I'm throwing my Friday thoughts at you a day early so that tomorrow I can wrap the month up with goals that did/n't happen. You know how on top of the ball I have been lately, seeing that last Friday's thoughts debuted basically on Tuesday.    My beloved puffer vest came in the mail yesterday and I haven't taken it off since.   Correction: I took it off to eat some rice, and I came back to find Macy cat lying on it after she had punched some holes through it. This is why we can't have nice things.  

 

 So much attitude.   The North End has there doggie trick-or-treating tonight at 6. Everyone meets at the Richmond Street dog run and then walks around the neighborhood commencing with other dog friends and receiving lots of treats. How cool would I be if I hooked my cat up to a leash and walked around the neighborhood with her. That might be weird. She does have one heck of a cute cow costume though.  

 Moo!  

  The invitation DOES say that "Pets of all shapes and sizes are welcome!"
Speaking of costumes! What is everyone going to be for Halloween? I'm going to be a bartender. A depressed one at that. Here's to Halloween number 50 of having to work this Holiday. But hey, If it means I can have Thanksgiving and Christmas off, I'll take it!   I have the Christmas bug... bad! If you couldn't already tell from yesterday's post I am head over heels stoked. Gifts have already started to arrive in the mail, and today I bought this beautiful metallic cardstock paper to make gift tags out of! 

I can only hope they look this good!
Favorite snacks... Nutella and dark chocolate covered pomegranates and Acai/blueberries. Yes folks, that's a spoon. #noselfcontrol  

  I've been mixing myself up a really fruity and scrumptious drink lately which I named the Coconut Sunrise. Laugh it up now guys, all my friends do. It's Absolut Raspberri, Peach Schnapps, Malibu Rum, Grenadine, Pineapple Juice, and OJ. Anyone can make it, and I'm sure it's already a founded "drink" on somebody's menu, but hey... this is what I need sometimes.  

  Have you guys been following this story about Brittany Maynard? She's very young (29), and is suffering from a brain tumor that will eventually end her life, however she has decided to die with dignity on November 1st by taking a fatal dose of barbiturates.  

 

I bought a 5' x 8' rug that I don't think fits the scheme of my apartment as much as I wanted it to. Does anyone in the Boton area want to take it off of my hands? It's a fun pattern and will go with almost anything (it's grey and white). $50, Boston North End.  

 

Speaking of selling, I'm looking to sell my lightly used brown Longchamp Le Pliage MINI Tote. There is a little wear on the bottom of the bag and in the corners, but it is still very cute and functional! Note: this is the mini version! $40  

 

 

I've been feeling weak lately... as in no muscle strength what so ever. I want toned arms... don't we all. So I have started to do 10 pushups in the morning and then another 10 at night before I go to bed. I plan on increasing this number by 1 each day so that in a year I can do 365 in a row twice a day. HA, I kid. I'll probably maybe MAYBE peak at 50... if I'm feeling ambitious. So I started this little regime 4 days ago, and I cannot believe how SORE I am. My abs, my back, my face is as red as a tomato after 5... it's just 20 pushups a day. How is this possible? Reality check... I'm out of shape.  

 
I heard that the 2014 Budweiser Clydesdale Horses commercial has just recently been filmed in Boston. A friend of mine shot a video of them going through the city, and this article says that "the Budwesier Clydesdales are on City Hall Plaza today (10/09) through Sunday as a Budweiser video crew shoots one of its "responsible drinking" ads at a couple of local bars over the weekend". I think I love the comments the most... "They're filming a responsible drinking commercial and they chose Boston"? haha Oh Boston.  

 via    On a different note.. Boston's longest serving mayor, Thomas Menino, passed away this morning at age 71 after fighting a courageous battle with cancer. So sad. 

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Stay tuned tomorrow to see how my October goals went. I can tell you one goal that has yet to be completed **cough** the gym **cough**.

Thank Goodness It's Thursday!!

Friday Thoughts on Monday

Getting an extremely late start on this - I can explain. I had all intentions of going live with this post on Friday.. ya know.. like every other Friday, BUT.. I had to catch up on three seasons of Scandal... so that happened.   I am getting comfortable with my new job working in the real estate field with Elite Boston Landmark Realty.  I have truly loved living in the North End of Boston for the past year and cannot think of a better way to appreciate and share the neighborhood more than to help others find their new home here. There's so much to learn, and so many neat places to check out that I continue to discover day after day. I started a professional page on facebook if you're looking to find a place in the area, or just want to follow along!

image via (interesting link, btw!)   I take classes very part time, and am slowly but surely working my way through all of the necessary biology classes and other prerequisites required to graduate. I'm only 10 classes away from that piece of paper. Seeing this the other day made me stop and realize... "this long road is coming to an end, someday".  

