fall favorites

Today marks the last day of October, which means that the season for scarves, boots, apple cider, hot chocolate, leggings, vests, tailgates, pumpkin flavored everything, and sweaters is in full force. Soon we will make the timeless transition from pumpkin spice latte's to the famed red holiday cups at Starbucks, and white girls everywhere will instagram their peppermint mochas. While fall is still upon us, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite items for the season.

Every girl needs at least one bold, vampy lip color for the fall/winter season. My pick for a dramatic lip is Tom Ford's Bruised Plum. It's perfect in every way except the price, but I think everyone needs at least one expensive designer lipstick to truly feel like a boss.

Every year I anticipate the release of the fall candles at Bath and Body Works. Leaves has been my favorite fall scent for a few years now (closely followed by Autumn), and I stock up on it in mass amounts because it always sells out quickly. I'm worthless at describing scents ("It smells like....apple leaves" probably means nothing to you), but just trust me when I say this is the perfect fall candle.

 

 

Shearling Darling from Essie's fall 2013 collection is the perfect November nail polish. You just can't go wrong with a deep mahogany polish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the right person rocks a pair of leather leggings, it can be the greatest look ever. Especially when they're paired with heeled booties and a dark, vampy lip. My pick for the best affordable faux-leather leggings are from Tobi (just ordered mine!). I love leather leggings because I feel like Sandy from Grease. Possible last minute Halloween costume?

 

 

 

Socks are such an undervalued accessory. I think that they get a hard time and a bad rep as the "boring Christmas gift", but socks can add so much to an outfit. I love this pair of knee-high socks with button accents from Urban Outfitters. I picked up a pair in cream to wear with my brown riding boots; they're the perfect length for the buttons to show over the top of the boots. I'm sure I'll be picking up some other colors.

 

 

 

 

What's on your fall/winter must-have list?

indiana girls in philly

I'm back from National Conference and have the blisters to prove it. Seriously, the size of the blisters on my feet are obscene and I can't stand without pain...turns out it wasn't a great weekend to break in new pairs of flats and heels. Despite my battle wounds, the weekend was a blast. Amazing speakers like Brian Solis, Mary Henige, and representatives from Warner Bros. left me feeling inspired and ready to do big things in the PR world. Another highlight of the trip was meeting other PRSSA members from all over the country. The energy in the room during chapter roll call was amazing; there's nothing quite like hundreds of type-A PR nerds all crammed into one room. The events, keynote speakers, and learning opportunities were fabulous, but the highlight of my weekend was bonding with my chapter members. It was so fun bonding with such an amazing group of women, and now we have hilarious/priceless (emphasis on hilarious) memories to take with us from the weekend.

Here's a breakdown of what we did aside from National Conference activities...
Friday:
-Arrived in Philly around noon exhausted, jetlagged, running on one hour of sleep and looking like a corpse. Needed coffee injected into my veins.
-Found coffee.
-Saw some essential tourist things like the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, which made my friend Maggie (fellow lover of all things 'Murrica) and I extremely happy.
-Ate at a giant indoor market full of relatively cheap food from all over the world. We could have spent days in this place wandering and checking out all of the different food stands.
-That night, the hotel that hosted National Conference put on a Gatsby-themed dance/social/event. Things were awkwardly reminiscent of a middle school dance until the IU PRSSA girls decided to take over the dance floor. There were feather boas, snacks, drinks, and three men controlling the music who looked to be approximately 107 years old...so I guess you could say it was the greatest night ever.
Saturday night:
-Watched the world series at an Irish pub and ate/drank way too much.
-Found a bar with karaoke. Everyone there was roughly 50 but there were drinks, live entertainment, and Halloween costumes so can't complain.
Sunday night:
-Tequila bar.
-Maggie and I are babies so after finding pizza (our shared boyfriend), we found cookies (our other love), and snuggled in bed watching a movie.
-Went downstairs to meet up with the other girls, proceeded to eat more pizza.
Monday:
-Crammed in some more last minute sight seeing and checked out the "Rocky Steps" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Love Park, and what we thought was Benjamin Franklin's grave but ended up just being a statue of his head (it's the thought that counts). 

Me, Cassie, and Maggie feeling classy in our business proFRESHional attire

 

 Showing off Day 3 outfits (in heels and still a short little baby) with chapter President Christine...for more of her style check out her blog!

