City Living

 

Good afternoon bloggers! A few weeks ago my roommate Britnee and I moved into our new apartment in the city. We worked really hard on decorating and furnishing it and I wanted to show it off!

 

Every piece of furniture was either bought at a consignment shop, thrift store, craigslist, or given to us by family members or friends. We were so excited to really make the apartment our own by customizing and mixing the pieces that we scored on.

 

One of the best ways to mix and match thrift furniture is by painting it. The table and chairs, which were actually bought from two different places, were easily matched by painting them with the black and white finish. Believe it or not, the chairs were originally a baby pink.

 

The couch was one of our best finds. Originally a $249.99 Ikea couch, we found this gently used on craigslist for $50 (and she even included the two pillows!).

 

All of the extra decorations were picked up from different stores at bargain prices and thrown together to create this awesome look. We wanted to keep a theme color of red in mind. It also helped to have a beautiful apartment with this old brick fireplace.  

 

It's quite easy to keep houseplants if you pick the correct ones. I like to pick plants that have easy upkeep. The tall green one pictured above is a Money Tree from Ikea. It only has to be watered about once a week and isn't picky about sunlight. I would love to be able to have some beautiful fresh flowers but unfortunately that can become expensive. Therefore, I decided to make these flowers made out of crepe paper. Zero upkeep and they look awesome!

I hope everyone has a wonderful evening. Don't be afraid to buy things from thrift stores and yard sales. You sometimes can find the best things for even better prices and create the best spaces!

#NeverForget

I'm not one for hash tags. In fact, I kind of despise them. This is mostly caused by the overuse of them in social media.

Today is different. Today marks 13 years since the attacks on NYC and Washington D.C. To see that #NeverForget is trending on Twitter brought me a lot of joy. I love seeing that a country that has so many differences and issues can still come together to mourn for people that many of us have never met.

I was only in first grade when the gruesome day brought chaos through our country. I don't remember much, just that everyone was scared and parents were coming to get there children from my little elementary school out in the sticks and others across the US.

Although I was not affected directly, no loss of loved one's or friends, it was still brought close to home. Literally. I say this because I live just 60 miles, about an hour drive, from the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93. I actually wrote a post about my trip there about a week ago.

This post is fairly short, partially due to the fact that I still have to be a college student and go to classes today. But also because I feel that little needs to be said about this matter because it speaks volumes on its own.

I have my own opinions on the events of the day and I know that other people may share my opinions or have radically different ones. Either way, today is for mourning, today is for remembering, today is for #NeverForgetting.

Sausage Tortellini Soup

 

Happy Friday everyone! I've decided to stop focusing simply on photography and rather blog about everything. When I say everything I honestly mean it. I'm going to blog about whatever I feel like. This blog has officially gone from just a photography blog, to a lifestyle blog. I hope you enjoy and please give me feedback!
 

I happen to absolutely love cooking and baking. Now that I'm living in my own place, it is up to my roommate and I to fend for ourselves when it comes to food. Fortunately for her, I'm not too bad at it.
 

Being that I don't have class on Fridays and it ended up being a lazy laundry day, I decided to cook up some sausage tortellini soup. Before moving here, my mom and I made tortellini soup often. It was definitely a household favorite. I decided to take mine to a new level by adding some Italian sweet sausage to it. It really tastes amazing and it's a very good comfort food for lazy days like this one.
 



 

Sausage Tortellini Soup

(Makes About 6 Servings)

 

Ingredients:

1 lb. Sweet Italian Sausage

2 tbsp. olive oil

2 (14.5 oz.) cans diced tomatoes

3 c. frozen spinach

4 c. chicken stock

salt and pepper

1 tbsp. dried parsley (or fresh if you have it!)

1 (16 oz.) package of cheese tortellini's

parmesan  

 

Directions:

Carefully remove the casing of the Italian sausage and form small balls. Brown in a skillet at medium heat with the olive oil. In a medium-sized saucepan, add tomatoes, spinach, chicken stock, parsley, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Add the cooked sausage. Simmer on low for 20 minutes or until the flavors have formed. While the soup is simmering, in a separate large saucepan, boil water for the tortellini's. I like to keep the tortellini's and the rest of the soup separate so that they do not get soggy. Once the tortellini's are done, spoon some into a portioned bowl and ladle the soup over top. Finally, garnish with some parmesan and parsley.

 

 

A few days ago, my roommate and fellow blogger, Britnee, and I made Apple Hand Pies (you can find the recipe for these on her blog, The Model Cachet). Fortunately, they're not gone yet and I'm going to enjoy one warmed up with some ice cream for desert while I relax on the couch. Please check out the recipe because they are truly delicious and a perfect way to jump into the fall season (my fav!!).

 

 

I hope everyone enjoys this new spin on the blog! I love cooking and I really loving sharing my own recipes and cooking experiences. I hope you all enjoy the weekend.

 

 



A Final Summer Hoorah

Hello bloggers! I realize that it has been way too long since I blogged and I really need to apologize. My first year of college ended and there were a few bumps along the way. I couldn't wait to just be home and be able to relax. Needless to say, I did a little too much relaxing and before I knew it, summer was over. I'm now moved into my first apartment and have started my second year at Pitt!

So what'd I do this summer? Like I said, a whole lot of nothing. I spent a ton of time with my friends and family just hanging around. I rarely went anywhere blog worthy. I was, however, fortunate enough to go to Myrtle Beach, SC with one of my friends and her family which was a blast.

As a last summer hoorah, my family and I went for a swim at a semi-local state park. This was a few weekends ago so it was still a beautiful summer day. Exactly what we all needed to end the summer off right.

We visited Shawnee State Park in Schellsburg, PA. It's a very large park with a very large lake nestled in the middle of nowhere basically. It took us a little over an hour to get to, but the drive was not a hassle considering we got to drive through the beautiful Pennsylvania mountains.

On the way to Schellsburg we passed the Flight 93 Memorial which we decided to visit on the way home. Although I've lived near the site of the horrible plane crash which took place on September 11th, 2001, I've never taken the opportunity to visit.  Seven crew members and thirty three passengers gave their lives to save many others as United Airlines Flight 93 plummeted into an open field in Somerset County, PA.

If you are ever visiting in the Western Pennsylvania area, I highly recommend visiting the memorial. They're currently remodeling and adding to the area so in some time it will be even more beautiful than it already is.

Although school started back up last week, this week will officially be the start as last week entailed introductions and syllabi. I'm very excited for the weeks to come and to be back at Pitt!

I'm sorry I've been such a terrible blogger lately and I PROMISE that I will make it up to all of you!!