The Perfect Work to Happy Hour Dress

The other week, I posted on Instagram (follow me @_thepinkchickadee!) about the STEM For Her fundraising gala that I attended. A few weeks ago, I went to a fundraising cocktail gala for a nonprofit that I volunteer for – STEM For Her. The STEM For Her gala was held right after my work day. So, for me that meant that I had to strategically think of something to wear that could carry over from the work day to happy hour (the gala’s dress code was cocktail attire!). Well, I found the PERFECT work to happy hour dress straight from my own closet. And, surprisingly enough, this dress happens to be *YES it happens to be* Lilly Pulitzer!

*Disclaimer: Please note that this post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase through one of my links, then I will receive a small commission. This commission is at no extra cost to you. Additionally, this post is not sponsored, and all opinions are my own.*

I have been in love with Lilly Pulitzer’s pearl-lined Adalee shift since around 2019-2020 when I saw photos of it everywhere on other influencers’ social media pages. I would see fellow preppy fashion influencers style their Adalee shift for Walt Disney World trips, dinner outings, and much more. However, I never thought I could style my Adalee shift for work and even a happy hour!! Lilly Pulitzer has sold the Adalee shift over at least the past few years, including in colors such as hot pink, aqua, white, navy, and black. Indeed, I own the Adalee shift, myself, in white and aqua (the aqua of which I wore to the STEM For Her Fundraising Gala!). My first-ever Adalee shift (the aqua one!) was purchased in Summer 2020 during Lilly Pulitzer’s Surprise Sale in June/July of that year. I, then, purchased my white Adalee shift during the After Party Sale in September 2020. Since then, I have hoped that the hot pink Adalee shift would be restocked and sold again on Lilly Pulitzer’s website.

As for the fit of the Lilly Pulitzer Adalee shift, it fits well, but is pretty tight at the bust/chest. Though, there is a zipper at the chest that can be adjusted to your liking and fitting. That being said, be sure to size up, especially if you have a bigger bust (like myself). Otherwise, the Lilly Pulitzer Adalee shift fits well below the chest. It is flowy and fits pretty comfortably. I styled my Lilly Pulitzer Adalee Shift with my Jessica Simpson neon pink pumps and pearl clutch from the 1960’s that used to belong to my Grandma (it’s a family heirloom!).

Shop the Lilly Pulitzer Adalee shift here (currently Lilly Pulitzer only sells the Adalee shift in black!): https://rstyle.me/+93JYj61yICryq-C3sp1R0Q

XOXO – Katie <3

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The Virginia Tulip Farm that Resembles Holland

Spring has more than sprung by the time this blog post has launched on my site – haha! BUT, one thing reigns for sure, many of us seem to LOVE a good tulip farm or even patch during these warmer months. I used to think that I would have to make the trek allll the way out to Holland to see the best tulips of my life in the Spring time to truly know that Spring has sprung, but that is far from the truth! At the end of this past month aka April as seen on my Instagram (follow me @_thepinkchickadee!), my good friend from high school Haley and I went to a gorgeous Virginia tulip farm resembles Holland. This tulip farm is known as none other than Burnside Farms!

Burnside Farms is located in Nokesville, Virginia about an hour South of Washington, DC near Manassas, Virginia in Prince William County. What’s unique about Burnside Farms is that they open for the season when the tulips have fully bloomed for the season. And, in order to prevent crowds and crowds and crowds of people from coming in all at once, Burnside Farms requires a ticketed entry that can be reserved in advance on their website. Haley’s and I’s tickets were about $22.50 each including tax and fees. When visiting, Burnside Farms offers a pick your own option for guests to pick their own tulips, daffodils, and even sunflowers at an extra charge with an adorable and gorgeous straw basket to carry them in (Haley and I chose to just admire them!). Not only does Burnside Farms have a tulip farm, but they also have a sunflower patch in the Summer months and a Christmas tree farm in November and December with similar ticketed entry at least for the sunflower patch. Not to mention, Burnside Farms also has an ADORABLE gift shop filled with local goods, including locally sourced jams aka Papa’s favorite!

