Recent Discovery

So, since my weekend mostly consisted of "helping people move" and getting sucked into a self-induced Mad Men marathon I sadly don't have any exciting pictures of my fabulous life to share today. (Unless seeing me in various sweatpant outfits switching between the couch and my bed is of great interest to people...No? Yea, didn't think so.)

Good news though friends! A discovery was recently made and it is a ground breaking one in my book...Zara has AMAZINGGG jewelry now! While I don't know if this is actually a new addition to their merchandise, it is new to me and I couldn't help making myself a pretty little wishlist this lazy weekend. Going to add some to my fall fashion "must haves". Just because I work full time now doesn't mean I can't go back to school shopping...am I right??

Got this beauty for my bday this year from one of my favorite ladies

Teardrop Choker

Neon and studs are easily my favorite combo, must have this bracelet

The pearls on this necklace make it a fun way to dress up an otherwise boring work outfit.

Artsy Friday

My baby brother is one talented guy. He's easily one of the smartest people I know (don't tell him I said that) working full time as a Mechanical Engineer and completing his Masters degree. To top it all off he does photography in his free time. And I don't mean my kind of photography that involves an iPhone and Instagram, he knows what he's doing and he does it welllll my friends.

Now, I know I've bragged about this in the past when he first opened his Etsy shop back here but I couldn't help doing a little more proud big sister bragging now that he's added a few more photographs that I'm in love with since he's opened shop.

If you need some good wall art check him out! Here are some of my personal favorites:



You may recognize this as my profile picture...
helping the bro out with some silhouette shots on a
family getaway and the sunset was amazing that night!



The colors in this one made me fall in love,
got this guy framed in my room naturally.



Sunset in our hometown.
This has been my computer desktop for
two years and I still get compliments on it.

A weekend in the Sun

Over the weekend I took a mini vacation down to Connecticut to get my gamble on at Mohegan Sun. Yes, I know the weekend ended three days ago and I'm late on this post but if you spent three days in a casino not seeing sunlight and admiring the chain smoking old ladies spending hours at the slots you'd need a couple of days to bounce back too.

It was a nice little getaway and we even got to sneak in some pool time in exotic CT! After a worrisome showing the first night we finally managed to make enough money to pay for our hotel and copious amounts of greasy food and that's a win in my book! Dollah dollah bills y'all! (too much?)

I've found that Blackjack and Craps are my games (and no, Mom, I don't have a gambling addiction thanks for the concern though!) but my favorite part is being able to rally with and befriend everyone you're playing with - high fives for everyone! And, of course, getting late night noodles when you're feeling down because the casino took all your pretty chips that night.

Vegas trip soon anyone??

Noodles and Johnny Rockets cheesy fries after we
spent the evening making a generous donation to the casino

Some of our winnings, I was so excited about our pretty black ones and
the 2 AM burgers coming our way that needed a picture for evidence.

They say it's your birthday! We're gonna have a good time!

This past week has been a crazy one and I've been a lucky girl with friends and family who've kept me busy celebrating my 25th birthday. Yes, that's right I am now officially 25 which is a quarter of a century which means: I. am. OLD.

The fact that I am now an old lady was cemented last night when our waiter did not card my friend Amy and I while we were dining out to celebrate our respective days of birth (her birthday is two weeks before mine soooo Happy Birthday Amy!!) We decided it was because he could see the years of wisdom in our eyes...
*disclaimer: Although, just a few days before this incident I was asked if I was enjoying my last few days before school starts again (umm sadly no, they tell me I have to go to work now) so I guess I either look old and wise or like I belong in high school?*

Since I've been ignoring my little bloggy here due to the festivities (which continue tonight with my amazing Dad's birthday!) I thought I'd share a few pictures of the big day/week. Big thanks to everyone who made it such a special and memorable birthday!!

Night out with some of my favorite people, LOVE these girls

Sometimes we buy the exact same shoes and wear them out.
It's not weird, ok???

A big ole' Happy Birthday to me!
Michael Kors just gets me.

This is Callan's dog Henry. He loves to snuggle. We're best friends.
(blurry picture because Sir Henry didn't listen when I told him to look at the camera)

Birthday dinner with my family at Gibbet Hill, the BEST food you'll ever eat.

Kickass Cupcakes provided the dessert for the evening.
If you haven't been there yet, shame on you!

Sometimes we go out and get two orders of
Fried Mac and Cheese Bites and never look back

Papa Beer, Mama Beer, Baby Beer
At least I think I'm clever, right?

Finishing off the celebrations right with my sistah wifey

Mamma Mia We Made Pizza!

Big news from Club Belmont! Last night was impromptu pizza party night at my humble abode and nothing caught fire wahoo!

Some people may claim that cooking is not my strong suit but after craving pizza for the past two weeks I finally got myself some Trader Joe's pre-made dough (it's genius I tell you!) and every topping I could think of. We decided on two pizza themes: 1. Mexican 2. everything else and let me tell you what...opening a pizerria may be my next big career move.

