Dress: Gal Meets Glam Collection Packet Bouquet Print Cotton Dress | Shoes: Everlane Pointed Slides. This pair has the cutest bow addition, this pair is the loveliest pink color, and this pair is so elegant! | Purse: Half moon wicker bag is from past season and no long available, however this woven crossbody is equally as versatile, I love how much this option holds, this circle basket is so cute, and I’m also loving this option from Draper James! | Sunglasses: Urban Outfitters Fairfax Round Sunglasses. They come in multiple colors!
You know those weekends that are just perfectly on point in every way? I just had one of those. I think perhaps the planets are in some sort of great alignment, because on social I saw so many people saying the same thing. Or, perhaps it’s just summer. Either way, I’ll take it!
We kicked it off with a family movie night on Friday evening, when I was in pajamas by 8 and in bed by 10. I know I sound like an old woman, but that’s my ideal Friday night! Saturday, some of my best girlfriends from high school and college came over for brunch, where it was revealed where we’re heading on our first annual girl’s trip in October. (I got a ton of questions about this on social, so laying out all the details below!) We hung out with the kiddos, and I got to meet my friend Kristen’s new baby Gwen, who is just the sweetest and made me have baby fever. Don’t get ahead of yourself, it only lasted about 5 minutes. š
Saturday night we went to the Taylor Swift concert, which was everything. It was my second time seeing Taylor, made even better by the fact that our crew somehow meandered our way up to near-front row. The downpour rain at the end only made it better – we were soaking wet but screaming our favorite songs at the top of our lungs, holding out our hands for our favorite singer to high-five. I don’t think it gets more feel-good than those moments.
Then, Sunday we had our favorite type of day. Doug and I took our girls to Lincoln Park Zoo – our home away from home – and walked around the lakefront with coffees. Later, we headed to Liz and Dave’s house in the suburbs for dinner on the porch.
I mean, really. Does it get better than a weekend like that?! Pinching myself over here. 
Before I dive into the girl’s brunch and all the details surrounding our fun new tradition, I want to take a moment to talk about this dress. It’s seriously one of the best I’ve ever owned; comfortable, feminine, flattering fit, and breathable fabric. I’m not surprised it’s pretty much magic in a dress, since it’s from the Gal Meets Glam Collection and designed by Julia Engel, who’s one of my favorite bloggers.
I have another post coming soon that will feature another dress of hers that I bought, but in the meantime I have to tell you that after wearing both, I’m convinced that these dresses are the only you’d possibly need for the whole summer. They’re just so good!
:: Shop The Look, And Other Favorite Gal Meets Glam Dresses, Below ::
Alright, now let’s talk about the girl’s trip reveal brunch that I hosted. Here are all the details of our new tradition, with a few FAQs that I received from readers after posting about this on Instagram Stories!
The background: A while back, my coworker Molly told me about a tradition that she and her girlfriends do. Every year they go on a girlās trip, but thereās a catch: A different person from the group is in charge of planning it every year. That designated person picks a location, plans the trip, and then reveals to the rest of the group where they’re going at a dinner or brunch. Molly and her friends have done this for 10 years, and after seeing some of their hysterical posts on social media, my girlfriends and I decided to adopt their tradition. I was in the one to kick off being the first to plan our trip!
Why this is awesome: I love this idea for a few reasons. I’m a firm believer that making quality time for your girlfriends is something that should be prioritized. Life seems to get busier and busier, and I think we can all empathize with how even a quick dinner can be so hard to organize. So, I love the idea of doing a weekend trip to really soak in time with one another. This approach is fun because you actually create two times of the year to rally around: the trip reveal, and the trip itself. And, having one person organize the trip is a great way to not only surprise everyone else, but also for there to be a āpoint personā who runs things. (Maybe itās the corporate marketer in me, but Iām also a firm believer that every project needs someone in charge or else things donāt get done as seamlessly)
Whoās Going? There are 6 of us total! We of course had so many other friends that we wanted to include, but when you get a group thatās too big, it becomes hard to organize. Iām lucky to have a very close group of girlfriends from high school and college, so we kept it with that crew! Staying in the same place was important for us, so we kept it smaller to also ensure we could all fit in one house or just a few hotel rooms if applicable.
When Are We Going? We decided to go the route of choosing the same weekend every year, for ease of planning and organizing. Weāre doing the second weekend in October every year!
Do We Have A Budget? Yes! We still need to draft up our āofficial rulesā, but many of us have families and all need to be conscious of money, so we picked a small budget and are sticking to it.
How do you decide whoās organizing every year? I was designated as the first person to organize, which I volunteered to do. On the last day of this yearās trip, weāll put all the names who havenāt organized yet in a hat and pull the next person. That person will essentially be in charge of the next trip and reveal!
Do your boyfriends or husbands join on the trip? For now, weāre keeping it just the girls! However, weāve talked about having our 5, 10, 15, etc. anniversary year trips be bigger destinations and including our families. Weāll see where this tradition takes us!
Where are you heading this year? I chose Savannah, GA as our first girlās trip destination! My reveal was a brunch and included me answering the door with a southern drawl while wearing a sweet āsouthern belleā dress (The Gal Meets Glam Collection has so many of these!) The table was decorated with florals and pineapples (common in the south and represents hospitality), and we ate peaches and cream, and biscuits and gravy. I revealed where we were going as we all sat down for brunch, and we Facetimed the girls who werenāt able to make it!
Below are some photos of our reveal!
Fun, right?! I can’t wait to actually go on this year’s trip. If you have Savannah suggestions, please let me know!
