POPSUGAR event and the new Must Have box

Happy Saturday, friends! I’m popping in to share with you some colorful pictures and an event recap. A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to attend a POPSUGAR SELECT “Girl’s Night Out” event held in the Financial District of San Francisco. I was thrilled to be attending, because I not only have a love for POPSUGAR, but I also have a love for meeting fellow bloggers. This blogging world is a funny thing, and it’s super fun to talk to others who are also passionate about sharing their lives and knowledge with the big ole’ world wide web.

POPSUGAR Girl’s Night Out 

The event was held at Top Coat studios in the Crocker Galleria. And as any good Girl’s Night Out would, there were some treats, bubbly and pampering activities on the agenda.

We were given complimentary mini manis by the Top Coat traveling team, who goes around and paints nails at events. I think it’s pretty cool that they have a team specifically for special get-togethers like this. If I were hosting a fancy party for ladies in the future (which clearly I’m not), I would totally love to have manicurists there for my guests.

It took me a very long time to select my accent nail design, and we only had four choices.

While I was getting my nails done, I was delivered a glass of champagne and was able to talk to my neighbors to the sides, somewhat awkwardly, while trying to keep my hands still.

Here’s the finished product, displayed above the bubbly.

After I was walking around and admiring my mani, I noticed nearly everyone else went with a muted pink or taupe color, which was apparently more appropriate for the season. Whoops. That’s why I’m not a trend-setter, friends. I’m just a gal who knows what she likes, and that’s usually a bright color.

As my hands were drying, I chatted my way back through the studio to the hand-modeling station. The lovely representatives of Piperlime had a tray of accessories set out for us to admire and try, and they styled my manicure with two gold rings and a gorgeous DVF leopard envelope clutch.

Now this is a fabulous spread of jewelry and accessories from Piperlime.

Then it came time for my photo-shoot. I didn’t think I would feel awkward just having my hands in front of a camera, but I totally did. My hands just didn’t know what to do with themselves. It was funny. The photographer kept moving my fingers around, because clearly they looked stiff. But in the end, we came out with a few decent shots.

Gold rings and fancy clutch courtesy of Piperlime.

I guess hand modeling is just not my calling. Not to mention, I had a big bruise from a weight-plate on my thumb, which we had to keep trying to cover up — how lovely. As usual, I was marked up from my day-job. (Because there’s not a day that I don’t have some sort of injury, bruise or issue from the hours I spend in the gym.)

I walked away slightly embarrassed by my hand-modeling experience, and therefore sought solace in the dessert table. I filled up a doggie bag with some cute and colorful treats to take home for later, which I had assumed Dave would help me with. He didn’t. I ate them all. They were good. I wish I had brought home more.

How much do I love a well-laid out treat table of mini-cupcakes and macaroons? 

I was the first to discover the little black boxes hidden behind the flowers that we could use to take treats to-go, and a few others joined in to pack their own with me. At least I set that trend …

Meeting some lovely local lady bloggers

Throughout the night I had the pleasure of meeting Alex, Kelly, Nancy, Jessica, Sarah and many other POPSUGAR bloggers, who all live around the Bay Area. And I was able to catch up with Chanda, who I met a few weeks earlier at a Lululemon event. We’re pretty lucky to live close enough to be invited to the first ever POPSUGAR Select event and all agreed we hope there are many more to come. 

Shown above from the left: Nancy, me and Jessica.

Meeting the friendly ladies of POPSUGAR

In addition to meeting the bloggers in attendance, one of the best parts of the night was the chance to meet and talk to so many of the ladies who work for POPSUGAR. They were all well-dressed, approachable, friendly and so down-to-Earth. Spending time with so many nice people who are so passionate about their jobs was great, because it shows that they really care about their network and blogger relationships. Before the event, I had emailed back-and-forth with so many of them and putting faces to names was quite cool. 

And of course, it wouldn’t be a blogger event without some suggestions for tagging photos and posts. 

Oh Snap! Thanks to all the partners who welcomed us that night. Yes, you were tagged.

Before I left for the night, I had a chance to talk to the ShopStyle team and was introduced to the all-new POPSUGAR Must Have box straight from the Must Have team.

Introducing the POPSUGAR Must Have box

Thanks to POPSUGAR, I came away with a Must Have box, and I must say, this is an awesome thing. POPSUGAR recently started selling this monthly subscription service, which is a way to get a box of curated lifestyle items in the fitness, fashion, food and home category delivered to you each month. You never know what you’re going to get, and rumor has it that Lisa Sugar, yes, the Sugar of POPSUGAR, does the curating. Here’s what was in the September box …

My styled shoot of the September Must Have box, done at home after the event.

The subscription service costs $39.95 a month. Yet, the items inside add up to way more than the cost of the box, so it’s a great way to get special and unique items for less than retail price. I looked around online for links to each of the products in case you want a closer look:

• Tilo Scarves scarf in raisin. Suggested retail $125.
• Nicole Miller earbuds. Suggested retail $20.
• Urban Remedy almond brownie. Suggested retail $6.
• Oribe superfine purse-size hair spray. Suggested retail $21.50.
• Letter C Design gold foil arrow pencils and sharpener. Suggested retail $5.
• Rifle Paper Co. Garance Dore assorted girls set. Suggested retail $18.
• Ghirardelli milk chocolate sea salt & almond minis. Suggested retail $6.
• Nike.com $20 gift card. 

From top left: Nike gift card, food items, notecards and pencils and the earbuds.

For the past few months I’ve been getting the Birchbox each month, and that is something that includes just samples of mostly cosmetic products. While I do look forward to that delivery, the POPSUGAR Must Have Box, on the other hand, has a more diverse range of full-sized, real life products.

Honestly, I would never seek out or spend money on fancy notecards and pencils but am certainly happy to have them in my possession thanks to this box. And I always love to try new tasty treats, all of which have been eaten. The scarf: Haven’t worn it yet, but I think I will soon. The Nike.com gift card: I need to get on that. Overall, it’s a really neat selection of things that I like. I think Lisa Sugar hit the nail on the head with this one. I wonder what’s in next month’s?

Another cool thing about the Must Have box is that they also offer gift boxes and boxes themed for babies, bridesmaids or other occasions. It’s a very different kind of gift to give, and one I know I would like to receive. Shopping for someone who has everything? This might be a good choice.

Get yourself a Must Have box

Now, if you’re interested in this awesome service, I have a deal for you. Sign up for a three-month subscription and use the code OCT10SELECT to get $10 off your order, and this code is good until November 2. Now, even better, if you sign up using this link — I’ll get a little referral credit <<affiliate link!>>. And you can bet those pennies will go right back into the web-hosting for A Lady Goes West.

What are you waiting for? Order away!

*POPSUGAR provided me with a complimentary Must Have box. However, I was not compensated for this review, and the opinions expressed are all mine, mine, mine. 

Questions of the day

What would you most want to receive in your Must Have box? What’s your go-to nail polish this season?