Haley and I ended up going to Burnside Farms around 5pm aka the good olde Golden Hour! Burnside Farms has a drop dead gorgeous array of rows and rows and rows of tulips. Many of these rows of tulips are empty, too, making it the PERFECT picture opportunity. You truly feel as if you are in Holland without the hassle and high cost of a trip and plane ticket abroad (BUT, I do wish to travel to see the tulips there someday :)!). Haley and I enjoyed simply catching up with one another as we walked through these gorgeous rows and rows and rows of tulips. We also loved the lack of crowds, especially with the ticketed entry to actually get into visit and see the tulip fields which limited them. Going to Burnside Farms truly felt like I was at a tulip farm that resembles Holland!

My tips for planning your visit to Burnside Farms is to keep an eye on both their website and social media platforms for when their tickets open for each season. Seasons are determined by when the tulips/sunflowers are in peak bloom. Tickets are expected to sell out fast for each season, and they open for each week about a week or two in advance. When I purchased tickets for Haley and I, most of the tickets were already sold out.

For more information on Burnside Farms (which will open in July for sunflowers!) and to plan your own future visit look no further than their website: https://www.burnsidefarms.com

XOXO – Katie <3

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My 23rd Birthday Weekend Recap!

There is a point where you feel a full jackpot of luck when your Birthday lands on a Saturday or Sunday!! In my case, my 23rd Birthday landed on a Sunday. After having been in school and celebrated the majority of my Birthdays while attending school, it was oh so special to be able to have a Birthday Weekend on my actual Birthday – haha!

All across my Instagram (follow me @_thepinkchickadee!!) over this past week, I have been sharing ALLL the fun tea on my Birthday weekend. This past weekend, I celebrated my 23rd Birthday! It ended up being one of the BEST weekends I could’ve asked for – my college best friends Alanna and Hannah flew up from Raleigh, North Carolina for the weekend and my college best friend Shivani who goes to graduate school in the Washington, DC area joined us in on some of the fun. We also enjoyed some time with my Mom, Papa, Step Dad, and brother. Not to mention, I took the Monday afterwards off of work, too, which was great for my mental health and self care.

Alanna and Hannah both arrived by Saturday morning. It is Birthday tradition for me to order Georgetown Cupcake – my favorite bakery EVER – for a Birthday dozen of cupcakes to share with friends. Fun fact: this Birthday tradition of mine started when I started going off to college in North Carolina hours away from my family and wanted a cake to enjoy with friends, however, I prefer cupcakes to cake and ALWAYS have. So, since I now live in the Washington, DC area, why not go to the actual original Georgetown Cupcake storefront ON my Birthday weekend?! I planned a preorder at the Georgetown Cupcake storefront with a 2pm pickup. So, Alanna, Hannah, and I headed out to Georgetown via Metro in the early afternoon. We, then, walked around Georgetown before enjoying the all-inclusive Georgetown Cupcake experience of waiting in the long line outside of the storefront before grabbing out cupcakes to go. We ended up deciding to wait in line, as Hannah and Alanna wanted to walk into the storefront with me. Currently as of April 30, 2022, Georgetown Cupcake only allows two parties in at once within their storefront, due to COVID-19. Tip of the trade though: one can skip the line to pickup a cupcake preorder at their given pickup time at Georgetown Cupcake!!

After picking up my Birthday cupcakes and checking out the Georgetown Cupcake storefront, Hannah, Alanna, and I checked out the brand-new Scout Flagship store, located right across the brand’s headquarters along a gorgeous cobblestone street. The store was drop dead gorgeous – filled with so many gorgeous Scout Bags and even jewelry designed by the brand’s founder, too. While in the Scout Flagship store, we got to meet the brand’s photographer who happened to be at the store then! She showed us the studio (which during the weekdays can sometimes be in use for content shoots!!!!) that was in the window looking out just behind the storefront. The Scout Flagship store is definitely a must-see for any preppy fashion lover and most definitely on my bucket list to go see again and more specifically during the week to hopefully catch a photoshoot within the studio!

