Welcome Winter!

Daily dose of inspiration: Ballerinas

I recently stumbled upon this beautiful and inspirational project called The Ballerina Project. The Ballerina Project is a series of photographs created by photographer: Dane Shitagi that is intended to portray the heart and emotions of ballerinas over some of the world's biggest cities. The great part is the photographer uses traditional photographic film rather than modern digital cameras, giving a very organic feel to each photo. A majority of ballerinas who have posed for the project are professional dancers and the minority are advanced ballet students in renown dance schools. 

Growing up, I always dreamed of becoming a ballerina because always felt drawn to their elegance and grace. By the time I realized this desire, I was a little to old to begin training so pursued Cheerleading instead. There has always been a bit of an aching in my heart due to the fact that I never got to achieve this dream; however, in college I got to try ballet for two semesters and immediately fell in love! 

I love the contrast between the beauty and grace of the ballerina against the the concrete, harsh backgrounds. These photos are available to purchase and I am thinking they will be the perfect addition to my bedroom that currently lacks personality. 

What did you always dream of becoming?

Design: Chic

Below are a few images from one of my favorite restaurants where our bridal party went today after dress fittings. Due to its girly-chic style and warmth, I thought it would be a perfect lunch date for a group of young women. Pizza by Elizabeths is located in Greenville, DE,  and is just minutes away from Longwood Gardens. This restaurant illustrates the glamour of Elizabeth's from the past and present, stemming from vintage, to European nobility to old Hollywood, it showcases bright colors and girly patterns that would charm any hopeless romantic. They mainly serve specialty pizza, but also have a lot of other great options. Today we tried the hummus platter and spinach and artichoke dip...so yummy. I love that their portions are on the smaller more delicate side, because I hate feeling like I overate after going out to eat. 

Say yes to the dress

Today is going to be an action-packed day! This weekend I came back to my small hometown Downingtown, PA. I love coming home every October because our town is full of autumn leaves, farm houses and beautiful winding roads (a perfect combo to jam out to T-Swift songs, which I have done too much since being home). I also love going to our local farm, Highland Orchard, where my family always gets apple cider donuts and fudge apples! 

This afternoon I am going shopping for bridesmaid dresses with my best friend Christie who is getting married June 22, 2013 (so soon cant wait! Her sister and I will be Maid of Honors) Christie has been my very best friend since I met her in 7th grade English class when she fell off her chair and we all had a good laugh...it was then that I knew we would get a long very well! She has always been by my side through breakups, family issues, an eating disorder and many other rough times in my life. Needless to say I cannot wait to stand by her side on the most memorable day of her life! Here's one of my favorite photos of she and I from a few years back when she visited me at UMD!

After spending the afternoon with my best friend, my family and I have dinner reservations to celebrate my parent's wedding anniversary. Don't quote me but I am pretty sure they have been married for 34 years! Here's a picture of Bernie and Cheryl a few years when we celebrated their anniversary at Chart House (one of my favorite seafood restaurants that we go to for nearly every special occasion!) Aren't they the cutest?!

I hope you all have fun weekend plans as well! I am planning that this hurricane holds off until I can make it back to DC!

Want Need Love

Have you heard? There's a new online social store called Wanelo (Wanelo=Want, Need, Love) that is quite possibly the most addicting social platform of its kind. It's like Pinterest but users have the opportunity to buy directly from the site as well as make wish lists...very dangerous. Unfortunately I think I know what I will be doing the next few weeks over my lunch break! You should check it out!

Back to the old stomping grounds

Wow what a weekend! Homecoming was everything I imagined and more this year. I got to see so many old friends and relive some of my greatest college memories. We kicked off homecoming weekend by going out in Arlington and Georgetown with a big group of friends. What better way to relive college memories than by going to college bars?! I must say Georgetown's bars are a lot more swanky than UMD's, although nothing will ever compare to the swampy floors at Bentleys or the big ass drafts on Sunday night's at Cornerstone. 

My beautiful roommates! From left: Me, Kathleen, Allison and Chelsea

I was up bright and early Saturday morning to prepare for the hungry troops. A group of friends came over for bagels and mimosas before heading over to College Park. In attempts to make this weekend as authentic to college as possible we popped bottles of Andre ($6 bottle of champagne..brings back memories of our poor college years) and ate bagels and pumpkin scones made from my best friend Chelsea made. We then took the metro to College Park and stopped by many tailgates! Hope you had a fun weekend as well!

From left: Greg, Amy, Kathleen, Chelsea, me and Marie

Have a wonderful weekend!

What are your plans for this weekend? Today has been dragging me for me because this weekend is University of Maryland homecoming weekend! I can hardly wait to see old friends and relive some of my favorite college memories! 

The University of Maryland campus

Tomorrow I am having friends over for brunch and mimosas before the tailgates start. My best friend Chelsea is bringing pumpkin cream cheese frosted scones which I have been dreaming about for the past 24 hrs. I promise to take many pictures to share! Enjoy your weekends everyone!