Weekly Recap #41, 2021

What a week! I kept busy the past several days by attending a handful of homecoming events, representing Graceful Rags in the school’s first Entrepreneurship Week (more on that exciting opportunity below!), and getting in the mood for spooky season by checking out a haunted house. I wish time would just slow the heck down because I can’t believe next week already marks halfway through the quarter! I love this time of year and have been trying to soak up the changing leaves and crisp autumn air as much as possible—Colorado sure makes that easy.

Monday, October 4

Instead of going to my first two classes today, I participated in the University of Denver’s first ever Entrepreneurship Week! The head of the entrepreneurship department (from whom I have taken several classes) emailed me at the end of the summer to ask me if I wanted to promote Graceful Rags by participating in this event. The thought of talking about my brand to other students and seeing a life-size poster of myself was intimidating, but I excitedly jumped at this amazing opportunity.

Entrepreneurship Week consisted of several panels and presentations from the 4th to the 8th, but today was the only event in which I participated—a launch party where student entrepreneurs could set up tables to promote their businesses, sell their products, and network with other students, faculty, and alumni.

I was nervous my table would be lame by comparison—since I don’t have an actual product to sell—but mine was one of the best-looking displays, if I do say so myself. I brought candy to hand out, samples to give away that I had received from past collaborations, and a few items to show off that brands have sent me, such as my Jet Noire lace-up top and my Sungait sunglasses. I also printed off a sheet with all the logos of brands I’ve worked with, my discount codes for various companies, and QR codes to follow me on all my platforms. I covered up my last name for the sake of internet safety, but how cool is the giant banner with my photo and blog name?! The picture turned out great, and I’m so excited that I get to keep the poster.

I could not have asked for a better event. While I love blogging, I’m not very confident when I tell other people about Graceful Rags—I’m usually embarrassed to admit how much time I spend pursuing it, especially in the context of entrepreneurship classes; I feel like a poser when I say I treat Graceful Rags like my business. However, for the first time, this event legitimized what I do. People treated me just as seriously as the other, more traditional companies tabling nearby, and so many girls were genuinely impressed by and interested in my blog.

The most common question I received was, “How long have you been doing this?” My response was always, “I’ve been blogging for five years, but I only recently started working with brands.” I feel ashamed of that fact—like, what took me so damn long when other bloggers start working with brands right away?!—but instead, every single person expressed their excitement for me, and several went so far as to say, “Congratulations!” It turned out to be such a special day. The only downside was that Instagram went down, so countless people tried to follow me and weren’t able to! Really bad timing, Insta.

I chose to wear this sweater today so that my outfit would match the color scheme of my table. I really loved this look—especially the layered rose gold necklaces—and I wish I had snapped a better pic before the sun started to go down! I’m going to have to be more strategic with my OOTD pics in the future as the sun starts to set sooner.

White Crop Top: American Eagle, $8, buy exact in the widget above | Salmon-Colored Cardigan: Unknown, $30, last worn here | Cropped Flared Jeans: Express, $25, last worn here | White Mules: Rebecca Minkoff via Saks Off Fifth, $70, last worn here

Tuesday, October 5

I just threw on something casual today because I spent almost the whole day reading and studying for my Social Psychology midterm. In wine class, we had our first pairing day—the school of hospitality’s kitchen prepared us all plates of various foods, such as steak, salmon, asparagus, and dark chocolate, to taste-test with our wine. It was fun, but I wish I had learned more concrete examples of what to pair together and what not to pair together. Instead, the tasting and sipping of wine was kind of just a free-for-all. After class, I booked it across town to guest play for my cousin’s soccer team again—we lost 0-1, but at least I schooled a couple of grown men with my moves.

Black Top: Nordstrom Rack, $15, last worn here | Denim Shorts: H&M, $25, last worn here | Black Sandals: Dillard’s, $30, last worn here

Wednesday, October 6

Today was a super hectic day, as I finished an essay in the morning, caught up in the two classes I missed on Monday, and took my Social Psych midterm in the afternoon. I was really nervous for this test because it was the first in-person exam I’ve taken since pre-Covid—which means I actually had to study, as everything during Covid was take-home and open-book. Thankfully, the midterm went really well! I celebrated by attending a few homecoming events on campus, such as having my caricature drawn (which didn’t look like me but was fun nonetheless) and getting free ice cream sundaes on the campus green. This dress was the perfect thing to throw on when I was running late this morning without having to sacrifice style.

Patterned Shift Dress: JCPenney, $30, last worn here | Beige Flats: Nordstrom Rack, $40, last worn here

Thursday, October 7

Today was another busy day, as I got lunch with my aunt, showed her around my apartment, and then ran the Crimson Classic 5k on campus, a homecoming tradition. However, the race was only an hour before wine class, so I ran the 5k, ran back to my apartment, showered as fast as I could, and ran back to class (arriving five minutes late). Thankfully my wine professor is pretty chill, but I haven’t gone running in forever so the race was a little rough. After class, a friend came over and we grabbed dinner together before touring the wine store near campus—I consider it studying for my wine midterm next week. I thought this outfit was really cute, and it would look amazing with a beige wide-brimmed hat to match the booties!

Green Stripe Tee: Down East Style, $18, last worn here | Black Denim Jacket: Topshop via Nordstrom, $55, last worn here, buy exact in the widget above | Suede Embroidered Skirt: Francesca’s, $25, last worn here | Beige Booties: Sam Edelman via DSW, $70, last worn here

Friday, October 8

I spent the whole morning writing my article for the student newspaper before getting my flu shot with a friend and binging some of “West Wing” with him. In the evening, I met up with a different friend for a tailgate and the first home hockey game of the season! My school doesn’t have football, so hockey is the big sport—and Covid really put a damper on the season last year. It was so exciting to get back in the arena and cheer on the team. I’ve never really been one for school spirit, but I do enjoy a hockey game once in a while (I’m usually just hoping to see a good fight).

Maroon Mock-Neck Top: JCPenney, $11, last worn here | Grey Mom Jeans: Express, $19, last worn here | Blush Sneakers: Steve Madden via DSW, $60, last worn here | Snakeskin Belt: Francesca’s, $9, last worn here

Saturday, October 9

I decided this morning to drive about half an hour away to the Mother Cabrini shrine near Golden, Colorado (the first pic in today’s post). I had stumbled upon the place once before with a friend who wasn’t very interested in exploring the grounds with me. I finally made it back to the area today, which included a chapel, a grotto, several gardens, and stairs with the Stations of the Cross leading up to a giant Jesus statue that can be seen from I-70. I haven’t thought much about my religion in the past few years (I was raised Catholic), but it was very peaceful to escape to the mountains for the morning and see the changing colors of the leaves.

I spent the afternoon being extremely unproductive and binging “Squid Game” (because I can’t stand FOMO and everyone’s been talking about this show), before getting dinner with a friend and going to a haunted house. You bet I jumped and screamed more than a few times!

Purple Sweater: Hand-me-down, last worn here | Black Lace-Up Pants: JCPenney, $11, last worn here | Black Booties: DSW, $45, last worn here

. . . . .

I had a very slow morning today and have just been working on my blog post all afternoon. What I really need to do is drag my booty off the couch to go take some blog photos for the upcoming week, but I’m just not sure I have it in me… guess you’ll find out tomorrow if there’s no new post lol. As always, thanks for stopping by the blog today, and let me know which of this week’s outfits is your favorite!

 

Miles of smiles,
Grace