A little grey dress for a productive and fun week of meeting new people!

Happy Friday Everyone!  I recently picked up this gorgeous drop waisted pleated Tibi dress from Shobop.com during their “Friends and Family Sale” last week (hope you took advantage of that as well!) and haven’t been able to wear any other dresses since!  It’s the perfect mix of classy and fun.  It goes easily from day to night and is a great piece for social events and business events alike. All you need to do is change the stilettos and accessories and you have a whole new outfit.  In this particular post, I chose to wear it with my purple hat (perfect for a windy SF day), my Barney’s NY sky-high stilettos and some decorative jewelry.  This outfit has essentially been my look all week!

Speaking of this week, I had the opportunity to attend so many great events from blogging and fashion events to entrepreneurial business meetings and alumni get togethers.  It has truly been a remarkable week in terms of the people I have met, listened to speak, and mingled amongst.  Earlier this week, I attended an event with start-up company Le Tote where they introduced their company to the San Francisco blogging community.  Wednesday, I attended a “Start-ups and Swagger” meeting in Menlo Park hosted by UC Berkeley where professors and entrepreneurs spoke.  One entrepreneur and Cal graduate in particular, Amanda Pouchot of Levo League, gave a thoughtful and inspiring speech on the plights of women entrepreneurs (a la Lean In; just so happens I started reading the controversial Sheryl Sandberg book this week).  Amanda stressed the need for confidence that some women inherently lack and that pursuing a professional goal is not just a pipe dream for women anymore.  Ken Singer, the director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at Cal dovetailed off Amanda’s sentiments by saying: “risk is the ultimate first world problem.”  That really resonated with me.  I have the advantage to take a risk and I am so excited to be able to have that ‘problem.’  As disconcerting as the feeling of not knowing can be at times, the excitement of its’ possibilities far outweighs that discomfort.  

To continue with my week of social mingling, I attended the preview party for Chubbies Shorts in SOMA where they debuted their winter collection of shorts that, of course, are lined with flannel.  It’s a local, fun and innovative brand that I hope to be able to collaborate with in the near future!  To top off the week, I attended a coffee meet up with fellow UCLA alumnus in downtown San Francisco for some old fashion networking.  It was very inspiring to chat with fellow Bruins who are thriving in their career, looking for new avenues to expand and even some recent grads just getting started.  One thing we did, that I found to be a great exercise, was to go around the circle and share a personal or professional ‘win’ for us from that week.  I, of course, was happy to share my recent feature in InStyle (yes, I am still glowing from that!) while others shared their wins.  It made me think that everyone should do this as it is motivation to keep moving forward toward your goal.  

In conclusion, it’s been an incredible week!  My take away from these events is that my drive and confidence comes from my style and my pursuit to parlay it into my career; and I think many women can relate to this.  Style is a form of expression and if you feel good in what you’re wearing you’ll take that energy into the next part of your day and eventually your life.  The items don’t have to be flashy or expensive they just need to be right for you.  So I hope my blog is able to give confidence to women and inspire them to try something new, whether it pertains to their personal style or career.

Have a great weekend and check out the links below to get my look from above.   

Photos by Erin Sullivan  (Great job, Girl!)