2. 28. 10

we now no longer camp as for a night, but have settled down on earth and forgotten heaven.  
~henry david thoreau

my little heart is longing for adventures lately.

for warmer spring days to go camping, for roasting marshmallows and making smores, for day hikes to the top of a mountain and eating lunch surrounded by the beautiful view, for the serenity of down time next to a campfire with my best friend.

where do you go to get away from it all?

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as if i needed another reason to love nyc...

...enter the vault by lisa perry.

the vault will be downstairs of perry's flagship store on madison ave that was once a citibank and will offer up to 75% off of merchandise from current and past seasons. there will be racks ranging in price and a table of pick-me-up items {accessories, trinkets, etc} at even lower price points.

the bright colors are so happy and inviting! but the thing that i love the most?

the actual vault of the old bank is an installation featuring large costume jewelry and money spilling out of the boxes. ingenious. j'adore.

it looks like a summertime trip to nyc may be a necessity sooner rather than later.

xoxo

images courtesy of lisa perry

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happiness is...

sharing stories over a good cup of coffee. 

somehow happiness is happier, sorrow is less sorrowful,  laughter lasts longer, hurts are eased or forgotten, and souls are mended. i am a firm believer that conversation and coffee are powerful tools.

{for my coffee buddy. miss you.}

xoxo

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winter slight

january and february are typically the dreary months here in the south. it's cold, windy, and rainy, and all i can think about are sunny spring days filled with floral skirts, sailor-inspired dresses, picnics, camping trips, and sandals. this year my winter slight is especially bad. mr. groundhog did not see his shadow, which means six more weeks of winter, and let me tell you, mother nature is serious about this extended winter. just last weekend we got six inches of snow, and it never snows in ga.

all that being said, i have absolutely fallen into a winter fashion slight. i spend my days bundled up in sweaters & scarves, with my skinny jeans tucked into boots so as to keep my feet warm. that's why the outfit posts have been lacking lately. {one can only post so many outfits of this sort} i have managed to pick up a couple spring/summer pieces {on sale!} that i am slowly bringing out into these cold winter days hoping to speed up spring's arrival.

tank, f21; cardi, target; cigarettes, urban; heels, h&m; neckalce, anthro

this past weekend, however, the temperatures reached a glorious 60 degrees, and the sun shone for hours on end {not just a peek out from the clouds here and there that has been the recent trend}. i know that the cold weather will be back before spring actually arrives. nonetheless, i have made it a personal goal to wear at least one article of bright color each day to officially end this winter slight of greys, blacks, scarves, and sweaters. what are you doing these days to combat the winter blues?
xoxo


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vancouver or bust

i love the winter olympics, {snowboarding, ice hockey, alpine skiing, downhill races, and figure skating? yes, please} so i have been in heaven lately with all the olympic coverage on the news.

some of my favorite moments thus far:

{shaun white winning gold in men's halfpipe}
i really enjoy watching men's halfpipe snowboarding because it is something that i would never be able to do. the thought of doing three or four flips over six feet in the air with a snowboard attached to my feet sounds like absolute fear to me, but it's just another day at work for shaun white.
image credit

{lindsey vonn winning gold in women's alpine skiing}
because hers is just a really good story {overcoming an injury and being thought of as a "pin up girl"} & because she is a girly girl who is also outdoorsy. {she fits right in here at hiking in stilettos.}
image credit

{shani davis winning gold & apolo ohno winning silver in speed skating}
because i really like speed skating for some reason & because shani davis supports an organization to bring speed skating to inner city kids in dc.
image credit davis
image credit ohno

 

{the tango by russian ice dancers oksana domnina & maxin shabalin}
as a dancer myself, {although not of ice}, i really appreciated their grace and poise. one of my pet peeves with dancers of all types is closing in of the upper body {ports de bras for you dancer types}. the reason that this team displays such ease on the ice has a lot to do with their open & lifted upper torso. in short, it was a beautiful tango.
image credit


it would take too long to list all of my favorite moments from this year's winter olympics. perhaps i will make it out to see some of the events in 2014....

what are some of your favorite events or olympic moments?



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happiness is...

homemade {individual} chicken pot pies on a really cold winter night, shared with someone you love.

how are you surviving the cold these days?

xoxo

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the state line felt like the berlin wall*

on our honeymoon i made it my personal goal to take a picture of every state line that we crossed. seeing as how i have never actually driven across the country, it was kinda important to me. besides, it was quite a fun way to pass the time.


more honeymoon pictures soon, i promise!
xoxo

*any takers on the title lyric??

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snow day in the south

it rarely snows in my corner of the country, so when we got 6 inches of snow this weekend, the city basically shut down. husband and i played a bit, made a snowman, took some pictures, and then holed up inside with a warm fire and a good movie.


hope you had a happy winter weekend.
xoxo


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2. 14. 10

"when we die, we will turn into songs,
and we will hear each other and remember each other."
~ Rob Sheffield


{happy valentine's day}


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a sad sad day

what an extraordinary loss of unique genius.
this says it better than i can.


image credit

every day is like sunday

sundays are always bittersweet for me.

i wake up excited to dress up, go to church, see all the wonderful young couples in our small group, and learn about faith. church is followed by a lunch date with husband, which is especially lovely on pretty days when we can eat outside. our afternoons often consist of a trail run or bike ride or something to get us outside for a while.


it's around 3 or 4 o'clock that the bitterness arrives. i just don't want the weekend to end. i always want just one more day without responsibilities or obligations... one more day to just be with k.
ya know what i mean?

outfit details: cardigan & black skinnies, urban; shoes, lizard thicket boutique; necklace, anthro; purse, charming charlies

i never let the bitter overtake the sweet. sundays are so fun, and usually a homemade dinner and baking cookies ends our weekend on a perfect note.

even despite its bittersweet tinge, i think that sundays are my favorite day.


