I'm In a New York State of Mind

I am really excited about today's trip to New York! I am stressed about what to wear, but it really looks like everyone else is, too!  I settled on a pencil skirt and cashmere sweater with some booties and a bright blue dress for the evening's soiree at the Tribeca Grand Hotel.

What else should I bring?  I made a small list to organize myself.
TOTE BAG:  I'd been looking for a nice leather carryall for a long time.  Normally, I carry my laptop in my backpack or in a small Kate Spade tote that I have (previously seen here) but it wasn't really a great fit.  I found this gorgeous leather Calvin Klein one in my price range (think Recessionista) and I love it because I can fit my laptop, my SLR, a notepad and a small flat clutch in the main compartment.  It also has a long zippered pocket for other belongings plus two pockets for my cell phone, business cards or anything else I can think of.

BUSINESS CARDS:  I hadn't even thought about business cards and didn't even have a clue as to how to get started. I initially reached out to a couple of graphic designers that I found online to see if anyone could come up with something, but I was seriously quoted from $400 to $800 for designing a header illustration for my blog and designing a suite of monograms that I could use for business cards and stationary.  Um...no thanks.  I am a baby blogger, I don't even have 50 readers yet!  So I threw a couple of things together and logged onto Moo.com and bought my first pack before I could change my mind.  I was nervous because they weren't scheduled to arrive until Monday and I just had go with it at this point!

iPHONE, LAPTOP, CAMERA: I got a great tip that it is nice to be able to take photos without interrupting your twitter stream or any phone calls.  Some girls say that they bring BOTH their laptop and their iPad, but I am only bringing my laptop.  Besides, I don't own an iPad-my husband has an HP Touchpad and it's cool but I can't use it. I never go anywhere without my iPhone anyway, but it's good to know I have to check it off my packing list.

I will have a post later this week about what I ended up packing, but I can say that I was not expecting to have such a tight fit. 

IN OTHER NEWS: SCORCHING STYLE HAS A NEW CONTRIBUTOR!
A few weeks ago, I asked Morgan to officially join my blog as I've always loved her style and I especially love the way she writes.  She was already helping me in an unofficial capacity serving as an editor and sometime guest, but I wanted to introduce her formally and let you know that she is working on some pieces and I hope that you enjoy her writing as much as I do.  When I started my blog, I always wanted it to be about more than what I was wearing and I really hope that this small step will be the first heading in a more diverse direction.  I am both excited and humbled that she agreed to contribute to Scorching Style.  I will let her introduce herself later this week and give you the scoop on her background and fashion philosophy.  Plus, I will let her decide if she wants to introduce you to her awesome husband, Silent Bob.  Oops, I think I may just have done that for her!

Posting may be sporadic as I travel to New York for the IFB Conference.  Your best bets for keeping up with me this week will definitely be Twitter and Instagram.  Follow links are on the right hand column of the blog.  Happy Tuesday!