21st Birthday Week!

         Two weeks ago I had a crazy but amazing week beginning with my 21st Birthday and ending with a flight back to college from North Carolina where I had spent the end of the week for Mid-Semester Break. I thought I would share pictures from the whole week! (The outfits, the cakes, some Lilly Pulitzer gifts, some of my friends and family, the travel to get home to celebrate, and some of the places I went while I was home)

My friends were so sweet to give me such cute gifts and I absolutely loved this tiara! They totally shocked me when they bursted into my room at 12 that night! Such a great Surprise. 

The night of my birthday we went out to dinner! (A nice break from cooking in the dorm!) One of my friends special ordered a cake with my two favorite colors and it was my favorite kind... chocolate!!!!

I decided to wear this Lilly Pulitzer sweater dress (shown above) for my birthday! It is called the Isabella Sweater Dress and can be found at www.lillypulitzer.com

Going out with my friends was so much fun! I loved all the pink birthday accessories. They really added to the solid black dress I wore! 

These beautiful flowers came from my family! What a lovely surprise!!! 

Wednesday I wore some leggings and Reva flats with a Spike the Punch Lilly shirt and Lilly sweater!

I also wore my acrylic monogrammed necklace from Moon&Lola based in NC but quickly expanding. They have some great monogrammed jewelry. Check out their jewelry and accessories!!! www.moonandlola.com 

The flowers went so well with the colors in my room.

This was the OOTD for Thursday when I flew home! I believe the print of this Lilly dress is the thrill of the chase. I paired it with a gold Lilly bow belt and my monogrammed necklace. I wore gold jacks (that I had to bring out of the closet because it was so hot that day)

I was so happy to see our yorkie Macy!

I had missed driving so much! I was wearing a Lilly dress in the print Need My Shades.

I went to stop by the favorite Jewelry store to have my jewelry cleaned and couldn't help but love all of the David Yurman they have there! (I somehow always end up in the DY area) They have so much this was only 1/4 of their Yurman display. 

www.patagonia.com/us/home

www.southernmarsh.com

Since I was in the area, I decided to go to Great Outdoor Provision!  (I LOVE that place) They had so many great Patagonia jackets and pullovers I wanted them all! However, I only left with a Southern Marsh Collection shirt. It is navy with long sleeves and a pocket! Love wearing it with leggings and Duck boots. 

For locations and information: greatoutdoorprovision.com

YUM YUM YUM

I had promised myself I would go to two places no matter what while I was home: Chick-Fil-A and Cook-Out!!! Both were just as great and yummy as usual! I would definitely say being able to go to these places are perks of living in the South. 

My Mother, Sister and I went shopping at my favorite Mall in town. Of course the second I walked in I tweeted about how dangerous it was for me to walk in there.... so many Lilly clothes and accessories! 

My sister looked so cute that night for dinner! She was wearing Ralph Lauren and had the cutest new Kate Spade bag! So jealous haha!

I LOVED the Lilly inspired cake my mom ordered for me! It was so pretty and tasted great!

I am so blessed to have such amazing parents. 

My sister and brother got me the Tusk In Sun phone case I wanted as well as a cute set of Lilly pens and You Gotta Regatta Koozie.

You can find lilly products like these at www.lifeguardpress.com/category/lilly-pulitzer

I was so happy that my immediate family and some extended family were able to come to my birthday dinner to celebrate! Family is most important.

I wore one of my Let's Cha Cha dresses for the dinner. My favorite Lilly Pulitzer print of Summer '13. I used my trusty Louis (Louis Vuitton Speedy 35) as I call him for my bag of the night and wore gold Jack Rogers. I decided against wearing pearls because of the dress' elaborate embellishments especially around the neckline. 

My sister wore her new Lilly top called the Emma Top in the new Amuse Bouche print. She used her new Kate Spade bag and wore navy and gold Jack Rogers with leggings.

Presents from my parents were such a surprise and so perfect! Another Let's Cha Cha case for next summer, Let's Cha Cha luggage tag, Let's Cha Cha wine glasses, YOU GOTTA REGATTA SHORELINE TOTE (I almost died of joy), a You Gotta Regatta cooler tote (shown on the left), a skipper popover, and a nice Lilly sleeveless polo or golf shirt.

