TxSC Full Recap

Day 1 – Friday

The TxSC corner at Taverna for happy hour was already full by the time I battled my way through traffic to parking, but I got a free drink and chatted up some fun ladies. This is where I first met Haley, Chelle, D’Andra, and Emily, all of whom are fabulous and I hung out with more later that weekend. I talked to Haley without recognizing her for a few minutes, even though I’ve read her blog for awhile now. D’oh. And it was nice finally meeting up with Emily, who lives here in Round Rock with me (yet we hadn’t ever met up!) and designs wonderful clothes.

Then it was on to the Swap.com/Lulu’s clothing swap at TxSC headquarters. We each brought two items to swap away, and got to pick two items from the swap racks to take home. We also got one freebie from Lulu’s.

I was lucky enough to score 3 dresses! One was a white floral number brought to the swap by Amy, one was a black and white printed dress brought to the swap by Natalie, and the navy & teal polka dot one was my score from Lulu’s. I tried them all on in the tiny bathroom stall before claiming them for sure, and while I didn’t have a mirror they did at least all fit, so I went with them. Trying on at home with the mirror available confirmed that my choices were awesome. 🙂

This was probably my favorite evening of the event, not just because of my swapped goods, but also because I got to hang out more with the ladies mentioned above, and met Sarah and her boyfriend Ian (the only Ian I’ve ever met besides my own!). I didn’t clearly hear what Sarah said when we exchanged blog names, and only later at home when I looked at her card did I realize I’d met another blogger than I’d already been following awhile. I wasn’t kidding in my mini recap when I said it was hard to recognize people. Though it probably doesn’t help that I usually read posts in my reader, and don’t constantly see the profile pics in people’s sidebars.

I had thought there would be finger food of some sort at either the happy hour or the swap party, but aside from some granola bars there wasn’t, so I left about 8:00pm and headed home via Wendy’s. I would’ve liked to stay longer and chat, but such was not acceptable to my stomach.

Day 2 – Saturday

The morning started with the photography workshop, which was informative. Sadly, we didn’t get to practice any of the tips due to the rainy/crappy weather. Then it was on to breakfast tacos (which were yummy) and the speed mentoring session. Big names from the blogging & social media world let us pester them with questions for awhile. I got to talk with Tracy for quite awhile about selling on Etsy, and with Turi from ModCloth about working with brands. I listened in on some other sessions as well, and chatted with Lindsay about dresses with long sleeves (I was wearing one).

I had been looking forward to the boutique and thrift crawl that afternoon, but Indiana (the organizer) announced that due to the weather the bus would only be going to Savers. Which I’ve been to and can go to anytime. I’d hoped for more insight into local hole-in-the-wall thrifting places, but such was not to be. And since I’d slept poorly the night before, I opted to head home to Round Rock and nap/hang out with boyfriend & puppy/shower/eat Chinese food before the event that night.

Then it was time to get dolled up for the Posh Party. Ian was kind enough to go with me, and ended up being a good luck charm against traffic/parking issues. We got there right about 7, I listed my dress for the Poshmark sale, and we grabbed some wine. Then it was saying hi to people, and visiting all of the vendor booths for browsing and freebies.

I was lucky enough to land an awesome purse (below), a ModCloth tote bag, some silver Dr. Scholl’s flats, a compact mirror from Blowfish and a bracelet from Stella Dot. I got to meet Elise from Blowfish, which was fun as I’ve followed her on Twitter for awhile. Then it was time to spin the Lulu’s prize wheel. There was only one slot for $100 (the rest were Jewelry, Item, $10, $50, etc.) and the girl right in front of me in line – hi Lisa! – got it. I watched sadly as they removed that prize option from the wheel. Then I spun, and won a free jewelry item and picked out a necklace.

By this time it was SUPER crowded, and Ian had about had enough (I had as well), so we headed home to cuddle on the couch and watch some Fringe from Netflix.

Day 3 – Sunday

This day started out good. I got to sleep in a bit, and it was finally the blue sky & sunshine weather I’ve come to love and expect in Austin. I was sipping my morning tea and browsing the web when I saw a tweet from Alta about picking up Starbucks before heading to the TxSC panels. I had a moment where I was like “why is she heading over there already?” and then looked at the clock on my computer. Yup. I had completely forgot about Daylight Savings Time. Commence panicked rush to get dressed and out the door. I made it to the Blanton in time, but sans breakfast/lunch.

The panels themselves were pretty interesting. It definitely gave me some food for thought regarding how & what I blog. Some of it was not so applicable, as I don’t plan on ever having this blog focus just on fashion. But overall not a badly spent afternoon.

I managed to grab a quick snack from the museum’s cafe in between panels, but by the 4th session of panels that day my tummy was rumbling loudly. I think I scared D’Andra, who I was sitting next to. So once again I had to cut out early to tend to my stomach (this time it was a Mexican pizza from Taco Bell, and OMG it was divine).

Overall, a weekend well-spent. I learned some things, have some more things to think about, made some new friends, and scored some new stuff. Schedule permitting, I will probably attend next year as well. 🙂