fourth of july roadtrip

this fourth of july was definitely my favorite one yet. my best best best friend brittany got into town on july first and we hung out around dc for a couple days. she grew up here, but it's been a while since she has visited this city. we spent a lot of time in chinatown, hit up some happy hours, and did a little too much shopping. but it wasn't long before we hit the road to visit anthony's family in pittsburgh! we had our own little roadtrip. the weather was perfect-- blue skies, a great breeze, we couldn't have asked for a better day.

we grabbed some outfit shots before we head out. my summer go-to outfit is a tank and a maxi skirt. you honestly can't get more comfortable than this. this floral skirt is one of my best thrifted finds to date. great length, great print-- you just can't beat it. brittany went for some cute denim cut-offs and a lacy tank. safe to say we were comfy and cool for our 6 hour drive! 

 once we arrived in ellwood city, we immediately went into holiday mode. we picked up plenty of beer, ordered some pizzas, and sat out on the front porch talking all night long. oh and there was a hot tub involved. lots and lots of hot tubbing! it had been way too long since i'd seen anthony's family so we had tons much fun just hanging out and catching up. they are truly my second family and i'm so lucky to have them. 

on fourth of july we all donned our red, white, and blue and went to the ellwood city festival. i wore new skirt i picked up at h&m recently with a giftcard i won through the lovely dylana of color me nana. i am obsessed with high wasited skirts right now! paired with this little crop top and red lips, i felt in the fourth of july spirit! anthony's town takes this holiday very seriously. there's tons of good food, booths with arts and crafts for sale, and live music. we wandered around for a bit and filled up on festival food (aka the greasiest and least healthy food ever and it's awesome). 

fourth of july is such a fun holiday, and this one was even more special because i got to spend it with all of my favorite people. i love having both anthony and brittany by my side. we're the three best friends that anyone could have (hehe). check out last year's fourth of july here. i just love this holiday! i hope you all enjoyed celebrating. 

xxoo,

n

check out this little video i made of our adventure: 

memorial day

 i hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend! gotta love when it feels like monday, but it's actually tuesday! (it's the little things that make me happy). the weekend was great--equal parts fun and productive. we were very successful on the packing front. i'm talking all my clothes are packed, people! this is a huge deal considering most of my apartment consists of clothes (oops). 

 in order to make said packing easier, on sunday, anthony and i headed to buffalo exchange in dc to sell some of our clothes. i had a huge bin full of all of the items i cleaned out of my closet. some of it was older stuff, but i managed to sell over $100 worth of clothing! in exchange for what they buy from you, you can get either 50% of it in store credit or 30% of it in cash. i took the store credit (duh) cause i do so much shopping there anyway. it was a very successful reverse shopping trip. on the way home, we donated all of the leftover clothing to goodwill. feels great to have a downsized closet and a giftcard to do some more shopping! :)

yesterday, we spent the day relaxing and eating a lot of good food. we had chick fil a for lunch, my favorite. and then we headed over to the movie theater to see neighbors. i was so surprised by how funny it was! we were cracking up almost the entire time. plus, zac efron is just so darn cute. celebrity crush all the way! after that, we did some packing. i hope you're noticing a trend here. there was a lot of packing happening. packing sucks. and it takes forever. the end. 

 we made a small feast for dinner that could have easily fed a family of 5 but nope, it was just for us! safe to say we will be eating bbq food leftovers all week. i made some pasta salad and egg salad, while anthony cooked up some chili dogs and baked beans. there's just something about cook out food that gets me! i love it. we cracked a few beers and enjoyed our day off. i have no complaints! well except for the whole packing thing. did i mention i hate packing?

i wore my new shoes all day and i can already tell these bad boys are going to be my new summer obsession. i ordered them on sale (only 30 bucks) at modcloth and was so happy when they arrived! i feel slightly like a 5 year when i wear them but that's okay. why should 5 year olds be the only ones allowed to wear bright + comfy flower print sandals?! i also threw on a green tee that i easily made into a DIY crop top by tying the front in a little knot and paired it with a cool skirt. it was the perfect outfit for a very summer-like weekend.

