Five on Friday

Friday, January 29, 2016

One
I am so thankful to be home and back in the warmer weather. I took a business trip to Pittsburgh this week and survived! It wasn't too bad with the weather - I layered up and survived. There was some snow leftover from Jonas when we got there and it was so much fun getting to see thick snow! I wore my Hunter's up there and they were perfect in the snow (even though I made fun of for wearing them lol).


Had to stop in and get a Primanti Bro's sandwich




Two
I saw this article the other day on Facebook and thought I'd share - Southwest has the most efficient boarding process. I thought it was very interesting how different airlines board different ways. Love me some Southwest. 

Three
My mom gave me her bunt pan since she doesn't really use it and I've been itching to make my first bunt cake. I decided to check out Shay's 100 bunt cakes. I chose the chocolate tres leche cake and it was delicious! I'm going to have to make more of her fun cakes :)


Four
Have y'all seen this video Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard made in Africa? So funny!!! This was their last trip before having kids and I loved that they took the time to do a big blowout trip.


Five
I finally made Christina's potato soup last night and it was delicious!! So glad I waited until I got back from my trip to make it so I could eat it more than one night.


I hope everyone has a great weekend! I'm hoping to go look at some furniture at some point this weekend if Stephen doesn't have to work.





Thoughts for Thusday: Outfit Roundup

Thursday, January 28, 2016

It's been a hot month or two since I've done an outfit roundup so I'm finally covering some of the outfits I've worn since before Christmas. I've really been enjoying being able to wear some of my fall/winter clothes finally. Of course, it's a lot more fun wearing casual cold clothes than work cold clothes ;)

I wore this outfit to the FSU game right before Thanksgiving. I don't have too many FSU colors in my closet so my mom let me borrow her scarf that she got at the Ann Taylor outlet and I got so many compliments.

Dress (similar) / Scarf / Bag (similar) / Boots (similar)

Stephen had a work BBQ Christmas party at a local park and since it was hot, I wanted to wear shorts but still look festive. My gold shorts and beautiful necklace (borrowed from my mom) were the perfect combination!

Shirt / Shorts (similar) / Shoes (similar) / Necklace (borrowed from my mom)

I saw this sweater from Old Navy on a few other blogs and when it was on sale, I had to snag it. I love it so much - it's so comfy and flattering. It has a fun slit on the side which gives it a little something extra. I wore this outfit when we went on our Christmas date to Disney. The scarf was a gift from my dad & sister when they went to Scottland. Everyone in the family got a plaid scarf and I wear mine all the time!

Sweater / Jeans / Boots (similar) / Scarf (a gift)


I was able to reuse the scarf and wear it to work.

Shirt (similar) / Skirt (similar) / Scarf (a gift) / Shoes

I got this stripped shirt for Christmas and love wearing it! It's a little thicker than the other long sleeve shirts I have which makes it perfect for winter. Ignore that I'm not wearing shoes, I didn't have time to get them from the living room before taking the picture.

Shirt / Skirt / Necklace (old)

I snagged this scarf as a last minute Christmas gift for myself and I love it! It's so soft and comfortable; not to mention it's super adorable! Once again, sorry about the shoes.

Shirt (similar) / Pants / Scarf (J Crew Factory - not online) / Belt (F21 - old)

I was looking for a dress to wear to our niece's baptism and couldn't find one anywhere. I went to a local consignment store and found this designer dress for $30 and had to snag it. I really like the colors and the fit - it's super flattering with the cinched waist. Sorry, I don't have a link for it but I still wanted to share it.



During the same consignment trip, I found this Mud Pie tunic and snagged it (brand new) for $11. I'm so excited about it and love it! I really like it with black leggings and boots but I really wanted to wear it to work so I bent the rules and hid my white jeans underneath and dressed it up with some heels. 


Tunic / Jeans / Heels / Boots (similar)

It was finally cooler last weekend, so I had to wear my new blanket scarf but once we got to Miami, I had to shed it because it was 80 degrees lol

Shirt (similar) / Jeans / Scarf / Shoes / Belt (F21 - old)

Not going to lie, I was a little excited when it was raining and cold outside because I could wear more layers, my blanket scarf (again) and my Hunter's. It was perfect for a quick dinner and some errands.

Shirt / JeansScarf / Jacket (consignment buy) / Boots

This blog post contains some advertising and affiliate links through ShopStyle Collective. I may receive a small commission if you click on a link to certain products in this post.

Finally Completed: DIY Shelf & China Cabinet

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

I've already shared our DIY shelf that we built for our family room and I've also shared a picture or two of our china cabinet and what I'd like for it to look like. Today, I'm here to share both the shelf and china cabinet, fully completed. We are both so excited with how both items turned out and can't believe we were able to make our vision come true.


