Be back soon

Pardon the lack of posting but I have a much needed break to attend to

(which just happens to be taking place at the beach).

Your regularly scheduled programing will return soon :)

Happy final days of summer!

Friday Favorite's - Hometown edition

Ya know, Pittsburgh really is a cool place to live.  

You may think of steel mills and smog when hearing about Pittsburgh but it's far from that outdated misconception.  I won't lie, it is cloudy here most of the year but what makes Pittsburgh special is the diversity.  It really is a city founded on a bunch of different little ethnic neighborhoods. 

Even though I've lived here for 22 years, we've only recently really begun to take advantage of some things our city has to offer.  We got year long passes to the Children's Museum, Aviary, Science Center, and Carnegie Museum.  I think we've been "downtown" more in the past 6 months more than we've been in the past 6 years.  And we've really been enjoying it!

We recently got to attend a Pirates baseball game at PNC Park.  We took the boys to their first baseball game and believe me, they were excited.  I did have to make sure E understood that we were going to see baseball players and not actual Pirates ;)

They went completely prepared to catch a fly ball.  Even though that didn't happen , they still had a blast.  L was actually in to the game but E more so enjoyed the social side of it.  Chanting "let's go Bucs" and dancing around to the music played between the action.

It was fun to see them get all excited at the mascot shooting T-shirts into the crowd, the aisle vendors yelling "cotton candy here", and watching the traditional "pierogi race".

The pierogi race around the bases

All the while having a stunning view of downtown (there is a river between them, you just can't see it).

Travel and Leisure magazine recently named Pittsburgh’s PNC Park the best baseball stadium in America.

The magazine said PNC Park took the top spot because all of the seats have terrific views of the baseball games and the Pittsburgh skyline.  

It really is awesome.

Too bad they lost the game but we had a blast anyway.

Here are some of my favorite things about the city I call home.

*It has it's own language...Pittsburghese....check it out here...it's hilarious an 'at!

* We eat chipped chopped ham.
(eat it in a ham BBQ "Sammitch" - there's that Pittsburghese for you)

*Primanti's sandwiches...it comes comes with fries and slaw.
What makes it special?  The fries and slaw come in the sandwich, not just with it.

* Pittsburgh Steelers have won six Super Bowls.

* Pittsburgh Penguins have won three Stanley Cups.

*The bridges.  We have more than 1,700 bridges.

See the rowing team at the bottom?  I used to be on the rowing team in highschool.  You didn't want to mess with me, had muscles like a brick house.  What happened to them?  It's a mystery.

Some other fun facts about the 'burgh

* The fountain at Point State Park, right at the tip of the golden triangle (downtown Pittsburgh) is fed by a glacial formation and sprays 6,000 gallons per minute. 

* The Dark Knight Rises was filmed in Pittsburgh among other locales.

* The D. L. Clark Company was born in two back rooms of a house in what is now Pittsburgh's North Side in 1886. The famous Clark candy bar is now an American tradition.

* Heinz products are another proud Pittsburgh tradition. Heinz founder, Henry Heinz, literally sank his competition in the 1880's when he bought the products and equipment of a competing company and sank them in the Allegheny River!

* Brewed fresh daily at the Pittsburgh Brewery in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania, Iron City beer is definitely a Pittsburgh tradition. One of the first true lager beers brewed in the United States.

* Can you come up with the only country club to have hosted seven U.S. Opens? It’s Oakmont Country Club. Oakmont has beaten golf’s best, and is the only course named a national historic landmark. Oakmont’s legendary lightning-fast greens, thick rough and plentiful bunkers have played host to a record 18 major golf championships, including seven U.S. Opens. Golf Digest ranks Oakmont #4 in its most recent version of America’s Top 100 courses.

So there you have it.
Some favorites from my Pittsburgh home.

What's unique about your hometown? 

Linking up with Rachel :)

From my Style Board

Oh how I wish I was a fashionista!

I LOVE clothes, jewelry, shoes, purses, hats, bags.....need I go on?  

