Weekend Wrap-Up: Homecoming

Happy Monday everybody! 

I'd say that this weekend was definitely a well deserved break that was used for both relaxation and productivity. I spent the last weekend of September surrounded by friends and fun. Friday night we went downtown for my friend's birthday dinner--we went to Cafe Milano instead of Burgatory like I said before--which was delicious! I will go ahead and recommend the baked ziti. It did take awhile for our food to get to us, but I imagine that was due to the fact that there was a festival/bridge party that night on the Roberto Clemente bridge and everyone and their mother was getting dinner at the same time as us. There was also some excitement for the huge rubber duck that is laying anchor in Pittsburgh for the next 3 weeks. Aside from that, the weekend was spent celebrating homecoming and our victory against University of Virginia!

Partying with Pittsburgh!

Couldn't resist a quick pic with the duck!

Homecoming laser and fireworks show!

Great seats for the game; and we won!

<3 Ashley

How did you spend your weekend?

TGIF Pins

Well we all know how hectic this week has been; TGIF has never been more appropriate. This weekend though is going to be a good one! Tonight we are a taking a friend out for her birthday dinner at a restaurant called Burgatory--any Pittsburgh readers that can give me the scoop on this place? Then hopefully we will be back in time for the homecoming laser and lights show and the rest of the night will be spent hanging out with the birthday girl! Tomorrow is the homecoming game against UVa at 12:30 which, hopefully, we will dominate! The rest of the weekend will be relaxation and a bit of a lull in the school work which I will not complain about. In spirit of Friday, here are my favorite pins from this week!

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Have a great weekend! Hail to Pitt!

<3 Ashley

My Playlist As Of Late

Image: here

So you've probably read this post about how crazy I have been driving myself with procrastination, forgetfulness and pre-mature senioritis (does that happen in sophomores?!) Whenever I get stressed out, music calms me down whether I am studying, taking a break for a run or just laying back in exhaustion in the dorm. I have put together a little playlist for myself to listen to--mostly when studying--to help my brain stay busy and keep it from going off and worrying about something else.

"This Year's Love" -David Gray

"John Wayne" -Little Green Cars

"Mermaid" -Train

"Royals" -Lorde

"Young Blood" -Birdy

"Come To Me" -Goo Goo Dolls

"Vienna" -Billy Joel

These are just a few of the songs that have been keeping me sane this past week. If there are a couple you haven't heard before I highly recommend giving them a listen! I have become admittedly obsessed with "This Year's Love" in the past 72 hours; it's just such a relaxing song!!

<3 Ashley

What helps you focus when you are stressed? What songs have you been listening to lately?

On Staying Organized

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One of my worst features is probably the fact that I am quite prone to procrastination and allowing things to slip my mind. This ugly feature came out in full force as I was studying for my anthropology exam this week. I was looking through my binder, found my psychology syllabus and discovered that my first psych exam is this Thursday! Whaaaat?! So naturally I threw anthropology aside to get in one chapter of psych reading. At 10:30 PM I realized that I had yet to complete all of my online math homework which was due in and hour and a half! That was when I went into full panic mode and maybe almost cried. It is just too early in the semester to be having episodes like last night.

I have made a vow to utilize all of my organization practices and not slack off! This is what I typically do: I have a little notebook that I record all my homework assignments and exam dates that I keep in my bag at all times. Then I have my calendar overload. What do I mean? I have my calendar on my phone which is linked to my calendar on my laptop so I get alerts on both devices. I also have my big desk calendar which is color coded. No more last minute, panicked working!

<3 Ashley

How do you stay on top of things? Have you ever gotten so far behind?

Jewelry Finds: Vienna Victoria

I think this impending fall is doing something to me. I am taking interest in trends that I swore up and down I would probably never wear--but now leopard and me are buds!--and I’ve been turning to my necklace board every morning when I get ready. You remember me and jewelry, right? We talk and acknowledge but never really hang out. 

Well I am discovering all of these interesting pieces and adding more and more to my Christmas list. As we speak I have a tab open in Chrome deciding which piece I want from the Vienna Victoria store. Creator Satin Van Cleef has a line of bracelets and rings that are actually have lipgloss in them in the “Vanity Vault!” Now that’s what I call stylish and functional! That’s one less thing to keep in your bag; plus they’re refillable. 

 

The bracelets come in yellow, white, rose and black gold over bronze--I am all over the rose gold!--and made with Swarovski Elements.

Check out the website here. I think that they would definitely make a cute gift for the holidays. I might drop some hints to my family about that! 

<3 Ashley

What do you think of this functional collection by Vienna Victoria?  

TGIF Pins

Happy Friday everyone! Did the week blaze by for anyone else? Just me? Okay. I really don't know what I am going to do with myself this weekend. There's no football game here so I will probably just do A LOT of reading for classes. Maybe Sunday I will take a break; I've taken to watching football with the guys on Sunday. It's kind of funny to watch them watch it, plus I need a few things explained to me. Haha! Anyway I did manage to squeeze out a little bit of pinning this week so that I could bring you my TGIF Pins!!

Fashion

Shoes

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Beauty

Home

Food

Travel

Humor

Have a great weekend everybody! 

<3 Ashley

Interesting Reads: IFB

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So I found this article here on IFB yesterday about the fact that procrastinating can be beneficial and was really intrigued by it. Often times when I am studying or trying to focus on writing up a post for the site and find myself on some social media site or reading some other article on Buzzfeed that I really shouldn't be reading. Every time I catch myself I feel just a little guilty about allowing myself to get side-tracked and distracted. But this article argues for allowing yourself to "waste time." After reading the article I feel a little bit better about those times when I let my mind and attention wander. I'm not saying I am going to intentionally just throw aside what I'm doing and go on Pinterest for an hour, but when I have been committing to something for awhile sometimes the old brain needs to take a few minutes to unwind, reboot and re-adjust.

