Living It With Lisa

I learned a few things from 2010 and put them into action!

FIRST - Bring a change of shoes because 8+ hours on your feet walking around on cobblestone is not easy!  You need a tote to bring your sandals in and your shoes out of Churchill Downs.

SECORD – Bring a tote because you will be bringing all the commemorative glasses from those Lilies and Mint Juleps!  But as it happened I used my tote this year for my sandals, my mother-in-laws sandals and the rain gear for 4 people!  The glasses ended up in the plastic bags that came with the souvenirs I purchased.   Just a little re-shuffle and it was all good and I was glad to have had the tote!

I did see several ladies wearing beach looking flip flops, carrying their shoes.  This did NOT look sophisticated or lady-like at all.  Why spend all that money on a great hat and ensemble to only look like you came from a tag sale.  Think ahead ladies.  It’s not as hard as you think.

This year we were not going to The Kentucky Oaks race so I wanted to wear my Pink hat to the Derby and didn’t want to wear a black dress again.  I could not find a dress to match the unusual shade of pink so I recycled my White and Black Derby Hat and bought an all white dress.  An all white dress was a big switch for me!

Everything I wore this year was more white than black with a touch of red on my small handbag.  Here are the elements of my 2012 Derby Ensemble

HAT  - recycled from 2010 just added a few feathers that I picked up at Dee’s in Louisville.  Here I am with Vic’s mom.  She was born on Derby Day in Louisville and her doctor raced to the Derby after he deliver her.  This year the Derby fell on her birthday again and is the reason we returned with her and PapaJohn.

The saying “you don’t know what you don’t know” is true.  But once you do know you can do something about it.

The same rings true when it comes to The Kentucky Derby.  Obviously a girl needs a great hat and an outfit as well.  Since I had been to the Derby in 2010 I knew a few tidbits that helped me for our return this year and I added a few for any future Derby  attendance.

TOTE

You will be drinking Lillies or Mint Julips.  They come in souviner glasses.  You are paying for them and won’t want to throw them away.  So if you are carrying a cute little dinner bag you are in trouble.  Not to say you can’t do that too, but bring a tote.  If you want to be fashionable choose one that coordinates with your Derby outfit.  Picture a worn out beach bag with your Derby Hat and Dress … got the picture?  Don’t do it!  Spend the time and the money to do it right.  So this year I bought a Dooney Burke Tote bag that went with my black and white theme.  I knew that I would use it over and over again so it was a great addition to my Derby ensemble.

SANDALS

Yes, you will be in cute shoes, but if you haven’t broken them in your feet will be screaming at you.  There is a lot of walking.   There is no drop off at the door even if you are in a limo or have VIP parking.  You will be walking a couple of blocks at best to get to Churchill Downs.  So in your tote back, you should have a change of shoes … to CUTE sandals.  I will say that if they are super cute and coordinate with your dress and hat you can get away with it from the get go.  I did see a few and it really works when done right.

This year I saw lots of flip-flops.  HORRIBLE.  I am talking: ”let me grab my beach flip flops and wear them with my Derby ensemble because they are comfy”.  That had to be the worst thing I have ever seen.  Would you wear flip-flops with a cocktail dress or your Sunday Easter Dress?  I think not!

If you are spending the money on a great hat and dress then find a great sandal that will be comfortable all day.  By the end of the day we saw lots of ladies carrying their shoes around.  Hello?  If you brought a change of shoes, bring a tote.

This year I did bring a cute pair of white and silver flat sandals and changed half way thru the Derby after I had walked the entire venue looking for my size in the Derby t-shirt that I wanted.  Obviously it was the hottest t-shirt as they were sold out everywhere by Derby Day.   I had my sandals tucked in my Tote Bag along with Martha’s change of shoes too.

RAIN GEAR

Since no umbrellas are allowed inside Churchill Downs, be sure to pack your Rain Poncho and Rain Hat Protector in your Tote bag.  The one thing you don’t want to be is soggy wet or have the rain ruin your expensive hat.   Since rain was in the forecast we trekked all over town to get our gear.  Of course we were prepared and it didn’t rain on Derby Day.   Note to self:  bring your rain gear with you in your suitcase.

