Meet Beautiful Life & Style - Blogger Q&A

Erika of Beautiful Life & Style is a great friend of mine from college. We recently spent a week in Baltimore together at the Society of Women Engineers National Conference. We used to be neighbors in Cambridge when I lived in Boston, but now we are 3000 miles apart! Miss this girl!

Erika is a civil engineer by trade and she writes about travel, architecture, art, food and fashion in her amazing blog. You should really check her blog out!

Describe your personal style in three words.

1. Classic
2. Girly
3. Polished


Erika of Beautiful Life and Style

I can’t leave home without:
Checking myself in the mirror at least three times!

If I were any accessory, I would be:
My go to: a scarf. I like to think I'd be a Hermes one.

Where are your three favorite places to shop?
1. Charles Street - I am lucky to live <10 minutes from one of the most charming shopping streets in the country. It's straight out of a storybook! A few favorite stores include North River Outfitters, Holiday and Good.

2.  Neiman Marcus (when I can afford it!)
3. JCrew. What blogger DOESN'T love JCrew???

Charles Street in Boston, MA

What is your favorite travel outfit?

I try my best to balance style with comfort. Usually I’m wearing comfy flats (currently living in Charles Philip slippers), corduroy leggings, a pretty button down, a pashmina-which doubles as my blanket for the flight, and my biggest Chanel sunglasses-to block out the misery.

What outfit to you go do when you want to feel strong and powerful?
For me it’s less about the outfit and what’s underneath that counts! Maybe this is TMI- but if I have a big day ahead, I’m putting on my most expensive bras and panties for that strong sexy feeling. Think the opening scene of the Devil Wears Prada- those fashionistas knew how to start the day right!

What is your go-to handbag right now?

I’m in the market for a new one, but right now I have an oversized brown suede kooba bag with nailhead studs in the rotation that is SO fall. I love it.

What are you reading right now?
I'm reading a lot of blogs - see below!

What is a guilty pleasure of yours?

I secretly love reading the NY Times Weddings Section over a cup of tea.

What post or blog milestone are you most proud of?

I can’t believe I’ve been blogging for two years now! Blogging is always forcing me to go on new adventures but one of my favorites will always be the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic in NY. I won a contest by Bergdorf Goodman and my boyfriend and I were treated to a real VIP experience. It remains one of my most popular posts, and one of my favorite memories.

Erika at the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic in NY.

What blogs have you visited recently?
So hard to pick just a few! Favorites include: Sketch 42 for an amazing Art and Design aesthetic, Daily Cup of Couture for a high-end dose of fashion, and {Dear Friend} a fellow Bostonian with a beautiful outlook on life.

SWE National Conference and Blogger Meet Up

A few weeks ago I was off the Society of Women Engineers National Conference in Baltimore, Maryland for the week to recruit for my company. A good friend of mine from college and fellow blogger, Erika, was also attending the conference and recruiting for her company as well and asked if she could crash with me for the week. The answer was of course yes! Erika, who writes the amazing Beautiful Life & Style, was an engineering classmate of mine in college although while I studied Aerospace Engineering, she went the Civil Engineering route.

My roomie for the week, Erika of Beautiful Life & Style.

We spent the week running around like crazy. In addition to recruiting, I led the conference delegation for my company and Erika, in addition to everything else she does, also volunteers as the treasurer for her SWE section in the Northeast.

On Friday, our good friend Sarah and co-founder of Coffee Straws, came on the train from D.C. to spend the night with us and hang out. I was extra excited because it meant I got to see Sarah twice in one week (she was spending the night with me six days later in LA)!

When Sarah got into town, we headed out to dinner for some amazing cocktails and pasta. We were starving since we had been on our feet all day at the Career Fair. We then headed back to the room and ordered a bottle of wine and spent the evening toasting and reliving our college days.

We have a thing for bows and buckles on our flats.

Me, Sarah of Coffee Straws and Erika of Beautiful Life & Style.

The next morning we met up with the Wash U SWE Chapter (our Alma Mater), to dispense some engineering advice and answer any questions the girls may have had. We went to Ms. Shirley's in the inner harbor and it was amazing. Erika and I both had the Eggs Benedict with Maryland Crab Cakes (to die for). Sarah came along as well and we reconnected with one of our sorority sisters who is a current Chi Omega Tau Mu member. Tau Mu was celebrating its 10th Anniversary that weekend in St. Louis, so we had our own mini celebration at breakfast.

Myself and Sarah with a current Chi O! Hootie Hoo!

After breakfast we were off to do some shopping before Sarah had to head back to D.C. and Erika and I had to get ready for Celebrate SWE! It was an amazing week and I am so looking forward to SWE National Conference in 2014 since it's in my town this time! Yay LA!