XOXO

Thank you to Hiking in Stilettos

for absolutely making my day

with sharing her OMG fabulous find!

Gossip Girl Season 4…I.CAN.NOT.WAIT.

My Fashion Emmys Go To:

She has a 20-something year old son. Wow.

Love it all.

I don’t even know who she is, but this dress is amazing & she is beautiful.

Not a fan of the dress, but Anna is growing on me quickly.

When she was smiling, she looked radiant.

Hmmm Heidi; not sure about the length for the Emmys but I love you anyways.

Impressed with Tina; at least it wasn’t her usual plain and boring.

Eva never gets it wrong.

Stunning.

I can’t help it. I love her; I love her style.

January Jones was one of my all time favorite’s last night.

She is gorgeous in general and I loved this hot blue look on her;

so different and daring compared to her Betty Draper-duds.

Elisabeth Moss looked fabulous and Christina’s body is amazing.

What an eclectic trio.

These ladies ruled the night in every possible way.

pictures courtesy of Us Magazine

This weekend I fell in love with the cannoli

The weekend began on a great note,

when the new assistant at my office surprised me

with some fresh flowers as a thank you

for helping getting her situated and settled into the office.

They’re at my desk

and I was amazed at how such a little gesture

made me smile more for the remainder of the work afternoon

and had me looking forward

to seeing them again this morning.

After a fabulously, lazy Friday night of pizza, wings & tv,

I approached Saturday with enthusiasm

to start packing up all my stuff.

This becomes not fun fast.

That evening, I gladly abandoned the packing,

and joined my old roommate

and soon-to-be new roommate

at the St. Anthony Festival

in my soon-to-be neighborhood.

But before we traveled to the North End,

I basked in the sun at Park Street a

nd my attempts at capturing the summer beauty

was disrupted by the beautiful shine of the sun.

Words can’t describe the smells that tickled my nose

at the festival Saturday night;

I wish my stomach was big enough to consume all the

pastas, sauces, breads, cannolis, pastries

that met my eyes and nose.

Instead I settled on some sangria, my first arancini with spinach

and my first cannoli.

I fell in love at first bite

and am in extreme danger living so close

to such wondrous tastes and textures.

It was a fun night with 2 girls I absolutely adore

and I’m even more excited now to begin my adventures

in this historic, tasty, and quirky area of the city.

Back-to-School/Office/Work/Fall Demands!

Come on ladies and gents, let’s lose the sloppy flip flops and sweats.

Fall is almost here and it’s time to shape up.

“Step away from the sneakers”

“Hang up the hoodies”

Don’t get me wrong;

I love a good lazy, comfy outfit just as much as the next person.

But there is a time and place for it all,

and fall fashion screams for neater edges, smoother lines and cleaner style.

We may be beyond out back-to-school days,

but that doesn’t mean we can’t enter into the new season

prepped and ready to impress.

Let’s get our act together.

(Thank you Piperlime for your inspiration via your fabulous ads)

I don't want matches

Martha has once again inspired me…or in this case, it was Darcy,

with her wedding idea of the day.

I love fresh, darling wedding favor ideas;

something that tickles your fancy,

has some connection to the couple in love.

I like ones that hint at how the lovely couple met,

where they’re from or where they live now,

or some other fun detail that isn’t the cliched personalized matches

(sorry Mom & Dad).

These mini pecan pies are adorable

though I wonder how well they’d travel and hold up…

I’ve heard of mini maple syrup bottles

used by a couple who lived in upstate NY;

I received a beautiful lavender sachet

from a wedding where lavender was tossed around outside during the ceremony,

filling the air with sweet scent;

and my parents hang a simple, stylish classic Christmas ball ornament

with a small embroidered ribbon with the wedded couple’s name on it,

on our tree every year from a wedding

that occurred a few days after Dec. 25th one year.

What fabulous favors have you created or received in the past?

Breathing on the couch in the rain

I’m sitting on the couch. Watching a Red Sox game.

And catching my breath for the first time in awhile.

Friday night I experienced the indulgence that I expected; absolutely delicious dinner in the North End at Fiore where I devoured my risotto and our seafood platter appetizer…and several glasses of smooth vino. It was a lovely dinner, with lovely people, and the vibe in the North End left me aching to move there ASAP (one week to go!). At Mike’s Pastry, I couldn’t hold back and throughly enjoyed a Boston Cream Puff all to myself. And then the night ended with me quizzing the GRE-studying boy with his vocabulary flash cards….and then putting myself to bed.

Saturday and Sunday I worked at the store, but upon closing Saturday night, I raced over to Fenway for the game where the boy and I hung out in the standing room section behind home plate and cheered on a win for the Sox before heading over to Beerworks where I obviously ordered a blueberry beer.

And then the night ended

with some more vocabulary flash card learning.

After another day at the store, my adorable friend Suzy arrived in rainy Boston but the downpour (that mind you, has lasted until tonight) didn’t keep us from chips, salsa, endless margaritas and girl talk Sunday night.

