What I Have Been Up To Lately

       Hi! I am back!!! You can tell when I am busy at work when I fall off the face of the earth and stop blogging.  I wish I was better, but after a long day at the office the last thing I want to do is look at a computer and so unfortunately blogging takes a back seat.  I envy those bloggers that post daily even with kids and long days and travel, but I just can't do it all.

         I did want to update you on what I have been up to in the past month so here it goes, 

   On Thanksgiving Day we traveled from Pittsburgh to New Jersey to celebrate the holiday at my sister's house with my family. We couldn't get over how much snow they had in their  neighborhood in November. 

    Oliver travels with us when we go home for more than just a couple days. He is normally pretty good in the car, but after 7 hours he got pretty bored and started hiding under his bed.  

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving we always go into NYC with my family and grandparents to see a show and have dinner.  It is such a special tradition.  We all meet at TKTS and pick the shows we want to see and then we spend the day checking out the Christmas lights in the city and having dinner after the show. 

 

                DFH and I chose to see The River starring Hugh Jackman.  

The venue was so intimate it was so cool seeing Hugh preform up close. 

After the show Hugh came out and signed autographs for everyone  which was super nice.  He seems like such a down to earth person. 

DFH loves Hugh and he was like a kid in a candy store after meeting him. 

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend and we are so lucky we were able to spend time with both of our families. 

 

Christmas events crept right up after Thanksgiving and we have had lot of work and social holiday events to attend this month. 

Two weekends ago I attended brunch with some of my Junior League girls at Meat and Pototoes.   I had posted about that restaurant HERE.  They have the amazing $5.00 Bloody Mary bar. 

After lunch we saw The Nutcracker which was put on by the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. I grew up dancing and performing in the Nutcracker so it is always fun for me to watch the performance. 

ALV and I 

    This past weekend we finished decorating our home and sending Christmas cards and had two Christmas parties to attend on Saturday night. We started off at DFH's work party which was ugly sweater themes and then headed ALV and BS's house for their celebration.  

I cannot believe Christmas is only a week away. 



Target: My Favorite Things

  I am almost always obsessed with something at Target and like most  I usually come out with 1-5 unnecessary, but amazing purchases when I  shop there.  ( Does this mean I am basic???)  Anyways,  in the recent weeks I have come across some pretty amazing, yet reasonably priced clothing items that I wanted to share.  I always sometimes feel guilty buying myself gifts around the holidays, but with these prices there is no shame. 

ENJOY!

 

VIA

 

   Once I saw this skirt online I knew I had to have it, especially at a price of only $22.99.  It is the perfect holiday skirt that would look great with a bright colored holiday sweater or blouse.  The negative: I waited a day before I went to purchase it and it was completely sold out.  Don't worry I am stalking the website daily waiting for it to come back in stock. 

 

VIA

 

Have you seen the Toms for Target line?

 

This poncho looks like the perfect winter accessory especially if we are going to have another Polar Vortex and at $28.00 I cannot pass this up.

 

VIA

Could there be a better sweater for my upcoming ugly sweater party?  I think not.

 

VIA

 

I am totally digging the tribal trend right now.  I love this vest, perfect to layer over a sweater or a tee during the warmer months. 

 

 

Sorry about this picture quality on this one, but check out this jeweled shift on the website.  Perfect for work or a night out. 

 

VIA

 

 

This Peplum blazer would make another great work staple.

 

VIA

 

 

 Best part is all of these items are under $50.00. 



 

 

 

Poached Eggs and Hollandaise Bacon Hash

 I mentioned HERE that DFH and I had made a super tasty poached egg hash the other weekend and I wanted to share the recipe.    We had received an egg poacher for our wedding, but it had been at my parents house with a number of our other weddings gifts until last month so we finally were able to use it.  I forgot how good poached eggs taste. 

 We started out using THIS Sandra Lee Farm House Hash and Poached Egg Recipe as a template, and then as usual modified the recipe.

 

 

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon EVOO
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 large potatoes, small diced
• 3 pieces of turkey bacon
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• Salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 4 eggs
• 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• pinch of cayenne peper
• a pinch of salt and pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions:

    Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions, potatoes,  paprika, garlic, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper, to taste. Saute stirring frequently, until the potatoes are soft and cooked through.   Add the bacon cut into small pieces. ( We precooked it in the microwave to save time). 

  In a small bowl mix together the hollandaise ingredients ( mayo, mustard, cayenne, salt, pepper, and lemon juice).   Add the hollandaise to the hash and stir until completely mixed in with the potatoes, onions, and bacon. 

   Using an egg poacher, poach the eggs until the whites are firm if you want a runny center, about 3 to 5 minutes.

   Divide the hash among 2  plates and top the hash with a poached egg. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and serve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ENJOY!

NJ Weekend

   This past weekend we were in New Jersey for our friends Nick and Suzie's wedding. I always love when we have weddings in NJ because we get to see family and friends and spend the weekend in our hometown. 

    Friday night when we got into town I had dinner with my parents while DFH attended a beer tasting with friends.  Later that night I met up DFH and our friends BHB and JLM for drinks. 

   When we go home we have a couple local favorite restaurants that we have to hit up. One of them being the Bagel Club for their porkroll egg and cheese breakfast sandwich.  

