Warby Parker

If you are in love with TOMS and their "One for One" concept and you are blind like me and want a pair of amazing vintage frames for a really great price, you will fall in love with Warby Parker.  My mom and sister told me about this company because my sister was ordering a pair of their frames for her birthday. They had me at "affordable" and "vintage".

Warby Parker's vintage-inspired frames are classically crafted and sold under $100 for both the frames and prescription AND when you buy a pair they give a pair away to renowned non-profits such as Vision Spring. I love the idea of sharing the "gift of vision" with someone else.  You can check out more about how they are crafted here.  Their lenses are the really nice non-reflective kind; another plus.  I still can't believe how great of a deal it is.  I have terrible eye sight and have spent so much money on frames alone not including my prescription.  I wish I had known about Warby Parker before I got my last pair. I might go ahead and get another pair anyway. It's so wonderful knowing that I would be giving the gift of seeing the world more clearly to someone.

I personally like the Begley pair. I think they are the perfect combination of square and circular. These are the navy ones but they also have a "greystone" and "whiskey tortoise shell"

Oh yes, I almost forgot another really great perk.  They have a home try-on program where you have 5 pairs of glasses sent to you for five days to try the frames you like for free... I know, right?  AMazing.

Have a lovely rest of the day, and if you just so happen to need a new pair of frames. I hope this post gets you excited.

xo

Counting Down!

Happy Monday!  I saw this commercial this morning, and had to share.  This is totally me every single year. Yes, I am 23 years old and still get this excited about Christmas.  I don't ever want that feeling to die.

I Am Grateful : Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy (Early) Thanksgiving! What are you most grateful for? I can be nothing but humbled in realizing how much I have been blessed with. Especially when I take the time to think about it and write it all down.  I could make a thousand lists, but here are a couple I would like to share this year.

I am grateful...

Personal

1  To be able.
2. To have a supportive, awesome family
3. For the truest friends anyone could ask for (you know who you are)
4.  For a great job that I enjoy and get excited about
5. To be in such a great place of opportunity
6. To have accessibility to new adventures and places
7. For life's little moments
8. For those placed in my life that have given me something to grow and learn from (situations,
   relationships, experiences, etc)
9. For YOU and your support :)


Day to Day (Things that keep me going)

1. My friends (again) who have continued to stay connected near and far
2. Argo Tea for  keeping me energized
3. Trader Joes for keeping me fed
4. My coats and boots for keeping me warm
5. Google Maps and HopStop for getting me where I need to go
6. My music for keeping me upbeat and quick to work
7. This blog, so I can keep myself and others inspired

Again, I hope you all have a wonderful, plentiful Thanksgiving. Don't forget to remember and cherish what your grateful for!

Don't worry, I wouldn't leave you without a little bit of inspiration.  (Click images for details)

This Cranberry Almond Cinnamon Tart (Martha Stewart Living recipe)  makes my mouth water. It looks and sounds so delicious and is one that is going in my personal recipe box. YUM.

* I want to make this

Lastly I couldn't resist on leaving out a Martha Stewart craft.  I think these Flaming Foliage candle holders are so pretty. I have several little candles in my apartment (gotta keep it smelling fresh!) And this would be such a cute idea to use to spruce them up for the holiday don't you think?

* I want to make these

Well, I'm off to Philly! I will be back soon.  I am celebrating my Thanksgiving with some dear friends of mine.  I'm excited to get out of the city and be in a new surrounding for a little while.  I've never been to Philadelphia, so CHECK! One off my list and many many more to go!

Eat lots, and again Happy Happy (Early) Turkey Day!

xo,

Andrea

Cardboard Safari

Hello friends!  I hope you all had a lovely Friday.  Here's a bit of fun, crafty, inspiration for you.

Many of you may have already known the source to these amazing 3-D cardboard decorative pieces, but I just discovered Cardboard Safari! (found via Snow&Graham blog- one of my favorite paper companies) I had seen many of the deer heads before at Anthropologie and thought they were really interesting.  I love the elephant (Roll Tide!)  and the moose. The wreaths are really great too! 

