In March we flew out 6 of our favorite bloggers to celebrate the launch of our Spring collection. When we first imagined Taft Weekend, we knew we wanted everybody to stay in the same home, all of us under one roof. Thanks to HomeAway, our vision worked out wonderfully and we all stayed under one (beautiful) roof in Park City, Utah. The neighborhood was quiet, and the home had all the amenities we needed. Housing that many people in one place while making sure everyone could have their own space was no small task and HomeAway met it with ease. When we were lounging around the house,we spent the weekend eating delicious food, breathing mountain air, and strolling around Main Street. Our goal of the weekend was to get some honest feedback on the shoes from a group who really knows their stuff. Everybody wore Taft all weekend long and the reviews couldn't have been better. Here's a little recap of what our weekend looked like..
Thursday morning, everybody flew in to Salt Lake International Airport. We picked up the guys and our photographers in a 12 passenger van, had a quick lunch, and made our way to Park City. When we arrived to our HomeAway house each blogger had an assortment of shoes and socks laid out for them. We wanted it to feel like Christmas morning - the entire room was covered in shoes. Every shelf, every table, every couch housed a pair of shoes. One of the bests parts of the weekend was hearing the constant feedback. Everybody loved their shoes and we really couldn't ask for more than that. At Taft our goal is to make comfortable, durable, bold shoes. Hearing everybody's praises and knowing it was right in line with our goal was so rewarding.
That evening, after everyone had a little time to rest and wash up, we hit Park City Main Street for a killer dinner with Gourmand food tours. Each course was at a different restaurant and we learned a little bit about the history of Park City all along the way. The whole tour was about 3 hours total and we were shooting all along the way.
The next morning we made our way to Salt Lake City for a photoshoot at The Charcoal Loft. The lighting was beautiful and everybody brought several looks to shoot. We all had the privilege of watching Justin dance and sing all weekend long and the photoshoot was no exception. Seeing how everybody styled their shoes so differently was very cool. Even though our shoes are so bold, we pride ourselves on them also being versatile - seeing how many totally different looks you could wear with the same shoe was really exciting.
After our shoot we head over to Art Haus for lunch. Lunch was served by Da Foco Truck and it was such a cool set up. Da Foco is sort of like a hybrid food truck. They cook out of the truck but can serve you anywhere! We were all set up for lunch at Art Haus and had delicious tacos prepared by Da Foco. In addition to the tacos the fresh pineapple juice was a pretty major hit.
After lunch we went Go Kart racing! When we first thought up Taft weekend, we knew we wanted it to be filled with fun experiences. Go Kart racing was even better than we could have imagined. Marcel smoked everybody!!
Saturday, we just took things slow. We slept in, took it easy and had a late morning photoshoot followed up by lunch and a trip up the canyon. Park City is a big change of pace from Los Angeles and New York and we wanted to make sure there were plenty of opportunities to enjoy the slower lifestyle. In the evening we all came back for a killer meal at home. One of our big priorities when we were looking for a place was a kitchen that could accommodate all our food needs for the weekend. When we weren't eating out, we were cooking at home and HomeAway provided a place that easily met all of our needs. It's always nice to eat out, but nothing beats a home cooked meal and on Saturday we did just that - enjoyed a nice meal at home together.
The next morning we packed up early and headed back to airport. Everybody made it home safely, Taft shoes in tow.
Seeing so many people wear and love our shoes all weekend long was surreal and exciting. Even our photographers were wearing Taft. It was a great weekend to spend time together as friends and to break in some of our favorite styles. We couldn't be more grateful for HomeAway for providing the perfect backdrop for our trip, and to each of the bloggers for partying with us all weekend.
HELPFUL LINKS
The house we stayed in (check this place out....BEAUTIFUL)
