Friday was a fun day in Austin because there were very few events planned and it was all fun stuff, no learning yet. For dinner, I was invited to a little event with Minnetonka, and it was the first event of the weekend, so it was great to finally meet up with friends and meet a few new people. I got to finally meet Savannah and Jenny from Maiedae! I feel like Savannah and I could be sisters, it's kind of weird. The Minnetonka dinner was definitely the most my-style type event the whole weekend. Small, intimate, friends with whom I could have deeper conversations, yummy food, champagne... it was a good way to ease into the crazier swap event later that night. And by ease into, I mean get buzzed. No, I kid (sort of), it really was a nice kick off to the whole weekend. I got to have great conversations, some with old friends, some with new, and it was fun to be able to walk over to the swap all together, with our bellies full of great food and drink.

dress/courtesy of lulu's :: necklace(similar)/francesca's collection :: clutch/courtesy of hearts :: shoes/courtesy of modcloth :: shades/vintage photos of me by Tieka :: photos of the minnetonka dinner by Jenni photobooth photos by Peter Tung

The swap was pretty crazy, especially when we first arrived. It was packed! Situations where people are elbow to elbow trying to grab clothes are some of my least favorite (see: black friday), so I hung back, chatted, grabbed one of the amazing cocktails they were serving and waited till things were a bit more chilled out. Despite it seeming to be pretty picked over by the time I started searching for things, I got some great items, and I ended up wearing them during TxSC, so they'll be on the blog pretty soon!

After the swap a little group of us went out to a restaurant to grab a few apps and another drink before heading home for the night. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep immediately, which was good because I had to teach my workshop the next morning! Thankfully late morning.

more after the jump!

Even though the Swap was overwhelming when the doors first opened at 7, it really was an amazing event. In addition to the 2 items that the swap-goers each brought, Lulu's seeded the swap with over 200 brand new pieces! They put on an amazing event and it seemed like everyone left with some amazing items! This year there were even a couple dressing rooms so you could make sure your items fit right before picking them out for good. Last year we just grabbed and hoped for the best. One of my favorite things about the swap is that each item that a swap-goer brings gets labeled with their name, blog, and twitter handle, so you get to find out who brought the item you snatched up! It's a great way to get to know the history of the item, plus it's a fun way to network.