The Great Gatsby

Photo: here

As I am sitting here texting a close friend about summer plans, another fantastic advertisement for the new Great Gatsby film (May 10) comes on the television. After a few excited texts we are committing to making this one of our mandatory date nights.

I can't even express my excitement over the release of this film. The book has been a favorite of mine for quite sometime (before it was required reading in 11th grade!) That made assigned reading even easier! That being said, I am also very excited to see Iron Man 3 and Man of Steel--what can I say...I like my superheroes. :)

How stoked are you to see this film? Have you read the book? Are there any other films you are excited to see this summer?

<3 Ashley

Spring Cleaning Round Two

Hello all!

I am proud to say that I am almost completely moved back into my room at home. I still have a few small things to fit in there and move around a bit. I did not realize how cluttered the room would be now. I am about to enter a stage that I like to call Spring Cleaning Round Two. Now I need to go through all of the stuff that I brought back home and decide what I am keeping and what I don't need!

The problem is, I have such a small room here at home and had so much more space at school! How does that even work out?! Hopefully I can tackle all of this today! :)

Are you still tied up with spring cleaning?

<3 Ashley

TGIF Pins

I can say "TGIF" with as much enthusiasm as ever today. I am moving out of the dorms for the summer, looking forward to some awesome adventures with friends and earning some spending money for the next school year. I am also very excited because coming up in June is the one year anniversary of All That Glitters! This is probably the longest I have voluntarily committed to! As a lead up to that, I will be doing the 30 day blogging challenge during the month of May. The topics of those post will hopefully allow you to get to know me just a little bit better and set a positive tone for another year of blogging! But more on that some other time; for now, here are my favorite pins from this week:

Fashion

Shoes

Accessories

 Beauty

Home

Food

Travel

Humor

Have a great weekend!!

<3 Ashley

Reflection: Freshman Year

Well that's it! Finals are all finished and I have nothing left to do but move out; I am no longer a college freshman. I will admit that it is a little bittersweet. While I am very excited to go back home and see some faces that I haven't seen in a few months, I am sad to leave some of the faces that I have gotten to know really well. I won't see them for 4 months! I am also a little upset that it's over already; freshman year was fantastic and Pitt has certainly been very kind to me.

I loved the freedom of making my schedule for the first time, and loved the independence that I was given my first time away from home. I loved the feeling that all of the firsts gave me. That's why freshman year will always be a year that I remember. It certainly had a "fresh" feeling and gave me the opportunity to start over. This year I was able to challenge myself a little harder, push myself a little further out of my initial comfort zone and allow myself to get to know some truly awesome people and places.

I have slowly been packing up everything but today is the big packing day! Most of my day will be spent doing laundry, sorting clothes, and getting lost in boxes and packing tape. Here's a few shots of my last week:

Getting my caffeine fix and doing some last minute studying.

And the boxes are back! Desk is cleaned out and everything is off the walls.

The current state of my once full and decorated window shelf. Need to find somewhere to put these books!

All of this paper is from one class. Insane right?

I still have clothes to relocate to bags, books to box and cosmetics to store. That doesn't sound like a lot but this will take me forever! Haha!

Any packing tips for someone who may have accumulated more than what she came with?!

<3 Ashley

My Spring

(pinterest)

As spring has shown itself to be in full bloom here--the tulips outside of the student union are so pretty--I have decided to share just a few of my favorite things about spring with you all.

1. The Sun: I feel like spring just isn't spring without it! Especially in Pittsburgh I don't think I have seen the sun since the beginning of winter. I love how warm it is.

2. Dresses: While I am wearing a pair of shorts as I type this (outside!!) dresses are so characteristic of spring for me. I love all of the bright colors and florals that have been popping up.

3. Long walks: Long evening strolls with the girls is what is getting me through finals week. It is so great to take some time and stroll around the trails and talk for a bit to really unwind.

4. Picnics: I love grabbing some blankets and lunch-to-go and setting up camp in the park or in front of the museum. It is certainly a change of scenery from the dining hall!

5. Smiles!: I just look happier in the spring when I am not trying to combat the cold and hurry inside.

What are your favorite things about spring?

<3 Ashley

Weekend Wrap-Up: Finals

Well Friday was officially the end of the spring semester so as I see it...I am no longer a freshman. Sure I have to get through finals, but I'm done! Classes are over and I only have two finals; the last one is on Wednesday. I couldn't be anymore excited but also very reflective--but that post is coming closer to the end of the week.

However, with my few finals comes lots of studying. Here's just a few snapshots of what my weekend looked like:

I'm sure many cups of coffee will also work their way into this week long arrangement. 

How was your weekend?

<3 Ashley

TGIF Pins

Happy Friday everyone!!