Just your typical girly girl I guess.

Does my current look line up with what I like?  Heck no.  

I seem to be inept at piecing a wardrobe together.  So like any other smart cookie,
I turn to Pinterest for inspiration.
Here's a few favorites from my Style board.

Pinterest via Source

We're heading to the beach in a few weeks and I SO wish I could rock this look.

Pinterest via Source

I'll also take a pair of these ;)

Pinterest via Source

 Ok this is just to flirty to pass up but I may be getting to old to wear something like this....boo.

Pinterest via Source

I'll take 'em all, I ADORE turquoise!

And since back-to-school shopping has got me thinking about fall already, 

I'm dreaming of these cozy layered looks.

Pinterest via Source

If you know me, you know I'm all about purple.  

Especially the deep amethyst color of the above tank....

*squeal*

Pinterest via Source

Animal print + a pop of red = F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S

Follow me on Pinterest

The Vintage Apple

Miscellany Monday

Happy Monday all!

I hope you had as nice a weekend as I did.

Started off Saturday with a little coffee out on my deck.  I absolutely adore sitting out there in the early morning when there are no lawnmowers going, no dogs barking, and no kids yelling.  

It's just peaceful solitude.

(but its a challenge to keep my little early risers quiet for anyone else who may want to enjoy it too.)

 

Later on we had a wedding to attend for a friend of mine.

They say rain on your wedding day is supposed to bring good luck.  I felt bad for them because it was absolutely downpouring.  Thankfully it didn't last long and it cleared up soon after.

I wore my "go-to" dress.  

It's really the only dressy dress I have and has gotten many miles over 

the past few months that I've had it but I still love it.

Of course I had to throw together a new pair of earrings to wear to mix it up a bit though :)

Hubsy and I had a great time.  We so rarely get out without the boys and always have a good time when we get to focus on each other.  Not to mention weddings always bring out the memories of our own and we get to re-live the feelings of that special day.

 We had gorgeous weather on Sunday and decided to take full advantage of it and have a great family day outside with the boys at a local park.  One of our goals this summer was to teach L to ride a bike without training wheels.  Most kids probably learn earlier but for some reason we just don't seem to get him much practice.  Well we decided to take him out to try it and just when I thought he would never get it, within 2 minutes he was riding on his own like a champ.  It's always such an awesome moment as a parent when your child all the sudden masters a new skill.  So proud of him.

And not to let E out, he had some success of his own.  This was the longest distance he had ever ridden his bike and he hardly needed any help from em at all in terms of getting going.  He did have a little crash though but little man was a trooper bounced up and got right back on.  Had to keep up with big brother after all ;)

We also went for a hike which is one of my favorite things to do.  I wore a bandana since I hadn't exactly done anything to my hair.  Well, the boys decided they wanted to be "pirates" too.  Maybe it was the bandana paired with the hoops that made me look like a pirate...I don't know.

His lordship Sir Seamus got the royal treatment of being carried on the hike because just walking around while the boys biked wore him out.  Poor poochie could barely keep his eyes open on the ride home.  He wasn't the only one, L and E passed out pretty quick too. 

Wear 'em out and put 'em to bed...that's our motto ;)

It was one of those rare weekends where we got to enjoy a lot of relaxed "together" time, 

those are the best ones in my book.

Linking up with Carissa....

How was your weekend?

Decisions, decisions, decisions

Life is roller coaster.

I know, "thank you Captain Obvious" right?

Well, life has been up and down and up and down a lot lately.  Especially on the emotional front.   Sometimes several times in one day.

There is literally only one thing I am sure of in my life right now.  

Me and my "boys" will go through it together. 

I seriously have no idea where my life will be in 5 years.  

Heck not even in 1 year if I'm truthful.  

Every aspect is up for debate. 

Job, house, lifestyle, business....you name it.

It's a crazy place to be.  

Exciting and scary as hell at the same time.  

Only time will tell.  

I just pray that God's plan is revealed to us and we make the choices that He wants us to.

Have you ever felt like that?  No direction.  No plan.  