So happy get all this Lilly! 

Macy didn't want me to leave!

The OOTD for the flight home was a Vineyard Vines dress and I wore pearls and gold Jacks! 

The sunset as I was flying over Virginia was beautiful! 

I am so thankful for everyone and everything in my life! Wow that was a lot of pictures haha! If y'all have any questions about anything let me know! For pictures of my daily outfits or pictures of the life of a Southern Belle... y'all can follow my instagram and my twitter @NCBellePrep14 !

I appreciate all my readers and followers!  

Thanks for reading!

xoxo North Carolina Belle  

Duck Boots and Duck Shirts?

        I was SO excited to wear my Bean Boots or Duck Boots this morning to class... Along with my new Southern Marsh long sleeve shirt in navy! (It was a cold morning in New York)

My Southern Marsh shirt is so comfortable I want to wear it all the time! It's also cute because it goes along with the whole duck theme haha! 

I got the shirt while I was home this past weekend for midsemester break at Great Outdoor Provision Company! I prefer going over to the men's side and getting the shirts with the pockets on them! I had so many choices but finally ended up with this one because I love navy and loved the saying on the pocket "authentic southern class." I also loved the back, and I knew it would look great with a Patagonia and go perfectly with my new duck Bean Boots!

I thought they were so practical and kept my feet cozy with the insulation! I know the insulated 8" boots are a little more expensive but I think they were totally worth it! Also they weren't back ordered which made me happy! 

SIZING: In my opinion they run true to size! I wear a size 10 in most shoes and got the size 10 and they fit perfectly! If you are for example a 9.5 I would recommend getting a 9, I think the 10 might be too big for you! I would also consider what socks you will be wearing with them before making your decision! 

I am actually kinda of enjoying the cooler weather... I know it's just starting and it will be this way for a while... Not looking forward to that though! 

Thanks for reading/ following! I really appreciate y'all reading and any comments or questions! 

Follow me on Instagram and Twitter for more fashion and lifestyle posts by a college girl living in New York from Carolina trying to stay true to her southern lifestyle! 

Love,

North Carolina Belle 

The Beckett... "Sometimes it just takes the right dress"

I love the Beckett Dress by Lilly Pulitzer! It's comfortable and so cute and love that it has long sleeves! I think I would even travel in it, or even wear it out to dinner with some nice heels and great accessories! It also looks so good with a Tusk In Sun phone case haha!

This is how I styled it today! With the "My Beau Belt" also by Lilly in Gold! I loved that the belt gave it more shape and of course because it was a gold bow! You can never go wrong with Pink, Navy, and Bows! 

I know it isn't navy but I love using my black Tory Burch tote with this dress to carry around my books! 

Sometimes it just take the right dress and right shoes to make you feel great about yourself and confident that the day will be great no matter what! TAKE TIME TO ENJOY THE LITTLE THINGS! Don't take anything for granted! I appreciate each and every one of y'all for reading! 

XOXO- North Carolina Belle

The Patagonia Pullover, Jacket, and Vest

 Hey Y'all! So I thought I would share some of my favorite Patagonia pullover, jacket, and vest styles! I love the Patagonia brand for the quality, practicality, and of course the comfort of their warm fleece outerwear.  My favorite Patagonia product would have to be the popular women's Re-Tool Snap-T Pullover. I love it so much because it keeps me so warm and features pockets.

Women's Re-Tool Snap-T Pullover

For those who aren't crazy about a pullover, I recommend the Women's Full-Zip Re-Tool Jacket

Women's Full-Zip Re-Tool Jacket

There are also the very popular fleece vests that are great to wear with a long sleeve shirt!

Patagonia Women's Retro-X Vest

The Woman's Re-Tool Vest is another great choice!

Women's Re-Tool Vest

These products can be found on Patagonia's website

Patagonia.com

There are also many other products and outerwear styles offered by Patagonia that y'all should check out! I recommend visiting their website linked above. 

