Blackout Derby Style {A shoot with Meredith Sledge Photography}.

      Hello and Happy Monday! After what has possibly been the most busy and whirlwind (but wonderful!) three weeks of my life, I am finally home in Maine for awhile after finishing up a very demanding junior year in Charlotte, road-tripping from Charlotte to Maine with my dad, being home for less than three days and then flying off to Kentucky for the most incredible few days for an internship opportunity! I have SO much to share about both my internship experience and Kentucky, but first off, today comes a post that I would have written last week had I not been traveling. 

     

       Back in March 2014, I first had the privilege of meeting Meredith of Meredith Sledge Photography.  I first got to know Meredith as an online friend through the Delight group, which is an online ministry for Christian teen girls and young women pursuing photography, blogging, or the arts! (Delight is also how I met my real-life Maine BFF/fabulous photographer Shara from Shara Lynn Photography.) When Shara planned a trip to visit me in Charlotte in March 2014, Meredith and I got in contact and set it up that she would come down and surprise Shara!! This was the first time that Meredith met Shara and I in person, but we pulled off the surprise and all hit it off beautifully. You can read more about our adventures in Charlotte from that week here and here! 

March 2014 in Charlotte with Meredith and Shara! (Do y'all recognize this spot? ;-) )

     Anyways, Meredith lives in Virginia, not too far away from the highway that my dad and I follow for much of our drive home! Our schedules aligned and we were able to meet up in a town right off I-81 in Virginia for the afternoon, called Stauton. Off of the highway it doesn't look like much, but if you drive just a couple miles it turns into the most darling little downtown area ever!! I wish that we could have spent more time there. Meredith got to meet my dad and the three of us spent some time catching up in a cute little coffee shop called By&By (definitely stop by if you're ever in the area for the Vanilla Chai Latte!), and then jumped into my photoshoot!

     Meredith is without a doubt one of the most talented young photographers that I have ever met. Please check out her website or follow her Instagram (@meredithsledge) to see more of her work! It is such a blessing for me to get to call her not only one of my all-time favorite blog photographers, but also my friend!! 

    Of course I couldn't choose just a few pictures from this shoot, so here are several favorites. :-) I love how Meredith captured not only my outfit and personality, but also the beauty of downtown Stauton! 

Dress: Kiki LaRue Boutique || Shoes: DSW {Old, Similar here} || Purse: Michael Kors || Clutch: Target {Old, Similar version from Kate Spade here}|| Necklace: H&M || Bracelet: {Gift} || Ring: {Gift} || Nails: {Acrylics from my sorority formal} || Lips: Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Demure (my signature color!)

     Once I knew that I was going to have the chance to shoot with Meredith in Virginia, I had a little bit of a hard time picking out what I was going to wear at first!! I wanted it to be the absolutely perfect outfit for her amazing photography. 

     While going through my closet, I re-found this adorable LBD from Kiki LaRue Boutique and realized I had never styled it for the blog before! I had won a gift card to Kiki LaRue last fall from the blog Sunshine and Stilettos, and picked up this fun little black number! I am growing to really love dresses that are higher necked or conservative in the front and then get fun in the back. ;-) Have you ever seen anything cuter on a dress than the adorable bow on the back of this dress?! I absolutely fell in love. I think that it also ended up being the perfect dress for a shoot in Stauton because since Stauton is such a colorful and fun town it allowed both the dress and the surroundings to stand out in Meredith's pictures!

     I styled this dress completely differently back in December when I went to my Maine bestie Katie's sorority formal! (I had a whole travel adventure just to get to that formal... you can read about that in this post.) 

     Wearing this darling dress with its bow in the back, my big hat, and the floral clutch (which is technically a large wallet) made me think of an all-black Kentucky Derby outfit!! It made me all the more excited to wear it, since this was just about a week before my trip to Kentucky, where I knew I would be visiting Churchill Downs.

     Since this dress is from a smaller online boutique and is from last season, I can't link-up the exact item, but below linked are four gorgeous black dresses that are all under $100 (most under $50!). 

     xoxo Miss ALK