fancy.

I wore this out to dinner to the William Penn Inn with my whole family.  The William Penn Inn is one of the nicest restaurants back at home by my parents.  We usually only go for special occasions like graduations, but they have gorgeous Christmas decorations so we went last Friday night.  Its nice to get dressed up around the holidays :)  The William Penn Inn is a historic building so I felt my new fur collar was an appropriate nod to the time.  I also got these Kate Spade tights in NYC in October and I am obsessed.  I put them on ever so carefully because I want to make sure that I don't rip them!

This will be my last post of 2012--the year I started this blog.  I'm so glad I started this blog this year.  I've met so many great people through blogging and I wanted to say thank you for reading.  I'm looking forward to all that 2013 holds.  Now let's pop some champagne!

[dress:H&M fur collar:ASOS stockings:Kate Spade booties:Target]

merry christmas to all.

It's been a hot minute since I have been on here because I've been studying for one of the AREs (architect registration exams).  I finally sat for it on Friday and it'll be a Christmas miracle if I passed.  I'm also planning plently more posts over the break and into the new year, so get ready :)

Christmas night is winding down and it is always bittersweet.  I hope that you got some fabulous, fashionable gifts and more importantly, I hope you got to spend today with loved ones.  Merry Christmas from me and my family to yours XOXO

[dress:ASOS tights:Urban Outfitters boots:H&M]

the elephant in the room.

So when I was little, my favorite stuffed animal (the stuffed animal that I carried everywhere) was an elephant.  Her name was Mrs. E and she was pink and she was awesome.  I still have her, but she is no longer pink because she doesn't have any fur!  My parents recently told me that they could never find a "backup Mrs. E" in case I lost her.  I think that's cute because I know she is one of a kind :)  Anyways, after my Mrs. E days I found myself collecting all things elephant.  When I saw this sweater in Forever 21 I knew I had to have it.  It's like my grownup Mrs. E that I can take with me.  Do you still have your stuffed animal or blanket from when you were little?

[sweater:Forever 21 pants:H&M flats:H&M chambray shirt:Gap sunglasses:Betsey Johnson]

give thanks and be merry.

Happy Friday and happy almost-Thanksgiving week! Whew, I am so pumped to be home, see my family, eat some turkey, watch some football and be off from work, woo hoo!  Its pretty crazy that as a kid Thanksgiving is just a filler holiday between Halloween and Christmas.  Now I can see the meaning behind the day and I am so grateful for the day and the people I spend it with :)

I have a lot planned for this weekend including a volunteer tree planting day tomorrow and a Christmas craft fair on Sunday.  I hope your weekend is full of wonderful things because its almost 5 o'clock!!! 

[top:ASOS cardigan:H&M pants:H&M wedge booties:Target sunglasses:Betsey Johnson]

fun and games.

    

This is one of those outfits I've had on repeat the past couple weeks.  Such an easy go-to for work and just hanging out like when I wore it to trivia last week.  We lost trivia as per usual, but it was a fun and funny time!  Anyone know the last letter of the Hawaiian alphabet?  Because that was one of the questions we got wrong and I'll give you a hint...its not a trick question; the answer is not "z".  (We thought "z" was a clever guess.)

In other competitions, I can now proudly say that I beat my boyfriend in fantasy football this week!  Somebody's team didn't show up after a lot of smack talk.  This makes 2 years in a row where the good guys won!  Now I am going to go and milk this for all its worth.  Happy last week of work/school before Thanksgiving week!

[blouse:vintage cardigan:H&M jeans:Gap boots:H&M sunglasses:H&M]

fallingwater.

This weekend my parents came to visit and we made the trip to Fallingwater.  I went to Fallingwater about 5 or 6 years ago in the summer so it was nice to see it again in the fall, or should I say winter!  It was freezing when we were there (37 degrees?!).  I think all of the leaves have officially fallen too.  It was nice to go see Fallingwater again though and it was nice to have my parents in town for the weekend :)

This is the coat I thrifted the other weekend and I love it.  I'm so excited that it is neutral and I can accessorize with a bright cobalt braided headband!  What winter accessories are you excited about this year?

[coat:thrifted Gap headband:H&M sweater:Kardashian Kollection for Sears jeans:Gap wedge booties:Target purse:from Italy, years ago]

insta business trip.

Sorry I have been MIA on here recently.  I was in St. Louis on a construction site for work last week, went back to my alma mater over the weekend for tailgating and now Sandy is upon us, geez!  Here in Pittsburgh we are only seeing a little rain and some wind.  My thoughts are with everyone that got hit further east, please stay safe.

Last week I got the opportunity to go to St. Louis to do some construction administration for a project I've worked on.  It was a whirlwind of a trip, I learned so so much about construction and got to see a new city!  Above are some detail photos of the project and of course, the St. Louis Arch got instagrammed!  I hope to get back to outfit posts soon.  Last week was spent in a hard hat and a "one size fits all" neon vest so not something you or I want to see on here :)

brown lace.