 

 Checking out Independence Hall with Maggie and Cassie

 

 "Watching" baseball with my favorite ladies

 

 Me, Maggie, and our main man Ben Franklin

 

#tourists

We found out that next year's National Conference will be in Washington, D.C...I'm already excited!

so profesh

I'm leaving for Philly and National Conference in less than six hours and still haven't opened my suitcase to pack, but I printed 300 business cards so as far as I'm concerned I'm an established, responsible adult (who can't pack for trips). I designed my own business cards but when I got to Staples to print them off, I ended up going with one of the many designs that they offered. I tweaked the template and added my own information, and voila, here you have it:







national conference prep

This time tomorrow I’ll be on a plane heading to Philadelphia for PRSSA National Conference. This is something I’ve been looking forward to for a long time, but in typical Eliza fashion I procrastinated until the last minute and now have tons of preparing to do. I realized (a few days ago, conveniently) that I’m in desperate need of some business casual clothes. A quick trip to the bleak and undesirable place that is my town's local mall left me with a few new tops from Express, some affordable but classic pants from Target, and some new shoes. 

I think these will look so cute with a blouse or sweater, statement necklace, and black pumps

I love the leather trimmed collar on this blouse

 

I'm sure I'll have some outfit pictures to share over the weekend for anyone looking for business casual inspiration. Also on my to-do list is to print my resume and business cards, and get a manicure (my excuse for the splurge is that I'll be handing out business cards and shaking a lot of hands. Valid, right?).  

Things I'm especially looking forward to about National Conference: 

• Visiting classic American sites like Benjamin Franklin's grave and the Liberty Bell

• Eating my way through the city (although my brother and the general male population are disappointed in me because I don't eat red meat so I'll be passing up the Philly Cheese Steaks)

• Networking with industry professionals

• Attending panels on fashion, food/beverage, and entertainment PR

• Bonding with my fellow IUPRSSA chapter members, and also meeting new people from other chapters all over the country!

Anyone have any suggestions of where to go and what to do in Philadelphia? 

italy, here i come!

I recently found out I’ve been accepted into a spring travel course through my university, and I could NOT be more excited! The course focuses on international public relations and communications, and includes spring break travel to Italy. I am obviously thrilled for this experience because it combines three of my greatest loves in life: travel, public relations, and wine. Spending spring break in Florence and Rome is something that I’m really excited about (i.e., can barely contain jumping up and down screaming and squealing every time I think about it). I don’t know tons of details about the trip yet, but I know that it will include networking opportunities, sightseeing, delicious food, great shopping, and a vineyard tour.
 
This will actually be my second trip to Italy; two summers ago I was fortunate enough to make the trip of a lifetime abroad to Italy, Croatia, and Switzerland with my mom, aunt, and grandmother. It was a whirlwind three weeks and definitely the coolest experience of my life to date. We traveled throughout Italy, visiting popular tourist destinations as well as tiny towns consisting of 100 people who didn’t speak a word of English. Rome was the most romantic and interesting city I’ve ever experienced, so I’m really excited to go back, and Florence will be a new experience altogether.
 
I have so much to do in order to prepare for this trip, but as you can imagine I'm already planning outfits and brushing up on the little Italian I know (by that I mean about five words) in anticipation. My mouth is watering at the thought of being reunited with pasta and gelato!
 
Here are a few pictures from my last trip to Italy...I spent a good hour reminiscing and looking through all of them:

it's about time

I’m finally taking the plunge and starting a blog. Years of scouring my favorite food, fashion, and travel blogs has left me wondering why I don’t have my own little corner of the internet to share my thoughts and experiences. Those of you reading this who know me personally (I’m assuming that only three or four people will ever see this post and they’ll be my roommates and mom…) know that I love travel, fashion, animals, anything PR related, and food (especially food). I’m sure that most if not all of my blog posts will focus on these topics, so you have that to look forward to.
 
On the off chance you’re reading this and don’t know me (keep dreaming, Eliza), here are the basics: I’m currently a junior at Indiana University studying journalism, public relations, and marketing. I love all animals, post-it notes and planners, well-made beds (seriously, ask my roommates, I will never have an unmade bed unless I’m sleeping in it), coffee, books, and magazines (I have a little bit of a magazine hoarding problem). In my free time I spend as much time as possible outdoors, traveling, reading, or cuddling with my two dogs. My goals in life are simple: be happy, make other people happy, travel the world, and have no regrets.