Lately

Want // Want // Need // Watch // Read // Read

Want: loving the idea of a delicately strappy sundress...I would be even more thrilled if the hem reached my knees 

Need: I'm currently out of stationary on which to record my daily to-do lists 

Watch: for those of you who are unfamiliar with Wes Anderson's work, I suggest becoming familiar ASAP. While some may find his movies odd and entirely confusing, I find them charming and hilarious and they often leave me thinking for days afterwards. This film was no exception. 

Read: my friend, NSR, and I have decided to form a sort of book club between the two of us to motivate us to actually read the books we've been meaning to as well as to have a further excuse to get together. These are the first two picks.

xoxo
HBM

Playlist No.2

Just a warning, I saw a Beck concert in North Carolina this weekend so I've been alternating between his many albums lately...and that's mostly it

Listen to the full playlist here
Happy Listening!
xo
HBM

Oh Canada (Part II)

As I stated in this post, I recently left the country for the first time to visit Toronto and Niagara Falls. To see my adventures through Niagara Falls, see Part I. 

To pick up on the crazy whirlwind saga where I left off, we departed from Niagara Falls around 11 am and made it to Toronto in the early afternoon. We had completed all of the tours/boat rides/souvenir shopping we needed to in the early hours of the morning (we woke up at 6 am!!) and then managed to pack everything up and hit the road. There's only about an hour's drive between Niagara and Toronto so we weren't in the car for a long time, but my dad managed to surprise us with movies to watch on the future trek home: The Grand Budpest Hotel for me and The Lego Movie for my brother. Needless to say we were thrilled.

When we arrived in Toronto, we weren't sure if we could check into the hotel, but we gave it a shot anyways. 10 minutes later, the car was parked (a feat in the city...but parking in a garage meant $$) and we were heaving our luggage into our hotel room. After freshening up, we walked a mere block to the Sky Dome stadium where the Blue Jays were playing and bought upper deck seats to watch the game.

And then, at the end of the game, the dome closed!!

{My mom snapped a few shots driving into/through the city from the front seat. I loved the glass condo buildings}

{Nerding out over the engineering masterpiece that is the sky dome}

{Playing with the zoom}

{the CN tower as viewed from the stadium}

After a quick sushi dinner and a half gallon of mint chocolate chip ice cream (we picked up a carton of it on a corner store after dinner as it would be cheaper over the course of the two nights than going out for ice cream...and we could have as much as we wanted), we hit the sack. 

The next morning, all of us were able to sleep in (thank god) and take our time getting ready for a visit to the Toronto Zoo. 

{Jaguar, not leopard}

{See how the stripes are brown? That shows that THIS zebra is a baby}

{My mom thought the flowers matched my shorts}

{See the baby gorilla? 5 weeks old!!}

The zoo was really nice. They had every animal imaginable: From capybaras and jaguars to 2 types of rhinos, moose, and every monkey and lemur under the sun.
After the zoo (where I earned myself a decidedly painful and unattractive sun burn), we freshened up and made our way to the CN tower where we had reservations for the rotating restaurant at the top.

From there we watched the sunset and enjoyed a decidedly delicious yet pricey meal.
The next morning, we packed up and checked out a castle just outside of the city known as Casa Loma

{The setting for a Canadian Downton Abbey}

From there we went window shopping until the Royal Ontario Museum opened. We made our way through the museum buy 1 and hit the road. Our last stop was State College, Pennsylvania. There, we visited Penn's Cave and I went on my first college tour at Penn State!
By the way, if you're ever in that area, go to Berkey Creamery. Penn State has their own cows that they use to make all sorts of dairy goods that taste like heaven on earth. We brought 3 tubs of ice cream home with us if that tells you anything about how amazing it is.

All in all, this trip was exquisitely fun and we got to experience so many new things and visit some amazing new places. I can't wait to do some more traveling and sightseeing in the near future.
xoxo
HBM

DIY Scouting

          Lately, I've really gotten into doing hands-on crafting: taking old mugs and making them personalized gifts, using a map to make fabulous coasters, and transforming a cardboard box into a lovely book holder. Once I finish a project I am not only proud or my work, but I want more. I try to find crafts that I can really use or give to someone, and not just have it sitting around the house, collecting dust. Just browsing around the internet there are so many amazing and creative projects that I'm willing to work on. With more free time on my hands I'm ready to take a trip to the craft store and start working on these DIY projects. Wish me luck!