  Scandal. I wanted to like this show because everyone else does, and man am I addicted to it. I started from square 1 last week and am already all caught up.. 3 seasons later. To say there was a lot of lying in bed, procrastinating and popcorn eating this week is an understatement.   

 image via     This recipe made my day. It is the easiest and sweetest scoop of perfection that I've had in awhile. Yum!  

I put my fancy pants on this past Thursday and went out to the Fairmont Battery Wharf for a wine tasting event for the Jimmy Fund. I believe I have found my new favorite winery. I'm not much of a wine drinker, and when I am... it's moscato and other sweetness. One of the tables, Plymouth Bay Winery offered very sweet selections including apricot, raspberry and my favorite, widow's walk! Did I mention they also make dips out of their wines as well. My favorite, "What'ta Pair" tasted just like apple pie filling. After the wine tasting extravaganza we all went out to eat at the wonderful and popular North End Italian favorite, Bricco!

 

image via      I began my Christmas list constructing and purchasing this past week. I think I'm more excited about wrapping the gifts than anything else! I'm thinking this years theme is going to look a little but like this!  

 image via   Happy Monday!  .

Hey, hey it's Friday!

 My week in a nutshell!    I've been crushing on all things natural and textured lately (hence the theme of my living room). You can only imagine my excitement when I came across this eclectic collection of acadia frames that now live on the floating shelves on my living room wall.  

 Hi, my name is Kaylie and I have a Chipotle addiction. I could eat here all day, every day - so good. I'm drooling over this picture as I type.

 I found myself some cute pumpkins for our living room. Love, love, love.
Like how I angled the picture so you could catch another glimpse of my fiddle leaf fig and my new accent table? Obsessed. I'm simply just obsessed.

  L and I hopped on a train up to Salem on Sunday and spent some time roaming around the place checking out all of the insanely good decorations and events that were happening. The capital of Halloween was so, so busy and was filled with tons of people dressed up and drunk, it was great! Like our costumes? We dressed as cold and unprepared 20-something year olds.

  I spent the better part of my day today running around the North End trying to find pumpkin puree for some homemade pumpkin cookies and frosting. You would think that they sell this stuff at CVS or one of the small grocery stores here, but they really don't. Sad. I finally found some at the Golden Goose. Whew! For a second there I thought that I was going to have to hike it up to Whole Foods.  

  Ahh yes and that pumpkin deliciousness came out looking a little bit like this... homemade cinnamon cream cheese frosting should be illegal. I used this recipe!  

  I shared some of my fall fashion must haves yesterday. I'm no fashion blogger by any means... but these are some essentials that I insist be in everyone's closet come the chilly months!   I'm off to see the new Nicholas Sparks movie "The Best of Me" tonight. Looks super sappy and romantic... I'll be the one crying in the corner of the movie theater - look for me! Enjoy your weekend!

Salem

 

  This place is the definition of October. They take Halloween to a whole new level. Not only is every last shop, restaurant, and park completely decorated, but it's done to the nth degree. Everyone is dressed up, and there is no filter when it comes to creepy. It's great! I can't even count on one hand how many times I saw cars, motorcycles and bikes cruising down the streets with skeletons hanging off the back.

  We were slightly pressed for time so unfortunately we didn't get to engage in all the haunted houses and candlelit ghost walks, however we did venture around to the House of Seven Gables, the Witch Trial Memorial, and we also moseyed around the pedestrian mall on Essex street for awhile.  

 

   Oh, and apparently cat squishing is an issue on this street. :(  

  Oh, Salem... you are so quaint. Hopefully we'll be able to make it up here again this month to fit in some more Halloween fun!  

 

 On a totally irrelevant note...

The window cleaners came to wash the windows of our building bright and early Sunday morning while we were still passed out in our bed.

I think the most perturbed one was this little lady - she was so concerned!

We eventually had to pull the shades to to give them some privacy from our curious cat.

Friday Thoughts

This past week was all about...

1//

One of my goals for October was to search for an internship or another job opportunity to help further my career. I'm excited to announce that I am now affiliated with an agency in Boston's North End so if you or anyone else you know is looking to buy, sell, rent or just wants to look around please let me know! Nothing screams neighborhood family more than this amazing corner of Boston!

This was shot from last Sunday's parade celebrating Saint Joseph. In the summer, almost every weekend, feasts are held in the North End to celebrate different Saints.

2//

I've been tossing around the idea of purchasing this bench for my living room. It would go along the wall right next to my side table and fiddle leaf fig. We need a coffee table, but are unsure if we even have the space for one. This bench could act as a coffee table/foot rest/extra seating, not to mention it would blend in super well with the theme of the room. Love my neutrals!

 

 3//

I purchased my first pair of boyfriend jeans the other day. So comfortable! They came just in time for this fall weather!

