Currently Craving

It's Sunday night, there's a chill in the air, and before I go to bed with a book here's what I'm currently lusting after.

These Zara loafers are pretty. And burgundy. And even though I need another pair of shoes like a hole in my head, I still might have to try them.

Its a bunny. On a top. An adorable bunny whose nose looks like a heart. Need I say more? Anthro, you make my animal lover heart go pitter patter.

I love this Madewell necklace. The only problem? Deciding which color to get. I think it would look great layered with a chunky sweater or plaid top.

And speaking of plaid, this Orvis plaid shirt has polka dots hiding on the inside. Totally smitten over this for our adventures to the Carolinas for Thanksgiving.

Is there anything that has caught your eye lately? Share below!

Cozy plaid

And just like that autumn is officially here. While we had amazing weather this past weekend I'm now grabbing for any warm and cozy sweater to bundle up with. I hope everyone on the East Coast who has dealt with Sandy is doing okay.

Yesterday I wore my new Zara sweater I got in Italy and I'm so glad I added this to my bag. I could see myself even pairing it with a belt next time around.

Sweater - Zara, Plaid shirt - Target, Jeans - Banana Republic

I have to admit that I'm really digging the braided action going on with this sweater. And the sleeves are just a tiny bit long which allows for me to cover my hands when I'm walking to work in the morning and its brisk out.

I also love plaid. Perhaps it goes back to having to wear it as part of my school uniform growing up (prep ingrained in my brain) but seriously, I love plaid. There used to be a time in my life when I rocked plaid pants (we won't go there though). I'm contemplating a plaid blazer - specifically this one. Thoughts? Or is it too outrageous to wear?

What's your thoughts on plaid? And Happy Halloween - hope you have a fun and safe day! :)

Skirtaganza

With today being the first official day of summer and the sun actually being out on my lunch breaks I've been in a very skirt kind of mood lately. Couple that with JCrew's 30% off sale and my wardrobe is now home to several new colorful skirts.

Shirt: H&M, Skirt: JCrew (buy here), Shoes: BG

I wore this yesterday and the second I walked out the door a neighbor told me she loved it on me. So I'm glad I snapped this one up - I believe it came to about 35.00 with the discounts in store. I want to get a more bold and try pairing a green shirt with it, but I just don't know which shade would work best. I hesitated when I first tried it on in store but my sister uged me to go for it and I'm glad I did.

Silk blouse: Zara, Skirt: JCrew (different color here)

And here's today's outfit - I LOVE this skirt and I'm so glad I added it to my wardrobe (thanks mom!). I almost paired it with a plaid shirt this morning but I'm not to sure I'm that brave yet. ;)  And way at the bottom I'm wearing my spiked flats. Love these too! It gives me a little bit of edge with this outfit.

And a few other skirts that I picked up... Gondola stripe and the raj paisley pencil skirt.  I'm happy with my skirt choices but shaking my fist at Jcrew.. their sale is just too good!

Have you picked anything up at the JCrew sale lately?

48 hours in Philadelphia

11 hours in flight ..5042 .. and 48 hours later we've returned from a foodie wedding filled weekend... and here's my wrap up.

Friday night we landed in Philly an hour late (boo) and we were taken out to dinner at one of Stephen Starr's restaurants (think of him as the Michael Minna of Philly). We dined on an array of family style dishes with the highlights being the foie gras muscles, lobster fried rice, and beef short ribs. We topped it off with cocktails (try the white peach sangria) and the chocolate bento box for dessert.

Cherry water ice

After that, FH decided that he wanted a cheesesteak so off to South Philly we went. We tried Gino's and its definitely different (i have come to learn the difference between chopped vs not chopped, and I'm a chopped fan).Make sure you know whether you want it "wid" or "widout" prior to ordering - with or without onions for us out of towners. Another seemingly Philly thing was water ice. I'd NEVER had it before and I tried cherry. It was so good, especially with the humidity.

Independence Hall

Saturday morning we slept in a bit because of the time change and then we wandered about old town Philly. I have to be honest with you - I'd never been to Philly before so I had no idea what to expect - but the old part of town is just gorgeous. It reminded me of Boston. It's truly a town rich in US history - the brick buildings, cobblestone streets, and frequent history sights of interest we came upon just led to the charm of this town. Independence hall was just gorgeous, despite the work being done to the outside.