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aww, shucks

i've said this before, and i will say it again, i have the best readers in the world.
seriously, reading your comments and advice really makes my day, so when april of the right hypotenuse, told me she tagged me with a blog award, i was quite giddy. thank you april! you are too too sweet. {don't you just love her blog name by the way? i always liked the right triangles best in geometry class.}

ahem, and now...
seven things you probably don't know about hiking in stilettos:

1. i graduated from agnes scott college with a french major & chemistry minor. {read: i am a total nerd-o}

2. when i was five, we were coming home from christmas eve at my aunt's house when we saw our neighbor dressed as santa entering his front door. i was so scared that santa wouldn't leave me any toys because i was awake, so i hid in the closet & wouldn't respond to my mother's calls for 45 minutes.

3. i am addicted to long-sleeved, tissue weight t-shirts. i have one in every shade of every color of the rainbow, but i mostly wear them at home.


4. i spent 20 years of my life dancing, from the age of six up until after college... ballet, modern, graham technique... i still have my very first pair of pointe shoes.

5. i prefer odd numbers and lower case letters & avoid even numbers and upper case letters whenever possible.

6. one of my nicknames in college was "granola." it referred to my hippie tendencies of hiking/camping, wearing teva sandals, and being a veggie {see below}.

7. i genuinely like vegetables, pretty much all of them. broccoli, asparagus, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, spinach, you name it. in fact, i was vegetarian for a while.


i hope you enjoyed that little "get to know you" session. i really like learning quirks about my friends. that is actually one of the things i am enjoying most about being recently married. that being said, i am passing this award and it's seven facts along to each of you! i want to know what makes you tick :)

xoxo


coypyright Hiking in Stilettos

happiness is...

this cake from our wedding shower this past summer.

because it was beautiful, delicious, and it matched the hand-made invitations
because it was so perfect that i didn't really want to cut it
because my mom & sister worked so hard to make every detail of the day absolutely perfect
and because it reminds me how lucky i am to have such a wonderful family.


sending a little bit of happiness your way,
xoxo


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2. 7. 10

So was I once myself a swinger of birches.
And so I dream of going back to be....

I'd like to go by climbing a birch tree~
And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk
Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more,
But dipped its top and set me down again.

That would be good both going and coming back.
One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.
   {Robert Frost} 

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oatmeal isn't just for breakfast

i love oatmeal. which is kind of weird considering that i just recently {as in this past summer, recently} began eating it in it's intended, breakfast cereal form. {we have husband to thank for that. i am now addicted to oatmeal with brown sugar and strawberries.}

even though i never had the taste for oatmeal cereal, oatmeal raisin cookies have been my favorite since i was a child. i still love the good old chocolate chip cookies {especially oatmeal chocolate chip cookies}, but there is something about the cinnamon-y, nutmeg-y taste of an oatmeal raisin cookie that just makes my day.


so recently i decided to try a couple martha stewart oatmeal cookie recipes. the first was a simple oatmeal, cranberry, and walnut variety that i made for a sweet friend's birthday. the recipe is pretty healthy since it calls for applesauce & whole wheat flour, and i love the combination of cranberries and walnuts in just about anything.


the second recipe that i am trying is for peanut butter-chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. these will be a bit more indulgent seeing as how the recipe calls for whole, salted peanuts {although i bought the ones that said lightly salted}, 1/2 cup of natural peanut butter, and chocolate chips. yum. i will let you know how they turn out!


what are your favorite types of cookies {besides chocolate chip}?
xoxo


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blair & serena take on atl*

*aka a night in the city with kindredly & party preppy recap

this past weekend's preppy festivities for a certain someone's bday were definitely a hit.

i finally decided on pastel jeans with a cardigan and tons of sparkle. it was an outfit that i felt was somewhat serena-esque, but i didn't actually have to buy anything just for the party. i loved kindredly's dress, however, and wish that it was still available in my size. also, don't you love her clutch?!


husband {sweetly} offered to be our driver, so kindredly, husband and i started the evening off at TAP for pub burgers, fried pickles, and drinks. so so so good. the burgers were served on english muffins {!!} and included a teeny tiny chocolate milkshake.

after TAP we headed over to whiskey park at the w hotel in midtown where we were greeted by sweater vests, khaki pants, cardigans, ralph lauren polos, and a ridiculous amount of plaid.
love it.

{somehow all of our best photos are from the parking garage}

with husband taking the driver seat, kindredly and i really got to play the part. there was a lot of laughing and a lot of stories shared. we had a great time together and with husband. {he's so laid back and can have a good time just about anywhere.}

thanks to all of you lovelies for your comments, suggestions, and ideas about party preppy and possible serena-inspired outfits for the occasion!
xoxo


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happiness is...

a shiny le monde road bike for saturday afternoon rides with husband.
{her name is leila. i love her!}


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jimmy choo 24:7

for those of you who haven't heard or seen it yet, here are some of my faves from the jimmy choo 24:7 collection. the collection is designed to take you from day to evening, work to play in one beautifully stylish shoe. i really like this idea since i work in a pretty conservative environment. all of the pieces are versatile and professional while still maintaining that jimmy choo edge that i love so much.


i love the shimmer of this last pair. i would wear them with a crisp white ruffled blouse, a pencil skirt, and some opaque tights. also, not all the shoes in the collection are nude. i am just partial to the nude pumps because they are professional and chic at the same time.

what do you think of the new 24:7 collection?
yea or nay?


images courtesy of jimmy choo
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