When I first started this blog, I never imagined I would be lucky enough to meet so many incredible women, let alone find a group of kindred spirits. In the past few months, I’ve gotten really close to a group fellow bloggers, whom without the power and reach of Instagram, I probably never would have met. I’m very excited to have teamed up with a few of them to bring you this year’s Galentine’s Day post!

I met Melissa (in the polka dotted skirt) almost a year ago. She was getting ready to move from Tampa to San Francisco for work and wanted to find some people to network with, so she did an Instagram hashtag search for #sfblogger and messaged me. As it turned out, we were both graphic designers, so we quickly bonded over work talk and a shared love for pancakes and fashion. (Guys, I kid you not: as I was writing that, Mel sent me a text message saying I had better include how she stalked my life and hunted me down in SF. Yup, got it! LOL)

Anyway, fast forward a little, and that’s when Mel met Julianne (in the black sparkle dress) at PoshFest 2014. Sweet as can be and both recent transplants to the Bay Area, it’s no wonder they got along so well and so quickly! And because they were both still new to SF, Mel arranged for a little blogger brunch outing for us all to meet. And, well, I guess the rest is history, because we see each other almost weekly! 🙂

The thing I love most about our little group, including the girls who couldn’t make it to our Galentine’s Day adventure, is that we all have different styles, body types, careers (okay, three of us are graphic designers, but still!), interests outside of blogging, and personal experiences that make us unique. We encourage honesty, creativity, and motivate each other to reach our full potentials every day, which is exactly what friends should do — and this is why we wanted to celebrate Galentine’s Day together.

With the help Style Lend, a local peer-lending company that helps fashion lovers borrow and lend out their best dresses, Mel, Julianne and I felt like princesses for a day! We started our morning in their San Francisco showroom, where we were presented with racks and racks of dresses arranged by size. After perusing through all the choices, we each found something that expressed our own Galentine’s Day style.

My Look

This dress was love at first sight! I had originally selected a romper to wear for the day, but then one of the Style Lend girls pulled this little number out, and I was smitten. Talk about spot-on perfection! The lace detailing was exquisite, and while I generally don’t wear vibrant colors, for our Girls Day it seemed like a fitting choice.

I absolutely adored how romantic the lace made this dress and how that romance contrasted with semi-sheer panel cut-outs and faux leather trimmings.

Playing off the edginess of the faux leather trimmings, I elected to adorn my feet with a pair of designer-inspired heels with studded accents.

The final touch to my look was this sparkly bauble, also borrowed from Style Lend. I think it was incredibly smart of them to extend their business model to include accessories, because I definitely wouldn’t have had anything in my personal jewelry collection to match this dress! (I should also do my civic duty and point out the Chanel bag you can borrow for just over $150!)

Dress: Three Floor borrowed from StyleLend
Shoes: BCBG Generation (love this other color too!)
Bag: Rebecca Minkoff (old, similar here)
Necklace: J. Crew borrowed from StyleLend

Melissa’s Look

I would say Mel is probably the biggest fashion risk-taker of the group, and I love her for it. I can never predict what she’s going to put together, and just when I think I’ve figured out her style completely, she will experiment with a new trend and leave me being completely in awe. I think this Galentine’s Day look is a perfect example of that! Her unexpected choice of a crop top paired with a polka dotted maxi skirt and vintage statement necklace would make Carrie Bradshaw proud.

Top: B*Jewel (similar here)
Skirt: Shabby Apple borrowed from StyleLend
Shoes: Cathy Jean (similar here)
Necklace: Vintage (similar here)

For more pictures of Mel’s outfit, personal style and musings, visit melsanv.com!

Julianne’s Look

Julianne is a master at mixing colors and patterns in unconventional ways, and effortlessly pulls in fun and quirky elements into each of her outfits. I love how she picked such a classy dress from Style Lend and made it perfect for a girl’s day out by adding a colorful statement necklace and bold cobalt blue shoes.

Polishing off her Galentine’s Day look is what I have deemed to be her signature half top-knot. I’m obsessed! (Hey Julianne, please post a how-to article for hair-inept folks like myself!)

Dress: St. John borrowed from StyleLend
Shoes: Steve Madden (similar here)
Necklace: Anthropologie
Bag: 3.1 Phillip Lim

For more pictures of Julianne’s fab look, a whole lot of beauty tips, tricks and more, visit The Wink!

The girls and I had so much fun putting this together, and we would like to thank Style Lend once more for lending us the amazing pieces in today’s post. If any of you dear readers would like to try Style Lend for your own girl’s day out (or any other fun event you have coming up), use the promo code GALENTINES for a $15 discount off your next rental before March 4, 2015!

We also want to send a huge thank you to Chictopia Connect for helping us make this day possible. (If you are a fellow blogger and haven’t heard of Chictopia Connect, they are the world’s largest influencer and brand collaboration platform where bloggers can connect with brands like Tobi and NastyGal. You can see examples of such collaborations if you search the hashtag #chictopiaconnect on Instagram!)

The last thank you goes to Emily Malan, another amazing Instagram-connection, for taking these photos. 🙂

Alright guys, that just about wraps it up! Thank you for letting me tell you about my wonderful Galentines, and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, whether you spend it with your significant other or your closest group of friends!

XOXO