After a few missteps involving transferring the very heavy pizza onto the very hot stone I'm proud to say that they both came out amazing and we happily feasted on my porch with as much pizza as we could eat.

This may have to be a monthly event now that I have a 100% success rate (2 out of 2 ain't too shabby in my book)!

Mexican Pizza
(salsa, beef, mexican cheese, tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream, lettuce)

Everything Else
(mushrooms, yellow peppers, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, beef, mozzarella, goat cheese) 

My Feast!
Is it dinner time again yet?

Things I like...Instant Film!

Growing up I was sadly at the tail end of the Polaroid camera era (though I did have the slightly lamer i-Zone camera version...why do I want teeny sticky pictures? I don't know!). In recent years I've found myself lusting over the original instant camera and my need to get my hands on one of those bad boys has increased ten-fold since I've started reading Rockstar Diaries. She seems to take the most impressive pictures with hers and her wall of polaroids is a point of jealousy for me.

Luckily I've stumbled upon The Impossible Project in my quest for my very own Polaroid camera and they offer a variety of cameras and film for people like me who are weirdly obsessed with instant film photographs. I had three cameras in my cart until I realized maybe I should do a little research so this is my call to action...if you have any insight on the different types of cameras please help a girl out!

Here are my top contenders:



One Step Close Up PX Film Kit

 

Express Camera Cool Kit

 

Redstripe Camera Cool Kit



The Weekend in Review

This weekend was a little slice of summer heaven spent up in Maine with some of my favorite people on this earth.

Nothing's better than an all day long music festival in the sun followed by a day lounging on the beach and playing in the waves. Couldn't resist bragging with a few of my brunch-ing, Gentlemen of the Road tour, and beach photos!

Brunch at The Friendly Toast...bet you didn't know 

Chief Long Lance makes the best shoes out there

There's no better way to escape the heat than getting the 

biggest Blue Icee the movie theater has to offer

Gentlemen of the Road

Everyone should see Mumford and Sons live...so good people!

Music festival-ing with two of my favorite people

Sometimes when I spend all day in the sun I get 

sleepy and my friends take a picture...

My all time favorite place in the world: York Beach, ME

Pretty sure the ocean is the key to happiness

Sweet Dreams

Thanks to Anthropolgie being kind enough to email me about their 25% off bedding sale I've found myself suddenly wanting nothing more than a new bedding set. In the past 22 hours since receiving the great bedding news of 2012 I've spent an unhealthy amount of time walking through their store touching all their gorgeously soft blankets and compiling wish lists in my Firefox bookmarks.

I'm currently leaning towards a white/ivory/cream neutral theme and since I know you all want to see what I've wasted dedicated my time to lately, here are my current bed inspirations from around the interwebs.

Anthropologie Rosette Quilt
Currently the top contender



Ikea Ursula Throw
Since Fall's just around the corner (womp) the only thing that
will comfort me is looking at throws I can wrap myself in.



Anthropologie Twill Tie Quilt
So easy and comfy looking!

Ikea Ofelia Throw

Ikea Ofelia Vass Duvet Cover
A more budget friendly duvet cover that can be dressed up easy peasy.



Target Simply Shabby Chic Duvet Set
My trusty Target has some great duvet selections too!
(as to be expected from easily one of my favorite stores ever)



Sweet Caroline! Bah bah bah! Good times never seemed so good!

My dad is a tricky guy to shop for so when Father's Day rolled around and I was told he wanted "nothing" I took matters into my own hands and got us some pretty killer front row seats at Fenway Park. I may be his only daughter but I think this qualifies me as his favorite daughter (right dad?). Last night it was finally time for our much needed night out!

The gorgeous day started to look a little cloudy and ominous but like the Massachusetts, born and bread Fenway faithful we are we got to the park, stealthily parked in my dad's top secret cheaper garage (I'd tell you where to find it but I'd have to kill you), and doubled back to get our umbrella's because we didn't think our optimism would be enough to keep the rain away.

Needless to say, we had an amazing night. Even though Beckett didn't successfully complete 3 innings (womp) I had a lot of fun with Papa Dukes in the summer rain! I'd also like to thank Fenway Franks and soft pretzels for making dreams come true and the Red Sox for pulling out another win!

A night of sitting in the rain, cheering, and chatting about life was just what we needed. I love having times like this with my dad and now I'm on a mission to hunt down more tickets so we can have another father-daughter adventure like last night.



Josh Beckett warming up before the game.
Need to make sure you stretch properly before you pitch almost 3 innings ;)



Selfy before the rain got us.



 

I told him to make a "We're wet!" face but he
just laughed at my weirdness :)



Everyone bailed when the tarp came out but
I'm already wet so we might as well stay!

 

I made dad take an "I'm already wet" picture too.
Thank goodness the man's an engineer and Macgyver'ed us a leg tent
so at least our legs stayed dry (because nothing in this world is worse then sitting in wet denim).