CAMERA

I learned this year that the iPhone is great but not when you do want to take pictures of Derby hats.  Depending on where the light source is the flash will not work and you will have shadows with a light background.  So pack your camera and an extra battery so you are prepared.  So this year I didn’t have as many Derby Hat pictures because all I brought was my iPhone.

FAN

When it is muggy and the breeze isn’t blowing you will wish you had a fan.  Of course I have one in my suitcase that I have never used!  It folds up nice and neat and would fit in the tote bag or your small clutch too.

BINOCULARS

If you are really far away or generally want a close up view, invest in a great pair of small lightweight binoculars.  You will use it for me events than you think.

SUMMARY

While this list is specific to my Derby experience, it could easily be used as a guideline for any event you may be going to with similar event specifics.  I know for me, I will have a few of these in my suitcase or in my travel drawer that has items needed for travel.  It is always a pain to realize you didn’t bring the fanny pack for hiking, skiing or shopping without a purse in a foreign country.

So gather your “event” items or travel items and place them in a drawer so you will have them available as a reminder as you pack.  If some of those items are used elsewhere, make a list and print it out and place it as a reminder in that drawer.  I now have a travel list on my iPhone that I can refer too before I pack of the things I wish I hadn’t forgotten to pack for my trip.

Happy Travels … and I hope The Derby is on your Bucket List!

Now you don’t think that Vic will be going without a wardrobe makeover do you?  Everytime a box arrived I told him that his stylist had some things for him to preview.  So here we go for the three Derby Events that we will be attending…

THE OAKS - Since pink is the color theme, Vic loves it.  Pink he says is his power color. He will wear his Black Sports coat with a pink shirt and gray slacks.  His tie will be black with small pink daisies.   I found the pink shirt and tie at Nordstrom’s.  Since the gentleman’s attire should compliment the ladies … I think this works!

THE GALA – Vic decided that he would finally buy a tuxedo since packing a rental seemed silly.  He informed me that he needed 140 wool.  Seems that the higher the count the lighter the fabric.  So I decided to order one online.  I found a site that had lots of tuxedo styles and had 140 wool or better.  I ordered one that was traditional styling in 150 wool and the other was a mandarin collar.  I knew that Vic would LOVE the mandarin collar, because one of he favorite shirts is collarless.  I had to take it away from him, but that is another story.  When the box arrived it was time to check it all out.

Here is the backstory.  Vic does NOT wear anything that has polyester in it.  He says it is too hot. Cut to him checking out the mandarin color tux.  He really liked it.  I wasn’t sure what the fabric was because it didn’t say what it was online.  As I was telling him that we checked out the fabric … 100% polyester!  I knew that was going back … but to my AMAZEMENT Vic thinks that it will be ok!  HELLO??? Where did my husband go and who is talking to me!  I knew he would love it … but that was a shocker.  Plus all the tuxedos were 50% off, so that made them very reasonable.  We did keep it and sent the others back.

You can wear this style with either a wing tip shirt or a traditional shirt.  I really wanted the wing tip but could not find an ascot tie that I liked fast enough.  A matching tie and vest were supposed to arrive on Tuesday but did not, so he will wear the traditional shirt with a traditional tuxedo tie.   The twist will be …shoes.  We are going for his boots instead.  I love that look.  Go figure!  LOL

THE DERBY – Vic needed a couple of new shirts so he sent me to his favorite online retailer, Paul Frederick.  In my web search I had not come across them yet.  So I parused their site and found sale after sale.  I just had to buy some other things, just to check it out.  Knowing that finding Big and Tall sizes are NOT easy and the selection in the stores are slim picking.  I found a light gray suit on their site that I just had to order for $138 !!!  When we got it, we were both amazed.  That turned out to be the deal of all deals. Vic wasn’t in the market for a new suit but at that price and the fact that DARK is not the desired color … remember Seersucker?  Well this is as close as Vic will get to that!

