Born in PGH. Made in NYC.

Welcome to PGH. For me, these images paint a good picture of my new city. It's relatively small with an industrial, working-class vibe. The mostly brick homes stand close together to form tight-knit communities separated by three rivers. It's the proud home of immigrant families who settled among the hills to live the American Dream, and the signs of steel surround you - a constant reminder of the city's rich history and good fortune that put PGH on the map. 

If you could walk the streets, you'd see the collision of old and new. The elderly are out in full force living happily next to the young engineers of Google. The pawn shop stands next to the latest micro-brewery drawing the city's finest bearded hipsters. Creatives of all ages find inspiration in one another and support each other any way they can. 

I have to say it's quite refreshing and a drastic change from New York City where everything was shiny and new - a playground for the rich and young who make the poor and young feel wildly unaccomplished. Any way you toss the dice, the struggle was real. 

For once, we are experiencing this thing called "Quality of Life" and it's great. Don't get me wrong - I think about our charming Brooklyn life often, but the change was much needed and I hold the memories close to my heart. One thing that I do miss dearly about Brooklyn is the fashion. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to ask a 6-year old where she bought her leather jacket and then ask her mom where she bought her clogs. The sense of style is amazing and the shopping is absolutely the best. 

I didn't realize it until after we shot these pictures, but most of my outfit is from local Brooklyn shops or NYC-based designers. The overalls are from Courtshop, the oversized Burberry shirt is from my favorite consignment store Eva Gentry and the drawstring bag is from Baggu. The sunnies are from Oliver Peoples, but found at my old eyeglass shop Urban Optical. 

For now, Brooklyn is my inspiration, but I'm excited to explore what this city has to offer. I'm on the lookout for independent brands and designers to feature, so please share in the comments if you can. 

Thanks and talk soon. 

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Fall Transitions

Happy Monday! Can you believe the weekend is over? From the looks of social media, I can see that almost everyone enjoyed Fall-centric activities - apple and pumpkin-picking, cider drinking and hayrides. As for myself, my husband and I continued our progress to start a life here in Pittsburgh. For everyone who liked, shared, commented on my last post about this topic, THANK YOU! The support means the world to me, and as I sit down to write this, I'm reminded of something my new yoga instructor said tonight - "Life is a constant work in progress." This statement couldn't have meant more to me than it does right now. I'm in a new city with a new job, surrounded by memories of my past, fighting to move forward. But luckily, I have you guys and my family, and WIP is not so bad. 

What is also not so bad is my new neighborhood and if you can find walls like this, you know it's on the up and up. I paired this mural with my brand new outfit from Nordstrom aka the best place ever. When my boxes didn't arrive for FIVE days, I took a trip to the mall and scooped this ensemble in 20 minutes flat. You can't beat that! And guess what? It's the perfect look for Fall-centric activities, which I hope to do soon before that bandwagon takes off and we're welcoming Winter!

P.S. I'm now on Bloglovin'! Follow me here to stay up-to-date on my posts, plus follow all of your favorite bloggers in one place!

SHOP THIS LOOK: Tunic from Free People, jeans from Topshop, slingback booties from Splendid, backpack from The Sak - no longer available, but love this one too!

Summer in the City

Hiya! I'm featuring one of my favorite Pittsburgh shops again today, Mid-Atlantic Mercantile. I was home just last weekend and stopped in to see if they had any sales and sure enough they did! I picked up the most comfortable pants from designer ace & jig. They are perfect for hot summer days like today. What I love about Mid-Atlantic Mercantile is their well-curated collection and strong purpose to bring quality goods to the Pittsburgh region. They work intimately with both emerging and established independent designers with a focus on ethical sourcing and sustainable manufacturing practices. If you're in the Lawrencevile hood, you have to check them out!

This is also the first time I'm debuting my new Clare Vivier clutch. Last time I was in LA, I stopped by the West Hollywood store and spent an hour trying to decide which beautiful handbag to call my own. The funny thing is that while I was pacing the store, there was a SAMPLE SALE going on just a few minutes away! I sadly missed the opportunity to score sooo many goodies, but of course my husband was happy to dodge this bullet. Despite his disapproval of the fanny pack, I already have my heart set on this one too!

To SHOP this post, click the links below:

Pants from ace & jig, top from Zara (sold out - similar here and here), lace crop bralette from Free People, clutch from Clare V. (sold out, but love this one too), sunglasses from Ray-Ban, sandals from Birkenstock. 

A few other pieces perfect for the hottest month of the year!

Living In My Head

This was, by far, one of my favorite shoots. We took these photos back in the Spring after driving around in Red Hook scouting pretty locations void of people. And for so many reasons, I've been putting off this post and every other post. I've attempted many times, but I've been at a loss for words. My head has been spinning with thoughts and today, finally, I found some clarity.

Thirty-two has been the year of big decisions and I'm sure you can imagine what a 30-something, married professional who works her ass off in NYC could be thinking about - the future. It's scary and I wish I wasn't 32. Yes, it sounds young, but for someone who wants WAY too many things in life, I'm already behind. To help, I wrote a short story about what our future will be. Jamie will do this and Jason will do that. We will live here. We will have kids some day and we will live happily ever after. Clearly, I left out the key details since I'm not quite ready to share, but that's all it took for me to get my head straight - a game plan. If you're in a similar situation, I highly recommend this approach and soon, I hope to elaborate. 

Until then, I'm back and I can't tell you how excited I am to be blogging again. Luckily, I have content in the works AND I waited so long to post this look, that this dress is now on sale! I did that for you guys ;)

Talk soon!

SHOP THIS LOOK: Dress from No. 6 Clothing - ON SALE, Shoes from Zara (old, but similar here, love these too), Sunglasses from H&M or Forever 21 - basically they were cheap! Similar here and here. Backpack from Rebecca Minkoff. Phone case from & Other Stories.