Friday, March 25, 2016

High Five for Friday!

  1. This week Jack and I were being extra goofy :) Surprisingly he loved his hair like this and kept it in for a while!
  2. The goofiness may have come from the weird weather we had this week....one day it was freezing and the next it was 70. It was so strange but I loved the sunny days! 
  3. What could make any week better? A strawberry milkshake! #yum
  4. Seeing the flowers bloom around the city is the best. All the colors change the feel of each neighborhood and street. 
  5. Today I wore a casual outfit and brought out my new Queen t-shirt! I honestly felt like a killer queen all day at work because of it. 


Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Monday, March 21, 2016

Exploring: Lawrenceville

Hi, hello! 

I have been home nearly two months...isn't that crazy? My transition back has been amazing. These past few weeks I have mostly just been enjoying relaxing at home and being with my friends and family.  But with the change of weather, however, I am ready to get back to exploring! Pittsburgh was rated amongst the top foodie cities in 2015  and now we are on the list of cities about to be famous...again. So...rather than just reading about it, I figured I should head out to one of the hippest parts of town, Lawrenceville! 


Recently my friend Deanna and I headed to Lawrenceville to explore for the whole day. It was just awesome to walk around with no real destination in mind. We ended up going into three places that we had never been to before:

1) The Butterwood Bake Consortium- This bakery is a dream inside. I wanted to take a photo of every corner (and I did so there will be a whole post about this place coming up, hehe). They have a full coffee bar and tons of sweets to choose from! 

2) Von Walter & Funk- The first thing I have to say about this place is that Zoe Deschanel would love it! It is filled with quirky, slightly whimsical items for every room of your house. I ended up just buying a card but cannot wait to go back and explore a little more. 

3) Who New Retro Mod Decor- Last but not least, this antique vintage shop was so cool. They had tons of midcentury modern pieces that I want to buy for my future apartment. Not only that but they also had some vintage hats and purses that were very tempting and well-priced. 



After all of our window shopping, I had to take some pictures of Deanna. Lawrenceville is filled with cute back streets and colored walls. This pink one matched Deanna's sunnies perfectly so I made her my model for at least 15 minutes. 


This day was just perfect. With no expectations or plan, we ended up finding some spots that I had never knew were there...aren't those days always the best?

Next time I head over to Lawrenceville, I have been dying to check out The Vandal or Morcilla so keep checking back! 


Friday, March 18, 2016

High Five for Friday!


  1. My view from the office is brilliant and for some reason it always looks a little nicer on Fridays than it does on Mondays :) 
  2. I am cilantro obsessed! I love it so so so much. I can't wait to try this cilantro pesto recipe soon. 
  3. That's me with my favorite necklace on. I bought it from Forever 21 on a whim a couple of weeks ago and can't bring myself to wear any other necklace since. 
  4. Spending time with Jack is the highlight of my day! Watching him grow and change day to day makes me so happy and reminds me I made the right decision to leave Chicago. 
  5. I can't wait to go to this #SteelCityMeet! I always enjoy going and to make me even more excited the theme is portraits (my favorite thing to shoot)! 

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Friday, March 4, 2016

Flashback Friday: My London apartment

Blimey! It seems like ages and ages ago that I was in London. I was sorting through my drafted posts the other day and found this gem. I can't believe I never shared a post about my London flat. 

First off, here are the basics: 

  • It was located in Farringdon which is central London
  • There were 7 girls living here (including me) 
  • Three bedrooms
  • Two bathrooms


So as you can see this place was very modern. I loved the design and the open feel that the windows gave it. The kitchen was very functional. It even had a hidden washer/dryer combo behind one of the lower cabinets. 


I honestly didn't spend too much time in the living room because it was very crowded with all of us in there. However, I did get to enjoy a few episodes of Made in Chelsea in there :) 


The best part of the apartment, hands down, was the location. We had a great view of the city including the Shard and St. Paul's Cathedral (if you squint you can see them in the picture below). Not only that but it was very easy to get to every part of London. We were on the circle line and the central line and one stop away from King's Cross.


Unfortunately, it wasn't all great. It was a very packed apartment with too small of bathrooms. To make things worse, we got mice halfway through the semester so in total it was 7 girls and 2 mice in what felt like a very cramped apartment. 


Even with its flaws, I would go back in a second! I sometimes still walk my commute to my internship on google maps or in my head when I am really missing it. 

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Outfit of the day!!

(Dress: Primark Coat: Forever 21 Tights: Marshalls Shoes: Aldo Sunnies: Forever 21) 



Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Good Eating: Smallman Galley

Good morning! 

How is everyone's week going so far?

The other day my sister took me out for my birthday lunch and it was fabulous! She picked me up from work in town and headed straight to the Strip. I knew she was taking me to the Smallman Galley but I didn't know how cool this place was. 


As one Yelp review described it, the concept is a chef incubator. There were four different places to choose from with their own unique menus:
  1. Carota Cafe
  2. Josephine's Toast
  3. Aubergine Bistro 
  4. Provision PGH  

Annie and I decided to try the sloppy joe's from Aubergine Bistro. They were delicious and the plate of two sandwiches was enough for us to split. Plus, they came with a pear salad on the side that was AMAZING! Being pears you would think that it would be a sweet salad but it was savory and simply delicious. We also got the avocado toast and nutella s'mores toast from Josephine's Toast. Minus the fact that we ordered pretty much all gluten, the meal was awesome! 


To be honest, my favorite part of the restaurant was the actual building. The Smallman Galley is a massive space in the Strip. The walls have exposed brick, there is plenty of seating and the lighting is just great. 


Overall, I can't wait to come back and try out the other restaurants and grab a drink at the bar! I love that places like this are in Pittsburgh and can't wait to see more coming. 


Smallman Galley
54 21st Street 
Pittsburgh, Pa 15222