thanks for checking in! happy tuesday, folks.
xxoo,
n

outfit details
tee: target
skirt: tj maxx
sandals: saltwater via modcloth
purse: h&m

valentines day: date night

happy valentine's day! i've been snowed in the past two days and have been getting into the holiday spirit with lots of baked goods, sprinkles, and chocolate. oh, and wine. lots of wine. there's nothing more romantic than laying in bed all day in comfy sweats and eating junkfood with your boyfriend. okay, well actually, i can think of many more things that are more romantic but for us this was pretty darn good!

tonight, we are doing the real valentine's day stuff. going out to dinner, grabbing a drink, etc. it's always fun to get dressed all fancy and go to a fancy restaurant and eat fancy food and so on. it's a given that wearing some combination of red or pink is necessary. but i thought a black/white/red combo would be perfect for a valentine's day night out. i usually gravitate towards a dress for a date night, but i wanted to do something different this time. so when i remembered these amazing trousers i bought at buffalo exchange in nyc a few weeks ago, i knew i had to wear them. the color is gorgeous and i love the way they fit.

i've been dying to wear this gorgeous necklace ever since i won it in a giveaway through the lovely chandra of modern day charm. it's just a bonus that it matches my pants and goes with the whole holiday of looove outfit theme i've got going on. this black + white peplum top from forever 21 is so fun and i'm a little bit crazy about the pattern. throw in some nude pumps and you are ready for a date night out on the town!

hope everyone has fun plans today! whether it's a day out and about with the girls or a night in with your special someone, remember to tell the important people in your life that you love them. <3

xxoo,

n

outfit details

pants: buffalo exchange

top: forever 21

shoes: famous footwear

necklace: giveaway via modern day charm

happy holidays

i can't believe that christmas has come and gone and in a couple short days it will be 2014! i swear the end of this month always flies by at lightning speed. between visiting with family, opening presents, and eating ungodly amounts of food, life doesn't get much better than the last week of december. this christmas was definitely a crazy one, but i'm so glad that i got to see anthony's family and all of my family in one day. there was a lot of driving involved, but it was totally worth it.

i always love dressing up for the holidays, so when i saw this lacey dress at forever 21 i pretty much ran right out the door with it. the back of it is just beautiful, and the tulle skirt is perfect. paired with some maroon tights, i couldn't have been more in the christmas spirit. i'm usually the one that's overdressed at all of my family functions but my gorgeous sister's were all dressed up this year as well and they looked stunning. you can check out a pic of all of us on my instagram!

after christmas, i spent the rest of the week at my mom's house. my stepdad made so much good food, we played lots of games, and i got to spend time with my adorable little niece savannah. she is growing up so fast and i swear she gets cuter and cuter by the day. i love my family more than anything else and am so thankful to have them. <3

now that one holiday is over, it's on to the next-- new years! aka the best holiday. ever. yes, new years eve is my favorite holiday. i love watching the ball drop and making new years resolutions and drinking pink champagne. it's such a fun holiday. this year, anthony and i plan on staying in, making a ton of food, and playing monopoly. haha, it may not sound that exciting, but it sounds perfect to me :)

besides the new years festivities, this week is full of running errands and packing because... we are flying to cancun, mexico for a vacation next sunday!!!!! it still hasn't really sunk in that in less than a week i'll be lounging on the beach, drink in hand, soaking up the sun in the middle of january. we booked this trip a couple months ago to celebrate my graduation, anthony's birthday, our anniversary, and christmas. ha! we're knocking out all of the presents for these big life events with one awesome trip. woot woot!

i hope you are all enjoying your holiday season. good luck ringing in the new year.

xxoo,

n

outfit details

dress/earrings: forever 21

tights/shoes: target

christmas eve 2013

merry christmas, everyone! i’m writing this post from my dad’s house where anthony and i stopped to visit for a couple hours. we left his hometown of ellwood city this morning bright and early and spent our afternoon in the car driving from pennsylvania to maryland. it’s been a busy week so far and the rest of the week is going to be hectic as well. we got to anthony’s family’s house on saturday and stayed all week just hanging out and relaxing.

