Style Inspiration

For those of you that don't know, I love lists. I write a list for just about everything.
Especially traveling.
I love love love traveling.
Luckily that love is stronger than my severe hatred for packing.
The only thing worse than packing is unpacking.

 This week has been crawling because this weekend I'm on another solo roadtrip.
[I love road trips with friends, but I also love driving alone. Just me and some great music.]

I've been trying to decide what I'll need for this trip and turned to Pinterest and Polyvore for some inspiration. I just love these outfits of classic pieces accented with such great colors!



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You can leave the flats. I'll take the rest.

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I simply cannot resist jeans and a white tee.

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What are your packing essentials? Any favorite traveling/packing hints or tips to share?

Quotes



Quotes



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Happy Monday!

Good Morning!

Hopefully all of you here with me on the East Coast survived the hurricane with little damages.

Heres how my weekend went.

If you read Friday's post, you saw a few of my favs and read about good ol' Irene.

After work, (and a nap to prepare for the weekend ahead)

I made some hurricane Jello shots and pizza bread!

After spending Saturday night with friends, I woke up to this lovely picture.

Just a little bit of debris was blocking my driveway, preventing me from going home.

Thankfully I've got great friends (thanks Matt & Kati!) and we settled in for the day with coffee and a movie.

Once I got word that a path had been cleared and our power was restored I headed home,

only to be greeted by a gap in the giant tree wide enough for a Smart Car

[for those of you that don't know, my car's just a tiny bit wider than those toy cars.]

After jumping out to move a large portion of the tree so I could really get through,

I was home just long enough to make some lunch before the power went out again.

My street is lined with trees that love to fall onto power lines so being powerless isn't the most unusual situation for us to be in. [the last large storm left us blocked in with trees down on either side of the driveway

and without power for 6 days...now that was a fun time.]

Night came with countless candles keeping our rooms aglow and a super early bed time.

And let me tell you, the "gentle" hum of generators does not make the for best sleeping.

How was your weekend??

Friday Favorites

It's been quite a week here on the East Coast.

Tuesday brought with it many peoples first earthquake experience.

And this weekend, Hurricane Irene is bringing in a big bundle of fun.

[that is, if you consider 5-10 inches of rain within 24 hours and 50-70 mph winds fun]

Much of the coast is preparing to "batten down the hatches" and settle in for a wet and windy weekend.

When preparing for a hurricane most people would think of necessities,

and  items such as flashlights, water, food, generators, etc.

Not my friends.

[While we are still making sure we have some of those necessary items]

We're more concerned with the items we need for our Hurricane Party.

Good food. Check.

Bathing suits. Check.

Floaties. Check.

Candles. Check.

Alcohol for Hurricane drinks. Check.

Drink umbrellas. Check.

We're making sure to have a great weekend planned aside from the huge

(and somewhat very serious)

potential threat of flooding and guaranteed power outages.

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While not eveyone is thrilled with the idea of our impending weather, here are a few of my favorite finds from this week. You'll find cozy sweatshirts, some items on my wishlist, and pups that are so cute your eyes will hurt and your heart will melt.

• I want this to lounge in all weekend
• If you grew up in the 90s you cannot deny your love for MK&A
• One of my fav blogs for the week
• $139 isnt too much for a bag that would be perfect for quick trips right?.
• These adorable pups will surely brighten your gray day! Look here, here, here & here.
  Which one do you think is the cutest??
• Who wants to help me make this? I'm dying to add it to my collection!
• This is the way to my heart.

How are you going to spend your weekend?

What items are on your wishlist?

Quotes

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Love

I know you're out there...
& my blogger stats prove it.

A while back I posted this about how much I love hearing from you, my readers.
It's still true, and you're still out there.
While life [and work, and  summer traveling] have definitely slowed my blog progress, you're still here.
You're still reading what little I have to share.

Theres just one thing.


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I dont know who you are.

Some of you (well, only 14 of you) are actual "followers",
some of you find me randomly through other blogs or websites,
and some of you, pay regular visits while creeping around under the radar.
[yes Diana, this is directed at you.]

It's about time you come out of hiding.
Become a follower or at least leave some comments.
Let me know who you are & what you love about alwayslove.

Quotes - Friday Night Lights



"We will all at some time in our lives, fall. Life is so very fragile, we are all vulnerable and we will all at some point in our lives... fall. We will all fall. We must carry this in our hearts, that what we have is special, that it can be taken from us and that when it is taken from us, we will be tested. We will be tested to our very souls. We will all be tested. It is these times, it is this pain, that allows us to look inside ourselves."

