FarmBorough Festival 2015

This weekend was the best weekend of my life (not even trying to be dramatic here) I had SO much fun at the inaugural FarmBorough Country Music Festival in NYC! The first country music festival to come to the city, as soon as I heard about it I knew I had to go. With Dierks Bentley, Brad Paisley, and Luke Bryan as headliners I couldn't wait for this weekend to get here.  My Big Sister Laura and I went all 3 days and had a blast singing and dancing the weekend away (special thanks to her for the picture above!) It was raining all day Saturday but that didn't stop us from enjoying the music, we spent most of the day under the side tent listening to up and coming acts like Dallas Smith and Striking Matches (they wrote some songs for the TV show Nashville and are really great!) I fell in love every time another cute country guy started singing on stage, Dustin Lynch - marry me please. The weekend was incredible and I am so sad it had to come to an end. Y'all better believe I am getting tickets for next year as soon as they go on sale! Check out the full lineup from this year here 

{Dierks Bentley performing on Friday night}

{Luke Bryan brought a truck on stage for his finale!}

♥ Caro

MOVING!

Over the weekend I moved out of my dorm and into an apartment!! I am so excited to be staying in the city this summer and living with 3 of my amazing friends. We were able to find an apartment in the city fairly easily and jumped on the opportunity.  We are lucky it's in a great location relative to where we work. There is a good amount of storage and the living room is HUGE which will be perfect for having friends over this summer!! This is my first "big girl" apartment and my first time living outside of the dorms in NYC.  This past weekend and the last few days have been insane - I had no idea how much stuff I had.  Moving was hard work and we didn't even have furniture yet! The last time my family moved I was very young so I didn't remember how much went into moving into a new place.  Since coming to college I have had many "adult" moments but moving definitely tops the list. Being so far from home, I did everything myself. This was both empowering and stressful.  In the end, I am glad I was forced to figure things out for myself because the next time I move I will know exactly what needs to be done.  

I am writing this as the cable guy installs my tv and internet [#adulthood] I was so used to wifi I didn't realize how crippling it is to be without it!  The apartment is definitely a work in progress, everything is here but everything is also EVERYWHERE. Boxes and trash bags full of clothes and shoes are taking over the entire apartment and we are all anxious to have the furniture arrive so we can start organizing.  It's a work in progress but I am really excited to see everything come together! I was lucky enough to find some great deals on furniture online and at thrift stores in the area.    I can't wait for things to be in place, I will be writing a post about how we decorate once we can get everything put away! Thanks for being patient throughout this semester, it has been a roller coster and I am excited to have some free time this summer to write posts more frequently and continue to improve Handbags & Heartbeats! :) 

♥ Caro

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

Last week I had the opportunity to go see Beautiful: The Carole King Musical on Broadway.  I was excited about the last minute plan and couldn't wait to see the show after hearing wonderful things about it.  I love Carole King's music and knew that it would be a fun show if nothing else.  I was blown away by the performance.  Not only was it entertaining and funny, it was also so much fun and a great way to relax after a hectic day.  

The show reminded me a lot of Jersey Boys, following Carole King's journey as a singer/songwriter.  You get to see her big break and go through her career, hearing about songs she wrote you would have never guessed (like "The Locamotion" among others!) The play chronicles, not only her career, but also her personal life and relationships.  Detailing her early marriage to Gerry Goffin and her friendships with Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, Carole is portrayed as a compelling and fascinating woman. Someone so normal and down to earth, I immediately wanted to be her friend. I left the theater with an enormous amount of adoration and respect for her.  Chilina Kennedy is currently playing Carole on Broadway and her performance was incredible.  She looked so much like Carole King and was a phenomenal singer and actress.  

Beautiful is an excellent option if you're in the market for a fun, feel-good Broadway show! It has heart, it has humor, and most importantly, great music! At the end I was out of my seat and clapping along as the cast belted out "I Feel the Earth Move." The show is great for all ages, I can't wait to take my mom when she comes to visit soon! 

♥ Caro

Rebecca Minkoff Sample Sale

Tuesday (4/21) - Friday (2/24) 

10 am - 8 pm 

Saturday (4/25) 

10 am - 5 pm 

Today during my lunch break I went over to 260 Fifth Avenue to check out the Rebecca Minkoff sample sale.  I've been eyeing a Mac Clutch for a while now so I went with the hopes I could find one on sale! There were 6 or 8 tables full of handbags, most of them were still around $100. For every price range there was a discounted price and posters were put up around the room detailing how much each bag would be once marked down. The clothing was along one side wall, dresses, shorts and skirts were $100, while tops were $75 and t-shirts were $25.  The clothing was very cute and well made, they seemed to have a decent array of sizes as well, with multiples of each item, ranging in sizes from 0-6 with a few size 8.  Shoes were in the back and wallets were over along another wall in plastic containers.  They also had a large table to the side with briefcases and large leather bags. 

