Her Philly

A lifestyle blog for young women dining, shopping, playing & living in the city of Philadelphia.

Insta-Month: A Look Back {February}

Most people end February by remarking on how quickly it flew by . . . however I am actually impressed with how much I got in this month! From birthdays, apartment hunting, and of course my trip to Disney World (pictures coming soon!), I felt like I made the most out of our shortest month.

Wing bowl via Her PhillyVintage finds at Wardrobe Boutique in Philadelphia via Her Philly

My office’s own version of Wing Bowl // Thrifted finds from a Philly Style Bloggers‘ event

Prabal Gurung For Target® Dressing Room via Her PhillyMinnie Mouse mug via Her Philly

Inside the dressing room while shopping Prabal Gurung For Target® // Pre-vacation coffee

Navy & Gold Bangle from Per Lei Boutique in Media via Her PhillyBensalem Sushi via Her Philly

Amaaaazing prize from a twitter giveaway gifted from Per Lei Boutique // A birthday gift of sushi!

The most beautiful view while apartment shopping in PhiladelphiaHummus, pita and veggies at Opa Philadelphia via Her Philly

Apartment hunting with an amazing view // Noms at my new favorite Greek restaurant, Opa

Tea Tree line by the Body Shop via Her PhillyRita's Philadelphia is Open via Her Philly

The Body Shop goodies gifted from a Trend Hungry contest // The best email I received all month!

And yes, I’ve obviously already been to Rita’s. 🙂 Hope you had a great February!

her philly

Talk Dothraki To Me {My Game of Thrones Obsession}

I remember the day my sister introduced me to HBO’s Game of Thrones. It was a Sunday, and I watched six episodes that day – that’s six hours of falling in true love. I have been obsessed ever since.

On Friday, HBO released the trailer for Season 3. It looks amazing, and I am counting down the days until I get to see Khaleesi and the crew back in action.

I’ve been loving the song that’s played in the first few seconds. Here it is, in case you’re loving it too.

Do you watch Game of Thrones? If so, please, please comment, so we can talk about it for hours on end together 🙂 If not, what TV show do you get your craziest over?

her philly

{Currently Crushing} Forever 21+ New Spring Arrivals

I know for a lot of people, Forever 21 is a toss up as far as quality and fit. While I do have some issues being in-between the straight & plus size lines, I definitely have had more good than bad experiences at the store.
Forever 21+ Sweet in Sherbet Wishlist

When Forever 21 instagrammed a shot of the promo picture above, I immediately clicked over to their website to see their new Forever 21+ arrivals. Bright colors & fun prints have me really craving spring. Check out some of the pieces I hope to pick up this season:

The Forever21+ line is only available online and at select stores, but luckily Cherry Hill & King of Prussia both carry it. What do you think of the new spring line? xx

her philly

Small City Living Spaces {Shelf Decorating Ideas}

I hope everyone had a wonderful week & a lovely Valentine’s Day! I returned from Disney World Friday evening and am still in the process of getting my life back in order. I woke up early this morning to do some cleaning, so I thought I’d show you some shelf decorating tips for one of my favorite parts of my tiny city apartment.

Decorating a tiny apartment is trickier than you might imagine. There isn’t much space for personalisation, so I have to find space wherever I can. I have to think carefully about my interior ideas – nothing too big or it’ll make the room look smaller, nothing too dark or it’ll make the room look depressing. Instead, I opt for small touches here and there that make me smile whenever I see them. A big challenge is the bathroom, with very little room for customisation. Luckily, there’s a windowcill just begging to be decorated!

I started off with a clean space on this cute little window ledge in my bathroom.

Her Philly; Decorating ideas for a bathroom shelf in a small city apartment featuring flowers, a vintage glass tray, perfume and a candle.

Then, I added this great vintage mirrored tray I got at Golden Nugget Flea Market (Lambertville, NJ).

Her Philly; Decorating ideas for a bathroom shelf in a small city apartment featuring flowers, a vintage glass tray, perfume and a candle.

Next step was to add my bottles of perfume! I keep the blinds closed during the day so no sunlight hits the bottles.

Her Philly; Decorating ideas for a bathroom shelf in a small city apartment featuring flowers, a vintage glass tray, perfume and a candle.