1. Lace diolie candle holder
(via)  

2. Painted Kitchen Towels (love the puns)

(via)

3. Animal Boxes

(via)

  

4. A DIY Photo Clock

(via) although I would just use my own pictures, not ones from instagram

5. DIY Watercolor Mug

(via)



 

xoxo,

ASD

Playlist No.1

Listen to the Playlist here
Enjoy!

xo

HBM

On the List: Graphic Tees

dots/ umbrellas/ c'est la vie/ in bloom/ flower tank/ octopus/ smoky tank/ yosemite tank/ wanderful tank

I adore how casual but still chic graphic tees can make an outfit. Slap a colorful and cute design on a plain tee and voila! It goes with everything!
I recently purchase the In Bloom tee and the smoky the bear tee and love them both. I plan on buying the Yosemite tee as well. The tanks will be perfect for hiking in Yellowstone (I was told to pack for 90 degrees as well as 30 degrees #yikes). The In Bloom tee, I've found, goes with everything. Yellow skirt? Adorable. Red jeans? Perfect. You name it, this tee goes with it. Old Navy does it again and J.Crew's selection isn't looking half bad either. The only difference for me in my selection process is that Old Navy's prices are close to half what J.Crew charges. For a gal making less than minimum wage and buying most of her own clothes, that's a pretty sweet deal.
Have any of you discovered the amazing versatility of graphic tees yet?
xoxo
HBM

Changes

As I not-so-casually mentioned in this post, TPF is about to become F&O (Freckles & Olives)
I'm aware that this is our second name change, but trust me, changing this blog's name is as frustrating for us as it is for you. At the same time, it's also more rewarding. Anastasia and I are going all out on this one: new custom header, favicon, etc. because this name is sticking. Both my paleness and freckles are represented while Anastasia's tan-ness and Greek-ness are represented as well. It's a perfect fit for us!
From here on out you can reach us at frecklesandolives@gmail.com and, starting tomorrow, our blog will be found at www.frecklesandolives.blogspot.com.
Our twitter, instagram, and my pinterest username have also changed.
Our new Twitter handle is @frecklesolives
Our new Instagram username is frecklesandolives
and you can reach my pinterest profile at www.pinterest.com/frecklesnolives
Other than that, nothing has changed. This is the same old blog we founded in 2012, it just has 2 people and a new name. Simply superficial changes, eh?

Thanks for cooperating!

xoxo

HBM

Let Freedom Ring

{via}

Happy Birthday to the beautiful country I am proud to call home. Tonight I will be celebrating by watching fireworks at a local park with some close friends and sporting my red, white, and blue with pride. There are so many things we Americans take for granted and we are so lucky to be able to do so. As cool as it may be to go to Europe or Asia or Africa or Canada, I can't think of another place I'd rather call home. 

Happy Fourth of July to you all

xoxo

HBM

Oh Canada (Part I)

If you follow TPF on Instagram or Twitter, you know that I left the USA for the first time this past weekend. 

It was only a border hop into Canada, but it was a big deal for me nonetheless. 

The main goal of this mini-vacation was to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York (somewhere my sports-obsessed Dad has been trying to visit his entire life). We left our house Friday night after my mom got home from work and made it up to our hotel right outside of Cooperstown by about Midnight. The next morning, we took a scenic drive to the sleepy downtown area of Cooperstown where we ate a yummy breakfast at a quaint cafe and then worked our way through the Hall of Fame and the museum attached. 

{My Dad and I observing and appreciating the exhibit on Baltimore's 5 Hall-of-Famers #oriolespride}

{The Historic charm and mountainous backdrop made for the perfect atmosphere}

{After a quick stroll through a park, we found that the town sits in front of a lake making for the most gorgeous views}

 Next, we hopped in the car for a few hours until we crossed the border into Canada to visit Niagara Falls. While the cultural differences between America and Canada are little to none, it still felt weird to know that I wasn't on American soil. The accents are pretty great too...