 

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weheartit wedensday: cake

With the craziness of summer travels, it's been a while since I spent quality time in the kitchen.

This week I've got two baking projects so I turned to one of my favorite sites to get lost in for some inspiration.

Project #1: Chocolate cake with dark choclate frosting

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My kind of cake...no frosting necessary.

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This would be perfect for my 60 second microwave cake!

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Project #2: Red Velvet cupcakes

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Does this remind anyone else of their childhood??

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dive for dreams

dive for dreams

or a slogan may topple you

(trees are their roots

and wind is wind)

trust your heart

if the seas catch fire

(and live by love

though the stars walk backward)

honour the past

but welcome the future

(and dance your death

away at the wedding)

never mind a world

with its villains or heroes

(for good likes girls

and tomorrow and the earth)

in spite of everything

which breathes and moves, since Doom

(with white longest hands

neating each crease)

will smooth entirely our minds

-before leaving my room

i turn, and (stooping

through the morning) kiss

this pillow, dear

where our heads lived and were.

silently if, out of not knowable

silently if, out of not knowable

night's utmost nothing,wanders a little guess

(only which is this world)more my life does

not leap than with the mystery your smile

sings or if(spiralling as luminous

they climb oblivion)voices who are dreams,

less into heaven certainly earth swims

than each my deeper death becomes your kiss

losing through you what seemed myself,i find

selves unimaginably mine;beyond

sorrow's own joys and hoping's very fears

yours is the light by which my spirit's born:

yours is the darkness of my soul's return

-you are my sun,my moon,and all my stars



Prefection

Here are some of my finds that make my heart happy....

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Paint the island green...I'd be even more in love.

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Please?

After quite a few road trips and numerous summer activities,
it's about time to buckle down and quit spending my hard earned dollars.
[except of course for the remainder of my summer plans,
including but not limited to a few concerts and a trip to Florida]

For the time being I'll be strictly window shopping. Here's a few things I've been lusting after.



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What have you been saving up for??

Watercolor

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Today, Lonnny's  Watercolor Wednesdays are perfectly in line with my thought process.

As cool nights start to push Summer out of the way to make room for Fall,

I'm wishing to cram in as many beach hours as possible.

I've also been wanting to break out my grandmothers paint supplies

and crank out some new art projects.

After traveling as much as possible over the past few months,

I'm actually home for the next few weekends.

Maybe this weekend will consist of hours in the sun and some watercolors of my own....

Grateful

Every day I log three things I'm grateful for in my trusty Moleskine notebooks.
Whether it's a person, event, or feeling that I'm grateful for on that particular day, I write it down.

My gratitude notebooks are littered with quotes, lyrics, names, events,

and all sorts of things that relate to my life at that point in time.

I love going back to re-read what was important to me then, and seeing how far I've come since.

In no particular order here are a few things that I've been grateful for over the past 2 months.

 Heart to heart lunch dates, Summer baseball, Baby hugs, Spontaneity.

Quiet nights, good runs, skinny dipping, Roadtrips.

What the future holds, Skaneateles, The little things.
And countless friends and family members.

What are you grateful for?

Can We Get a Redo?

Even though its been almost a week already, I'm still reeling from my weekend getaway to the Big Apple.
I would much rather be there right now.

If you had asked me last week if I would ever move to the city,

I would have said absolutely not.

But after a whirlwind three day reuinion in the city that never sleeps, I've reconsidered.

Our East Coast meets West Coast weekend was filled with late nights, extremely little sleep,

shopping, a concert, a Broadway show, a luxurious hotel
(I definitely recommend the Cooper Square Hotel for anyone visiting NYC),  amazing friends, great Irish pubs, and occasionally forgetting to eat because we were having so much fun.

We had the chance to jump on a train to New Jersey and meet up with old friends.
It'd been nearly 8 years since we were all together! It was incredibly reassuring to find that nothing had changed. We're all a little older, a few of us a little taller, but immediately fell back into our comfortable friendships that make these friends my family.

I wish we could redo the entire weekend over and over again!

Quotes

Quotes

As for New York City, it is a place apart.

There is not its match in any other country in the world.

Pearl S. Buck

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In just two short days I'll be galavanting around this magical city with my dearest friend.

Now that we're older and in the "real world" its hard to find long stretches of time

where we can both be away form work.

Luckily, we're pros at intense, short lived, quality time together.

[we've never lived with less than 2,709 miles between us....

unless you count the occasional two week vacation during which we move in with each others family]

What are your favorites around the city?  Favorite places to visit? Best restaurants?