Home is Where the Heart is

Even though the universe was pulling out all the stops to try and get me to stay in Charlotte I made it home, Sunday around 11/midnight.  Lets not even talk about the drama that I encountered trying to move on Sunday, all I will say is we were a bit ambitious for how much stuff can fit into a Jeep (as in a whole studio apartment worth of stuff will not fit.)  Lets also not talk about the fact that even with leaving some stuff at a friends house I had to sit with items on me the whole 8ish hours home.  And lastly lets also not talk about the fact that every single time I stop in a WV reststop its like Im stepping back into the 1980s and considering in my "real" life I only spent 2 years in the 80's I have no yearning to go back (normally this is where I would make a crack about the fashion sense of middle of nowhere WV, but today I was cleaning out my room at my Mom's and found a Steelers scrunchie.  I can no longer judge).  Lets instead look at how I spent my first day back.  I also was a bit ambitious in terms of events I planned for this week.  Monday alone consisted of going up the incline to Mt. Washington with my sister and her friend from college as well as her friend's adorable daughter, lunch (at Las Velas, good food I want to go back on a day when I can try one of their drinks), a job interview, and a trip to Target (why can you never get out of there without spending more than $10 -or $50) among other things.  Word of advice, don't try to go to have plans the day after a big move.  Luckily with my sisters help I was able to search through my stuff to pull off an outfit, but it was stressful to say the least.

Luckily I was able to de-stress by taking in the beautiful view up on Mt. Wash. As I've mentioned in my Pittsburgh Post 1 I love that place.  Even though it was a gloomy day off and on and these pictures were taken with a phone, the City has never looked more beautiful.  I was a complete tourist (minus the fanny pack and huge camera -no I'm not joking, there was a fanny pack wearer up there) and took a million photos - I'll spare you by not posting all of them.  I must be in a giving mood - you all would be proud; not only did I not push the Cardinals fan/out-of-towner off the hill, but I talked to him as well. 

Made a bit less gloomy by Instagram

Pittsburgh, not to be confused with Gotham City

Heinz Field, baby!

Did Duquesne & the jail really have to use the same  bricking?!?

Ok, well this girl is tired so Im off to sleep.  Goodnight :)

Friday Favorites: Shoe Obsession

My week has consisted of trying to fit in every last moment of Charlotte as possible.  It has also consisted of me sitting on a balencing ball because I sold my couch a few weeks ago and then sleeping on my floor because I sold my bed a few days ago.  All of it being done while surrounded by half packed boxes.  Soooo I need something special to make up for the lack of bed/sleep, and normal use of my apartment.  That means shoes.

Who needs a couch?

Thanks to a WONDERFUL friend I own these shoes.  They have had their fair share of use and were perfect for Vegas as well as any going out night.


For the price tag Rihanna's S & M should play when you walk into a room with these on.  A girl can dream about these shoes.

If you have a bigger bank account than me you
can buy these Manolo Blahnik's at
Neiman Marcus

Thanks to a WONDERFUL friend I own these shoes.  They have had their fair share of use and were perfect for Vegas as well as any going out night.

Romantic Soles (they have a hear on the bottom)
You can buy them on Zappos.

Thanks to Jessica over at how Sweet it is I am in love with the following shoes.  I do realize that I would probably injure myself if I wore them - trust me, I injure myself daily - so we are going to justify me not breaking into my childhood piggy bank to buy them (tho there is probably only $18.40 in that little pink pig anyways).  Full disclosure, they are my background of my computer.  I stare at them regularly. It is love.

If you want to buy these Chiquita Spike Shoes  Gasoline Glamour

I also love these Marco Santi Booties.  I actually ordered them, but sadly they are the wrong size.  I need to get on selling them on Ebay.  Still love.

As I mentioned on my inaugural Friday Favorite I mentioned how much I love Liliana shoes as I showcased one of my newer pairs of heels.  One of my all time favorite shoes I have ever owned is my Liliana Adi Croc Print Peep Toe Pumps.

You can click here to buy them Overstock.com

Today my sister and I were in Burlington Coat Factory because she was invited to an Ugly T-shirt Party and we were looking for some ugly shirts.  I of course looked at shoes. I saw this lovely pair of booties.  Not sure if I would have the nerve to wear them, butttt they were one of those shoes you just have to talk about. One side was cut out the other not.

The lining of the shoes is different, but if you like them  

I found them on: Urbanog.com.  They are by Wild Rose.

