Antique Safari

Shirt-Old Navy, Shorts-J.Crew, Hat-Eugenia Kim for Target seen here, Shoes-Old Navy, Bag-Urban Outfitters




So as I had mentioned before SSBF and I had some guests in town this weekend. They are SSBF's best friends from college. It was so nice to see them all again since we haven't since Christmas. We had so much fun showing them around Baltimore.

On Friday we had gone for drinks at a bar in Federal Hill. The bar is called Don't Know? and it is one of my favorite because it is the only one I know of around here that has bar shuffle board. It's the 20 (mid to late) somethings beer pong.  Then we went to a crab place in Glen Burnie. They have fresh crab brought in daily and it is delicious.Pulling apart crabs is slightly barbaric but they are quite delicious. On Saturday we took a stroll around the harbor and then headed to DC for a Phillies game.

These pictures were taken on Sunday. We took them to one of our favorite spots, Old Ellicott City. It's a cute little historic district about 10 minutes away from us filled with antique shops and restaurants. We started the day with brunch at the Diamondback Tavern. We've never been before but plan on returning soon. The food was delicious, and $2 mimosa's never hurt anyone.

SSBF rolled his eyes in disgust when he saw that I chose to wear my fedora again. I don't understand what he has against it. I think he needs to write a blog post for me about why boy's hate hat's on girls, or at least why he hates this hat so much. After the eye rolling and disgusted sighs he did happen to mention that I looked like I was going on a safari. I'm still not sure how I feel about that statement. I've never been one to dress with a theme in mind so I was afraid I looked too costume-y, but at the same time usually my clothes are such a mismash that it was nice to have underlying tone to the outfit.
I felt like an archaeologist or something, exploring floors upon floors of antique stores digging through stuff that has probably been long forgotten.

Our friends left on Monday morning but our house was not empty long, one of my friends from college is here is stay for awhile as she looks for a job. I think maybe we should change our house to a bed and breakfast, Grace& SSBF's B&B.
Make your reservations now.

This Weekend (so far) in Photos

I am sneaking this little post while SSBF and our guests are preoccupied with the Guitar Hero version of Rock Band. Last night we did some typical Baltimore things.

We hit Federal Hill in downtown Baltimore for some beer and bar shuffleboard at Don't Know? Tavern.

Followed by a Maryland Crab feast at Seaside Seafood in Glen Burnie.

On the agenda tonight.. A Phillies game, at the Nationals Stadium in DC.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Baltimore Bloggers Unite

...Or just hung out, ate pizza, took pictures and shopped.

Over the weekend I met up with Megan from Tranmission Me and Alana from The Good Girl Gone Blog and Alana's sister Sophie the master photographer. I tend to be really shy when it comes to in person type stuff so it took a lot of internal convincing for me to actually show up but I am so glad I did. It was amazing to actually get a chance to meet these people face to face. It was also kind of weird to know so much about people that I met for the first time on Saturday. Although on the plus side it took away some of the typical awkward getting to know you stuff.

We had lunch in a part of Baltimore called Fell's Point and then naturally did some shopping. It was so hot out that we didn't venture very far but did hit some thrift stores and a dress boutique that were along the main drag of Broadway St. At the goodwill I fell in love with this dress.

It has the most amazing nautical print complete with small birds and flags! However, there is one problem, it's an XL. haha. For $7 I didn't care what size it was, I needed it. I am trying to decided what to do with it though. It hits me just below the knees which is not too flattering but I am hesitant to cut it because I like the idea of wearing it as a long skirt. As of right now it is also kind of baggy up top, like outrageously baggy. I am toying with the idea of trying to take it in myself but I am not exactly a seamstress. I'm worried about ruining it completely. Anyone have any suggestions, advice, moral support?

On a side note I think its funny how we all went for a similar look that veered in totally different directions, that just happen to match our personalities so well.

Anyway, check these ladies out. I promise you won' be dissappointed.

photo credits to Alana and Megan

Spending Diary: No Credit Card Week 2

Ok Ok , so I am a little behind on my posting. SSBF's impromptu post on Saturday night totally messed up my routine. Such is life. What did you guys think? I actually have a secret, I wore that outfit on Friday but by the time we got around to taking pictures the sun had set so I put it back on for him to photograph on Saturday. I am generally opposed to that sort of thing but sometimes you just have to go wear life takes you and catch up later.