Shivani met me, Hannah, and Alanna at the Scout Flagship store. We, then, checked out a pizza shop on M Street – one of the major streets filled with shops and restaurants in Georgetown. Each of us went to Meredith College and we each shared some of our many special memories there, too. After lunch, we went off to the Georgetown Waterfront Park to *finally* indulge in some Georgetown Cupcakes !!!! and admire the waterfront views overlooking the Potomac River and the city of Washington, DC. We, then, checked out the opening of Washington, DC’s VERY OWN Bitty & Beau’s franchise – a coffee shop that is pivoting the way to hiring primarily those with disabilities of all kinds and making jobs more accessible for EVERYONE – to say hi to my family friends who own the franchise, including 2017 CNN Hero of the Year Amy Wright (Hannah, Alanna, and I went to college with our friend and her daughter Lillie!!).

After a nice afternoon in Georgetown, Alanna, Hannah, and I parted our ways with Shivani and then headed to a local Mexican restaurant for some Margarita’s and Pina Colada’s. But, once we got home, when were in for a treat: WE HAD BEEN FLOCKED!!!! My Mom had treated me to being flocked for my Birthday. Yes, you heard me right – my Mom ordered a BUNCH of plastic flamingoes to be put in my front yard for my Birthday. It was literally a DREAM come true and an amazing way to kick off my Birthday!

As for my actual Birthday, Sunday, Hannah, Alanna, and I decided to stay close to home and visit the nearby town of Occoquan, Virginia. I consistently visit Occoquan, Virginia – a town located about 30 minutes South of Washington, DC (and just a few minutes from my house) that holds a lot of historic charm, including some history involving the Suffragettes in the early 1900’s and a historic flood that burdened the town in the first half of the 20th century. It is a stunning town that has maintained its historic, Virginian charm over the years AND only plays homage to small, local businesses (besides the post office!!). We grabbed brunch at a local restaurant looking over the water at a Tiki Bar – gotta live it up am I right?!?! – and then went to a local consignment shop in town. Then, we admired the waterfront along the Occoquan River (an offshoot of the well-known Potomac River) before our time getting cut short due to the rain. So, in perfect Katie fashion, we went to Starbucks where I got my free Birthday drink!

After my Birthday brunch, we headed for dinner with my Mom, Step Dad, brother Will, and Papa before Hannah headed back home and Alanna and I had a lazy Monday the day after. My Birthday was truly a special weekend for me and my best friends Alanna and Hannah who took the time to come up and make my weekend oh so special. I am truly grateful for our friendships that have lasted since my early college years. Soon enough, we’ll all be back in Raleigh, North Carolina to celebrate Hannah’s Meredith College graduation !!!! in just a few short weeks. But, until then, I will be reminiscing over my amazing Birthday weekend!

XOXO – Katie <3

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My Preppy Home Office

Flashback to a few months ago and I had a brand-new desk at my company’s headquarters. At the time, I asked y’all on my Instagram page (follow me @_thepinkchickadee!) for some office desk essentials and y’all had some pretty great inputs, too! Ranging from buying snacks in bulk off of Amazon to cute pictures on a cork board to ALLL the adorable stationary and mousepads, y’all prepped me well. Well, flash forward to a couple of weeks ago and my company decided to fully convert its headquarters to a full-time hoteling space. SO, off I went to my newly decorated desk to bring everything home, and, well, create my own preppy home office!

Fun fact: my office space used to look very different when I moved into my apartment at-first. I only had my one large white desk from Ikea with an older neon pink plastic chair (which *surprise* soon enough broke the more I used it – haha!!). At the same time, I only had one monitor and I didn’t have an adorable wall calendar on display either. Not to mention, not super cute hot pink rolling cart either. Needless to say, my office space got super messy SUPER fast, especially when I started my job back in late July. See how my office space previously looked here: https://pinkchickadee.com/2021/07/25/my-office-space-reveal/

*Disclaimer: Please note that this post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase through one of my links, then I will receive a small commission. This commission is at no extra cost to you. Additionally, this post is not sponsored, and all opinions are my own.*

Most of my office decorations were from my college years that I got out of storage or from my desk at my office. I purchased my second, connecting desk from a yard sale for only $10 that my neighborhood had back in October (and, yes, it actually sat there for MONTHS before getting a makeover and being put to good use – cringe!!!) and was initially the color black. Papa recently painted the desk white to match my white Ikea desk that I love oh so much. As for my other preppy home office decorations that I had purchased, I got them either from Walmart (mainly the Packed Party collection sold there or The Pioneer Woman collection), Target (aka The Rifle Paper Company or just stationary like the iconic Post-It notes), Rae Dunn items sold via either Marshall’s, TJ Maxx, or Home Goods, or none other than The Dollar Tree!

