Big news!

I hope you all had a nice holiday weekend. I had a great weekend! Thanks to the generosity of my parents (thank you mom and dad!!!), I have a new laptop much sooner than I was expecting. Also my new laptop is a lot nicer than I was expecting too :) So I'm back on track for quality blogging. Here's a preview of what's coming over the next few days.

Flashback

Recently while I was at my parents' house, I browsed some old photo albums we had. It was so great to look back on the last 25 or so years. So much happens, and you can't possibly remember it all without photos. Looking at those albums inspired me to revisit those lost memories. So I think every so often, I'd like to post an old picture that for some reason or another I particularly love if that is ok with you guys. First up is a picture of my little brother. He's now 20, about to turn 21. But in this picture he must be 3? Maybe 4? What kills me about this picture is that the ripe old age of 4, my little bro has already perfected the blue steel! I had no idea the camera loved him so much. I think he missed his calling as a really really ridiculously good looking male model!

Schuylkill River + Outfit Post

Happy Memorial Day weekend to everyone! I started mine off by taking some time after work to snap photos around town, and I even got a few of my outfit. Today was jeans day at work, but I don't have a pair of jeans that I really love. So instead I wore my gap ankle pants (love them, own 3 pairs!), my brogues, and the vintage blazer that I inherited from my mom. There are a lot of bloggers out there who have been inspiring me lately to layer my jewelry, so as you can see I'm slowly working into that trend. I should do a jewelry-layering-before-and-after post around the end of the summer because I have big plans for my jewelry collection this summer.

The beautiful stuff in the background in the Schuylkill River (which I just learned how to spell this week even though I've known this river my whole life), 30th Street Station (Philly's main train station), and my office building.

Philly Photo Diary

Hello hello! I hope all is well with you! My time in Philly has already been insanely busy. Between work for my law school journal and work for my new job, I've barely had a spare moment. Although being busy is a great thing, I am hopefully going to settle into a better routine and get back to blogging most days. Until then, here's a few snapshots of my new home (the building above is the one keeping me from you!), and look out for some great posts next week because I've got some really fun Memorial Day weekend plans that I can't wait to share.

Good Karma, Good Coffee

First post about something in my new neighborhood! So a few blocks from my new place there is a Starbucks, but I doubt I'll even go once because 2 doors down from me is an independent coffee shop (Good Karma Cafe) with tons of space to spread out, free wifi, and an outdoor patio area. If I had to list everything I wanted in my perfect coffee shop, it would probably come out looking a lot like this. Only downside: limited food options outside of pastries. O well. I'm sure I'll be able to find some local restaurants to cater to my tummy's needs soon enough.

Pine St. Philadelphia

Yesterday I went to go see my apartment for the summer, get the keys, and wander around the neighborhood. Do you want the good or the bad first? Well the bad is that the apartment is old and pretty bare bones. So don't expect any swanky apartment photo shoots. I'll just be sleeping and blogging here. But the good is that the neighborhood is amazing! So get excited for lots of outside photo shoots and exploration of local businesses. I'll be spending most of my time in Philly on the streets seeing what's around every bend!

PS: Bare with me for a few weeks. My macbook died on the plane ride over here, so I'm using an old PC my bf gave me. It doesn't have photo editing and the screen resolution isn't the best, but I hopefully can get a few pictures up here and there until I buy a new laptop.

What I'll Miss About Los Angeles

So I've temporarily moved to Philly for a job this summer. It's exciting stuff. New people. New city. A paycheck. (Haven't gotten one of those in awhile!) But I'll be honest, there is a whole lot I'm going to miss in LA.

1. My bf and my cat. I'll miss them the most!

2. The opening of new ventures in Downtown LA like Urbano Pizza, Cafe Primo, the return of The Must, whatever restaurant is going in the place of Carls Jr. Expect a lot of new restaurant reviews when I get back in the fall!

3. Hiking around LA county. There seem to be a million natural wonders hidden through out this area. I wish I had time to discover more this summer.

4. Lounging by the pool. I'm going to miss having a pool soooooooooo much.

Rittenhouse Row Spring Festival

I can't believe I leave for Philly tomorrow. I just doesn't seem like it's time yet. I only finished finals a few days ago. But time stands for no one, right? So off I go! My plans for the first weekend other than iron and hang all my wrinkled clothes? I think my mom and I (and maybe my little bro) are going to the Rittenhouse Row Spring Festival. I don't know a lot about my home for the summer, but I know the Rittenhouse Square area is nice. Plus, anything described as "a festival of food, music, fashion, arts and entertainment" is sure to be right up my alley.

Some shots from around the interwebs of the Rittenhouse Square area. Looks like fun!

More Summer Wedges

A year ago or so I was obsessed with these Bally rope wedges on ebay. I really wanted them, but I just couldn't convince myself to blow the grocery money on them. Well maybe this is one of those one-door-closes-another-one-opens kind of moments because I just noticed these stunners in the Tory Burch lookbook. I never browse TB's site because the whole giant T-emblazoned belt buckle-like shoe charm was never my thing. But I randomly linked to it today, and I think it must be shoe fate. I love these wedges, and I have to make them mine as soon as they come out! Move over DVF wooden wedges, a new shoe has won my heart.

Angel City Brewing: Beer + Art

I'm not a big beer drinker, but I am a big supporter of small businesses trying to turn around abandoned warehouses in downtown. So after having dinner at Lazy Ox, Jeremy and I swung by Angel City Brewing to see the place. Well Angel City had me at hello. First, parking was a cinch. Second, they had a nice wheat beer on tap for a cowardly beer drinker like me, and I thought it was pretty good. Not that my approval means a whole lot in the beer realm. Third (and most importantly), the brewery decorated those massive warehouse walls by hosting a street art exhibit. So you get the same cultural exposure as you would at MOCA except with a beer in hand and no docent yelling at you for snapping shots of the art.

This is going to be my go to spot for going out with friends. There is so much space to spread out. The music is not overpowering. A drink only costs you $5. And there's a slide! Despite what the note on the slide says, I witnessed someone climb up and slide down without getting kicked out of the place. So maybe that "no" sign is just part of the street art?