 

   After breakfast we did a little shopping at the outlets before it was time for our all time favorite pizza at Viramis. (Obviously eating is the highlight of our weekend). I always get their salad pizza and DFH got their tomato basil and a slice of plain.  How I wish I could eat Viramis everyday.  Luckily, we had a Giftcard that was expiring so we ordered two pies to take home. We had planned to freeze one, however by Sunday night the pies were pretty much gone, we just cannot resist the deliciousness. 

 

     Saturday night was Nick and Suzie's wedding. The ceremony was held outside in a gazebo. They asked us to turn our cellphones off so I do not have any pictures, but the gazebo was so pretty lit up by lanterns and candles.  

DFH and I during the cocktail hour. 

    The wedding reception was held at the Cock N' Bull a colonial themed restaurant in the cutest town which was perfect for their rustic fall theme.  I loved the centerpieces. 

The picture quality is awful I am hoping my iPhone 6 will take better pictues.  Anyways, the bride and groom during their first dance. 

Our good friend Luke was the best man. 

     I have known Nick and his family since I was in 3rd grade so it was great to chat with his family who I hadn't seen in years.  The mother son dance was so sweet. 

    We had a great night catching up with friends. Sunday we got up and hit the road with DFH's grandparent's grandfather clock from the 1940's in tow. It was a tight fit with both of us, our suitcases, and the clock, but so glad we made it work.   I am in love.  

Have a great week!

 

xoxo

Week in Review Through My iPhone

     I had a lot going on this past week, but all good things. I got a chance to see a lot of my friends I hadn't seen in awhile due to our busy schedules.  

   Wednesday after work I attended my friend Laura's birthday party at Altius on Mt Washington.  It was the first time I was there and boy was the food good. I got the Baby Kale Salad and  Duck Duck Goose for an entrée and would certainly get those again.  The view of the city was absolutely amazing.  I have been to a lot of the Mt. Washington restaurants and this view may be the best.  Anyways we forgot to take any pictures, but if you are local to Pittsburgh give this restaurant a try. 

     Wednesday I met up with my friends LES and GS for dinner and a concert.  The band was playing at the Pittsburgh Winery which I have never been to before which is quite shocking considering my love for wine.  From the outside you would never know the winery was there, but on the inside it is the coziest cutest space covered in hanging lights and wine barrel tables and the wine was pretty delicious. 

     The band that was playing was The Mulligan Brothers. I hadn't heard of them before, but I fell in love. Their style is Americana/bluegrass/ folk music and they just make you want to dance.  You have to check them out.

      Thursday also happened to be October 30th or Mischief Night. On my way home from the concert I drove into my neighborhood and came across a toilet paper explosion covering the trees and road. This is the first Halloween in our neighborhood so this certainly was not expected. 

 

Luckily our house and road were clear, because I certainly wouldn't want to clean up that mess, but it did look pretty cool.  I love Halloween traditions. 

Friday was Halloween and I couldn't wait to have trick or treaters.  I have lived in the city since right after college so I had never given out candy before and I was so excited to see all the kids in their costumes. 

 

The night ended up being cold and rainy so we didn't get too many trick or treaters, but I still loved seeing all of the costumes and DFH and I enjoyed a relaxing evening and made a Halloween pizza. 

             Ofcourse we had to dress up Oliver, unfortunately he did not love being a lion, but we loved it. 

    Saturday was another cold and rainy day, but we got a lot accomplished inside the house.  DFH repaired a few walls and put up door trim and baseboards in our hallway and I finally finished taking off this ancient wallpaper. 

      After doing work all day we headed downtown to meet friends to watch the WVU and Pens games. Libby and I all bundled up, I'm not ready for the winter. 

    We had a lazy Sunday morning and got up and made a breakfast feast of bacon and hollandaise hash with poached eggs, I'm not going to lie it was restaurant worthy.  Recipe to follow.

Hope you had a great week too!

xoxo

Ch Ch Ch Changes.

  It really is incredible how much a little paint can change the look of a room.  We have a lot of work to do on our new home and we are slowly checking things off the ever growing to-do list, but even the little tasks make a huge improvement.  

   One of the first jobs we wanted to do was to remove the dull paint colors and wallpaper and give everything a fresh new look.  The house was built in the 1930's and it needs a bit of love, but a fresh coat of paint can make it look brand new. ( side note: I have to give my Husband credit in addition to painting the walls he has spent hours repairing the plaster walls in our home and adding baseboards to the rooms, so it is a little more than just paint.). 

  The Master Bedroom: When we moved in the room was this very masculine tan color which made the room look dark and gloomy. 

 

  Also notice there are no baseboards.

 

We lightened up the room with this bright blue color ( I can't for the life of me remember the paint colors and I cannot find the swatches, but they are all Behr) 

 

The room looks so much happier and we now have baseboards.

 

Our office: This was the room the past owner used as a work room. Notice the wood  under the window, when we moved in the room didn't even have complete walls.   DFH fixed all of that.  I am so lucky he is so handy, I am sure it has saved us a lot of money.  We removed this terrible 90's wallpaper to find yellow paint. 

See! 

We then painted the room white, which made the room look sterile 



And now the office is a bright mint color and we have baseboards and door trim.



The mint is bright, but it is a fun color for our travel themed office.  We plan to decorate this room with pictures and trinkets from all of our trips. 

 

This is still a work in progress please ignore the mess.

 

 

 

The Hall: This dull yellow color was replaced with a bright sunshine color in the hall. 

 



 

And finally we painted the baseboards along the stairs which were in desperate need of some loving. ( See above)   

Hi Oliver! Thanks for the photo bomb.