Boston: Neiman Marcus, 30 Years of In Circle

Neiman Marcus recently celebrated the 30th Anniversary of its InCircle loyalty program with an evening of fashion, cocktails and LIVE art by local artist Amy Kaufman. Amy wowed the crowd with the artful strokes of her brush, while cocktails were served in this season's favorite color: pink.

Neiman Marcus Style Advisor Dave Chen styled twenty-eight looks in a Spring and Summer fashion presentation featuring all of the trends for this season. Of course, no Neiman Marcus extravaganza is complete without delectable treats! Thanks to East Meets West Catering and Georgetown Cupcake, Spring continued right onto the plates! Music beats provided by the talented Scott Arrington of Murray Hill Talent.  

Let's see what SPRING has in store...

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Style Profile: Marissa from The Well Appointed Catwalk

All my life. I went to college in upstate New York but came back after graduation.

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Style Profile: Alaina from So Alaina

Sometimes you meet a person at just the perfect time in your life.

For me this person is Alaina, a freelance writer, who recently moved to Boston and contacted me for a fashion and lifestyle shoot for the launch of her new blog So Alaina.

The day before the shoot, we met for tea and hit it off! I couldn't believe we hadn't met before!
Since then, we've been to yoga together and jogged umbrella-less through Back Bay in search of smoothies.

Our stages in life, love for travel and support for the Bruins (a topic of many a conversation) are just a few of the similarities we both share, so without further ado, allow me to introduce you to the beautiful, warm and bubbly Alaina!

i just moved here in december. but my dad has lived here for a decade, and i've been visiting for that long. i used to spend my summers poolside in his old house in melrose.

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Danielle from Story Of Style

Danielle of Story of Style is one of the first bloggers I met in Boston. I love her vivacious, warm personality and cool girl vibe! She was also one of the first fans of my photography, and we both share our love for the Big Apple!

Needless to say, I was beyond thrilled to photograph her recently, before her big move back to New York City!

We were supposed to meet last week on Monday April 15, but we all know how that day panned out.

So, with a beautiful Spring day in Boston this past weekend, we were able to shoot at The Liberty Hotel and in and around Beacon Hill.

Here, some of my favorites....

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Boston: Blog Better Boston Style Summit

This past weekend was the Blog Better Boston Style Summit, a local blogging conference organzied by Amy and Alana and held here.

I was honored to be invited to host a discussion session on Instagram sharing 10 tips on How to Make your Instagrams Better and Finding Your Voice (Thank you Kait for this shot of me!).

I also enjoyed attending the style summit to hear the other speakers discuss topics such as working with brands, creating content calendars and media kits. 

It was so wonderful to meet bloggers in person (Kaitlin, Melissa, Georgina, the JustUsGals, Allie, Tieka, Julie, Emily, Alyssa, Susan, Brooke, Holly, Sheryl) and see others I hadn't seen in a while (Alison {who I accidentally called Amy during my sesh!}, Shauna, Alana, Amy, Emily, Kristen, Amanda, Surabhi, Noelle and Elissa)

If you missed my Instagram discussion, here's a recap:

10 tips on how to make your Instagrams better

• Find your voice on Instagram by connecting and following others in the IG community
• Hashtag so that people can find you!
• ie: #igersboston (Instagrammers in Boston), #igers, #igdaily, #ignation etc., will allow you to connect with other IGs in Boston and around the world!
• Take a genuine interest in others, and leave comments
• Be visible, not just online (attend events such as Blog Better Boston and other blogger events)
• Be passionate about your IGs, treat them as you would photos with a real film camera
• Explore other apps to make your IGS better (ie. VSCOcam, Instasize and Afterglow)

There were a lot of sessions I wanted to go to, but alas, could only attend a handful, so here are some things I learned:

Working with Brands led by Kristen

• know your stats using google analytics
• a media kit is really important to introduce yourself
• create a pitch and send to a brand you really like and identify with
• know which posts are most read on your blog (most interaction/likes/views)
• your time is valuable
• follow up once you have worked with the brand/done a post

Creating a content calendar led by Julie:

• identify your priorities
• create a content calendar and schedule posts so that there is consistancy for your readers
• use google calendar or even a paper calendar and pencil, whatever works for you
• stick to a general theme and find your niche
• save your great idea for when you have time

Creating a media kit led by Tieka:

• a media kit is a pre-packaged set of promo material on YOU
• selling yourself to give a brand a few facts on whether or not you are a good fit for them
• include: about page, you and your blog, site stats, past brands/partnerships
• what you can provide as a service (ie. sponsored blog post, giveaway, side bar ads, text links, be gifted products to review)

Here are just a few snap shots from the Style Summit, as I was mostly taking notes! For more #BBBos coverage, check out the Twitter feed, and for more photos and updates follow Blog Better Boston on Facebook.

Thank you Amy and Alana for having me, and for all the sponsored goodies!

Here's how you can join the next Blog Better Boston summit.