Over the past week I’ve been working on a fun little project with Caitlin. You may have noticed my Insta feed blowing up with the best pictures everrrr ever {if you haven’t go follow me @jessicateaford}. Well there was a reason for all of that.
I was keeping it a little under wraps until it was finished and final, but Caitlin and I decided to enter a fun contest with ShopStyle Collective.
For those who don’t know, ShopStyle is an affiliate network used by bloggers to monetize their content. Bloggers can link items — creating shoppable content — through these networks and earn revenue based on clicks. There are other networks that have similar functions, this is just what ShopStyle offers.
A couple weeks ago I opened up my email — which is now usually full of clothing sales and job application rejections — and saw an email with the title WIN A VIP WEEKEND IN WINE COUNTRY. Usually these type of emails are just promoting some giveaway that I would never have a chance of winning. Trust me I’ve entered I-don’t-know-how-many Instagram giveaways. Nothin. But this was different than some random drawing giveaway.
The rules:
- create 5 Looks featuring your best weekend getaway style
- post at least 2 of the Looks you create to Instagram {5 are recommended, I posted 3}
- tag @ShopStyle in each post on Instagram
- email a link to each Look and a link to each Instagram post of the Look
- send by April 13
What you win:
- two round-trip flights
- two-night stay at the luxury Solage resort
- $200 resort credit, for access to dining and spa treatments
- VIP access to the infamous Solage pool party
I immediately was super excited and into it — I’ve never been to California — and texted Caitlin right away. We start dreaming up a trip and photoshoots in Cali and now were obsessed and have to do it.
We ran into a few issues along the way, though.
Issue #1
Nebraska with the weather that…Nebraska has, created a bit of a problem for us. Trying to shoot getaway outfits outside when it’s freezing and dead is not a great scenario. We considered framing our getaway around a trip to Iceland or somewhere cold {the rules never said it had to be a tropical getaway after all}. We seriously contemplated arranging some cold weather outfits. There was finally one day last week that it was actually so nice out. 70 and cloudy. Perfect for photos. And then it snowed over the weekend. What the eff Nebraska.
During the photoshoot, we found a tiny section of a wall with actual, real life leaves growing on it. It is so hard to shoot getaway outfits in Nebraska with no plant life. I can’t wait until summer.
Issue #2
I had a lot of outfits from my last getaway {the cruise 1 year ago} and various pieces here and there that I’ve purchased that would all be perfect for weekend getaways. BUT I later realized all of the clothes had to be new. When creating a Look on ShopStyle, every item from the Look has to be linked to a website for the viewers of the look to be able to click on and purchase themselves if they want.
I had to make a quick Target run. HA is there such a thing.
If I’m being 100 percent honest, I’ve never shopped at Target for clothing. I know…outrageous. I’m sitting here wondering why though? Target has amazing clothes. I guess it just never had occurred to me. Target came through for me on this day. Girl, they really came through.
I combined the pieces from Target with a few pieces I already owned and created an amazing weekend getaway collection.
It’s tax season, so I know some of you are planning a fun getaway with your refund check. Use my lookbook to help you plan some hot fire outfits for your trips. This girl will be staying home because I just sent my life away today in the form of paying my taxes #serverlife. Click each picture below to view the entire post with outfit details!
The turnaround from photoshoot day to submission deadline was really quick. After a little bit of scrambling {and a double post to Instagram} we made it just in time for the submission.
Now we wait.
I hope you enjoyed this little peak into our project. Wish us luck!