I found a pale gray shirt and a tie that will look great with his Italian Borsalino fedora should he decide to wear a hat.   Then I started to worry about his shoes.  Now Vic will be the first to tell you that he owns more shoes now, that he has had in his entire life pre-Lisa!  And I say YAY!  is that a problem?   Other than black there were no choices in his closet for a light gray suit.  So when I was in Austin, I was at Nordstrom’s Rack (their outlet store) and low and behold I found a Calvin Klein white loafer.  Joseph saw me pick it up and said “I have those shoes.  They are the most comfortable shoes I own”.   I stuck my foot in them and he was right.  The felt like pillows.  SOLD!   Now to ease Vic into the notion!

Last night I pulled them out and he stared at them for a solid 30 seconds.  Looked up and said “and for $99 down and $99 a month, you too can drive away in this car!”  We were laughing so hard.  He did try them on and sure enough very comfortable.  Reminding him that he needs to change shoes for each event…wearing the same shoe all day long equals sore feet.  (He’s done that in the past.)  So we went over the attire list and the shoes have found a new home!

Vic’s Derby Attire, DONE!  check!

You know what this has reminded me of?  Putting together a wardrobe for the Miss Texas Pageant!  Now that is a blast from the past!

We are off to Louisville.   So stay tuned for pictures of us cavorting about Churchill Downs.

There three main events that have specific requirements … unless of course you are in the middle of the racetrack in cutoffs watching the races!  This year we will definitely not be wearing cutoffs and mud wrestling!

Doublemint Twins

Our first event of the weekend is The Oaks at Churchill Downs on Friday April 30th (my birthday).  That evening we will be attending the Barnstable Brown Gala.  Which is hosted by the Doublemint Twins.  Do you remember their commercials?

With the most eye-catching guest list of Derby week, the Barnstable Brown party has long been a coveted ticket on the Louisville social calendar.  Proceeds go to support the Barnstable-Brown Diabetes and Obesity Center at the University of Kentucky.

Barnstable Twins

The Barnstable-Brown Foundation raises funds for diabetes research through its internationally known Kentucky Derby party, the Barnstable Brown Gala. The foundation is led by Patricia Barnstable Brown; her son, Christopher Barnstable Brown; her sister, Priscilla Lee Barnstable; and her mother, Wilma Haverly Barnstable.  The late David E. Brown, husband of Patricia Barnstable Brown, was the inspiration behind the gala. He died July 2003, after a long battle with diabetes.

Our third event will be of course The Derby also known as the fastest 2 minutes in sports!   These three events required specific outfits as you have gathered from my previous posts.  So the search began.  First with the hats and now to complete the ensemble.

THE OAKS - I did find a simple black dress to wear with my pink hat.  The hardest part was trying to find pink shoes that matched/blended with the pink hat.  Believe me I exhausted the web and beyond and finally determined that was not possible since it seems that all the shoes that I found had more of a blue base … like fushia.  That just did not work.  So black Classiques Entier suede heels it was to be.

So instead I decided to try and find a pink purse.  On my trip to Austin, I was introduced to a store called Charming Charlie.  OH MY WORD … what an experience.  Every kind of accessory and color coordinated in the store.  So if you needed pink… you went to the pink section.  Seriously!  I found a pink and black faux snakeskin clutch.  I gambled on the color and brought it back to Florida.  By this time I had a good idea what color of pink I was looking for.  It worked!  Now at least I have more pink that just the Louise Green hat.  Maybe the dress police won’t fine me for wearing a black dress!

