Travel Recap: Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, & HUGE ANNOUNCEMENTS!

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HELLO beautiful readers!!  Wow where on earth have I been?  To answer, I’ve been all over the place!  In the span of three days, I managed to visit four different states and have countless adventures in each one!  I also have a few incredibly exciting announcements to share with all of you, as well as a huge sneak peak/breakdown of what’s to come on Simply Tess…

Let me start by saying I have missed you all so much, and I feel like I haven’t talked to you in ages!  I promise I wasn’t trying to neglect you, I genuinely had so many incredible things happen and I wanted to share these moments in a huge recap post!  However there will be separate posts coming up over specific places, outfits, and adventures, so definitely stay in touch for that!  

JULY 20, 2016

Road trip time!  Doug and I packed our bags, loaded up my BMW, and headed out to Erie, Pennsylvania!  This day was filled with hours of driving, countless snapchats, and excitement as Doug was preparing for his interview for medical school!  After settling in we decided to head to the beautiful State Park in Erie, Presque Isle!  The quiet waves of Lake Erie were the only sound as we watched the most incredible sunset, and explored the endless beauty of the peninsula!  Presque Isle stole both of our hearts, and I know we’ll be heading there again in our future!

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JULY 21, 2016

It’s 5 am, rise and shine!  I made a spontaneous decision to drive to Buffalo, New York, and spend the morning in beautiful Elmwood Village!  Keep in mind, this was a hour and a half drive from our hotel, and Doug needed to be at his interview at 12:30, so the trip was pretty short lived!  However the few hours I was able to spend there won me over, and it definitely confirmed my decision to move to New York!

I spent the morning at SPoT Coffee, where I read the local newspapers and people-watched while drinking the most decadent soy vanilla latte!  I then decided to walk and window shop until the boutiques opened, and I actually made a few purchases that I’ll share with you in an upcoming fashion post!  I then decided to drop by Ashker’s Juice Bar & Cafe, where I sat outside and enjoyed a MORNING COOLER fusion smoothie (aka: a blend of beets, peaches, bananas, and oranges)!  Buffalo, New York was incredible, and it saddened my heart to leave after the quickest few hours of my life!  But I know for a fact I’ll be back, next time with Doug, and hopefully with a house key in hand!  And yes, I did buy the infamous “I *heart* NY” mug and I have zero regrets!

Upon arriving back to Erie, PA, I dropped Doug off at his interview (which was four hours long, props to you my love) I proceeded to grab lunch and do some shopping at the local mall!  I surprised Doug with a few goodies as a “congratulations/job well done” once the interview was complete, and we settled in for the almost four hour drive to our new hotel in Sandusky, Ohio!  Also, a HUGE congratulations to him for receiving his early admission acceptance letter today!!  You’re amazing Doug, I’m so proud of you and I love you so much!!

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JULY 22, 2016

If you and your boyfriend (aka Doug and I) are die-hard University of Michigan fans and are visiting Ohio, there’s likely only one logical explanation: Cedar Point!  The last time Doug and I visited Cedar Point was almost four years ago, so we definitely had some catching up to do on the new rides!  And I must say, I was not disappointed!  Valravn made its way to my new favorite, with Raptor still holding a special place in my heart!  Doug’s favorite rides are Maverick and Top Thrill Dragster, and we both love the Sky Ride (lol)!  I must say, after being sunburnt to a crisp, blacking out on Millennium Force, and sweltering in the 100 degree heat (no joke), it was by far the most fun I’ve had and I loved every moment!  After spending seven, let me repeat: seven, hours at Cedar Point, we headed home and spent the weekend being as lazy as possible!  All in all it was the most memorable, wonderful trip of my life with my favorite person!

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Now let’s get back to the present, because I have some incredible announcements to share with you all!  Firstly, I wanted to officially announce that Victoria’s Secret PINK chose me to be a sponsored stylist!  O M G!!  This is honestly a dream come true, and I cannot even believe how blessed I am for this opportunity!  Make sure you come back tomorrow as I’m sharing my welcome gifts with you all, as well as an in depth explanation about what the program is all about!

Secondly, I was chosen by University Tees to be an intern, which is basically the most incredible opportunity!  Being a Delta Zeta, I’m constantly buying the cutest apparel from University Tees and now I have the opportunity to style and model apparel for the company!!  So the company will be sending me approximately eight apparel items per month, which I will then style and share with all of you on my blog and on social media!  University Tees may also feature my photos, so make sure you’re following them on their social media platforms (ps: they already did share a photo of mine)!  I will definitely have more details to come, so stay in touch for that!

I also wanted to let all of you know that I have a ton of new series coming, as well as a lot more fashion posts/content!  I also have a series coming back (hint!) in August that I know you’re all excited for, and I already have two HUGE series lined up for October and December where I’ll be posting every single day for almost the entire month!  Also since I am working with so many incredible brands, I’m going to constantly be posting a ton of outfits/fashion posts and I honestly cannot wait!  These posts will be scheduled on top of my regular fashion posts, so you’re basically going to be seeing A LOT more of me starting the second week of August!  In summary, there are huge things happening and it’s going to be absolutely incredible!  Trust me, you’re not going to want to miss any of it!

Thank you all for sticking with me through a lengthy, information-crammed post!  I am so grateful for each and every one of you, and I cannot even wait to share all of this excitement with you throughout this next year (and beyond)!

xo, Tessa

Today’s Inspiration

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