pittsburgh/philly trip: day one

It's been forever, I know and I'm sorry. Life has been hectic. Three days after I got back from this trip I was hired at my local Free People, just thirty minutes away and have been working nonstop, but I finally got a little less than week off this week so I made sure to take out some time to catch up with all of you.

So yes, I took a trip to Pittsburgh to pay a long over due visit to my favorite family member, and also visit not but 5 hours away by car, Philly where the Home Office of Free People is. So this little trip meant living a dream of mine and visiting the Free People Home Office and spending it with two of my favorite people in the world, my Aunt whom I was visiting and my boyfriend. So Yes people, you heard right! I paid a little visit to the dreamiest most inspirational little place on earth and I pay all my thanks to the wonderful blogger for Free People, Brigette Muller who made this all possible for me.

It started off as an email earlier this summer, I emailed asking her about a possible tour of the home office, but unfortunately it seemed as though it wasn't as possible as I had imagined, and was a frequent request of many. But Brigette being the awesome person she is, offered her time and answers to any questions I may of had if I ever made it up there for a visit. So I went out on a limb and went for it and I still can't believe that I went on this amazing trip and that this is my life and it's all real and just ugh! But I won't spoil everything at once, I'm going to post the days of my trips separately from another so I can tell you all about them each time. This trip was the best I've ever had, hands down and I wish so much that I could rewind time and relive it again.

Day 1: Me and my boyfriend, Christopher (who you'll be seeing a lot of on here btw) spent most of our day dragging our luggage through airport terminals, buying overpriced candy, and people watching between flights...as boring as it sounds, was still a good day. I personally like the whole airport experience and it happened to be Christopher's first plane rides EVER. But not to worry, we keep the mood light naturally. No seriously, about 75% of the day was filled with laughter and goofing around because that's just us. But when we landed in Pittsburgh at about 7PM and I was overcome with a strong mixture of emotions, just because I hadn't seen my aunt in years and I mean, I really really missed her! We met eachother right outside the airport and greeted one another with long hugs and proceeded to make small talk in the car on the way to the house. I immediately noticed Pittsburgh's amazing weather, generous amount of vegetation, and hills which I immediately fell in love with(compared the hot flat land that I'm used to in Texas). We dropped off our luggage at my Aunts and her boyfriend's, where I got to see her home for the first time which was the coziest little home I had ever had the pleasure of staying at. The floor-plan was unlike any other I had ever stayed at, it was a very old small 4 story narrow tall home with decor screaming my Aunt's name everywhere; twinkly string lights, Kurt Cobain portraits, art pieces, really old vintage wallpaper, dried up flowers, and green tea incense throughout the house. I felt more than at home. Before the night ended we took a trip to downtown Pittsburgh and drove/walked around so me and Christopher could get a good feel for the city before we went out on our own to explore it the next day. We had dinner at this little place called Primanti Brothers to try the famous "Pittsburgh Primanti" sandwiches, which were VERY big and interesting, but definitely tasty. We ended the night visiting and taking a ride on The Duquesne Incline. It was such an eye opener to how amazing the city really was, and honestly I had no idea...but that's really the beauty of it. The city was in simpler words, a well kept secret gem. Christopher and I fell head over heals with the old city and we both, exhausted from the long day, proceeded to get a good night's sleep with full anticipation for what tomorrow had in store for us.

day off

  Today, today was a good day. It was my only full day off this week and I originally had aspirations to get out, do a lot of running around and cleaning, but ended up alone cuddled up in my bed pretty much all day. I know I sound lazy but hey, everyone needs a day to clear their head and just relax, that's exactly what I did. I picked up my room, lit my favorite candles, put a comfy sweater on, bumped my a/c up in my room to like 65, played calm music, and just let my rooms aura swallow me whole. It helped me tremendously, more than I thought it would actually! See, lately I'd been feeling very stressed and short tempered...like I was letting a lot of little things get to me that just normally wouldn't, so I took this day to just clear my head. I feel a thousand times better, thank you day off.

I also wanted to share a few pictures with you of the treasures I've acquired the past few weeks- I recently paid a good long visit to my favorite vintage shop in downtown and left with a perfectly distressed american flag and rad ohio tee(I fell in love with the awesome font) and the "to be free" necklace is one of my favorites, I was drawn to it at Free People and just had to buy it. I love the fact that it's engraved and has a little dainty quartz crystal on the end of it. The crochet place mats, I found that set of three hidden at my job as I was closing one night and bought them all the next day without a thought, aren't they perfect? 

cave

  So it's a wednesday night and I found myself with some spare time and decided it was a good idea to finally share some pictures with you all. 

One thing I like to do is decorate(as I'm sure you can see)! It's something I've always had fun and loved doing, it comes very natural to me. I specifically have a love for the rustic vintage look, it makes me feel so at home and cozy. And the look of it, if pieced correctly is just simply breath-taking. I've found most of my things from second hand stores, the hunt makes it a lot more fulfilling for me personally. I love the idea that it was once someone else's and it's one of a kind, It's like it has it's own little story. It fascinates me really, and makes me treasure each and every piece I have even more because I found something beautiful after searching in a store full of just "stuff".  

Oh, and I'm always re-orginaizing and moving things around constantly because I really enjoy change, so expect to see a lot of updates on my room and décor/clothing thrift-find posts in the near future, it's my main hobby! (:

Oh and the adorable fluff ball you see, if you were wondering...that's Cleo. I rescued her from a local shelter as a kitten just under a year ago and couldn't be more blessed. She's loud, fluffy, soft, and lovable as can be. She loves me unconditionally, as do I to her.