THE GALA – Well I thought I would pull a dress out of my closet for this black tie affair.  That doesn’t work when you have gained weight and are a size larger that what the dress is.  Looking like a sausage will not do!  Since I wasn’t sure where to shop and FAST in Florida, I headed back to Austin where I knew where to go for power shopping in two days.  I found a gorgeous dress with my girlfriend Stacy at St. Thomas (sorry no picture) and then of course they added a necklace that totally MADE the dress.  Simple yet contemporary.   The dress is long, black silk, strapless, fitted with a flowing skirt.  The necklace is black beveled stones with turquoise and can be worn with jeans too.   (See the justification – lol and the turquoise is the green color that all the other turquoise that Vic has purchased for me … so I have added to my collection!)   I will be wearing gorgeous heels from Elizabeth and James that have the same type black stone on them.  Believe it or not I had those first, along with a black silk evening bag that looks like a flower from White House Black Market.

THE DERBY – To go with my Black and white hat will be my wedding diamond and pearl earrings.  My  dress is black and white and simple and classic and will be worn with the Elizabeth and James heels that I am wearing to the Gala.  I am putting a splash of color with the purse.  A Mary Frances bag that is black with red cloth roses.  After all it is the race for the roses!

I really did let my fingers do the walking.  Most were ordered on the web which felt like Christmas everytime Sam the UPS driver came.

My Derby attire DONE! – check!

Next up … Vic’s Derby attire!

(to read all the Derby posts click on The Kentucky Derby category)

I am off to California!  Why?  After my fingers did the walking I found a milliner that had her showroom and factory in one place.  I knew I could try on MANY hat styles and determine which one I really liked. Ultimately it would be easier to purchase one on the web that way.  I felt certain that a web purchase was how the hat experience would end up.

First, I created a document where I could drop the pictures of the hats I liked from all over the web.  Bookmarked the websites and then I had one document that had side by side views of the hats I liked.  Since I was going to California to visit my sister Melea, I gave her a call and warned her that we were on a mission and going hat shopping for the Derby.  She was thrilled and the adventure began.

Louise Green

One of the milliners that I was going to visit was Louise Green in Los Angeles.  I loved her hats so much I had two pages of hats to check out.  Since my trip was short and sweet we had to maximize every moment.  I arrived on Sunday night with Vic.  (He had some business in LA.)  Monday morning Melea and I took James to school and headed to shop for hats.  We only had Monday because Tuesday morning we went to the airport and headed to Phoenix to watch our niece Natalie Rachelle get pinned for her Nurses degree. Then literally 24 hours later Melea went back to LA and I headed to Reno to catch up with Vic and go snow skiing with our friends from Florida!

Milliner Garden

We found the showroom/factory without a hitch.  Just imagine opening the door and you enter a room FILLED with hats!  Racks and Racks of hats! A milliner garden!  Every shape, size and color … for women and for men!  And there in the middle was Louise Green herself.  I recognized her from her pictures on her website. So I introduced myself.   I learned later that she has 20 couples from LA area going to the Derby too with hats for all.  Melea and I had a ball trying on hat after hat after hat.  It is very interesting how some hats were ‘you’ and others definitely were not!

I had already purchased a Derby dress.  Black and White … of course.  Even though technically I was on the fence as to appropriate color.  Not very “spring-like”.  I justified it since it did have a floral print on the top of the dress.  So I knew I was going to get a black and white hat.  But there was this one hat that totally captivated me.  A pink and black one!

The Oaks hat

Well maybe I was going to get TWO hats!  After all I was going the The Oaks race and there everyone was to wear pink since the fillies were racing and it benefits Breast Cancer.  Here is the dilemma.  The pink and black hat (AMY) would have to have a black dress…a faux pax for sure.  But the hat won and I bought it.   I also bought Vic a hat.   Wasn’t sure of the Derby hat… just in case I changed dresses.

So we continued to shop.  Went all over Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive.   Looking for Pink shoes and also Teal shoes.   Thinking that I might wear Teal shoes with the Black and white dress and then have a teal, black and white Hat!   Thinking that would make the faux pax okay!  <grin>  After canvasing Rodeo Drive the decision was clear, stick with black shoes!

The Derby hat

When I told Vic about his hat … no way Jose’!  He didn’t want another hat … the only hat he wanted to wear was the one that the kids bought him in Italy.  His Borsalino fedora.   That night I looked back at all the hats online that I liked and kept deleting the obvious ones and I kept coming back to the black and white hat at Louise Green’s.  So the next morning on the way to the airport I called Louise Green Milliners and said no Vic’s hat and to add the Black and White hat (GRACE) and had her add black trim around the brim.

