COAST Apparel Polo Giveaway!

About a week or so ago, I was contacted by a company called COAST Apparel about writing a post on their products and potentially doing a giveaway. The company is 'stationed' in Pawleys Island, SC (but you can find their products in stores across the country) and they sell comfortable and stylish, coastal inspired apparel -- think preppy meets the beach.

This description from their website pretty much sums it up:
"Our clothing lines are designed to take you back to the coast: in your heart, in your mind and on your back. They are comfortable and elegant in their cut, style and feel. It is our desire that when you put on a piece of COAST apparel, it will ignite some of your fondest memories and place you in a coastal state of mind no matter where you are."

I love their adorable blue crap logo!

I had heard about COAST Apparel just from following so many beach inspired and southern blogs, but I had never shopped there or owned any of their clothes.

So when the opportunity presented itself, I think it took me maybe three seconds to accept their more than generous offer.

I was very excited that they decided to send me one of their polos to try out. Such a versatile (and necessary) part of a wardrobe. I work in a business casual environment, so polos are a comfortable must for work-wear... and then as a 'coast' dwelling citizen myself, a polo paired with shorts and flip flops is a Spring and Summer staple around here.

However, since I knew this polo would definitely be worn at work as well as around town, I didn't want anything too ultra fitted. I'm weird about wearing 'snug' clothes at the office...I don't like the er...attention that it draws if you know what I mean.

So I emailed COAST back and asked what their sizing was like as far as fit. I was delighted and surprised that they offered to send me both a small AND a medium to try with the explanation, "try both...keep one...gift or giveaway the other!". Wow.

So I got my package in the mail from COAST...it contained not two polos, but three! Two mediums and a small, all in different colors! Plus they sent me a COAST visor, COAST koozies, and a ton of adorable COAST crab stickers (that I may or may not secretly stick in random locations all over Charleston). I felt so special...seriously... why me? :)

Surprise!!

So the small polo was pink - and it fit very well, but more of a fitted look, so snug against me. The medium fit well also, yet left more room around the waist and fell slightly lower past my waist than the small. Plus...one of the mediums was black and I think that's such a versatile color that I could pair with a million things I already own. So.. no brainer... I kept the black medium for myself!

The polo fabric is nice. You can tell it's of a higher quality - it's not too thin which you often find with other polos from cheaper brands like Old Navy, Target, etc. I always have to wear a tank under some of my polos because the fabric is just too thin. The coast polo is not too thick either, so you wouldn't be hesitant to wear it in a Charleston summer. I also like that the collar is 'sturdy' in that it's not folding all weird where I have to constantly fix the corners or pull it down.

Each polo has the COAST logo stitched on the front left - that adorable light blue crab. So cute! I'm so into beachy and nautical styles right now (living in Charleston has that effect on you), so this little crab is the perfect little detail!

I wore it to work today with a long sleeve white shirt under it, jeans, and a pair of my light blue pearls that complimented the adorable crab stitched on the front. I was so excited about my new COAST polo that I created a montage of emotions to show how this gift from COAST really made my day much brighter. :)

COAST sells more than just the polos of course - pants, button up shirts, visors, shorts...for men and women. So visit their website and check them out... the women's polos are on sale right now in certain colors for only $55!

One of our fave beach past times - Bocce!

COAST Polo Giveaway
So since I have extra polos, I'm going to pay it forward and give one away so that person can share the COAST love as well.

I'm going to give away either the pink polo in a size small....

OR the light blue polo in a size medium...

Winner picks which one they want! To give you a better idea of how they fit, I'm usually a size 6 - sometimes 4 depending on the brand. Both the small and the medium fit me - I just kept the medium because it was slightly bigger and loser around the tummy area which is more comfortable for me.

Possible ways to get entries:
1) Comment on this post with your first name, last initial, and where you're from - one entry.
2) Share a link to this giveaway on Twitter (mention @chsgirlblog so I get it too, and feel free to mention @COASTStyle too) - one entry.
3) Blog about this giveaway on your blog, must include a link back to this post. Then comment on this post with a link to your blog post - one entry.
4) Visit COAST Apparel on Facebook and 'Like' them - then comment on this post and let me know you did (girl scouts' honor ladies) - one entry.

Deadline for all entries is MIDNIGHT eastern time next Wednesday, Dec. 15th. I'll randomly draw and announce a winner on the blog the following day on Thursday.

Look into my eyes... you know you want to enter and share this giveaway...
Hooray for my very first giveaway!!

Big thanks to COAST Apparel for giving me the opportunity to do this giveaway and own one of their shirts!