As for ALLL of the items that I didn’t purchase within the past few months, I got many of them from my college years. Many of these items were gifted from friends, freebies via events on my college’s campus, or simply a beautiful photo to remember the moments from both my high school and college years and even into my postgraduate years.

XOXO – Katie <3

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Turning 23!

If you were to tell me that on my 23rd Birthday I would be single and fabulous, I would’ve been shocked. In my later high school years, I would have expected to be married or in a committed relationship about to be engaged or even married by this age. When I toured Meredith College and ultimately decided to commit there for college, I knew that many of my future classmates and those before me got engaged and married soon after college. That Southern culture and way of life excited me then. But, what was about to be in store for me for when I graduated college the year after was much better than what I ever anticipated.

*Disclaimer: Please note that this post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase through one of my links, then I will receive a small commission. This commission is at no extra cost to you. Additionally, this post is not sponsored, and all opinions are my own.*

My Instagram (follow me @_thepinkchickadee!) is filled with ALLL of my Birthday celebration adventures!!! Whether it be getting Georgetown Cupcake and enjoying them on the Georgetown Waterfront, to devouring my favorite corn fritters at Coastal Flats, and even enjoying a nice brunch in my favorite historic town nearby home of Occoquan all with my besties Alanna, Hannah, and Shivani in tow, I had an amazing time celebrating my Birthday Weekend. Beyond my biggest dreams, I had an amazing 23rd Birthday celebration and festivities ALL throughout this past week. 23 is definitely going to be a great year with an even greater kick start to it!!

The other day, my coworker and good friend of mine and I were talking about the vast differences between those who are in their early 20’s in the Washington, DC area versus in the majority of the South. In the majority of the South, people are getting married and committed to their lifelong partners during their college years and the near years after. In North Carolina where I went to college, a ton of folks are getting engaged and married to their college, high school, and even middle school sweethearts. It’s wild. Many of my classmates are engaged, married, and potentially expecting and/or have a child. Indeed, just last week, there were 3 engagements, 2 weddings, 1 wedding anniversary, and a baby announcement and more on my Facebook feed. Meanwhile, in the Washington, DC area, many of my peers and coworkers are single or in relationships that are nowhere near the stage of lifelong commitment. It’s a vast vast vast difference looking at both cultures and both of them played a role in how I saw and eventually see myself in my early 20’s.

To say that it is easy to see several major milestones related to romance and family in my Facebook feed and not feel a bit sad at times is the truth would be me lying to you. But, at the same time, for me to say that it is easy to picture myself being in a committed relationship and getting engaged and married at this time in my life would also be me lying to you. It’s, indeed, a contradiction for sure. Though I may be sad that my future isn’t where I envisioned myself at the age of 23, I am at a place where I feel utter contentment for where I am at in life. I am at a place where I am financially independent, have a job that I LOVE, amazing friendships and family that have been nothing but a blessing to me, the dog of my post-college graduation dreams aka Rosie, a great blogging community over here at The Pink Chickadee, and a never-ending amount of clothing in my full closet (aka my happy place!!!). I can most definitely see myself as happy to be right where I am now as a fabulous single lady!

The other day, I was telling my friends Hannah, Alanna, and Shivani that I feel most excited in life about my career trajectory. In my professional life, even though it is my first year out of college, I have several career goals and aspirations. Some of these professional goals are even including a Master’s degree that I plan to work for in a few years. This is something I had never even expected coming out of college. I remember this time two years ago I was devastated about the idea of missing out on many college activities due to COVID-19. One of my then-friends told me that “you came to college to get a degree”. While the degree is the main main reason for college, the social aspects of the college life are also just as important. However, her statement about college and degrees rings true to the facts that so many doors and excitement opens up once you receive that degree. These career goals of mine to me are much more exciting than anything else, including romance which I can be a sucker for. I am SO excited to see where I’ll go and view the future as nothing but bright!

Now, to take on 23 single and fabulously!!!

XOXO – Katie <3

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