4//

I have been saving my quarters like it's no one's business lately. It's getting to the point where I cannot lift the jar anymore. I know that I can always deposit them into savings... but I would kind of like to see them go towards some kind of tropical vacation... or maybe just Christmas presents.

5//

L and I came up on five years of dating yesterday. Time is just flying by us.

Here's a fun trip down memory lane - Homecoming 2009!

Enjoy your weekend!!

Friday Favorites

My week in a nutshell!  

1//   

To start things out for you, I'll give you a quick peek at the practically finished living room. The theme of this room that I had envisioned was "natural", so I threw together a bunch of textured acadia wood frames that would pull the different shades of oak from the door, window frames, and floors all together. The accent table is from Target's "White and Gold" fall line, and the TV stand is from Target as well. of course. And yes, I bought that accent table specifically for my baby fiddle leaf fig.   I promise that one day, someday I will upload a much better photo for you. But sun hasn't shone in this neighborhood in 4 days! So much rain.  

2// 

So now you're probably not wondering what we did with the old makeshift bookshelf that we temporarily used to house all of our DVDs/hold the TV. Well that sucker went into the kitchen and is going to serve as a bar cart, er.. shelf. As much as I desperately need a beautiful gold bar cart with wheels in my life... like this one... I may have to hold off on that purchase until I have a little more than 800 square feet to work with. However, there is a serious problem... some of my wine and booze are too tall for the shelf. I may just have to drink them all and repurchase stuff in bottles that are no taller than 11 inches. Anyways... I would love input and inspiration pictures from all of you bar cart decorating goddesses. I want it to look clean and crisp, minimal clutter, yet very inviting. So inviting that I will want to pour myself a drink every day. P.S. Don't mind that chevron basket of TV cords. I'm running out of space!  

 

3//

I may or may not have just found my favorite t-shirt of the year. It's comfy, it's a tee, and it's also so versatile. This is the kind of shirt that you can roll up into a ball and throw into your bureau and then wear the next day. I'm a strong believer in quality over quantity, and this extremely comfortable t-shirt makes the list. I'm this close (picture me squinting my eye with a small space between my thumb and pointer finger) to pulling the trigger on another one just in a different color. What can't you wear this with? (Besides a dress.. you probably wouldn't want to wear this with a dress). P.S. I would probably let this air dry, I put it in the dryer last night and it's feeling a little shorter today.  

4// 

Who here has ever been to Max Brenner? It's basically a big chocolate emporium with a menu that is full of everything chocolate. You go there when you're feeling happy, excited, hungry, sad, stressed. I went there three times during the week that I was moving in July/August, if that's any indication as to how happy or stressed I was. When we were there, we picked up these oh so cute milkshake glasses with retro metal straws... however I have yet to fill them with anything milkshakey. Any favorite recipes you care to share?  

5//

If you're in the market for a pair of fall booties, knee high, riders,  anything and don't want to break the bank I highly recommend Urban Og. I bought a pair of knee highs from them last season and wore them religiously day in and day out. The ones I bought were lined with flannel, had adjustable straps, and didn't scuff not once. For what you're paying, and for the quality of boot that you're getting I definitely think it's a steal of a deal!  

    Enjoy you weekend!  

Weekend

  It is officially fall here. The weather is cool, long sleeves are being worn, and the AC is off.   My baby Fiddle Leaf fig arrived! 1 foot tall and ready to grow!   

   I finally stopped procrastinating and scheduled an appointment to go take my real estate exam. Officially licensed!  

It's definitely Fall in my books, there has been a lot of this business going on.

I just got around to ordering an accent table and TV stand for our living room. So long to that black makeshift bookshelf! Just kidding, we're still keeping it - bar cart! However, with the wheels starting to turn there, I'll give you a hint as to what the theme will be!

 And how about this rooftop view for a quiet night and unwind time.

Both L and I had Sunday off, so we hopped on the train up to North Shore and played around in Ipswich all day. We met my dad at the station, and all three of us indulged in some serious wine tasting and ice cream eating business at Russell Orchards. I'd say we picked apples, but we didn't. That was the game plan, but we weren't really in the mood to take an overly crowded wagon ride out to the orchard in 80+ degree weather to pick overpriced fruit, so we stopped at Hannaford on the way back into Boston and picked up some 33 cent apples for apple crisp. Lame? Maybe a little.

After the Orchard, we headed over to Crane Beach to get our last beach fix in before we get back into our normal weather (I have no idea what all this 80+ degree weather business was all about). Beautiful beach, freezing water. Crane Estate had a wedding going on at the castle so we weren't really supposed to go up there, however one walking trail led to another, which led us to the castle. Big and beautiful!

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Happy Monday!