Pepperologie 2013

Rainy Saturdays usually make me want to stay in bed all day, catching up on a show (current addiction: Breaking Bad) or reading a book, but this past one I had a very good excuse to be out of bed early: Pepperologie! Started by Jessie Artigue of Style & Pepper, it's billed as a five-course study of style with tips from experts in a variety of fields from nutrition to fashion to life balance. I signed up pretty last minute once I found out I would be in town, but I'm glad I didn't miss out. The experts were all incredibly relatable, filled with tips and tricks of their own while giving attendees the chance to be part of the discussion.

Amie Valpone, founder of The Healthy Apple, kicked off our morning by telling us her incredible story  and how she healed herself with food following years of being sick, in and out of hospitals, clinics and doctors' offices. I had my own food wake-up call when I stopped eating meat a few years ago (I'm now technically a pescetarian), and I completely re-evaluated the way I ate and what I was putting in my body. Amie is a total sweetheart, full of information on just about every type of food or health-related issue, and getting the chance to interact with her was one of the highlights of the day. No matter how you choose to live your life, she is completely non-judgmental and just wants to make sure we're living informed of what we eat.

Before lunch, Rebecca of A Daily Something walked us through some of her styling tips (I wish she had shared secrets to getting photos as beautiful as the ones she posts over on her blog!). The top photo is a peak at the table she styled using some of her favorite, easy to find pieces along with some of west elm's classic dinnerware. My favorite takeaway tip? Using a canvas drop cloth, easily purchased at a hardware store, for just about anything, from a tablecloth to cutting it up for napkins. 

The two adorable ladies above walked us through our post lunch and last sessions of the day, and in between we got some great summer hair & beauty tips from Jessie. Anna, at right in the photo above, is a stylist and wardrobe consultant who originally hails from Arkansas and is just about the cutest, sweetest person full of incredible style. She also runs the blog & website Tulip Louise and showed us how she'd style one Otte piece, five ways (she's wearing two of Otte's Ellen dress layered on top of each other, something I never would have thought to do but now can't wait to try!). 

Jessie shared some of her tips to making it through the summer weather in NYC without getting flat hair, greasy skin or looking too pale. I discovered that she only washes her hair every 10-14 days and I was seriously impressed (especially because she looked fantastic this weekend, even though she was several days past washing it). She shares all her tips & tricks on her blog, and you can bet I'll be stealing a few to get me through each week since I am pretty notorious for not washing my hair too often, either (currently at about once or twice a week). 

Ending our day, Hilary of Dean Street Society talked us through learning to live gracefully (along with some white wine sangria). After deciding to switch careers from musical theater to styling, she embarked on a whirlwind few years where she felt constantly overwhelmed, a feeling I think we can all relate to. Again, her subject was something already familiar to me as I've made some conscious decisions over the last few years to add better structure to my life and be true to my self, instead of feeling pressured to do what everyone else is doing. Hilary's way of looking at it is to live your life in seasons; decide what you need to be working on, and do it. Set aside the necessary time for whatever it is you want to accomplish, instead of trying to do a little bit of everything at once. I'm still processing everything I learned from her and I hope you'll start to see some of the changes I want to make in my life reflected here on the blog! Lastly, she reminded me of something important-"Just because you hustle hard, doesn't mean the end goal is guaranteed."

Pepperologie is currently held in NYC, but rumor has it the show will be on the road to some other fabulous cities over the coming year! To see everything I shared during Pepperologie, you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram, and search for the hash tag #Pepperologie to see everything the attendees (who were fabulous) shared.