I discovered Patagonia when I was in High School and The North Face jackets of Middle School were becoming less and less popular. For some reason though, it seems like almost everyone and their brother still has a black North Face fleece jacket on my college campus in New York... I can't explain this because as far as I am concerned the only North Face items I still own or that anyone from where I live really still wears or uses are the windbreakers/ rain jackets and the backpacks.  I feel like more people on my campus this year (in a city north of New York City) actually have Patagonia's now!  I don't understand why it is taking them so long to catch up, I feel like it is kinda of similar to the whole Longchamp Le Pilage shopping tote bag trend. I know that may sound bad, don't get me wrong I feel that people from New York City are on trend and know what is going on in the world of fashion and everything but this is just something I have seen many examples of with groups of people my age who live in the empire state or the North in general. Don't get me wrong I love my Lonchamps but I was amazed when three years ago some of my friends from New York hadn't even heard of or seen of a Longchamp bag. One girl started carrying one and suddenly almost everyone in her school was using the tote for their school books. I don't want to sound as though my hometown in NC is the place for the latest trends even though it seems that way but I have noticed that it doesn't make sense to me why people who live near a fashion capital of the world could be so behind? I saw how popular Longchamps were when I was in Europe at the same time I saw how popular they were where I lived. Actually, this puzzled me so much it was one of things that made me even more interested in fashion and what is popular in different parts of the country. I has just assumed that everyone knew about Longchamps because it was popular where I lived and popular in Europe so surely it must be popular in New York as well, but I was wrong. These are just some things that continue to puzzle me...

Also... why was it North Face jackets aren't as popular? Are we consumers just bored of it?

Thanks for reading :) 

xoxo- North Carolina Belle

Boots Boots Boots

Boots are fall and winter necessities! I personally love boots with a bit of a heel but they can be impractical for walking across campus to class... so I rarely get to wear them! Instead, I mainly wear riding boots, Uggs, and Rain boots. I have ordered bean boots and will be excited to wear them this fall!

Riding boots are practical and are perfect for a preppy outfit! I love Tory Burch's riding boots....

These are some of the Tory Burch riding boot styles that I really liked! Their names are just as cute: Juliet, Rosalie, and Kiernan. They can be found online here- Tory Burch

Next is the Ugg boot which some people don't like but I've had the same tall pair since 8th grade and still wear them whenever I need to... they are definitely warm! Last year (freshman year of college in New York) I decided that rainbows were not going to cut it when it came to having something to wear around the dorm, etc. I decided around late November that it was too cold to not have the Ugg moccasins shown below! They were perfect to wear with socks and yoga pants or oh my goodness... SWEATPANTS haha (which I also discovered freshman year) around the dorm or with leggings and a sweatshirt or pullover to go to a movie late at night when you don't really care what you look like. 

Uggs are so comfy and warm I don't understand why anyone wouldn't want a pair haha

Top: "Dakota"

Bottom: "Classic Tall"

Ugg Australia

Rain boots are so important for me going to school in New York where it snows much more than in North Carolina. I think Hunter rain boots are great! My younger sister has the tall pink ones and they are so adorable with the Hunter boot socks she had monogrammed! I personally only have Coach and Burberry rain boots and I like them because the Coach poppy ones are colorful and go with more spring and summer outfits. The Burberry ones are my favorite and look great with red, black, and neutrals! They are perfect for a rainy or snowy fall or winter day! 

These are the Coach poppy and Burberry rain boots I have! Unfortunately they no longer make the Coach poppy rain boots in this print but I am sure they could be found on the internet! 

The tall Burberry Haymarket boots can be found at Nordstrom

There are also the very popular Hunter Rain Boots or "Wellies" 

Getting the socks to go with them is a great idea!

A BETTER idea.... get the socks monogrammed!!! 

An EVEN BETTER idea... get the boots monogrammed too :)

Finally... the bean boots! I cannot wait to wear them! They make me want to be cozy, comfy, and warm, and go on a hike and explore New England all at the same time.... and I am adventurous but I don't even go on hikes hahaha

This last photo is an OOTD from LifeOfACollegePrepster

Thanks for reading and following!

xoxo - North Carolina Belle