First Kentucky Derby

One of my besties drove down from Columbus to spend the weekend with me and we had quite a blast!

She drove in on Friday night and our first Derby-related excursion was to go check out the garland that is made by the florists at one of our local Krogers.

It's amazing, they hand pick every single rose, and then hand sew every rose onto the fabric that has preservative water in between.  There are 540 roses in the garland and my friend and I got little keepsakes of rose petals from these roses.  We got to take a little bit of derby home with us on Friday.

The Paddocks:

These drinks are delicious, Lily's are the official Oaks (Friday before Derby) drinks and they are just... yes, too good.  They also come with keepsake glasses each time, so we accumulated a few glasses during the day.

One of the fun hats at derby... flamingos.  There were just so many fun hats that range from really elaborate to absolutely absurd/zany.

These are photos before the first race of the day (Derby was Race 11 so no way were we able to find room to be able to see them come out with the crowds in the way).

 Then we moved on to the Infield.  The morning was very nice and peaceful with plenty of space to breathe in.  By the time afternoon came along it was just insane with broken glass on the ground, trash strewn everywhere, crazy people running around... quite a show.  The picture below shows what it was before any of that set in.

Mint Julep + Pretzel

I got a mint julep (not from here) and spotted this mint julep mascot.  Really excited about this.

This is the crowd leaving Derby...

We ventured to a different part of the Paddocks, to take photos with the horse statue.  I really enjoy this photo because it looks like we've been photobombed.

This weekend has been absolutely amazing and just what I needed.  Spending some fun girl-time at the tracks is a great way to kick off this month of May.  I just wish I could wear big hats and dresses all the time!

Dress: Nikola Dress from Anthropologie (On sale Right Now)

Although this dress is not brightly colored, I went with something that was more appropriate for the infield where I would occasionally have to sit on the ground and such.  Next year we're thinking of getting actual seats and bringing the guys with us. Derby is a worthy experience and I can't wait to do it again! I didn't win any of my wages, but I definitely win in good company and sunshine.

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Dressing for Dawn at the Downs

Welcome to Louisville, home of the Kentucky Derby!

Our department had a fun off-site event this morning to head over to Churchill Downs for breakfast: Dawn at the Downs.  What a beautiful day!

It was a lot of fun planning my outfit for this outing because it offered up an opportunity to sew! (Not that I need any excuses).  I realized that my closet had very few work-appropriate dresses because I knew that as soon as breakfast was over it was back to work!

The dress I chose to make was based on the Mint and Tiffany Style dress I made in a previous post.  The original dress pattern calls for knit fabric but it's hard for me to find knit fabric that I like, much more difficult than woven fabric.  I used fabric that I bought before spring as I was planning for spring fabric projects.  The only real change is that instead of a dress that slips on, I modified it with an invisible zipper in the back.  It fits well and I am pleased with how it turned out.  I sewed this earlier this week, just in time for breakfast at the tracks!

Now, on to photos of Churchill Downs on this beautiful and sunny day!

Out at the paddocks.

Blown glass model of Churchill Downs.

View from Millionaires Row.  It was still pretty exciting at the tracks because the horses were out in the early morning practicing.  Without the noise from the crowds, we could actually hear the horses heave as they pounded around the tracks.  They are such beautiful creatures and I'm looking forward to this Saturday as I'll be headed to the Kentucky Derby!  My friend and I are spending it in the infield so it's not as "fancy" as the grandstands or other seats but it'll save money for the tracks!  The day should be great fun as I have heard that the infield is like a giant party!

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