Treat Yo'self

 

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As I am sure everyone reading this is 100 percent aware - Valentine's Day is this weekend. I would write a post about what to do, what to wear, what shoes are great for a special date with your significant other. But to be quite frank, I can't write what I don't know. Holla at all my single ladies on this one! My friends and I are annual celebrants of "Galentine's Day" instead. This year we have got quite the plan for an evening together!

This past Christmas, my mother had gifted me a super sweet cheese plate, which has since been on display as a tray in my bedroom and has not seen much more action. That will change on Sunday. We will be taking the plate for a drive for our own little wine and cheese party while watching either Valentine's Day or a violent horror film...we'll see. With an evening full of delicious cheeses, wine, chocolate, and lots of lady love what's not to be excited about?

<3 Ashley

What are your plans for Valentine's Day? Do you celebrate Galentine's Day?

Weekend Wrap-Up: 21

Monday was my birthday, which is why Sunday Brunch was silent. No internet. Just me, my family and my first legal alcoholic beverage. Cue the feeling of liberation and the countless plans being made with friends one month ahead of going back to school--do we have the first two weekends planned? What business is it of yours?

It was a wonderful, relaxing day that I wouldn't have exchanged for any other celebration. That being said, tomorrow we will return to our regular programming; I've got a new Book Club post for you!

<3 Ashley

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Easter Sunday

Feeling beautiful in my Easter dress and floral heels!

Hello friends! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend, and for those who celebrate, Easter Sunday. Despite being away at school and not getting to go home for the holiday, I did have a wonderful day. My roommates and I got ourselves up for the 10 AM mass, which was standing room only. We stood. I made the good choice to not wear my heels to church! Then we spent the day with my one roommate's family since they live close by. We had a beautiful meal and was topped off by macarons, cookies, brownies and cake. If I didn't gain weight, I clearly didn't do it right. Now that all of that is out of the way, it's back to work for me. Next week is our last week of classes and the amount of work definitely reflects that. I have three papers and one presentation this week alone; so don't mind the silence from this corner of the Internet!

While they may be 4 hours away, my parents still know how to take care of me

<3 Ashley

How did you celebrate your Easter Sunday?

Happy St. Patrick's Day

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Just wanted to stop by before I start my day to say happy St. Patrick's Day! This is a holiday I hold near and dear to my heart from my days attending St. Patrick's school (flashback to elementary/middle school). I hope you enjoy you day wearing green, eating green minty things and grabbing a Guinness to accompany your kicking off of March Madness--if you do such things.

<3 Ashley

How do you celebrate St Patrick's Day?

Sunday Brunch: Harris Grill

Yesterday, we went out to brunch for our friend's birthday. One thing I love about going out with these girls to celebrate is that we usually find some new and interesting places to dine. The Harris Grill on Ellsworth Ave was no exception. The atmosphere in the place is great; dim lighting, some odd kind of religious artwork and some crazy humor in the menu descriptions give this place its quirky-ness. The biggest draw for us to this place was the $14 brunch--basically everything is $14 and that includes coffee or tea, orange juice or a frozen mimosa (believe that the 21 year olds in the group proudly whipped out their IDs while us babies said "coffee please!") a fruit bowl and whatever entree you want. The set up around the table consisted of omelette, breakfast mac n cheese which looked heavenly, and sticky bun skillets. I was a sticky bun girl. The buns come in a personal sized cast iron skillet and are accompanied by the delicious home fries and bacon. I could not have asked for a better way to start a Sunday. The restaurant's proximity to the bus stop on this very icy day in Pittsburgh was also plus. The Harris Grill scored big in this group's opinion.

Turn Up the Tunes

To be honest, I have been listening to Christmas music since like a week before Thanksgiving. Usually I stick hard and fast to the "no merry cheer until after turkey day" but for some reason something inside of me was ready to wrap gifts and trim the tree way earlier this year. Since we have gotten back to school my roommates and I have been cranking out the Christmas jams to make getting through this last week of classes and preparing for finals a little more bearable. I love to compare music with others so I thought I would share a few of my favorite holiday songs with you!

1. "Merry X-mas (War Is Over)" John Lennon--thought I must say I am loving Sleeping At Last's version of the song!

2. "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" NSync--What could be better during the holidays than this fun and upbeat tune from hands down the best band of my childhood?

