when she told me.  Here’s how our instant message conversation went:

Emily says:

OK but i have a confession to make if you are still there and not pilates-ing

Jenny says:

i’m back. confess

Emily says:

i am getting a spray tan tomorrow

Jenny says:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

i can’t even make time to GET MY EYEBROWS WAXED and YOU ARE GETTING A SPRAY TAN.

once again. who ARE you?

time to start the “emily is vain” blog category. finally!!

Emily says:

hahahahaha

i am so freaking pale it is gross

Jenny says:

so am I, cousin, except it’s NOT gross because it’s the way GOD MADE ME.

and you.

have mercy

we’d be dirty and poor if we had tans and we were on downton abbey

Emily says:

please blog about this tomorrow

——————-

SO there you go. Emily is vainer than Jenny. She has betrayed the paleness of our twice-interwined genes.  Hell has frozen over, pigs can fly, and I hardly ever drink Mountain Dew anymore.  Is this the twilight zone or WHAT??

Now I advised cousin Emily that getting a spray tan the NIGHT BEFORE WE LEAVE for Miami  might not be the best idea. (I learned this from watching Toddlers & Tiaras, of course.  Emily is WELL on her way to being FULL GLITZ.)  But she would not be deterred.  So, Miami here we come! Whitey and Orangey, together forever, we’re going to be like the human Creamsicle.  Un-freaking-forgettable! Get ready!

 

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