Hello Monday: The Fashion Lane Truck

with Jenna in front of The Fashion Lane

Photo credit: CS Gems

I had such a fun Saturday and am excited to share these photos with you! Obviously you all already know Jenna, and by now you should know CS Gems. For those of you who don't know about CS Gems yet, let me catch you up! I ran into them at STLFW last October, and they told me they followed me on Instagram. I felt famous! I've never been recognized from social media before! I ended up following them back that night and fell in love, not only with their account, but with all the pretty jewelry they sell! Stacy and Carrie are absolute sweethearts as well, so it's really tough not to support them. Their great products are truly just an added bonus. They are based in the St. Louis metro area, and they're practically neighbors with me in the same suburb! I've done a couple of collaborations with them already - you can see two of them HERE and HERE.

Jenna was able to join us for our last styling event with The Clothes Line Boutique, and since that was so much fun, we managed to plan another one, this time with The Fashion Lane, which is a boutique on wheels! Basically like a food truck, but without the calories, just some good old retail therapy.

Photo credit: The Fashion Lane website

While Jenna was off with Stacy from CS Gems photographing one of her outfits, I got to chat with Laura, The Fashion Lane owner, about how this all came to be. She is actually a CPA by trade, but never really loved her job, it was just that - a job. She was going through a few life challenges, which seemed to be a good turning point to start something new. Her husband asked her what she *really* wanted to do, and was extremely supportive from the beginning when she pitched the idea of starting a fashion truck. About this time last year, she purchased the truck, had it redone, and she officially opened for business in November of 2014. She's been enjoying the experiences and the people ever since! The Fashion Lane is such a great concept! Laura picks a great mix of trendy and traditional pieces for her shop, and since everything was in the $30-60 range, it was hard to say no. I seriously had to stop looking at stuff lest I end up buying all the things. 

The first piece I grabbed off the rack was this top! It has a great texture to it, and I loved the shape and stripes. I immediately saw so much potential with it, and the second I tried it on, I knew that it was going home with me.

I decided to go with silver accessories for this particular outfit, but it could easily be paired with gold jewels as well. How gorgeous is this bolo necklace with it? I love grey with pops of turquoise, so this necklace was an easy pairing. I just happened to bring my turquoise ring with me as well, so everything just fell into place! My collection of CS Gems is seriously growing. Beautiful and affordable - what's not to love about them?

Sunnies: Ray Ban | Necklace: CS Gems  | Ring: CS Gems | Bag: Rebecca Minkoff (gifted) | Top: The Fashion Lane | Bracelets: CS Gems | Bottoms: Express (option) (Lusting after AG  Jean leggings seen HERE) | Wedges: Steven by Steve Madden (shop other wedge espadrilles HERE)

Use code CARYLEE15 for 15% off of your CS Gems purchase

And not only do they have great gems, but Stacy is such a fun photographer to work with! These photos were taken in front of The Muny. Laura parked her truck out front, we picked out our outfits and changed right on the truck, then walked to wherever Stacy felt was the right setting  She picked this fun floral backdrop for me, and about one minute later, the skies opened up and we got completely drenched!! Thank goodness we were basically already done with this outfit, but I was mortified at what happened to my hair!! I brought a bunch of hair products, but not a blow dryer! Fashion blogger problems to the Nth degree, I tell ya! It was still so much fun though, and I'll share the remaining two outfits with you over the next week!

Disclosure: CS Gems gifted me some jewelry along with these photos and The Fashion Lane provided me a discount to shop in exchange for these blog posts. All opinions expressed are my own.

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