3. "Baby, It's Cold Outside" Dean Martin--This is my favorite until our annual holiday trip to Phipps Conservatory when two of my roommates sing the entire song on the walk there and back.

4. "Silver Bells" Bing Crosby--This list is in no particular order but I definitely think this one is by far my favorite.

5. "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" Paul Cardall--I love when this instrumental comes on my Pandora station. It is a gorgeous tune!

<3 Ashley

What are some of your favorite Christmas songs? How early do you start listening to holiday music?

Get Stuffed: Cranberry Sauce

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We are exactly one week out from Thanksgiving and if you haven't planned your menu yet--you're a fearless last minute person, I like you--I am here to be of assistance! Granted, my family has opted to eat out this year because everyone agrees that while our dinners are usually kick a** cleaning up after is the absolute worst after you've eaten four plates of everything. However, I will be sharing some of my favorite Thanksgiving food recipes because there are some great ones out there that I have tried and absolutely must share.

Two years ago, when I came home for the first time after starting college, I demanded that the cranberry sauce not come from a can. I know I'm not the only one who thinks you taste more of the can than the sauce. I volunteered to find a recipe and make some homemade cranberry sauce. I did it and everybody loved it!

Ingredients:
- 1 bag (12 oz) cranberries
- 1 c cranberry juice
- 1 c pure maple syrup
- 3 tbsp orange juice (or zest!)

Step by Step:
- Wash cranberries and then dump in medium sauce pan
- Pour in the 1 cup of juice and the maple syrup
- Add orange juice. Stir.
- Turn stove on high heat and bring mixture to a boil
- Once it's boiling turn the heat down to medium low. Continue cooking for 10 minutes or until juice is thick. Turn off and store in refrigerator until dinner time!

<3 Ashley

Sounds yummy right? What's your favorite Thanksgiving side dish?

The Potato Party

One thing that my roommates and I have established within these past few months living together in this apartment is that we throw some fantastic parties. If any readers here remember from All That Glitters, we had a fun '90s themed slumber party for Allison and Abby's joint birthday party back in September that included face masks from Seventeen magazine, homemade popsicles and popcorn, a playlist with the best of the '90s and early 2000s and 3 large pizzas. Sounds like a good time right? We have also hosted a dinner party and a pretty standard party which turned into a great Mario Party competition. This past weekend we struck again with another wonderful party. I bet you've never been to this kind of party; it was a potato party. Yeah, you read that correctly. This invite only party required that all guests contribute their own homemade potato dish to this very starchy potluck. Our friends did not disappoint. We had white cheddar mashed potatoes (the clear winner!) loaded sweet potato boats (a close runner up) sweet potato fries, tater tots, roasted garlic and parmesan potatoes and the interesting potato chip and Nutella combo that turned out the be pretty much the greatest thing EVER!

Also party of the evening were some very competitive potato themed games. We had half a round of hot potato which did not last very long before the potato exploded all over the carpet. Everyone split up into two teams for a cutthroat potato relay race which attracted the concerned attention of a few of our neighbors. The evening was closed by a round of "pin the face on Mr. PotatoHead" which was probably the funniest thing ever.

Mark that down as another success!

<3 Ashley

What are some other great party ideas? 

Letter From the Editor: November

I don't know about my fellow students, but I feel like this semester has absolutely flown by! It's already November. I have a tendency to see Halloween as the official kick off to the holiday season (whether it is or not...I don't particularly care) and as of November 1st have dived head first into holiday planning. An example of this? I've got my pumpkin pie recipe ready to go and my roommates and I have discussed at which point it is acceptable to start playing Christmas music--very soon!

This month on the blog look for a lot of fun holiday themed posts! When I first started blogging I had a tendency of posting a lot of holiday recipes and think now is as good a time as any to bring that back. I will be sharing some of my favorite holiday dishes with you and also posting some other fantastic pieces of holiday inspiration. I will also begin rolling out some of the exciting weekly features that I have planned for Sunday Brunch. What do these include? Well when I first started out blogging, fashion was the topic of choice. I kinda would like to get back to those roots and do a post each week highlighting one outfit that I have worn in the past week--come back tomorrow for the first of these posts featuring my Halloween costume this year! Another thing I would like to do is a small Sunday post. Sunday brunches are a fixture in my group of friends and I would like to share our creations with you. This coming Sunday has stuffed french toast on the menu and surely some great conversation!

I hope you are as excited as I am for this month!
<3 Ashley

What do you look forward to in November?