Project Runway Season 12 Premiere Parties for Timothy Westbrook and Miranda Levy

It's funny to think that just two weeks ago, I was slinking around the Pfister and the Intercontinental in search of 98° and John Mayer, respectively; and this time, I was actually a welcome party guest at both. My friend Sabreen and I met right at 6 at the Pfister to check out Timothy Westbrook's event first. We took the elevator to the 7th floor, paid at the registration table, and walked down the hall to find Timothy greeting people as they arrived. We're dorks and got a little nervous at first, but then I got the guts to ask him for a picture for my blog. He said something like, "Sure, I guess so" (but in a very upbeat and energetic way), and I got my pic. I almost forgot - when we were approaching him, he also said, "I don't know who you are, but you're both fabulous."

He knew the people before and after us, so we just kind of shuffled in to check out the scene after that. A delicious appetizer buffet was set up in addition to a small bar where guests could trade in their drink tickets (one each) or purchase the signature cocktail of the night, which was unicorn-themed and made of Orangina and champagne, I believe. Sabreen and I filled our plates and then went to find seats in the adjoining room where the fashion show was going to take place.

While we waited, I found Corleen (Barely Practical), who was wearing the most amazing dress; ran into Colleen (Flee Fly Flown), whom I used to work with; and also had the pleasure of meeting a few more Milwaukee fashion and personal style bloggers throughout the night! Aimee from Bows & Beau-Ties came up and said hi after she found me on Instagram.

Corleen's fabulous outfit - this dark cell phone picture doesn't do her dress justice, but you can kind of see what I mean. I'm sure she'll post better pictures on her blog. Sabreen really wanted Timothy's T-shirt, so he should definitely sell those if he's not already!

The fashion show was great, of course, but Sabreen and I only had camera phones (bad planning on my part), and mine died right after the show started. Keep an eye on Corleen's and Aimee's blogs for better pictures.

Before the show began

My favorite dress, obviously because it's yellow. Aren't cell phone pictures the best...

Our original plan was to leave halfway through the fashion show and take the free shuttle over to the Intercontinental to catch some of "Road to the Runway," the casting special which they were showing at Miranda's event before the premiere, but we didn't end up making it there until a couple minutes after the premiere episode started at 8. While the shuttle was a great idea, we kept just missing it and ended up driving over.

Miranda's event was held in the bar off the lobby. There was some seating right outside the bar area with a couple monitors set up to watch the show, and then every TV in the bar was also showing Project Runway. Just inside the bar was a raffle table set up with beauty items and jewelry that Miranda wore while on the show, and her dress that she wore for the promo pics also stood on display. Miranda looked gorgeous in a red floor-length creation of hers, and she was very sweet when I asked her for a picture for my blog.

These pictures are from Sabreen's phone.

Pretty Miranda with hot and sweaty me

I also recognized a couple more bloggers at Miranda's party. I approached a familiar-looking petite blonde girl and said, "Street Lily, right?" Funny how we remember the name of the blog but not necessarily the name of the blogger. As I was introducing myself to Julie, I looked up at who she was with and was like, "Hey, I know you, too!" Of course, in my head, I knew her as Heart of a Blonde until she introduced herself as Molly. The third girl of their trio was Chelsea, who just recently started her blog, This Grand Adventure!

Sabreen and I only stayed at the Intercontinental for about 15 or 20 minutes because we're old and wanted to sit down and watch the show outside of a bar setting, plus it was really hot in there, so we took the shuttle back to Timothy's party to catch the last half. Needless to say, I missed quite a bit of the show, and I'll be re-watching it on my DVR at some point, but I did see the runway portion and the judging. ***SPOILER ALERT*** The atmosphere in the room became pretty tense as Timothy landed in the bottom three for his design that week. A hush fell over the ballroom filled with a hundred or so people when Heidi delivered his fate and said, "Timothy............." And then, "You're in." Everyone cheered and applauded and breathed a sigh of relief. It was such a cool moment. Both Milwaukee designers were safe for now.

Going into the night, I didn't expect to do much networking, but when both the organizer of Milwaukee Fashion Week (who was gorgeous and super nice) and Miranda Levy told me to let them know if I needed anything, I was really regretting not having some business cards made up for my blog. Not that this is a business for me, but it was exciting to see how receptive industry people are to bloggers! Yes, by the way, Milwaukee Fashion Week. It's going to be a thing. Stay tuned.

So...can we watch every episode with one of the designers? 'Cause that would be great. I think Timothy or Miranda should switch off having viewing parties weekly. Or I can host them all in my newly carpeted theater-room basement, hehe.

What I wore:

Bustier Top: H&M (old); Skirt: MICHAEL Michael Kors; Shoes: Prabal Gurung for Target;
Necklace: World Market; Bracelets: Mexicali Blues, Target, and Charming Charlie;
Clutch: Melie Bianco via Fred Boutique