For as comfortable as I have always been in front of the camera, and on stage, and just as a lover of attention – I am sometimes awkward when it comes to in person interactions. The majority of the time, my travel photos are taken by John (or Catherine if I’m with her) because it just seems easier, even if they are just on my iPhone or a point-and-shoot! BUT, I have decided that I want to make an effort when I travel to meet and work with local creatives, because it really enhances my travel experience and I realized that working with professional photographers really helps to get my creative juices flowing. My two experiences doing this were AWESOME and I am writing this here, to remind myself (and encourage you) to keep doing so!

In the days leading up to my trip to New York to watch John run the marathon, I reached out to Allie of Pret-A-Provost. I am a huge fan of her as a blogger and a photographer and I made myself send her a DM to set up a shoot and I am SO glad that I did. In both cities when I worked with local photogs (the first being Austin), I wanted to get some iconic shots, even if it seems a little cheesy. I am no stranger to NYC, but have never chosen to shoot in front of the classic city spots. I was so glad when Allie suggested that we shoot at Grand Central Station and the New York Public Library because that’s exactly the vibe I was going for! I can’t wait to continue to share the photos that we shot with you guys.

I LOVE the shots that she captured, and the process was such fun. Timing our shots between the red lights, watching out for cabs and crazy New York drivers and tourists trying to get into the closed New York Public Library, it was an adventure to say the least! So many people commented on my instagram about how I was literally in traffic, and they were exactly right LOL.

Similarly to New York, when I decided I wanted to shoot in Austin, I was thrilled when local photographer Divina Stennfeld suggested we shoot around the ‘i love you so much’ sign and Austin Motel. You guys have already seen these photos before, but just wanted to throw them in to emphasize my point! I had such fun exploring the iconic, ‘grammable spots in Austin, that it helped to push me to do the same thing in New York.

So, to my fellow blogger friends and creators, I urge you to look up local creatives during your travels, even if it means stepping outside of your comfort zone. It will be worth it, I promise!

AND OUR AMAZON GIVEAWAY IS STILL LIVE FOR ONE MORE WEEK!

We’re making a list and checking it twice! I’ve teamed up with an amazing group of bloggers to give YOU a chance to win: a $1,000 Amazon Gift Card, just in time to complete your holiday wish list!

Simply enter below by completing the rafflecopter. You’ll receive one entry per completion. This giveaway is open to the U.S. and Canada only and runs until 11/20. Winner will be announced here. Good Luck!

Void where prohibited. By entering the giveaway you acknowledge that you are agreeing to complete each task, which involves following, liking and subscribing to newsletter’s.

The post Reb’s Tips: Meeting Creatives When You Travel appeared first on the crystal press fashion blog.

This past weekend, we had the pleasure of traveling up to New York for the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic and boy, was it a fabulous weekend!  There will be plenty more photos and details about that in the coming weeks, but for now, I want to talk about one of the true heros of the day: the Dansko’s Octavia.

Leading up to our trip, I knew that I wanted the day to go perfectly, and there were so many factors that would go into that.  Arrival time, a good night’s sleep, a fabulous outfit, and a pair of shoes that would last me the entire day.

I have to admit it had been a few years (okay, maybe closer to 15) since I have owned a pair of Danskos, but when they reached out with their exclusive Zappos campaign, I immediately fell in love with this pair.  And then I fell in love with them again once I finally put them on! It was obviously important for me to look my very best for the Polo Classic and these shoes provided the perfect combo of style and comfort that I was looking for.  Whether you are looking to up your summer shoe game with everyday comfortable shoes, or are looking for a great pair of heels to top of your outfit, I highly recommend checking out the collection that Dansko has to offer on Zappos!

I have no doubt that this pair is going to be in heavy rotation when it comes to my shoe choices this summer.

Need more reasons to shop at Zappos?
1. Free + Fast Shipping – seriously, I think my shoes got here in 2 days.
2. 365 Day Return Policy – you know, just in case the shoe doesn’t fit.
3. The selection is AMAZING.  So many great choices, my shopping cart is practically always full.

The post Style + Comfort with Dansko + Zappos appeared first on the crystal press fashion blog.

Everyone is trying to turn heads at NYFW, we all know that.  And while we aren’t all supermodels or can’t all be decked out in head to toe Gucci or Miu Miu, there are definitely other ways to stick out.  We opted for these matching striped sweaters from Zara, and wore them on repeat.  Not to brag or anything *ahem* but we did turn quite a few heads and it was an excellent conversation piece.

