What did I wear to the Urban Jungle? My Diane Von Furstenberg New Reina 2 Shift dress that I purchased solely for my trip to NYC. It has a bit of an edgy snake pattern with a combination of orange, turquoise, brown and black along with a split neck.

DVF dresses rank high on my list of favorites starting with the iconic wrap dress and shift dress. She is a pro at creating fabulous abstract prints along with striking colors that are sure to make a statement.   For this outfit I kept the accessories simple and paired the dress with my Joe’s sandals.

If you are interested in Co-Hosting the Fashion Informant, send me an email for details.

I’ll also be linking up with Vodka Infused Lemonade, Get Your Pretty On, Style Elixir, Pleated Poppy, Happiness at Midlife (new stop by and check it out), Glossy Blonde and On the Daily Express.

Hello lovely ladies! I hope this week has been treating you well so far. We’ve been in the complete and utter chaos of the school year, anyone else? I recall making it all work last year but it’s been a bit of a struggle this time around, we’ll get there.

Today I’m wearing the Express Polkadot black and white halter dress with a pair of Ted Baker floral pumps. I love the soft fabric, the bow detail and the way that it flairs which makes it a fun and flirty ensemble.   I have to say this might be one of my all time favorite Express purchases to date!

I’ll also be linking up with Vodka Infused Lemonade, Get Your Pretty On, Style Elixir, Pleated Poppy, Happiness at Midlife (new stop by and check it out), Glossy Blonde and On the Daily Express.

This is about as fashionable as I got for our weekly Fashion Informant.  The husband and I have made it our goal to walk as much of the beach line on Oahu as possible. At first when I signed up for this crazy idea, I thought…hmm..how hard can it be? Not only that it was a way for me to get out of hiking the Mountains. I mean it’s beautiful of course but brutal at times and I’ve never really been cut out for that whole hiking hobby. So I thought, walking along the beach sounds fantastic and easy! You would think, right? Truth be told, harder than hiking in the mountains in some areas.

This was last weeks little adventure and let me just tell you, it took a week for my feet to recover. Many thoughts ran through my head about how crazy it was to be doing and though it doesn’t look that dangerous there are certainly many things that could go wrong. For instance, getting thrown into the lava rock by a crashing wave. Getting crushed by lava rock while climbing them. Falling through the coral and breaking a leg or an ankle. It’s not all white sandy beaches…the terrain is tough. Luckily in the end the only injury I suffered was some singed feet (think walking on hot coals…no joke!) with a few cuts and bruises here and there. It wasn’t pleasant but it was so worth it in the end. Quality time with the husband is pretty awesome!

What did I wear on this not so fashionable day? That didn’t work so well?

• Swimsuit- Good choice because there was swimming involved
• Gap tank top- In full hot sun, not protective at all.
• Gap white cut-off shorts- not the best choice, some sort of board shorts would have been better. They were very stained and not comfortable to swim in….obviously I had no idea what was in store for me.
• Nike sun visor – must have
• Nike backpack- wasn’t waterproof not the best choice
• Havainas- WHAT WERE YOU THINKING SHERRY!

Here is how I’ll do it right next time. Just in case some of you are thinking this would be something fun and adventurous to do, I don’t want you all to make the same mistakes I made. Dressing appropriately is always important.

• Long sleeve rash guard
• Waterproof shorts
• I was encouraged to get Vibrams since they help with walking on coral and rocks both in and out of the water. Plus they dry fast. Crossing fingers, I’ll let you all know how they work out for this type of terrain.

I’ll also be linking up with Vodka Infused Lemonade, Get Your Pretty On, Style Elixir, Pleated Poppy, Happiness at Midlife (new stop by and check it out), Glossy Blonde and On the Daily Express.

Outfit details:

• Top- J.crew
• Jeans- Old Navy Rock Star
• Bag- Micheal Kors Santorini (retired) {Similar}
• Sunglasses- Dolce & Gabbana
• Necklace- Stella & Dot Coral Cay

Linking up with Style Elixir, On the Daily Express, Vodka Infused Lemonade and Get Your Pretty On.

I’ve been in somewhat of a fashion slump after  being away for half the summer. It’s been difficult to get inspired again and I feel like I can’t put a decent outfit together that works on me. So after one failed look and fashion shoot, I decided to throw on the tunic I purchased from J.Crew Factory earlier this summer that sadly I just opened today and go in for a second attempt. I’m glad I did because I want to share how incredibly comfortably sheer it is and absolutely perfect for the beach.

Outfit details.

• Tunic J.Crew Factory Stripe Two-Pocket Tunic on sale right now for $44.50
• Sunglasses Dolce & Gabbana Black Pink and gray available at Macy’s.

I’ll be linking up with Style Elixir, Get Your Pretty On, Vodka Infused Lemonade and Shopping My Closet .

It was so great catching up with you all last week! I hope you’ll join us this week for another Fashion Informant. The outfit I’m wearing this week was my casual ensemble for NYC. I dressed it up with my favorite shoes ever, Ted Baker’s Luceey floral pumps. I would’ve preferred the color in the image below for the Gigi NY clutch but there is green in the pumps so I was able to pull this one off.