Who else is as excited as this girl to get the weekend started. This day marks the last day of my freshmen spring semester. Next week is finals and next Friday I am back home. :) I can't express how thrilled I am. Out of happiness here are the pins this week!

Fashion

Shoes

Accessories

Beauty

Home

Food

Travel

Humor

Have a great weekend! 

Any cool plans?

<3 Ashley

Spring Trends: Footwear

I can feel myself getting even more anxious for summer as the semester comes to an end and Friday is the last day of classes before finals! By this time next week I will be done with my finals and be working on packing for home. So excited!! 

Steve Madden (here) || Restricted (here) || Jessica Simpson (here) || Charlotte Russe (here)

For those of you who have been reading the blog, you have probably seen my spring trends series of posts. I love talking about trends--while I may not always follow them!--and this season I am really excited about many of the trends that we are seeing. I am on a crusade to own mint and coral everything! Today's trend report is all about my favorite subject...shoes! 

Some big shoe trends include pastels! Of course mint and coral are very popular colors on all fronts this spring, but other pastels such as purple, blue and yellow are also quite lovely. Cap toe shoes are also still very much relevant--unfortunately mine fell apart since I wore them so much! Mixed textures and color blocking in shoes has also become very popular for spring 2013.

Which shoe trend is your favorite? Will you try any of them?

<3 Ashley

Four Favorites

So I came upon this link up on Fancy Things and thought it looked fun! I wanted to do a post today, to keep up-to-date, but I have a final today so I didn't want anything too time consuming. So I decided to join Fancy Things and Let It Be Beautiful for this link up! Here are some of my favorite things that I happened upon from the past week or so.

1. Color Blocked Striped Scarf (Sole Society)
2. Garden Gazebo Pendant (ModCloth)
3. Love by Stephanie Sterjovski (here)
4. Embroidery Dress (She Inside)

<3 Ashley
What are your four favorites?

Just a Moment...

Photo: Love Twenty

I just wanted to take a moment and express my condolences to those at the Boston Marathon yesterday and to anyone else affected by the incident. I myself know someone going to school up there and who was at the marathon when it happened. Fortunately, she is okay but it does hit close to home and is quite scary when you know someone who was there.

Sending love and prayers to Boston!
<3

Talking With Ted

I thought this was cute/funny... From Pinterest

Last night we at Pitt were very honored to host "A Night With Josh Radnor." You know...Ted Moseby from How I Met Your Mother! Tickets went on-sale last week and let me tell you, no matter how early you wake up there will still be 60 people who have been there longer. However, my friends and I were very fortunate to score tickets! Last night we gathered in the assembly room and welcomed him with applause.

It really was a great night. There wasn't a lot of HIMYM discussion--maybe a little during the Q&A--so unfortunately still no word on who the mother is! He had some great advice for those pursuing careers in theater, acting, and filmmaking; much of the advice could also be directed to those of us not particularly destined for those fields. Overall, it was a great night and he was very insightful and funny on top of that!

Are you a HIMYM fan? If you could attend a discussion, who would the speaker be?

<3 Ashley

Beauty: A Polished Look

Regardless of what it does to my nails--I do give them some periods of breathing time!--I almost always have nail polish on. I cannot say that I am particularly picky with brands just as long as it looks nice, has some staying powers since I spend a lot of time typing, but doesn't put up too much of a fight when I do go to remove it, I will be a dutiful consumer. I am, however, picky with my colors. I tend to go in seasons. I reserve darker colors for fall and winter. You will never see me sporting a gothic black nail polish during the warm spring and summer months. I though that today I would share some of my favorite spring/summer colors with you!

1. Coral: This is currently the color of my toes. It's very fun and has just enough "pop!" for my style.
Pictured above--Forever 21's Love & Beauty coral polish

2. Mint: My color obsession this season! I may just dye my nails this color--kidding of course! But I really do love it. I find it to be a very pretty, crisp color.
Pictured above--Essie Mint Candy Apple

3. White: This is one of the beauty trends this spring. I especially like that it makes me look just a bit tanner than I actually am. I call it the magic color.
Pictured above--O.P.I Funny Bunny

What colors will you don this season?

<3 Ashley

Sweet Reads: The Coveteur

Photo: The Coveteur

With the sudden urge to do even more with my blog--posting once a day just isn't cutting it for me anymore!--I have decided that I will post anything I find interesting immediately. Rather than wait and compile everything for one day I want everyone to read/see/experience right away.

I have just finished reading the Coveteur feature on Brian Atwood. I am a passionate lover of shoes as my closet will expose. As such I very much appreciated this little bit along with some fabulous photography!

Check it out!

Thoughts? Do you read the Coveteur frequently?

<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