What I Did with Neiman Marcus

Should I call this post Hanging out with Neiman Marcus in Dallas, part two? Today, let's talk about the itinerary.

Day 1:
* Wake up at 3:45 in the morning, stumble around the apartment in a sleepy delirium, feel thankful that husband makes delicious breakfast every day, and leave the apartment by 5a.m.

* Arrive at airport, feel thankful husband is a veteran at flying and happily prints out boarding passes for Mom and me, stand in security long enough to realize that bottle of water is creeping up on my bladder and glare at Mom for managing to get through the "quick" line, fight with buckles on shoes and curse myself for wearing said shoes, and make it onto flight.

* Give Mom oil to put behind her ears in an attempt to prevent motion sickness, find out Mom is allergic to eucalyptus which is in said oil, furiously wipe behind Mom's ear with a wet one in order to remove eucalyptus oil, and make it to Dallas. (Mom white knuckled the arm rests for the entire flight.)

* Wait for baggage at baggage claim, watch as an old woman in a wheelchair tossed her cat in a glorified duffle bag onto the floor and lint rolled the cat while it was in the bag, wait around for the driver who finally got a hold of me, make it to the hotel.

* After exiting the car, photographers and videographers filmed me as I entered the hotel, the Joule. I wondered why they'd want proof of how haggard I looked after waking up early and sleeping on a plane. Thankfully, I had the foresight to put on lipstick before exiting the car. I entered and exited the building several times so that they could get multiple shots.

* After I met the coordinators and checked in, I face timed two of my colleagues so that I could show them our sweet hotel room.

* I met another one of the winners, and we hit it off immediately. We had a chance to check out the Neiman Marcus store a few blocks down from the hotel. They asked us to enter and exit the store several times (I was beginning to feel like Bill Murray in Groundhog's Day) as they videotaped and photographed. At one point, a grody guy leaned out of the passenger side of a Honda Civic and yelled, "How much, ladies?" Right away, I felt a little slice of Baltimore was right there in the heart of Dallas.

* At the store, two of us had our fitting. (The first girl I met.) SO MANY pretty and expensive clothes. I ended up picking a navy Kate Spade sweater dress and a white Theory blazer. Another blazer to add to my collection? I don't mind if I do. I got to keep the outfit! The stylist had awesome, curly, gray hair and glasses like Edna from The Incredibles.

* After our fittings, we decided to get something to eat because we were hangry. My friend who now lives in Texas and my cousin met up with Mom, my new friend, and me. We ate at a nice little restaurant on the corner of St. Paul and Main Street called Wild Salsa.

* We had a little more down time and then met up with everyone for dinner at the hotel. The chicken was the most delicious chicken I have ever tasted. I know it's weird to rave about chicken, but the chicken was scrumptious.

Note: Every winner was paired up with a Beauty Department Manager, who was our point of contact before the event and during the event. Mine was Claudio, and I don't think they could've paired me up with a better person!

* My new friend, Mom, and I all sat at the bar after dinner and chatted before bed.

* Bed time.

Day 2:

* Wake up at buttcrack of dawn. Play in coolest shower ever for 45 minutes. Spend 15 of those minutes trying not to scald the crap out of myself.

* The same girl they paired me up with for the fitting was the same girl I went in for make up and hair with. Make up and hair at 7 a.m. with the funniest make-up artist whom I told to do whatever it took to prevent me from looking haggard.

* At this point, things get a little hazy for awhile because things were so jam packed that it took me three hours to finish my breakfast of a muffin and fruit. It consisted of four things:
      -- Video interview of just me on camera
      -- Photoshoot with Claudio, the manager paired up with me (they wanted to pictures of the
        manager showing us how to do something)
      -- Group shot of all the managers and winners
      -- Video shoot with Claudio (same as the photoshoot but moving pictures)

* After all of the pictures and videos, I had to return to reality.

The campaign launches in August because it's for the fall. (I realize a white blazer doesn't scream fall, but their wardrobe choices weren't really very fall-like. Of course, I didn't have much of a problem with that. I think navy and white work all year round, no?)

In the future, I'll be telling you more about some of the products I received. (I am SO excited to try Neulash!)

Since I wanted to look more "fall" like, I wore this outfit with booties instead of these shoes. However, I really like this look. 

The Look:

Shirt: LOFT (new--exact in light lobster)

Skirt: Francesca's (also worn here and here)

Shoes: Me Too via DSW (also worn here)

Belt: Target

Seriously, who knew this $15 skirt would get so much mileage? 

What an all star.