What I Wore To My First Blogger Meet-Up!

Ever since I started blogging and began making friends all across this country,  I often wondered what it would be like to meet them in person.  Whenever I read posts from bloggers who live in major cities and "meet up" with other local bloggers for coffee or some other event,  I was envious.  I live in a little tiny town in Wisconsin, and my odds of meeting another blogger with interests similar to mine are slim to none.  So when Karen from "She Thought She Could So She Did" messaged me on Facebook and said she and her husband would be in Minneapolis for a few hours and wanted to know if we could meet, I was thrilled!  

I live less than two hours from Minneapolis and go there several times a year to shop or attend the theatre, so it was no big deal for my husband and I to drive there on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

We decided to meet at Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis because it has a restaurant right inside the grounds, plus this gorgeous waterfall and nature trails.  I will share more about my thoughts on this park in a future travel post.  For now, I just want to talk about my blogger meet up and what Karen and I wore.

 Karen and I did not plan or discuss our outfits ahead of time, so I was pleasantly surprised at how well the colors coordinated.  Karen wore this lovely coral dress.  I chose a dressy pair of black shorts and a pretty tank.

Now it's one thing for two bloggers to meet who have been communicating on-line for awhile...they kind of have somewhat of a history and know a little about each other.  But it wasn't the same for our husbands.  They've never met or communicated with each other before today.  But they were good sports and made great "Instagram Husbands", taking plenty of pictures for our blogs, Instagram, and Facebook.  Although they come from opposite sides of the country and like different sports teams, there was never a lack of conversation.  If guys have sports in common, they always have plenty to talk about don't they?

We had the guys pretend in this picture to be "bad sports"for having to tag along with us all day taking our pictures.  Pretty funny isn't it?  I love the camera slung across my husband's shoulder.

Karen was such a sweetheart and surprised me at lunch with a friendship bracelet.  Isn't it pretty?  It even matched the colors we had on!  Now every time I wear it, I'll think of Karen and the fun day we had in Minneapolis.

And she also brought a Lily of the Valley bulb all the way from Connecticut so I could plant it in my garden.  I love Lily of the Valley!  The delicate little flowers are so pretty, and the scent is heavenly.

After lunch we walked the nature trail for a little bit and checked out the waterfall.  The guys found a park bench to sit and talk while Karen and I cooled our feet in the river water and talked about the pros and cons of blogging.  We found we both agreed on a lot of blogging issues and that we had more in common than we knew before the meet up!

Deciding what to wear for this big event was a challenge.  I knew I wanted to look nice for I was meeting another style blogger, so I had to look stylish!  But I also knew it would be hot, we'd be walking a lot, and the location would be a bit casual since it was a public park.  So I decided to go for an in-between dressy/casual look by wearing black dress shorts with a fancy tank top, lots of jewelry, and heels that I could walk in at least for a little while.

I bought these Liz Claiborne shorts from J.C. Penney last year but never wore them as often as I would like.  You would think that anything goes with black and that I would have had a slew of tops in my closet to choose from to wear with my black shorts, but I did not.  Then I saw Jennie from "A Pocketful of Polka Dots" wearing her black shorts with a fancier top HERE, and I liked it so much I decided that I needed to go shopping for more tops to wear with my own black shorts.

The top is by Worthington and I bought it at J.C. Penney (where else?).  You can find the top HERE, and it's even on clearance now, it wasn't when I bought it!  I can't say enough about how much I love this top.  It's my dream summer top.  The material is a loose, soft knit, so it's cool and comfortable.  I can't stand wearing clothes that cling to my body in the summer time (or any time of year for that matter).  It has a pleated front, so it fits my ample bosom quite well, unlike a lot of other tank tops I've tried.  And the straps are so interesting!  They have a triangular shape with a gold metal bar that brings the two straps together.

The keyhole back is also very pretty and interesting as well.  The top comes in two other styles and colors, but sizes are limited as this is a very popular top.  I love the pretty turquoise blue color of mine and the interesting design.  The bit of black color in the design coordinated beautifully with my black shorts...but because there is white in the design, I could see this top with a pair of white shorts as well.  

For jewelry, I wore blue diamond studs, a black and gold necklace, and black and gold bracelets.

I chose a white cross body bag to tie the entire outfit together and to keep my hands free while I hiked.  Although my bulky bag always seemed to get in the way every time Karen and I hugged or got close for a picture!

I chose these shoes because they are the dressiest shoes I felt I could actually walk in, plus they are old so I knew if they got dirty it wouldn't be the end of the world.  I've actually been looking to replace these shoes for awhile, but I haven't found anything that would work for my lifestyle.  I did end up finding a pair of dressy Liz Claiborne flat thong sandals this week that I purchased, but I'm still on the look out for a pair with more of a heel too.

Halter style tops tend to be universally flattering on everyone.  I can see myself wearing this top even when the weather cools.  It would be great under a white or black blazer or jacket.  Wouldn't it look awesome with black jeans too?

 The sun couldn't make up it's mind whether it wanted to be out or hidden behind the clouds so I was constantly alternating between wearing my sunglasses and using them as a head band.  These are white rimmed aviator glasses from JCP.

 After my meet up with Karen was over my husband asked me how I thought it went and if I thought Karen was the person I thought she was based on what I've known only from written communication before.  I said that I felt as if we were old friends who haven't seen each other for a very long time and then got together and just picked up exactly where we left off.  It was fun meeting someone that I've only seen pictures and blog posts of before.  I told Karen when we parted, that if she is ever in Minneapolis again to let me know, the two of us need to do some serious retail therapy at the Mall of America.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

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