On Monday I dragged myself out of sweet slumber to go to work, umbrella in hand, rain boots on feet and after, headed off to meet with the wedding planner I assist to check out the event space for her own wedding that I’ll be working (gorgeous, romantic, historical) and then Suz and I met up with fellow Ithaca ladies for take out and gossip. Not bad for a Monday.

Tuesday, I started to collapse, as soon as I left Suz to go get her bus back to NYC at 8 am and I headed into the office for an incredibly productive, yet exhausting day. I pushed myself to work out at the gym that evening, cross off tons from my to-do list, and hit the gym again this morning at 7 am.

And now, I’m breathing. Just breathing on a comfortable couch. After a yummy dinner out with the boy (glass of Malbec, calamari with spicy/sweet peppers, salmon entree with quinoa, watermelon, basil salad). Work has been busy, crazy, productive, as I settle into my new role, responsible for more marketing projects and getting organized at my new desk area. I see this new role as so, so much more enjoyable and I hope that this feeling lasts.

My mother yells at me; says that I do too much. But I can’t help it. I live a very full life, I very blessed, full life. I do lots of things, I like to see lots of people; people I love and care about. I like to take care of myself and exercise and eat well. I like to read too many various magazines, books, blogs and there just isn’t enough time to do this all. But I’m working on finding that balance, that balance we all strive for.

But lately, my body craves rest.

All I really want to do right now is snuggle up in bed,

blankets all over, and do absolutely nothing.

The endless rain doesn’t help with this wish;

it screams, it encourages slumber, laziness, movie marathons.

I wish I could play hookie for one day….

or maybe one week…

photo courtesy of weheartit.com

People get overwhelmed with choices, bombarded with information, and become afraid of the risk of drawing a line in the sand. Psychologists have a term for this — choice overload. In the presence of an abundance of information or too many choices, people often become overwhelmed and frozen. Those individuals inevitably revert to what is easiest, effectively making no decision at all. That can be dangerous in business and in life.

Harvard Business Review

Thank you Julia for sharing this quote…my thoughts exactly lately, applicable to oh so many areas of my life. Why am I not tackling more writing projects, putting myself out there more, searching for event planning opportunities, really pushing myself 100%?? Because instead it is easier to just do nothing, to “plan” on some action at “some point,” some point “soon.” It is easier to be scared of the risk of failure and do nothing…but in the long run, it’s pathetic and I’m searching for the momentum, the impetus, the push, to jump. I’m getting closer. I need it. To go forward, to go for what I really want, out of business, out of life.

It’s Friday.

The weekend is just breathes away.

Thank goodness.

The weekend ahead is full of activities;

dinner with the boy and his family in the North End tonight

and working both Saturday and Sunday at Passport Boutique.

The boy and I might try to hit up the Red Sox game Saturday night

and who knows what kind of trouble

we will find following the game and Fenway’s beers.

And then on Sunday,

I have a fun friend coming for a little visit.

In between all this busyness,

I’ll probably indulge in too much pasta and wine,

too little sleep

and too much temptation as rumor has it that a new Anthropologie

is opening today in Harvard Square…

directly across from my weekend place of employment.

I’ll return next week,

completely honest about all my guilty charges that occurred.

Until then, bring on some joy,

and no office work,

and pour me a glass of vino.

photo courtesy of weheartit.com

Cruel taste bud teasing

Last night my taste buds got a happy surprise.

I had a lovely dinner (as always) with the ladies from Passport Boutique

who I am absolutely in love with.

They are simply, true sweethearts.

We met at the fairly new Russell House Tavern in Harvard Square

and their menu ranged from the usual salads and appetizers,

to a raw bar selection, small plates and of course, entrees.

As I chowed down on some bread dipped in delicious pesto-flavored oil,

I decided on their ‘crispy soft poached chip-in farm egg’ small plate

with a caesar salad to guarantee my stomach would be satisfied.

This egg concoction was amazing.

I practically licked the plate.

Imagine a beautifully poached egg.

With breading all over its form. Fried ever so lightly.

Resting on top of some greens, pancetta,

toasted brioche and a very tasty aioli sauce.

So so good.

This dish alone made me want to return to this establishment.

My taste buds got teased.

I have a feeling I’ll be dreaming

of cutting into another crispy egg for days

and letting the juices pour out.

I did a little research and recreating this tasty treat

may be a good challenge for the boy and I to tackle.

And I guess I’m not the only one who fell in love with this plate!

photo courtesy of Tiny Urban Kitchen

Back to my roots

Today at my hair appointment,

I returned to my brunette origins.

Goodbye to the highlights that looked trashy and unkempt

on my badly-cut and layered tresses;

hello to the return of my shiny chocolate brown hue

and a much needed (and much shorter!) cut
that evened up my ratty ends.

My hairdresser Mia did a fabulous job once again

and I left the salon wondering

why I ever left my brunette love affair.