The advice that we give to you is to find something you really, really like and feel comfortable in and turn that into your outfit base. Repeating pieces is TOTALLY okay, especially if you are forced to pack one suitcase for 5 days in the city.   For a Friday night party, we chose to wear the sweaters with leather minis and on Sunday gallivanting around town, we chose more laid back, personalized looks.

Into Stripes too? Shopbop is having a mega end of the season sale right now + here are our favorite striped pieces on sale now!

Looking for skirts + denim to pair with your statement pieces? Here are some of our faves:

The post Twinnning at NYFW in Stripes appeared first on the crystal press fashion blog.

We have found it is easiest when packing for NYFW to have a good strategy.  Otherwise it is midnight the day before you leave and you are staring in your closet like ‘where the heck do I even start?’  Each season we try to stick with a theme and expand on it. Sure, we all want to stand out to street style photogs, but that doesn’t mean you have to do anything too over the top! This year, Cath is leaning towards metallics and I am leaning towards graphic tees and straight up, basic black. We look forward to sharing our looks with you during our trip so make sure you stay tuned on insta stories – not only on @thecrystalpress but also on @cathclaire + @rebeccapiersol!

The post What We’re Packing for Fashion Week: Tees + Metallics appeared first on the crystal press fashion blog.

Some people prepare for spring with florals and patterns, but we like to have a tendency to stick to the basics all year ’round. Nothing against colors and prints, of course, but you cant go wrong with black and white. It is a given that our over-packed suitcases for NYFW are full of our fave monochromatic looks. Here are a few of our favorite *mostly affordable* pieces right now!  

Especially lusting after this TopShop blouse + this culotte romper from Urban!

Photos: Kaytee Lauren

The post Black + White Basics appeared first on the crystal press fashion blog.

We have never met a Four Seasons Hotel that we didn’t like. I mean, really, who has? We had the luxury of staying at the new Four Seasons Hotel Downtown in NYC during our last visit and it was divine.  From the marble bathrooms to the room service breakfast (those waffles!) and everything in between, it was truly a dream from the moment we walked in the door. We are seriously convinced that Four Seasons employees are the best of the best and we always know that they are going to take the best care of us during our stays. 

We rarely spend time in the Financial District during our jaunts up to the Big Apple, but really enjoyed exploring a new part of the city! It was pretty powerful to walk out of the door and see the Freedom Tower directly above you.

As an added bonus, the new FS is home to New York’s only Wolfgang Puck restaurant: CUT. Suffice to say we enjoyed a few glasses of bubbly there and *confession* a delicious cheeseburger. Highly recommend. 

So, you know what to do next time you’re in New York.
Oh, did we mention that the cocktails at Cut are just as good as the burger? 

The post Four Seasons NY Downtown appeared first on the crystal press fashion blog.

Outside of the MILLY show during NYFW, photographer, Tim Regas snapped these photos of us. We can’t exaaaaactly replicate these outfits for you but we can do even better. We’ve selected some of our favorite pieces, inspired by these looks from the ShopBop ‘Event of The Season!’  25% with code: MAINEVENT16 — shop away, lovelies!

Which piece is your favorite? We’re really into this Botkier bag – and at that price?!

The post ShopBop SALE! appeared first on the crystal press fashion blog.

Packing for Fashion Week is always SUCH a struggle. (Yes, I know this is a seriously cliche fashion blogger statement, but just bear with me).

This season, I knew I had to have some sort of strategy so as to not go totally insane during the process.  To make matters worse, I just moved into our new house this summer and my clothes are EVERYWHERE; downstairs closets, upstairs closets, the attic, my car and yes, even at Catherine’s house.  It’s always tempting to pack all of your ‘HEY LOOK AT ME’ pieces when heading to New York so as to capture the eyes (lenses) of the Street Style photogs and in our instance, yes, Cath and I would like to think of ourselves as the next Caroline Vreeland and Shea Marie.

However, this time, we decided to take a more minimalist approach and pack our favorite basics – tees, jeans – and have our accessories make the outfits pop. I’ve already talked about this amazing Chanel Bag and Catherine shared her Louis Vuitton, but we also had on hand a few pairs of great shoes, an array of sunglasses and other things like bandanas, watches, etc.. to choose from.  Luckily for us, as a duo, we can share and hopefully *seamlessly* share our pieces.  I’ve got to say that it worked out pretty well this time, but who knows what will happen when frigid February rolls around for next season’s shows.
MY LOOK: Tee, Free People. Denim, TopShop. Boots, Zara (similar one, two). Sunnies, Le Spec. Bandana. Chanel Boy Bag.