I want to make a mini cute one like this! This moose one was done by Snow & Graham. They covered it with their NEW daisy wrap. So cute! They are going to post a tutorial on it soon, so keep your eyes peeled!  I would love to try this with some paper doilies. You could paint the base any color you want to show through the cut outs. I would prefer something like a light neutral gray, a blue-gray or any color with the tone of the wall the daisy moose is setting against. Or just the brown of the card board could be lovely also don't you think!? Ahh! Definitely going to do this, and you should too!

p.s  have a fabulous weekend!

Rewind : Pumpkins, Bento, and Wax Figures

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to catch you up on what I've been up to for the past few days. I promise I've been doing a whole lot more than just putting random mood boards together! Haha Anyway, how was your weekend?

I felt like I was on vacation this weekend, and it was so great. Definitely one of the best weekends I've had so far. I celebrated my first birthday in New York this Saturday and I was lucky enough to have one of my best friends from home here with me. We were packed with things to do, but they were all really relaxing and fun at the same time :) Here's a bit of a camera roll recap.

Started off at The Grey Dog for brunch. One of my favorite little eateries in Chelsea so far!

Next was the Chelsea Market and the High Line. The weather was perfect!

Made a stop at the Rockefeller Center and saw THE tree being put up. Lots of scaffolding, but it will be decorated soon! (Lighting is November 30th and I can't wait!) Also, some shopping occurred while there and an Anthropologie stop was a must! Look at how great these lamps are! Made out of randomly dipped wooden paint mixers. Such a cute, clever and cheap idea! I'm definitely keeping this one stored in my brain for future projects.

Had an awesome dinner at Elmo, and fabulous dessert at Sweet Revenge, which was packed so we ate quickly and then went to an adorable bakery called Molly's cupcakes. There are swings for chairs and they have an entire wall full of board and card games. (We played a really slow mindless game of UNO while chit chatting). Much later was the Empire State Building. It was very very windy, but needless to say the view was amazing.

Sunday I had my first bento box lunch! It was very delicious. Compliments to Ajisen Ramen for the tasty food and for being located conveniently across the street from where I live. Yes, the definitely know my face there and I am guilty of being a regular there, never to have ordered a bento box lunch. There will be more in the future for sure!

Afterwards we went to Madame Tussaud's wax museum. I'll own up to it and say that I was a little freaked out at first, but then it was all good fun. Many photos were taken and I'm so glad that we went. I'm sure you know who all of the famous oldies I'm sharing with you are right? Well in case you don't for some reason: The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, and of course, Marilyn Monroe. Now I can say I've been to one of those crazy wax museums!

I had the best time, and I want to thank all of my friends here from far and wide that made it possible :) Now, back to work. Another update will hopefully be sooner than later!

Cheers!

Mood

Here are some images I pulled from a lovely Tumblr called Ignite Light. Many of them are very warm and gave me the comforting feeling I get during fall time, so I decided to make an inspirational mood board from them. Enjoy!

Keep Your Eyes Open

Happy Monday! Today I thought I'd share a song with you to start off the week.  I recently got a few new albums and Needtobreathe's The Reckoning was one of them! They are one of my favorite bands because I always learn something from them and their lyrics are always so inspiring.  This song really spoke to me because it's about expanding your mind and opening your eyes to new things. I wanted to share this song for anyone out there who has yet to do this or is afraid to.  Open your eyes, experience the new, live life to it's fullest, and love others in the ways you want to be loved.

                  

Cause if you never leave home, never let go

You'll never make it to the great unknown till you

Keep your eyes open, my love

So tell me you're strong, tell me you see

I need to hear it, can you promise me to

Keep your eyes open, my love

So show me your fire, show me your heart

You know i'll neve let you fall apart if you 

Keep your eyes open, my love

Travel Plans

Wow, another crazy week has flown by, and I can't believe that just yesterday felt like last weekend when it snowed! This weekend however, is beautiful and a bit warmer. The sun is shining and the temperature is supposed to creep back up to the 60s by the middle of next week!.  I should really be out and about right now, but I have some of the classic household duties to tend to (dishes, cleaning, laundry, etc.) Fun stuff.

{I'm going to pause for a second and have a little bit of a sentimental moment to just say that I really love the fact I can wind down and come here to share what's on my mind and what has been getting me excited lately. Thank you all so much for reading!}.  Carrying on, I thought I'd take a little break to catch you up and share a few things with you!