Why don’t we wear more hats?  I just LOVE my hats!

Hat Shopping DONE! check!

Now for all the attire!

Where on earth am I going to find a Derby hat much less more than one in central Florida?  And then what color?

Before I let my fingers do the walking around the world wide web as my shopping grounds, I had to do my research.  First, just exactly what kind of hat did the ladies REALLY wear?  What do the guys wear?  Believe it or not there is right and wrong apparel for Derby.  Tradition states that certain rules must be followed.  Follow these steps for dressing right for Derby Day.

STEP 1:  Choose your hat (ladies only, of course). Hats go with the Derby like the frosting on a birthday cake. It should be large-brimmed, feminine and frilly (think 18th-century France), and worn low on the brow tilted slightly to one side. Design the rest of your outfit around the hat.

STEP 2:  First it is spring, not a cocktail party.  So no cocktail dresses at the races … think Easter.  Think Easter bonnets. And believe it or not, it is appropriate for the men to wear Seersucker Suits.  Do they make those anymore?  The answer, YES!  Trust me right or not … Vic will NOT be in seersucker!

STEP 3:  Dress business casual for  many venues at Churchill Downs.  This means blazers and jackets with collared shirts and ties for men, dresses and pantsuits for ladies. Denim, shorts and tennis shoes, torn or frayed clothing aren’t welcome in here.

Believe me these are the cliff notes.  After scouring picture after picture to get the look and feel of what we were about to embark upon I think I finally got a grasp of how to SHOP!

Now if you want a funny blog post … go to the Blacksnob for a read that will get you giggling.

Vic and I celebrate our birthdays going somewhere.  Last year I stayed home and Vic chose Ireland.  So while we were driving to South Beach for the SoBe Food & Wine Festival in late February, he asked me where I wanted to go this year.  I had not even given it a thought!  He mentioned the Hershey Spa, since that was planned last year and we didn’t go.  I said no, but it was still on my list.  As we passed a billboard that was promoting John Fogarty on April 27th, Vic chimes in and says we could to see him for MY birthday.  NOPE! don’t think so…

That got me thinking and brainstorming just where I might want to go.  I remembered several years ago, Vic thought about going to the Kentucky Derby because his mother was born on May day, in Kentucky on Derby day.  That particular year Derby Day fell once again on her birthday.  Needless to say they didn’t go.  So, I said “well the Derby is on my list, not for this year since we haven’t planned a thing, but definitely on the list”.  And we carried on about other places never making a decision.

Cut to the Food & Wine Festival.  We were there with American Express BIO (By Invitation Only) group.  On Saturday evening we had a private dinner with Chef Michael Chiarello.  During dinner Vic was visiting with Dave and Debbie and I was visiting with Casey from Gainesville sitting next to me.  Towards the end of dinner, Vic leans over to me and says, “Guess where Dave and Debbie are going?”  ”The Kentucky Derby!”   Needless to say I wanted to know where Debbie was getting her hat!

On our way back to our room, Vic proceeds to tell me that he shared with Dave and Debbie that the Derby was on my Birthday Wish List.  During dinner Dave emailed his cousin to see if he could get 2 more tickets to the Derby.  I was shocked and excited at the possibility!

The next day we are at one of the Culinary Events and we see them.  Dave turns around and tells us that he just got an email back from his cousin that they have two tickets for us, if we are still interested!  I am stunned!  Now that is the Law of Attraction at work … in spades!

Needless to say the whirlwind began. HATS topped the list for sure! (no pun intended).  Not one but TWO.  One for The Oaks race which just happens to be on my birthday AND the color is PINK.  Why? Because all the fillies are racing and it benefits Breast Cancer Awareness.  And then there is the Derby Race … run for the roses … the fastest two minutes in sports racing!

So join me on my unexpected journey to Churchill Downs.