I need a plan.  I'm not a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kinda gal. 

But somehow I've had a lot of this going on in the past 10 years.  I blame it on the Hubsy :)

He is a man of action whereas I would rather hang back and see what happens.  God has blessed me with this man.  If it weren't for him I wouldn't have had nearly the experiences I have had.  

They make for good stories.  

Maybe a lot of stress at the time but good stories and memories in the end :)  

I wouldn't want to be on this roller coaster with anyone else.  He makes life less scary and holds my hand every step of the way. 

I don't like indecision but I'm probably one of the most indecisive people out there.  Even more so now that we have kids.  Just scared of making the wrong choice I guess.  But now that I'm a bit older with some grown-up life experience under my belt, I realize that whether right or wrong, God has provided all I need in every circumstance and I have no doubt He will do the same this time.

And now for your viewing pleasure I have included some 

relevant prints about all this thinking I've been doing....enjoy

What are you thinking about?

For Real

Remember that post I wrote about jealousy, specifically blogger jealousy?
In effort to keep it real....here's some bits of my life....for real.

* My counter top is THIS MESSY about 99% of the time.  Can you see the amount of electronics?  There's a laptop, blackberry tablet, digital camera, and likely to be an iphone somewhere in there too.  We're lucky nothing has spilled on any of them yet.

* I actually feel victorious when I take laundry out of the machine and find that I really did get that stain out.  Been known to yell out a "YES, TAKE THAT!" when it happens.
Saving money by not having to replace it...that's what its about people.

* More often than not I can be found drinking wine (boxed of course) out of a teenie tumbler rather than a wine glass...classy right?

* My kids eat pancakes for dinner...a lot.
*too much sugar*

 *I'm starting to love cheesy sappy predictable movies on the Hallmark Channel.  

Does that mean I'm old? Don't answer that.

*I'm an obsessive picker.
If I get the slightest blemish I pick at it until I make a mountain out of a mole hill.  TMI?  Ha ha!

Doing a rather exaggerated booty shake. Notice how L only has one sock on!  I swear that kid NEVER has both on.

* I had to teach my 6yr-old the difference between a fun dancing type of booty shake (which is ok) and the mean rude butt-in-your face kind of shake (which is not ok) that he was giving his brother.
Oh the responsibilities of a parent.


*Hubsy and I had a date a the gas station.
We met up there unexpectedly, each filling up our cars at side by side pumps.  The kids were in the car so we actually got to talk to each other in relative peace for 5 mins.  Hubsy joked that it actually felt like a date.
It was an expensive one though...$160 for 5 mins!

Happy Tuesday y'all.
And keep it real :)

Random Instagram Friday

Well Hello Friday, so glad you're here!  

Even if it is drizzly and dark.  

We totally need the rain.

I don't know about you but when Friday rolls around my brain turns to mush.  So I'll just leave you with a few Instagram pics and sincere wishes for a wonderful weekend!

Me Hubsy finally hung up the toilet paper holders we bought like 6 months ago.  They got buried in our guestroom which is essentially a catch-all room. Is this really post worthy you ask?  Why yes!  I swear we haven't had a toilet paper holder in two of the bathrooms for like 3 years.  AND he finished the tile in the bathtub, looks gorgeous huh!  He is the man, what can I say :)

I found my new favorite breakfast this week.  I often make scrambled eggs in the microwave at work (and get plenty of weird looks) but found a way to dress them up a bit.  I put in some fresh basil from my yard and shredded parmesan, can I just say HEAVEN!

We took the boys on a playdate to an indoor arcade since it was raining.  E had a blast with the bowling game.  We play it on the xbox a lot but this was his first "real" game.  He was so cute, he kept clapping to help the ball move faster :)

I got in the bathroom cupboard to get out a towel and I found Hubsy's Ipad in there....wha?

Seamus is just too sweet.

I adore the last pic, his puppy happiness is contagious.

Oh that we may all be so happy with the little things in life!

Have a lovely weekend all!

Life Rearranged