{A huge thunderstorm rolled in around 9 am and the duality my mom captured in this picture is amazing}

{After watching The Grand Budapest Hotel, seeing this was awesome. We even took a ride in one!}

{Our first view of the Canadian Horseshoe}

{See that boat down there? It goes right in the middle of the horseshoe and the mist blasts you like a shower head. So cool!}

 

On the way back home, we stopped at the American side of Niagara and got to see everything at a totally different angle which was lovely.

Stay tuned for the remainder of my Canadian adventure which will pick up when we arrived in Toronto.

When did you leave your home country for the first time and where did you go?

xoxo

HBM

Growing

Make a wish

via

Today marks the second anniversary of this blog. 

On one hand, I feel like asking "has it really only been two years?". On the other hand, I look back to July of 2012 and realize how far we've come. I started this website on a whim before ninth grade. This was after the release of a virtual magazine. Before I knew Anastasia, before I even knew what Lilly Pultizer or Longchamp or Jack Rogers were, before I even knew how to blog, Twirl existed.
We've continued to grow and change over the past two years into the blog we are today. I now know how to blog and what a blog actually is. What having a blog means, how to manage a website, how to design a website (a little), how to work and collaborate with business partners (more or less), and I think one of the biggest take-aways for me so far has been my personal growth. I've learned what I like and dislike as well as how to write in a way that other people can hopefully relate to. I've also come to realize, through reading other style blogs, that my life doesn't hold nearly as much glamour or style or girly frivolous-ness that people look for and adore. I'm 15, I make less than minimum wage from my parents, I've never driven a car in my life, and my parents see clothing as very low on their priority list. If I want something extravagant, I have to pay for it myself. Through this experience, I've not only become a super-shopper, but realized where I am in my life and what I want it to be like. Much like my parents, I've come to value food and experiences above clothing and as much as I want it to, my life will never be like Blair Eadie's or Carly's or any famous blogger's. I am content with my life as it is: I have a house and a loving family and good grades and get to have some awesome experiences. So to wrap up my long-winded philosophical self-analysis, I would like to thank my past self for creating this wonderful medium that forces me to be creative and always creates a topic of conversation between my friends and I as well as those who stop and take precious time out of their lives to look at my blog. This blog has become a big part of my life and I'm glad.
 In accordance with growing and expanding and changing, our blog is about to make yet another drastic change. As you know, TPF is supposed to include three girls who blog, but recently, Marin made the choice to stop calling herself a part of the team because she doesn't post. She wants to guest post occasionally, but doesn't want to hinder us by being a permanent installment. As the team goes from three to two, our name becomes obsolete. Why would we call the blog three little girls if there is only two of us? After thinking it over carefully and weighing the fact that we really JUST changed our name, we decided that we'd have to change it again. Trois Petites Filles is about to become Freckles and Olives which represents both Anastasia and I. I'm the pale freckle-face who's 100% American and Anastasia is the tan, olive-skinned Greek who's very European in Lifestyle. I know for a lot of our readers that this is probably obnoxious, but I hope you can bear with us as we make yet another huge change that will better our blog in the long run. While it may seem like we're shrinking, TPF (soon to be F&O) is about to become better than ever so stay tuned.

to everyone. for your loyalty and for bearing with us hopefully yet again.

xoxo
HBM

Swimsuit Picks

June 2014

Well summer has finally arrived! Whether it be lounging by the pool, swimming in the ocean, or tanning under the sun, a strong swimsuit collection is essential. Here are just five swimsuit styles that will have you looking super chic under the hot summer sun. 

 1. A duo-patterned bikini (Vogue)

2. Classy one piece with a retro flare (Modcloth)

       

 3. Unique boho crochet top (American Eagle)

        

 4. Keeping it simple with color blocking (Garage)

  

5. Kate Spade tie front with summery prints 

Happy summer!

xoxo,

ASD