Now lets get down to the nitty gritty.  SSBF made mention to me this week that he wasn' sure what my point in this experiment was, i.e. why I was limiting myself to a set budget each week. So to clarify for him and anyone else who wasn't sure, I noticed that when using my credit cards to pay for everything I was spending money that I didn't necessarily have to spend. If I wanted a dress I bought the dress, if I wanted lunch from the cafe I bought lunch. There was no prioritization. I never evaluated my purchases and prioritized. By using cash this month I am hoping to teach myself to really start adhering to a budget and be able to make better decisions with limited resources.

So with no further ado, here was my week.

Sunday

Sunday's are almost too easy for me. SSBF and I go to the grocery store in the AM, then play tennis, and finish with some cleaning around the house.

$0 spent.

Monday

I listed my textbook from my summer class on half.com over the weekend and it sold already! woo! SSBF stopped at the post office for me to ship it out. Thank god for media mail because if I had to ship it any other way it would cost a fortune. $4.76. I had my first near breakdown today when I came across this dress at Modcloth. Generally only a few things catch my eye there and this one did in a major way. It even got to the point where I created my own loophole by using my check card. I couldn't justify spending more than a fourth of my budget for the month on the dress though.

Tuesday

No spending today. I did go mosey on over to Modcloth to check on my dress and noticed they sold out of smalls, making it impossible for me to order it. Whew. I dodged a bullet. However, if anyone has that dress in a small and doesn't want it I will take it off your hands!

Wednesday

No spending two days in a row! Wooo!

Thursday

The weather here has been dreadfully hot lately but I still had my training session on the dock and noon. It was rough. I mean I had to sit down for like 5 minutes post workout just to make sure I didn't pass out in the shower. Even after my shower I continued to sweat for an hour (tmi?) so I walked over to the cafe for an iced tea $.53.

Friday

I was so excited for today because thanks to the beer fiasco last week at the game SSBF had offered to pay chick-fil-a tonight! Then midday I got a call from him, one of the guys he teaches with is also the manager of the Camden Club at Oriole Park, and he invited us to come down for a drink some dinner. We went of course, and yet again I had to pay $8.00 for parking. Despite getting our beer and food comped, and coveted window seat to boot, I was also responsible for tipping the server-$10.00. So my total ended up being $18.00.


The view from the Camden Club. Awesome.

Saturday

I have been looking forward to this day all week. I got the chance to meet up with the lovely ladies behind Transmission Me and The Good Girl Gone Blog aka Megan and Alana respectively. We had lunch down in an area of Baltimore called Fells Point and did some thrift shopping. I won't go into all the details here but lunch was $6.63, parking another $6, a dress with an amazing sailboat print for & $7.16 at goodwill.

total spent this week: $44.08

A mere 92 cents under my goal of $45. Hooray! I'm shocked that I was able to stay under the $45 for the week even while still waiting repayment for the beer money. I have a feeling I may just need to write that off as a loss but we'll see. I am still over for the month as a whole by $14.29.

*If you are interested in having your spending diary featured here it's easy! Track your spending for 1 week and e-mail me at grace.croshaw@gmail.com. Come'on show us what you've got.

O's game

embellished tank & scarf-J.Crew, cutoffs-diyed also seen here, button-down-f21 also seen here, hat-Eugenia Kim for Target, shoes-Old Navy

Ahh baseball. SSBF and I are huge baseball fans. We are those people that want to visit all the baseball stadiums before we die. He is a Detroit Tiger's fan and I of course am an obnoxious Phillies fan. Living in Baltimore we've adopted the Orioles as our own. Well, SSBF actually started as an Orioles fan. We have plenty of paraphernalia to prove it (including a video from 1989 titled "Worst to Almost First"). I mainly feel sorry for the Orioles and like to cheer for them because hardly anyone else does. When the Yankee's and Red Sox are in town their fans generally out number the hometown crowd. It drives me crazy. I also love this stadium. I think just ascetically it's one of the best. It has such unique features like the warehouse that runs the length of it (background) and center field opening to the skyline. SSBF reminds me all the time how most modern parks in the last 15 years have been designed based off of Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