<3 Ashley

Do you find yourself "wasting time" often? Is it something you try to avoid? What do you think after reading this article?

Fall Favorite: Food

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Beware everyone! Pumpkin everything is back...but is anyone complaining? I was very excited to get my first PSL from Starbucks--bonus, I got it iced which I highly recommend! Also around the corner is my inevitable indulgence in pumpkin pie (I am waiting for you, Thanksgiving!) But what I have absolutely loved for as long as I can remember is my grandmother's pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Seriously I count down to Christmas for those things!

While I don't know her recipe in particular (I will patiently wait for her to share it with me) I have done some internet searching and found a pretty solid looking recipe for these delicious cookies! 

What you need:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 tbsps pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsps ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp pumpkin spice
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

What to do:

- In medium bowl mix melted butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until no brown sugar lumps are seen. Add vanilla and pumpkin. Whisk and set aside

- In large bowl combine flour, salt, baking powder, baking sode, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and pumpkin spice. Add pumpkin mixture to dry ingredients and mix. Fold in chocolate chips. Cover and chill dough for 30 minutes.

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Roll dough into balls and lay them slightly flattened on lined baking sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes (it is normal if they look soft and underbaked; don't leave them in though!) Press a few more chocolate chips into the cookies if desired.

- Allow cookies to cool at least 10 minutes.

Find this and other recipes here!

<3 Ashley

What is your favorite fall food? Any good pumpkin recipes?

Favorite Fall Trends

Leopard: pumps || scarf || bag

Leather: boots || jacket || watch

Happy Monday everybody!

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend; I know I did! We won our football game this weekend (way to show up this week, Panthers!) and I spent TONS of time with my friends. Granted we were studying...but it was very nice nonetheless. Despite the beautiful fall-ish weather I did get a mighty face sunburn at the game which I hope to God will peel soon.

Anyway, speaking of fall I wanted to discuss my favorite fall trends with you today! I am all about the leather and leopard this season! Usually, I tend toward soft, girly and simple and stay away from a lot of prints, but leopard is really working on stealing my heart. Now, I don't think I will be rocking a leopard bodysuit any time soon, however I definitely would rock this fierce print on an accessory. I desperately want a pair of leopard pumps! Leather is also a little strange for me since I have always seen myself as far from edgy. If you remember from my first day of class post I did manage to work some leather details into my outfit with my vest from rue21. I have been eying leather skirts and I am in need for some new boots :)

<3 Ashley

What are your thoughts on these fall trends?

TGIF...

The Cathedral of Learning is probably the most Instagrammed thing by a Pitt student. Beautiful, right?

Oh my goodness, THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY!!

I cannot describe in words how done I am with this week. Let's hope for an easier one coming up. This morning alone, I had to trek to two campus coffee establishments before I could get my vanilla latte. Hopefully that is the extent of my troubles today. I was very happy to step out in jeans and a sweater today--it's beginning to feel a lot like autumn! I am definitely looking forward to the weekend; another home game tomorrow against New Mexico! Let's see if we can win this one, Panthers! Unfortunately, today's TGIF post will not include the pins part since I have been far to busy to do ANY pinning. I did want to make sure I checked in with you guys before completely setting into my weekend ways. Before I leave you, I would like to draw your attention to probably the best thing that has happened to me this week; Pretty Living PR in Pittsburgh featuring me and my modest blog on their website! Check out the interview here!

<3 Ashley

Have a great weekend! Any great plans?

The Effects of Social Media

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I feel like anymore I get inspiration for topics by scrolling through my blog feed. I came upon Jenni's post today on Story of My Life for Blogtember and felt a need to put in my two cents: How has social media and blogging effected your life?

An excellent question, I think! Social media has made communicating and sharing information these day so fast and easy. It is also a lot easier to reach more of a mass audience if that's what you're looking to do. But there are some effects that it's had on me that I would like to maybe reverse a little. I think the new found ability to share pictures and what I am doing have made me less of a private person; I used to pride myself on keeping things to myself. It's nice to have some memories just for yourself right? So I am starting to pull back--just a little--on instagramming and tweeting.

On the other hand, I was also a very shy person. Communicating through social media is so much easier since you're not exactly talking face-to-face with your subject. While my confidence isn't totally through the roof, blogging and social media have certainly helped me in pooling my ideas and delivering them in a way that I am satisfied with. Social media does still have both its pros and cons but I do have to thank all the platforms that I am a part of for giving me a launching pad on which to voice my opinions and interests.

<3 Ashley

How has social media/blogging effected your life?

Four Favorites: Leather

Clutch || Skirt || Jacket || Bracelet

It's been awhile since I've joined in on the Four Favorites link up so I decided that this week I would get back to it! This time around the theme was leather; my leather jacket is just waiting for the cool air! I don't have too many leather pieces myself, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't readily accept that clutch up there! I love the bow and the color is adorable! 

<3 Ashley

What are your four leather favorites? Click the button above and join the link up! 

Shoes to Boot

Cole Haan || Steve Madden || Guess || Soda Harkin || Zara

Still adjusting to weather in Pittsburgh; yesterday was a reminder that even though it's not forecasted you should carry an umbrella with you the whole time. The sky seriously opened up and unleashed gallons of water on our unsuspecting university. It has been nice temperature wise (the 70's are not too shabby!) but these next few are supposed to be in the 80s then BAM! back down to the 60s. I don't even know what's going on here...but I like it. My roommate and I are ready to bust out the boots for Friday. I then started my obsessive hunt for fall boots. This is kind of like an apology for skipping posting yesterday...a few shoes to look at!

<3 Ashley

Are you ready to break out the boots? What kind of boots do you like to wear?