On the Road... To Las Vegas!

The bachelorette party I was so fervently planning is finally here! I left work a tad early and took a bus, subway and airtrain to finally get to JFK. It's raining here in NYC so I'm extra excited to be in Vegas.
The Delta Airline's wing smells like fast food, but makes up for it with a bunch of charging stations. They're a bit squished together, but totally get the job done, and are plenty of space if your legs are corgi-esque like mine are. The stations come with a little desk so I'm just sitting with my bottle of water and ipod to get some work done... on paper. At a charging station but working old school :)
The first picture is my travel outfit... more like uniform since I wear it all the time. The shoes change, but today I'm wearing my Ked's with Uniqlo's leggings pants (aka my comfy travel secret), a loose button up shirt from Banana Republic (i also switch up shirts depending on weather), and Coach crossbody. It's just so nice to have at least one hand free by using a crossbody. Plus, this camel color matches just about anything.
Time to find some dinner and get some work done!
Happy Traveling!
x, Erica

Bridesmaid Adventures | Bachelorette Party

So I'd mentioned previously that I'm in the middle of planning a bachelorette party to....

VEGAS!

photo by Allen McGregor

I've never been there and my knowledge of it is quite limited. So far I have...

• It's in the middle of a desert
• That's where the NomadGrad is from
• Necessities: Swimsuit, sunblock, dress for clubbing
• Also I hear there are shows? 

Thankfully, Vegas appears to be pretty jam packed with things to do so we're going to wing most of it. And really, it's going to be all about celebrate my friend getting married with the girls from my sorority for the weekend. 

Some ideas that have been suggested so far include:

• Taking a pole dancing class
• Going to watch the Thunder from Down Under- In fact, one of the girls just went to this on a girl's night out and said it was a really good time. 
• Renting a cabana near the pool
• Shopping at the outlets
• Wandering through all the hotels

Have you been to Vegas before? What did you enjoy doing?

Any suggestions??

Bridesmaid Adventures: Pinterest

via

I'm far from getting married, so it's really fun to be able to be a part of my friend's wedding. Unfortunately, being on opposite coasts of the US, it's hard to be actively involved. Luckily we have Pinterest to help us shrink those miles.

We have one general wedding inspiration board: K & B | Sept 2013, which is full of teal/orange and similarly cool/warm tone mixture pins.

Aside from this, we also used it when she was dress shopping. She created a board for each boutique she was going to, and we all pinned dresses that we liked. It was so much fun to be able to peruse through dresses together, well, at least virtually together. It's times like this that you thank the internet for its communication abilities.

In addition to this, I thought that I would add something a little more "me" so since I'm a travel photoblogger, I started creating a basic wedding shot list. A shot list is a list of photographs that you definitely want a photographer to take during your session. They can be as simple as "headshot" as mine was for the picture I'm currently using on my sidebar to the right. With all the planning and lists that most brides have on their plate, I thought I would try to help out by curating photographs that I think are both basic & creative for a wedding. Enjoy!


How do you use Pinterest? | Do you have any fun group board ideas?
Do you pin? Leave me the link below and I'll follow you!

Bridesmaid Adventures: Bridesmaid Info Packet

Sometimes I think the bride knows me too well. Either that or it's because she's so organized that we work well enough together to not only remain such good friends (despite the distance) and to even travel extensively together. In the last episode of bridesmaid adventures, I mentioned the irrational anxiety that comes with being in the wedding. The photo below is what made it all go away. 

Behold, information amazingly organized (and in her wedding colors) packet! (and an adorable handmade "Will you be my bridesmaid" card)

Included is:

• How she knows each member of the bridal party
• Her request for what we wear to the wedding
• Wedding colors and her aesthetic vision for it, as well as requests as to what she would like from the bridal party. 

Since I carry around a paper planner, I tucked the "Attire" page from this packet in it so I can always keep an eye out for the perfect dress:

Seriously, cutest idea ever. All the information all in one place, to reference when needed.

Also included in this bridesmaid packet was a bikini-bag that she made as well as some adorable flower hair clips that I love using when I put my hair up. I don't know how she finds the time to plan a wedding while working a lot at an amazing job, and then handmaking all this stuff. I really need to learn time management from this girl.

The reason this is a bikini-bag and not just a bag with a zipper on it is because it's lined with plastic so you can put your wet swimsuit in it. Such a good idea and fitting, as it's a beach wedding. I'm also really excited to use it at our bachelorette party destination because we're going to...._____!!!!!

Next time, on Bridesmaid Adventures... Bach Party Planning ;)

So, I'm a Bridesmaid.. anxiety ensues

Ever since graduating college, my mailbox has had a steady stream of wedding invitations and all the pre-wedding event invitations that go with them. I think that I could cover a mid-sized fridge with all of the magnetic save the dates I currently have in my possession. However, it wasn't until this year that I was asked to be in one.

I am completely ecstatic to be a part of this friend's wedding. We met in the sorority and shared some crazy girls' night outs including a fantastic weekend in Whistler. Those were of course fun, but then there was after graduating from college, when she came to Japan to visit me, when I third wheeled her and her (now fiancee) boyfriend's trip to Oceania, when I went down to California for our now yearly meetup and now I'm going back to CA to stand by her as she says "I do" to the guy I met for the first time at the airport so we could start our journey (that I was third wheeling).

Now since I like a good panic, as happy as I was for them, there were just as many things that I was a bit anxious about (even though this is not my wedding).

1. What do bridesmaids do? As far as I was concerned until now, they showed up in matching outfits and smiled all day, which kind of reminded me of sorority recruitment. 
2. There is no maid of honor. So who's doing all the planning? Wait. What do MoHs plan?
3. What do I wear? I would not like to ruin the first wedding I'm in because I showed up in fancy dress instead of a fancy dress. 

Do I have more anxiety about this wedding than the bride? 

Probably.


*I should add that this is not real, should be worried about anxiety. I cannot possibly be more excited for my friends to be tying the knot or more honored to be a part of it. It just made me realize that I know nothing about weddings other than how to show up*