I also love Badgley Mischka.  I browse their shoes all the time.  I think they make PERFECT shoes for weddings.  Im a fan of these:

I found these on Zappos Couture.

What are some of your favorite shoe brands or shoes or places to shop for shoes?  Feel free to send links.  Have a HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

Good Girl Gone Bad

"Any fine morning, a power saw can fell a tree that took a thousand years to grow." ~Edwin Teale

I stumbled across this quote and it resonated with me.  To be honest, I had no idea who Edwin Teale was. So being from the Google generation I looked him up.  According to the (not so) trusted source of Wikipedia I was told the late Teale, among other things, was a naturalist.  With that knowledge I have a feeling he meant this quote to be taken literally.  That even though a tree has stood longer than even our great-great-great-great-grandparents we can just walk up to a tree and take it down in one single morning - whether it be to use the wood, clear the space, etc - without a second thought.  The "green" part of me feels that the quote is powerful in that context and I agree with Teale's thoughts about it.

But that's not what resonated with me.  What does is the way I first took it, figuratively.  As in: Any day, you can do something that can tear down your character that you took your lifetime to create.  Notice I said character, not reputation.  To me the two sometimes get mushed together unrightfully.  I know a lot of great people who may have had tarnished reputations (because some people lack character and spread vicious rumors) and I feel your reputation is what other people think of you, but your character is who you are, whether someone is around or not.

My character is something that I never want to lose and I think we just need a reminder like this how easily something like that can be taken away from you.

Now I will admit, while I do like some of her movies I've always had other movie stars on my list of favorites above Reese Witherspoon, but after her acceptance at the MTV Movie Awards for the Generation Award, I had to move her up on my list.  After I thought about this quote I thought of this acceptance speech.  This is from awhile ago, but if you haven't seen it I recommend watching it:

Movie News - Reese Witherspoon Accepts the Generation Award - 2011 MTV Movie Awards

I wish there was more in the media about being a good girl or a good person.  I know where I stand and I do believe most of us grew up with morals and values, but I am fearful for those girls growing up now. I just hope they realize how quickly one little "stunt", lie, etc can change your life.

Oh I digress.  Not entirely sure where this rant came from.

Friday Favorites: Things Around my Apartment

Sorry for the delay posting this...packing & enjoying my last days in Charlotte is consuming my life.  Here is the updated Friday Favorites:

Since I'm moving I have gotten rid of some of these things, but here are some of my favorite things that I have gotten to appreciated all year long.  There are a few other favorites I had but these are the best of the best.

Call me a typical girl, but I lovvvvve pictures.

Awhile ago I bought these picture frames by Butch & Harold from ideeli

Add caption

Worked out perfectly for me.  Love that they are low maintenance to pack

Bless my Grandmothers heart she made me two different inspirational frames.  Love her & love them.  Quite possibly two of my favorite things.

Sometimes iPhones do take good pictures & these are three of my favorites.  While I do have a few "pieces of art" I like using my own, lets me remember memories & counts as decoration. Done & Done.

Again you can call me a typical girl, but I lovvvvve candles.  Have way to many and too many favorites, but these two candle holders make even plain candles great.

 

Something else I love.  Wine.  Wine to me is practical.  It doubles a decor because a full wine rack is decorative as is some of the nicer bottles once they are empty.

Another ideeli purchase was this wine chiller.  I use purchase loosely because I was able to score for free or nearly free because of a credit I had on the website.

Going along with the cheap wine items was this Ikea wine rack.

Quite possibly one of my favorite things I purchased was this couch from Ikea.  It tripled as a couch, bed, and storage unit.  Super comfy and the perfect place for out of town visitors or friends who didn't live in Uptown to crash after a fun night.




I've started to collect crosses.  I am Catholic, but that's not why I collect them.  I do it because I love how many different styles are out there.  

The one on the left was in my bathroom.  It is heavy cast iron and gorgeous.  The center is one I've had my whole life &  is more than just decor.  The one on the right is actually larger than this picture portrays. It hung above my bed lets just say a few times my wall was bumped and it shook & I thought it was going to fall.



Some items are more practical and not just for decoration, like my drapes.  

On the left are my black out black drapes.  Nothing glamorous, but having high windows means it took awhile to find.  It is always bright outside my window 24/7 so these were a Godsend.  I've had numerous guests not realize what time it was because of how dark my apartment was.  I also had these tie backs.  They added a bit of glamour.  The drapes were from Target and hold backs from Walmart.  Hey, if its cute I don't care where its from.