we did a lot of christmas shopping, present wrapping, and cookie baking and it couldn’t have been a better few days leading up to christmas. i always enjoy hanging out with anthony’s family and this visit was no different. there is nothing better than escaping the real world and just hanging out with family.

this was my first christmas eve away from my family and anthony’s family made me feel so at home. his parents and siblings were all there, and his aunt, uncle, and grandma stopped by to visit and exchange presents. anthony and i got an air mattress and a crock pot! its always awesome to get new things for the apartment. his aunt and uncle gave me a beautiful necklace and a cool collection of spices for cooking. they were all way too good to me and i am very thankful to have such a great second family.

we spent the remainder of the night playing card games and drinking wine and we all had so much fun. the holidays truly are such a great time of the year. this morning we woke up and ate breakfast and watched a bit of the christmas story on tv before we said our goodbyes. i was sad to leave, but can’t wait to spend the rest of the week at my mom’s house! i can already tell that this christmas is going to be one of the best yet.

 i will be back soon with a post about christmas day with my crazy family. i have another holiday outfit to share with you guys! i absolutely love dressing for the holidays. pretty dresses and lots of red. i even got a special christmas manicure with anthony’s sister to amp up the festiveness.

thanks for checking in and hope you all have a very merry christmas!

xxoo,

n

outfit details

skirt/shoes: urban outfitters

top: tj maxx

necklace: forever 21

fourth of july

fourth of july is my second favorite holiday (first is new years eve. duh). so safe to say it was a very eventful day. mine and anthony's great friends ian and maddie made their first trek down to baltimore from pittsburgh! we picked them up from the bus stop on wednesday night and had so many fun things in store for them.

the best way to get in the patriotic spirit is to, of course, wear red, white, and blue! i was so excited to wear these high-waisted red shorts i thrifted a few weeks ago. and i picked up this little bandana at the dollar store a couple days ago hahaha. i was determined to wear one for fourth of july! i have no idea why!

        

the four of us braved the heat and headed to downtown balitmore celebrate this holiday. the 4th of july seemed like a great excuse for us to get all decked out and red, white, and blue and day drink. we had sushi for lunch and then walked over to a cute little record store and shopped for a while. we got some cool CDs. i picked up a fleetwood mac greatest hits, the format (fun. before they were fun.), and a dave matthew's band album. they're anthony's favorites and i needed some good car music for roadtrips.

      

ian and maddie are the greatest and cutest and funniest people evaaaaa. we used to hang out all the time in pittsburgh, so me and anthony have missed them a lot this summer. we always have the craziest times together. we toured around baltimore for the day, trying not to get lost in the massive crowds, and enjoyed good food and lots of beer in our bellies. it was a great day to celebrate america! :D

the temperatures were crazy high, but the sun was shining so i couldn't complain! i decided to go with this light tank from target because it was simple and cool. also, the maryland humidity makes my hair go ca-razzyyy and that's why you will see a lot of top-knots and headbands when it comes to my hair. even with relatively short hair i don't like to wear it down! (any tips for other hairstyles that are good for the summer heat?)

okay so come on, how stylish are these two?! its ridiculous! maddie's dress is from h&m and her shoes are from forever 21. ian's polo is ralph lauren and his denim shirt is from burlington.

      

we ended the night with fireworks and stayed in, played card games, and ordered pizza. it was so good to hang out with great friends and just catch up and be silly. i swear the four of us are so weird together. it's the ultimate double date.

 

the four of us went to rehoboth beach today for more fun in sun! they don't see much ocean over in western pa. ha! hope everyone had a great 4th of july. can't wait to see your patriotic outfits.

thanks for reading.

xxoo,
n

outfit details
shorts: thrifted
tank: target
shoes: payless
earrings: forever 21
sandals: thrifted