I made my way over to the $50 sample table beside the registers, a girl was putting samples out onto a table, she would pull out a few every couple of minutes and the frenzy would begin.  People were snatching bags from other people and going crazy when she would bring out new styles.  (It was honestly such a rush!) I got my hands on the brown Mac Clutch pictured above! Retailing for $295 I was able to snag it for $50 and I am so excited about it.  It's slightly bigger than most of the cross body bags I have and after wanting one for so long I am so glad I decided to go check out the sale! 

The sale is also happening online at rebeccaminkoff.com if you aren't able to go to the store in the city!  I would assume prices in the sample store will probably be going down throughout the week as they try to get rid of more merchandise.  If you're in the market for a new bag, I highly suggest checking it out! They had some good deals and when I was there the tables were filled with every color and style you could imagine! It was a great selection of items and worth the trip if you're in the city.  Happy shopping!! 

♥ Caro

Mint Madness

For Easter, my mom sent me the sweetest care package full of snacks and surprises.  One of the items she included was this gorgeous Mint Crossbody bag from Target.  The color is more vibrant in real life, and I wish it came across as minty in the picture above! I saw it when I was home for spring break and hinted (not so subtly) that I was obsessed with it.  I have always loved the color (as you can probably tell from the current blog background!) and I knew the bag would be perfect for spring and summer.  I often find I can't actually wear clothing this color, with my fair skin the cool color tends to wash me out, so I gravitate towards more vibrant hues.  Because of this, I am always looking for fun accessories in order to get a splash of mint in my life.  I can't wait to pair this bag with any and everything.  It has 2 compartments and is larger than most of my cross-body bags which will be good when I am on the go this summer.  

The Turquoise Cutout Necklace pictured is from J. Crew Factory and I am in love with it.  I've worn it almost everyday since I got it.  I wear so much black, especially on nights out, and this turquoise adds the perfect pop of color to any outfit.  It looks great with a little black dress - the geometric shapes look so cool.  It goes well with anything and I can't wait to pair it with hot pink or white this summer! 

♥ Caro

Where Have I Been?!

{Spring Fever is in full effect in New York City!} 

Anybody else feel like they blinked and it was April? I could've sworn New Years Eve was just yesterday.  This year is flying by and this semester has been especially insane. I started off Spring semester with a presentation in studio, it was a short production that I created using several different scripts and poems.  I worked over break to piece the texts together and created a performance I was so proud of.  After that we jumped into scenes and projects, I suddenly had so much going on I could barely find time to breathe.  With rehearsals lasting all night long and pages upon pages of scripts to memorize just days before presenting these scenes, I was overwhelmed and stressed out to say the least. 

Luckily this week we have moved on to rehearsal projects and a new schedule that has cut down on outside rehearsals.  The transition has provided a nice semi-break and I have finally caught up on everything.  One of the things I missed most during the past few months is blogging.  I was so busy and with my focus being pulled in so many different directions, there was no way I could sit down and think about a new blog post.  This week though, my inspiration has been restored and I am so excited to get back to work on Handbags & Heartbeats! This blog is something I really enjoy and it's an outlet I have come to find I need in my life. Keep checking back, I have some fun posts coming up! 

♥ Caro

Snow Day

"Snowverated" is the word of the day this morning in New York City.  After all of the preparation and worried texts from my parents, I woke up to freshly plowed streets and clear sidewalks.  The 2 feet of snow we were supposed to be covered in was, on my end, only about 5 inches.  With school called off and most of the places in my neighborhood closed, this day is just a continuation of the break that was supposed to end yesterday.  I got back to the city Saturday and was happily reunited with friends and my favorite city.  New York said "Welcome home!" with a lovely blizzard and my winter break is now the never-ending vacation.  My school cancelled classes yesterday afternoon when the storm was at its peak; the prediction looked horrible and I was glad we weren't going to take any chances.  Last year I was just told to trek safely to class in the snow storm that covered Washington Square Park with nearly a foot of accumulation.  This snow day is NOTHING compared to the tundra I had to walk through last year.  On the bright side, my school can't send an email retracting their previous decision to cancel all classes, I think if they could they definitely would. 

I am excited to stay in my pajamas all day and catch up on some reading - I am halfway through We Were Liars by E. Lockhart for my sorority book club and so far it's a good story, and an easy read! My roommates and I have thrilling plans to drink lots of hot chocolate and watch too much "Dance Moms". A snow day is the perfect excuse to do nothing, despite a lack of snow, I'm happy for a reason to stay home all day and make fun of the blizzard that never came. 

{My view of the blizzard, Juno}

♥ Caro