All of the picture frames as well as the gold candle holder are from Hobby Lobby; everything else is from my mom
 



After getting our china cabinet in, we aired it out for a few days and then began to put our stuff in it. I started panicking and realized I didn't know how to prop our china up after not being able to find a 3-prong stand that wasn't less than $15/stand and super angled. I ran to Jo-Ann's and found these stands that work like a charm.




China / Pineapple, Greenery, Serving Platter & Bowl - Homegoods / Gold "H" / Pitcher

Linking up with Jessi.

Weekending

Monday, January 25, 2016

This weekend was amazing and exactly what the Dr ordered. Stephen and I decided to have a very relaxing weekend after constantly on the go with Christmas, building a shelf and going to see my in-laws last weekend. I was so fantastic to just relax and not do much, yet I feel we did accomplish some bigger things on our to-do list.

It was pretty rainy on Friday so I was excited to break out the Hunter's to meet Stephen's little brother for dinner. The boys used to be obsessed with Star Wars as kids so they agreed they'd go see the new movie together (thank goodness I didn't have to go ;)). They finally got to see it this weekend which meant that after dinner, I was on my own. I ran to Target to get a few things (including a new knitted hat for my Pittsburgh trip today), then headed home to work on my blog and made some banana bread.



We deemed Saturday as our relax and do nothing day. We slept in, made breakfast and watched some Office episodes before Stephen got antsy and ran to Wal-mart to get some oil for his car. While he was gone, I got some cleaning done and started the laundry. After lunch, we watched Tropic Thunder and then got out for a quick walk. It was freezing cold and windy which really messed up our ears (us Floridians learned our lesson). After our walk, I made some dip and then finished up the night with some video games. 


I'm ready for Pittsburgh ;)




 The dip was delicious and super easy to make:

- 1 onion (diced)
- 7 oz block of cheddar cheese (diced)
- 3/4 cup mayo
- 1/4 cup black olives
- 1 can Mexicali corn (drained)

Combine all ingredients in an oven safe pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes

Sunday, we went to church then headed to Lowes and Publix. Stephen had a handful of projects he wanted to get done that I made him put off until Sunday and I wanted to get some new flowers for our front porch planter. I haven't had flowers in that planter since I killed our mums... I decided it was time for some fun pink/red flowers for Valentine's day. The rest of the day, I ironed, cleaned and packed for my trip while Stephen changed his oil and did some things for the house.


I found these for $0.70 per pot... I don't feel as bad if I end up killing them

Today, I'm anxiously heading to Pittsburgh for the week. Hopefully it won't be too cold and the weather stays good for our flights. If you want to keep up with this FL girl in PA, you can follow me on Snapchat ashleyhirst23 - I'm sure my boss is going to have a blast laughing at my adaption to colder weather.

Linking up with Biana.

Five on Friday + CaseApp

Friday, January 22, 2016

Hello Friday!! I am so excited it's finally the weekend again - who's with me?

One
This week was an exciting week for mail because I got my new CaseApp phone case! I've been seeing lots of bloggers getting custom phone cases from a website called CaseApp and it always intrigued me but I always ended up blowing the thought of a new phone case off. That is, until the lovely Jessica over at The Newly hosted a CaseApp giveaway on her blog right before Christmas. I was SHOCKED to see that I had won a free phone case through her giveaway - I never win anything!

With the rush of Christmas and New Years, I never had time to sit down and really think about what I wanted my new phone case to look like. After the holiday rush, I sat down and began to think of the things I'd want in a phone case: I love the colors navy, white and tan/gold and I really like pineapples and monograms. This in mind, I decided on a navy case with a gold pineapple and white monogram. My sweet husband was patient with me and helped me design my case in photoshop. The process is so easy - just upload an image and you're done!

I received my case Wednesday and I am so pleased with how it turned out! The case is very thin and sleek (which I love, even if there isn't much protection) - I had no clue how slim my phone was lol If less protection isn't your thing, you can upgrade to a beefier case that provides lots of protection. I chose the matte finish and couldn't be happier with the result!



I am so pleased with how my case turned out! Huge thanks to CaseApp for providing a free case and to Jessica for hosting this fun giveaway!

Two
The second reason we had a fun mail week is because we received our 2015 Shutterfly year book! We love how it turned out! We always think Shutterfly has the best quality when it comes to photobooks - it doesn't help that all their designs are so much fun!


Three
I saw this on Facebook the other day and it made me laugh - it's so true!! I surprisingly stuck more to the guy's line when I ran some errands yesterday (granted I did wander through the clothes and new swimwear).


Four
I'm going on a business trip to Pittsburgh next week and I'm not going to lie, I'm getting a little nervous. I'm hoping we'll miss all the horrible weather by traveling in on Monday but it's going to be COLD. I'm not prepared for this weather! I will be layering as much as possible but please let me know any tips you have for staying warm. Oh, I'll be in a warehouse all day everyday which is apparently more like a meat locker... so that'll be fun.

Five
The other day, Christina posted the recipe to this amazing looking soup! It looks so delicious and I think I'm going to have to make it once I get back from my business trip!!