Here are some of my favorite brown haired inspirations:

Alexis Bledel

(the celeb I get compared to the most

in the looks department)

Minka Kelly

Leighton Meester aka bitchy, fabulous Blair

Kristin Davis aka Charlotte York Goldenblatt

Sandra Bullock

Evangeline Lilly

Julia Allison, my blogging inspiration

Sophia Bush

and the chic Katie Holmes

More basil indulging

The boy made me a deliciously easy, cheap & tasty dinner last night

using some fresh ingredients from his garden and some pizza dough

I picked up on the way home.

I adore pizza, it may be my absolute favorite food

with its endless list of possibilities and last nights did not disappoint.

His basil-tomato-mozzarella combo is easy as can be

but I’d look forward to trying some new mixtures

with the extra dough I bought.

We could do healthy and pile on the veggies;

we could throw some of my favorite pizza flavors aka pineapple

with prosciutto instead of my less than favorite ham;

or we could just indulge in unlimited amounts of delirious cheeses.

Pizza really is perfection.

Prepping the garden fresh ingredients

Bubbling out from the oven

This dinner put me in a good mood and I found myself

searching for some new pizza inspirations I’m eager to try:

- Spinach & Pepper Pita Pizzas

- Grilled Veggies w/ Avocado

- Grilled Asparagus & Ricotta

- Fig & Prosciutto Pizza

Testing out some new technology

After fully digesting The Help, I gave myself some time to catch up with the large pile of magazines that had stacked up during the time that I was devoted to finishing The Help. But as I completed my current Martha Stewart Living issue this weekend, I felt the urge to dive into a book again. And so I downloaded Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential (after continuously reading Jordan’s rave reviews and my similar love affair with food writing) onto the boy’s Kindle. I’m reading more and more recently, magazines, newspapers, and books, and I want to test out how I enjoy my literary time with the Kindle so I can contemplate if it would be worthwhile to purchase one myself (the new version is only $139 and I can get it in chic black!).

Either way, I’m ready to start my new book; when I start a new literary piece, it’s an exciting time; diving into a new adventure, learning about new characters and places and falling into a new story that isn’t your own but one that will hopefully pull you in so much that it feel like you’re a part of it yourself.

Anthony Bourdain, I’m ready to hear your stories; make my stomach and mind crave more.

Lazy, lovely weekend

I’m settling in for another episode of ‘Mad Men’

after an overall chill

(and much needed lazy) weekend.

Friday night consisted of a couple glasses of my favorite wine, some Cupcake Vineyard Chardonnay and me in bed by midnight, not waking until after 10 am on Saturday. The boy and I wandered about, not doing all that much until the evening, when we headed into downtown Boston with some of our friends, another couple. We got a round of fancy drinks (a pretty Raspberry Bellini for me) at the sexy W Hotel and a delicious dinner (turkey cranberry wrap, a combination of flavors that is a personal favorite that just doesn’t get old) at Parish Cafe, and several rounds of drinks out and about. It was great fun to go out with another couple that we get along with so well and have a fun night full of jokes and laughter.

Today was lounging in bed, MTV True Life marathons, and laziness until we headed to the boy’s parent’s house for a fabulous juicy steak dinner and my first Dairy Queen Blizzard (which I will now be craving on a weekly basis for sure) on the way back home.

I’m a content girl with a full belly. It was a chill, fun weekend with the boy and friends and I feel ready to tackle another super busy week of work, and lots of fun plans in the evenings.

Now time for some Don Draper…

Thank you Taryn Cox for sharing this.

I’m not sure if I’d do this myself,

but this theme, this saying, I obviously adore.

Adorably creative.

I’ve loved Rifle Paper Co.’s stationary for a while now,

but when I learned about their wedding designs

(thanks to The Wife, Taryn Cox),

I became even more obsessed

and hope to purchase some of their work pronto.

I love the idea of a wedding program on a fan,

for a steamy summer wedding affair,

where guests cool themselves off as they sip cocktails

and watch the cute couple walk down the aisle.

It’s a resourceful, double-duty favor

and a unique take on an item that can very often,

rest on the edge of boring.

“Could we use, in other words, in these fine healthy times, just a little of the madness?”

Fabulous article on the allure of ‘Mad Men‘…

makes me what to get rid of my green teas,

screw work and responsibility,

throw back a martini (or two)

and embrace some ridiculously pleasurable messy chaos.

J. Crew, how I love thee

Yesterday, after a casual stop at J. Crew,

I returned home with this cutesy button-up

that was on sale….

this fabulously essential,

relaxed black wrap cardigan

that I had been eyeing for weeks…

this hot new addition to the J. Crew company,

a Cosabella lacy under-thing…

but oh, how I dream of these.

If only the price wasn’t out of my league ($295).

I can already envision the outfits that these would complete.

“You ever love somebody so much

you can barely breathe

when you’re with them,

you meet

and neither one of you

even know what hit ‘em,

got that warm fuzzy feeling,

yeah them chills…

…maybe our relationship

isn’t as crazy as it seems,

maybe that’s what happens

when a tornado meets a volcano…”

The subject matter of this song

(‘Love the Way You Lie’ by Eminem & Rihanna)

is scary and horrendous,

but these lyrics,

are intensely powerful.