The Chew

I had a pretty great couple of days this past weekend. Saw my friend Kate in Lancaster, went to NYC for the day to attend the Oscar taping of The Chew, saw Strawberry Fields in Central Park for the first time, visited one of my favorite places, Woodstock, NY and saw Mumford & Sons in New Jersey. LOTS of driving, but it was well worth it. The Chew was fun. MUCH better than Rachael Ray. The hosts were so personable, funny, and interacted well with the audience. It was their Oscar special so we had to get all dressed up--long dresses, heels, suits--just to sit in the audience. We were kind of hoping we'd get some cool swag for dressing the part, but we didn't. Kate did get her grocery receipt drawn and was handed $150 cash from Mario Batali! The studio was colorful and nicely decorated. Overall, it was a good trip! I'd definitely recommend going to The Chew if you get tickets!

Go Red for Women Fashion Show

Like fashion and have a passion for helping and promoting an important cause? Then you can’t miss this year’s Go Red for Women Fashion Show. Everyone knows the American Heart Association, but not as many know about the Go Red campaign. This component of the AHA focuses on promoting heart health and lifestyle changes in women.

I started as a volunteer with Go Red a little over a year ago. My grandmother has suffered from heart problems for quite a few years. Thankfully, she’s been in pretty good shape heart-wise—woo hoo. But because of her, this campaign has become such a strong passion of mine.

Go Red has many fundraisers throughout the year, however my focus is the fashion show. Last year we had almost 500 people attend our “Picture Perfect Health” show at the Wyndham Grand in downtown Pittsburgh, and this year we are expecting even more at our “Driven to be Heart Healthy” show than last year! It’s really pretty awesome. The clothes are from Macy’s and all of our models have a relation to either some sort of heart disease or they've made a healthy lifestyle change. We have an amazing “Chinese” auction and a live auction for some of our larger items, PLUS there are a ton of cool local vendors who come and sell their stuff.

My mom, grandma and aunt came last year and we had so much fun. It’s so inspiring to see the models up there and hear their story. So walk, drive, pedal or swim—whatever, just get there!

PS: Here's the post of the Plum Advance Leader article on us volunteers from Plum!

The Dark Side of the Moon

Free People recently opened a new store in Pittsburgh in the Bakery Square complex in East Liberty. Bakery Square quickly became an up-and-coming area in the city. The I Made It! Market is a frequent visitor and the shops and restaurants include Anthropologie, Boxwood, Learning Express, Panera Bread and is home to Pittsburgh’s Google office.

I love Free People’s new line inspired by various models and musicians including Stevie Nicks and Florence Welch.

Be sure to check out all of Free People’s current collections—Caravan Dreams is another 

one I’m lusting over. 

Find Your Stylescope

Need some inspiration? Take this easy Home Goods Stylescope quiz to learn how to find your style and cheap and creative ways to make it come to life! I ended up being "The Traveler" with a touch of "New Country," and I have to say Home Goods was pretty much spot on. I'm "curious about all corners of the world, whether she's visited them or dreams of going." Um, how did they know?

Go Red for Women Pittsburgh

If you're from Pittsburgh, I can't stress enough how awesome this event is. I'm a volunteer for the Go Red for Women campaign with my main focus on this fashion show. We had such a great turnout last year--audience members, models, vendors, silent auction baskets, it was all perfect! This year will be no different. So, mark your calendars for November 14 and get ready to donate and support an important cause! Plus it's fun and you get to see great fashion from Macy's on models who have all been affected by heart disease or a healthy lifestyle change! For more info, email me or call the number listed!

Six Shoes

...every woman should own.

I used to be the biggest shoe shopper ever. Shoes are just like your oldest friend—they’ll always be there. You’ll likely have the same shoe size for most of your adult life, and you don’t have to worry about looking too fat unlike that dress you’ve loved, tried on and suddenly didn’t love it anymore.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love my shoes. The shoe shopping sprees just died down a little bit. With my job, I’m always on the move and outside a lot—so lately all I seem to look for is a good pair of stylish flats or cute boots.

There are however six shoes that I think every woman should own. Here they are in no particular order:

• Wedges
• Main reasons—they’re comfortable and easy to walk in. Almost always look awesome dressed up or down.

• Rain Boots.
• When I was younger, I’d be so embarrassed to put my rain boots on. I thought they were stupid and make me look like a boy. Now, girls can actually pull them off and look stylish! Plus, who really wants to walk outside in heels, flats, or flip flops on a rainy day. 

• Nude Pumps.
• Simple. These go with everything. They’re classy and timeless.

• Ballet Flats.
• Like I said, flats seem to be the only shoe I look for. Perfect for work when you’re on the go. And small enough I can keep in my bag if I decide to wear heels and need to walk somewhere quick.

         

• Dressy Flip Flop
• So much better than the plain rubber flip flops and can be just as cheap and comfortable.

 

• Riding Boots.
• My go to in the winter. I have a brown and black pair and wear them with jeans and dresses.

Turquoise.

I've been loving turquoise lately--more than usual. Maybe because it reminds me of summer and beautiful clear water, but whatever the reason I can't get enough. 

Stylish White Female

This is Terra. 

Terra writes an AH-MAZ-ING blog, Stylish White Female 

and guess what

she's from Pittsburgh!

I know, who would have thought that someone from Pittsburgh would have 

such a successful fashion blog, right?

I have gotten so much inspiration from Terra and her blog posts. 

She is so creative and can pull off stylish looks at her job in the city. 

And the outfits can fight the snow--something us Pittsburghs know a lot about.

If you're from Pittsburgh, you'll recognize a lot from the backgrounds of her photos.

Here are some of my favorite outfits:

How cute are those ruffles on the jacket?

Perfect winter sweater.

Love the skirt.

All photos from Stylish White Female.

Foam

Foam is an awesome magazine. I don't subscribe, but I check out their website almost daily. I came across this article a little over a month ago and meant to post it earlier. I love the photographs and the story they tell. Here's Gypsies, Tramps and Theives:

All photos by Harper Smith.