Moving Out!

Well everyone, let me just say that I am the kind of person who once in awhile needs a change of scenery. This change has come this time to the blog. That's right...All That Glitters has a new home and a new name! You can follow it on Bloglovin here.

Obviously I am going to keep this blog here just because I can't transfer ALL of my content to the new site and I like to reference myself here and there :) I hope that you will all follow Sunday Brunch!!

<3 Ashley

Follow here

Summer Sandals

Rachel Zoe sandals | Sam Edelman sandal | Bamboo sandals | DVF wedges | Kate Spade sandals

Since the weather has been getting so nice, I have been dreaming about all things summer. Dresses, swimsuits, bright jewelry and of course (if you know me at all) shoes! Not that I need need, can afford, or have any room to store them I have been browsing summer footwear like it is my job. If you know of a place where I can be paid to look at pictures of shoes please drop me a comment! 

Here are just a few of my favorite sandals I have found in my internet adventures. 

<3 Ashley

Have you busted out your open toed footwear yet! What are your favorites?

Create

This sketch of Heinz Chapel on campus as a result of a stressful week. 

Happy Monday everybody! This was definitely a great weekend to have. Up until this weekend I have been spending day in and day out in bed...on the couch...watching tv...on the computer. Really it was very sad. None of my friends were out of school yet and everyone around the house was working. Well finally my friends are home and we got a night in this weekend to catch up and get into our typical shenanigans. Also, I'm now employed for the summer! I don't have to worry about having no money all summer.

Before any of this happened I had been thinking for awhile about what I could do to better pass the time. I've spent some more time reading outside which has been nice. But I wanted to actually feel like I was doing something. When I was younger one of my hobbies was art. Over the years I drew, maybe a little painting, sewing, knitting, writing, you name it! But I've stopped. I want to start up again. During the semester I was super stressed and decided to sketch to distract myself. The drawing was actually pretty good considering the time I haven't done anything. I want to get back to this hobby of creating, letting the creative juices flow, and keeping myself busy.

<3 Ashley

What hobbies do you have? How do you like to keep busy?

TGIF Pins

IT'S BACK! How long has it been really since I've done one of these posts?? Well TGIF Pins is back with just small modifications. Rather than two pins per category, I am only going to be posting one each. No big deal really. I have been experiencing quite the Pinterest overdose so there is plenty of material for me to be choosing from. Enough with the words though! For your viewing pleasure...my pins of the week!

Fashion

Shoes

Accessories

Beauty

Home

Food

Travel

Humor

Have a great weekend!
<3 Ashley

All images found on Pinterest

In Season

Image: here 

If there is one thing I love about summer is the fact that it is so much easier for me to eat healthy. It's so hot and there are very few times I want to go near a piping hot meal. Instead I eat A LOT of fruits and veggies. Salads and smoothies are a constant during these coming hot months. My biggest obsessions are berries! Blueberries, strawberries and raspberries are always in the refrigerator. I have taken the liberty of looking up and finding what fruits are in season and at there best here in the U.S.

-Apricots

-Blackberries

-Blueberries

-Cantaloupe

-Cherries

-Grapes

-Grapefruit

-Honeydew

-Limes

-Nectarines

-Passion Fruit

-Peaches

-Plums

-Raspberries

-Strawberries

-Sugar Apples

-Watermelon

**Apples, avocados, bananas, cranberries, coconut, lemon and papaya are in season all year round!

<3 Ashley

What do you enjoy eating most in the summer?

I Wish!

Image: here

I have seen these books on several blogs including Stephanie Sterjovski's site and I have since fallen in love with them. I am a big fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald and his work--ever since I was introduced to "The Great Gatsby" in my junior year of high school. These books covers were designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith in honor of the 70th anniversary of the author's death. I love the metallic and art deco patterns; they definitely make for gorgeous book covers! 

You can find them on the Penguin Books website. They are priced $26 per book. Over the course of the summer, I hope to collect the books one by one as I make money. Fingers crossed for owning all six by September!

<3 Ashley

What's on your wishlist this summer?

Weekend Wrap-Up: Mother's Day

Happy Monday everyone! I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend and was able to spend Mother's Day with their mamas. Mother's Day here was celebrated with a homemade brunch that I slaved over--maybe I'm exaggerating--with some help from the bro. We came up with quite the spread: strawberry scones, herb and ricotta omelets, peanut butter and banana oatmeal, and sausages. Yum, right?!

I got the scone recipe from Mara over at M Loves M. Her recipe was for strawberry lavender scones; unfortunately, we could not find lavender so we had to cut it from the recipe! They were still absolutely delicious. Find the recipe here!

Both of the recipes for the omelet and oatmeal came from the book "French Women Don't Get Fat" by Mireille Guiliano. The omelet I altered a bit since I did not have the fresh herbs that the recipe called for. Rather I sprinkled in a dried mixture of Herbs from Provence. This was also my first time using ricotta cheese in an omelet. I liked it! Ricotta is not the strongest tasting cheese, but I did like it. I also made homemade oatmeal for the first time. It was so quick and easy! Just some old-fashioned oatmeal, water, a little milk and butter, and finished with the peanut butter and banana. Everything was delicious!

