Black Friday + Weekend Deals

Image: here

Hey all!

Just wanted to drop a quick note this weekend to alert you to some awesome Black Friday weekend deals (many of which are local Pittsburgh businesses!) Pretty Living PR has pulled together a bunch of deals for you to take advantage of this weekend! Check out the list of businesses here!


There's still time to get in on some of the big deals before the weekend is out! Go! Go! Go!

<3 Ashley

Dorm Wishlist

Floor Pouf || Arrow Bookends || Love Print || Pillow

Since August has begun my roomie and I are now text each other back and forth with ideas and requests for our room design. We are trying to be as thrifty as we can, reusing what we had in our rooms last year and looking online for inexpensive products. This year we are also shopping for our own private bathroom (definitely a perk!) Even though I am maintaining what I already own for the dorm, that hasn't stopped me from scouring Pinterest for inspiration and ideas. Don't even get me started on what I've seen when I physically go into a store. Last Friday I went shopping and going into JCPenney may have been a mistake on my part...I happened to walk into Happy Chic by Jonathan Adler in the home department and I WANT IT ALL! In the display above I have two products from the collection--the pillow and bookends--that I kept picking up but ultimately decided I could not afford. My wishlist will no doubt increase through this month, above is just a few things that have caught my eye.

<3 Ashley

What products would you like to have in your dorm/apartment? 

Weekend Wrap-Up: Vintage

I hope everyone had a relaxing and fun weekend. It was quite hot here and aside from going to work, I was not very willing to step outside of the house. After work on Saturday we went to lunch in Carlisle and ended up walking down the street. After hitting a cool candy shop (Pop Rocks galore!) my mother and I stepped into a vintage shop called Miss Ruth's Time Bomb and had some fun browsing through some old fashioned duds.

After all of that browsing, this moment happened:

That's right, I discovered this tan '60s jumpsuit and decided to try it on just for kicks. I didn't actually think I would be able to pull off the look, but I was very excited to find that it was for the most part a perfect fit. Although my mother fully supported the purchase of this garment, I couldn't bring myself to buy it. With no idea what kind of shoes to wear with the suit I wasn't prepared to commit to it.

How was your weekend? 

<3 Ashley

Day 21: Favorite Posts

Day 21: List your 5 favorite posts on your blog.

I have written about a lot over the past year on this blog, and today is the day that I get to highlight some of my favorites for you!

1. Reflections: Freshman Year 
I loved all of the feedback I got on this post! This was by far my most popular piece that I've written all year. Whenever I reach something that I consider to be a milestone I like to take a breather and think about how far I've come, how I have changed, and what I need to work on.

2. Shopping Tips: Too Expensive?
This post was the result of a shopping trip and personal experience. I find it's always best to write what you know, and I love sharing tips that I have found to be successful (at least in the situations I have used them in!)

3. Spring Inspired
I believe this was written when it was still quite cold in Pittsburgh; there may have even been snow on the ground! I don't do many styling posts but I thought it would be nice to get a little glimpse of spring and what was coming. It was a hopeful post!

4. Some Down Time
I am a big supporter of what I refer to as sanity time. This post was written during a point when it was cold out, everyone else was in a late class, and I had no work to do. What a beautiful time!

5. The Final Countdown
This was written during finals week at the end of the fall semester. That is the time where, if you haven't learned yet, you learn how you study. This post was just as list of things that I found helpful for me.

What kind of posts are you interested in? (Consider this feedback! I will use it for the upcoming year!) 

<3 Ashley

Weekend Wrap-Up: Trying New Things

Photo: pinterest.com

Ciao, i miei amici! Translation: Hello, my friends! 

Today is my last exam in Italian before the final. It's a speaking one but I am not too concerned about it. It is simply a laid-back conversation with my professor about a film that we were assigned to watch for class. That film kickstarted a weekend of trying some new things and making some new realizations.

We were told to watch Il Giorno in Più (One Day More) which is a romantic comedy that was a part of the Italian film festival here in Pittsburgh. So with a worksheet and notebook in hand, I endeavored into the auditorium to be highly entertained for a total 112 minutes. It truly was a great movie! Subtitles were included (Hey, I am only in Italian 1!) so everyone could understand what was going on. It was a very endearing story about how relationships really are affected by just one day. If you have the opportunity to see it, I do recommend it!

Photo: here

Following the film, my friends and I set out on our last shopping trip before the end of the semester. This time I walked out of Forever 21 with a pair of pointy toed flats and hit up American Eagle for new running capris--it seems that spreading my wings and trying new things has included running! I did go for a great jog today through Schenley Park. It is such a nice trail and is very easy to run on and navigate.

What did you try this weekend?

<3 Ashley

Shopping Tips: Too Expensive?

Can I just say how glad I am to finally be on break?! This was definitely a well deserved treat. Yesterday was dubbed my "comeback tour" by my mother as I was driven from house to house to see all of my family in the area. The rest of this week will be incredibly laid back - though I will try my hardest not to sleep through it all!

This weekend - and through this week - a lot of shopping has/will be done. My mother even splurged her Christmas money on a bottle of Chanel No. 5 (the jealousy I am feeling is unexplainable!) One thing that surprised me was how worried she was to find out the price of what the bottle would be. Once the cosmetics counter associate left to scan the different sized bottle was my mother turned and expressed her concern with find out the price and finding out it would be too expensive. I have run into this issue a few too many times - I obviously need to find some different places to shop!

So this post today is just this piece of advice from me to you. In a store where the associates help you directly through pretty much your entire search - commitment - purchase process, they can sometimes come off as a little intimidating, pushy, or judgmental as your face displays that feeling of defeat after learning the price of your potential purchase. White House | Black Market was my place of defeat. What I have learned to do is to not be completely honest with them. If it something that I cannot afford I simply ask them to put it on hold for me, or to just put it back so that I can shop around a bit more. Stores will typically agree to put an item on hold for at least the day. That way the words, "No thank you, it's not in my budget" don't actually have to come out of your mouth. If you can say it with enough confidence the salesperson shouldn't even bat and eyelash.

<3 Ashley

How do you deal with this kind of dilemma?

Post-Thanksgiving

Well hello there!

Just a small post to start off the day; there will be another today since I do have some catching up to do. ;) My Thanksgiving was all I could ever ask for and more. It was my first time home since move-in day and I was so glad to see everyone. Both my pumpkin pie (which I will post the recipe for later to close out the November recipe series) and that homemade cranberry sauce that I posted earlier in the month were huge hits! Let me tell you, that cranberry sauce was sooooo  much better than the canned stuff and it was so easy to make! I would definitely suggest it for next year. :)

Then of course there was the Black Friday shopping. I got an amazing coat from New York & Company which was priced at $39.99! That was definitely a difference from the regular $109. I will share a picture of it in my next blog later today. I suppose it is time at last to discuss winter coats.

<3 Ashley

How was your Thanksgiving weekend?