To finish, I added some small touches like these faux flowers that match my shower curtain & a pretty candle.

Her Philly; Decorating ideas for a bathroom shelf in a small city apartment featuring flowers, a vintage glass tray, perfume and a candle.

I love how this little nook turned out. Do you have any spots in your Philly apartment you love? xx

her philly

{Philadelphia Shopping Experience} Prabal Gurung For Target®

I am not a huge fan of Target collections. In the past, I have scoured the internet and visited the stores for styles with quality that made me less than excited. But this morning was different.

When I woke up at 7:45 this morning, I wasn’t even thinking about Prabal Gurung For Target. But after seeing a tweet from Gabi Gregg, I decided to hop on target.com to take a peek at the pieces. I was impressed, but as with every Target collection, quality is hard to tell online. I decided that I was up for the day and headed down to Target (1 Mifflin Street) at 8:30 am.

The store wasn’t crowded, but there were definitely plenty of young women wandering around with their stash of brightly colored pieces. I walked (ran) immediately to the display and started grabbing. When I was there at 8:30, I did not see many pieces below a size 6. Lucky for me, my size was there in almost everything I wanted. I did ask the really sweet dressing room attendant if she had a dress on the rack to put back in my size, and she did! Lucky lucky.

The dressing rooms had a short wait but nothing major. I tried on 9 pieces and loved almost everything. The fit was great for curvier women, and the only major flop for me was the peplum top. The quality was some of the best I’ve seen from a Target collection, and other than a few lackluster zippers, I was really happy with it. I was in and out in an hour, and when I left, there were still plenty of items on the racks. I did not check out the accessories or shoes, but based on the clothing display, I’d say you still have a good shot of finding some pieces.

Check out the goodies I picked up:

I was literally grinning with excitement while trying on each of these pieces. Definite scores. There were two honorable mentions that I hemmed and hawed over for a bit, but decided not to go with. If you’re interested in the dress, I recommend sizing up.

Are you headed down to the Philadelphia Target this morning for the Prabal Gurung collection? What pieces are you most excited about? Tell me, because I need someone to discuss this with other than my boyfriend…. 🙂 xx

her philly

Insta-Month: A Look Back {January}

January. Was. BUSY! Between Restaurant Week, trips back to my parents’ house, friend visits and, of course, work, I’ve been swamped! February is already going wonderfully with an awesome Philly Style Blogger event (more on that later!), a Joe Flacco Super Bowl win, and packing for my upcoming trip to Disney World!

Anthropologie sale room in Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia     New puppy Ellie 

A little slice of Philly heaven: the Anthropologie sale room // Making a quick visit to WCU to see Ellie!

Broccoli, cous cous, tofu and soy sauce    Birthday cake at Iron Hill in Wilmington, DE

Broccoli, cous cous, tofu & soy sauce nommy lunch // Celebrating the DOB of my college roomie Ashley

Margaritas at El Vez in Philadelphia    Modeling by Tara

One of many margaritas at El Vez during Restaurant Week // Taking some model shots of my co-worker Tara

Wings, fries and chicken fingers from Curran's near Philadelphia     Jordan and baby Caroline  

Our office version of “Wing Bowl” … just yum. // Jordan & the cutest baby in the city of Philadelphia, Caroline

How was your first month of 2013? xx

her philly

A Philadelphia Celebrity Studded Week

While waiting for our table at Amada during last year’s Restaurant Week, I spotted my first Philly celebrity. It was Aneesa Ferreira, of MTV’s Real World Chicago & RW/RR Challenges. When I tell you I love the RW/RR challenges, I mean I LOVE them. So when I saw Aneesa, I freaked out. However, lucky for me (NOT), Jordan told me to leave her alone and let her enjoy her night. After debating this in my head, I decided not to say anything. Afterwards, I tweeted to her telling her I saw her and how fab she looked. She replied (obviously) with: why didn’t you come say hi?!

From that point on, I vowed to ALWAYS say hi. The worst that can happen is that they ignore me or call security, right?

