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!

Favorite fall things

Fall is by far my favorite time of the year for many reasons: riding boots, pumpkin carving, pumpkin spice lattes, fudge-covered apples, apple cider donuts, big sweaters and much more. 

What is your favorite thing about fall?

Wellness Wednesday: Green tea

Over the past five years I have been clinging to coffee and espresso for my daily caffeine kick. However; recent studies show that in fact green tea is much better for you! After reading this Atlantic article about how green tea can promote weight loss, heart health and improve bone and muscle strength, I have been successful in making the switch from coffee to green tea. Below are a few reasons why you should make the switch as well!

Source: My Tea Break

The Grouper experience

Last week my two roommates and I went on our first Grouper- a a social club that sets up drinks between 2 groups of friends: 3 guys & 3 girls. Leading up to the date we were super nervous, expecting the worst. In fact, we had an escape plan in place in case the date was a total bust! 

Grouper sent our group and the guys to BlackJack, a lounge/bar that felt as if you were in an old-time speakeasy. My fears were eased when we met the guys (who were super cute and witty), as they had similar personalities and hobbies. We spent four hours drinking, socializing and even playing bocche ball! Getting to go on a date with my best friends was such a great experience. It took away the pressure of having to continually start and further the conversation (which I typically have to do on dates). With all participants at ease, I found myself laughing a lot more as well as diving into more personal subjects than your standard first date.  I am sure we will be hanging out with our new Grouper friends soon!

Photo from BlackJack

Big bro comes to DC

This weekend my brother Brian, age 27 (almost 28 yikes!), who is a doctor at Temple Hospital in Philadelphia, PA (thirty minutes outside of our hometown Downingtown, PA) visited Heather and I down in DC. While he was here I made sure to introduce him to my favorite eateries and sites in the city.

Saturday we went to the National Gallery of Art to show off our cultural side. Although I traditionally have not enjoyed art museums in the past (in fact Brian used to call me a cultural vacuum), this time I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Maybe it’s because I am growing up or maybe it’s just because I rarely get quality time with my big brother! My favorite collection was the impressionism art because if the bright colors and feminine images. Pictured below was my favorite piece, by Edgar Degas titled, The Dance Lesson, c. 1879. 

We then headed over to the National Botanical Gardens to enjoy the beautiful fall weather!

On Sunday, Brian and I ate at vinotecha which was a cute restaurant located in the heart of U Street that serves bottomless mimosas and delicious brunch options. Although the atmosphere was a bit loud for he and I inside, (due to all the brunch drinkers) the outside looked quite relaxing. They even had an area for bocce ball!

Photo from vinotecha

Wellness Wednesday

The past few weeks I have been trying to eat healthier in addition to working out. Since I am not a huge fan of meat, I have great difficulty finding other sources of protein. My roommates make fun of me every time we go to the supermarket because my list is completed when we hit the produce section. Last night I tried a recipe from Tasty Yummies that involved cannellini beans, high in protein and fiber, low in fat! The dish was delicious and very filling!

Photo from Tasty Yummies

White Bean and Avocado Salad
serves 2-4 (depending on how you are serving it)

1 can of cannellini beans
1 avocado diced
1 handful of cilantro, chopped
4 or 5 green onions, chopped
juice from 1/2 lime
salt
fresh ground pepper
2 T olive oil
handful grape tomatoes, halved

Poppin' bottles

September has been a month full of birthday celebrations! This weekend I celebrated my sister, Heather’s 26^th birthday. It has been a tradition of ours to celebrate her birthday along with the life of a lost loved one. Three years ago, (on Heather’s birthday) our neighbor and brother’s best friend Eliot passed away in a tragic hiking accident in Jackson Hole WY. Eliot was a free spirit who traveled around the world to fulfill his love of people, culture and adventure. Since his passing we have incorporated his passion for travel, good friends and wine into Heather’s birthday celebrations, by asking every friend attending our family-style dinner to bring a wine from different regions around the world. This year we had presence from California, New Jersey, Virginia, Africa, Australia, France, Italy and South America.

Eliot Ramsey Kalmbach- Always in our hearts!

For dinner I cooked shrimp linguine (Heather’s favorite!), roasted eggplant, asparagus, salad, prosciutto & fig flatbread (based on Founding Farmer’s flatbread). We soon headed out to DuPont Circle’s Dirty Bar where we danced the night away (on tables and couches!) and drank a few bottles of champagne (R.I.P savings account).

From Left: Aly, Heather, Me and Jordan

Dancing around our table!

Happy Birthday to my big sister and best friend!