Weekend Recap

Thursday Night - Group dinner with friends at fave Mt. Pleasant restaurant, Bambu


Friday Night - Dinner and drinks with fellow Clemson MBA alums, didn't get photo of whole outfit (doh!), but you can see the shirt! And I'm not a fan of this photo, I'm sitting at a weird angle. I wore the sandals and packed silver flops - wore sandals the whole night and feet didn't hurt, yay!

Saturday - Beachin' it at Sullivan's 29th. Love this spot because of the sandbar that appears mid-day.

Saturday - Siiiiiiiigh.

Saturday Night - Dancin' and drinks at fave Sullivan's Island night spot, Off the Hook. Wearing planned outfit from this post - again, didn't get full picture, but you get the idea. And definitely rockin' my sunburn.



Sunday Night - HBO Guilty Pleasure TV and Spaghetti dinner w/ my BF.

This week: Unpack boxes, get back on my workout schedule, be productive at work.

Weekend Recap in Photos

Went to Virginia Beach, VA for a family friends' wedding.

Got to see my adorable niece - she's getting so big! Look at those cheeks!

View from our hotel room.

Lots of beach time during the day.

Beach wedding - loved the decorations.

Groom waiting for his bride.

Here comes the bride!

Bridesmaids in turquoise and bare feet - orange bouquets.

"I do!"

Unity sand - into an hourglass.

"I now pronounce you man and wife!"

Beachy centerpieces.

Orange flowers created lots of color!

Loved this cupcake tower - flavors were coconut and mint chocolate. Delicious!

Favors... at first we couldn't figure out what it was...magnet? paper weight?

Other favors included sand and shell filled candles.

Me and my fiance... my RTR dress, lol.

 Starfish favor was... bottle opener! Winning! Already in my beach bag.

I had the crab cakes - delicious!

One of our friend's daughters was ready for bed - so she decided to
just plop down on floor and go to sleep. So cute.

Not really sure what's going on here...except that my Spanx makes
my butt look like a rap star's girlfriend's booty...

Lots of dancing - yes that would be napkins on their heads. Kind of a tradition...long story. :)

Sunday night Bradley and I were still in town and a lot of folks had left.
So we went on a mini-date and had dinner on the water. It was so nice and relaxing.

Bradley. I love that five years later I still look at him and think "Damn, he's hot!". :)

Me.

Got back to Charleston (7 hr drive!) Monday evening - picked up Willow
from Pooch Palace where we board him - the dogs play all day long there.
Needless to say, Willow went right to bed when we got home...he snored all night. :)

THE END. :)

Bringing the beach indoors

I recently fell in love with a sea turtle pillow from Anthro, and when it went on sale I snagged it up. I love the colors in it and it looks great with my brown couches.

So the other night when I was trying to find the motivation to continue unpacking and I looked over at the pillow and had an inspiration...since I now live only five minutes from the beach, I'm going to decorate my condo with a beach/nautical theme. My guest bathroom is already beach themed and my bathroom has a palm tree theme -- so why not turn my condo into my own little beach bungalow.

TJ Maxx and Marshalls in Mt. Pleasant have a ton of cute beach decor - so I snagged up a bunch of fun things there... I love those stores.

And I've been surfing the Web looking for some great accents and here's what I've gotten so far:

I love this painting because I can now ride MY cruiser to the beach!

Anthro Curtains!

I need your interior decorating expertise...I have this wall right above the open bar area of my kitchen - and it will be right above my long brown couch. It's such a weird spot and I have no idea what to put there. I'll already have paintings on other walls, so I don't want to overkill with another painting...but I'm really stumped on what to put up there.

Nevermind the stuff all over the counter top...
I'm still unpacking...that 'stuff' won't be there necessarily.

I thought about a ship wheel like this one, but I am afraid of going overkill with the whole nautical theme.

Other ideas I'm throwing around is maybe finding a long horizontal beach sign - something like "Life at the beach..blah blah". I also considered making my own - finding some old wood, painting it, and putting a beachy quote on it.

Another idea... buying three or four different looking clocks and setting them each to a different beach city time with the city name below each one: Charleston, Costa Rica, Hawaii, Sydney... but then I thought it might get annoying having four ticking clocks right above my head while watching TV or reading. Plus, I don't really have any connections to those other cities...and the other beaches I do have a connection to are all in the Eastern time zone.

Finally...I'm thinking maybe a wooden oar. Hanging it at a diagonal and then putting that wooden beachy sign below it. But I'm not in love with that idea...

So I'm stumped... what's an easy, affordable decorating idea for that weird spot - something that will carry the theme, but not be overkill.... please comment with your ideas, links, etc. Help!