Outfit details:

• Ted Baker London, Luceey High Heels
• J.Crew Factory Printed Drape Tank
• Mossimo Boyfriend Jeans
• Gigi New York Embossed Python Clutch
• Earrings Stella and Dot Bardot Hoops
• Rayban Wayfarers

Get a similar look here!

Really, I am! Throughout my entire childhood and teens I couldn’t wait to get off the farm. Now I can’t wait to get back to the quiet country life each summer! Could I live there again? Probably not but I won’t be giving up those visits anytime soon.

The Fashion Informant has been on vacation for about two months now but I hope that you will all join me once again! Life got a little crazy around here with a house flood, followed by a trip to NYC, back to Hawaii then straight back to the mainland. I’m just now getting back to visiting all the blogs I love to catch up with everyone.

During my travels my Sis-in-law introduced me to some amazing shops! I found this top at a store called Kittson in Grand Forks, ND. It’s full of fun and fashionably trendy clothes. For some reason this screamed country girl to me!

Today I’ve teamed up with Katerine’s Corner and a group of fab ladies to offer you all a chance to win $175 Paypal cash! See all the details below! Good luck and have a great weekend!

Beat The Heat Giveaway-

Its hot outside and Katherine from Katherines Corner is having a giveaway to help you beat the heat. She invited me and a few more of her bloggy friends to join in the fun. Enter to win some cold hard cash and a set of fun ice cream bowls and spoons for prizes ( ice cream not included). We all bring you the Beat The Heat Giveaway!

This giveaway is brought to you by Katherines Corner and her bloggy friends ♥

listed in no specific order

Sew Crafty Angel

I Dig Pinterest

Vintage Mamas Cottage

Gods Growing Garden

Simple Nature Decor

Life Of The Party

Woods Of Bell Trees

Painted Chateau

Mamal Diane

Unfading Beauty

Entering is easy, log into the entry form using your email address or facebook and click on the first entry on the rafflecopter form. Then read the terms and conditions and write yes. Follow Katherines Corner and her blog Partners then enter as many bonus entries as you would like. Open to all over 18. Giveaway starts today and ends Aug 30th.

Copy the button below and paste it to your blog for extra entries. Or copy the code from Katherines sidebar ( remember to let her know where to find it).

Now is the time! Linkup and share your fabulous looks with us!

I thought long and hard before making this announcement and really wasn’t sure if I wanted to say anything until I was actually on a plane to NYC. There was a bit of denial that it was actually REALLY going to happen.  Truthfully, I still can’t believe they chose me! I told a handful of people that have been supportive of this journey of blogging about Fashion and Interior Design.  I have an amazing family and great friends but let me be honest….not all of them care much about fashion… period. It was hard to put into words what this trip means to me. I couldn’t beg a few people I was closest to, to follow my blog when I first began, why would anyone else take notice. But someone did, and that someone was Polyvore and their amazing community.

As I’m sure you’ve come to realize, I use Polyvore as a tool for the majority of the content that I write about here on The Life the Party. It would truly be a sinking ship without it. If you haven’t already signed up, do it! You won’t be disappointed. Don’t worry about impressing others, just start creating things that you love and that are your personal style. It’s a wonderful creative release!

I’m so honored that anyone ever noticed I had a glimmer of talent and shocked at the same time.  About two years ago, I created my first set. About a month later I received a Top Set from Polyvore. I was ecstatic! However, I would’ve been pretty happy with that accomplishment alone so I continued on without any great expectations. I just kept doing what I loved to do!  There are no words for the way I feel about the incredible support from the Polyvore team and  this fantastic community as well as people outside the community, it is surreal. This is a life time dream to be doing what I’m doing at this moment and a good reminder to all of you that if there is something you really love, it is NEVER too late for a career change.  Follow your dreams, life is too short! I know we hear it all the time and it sounds corney and cliche but all we have is time, why not spend it doing what we truly love to do.

So the denial is gone and I’ve realized this really is happening….in three days. Polyvore has set up an amazing trip to New York City for 11 fabulously talented Polyvore Members and myself. We will be taking an inside look at Polyvore as a company as well as Farfetch, a fabulous store filled with the most prominent names in fashion. Pinch me! Seriously, pinch me!!! I’ll be giving you all a blow by blow of the entire trip. But in the meantime here is a look at one of the ensembles I’ll be wearing. The dress is my first DVF and I love, love, love!

Thank you all so much for your support throughout the last few years! It’s been amazing getting to know all of you fashionable ladies through the Fashion Informant. I promise it will be back and better than ever in just a few weeks. Just hang  with me.

Last week J.Crew Factory had a 40% off sale and this stripe Factory Printed Drape top is just one of my purchases. It’s one of those versatile tops that can easily be taken from casual day out by pairing it with your favorite shorts, add a pencil skirt for an office look or a pair of skinny jeans for date night. Accessories are one of the key ways to change it up into the look you want.

Today I paired the top with a pair of coral skinnies from Express and decided to add the leopard belt at the last minute. In retrospect I think the leopard shoes might have been the better choice. Either way, I’ve expressed my love of mixing stripes with leopard and felt it needed something. I finished the look with one of my favorite Stella and Dot statement necklaces, Spring Awakening.

Jeans-Express/ Top- J.Crew / Clutch- Banana Republic / Earrings- Stella and Dot / Necklace- Stella and Dot / Watch- Kate Spade Gramercy