And just across the street is the liberty bell. Not going to lie - I didn't wait in the line that was about 400 people deep.. but did snap this photo at one of the windows. See? Liberty bell without the line.

After all this walking FH and I were parched, so we decided to try a local brewing company and headed over to Triumph Brewing Co, which was like a brewpub. Huge amount of beers on tap and you can see where they actuall brew the beer upstairs. Try the avocado fries with a cold beer and life is good.

We followed the Delaware River walk back home and decided to try another cheese steak place on the way back to the house... and Shank's delivered. So yummy, definitely try this if you love a good cheesey gooey cheese steak.

Mandatory outfit shot - top: Zara, jeans: target. IT'S CATS. I mean come on. If this was longsleeved I'd buy it too..

Saturday night we headed over to an old estate called Andalusia. It was simply stunning. The weather, the location, the vibe of the wedding, cocktails in an english garden, dinning on the banks of the river - it was just perfect. The bride was simply gorgeous and if our wedding is even half as gorgeous as theirs then we definitely did something right. We danced until 12:30 before getting on a bus to go back to downtown Philly and had a sing a long with the others on the bus.

Yesterday before our long flight home we had brunch at a little cafe before walking back toward downtown. We rested and then had dinner at Philly's newly opened Shake Shack. Yes - the one in NY is now in Philly (please come to SF next!). We had gelato, a drink on the square, and then before we knew it we had to head to the airport.

Coconut gelato

And that wraps up an amazing weekend! I'm exhausted today due to all the flight delays and the time change but so happy for our friends who got married, and even mroe happy to have discovered a new city. Until next time, Philly, keep it real.

Where to eat:
Buddhakan, 325 Chestnut St, Philadelphia.
Gino's Steaks, 1219 South 9th Street  Philadelphia,
John's Water Ice, 701 Christian Street
Triumph Brewing Company, 117 Chestnut Street
Shank's Steak's, 901 South Delware Ave at Pier 40
Shake Shack, 2000 Sansom St
Capogiro Gelato, 117 South 20th Street
Rouge, 205 South 18th Street,



Things to see:
Independence Hall & Liberty Bell, 41 N 6th Street  Philadelphia
Delaware river walk
Andalusia
Rittenhouse Square
Avenue of the Arts
Little Italy

Favorite things

Things lately have been so busy - in fact I can't even believe that we are almost at the 90 day mark to the wedding countdown. Where does the time go?! Even though we are knee-deep in May here's some things I've been loving lately..

All shades of blue:

Blouse and skirt: JCrew, Cardigan: Banana Republic, Shoes: Anthropologie

Legging jeans and blazer: Gap, Lace shell: Banana Republic, Scarf: H&M (thanks mom!)

Ladybugs in my in the back garden near my windows..




This leopard print blouse from Zara:
 

The JCrew biennal satchel I picked up on uber sale...

Seattle for 24 hours with my future MIL to meet the President...

And that's about it! It's Friday, the sun is out, it's also payday, and I can't complain!

What are some of your favorite things as of late?

 

Updates of all sorts.

Not going to lie April, I'm really ready for you to be over. The past few weeks have had its plethora of ups and downs - and now I have the flu (the flu, really? in April?) so I'm already over this month and ready to get on to May.

Wedding updates:
Under 4 months to go! We've accomplished more things (flowers, ordered invitations, dress brought to tailor, wedding cake, halfway through writing our ceremony) and we have a few more large things left (menu tasting, order ketuhbah, get marriage license, started to book our honeymoon) and I'm getting more excited (but sometimes stressed out) by the day. We've registered at Crate and Barrel and Macys - and if anyone has any must have necessities for the kitchen or home that's made your lives easier let me know. Our list is looking a little sad and people are already purchasing!

Fashion and all pretty things:
I'm not gonna lie. I'm still on a color rampage. I actually purchased three blouses this past weekend in patterns (!) and some with more color (including orange... who am I?). I'm really excited to wear them - of course it would be better if I could actually get out of bed and go back to work first. My picks:
From Zara - leopard shirt with applique on collar, animal print blouse
Forever 21 - floral shirt (loving that price!), invisible buttons shirt in yellow and blue.

And so this isn't completely lacking, here's an outfit that I wore this past weekend to go out to dinner with some friends and I love it!

Blazer and jeans: Banana Republic. Buttondown: Gap. Scarf: Forever 21.

Well, thanks for being patient with me in my lack of posting. I promise some more posts to come in the near future with some of my newer items and a less sick more healthy me.