I have a weak spot for ZGallerie.  I mean did I really need a magnetic dartboard.  (Obviously I answered yes).  While I haven't played it as often as I should it did double as decoration.  Andddd it was perfect because when us girls go out it sometimes take a bit longer to get ready, so it did entertain the guys for a bit.

These two items are just two random items around my apartment.

 

Another Ideeli find was this punching bag.  Yeah, it took away from the "prettiness" of my apartment & also creeped me out a few times at night in the dark when it looked like a person and not a harmless thing that I beat on.

What kind of apartment would I have if I didn't have something Steelers in it.  Don't worry, I had two terrible towels a Steelers blanket and this sign:

Another great find was this Kensington teapot set.  Now I don't make tea using this teapot ever, but it made my kitchen a bit nicer and the cups were practical.  Even better I got it from Gilt for just a few dollars.

I hope you enjoyed me sharing these with you.  What are some of your favorite items in your apartment?  Do you have any favorite websites/stores for shopping for decorative items?

If you never have checked out Zgallerie, Gilt, or Ideeli I highly recommend all of them.  Gilt and Ideeli are daily deal websites that have designer items for reasonable prices.  I know at least ideeli is invite only so feel free to use my links if you want to do some shopping.

You can join gilt by clicking here and ideeli by clicking here.

Hope you had a happy Friday!

Breathe, Stretch, Shake (Let it go): YAY! Almost the weekend!

I was thinking about how this has been the best summer since I was a kid.  Mainly because for the first time  since I was 16 I haven't been working almost every day of the summer away.  Then I thought, this really is the best summer ever.  I mean I get to be in a beautiful city, got to have friends visit me, and there are just a lot of things you can't do when you're a kid ;)

I also got some exciting news today.  I'll have to share it in a bit though.

Butttt I was thinking some of you are probably being responsible adults and need a boost to get you over the hump of Wedensdays with the weekend in sight.  Even though almost every day is the weekend I'm looking forward to Friday because I have a friend, Crystal, coming to town.    So here is a little bit of happiness a la music videos on youtube to hopefully speed up the week.  Enjoy!

Lil big of Coolio's Gangsta's Paradise

 Know how I always say that things always seem to find their way to you?  Well this song came on today & Mr. McGraw agrees as he sings, "Ain't it funny how you always find just what you need" in Somebody Must be Prayin for Me.

Not much gets better than The Crossroads.  

Breathe, Stretch, Shake (Let it Go)

Little Bit of Mumford & Sons

Some live The Clarks

And finally some Nada Surf

What are some of your favorite songs that always make you happy?  Do any of you have a favorite summer memory or favorite summer? 

Just to see you smile

Today was one of those days where you wish mulligans could apply to life as well as golf - though to be honest, I'm not so sure I would want to chance doing over today.  It was one of those days where when every little thing goes wrong.  I'm just hoping its not an indication on how my month is going to go.  I know if I put it in perspective it isn't that bad and that I'm lucky its just sometimes you need a boost to realize that.

I was looking at different things to brighten my day, so I hope if you ever need a little boost this can help you out.

I've said it before & I'll say it again.  I think sometimes things that we need in our lives find us.  Well a while back a fellow blogger, Presley over at Run Pretty left a comment on one of my posts.  Wondering who this lovely commenter was I checked out her blog & have been following along ever since.  She is such a sweet girl & her posts are genuine - Not to mention I have her to thank for introducing me to Fripp Island where I now want to vacation.  The other night I went and took a look back at some of her older posts & am glad I did.  Thanks to Presley I am now in love with Cute Roulette. Fair warning, this website might cause you to loose an hour of your day.  Well worth it though.  I am sooo glad I could use this for a few minutes of happy distractions.

Speaking of cute animals, I had a bunny Megan (no, I did not name her) who I loved dearly.  She unfortuantly went to bunny Heaven this past November.  I knew eventually I would want to get a new pet because I cannot replace her but, I can let another animal bring joy into my life while giving the animal a home.  Well my mom was at the pet store the other day and told me about the cutest little guys ever: Roborovski Hamsters.  I see one of these little fellows in my life soon.

Source

I barely slept last night, which might account for some of my grumpiness.  The lack of sleep though let me see this picture that was on the Post Gazette's website early today.  It made me smile.

Post Gazette

Hope all of you have a good night & that one of these things make you smile!! What do you do when you're having a bad day?  Off to listen to some music & have a glass of wine!