<3 Ashley

How did you spend your Mother's Day?

Book Club: Love Letters to the Dead

Image: here

The first book of break is read! This is a momentous occasion...I can tell you're enthusiastic too. About a month ago I saw Emma Watson on Twitter talking about this book that was coming out by Ava Dellaira, "Love Letters to the Dead." It sounded interesting so I promptly went on Amazon to pre-order the e-book. I started reading it after I finished unpacking here at home. I loved this book!

It is pretty different. It is written entirely in letter form. The reader is able to follow the story pretty easily through what the main character, Laurel, writes in the letters. Throughout the story, Laurel writes to a variety of deceased famous people and draws comparisons from there lives and what is going on in her own. Over the past year, Laurel and her family have been trying to cope with the passing of her older sister, May. Through these letters, Laurel in a way seeks advice and makes slow improvements that also lead to her finding a way to accept her sisters death. The letters start as a school assignment to write one letter to any one deceased person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain, her sister's favorite. From there she writes several others to Amy Winehouse, Judy Garland, Heath Ledger, River Phoenix and a few others.

I found the book to be beautiful. There were a few parts that were pretty heavy, but these occur more towards the end. The end is definitely where I started crying! I definitely recommend this book to everyone. I got through it pretty quickly, which is something that I like in a summer read.

<3 Ashley

Have you read "Love Letters to the Dead?" What did you think? Do you think you will read it if you haven't?

Guilty!

Image: here 

By now I am sure that you have seen the 5-minute video "Look Up" that has made a few bloggers (at least in my blogroll!) take a step back and think about social media, how they use it, and HOW OFTEN they use it. It certainly did that for me! If you haven't seen the video, please take 5-minutes now and do yourself that favorite and check it out here.

It is truly amazing how often a person can be caught looking down at a screen, not paying attention to what's going on around them. It's also amazing how much we miss when doing this! As a blogger, I know that I am so very guilty of constantly checking my email on my phone to see if I have any new comments, or how when silence hits when I am with someone my go-to move is to whip out my phone and see what is happening on Facebook or Twitter. How did I let this happen to myself??? I don't know about you, but I do think that it is a problem that personal, face-to-face conversation is not what it used to be!

This video did make an impact on how I view technology and social media. I have made a few promises to myself, not to completely cut it out because that is nearly impossible but to limit my use of it. For one, I have deleted Twitter and Facebook apps from my phone. That is the worst right there--having those apps with you on the go ensures that you are pretty much connected 24/7. This also limits how often I look down at my screen in order to combat a silence in a conversation...now I actually have to talk! Now the blog. I obviously love blogging! But it does take up some time. Here's my compromise. Once...only one part of the day will I dedicate to the blog and blog-related activities. Everything will be done in the morning with my morning cup. The rest of the day is blog-free.

If everyone takes steps to limit their tech and social media use and takes sometime to look up we can learn that we don't need to rely on it so much to entertain us and get us through the day. There is so much else around us that we have not paid much attention to that can do that job instead!

<3 Ashley

Have you seen the video? What are your thoughts? Does it change how you view social media and technology?

Also...anyone else see the irony in the post following a post devoted to my Pinterest addiction?? It's a process people! One step at a time.

A Love Letter To Pinterest

Dear Pinterest,

A couple of years ago we embarked on a relationship that--to be honest--I did not think would last too long. There are lots of other social media sites that I am on like Facebook and Twitter that recently I have begun to not see as much of. But you...you I have been seeing a bit more. I find myself organizing boards, putting them in a specific order and picking cover photos that are the most visually appealing and work well with the other board cover photos.

You have always been there for me when I have needed inspiration or needed something to do. You are there for me on rainy days, slow days, and days when I need a break or a little distraction from what I should be doing. Even five minutes turns into an hour and a half with you. You always know what I want to see--beautiful, colorful and inspired photos and quotes paint your homepage just waiting for me to scroll through and choose what I see fit for my own boards. You have become a very creative, calming and therapeutic activity for me. What I'm trying to say is...I appreciate you, and thank you.

Here's to many more years together!

<3 Ashley

Haha! Okay...so it's not an extreme relationship that I have with Pinterest, but it is very therapeutic sometimes! Are you on Pinterest? Follow my boards here.

Happy Birthday, Audrey!

Image: here

Happy 85th birthday to Audrey Hepburn! 

<3 Ashley

Do you have a favorite Audrey Hepburn film? Mine's Funny Face!

May Your Friday Sparkle

Image: here

Get it? May you Friday sparkle...Maaaayyyy! Just my shot at being funny and clever since it's the first Friday in May. 

Anyway...have a great weekend!

<3 Ashley

It's May!

Image: here

Today is the beginning of May, and it is beginning (in my opinion!) in the best way possible. It is gorgeous outside! April ended with two days straight of rain showers and now the sun is out and the window are open. Let's get those May flowers blooming! May is absolutely the quintessential spring month: the temperatures are pretty consistently beautiful, there are more bunnies in the backyard, the grass has its color back, and the flowers are coming out. All I need here is the leaves to be back on all of the trees and I am in full spring mode--get on that, Mother Nature!

<3 Ashley

What do you love about May?