So I told you guys yesterday I picked this hat up at Target. What I left out is that SSBF didn't want me to get it. He said he didn't like it and he didn't like "hats on girls". Silly boys (almost) never understand fashion. I ignored him of course. I love this hat. It was the perfect accessory and paired with this linen scarf, jewelry was basically unnecessary. It attracted a lot of attention though. Like an obscene amount. I guess I'm not surprised. Baltimore is hardly a fashion capital. I'm going to have to get used it, I can feel myself living in this hat for the remainder of the summer. Truth be told, I've wore it eveytime I left the house Saturday and Sunday, including a trip to the grocery store. Hehe.

A baseball game coupled with no homework to do (and a speedy sale of my textbook on half.com)....
I'd say it was a pretty good weekend.

Susana de Moya Foundation Fundraising Luncheon

SSBF and I were invited to attend the Susana de Moya Foundation's Fundraising Luncheon on Sunday afternoon by one of SSBF's students. The Susana de Moya Foundations purpose is to "merit acdemic excellence and inspire Dominican youth" and SSBF's student had applied for and been awarded a scholarship through this foundation! Pretty impressive for a 6th grader I would say. I don't think I knew what a scholarship was in 6th grade..

It was an amazing experience to be there despite the fact I needed most of the luncheon translated to me by the students mother because they did a majority of the speaking in Spanish. We got to enjoy some delicious Latin cuisine and I was even serenaded by an up and coming Latin artist.

The event itself was held at The Elkridge Club in Baltimore. Now a golf course and country club the Elkridge Club was once a hunt club formed around the time of the Civil War. The building is original to that time period and is absolutely amazing.

I've been wearing this blazer a lot lately. Maybe its redundant, but I just can' get enough of it. It's been the perfect way to finish off any outfit. The dress has seriously been sitting in my closet for four years. I had to rip the tags off ysterday before putting it on! Everything in time, but four years?!

Oh well.

*Dress, random store in Michigan

*Blazer, Gap Outlet

*Shoes, Aldo

*Bag, Dooney & Bourke-- Thank you SSBF mom.

the weekend that got away...

This weekend came and went right before my eyes without a single outfit picture to show for it. Sorry ladies.

Friday night I went out to celebrate my last day at Enterprise oddly enough with people that don't work there anymore either. It was great. We started the night with dinner at Ryleigh's Oyster and followed it up with beer and bar shuffleboard at Don't Know? Tavern. Both amazing places in Federal Hill (Baltimore). SSBF and I don't get down to Baltimore often so this was a nice change of pace for us. Bar shuffleboard was aweosme. Seriously. I want one of those things for my basement.

On Saturday I realized why gardening is considered a hobby. SSBF and I spent the better part of 5 hours slash an entire afternoon working on both the front and back of the house. I spent at least an hour on just pulling up crab grass that was overtaking an area of the garden in the back. We desperately wanted to add some color so we bought some annuals to scatter about. Marigolds for the front and Impatiens for the back.

 |Marigolds|

|Hydrangea|

|Various flowers in the back of the house|

We also laid some mulch down to cover up our icky looking clay soil. It's incredible how different it looks. This week we will be heading to Lowe's to purchase this patio set, then the backyard will be complete!

Finally on Sunday I had resigned myself to cleaning in prepartion for my parents visit next weekend. In an attempt to clean the floor under our sofa I started moving furniture around. You see SSBF and I have never been 100% happy with the layout of our living room. Well, that one innocent little act turned into something completely different. I ended up moving the papazan chair that resided collecting dust in the corner of our living room to the guest bedroom. Which then led to a need to reorganize that. I had been using it as my own personal shoe closet. So after a 2 hour trip to target behold I ended up with the most amazing set up for most of my shoes. The more seasonal ones are resting in an organizer under the day bed.

ahhh, like a dream come true and with each unit costing 12.99 each (3 shown here) it was a rather cheap project.

I love productive weekends.