We always love visiting the Shopstyle Social House during Fashion Week, and can thank the wonderful Ugla Hauks for snapping these pix of us there! Stay tuned for deets on Catherine’s look.

The post An Ode to Basics appeared first on the crystal press fashion blog.

When I purchased this Justin Bieber shirt from Forever 21, I thought writing a blog post about it was going to be a no-brainer. Not only because is it an awesome graphic tee but because I’m obsessed with Justin Bieber like……obsessed in the way that I know my beliberness annoys the shit out of people and there’s no LOL about it. What I’m trying to say is: this post is not as easy as I anticipated and I am having a hard time putting my love for him into words. As much as I wish this were not true, I’m no master communicator. That being said, I am just going to have to let this shirt speak for itself and say you should get one too. Support the Biebs, guys.

Side note: I shamelessly wore this shirt at NYFW and got some quizzical looks (whatever) and also a lot of compliments on it. I wore it with this Louis Vuitton bag from Bag, Borrow, Steal at NYFW and it is the quintessential Cath bag of the moment. It takes my classic (OG if you ask me) love for Louis Vuitton right into 2016 in the best way. Thanks BBOS for the #popofluxury at fashion week. Now, if only the Universe would send me a lottery win so I can purchase this Louis and a Birkin.

Justin Bieber Shirt: Forever 21 x Purpose World Tour / Sunnies: c/o TIJN / Overalls: Forever 21 (similar here) / Boots: Zara  / Bag: Louis Vuitton Petite Malle via Bag, Borrow, Steal

The post Don’t Stop Beliebing appeared first on the crystal press fashion blog.

Every Fashion Blogger, photographer, designer and New York resident knows that Fashion Week is the craziest, most fabulous time(s) of the year.  Without a doubt this will be one of many posts in the following weeks where we share our adventures, favorite shows, and more with you guys.  Today in the spotlight is Babbleboxx and their #NYFW goodies for this season.  We could not have survived with week without the Vichy face masks, and have to admit we are in love with the Otterbox crystal case. When packing for fashion week, it can be difficult to prioritize what to bring and what to leave at home, but luckily this group of products made that decision super easy for us. From hair, to skin, to a chic selfie ready phone case, Babbleboxx had us covered for the crazy 6 days in New York.

Read on to find out about these great products, discount codes for purchase and more!This Tree Hut Bare Moisturizing Shaving Oil had us feeling like we were ready to walk the runway right when we stepped off of the plane!  Say goodbye to your normal shaving cream, and hello to silky smooth legs thanks to Tree Hut’s Organic Shea Butter oil. Shopping for hair products can be a seriously daunting task, with so many great options out there! Luckily for us, Babbleboxx brought our attention to the Paul Mitchell Awapuhi Wild Ginger Hydrocream Whip and we know that our hair is seriously thanking us.  The hydrating and smoothing formula conditions the hair, and creates the perfect volumized blow-out that will last you all day during NYFW from shows, to parties to after parties and more!

It’s safe to say that my phone got a serious makeover this September with this stylish iPhone 6 case from Otterbox. Did I mention that it’s made with genuine Swarovski Crystals AND helps my protect my phone from the inevitable beating that it takes on a daily basis? I got so many compliments on it this fashion week and now youuuu can be stylish too AND get 20% off when you use the code ‘OTTERBOXBABBLEBOXX‘ at checkout.

Between that *clean* New York air and the long days during Fashion Week, our skin was CRAVING these three Vichy masks. The deep skin detox from the Purifying Clay Mask was perfect for the beginning of the week, getting our skin prepared to endure the long days in the city. The Quenching Mineral Mask helped to keep our skin hydrated at night after a long day and the Double Glow Peal Mask helped to brighten our not-so-fresh skin at the end of the long week! Use the code ‘BABBLEMASK‘ at checkout to receive 20% off your order + Free Shipping. Trust us, your skin will thank you.  (Offer Valid through 9/30/2016)
I think it’s safe to say that we all put our hair through a total beating during fashion week, or any week, really. Thanks to LumaBella’s Cool Mist Straightener, you can get that sleek, chic look that will last you all day, even in the humid New York temperatures!
*this post was sponsored by Babbleboxx.com on behalf of Single Edition Media.

The post NYFW Survival with Babbleboxx appeared first on the crystal press fashion blog.