Sunday morning we went to Eastern Market to do a little shopping and got brunch at Boxcar Tavern. Here’s Heather with her “Hobo’s Feast”. Next weekend our brother Brian is coming into town from Philadelphia, can’t wait to show him what this city has to offer (maybe he’ll be persuaded to move down here with us!)

Birthday bash in the city

Happy Hump Day! This weekend I celebrated my 24^th birthday with many friends! We kicked off the weekend by having a few cocktails at Founding Farmers, which is my favorite place to go for all sorts of occasions! Founding Farmers is a unique restaurant because it is sustainable, certified green and promotes buying food straight from the farmers! While I was there I had the Ward 8, made with Founding Farmers Rye (they have a distillery in Virginia), oranges, lemon juice and homemade grenadine.

Saturday we headed to the H Street Festival, which is right down the street from where I live in NOMA. There we danced to live music, ate Ben’s Chili Bowl chili and made a pit stop at The Liberty Tree to have a few beers (a few birthday shots as well!) Saturday night we enjoyed our dinner at Cava Mezze near Eastern Market. I tried the Hendricks Gin Cucumber Martini which was FABULOUS. I typically don’t like gin or martinis but this cocktail was perfect. My other roommates tried the cucumber-jalapeño margarita, which surprisingly was very tasty. Since Cava Mezze is a greek tapas, we tried a lot of items and had fun sharing. My favorite dish was the roasted eggplant (almost like a hummus), and the mini gyros. We ended the night by having friends over to house and then spent the night in DuPont Circle.

My best friends Chelsea and Kathleen with me at Public Bar in DuPont Circle.

Sunday morning, although extremely spent from the previous evening, we made it to our brunch reservation at Logan Tavern in Logan circle. They have the BEST Bloody Mary menu; you actually are able to pick all the ingredients!

Heather, my sister and roommate, will be celebrating her 26th birthday this weekend…stay tuned!

Dating in the city

Nearly every week Facebook loves to remind me that someone I know has gotten engaged or married. I know I am at the younger side of the spectrum to begin thinking about marriage; however I can't help but feel a certain pressure when these status changes happen! Considering I was in relationships a good bit of my college life, it has been eye opening and difficult to dive into the real world dating scene. There are so many politics and mind games that I was never aware of...Is it supposed to be this tricky? Questions that have come up:

• What is involved in a proper first date? (location, activities etc.) 
• Can a girl initiate a second date? When I asked friends the answer was NO across the board. 
• Which sex initiates in the online space?
• How long does one wait to correspond after a date?

Today my friend let me in on a new secret. It is a dating service called Grouper. This is an invite only social club that brings together 2 groups (3 guys and 3 girls) on a group date. The company pays for the groups first round of drinks in order to set everyone at ease. Considering I have never done online dating,  Craigslist missed connections (just learned about this the other week...I was shocked people do this), blind dating etc. I was slightly scared/turned off by this idea.  However I think it could be a great experience for me to break out of my shell and live the single life, and let's be real I'm sure great stories to share with my girlfriends after!

Labor Day Weekend

Today I returned from vacation bliss, a little thing called Labor Day weekend. This year I went down to Avalon, NJ where my family has a beach home. I was able to spend quality time with family members, including meeting my new baby cousin, Kiera who is from New Zealand so it was a special treat! Although I had a wonderful time relaxing, tanning and eating totally unhealthy, I am ready to come back to normal everyday life! Below is a picture from our family dinner at Aunt Bett's.

Check out that view!

From left: Me, Kelly (Aunt Bett's Granddaughter, my sister Heather)

Torn between two cities

I always thought of myself as a New York City kind-of girl, always loving the hustle of the city and of course the ability to have an individual style that you do not have to share with anyone. Last summer after graduation I moved to Washington, DC and hated nearly everything about it. No one seemed to have any sort of fashion sense and played very much by the rules. I was very perplexed my first week in the corporate world when I realized the people in our nation's capitol wore sneakers with business skirts, used Trader Joes' bag as business bags and never hesitated to wear fashions from past decades. However; I must say although I still cannot get over DC's lack of fashion sense, I have come to LOVE this city.

Every area of the city has its own set of characteristics that have grasped my attention. Capitol Hill continues to awe me with its beauty and historic architecture, not to mention its imperativeness to our country. Dupont Circle houses many of my favorite bars and restaurants that tend to remind me of college dives I used to frequent, it also has a Shake Shack. U Street, a trendy area that often reminds me of Brooklyn due to its artsy inhabitants and individualistic attitude. New York City will always hold a dear place in my heart because it broke me out of my hometown bubble and exposed me to a world that has no limits; however Washington, DC has converted me for good...at least for the time being!