I can't wait to travel.  New York is the prefect gateway to so many other great cities, so while I'm here I definitely want to take advantage of it.  I've never been to Philly (going for Thanksgiving!), and I really want to visit Baltimore, Boston, somewhere in Maine, and Vermont.  Especially Vermont.

I found a blog a couple weeks ago called Cannelle et Vanille (in French this name translates to Cinnamon and Vanilla) It has become a daily read, and I couldn't wait any longer to share with you.
The blog belongs to Aran, a very talented photographer, food writer and stylist.  I must say I am envious of all her amazing ventures. Aran was in France last month styling and shooting food and cooking up some amazing recipes. What a life! All of the food and scenery she captures is absolutely breath taking.  Speaking of food, she is actually working on a naturally gluten-free cookbook full of yummy "small plates and sweet treats" that will be released in Fall 2012. Can't wait Aran! I know it's going to be beautiful, insightful, and certainly inspiring!

Very recently, Aran revisited Vermont and shot some gorgeous photos there. They were so gorgeous, it made me want to visit. As I said earlier, I have put it down on my list places to go while I'm in New York and close by.  Here's a little taste of Vermont though the scope of Aran's adventure. Aran, thank you again for inspiring me with travel through the beauty you've captured along the way. I can't wait to share when I go there!

Look how beautiful and saturated the leaves are! I don't think I've ever seen so many beautiful fall colors altogether in one place like this.  Fall time is my favorite time of year, so when I saw these photos, I was sold. Not only do I have the simple plan of visiting Vermont, I also know exactly what time of year I'm going to go!   I was curious as to what part of Vermont these photos were taken. After reading the entire post I did a little research after seeing that Aran visited the Middlebury Farmer's Market. And there you have it, Middlebury, VT!

Apple picking. I remember when I was little my brother and I would pick green apples (the ones within reach) off the trees in my grandparent's back yard and munch on them all day long.  My grandparents didn't care, but my mom and dad would freak out because when they would see us with one, they didn't know if it was straight from the tree, or if it was already on the ground...I do remember getting a lot off the ground too. I can hear them right now saying "You need to come inside and wash that apple before you eat it!" or "Don't be eating any of those apples right now, we are about to have dinner and it'll ruin your appetite!!" I especially remember the "appetite" quote because I was so young I didn't even know what an appetite was... I remember the first time I heard my mother say it, I took it very very seriously.  I looked at my younger brother and I said, "Did you hear that!? It'll ruin our appetites.. " and I threw the apple in my hand down.

There was something about the word "ruin", and the fact that she said we were about to eat dinner. Putting it all together in the way I could best comprehend it was that the apples would ruin and hurt my stomach, and that I would get sick, but it would only happen if  I ate one before dinner, and I would never want to have an issue before dinner; especially at my grandparents house because the food was amazing. All home cooked vegetables that came straight from their garden out back. Why would anyone want to ruin that, right? I think I was pretty close with understanding the term, but in my mind it was a lot more dramatic than knowing that I would just be too full do eat dinner if I kept eating all those apples! 

That was my experience, with apple picking, but I know it wasn't the official kind of apple picking.  Aran did some apple picking herself at a friend of a friend's orchard while in Vermont. Oh, I would love to do this! I have several friends who have gone upstate to pick apples, and next time I want to come with.

Of course, Aran was able to whip up some delicious snacks and sweets from the apples she picked. I particularly would love to try the gluten and dairy free vanilla and cardamon flavored natillas with sautéed apples, which is a custard her grandmother used to make for her. Yum. I look forward to seeing it in her upcoming cookbook, which she noted would be in there! 

I hope all of you have a wonderful wonderful weekend.  Do you have any travel plans soon? Are you going anywhere special for Thanksgiving? Christmas? New Years?  What places do you want to visit at some point in your life? Where have you been that you loved most?

I can say for sure my favorite so far has been southern France.  I'll have to dig up some old photos and share with you some of my favorite areas when I studied abroad there.  I'm also going to see if one or two of my photo friends can do some guest posts to shed their perspective of our spectacular and surreal adventures in France, so stay tuned!