Philly, You Have My Heart

If you have talked to me at all the last few months, you have heard me complain about having to work on Saturday mornings. At first, it doesn’t seem like a big deal… it is just a few hours Saturday morning and then I am off in the afternoon. One of the biggest things on my summer to do list was to go to Center City Philadelphia more this summer. Working on Saturdays and having to be back in the office Monday morning made my weekends short leaving little time for city adventures. This past Saturday was my first Saturday off since May and I was thrilled! But I didn’t want to spend my first Saturday off sleeping until noon or cleaning my house (my favorite thing to do on my days off). I called up a friend from college and told him I wanted to get lost in Philadelphia. Okay… so you can’t actually get lost in Philadelphia because it is a grid but you get the idea.

Scroll all the way to the end of the post to get the outfit details.

I think I found my future home!

I love that you can see the Liberty Bell, walk around Rittenhouse Square and then drool over brownstones in Society Hill all in a day.

We parked on the rooftop of the parking garage and I fell in love with this view at nighttime. 

SHOP MY LOOK

HERE

 FYI My purse is on sale at Target for only $8! It is a good fake for the Chloe purse and the saddle style bags are very big this fall. I bought the light pink one and an olive green one because I couldn’t decide! Even though it is small it fits a lot of stuff! While in Philly I had my giant wallet, phone, keys, and an extra phone charger with (some) room to spare. Run don’t walk to Target to get these bags before they sell  out!
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Last week there was a break from summer weather and the mornings were very chilly. It is that awkward time of season every year when no one knows how to dress. Yes, my fall scarves are out of storage, but it is still too warm to wear them. The sweaters are folded in my closet, but I will die of heat exhaustion if I wear them. Living on the beach, the weather is always 10 degrees colder than inland. So trying to find an outfit for a day in Philly was rather difficult. When I texted some friends who lived there for a weather report they were very little help! Going through my closet I got sad because all of my Lilly and fun summer dresses are packed away in storage and now my closet is shades of black and grey. I had just given myself a spray tan so I knew I was not going to wear pants but trying to find a dress for fall is difficult.

I was delighted when I found my long sleeve denim J Crew dress hidden in my closet. It was long sleeve but still comfortable to walk around Philadelphia in with the heat and chilly weather at night. During one of my trips to Target to buy some fall decor (a post will be up soon to share my treasures!), I found this handbag in the clearance section for only $8!! I bought an olive green one as well because I couldn’t decide! I saw a few other bloggers post photos with this bag and I didn’t have the money to afford a designer saddle bag, but this one is amazing quality and it fits so much stuff! RUN to Target now because you need this bag this season!

summertime blues

Even though my family and I live in a beach town, we always find an excuse to go another beach town for vacation. This Labor Day was my parents anniversary, so they rented a house with some friends for the week in Avalon. Unfortunately, I was not able to take the week off, but I did get to spend a night with them in Avalon. 

Continue reading “summertime blues”

sundays at the farmers market

One of my goals all summer was to wake up early one Sunday morning and go to the farmers market in Asbury Park. Asbury Fresh is just a short walk away from my house across the bridge in Asbury.I finally set the alarm on Saturday night and sacrificed my only day to sleep in to get my butt out of bed and to the farmers market. I love love love fresh fruit and veggies. Jersey is called the Garden State and we live up to that nickname. In the summer my family and I travel around Jersey to different farms to get our produce. I mean, how cool is that?? I love my Weggies. but there is just something about fresh picked Jersey tomatoes.

When sunflowers are only a dollar it takes a lot of self control not to buy a dozen and just go home with three of them!

We hosted a family lunch later that afternoon and the flowers came in handy! We went with a shore theme using blue glasses and white rectangle dishes. If you want to invest in pieces for entertaining I suggest buying dishes. Easy to store and really make the meal fancy. We bought ours a few years ago, but you can buy similar ones at Target. 

The hydrangea bushes outside of my house are finally blooming so my whole house is decorated with fresh flowers in every room.

Mini bar all set up for the luncheon.

MENU

Lobster Roll
This is such an easy recipe to make for company and it is delicious!
Cole Slaw from Costco
Blueberry muffins from scratch
Watermelon

seas the day

In college we didn’t go out on the weekend until 10pm and were out until the bars closed.
Now I am 23 years old and my bedtime is before 10pm!
Earlier in my life my priorities were different. I was out all night and made my classes or work schedule in the afternoon or evenings. I complained about having a 10am class, but now my internal clock wakes me up at 7am and my body is ready to start the day. Now I am not that person who wakes up early ready to go for a run. I still have to drag my body out of bed and need an insane amount of coffee to keep me alert in the office.
I find myself making up excuses just to go home after work.
My usual schedule is work, gym, netflix, bed.

A friend of mine last minute asked if I wanted to go on an adventure, but he didn’t know where we were going yet.
A voice inside my head said “On Fridays you do laundry so you can’t go”.
Did I almost choose to do laundry on a Friday night instead of going out with a friend??
I think I yawned when I said yes I will go….

Summer is not complete without a few stops to Surf Taco.
Growing up on the Jersey Shore, burritos and tacos are a big part of our diet.
I can remember being a teenager at the beach with friends and we would order burritos for delivery to eat right on the beach.
Go get yourself a taco today!

I find that right now in life I prioritize my job first and fun very last.
I constantly make up excuses to stay home and organize my closet by color instead of going out. So what if I am too tired the next day at work?
It is about time we start enjoying our lives and make fun a priority.

After dinner we went for a drive without a destination in mind.
One of the best parts about New Jersey is you can get in your car and in 40 minutes can be in Philadelphia, NYC, the beach or in farmland.

The sunset last night was gorgeous so we decided to go to Sandy Hook. img_0469-1img_0470-1

Even though I live at the beach I hardly spend any time at it.
I also rarely spend time at any other beach but my own.
The most beautiful things in life are free.

Just another day in paradise!