For as long as I can remember, I've been told I have champagne taste on a beer budget. And admittedly, I will say that's 99% true. For most of my life, I've always admired things, experiences, clothing, places that were all a little bit out of my price range. And in some ways, I think that explains why I ended up working really hard to live in a city like New York -- we're all in that same boat together, huh Manhattan? We can somehow justify paying almost half our monthly income on a small apartment, but hey, Magnolia Bakery is right there on the corner and Carrie used to "live" just down the block! (I say all of that only half sarcastically, because, really, I love living here -- no complaints!).

The funny thing is, I've always loved my "beer" budget experiences too. My friends often tease me that I'm very much a guys' girl. I can just as easily spend a day at the ballpark, eating hot dogs and drinking beer as I can hopping over to Lincoln Center for a ballet performance afterward. Just give me at least two at bats to change, I'm ready to roll.

So when certain events come along that call for a little bit of both worlds -- that being glamour and grit -- I love mashing the two together. And the Kentucky Derby is exactly that. This past weekend, I threw a little Run for the Roses fête with my favorite ladies, lots of statement hats and plenty of Stella Artois Cidre on hand. Given that the weather took a bit of a turn on us at the last minute, my originally planned rooftop party moved indoors with my friends at Thompson Square Studios, which turned out to be the perfect spot for our glamorous little afternoon of races.

On tap? We nibbled on the perfect personal sized Magnolia Bakery cheesecakes (what can I say, love Magnolia!), my favorite array of cheeses (Humboldt Fog, Truffle Tremor and a new-to-me Roomano) and sipped our cidre, channeling our best ladies of leisure. But really, these gals are anything BUT ladies of leisure. Among us we have a lawyer, an independent event planner and fellow blogger, a YouTube account executive and an up and coming PR mogul -- so when conversation moved from fitness and weekend plans to the upcoming election and immigration law, I couldn't help but smile. I love me some bad ass women. Who work hard. And play even harder.

And in the spirit of the day, I asked everyone to pick their winning horse (or come up with their future horse name for when we're all millionaires and have our own horses in the Derby). I've included their answers throughout...keep scrolling!

Carina of Her Open Window's Winning Horse (above): "Oscar Nominated" 

Khuyen's winning horse (above): Opted to name her own horse (and four others), all after Spice Girls, Sporty, Posh, Ginger, Baby and Scary.

Bronagh's winning horse (above): "Brody's Cause" (For sentimental value! Her fiancé's name is Cody, so their nickname is literally 'Brody.')

Heather (in the gold jacket) and her winning horse: "Cherry Wine" // And finally, my future horse name will be: "Daddy Said Shoot"

OUTFIT DETAILS: On Krystal: Zimmerman dress // Jennifer Behr fascinator // Steve Madden "Stecy" heels

Photos by Angie Silvy 

This post was in collaboration with Stella Artois. As always, all opinions and styling are my own. Thank you for supporting all This Time Tomorrow collaborations!