Fast forward to one year later, Restaurant Week 2013, a week of not one, but TWO Philly celebrity sightings! And what sightings they were 🙂

Emily Tharp of Her Philly meets Mayor Michael Nutter First up, Mayor Michael Nutter! I have loved Mayor Nutter since I moved to Philly, but especially after hearing him speak at the SocialMediaPlus Summit in 2011. We have tweeted back and forth a few times since I became a Philadelphian, and those twitter interactions are definitely one of a few select stories my parents fall back on when they tell their friends what I “do.” He was SO nice to take a picture with me – it made my night!

Emily Tharp of Her Philly meets Philadelphia Flyers Player Scott Hartnell

Only a few days later, I was blessed with standing this close to these gorgeous locks, belonging to none other than Philadelphia Flyers player Scott Hartnell! I was never into hockey growing up, but after some games at the Wells Fargo Center, I was hooked. The Fly Guys have become my team, and I am dying to get to a game this season. Get well soon Scotty!

What famous Philadelphians have you run into over the years? Out of my two sightings, who would you have been more excited about? xx

her philly

My Disney World Valentine’s Surprise

On a random fall night, my boyfriend Jordan came over telling me he saw a letter in my mailbox. When I opened it, this was what I got:

disney surprise from boyfriend, valentines trip to disney

Pretty awesome right? My boyfriend and I are Disney PEOPLE. We had been talking about taking our 2nd trip together for awhile now, and then surprise: Boyfriend of the year award! (He has since learned the correct spelling of February :))

Today, our trip is a mere ONE WEEK away! We have the Park Hopper ticket, so we’ll obviously be exhausted, but I couldn’t be more excited. I can’t wait to take a picture with my favorite Disney girl, Minnie Mouse, and explore the new Fantasy Land in Magic Kingdom. I will definitely be twirling my arms around like Belle and singing “Bonjour” … no question about that.

Here is another dose of Disney cuteness the BF showed me last week. You’ll like it.

Have you ever been to Disney World? Any tips? xx

her philly

{First Impressions} Rittenhouse Dentists

Finding new “people” when you move to a new city is tough. You have to replace the hair stylist, the doctor, the dry cleaner, and of course, the dentist. As most people are a little nervous about visiting the dentist to begin with, you definitely do your research before jumping right in. But, if you are in the Rittenhouse Square area, consider your research done!

To find my new dentist, I started on my insurance company’s website and searched by location. Enter, Rittenhouse Dentists (1801 Pine Street). I loved that they were open after work two nights a week, so I made an appointment for a Tuesday evening teeth cleaning.

From the start of my visit, I enjoyed my experience thoroughly. The friendly receptionist sent me away with a cool iPad in hand to fill out all of my medical info, which I loved. The waiting room had a Keurig machine and big, comfy chairs to relax in.

I was taken back to be seen as soon as I was finished my paperwork. The dental hygienist had a Pandora station crooning John Mayer & Ray LaMontagne so I was instantly relaxed. I was offered a pillow for my head and a Paraffin Wax treatment on my hands while I got my teeth cleaned – which was, well, amazing. Two of my major complaints about the dentist are normally the bright overhead light and dry lips. The hygienist solved both of those problems with she gave me safety sunglasses to protect my eyes AND coated my lips with chapstick not once, but twice, during my cleaning. (Am I at a spa, or the dentist?) They were definitely taking every step to make my experience as painless as possible!

When the doctor came in, she was friendly and to the point, which I appreciated. When I got home, my boyfriend definitely was confused with how relaxed I was coming from a dental appointment! 🙂 Overall, my experience was great and highly recommend Rittenhouse Dentists if you’re looking for a new dentist in the Rittenhouse area.

her philly

The Prettiest of Backdrops

Rittenhouse park in Philadelphia, PA on a sunny, snowy winter day via Her Philly.

Happy Monday! How lucky are we as Philadelphians that as we are hurrying around running errands, we get to look at the gorgeous, snowy Rittenhouse Park as our backdrop? The park is one of my favorite places in the city, and I love how beautiful it looks in the snow.

In other news, we are smack dab in the middle of Philadelphia Restaurant Week! Last Friday, I went to El Vez  with some friends from work. I took lots of pictures, so be on the lookout for a post on that! This week we have dinner at Del Frisco’s Steak House and Marmont Steakhouse. Make sure to follow @HerPhilly on Twitter for real-time updates and photos of my noms this week.

What do you have planned for the week? Any Restaurant Week dinners? xx

her philly