So we were watching Donnie Brasco this past weekend and I found myself losing interest at times even though it was a good movie.  The reason I would lose interest is because I would get lost in all of the 70s clothes awesomeness.  Another show that I often find myself obsessing over the wardrobe is Boardwalk Empire.  I love the flapper dresses and the red lipstick.  I wish I lived in the 30s-70s; its all so classic.  Does anyone else do this?  I'd like to think I'm normal, so humor me :) 

This week has been zooming by!  Tomorrow we are going to see Cirque du Soleil's Saltimbanco and I am ridiculously excited.  Anyways it was in the 40s this morning and probably 70 when I took this picture.  I wish the weather would make up its mind and make it warm!

[dress:ASOS boots:H&M tights:not sure, got them at Century 21 sunglasses:Forever 21]

dogs on dogs on dogs.

Dog city here!  Meet Sidney--nope, not our new dog, we were dogsitting her for the weekend.  She is Zach's parents' dog and Aunt Sidney to Champ :)  I thought it would be appropriate to wear my dog shirt (its covered in all different dog breeds and I love it) so I could look like a crazy dog person on our walk.  We normally each take one dog because it can get kind of crazy walking 2 at once.  You can see this in the last photo when some sort of rodent was discovered under this rock and all hell broke loose!

This weekend was pretty low key, but wonderful.  The weather was gorgeous (shorts in mid-October, yes, please!).  On Saturday we thrifted the heck out of Pittsburgh.  First stop was Habitat for Humanity's Restore where we bought a door to top off a desk.  We then got a huge piece of plexiglass from Lowe's to put on top and voila, a desk!  After that we headed to Goodwill, where Zach scored a buttonup and some dress pants and I got a dress and an awesome Gap wool swing coat for $10!  I hope your weekend was fabulous!

[sweatshirt:Urban Outfitters shorts:vintage flats:Urban Outfitters sunglasses:Betsey Johnson bracelet:H&M]

highline.

Day 2 in New York was a dreary one with rain all morning and most of the afternoon.  Zach and I walked around on the Highline, ate lunch at a diner (I was craving breakfast) and took the subway to the World Trade Center site.  We actually couldn't see anything at the World Trade Center site because it is all fenced up, but you can go for a tour if you reserve a spot online ahead of time.  In the evening we were lucky enough to attend a wedding on the Upper East Side and the reception was in Central Park!  

P.S. That last photo would be Zach making fun of me by "posing"

[sweater:Kardashian Kollection (Sears) jacket:Target pants:H&M boots:H&M bag:not sure, old and from Italy]

we're not in kansas anymore.

These pictures were taken in our first few hours in NYC so you will have to pardon my wrinkled mess of a dress because we had just gotten off the train.  Zach and I stayed with one of friends in Chelsea and we walked around that area on Saturday.  We walked to the Flat Iron Building and the Shake Shack and on our way we walked past Kleinfeld's!  I was pretty excited to stumble upon Kleinfeld's, but I don't think the two boys that I was with were as excited.  At night we got great Thai food and met up with more friends in Brooklyn for beers.  This was all day 1 in New York, its hard not to have an amazing time in the city :)

[shirt dress:Lands End for Sears tights:Target flats:Urban Outfitters sunglasses:H&M]

restraint.

Heyyo, I'm starting to realize that the fall wardrobe is all about the basics.  While shopping I find that I am always drawn to statement pieces which are great for summer (who doesn't love a printed dress?), but fall means layers.  I am going into withdrawal from bright colors right now, but I am learning to love black and brown (it hurts a little inside).  Anyways just how I am feeling this fall, how do you feel about your fall wardrobe right now?

I am so super pumped to go to NYC this weekend!  Zach's friend is getting married in Central Park and we are going to spend the weekend in the City, ahhh the City, it sounds wonderful.

[jacket:Kenneth Cole pants:H&M boots:H&M purse:I'm not sure, I got it a long time ago while in Italy sunglasses:Forever 21 tanktop(underneath):Target socks:not sure either]

all you need is love.

I'm back from my little hiatus.  So much was going on last week, but being back feels great.  Last Saturday my co-workers and I participated in Canstruction.  If you've never heard of it (don't worry I had never heard of it either!) its a competition between design/construction groups to design a sculpture out of canned goods.  The canned goods then get donated.  We made a huge ketchup and mustard bottle (get it, Heinz ketchup, Pittsburgh Canstruction? eh?) so we won Best Use of Labels for making the ketchup bottle out of Heniz baked beans.

This look reminds me of Valentine's Day and reasonably so because today was me and Zach's 4 year anniversary!  I wore this out to dinner at our favorite Japanese buffet where they have all you can eat crab legs, our favorite.  Well here's to a 4 year anniversary AND a 4 day work week!

[dress:vintage flats:Urban Outfitters tights:Urban Outfitters]