play on baby.

i gathered all my fav holiday albums for you in one place to totally rock out to when you're decking the halls, wrapping presents, baking cookies or just watching the tree. 

enjoy lovelies! xxoo

home for the holidays.

oh hello there. hope this season finds you overwhelmed with peace and joy. i've been making merry these past few weeks and am excited to share that i'll be blogging over here now (and instagramming! @lovewestreading), all about what makes living and playing west reading the bees knees. so i'm SUPER excited to share that with you and to get back to blogging with an exciting new opportunity. i am thankful that my time off proved fruitful and refreshing.

so, to get things going, check back for my holiday glow post - a recap of ladies night on penn ave! and stay tuned for all thing happy and holiday in this beautiful little borough i call home.

[heart stopping ford truck at atwater winery in the finger lakes on saturday]

in the meantime, a huge bless up for the best sunday i've had in forever. watching the snow fall, sipping rose, making fresh tracks and falling asleep to the grateful dead movie. if that's not heaven, i don't know what is.

friday fuel

[image via beardslyjones]

weekend wonders.

saturday morning RDG // sunday morning RB

my absolute favorite summer pants from heidi merrick (sea pant in flume) // sand // true story

my kind of blues

oh, canada.

headed up north this weekend for the ironman competition in mount tremblant! it's been a long time coming for glen and mike and i can't wait to watch them as they push their limits. i am SO PROUD of them for even having the thought in their brain that they can to do 140.6 grueling miles. i know their spirits will carry them far, and when they get tired, they've got an entire cheering section just for them (just wait until you see the sign i made ;). so stayed tuned to instagram for canada updates...there are coffee and croissants in my near future!

weekend wonders.

this little guy kept all of us up friday night and made an early morning debut on saturday! and then was promptly smothered with love and kisses as soon as aunt christin could get to him on saturday afternoon.  congratulations on your new family mr. and mrs. malora! parker has stolen our hearts.

beautiful sunday morning at the gring's mill run working the water stop at the red bridge.
as always, proud to be a pagoda pacer!

finally used my frye boots properly... 

..and took this beauty for a trail ride on sunday. more to come in the next issue of fitness berks!

a little down time and DIY in my heidi merrick sea pant. i am mildly obsessed with my doormat now.
stop by and say hello!

three zero

sending love and light out to my lovely cousin christina today as she turns the big 3-0. i can not think of any one more deserving of the weekend celebration that is about to ensure and i can not wait to share this moment with you! thanks for making life so sweet for all of us by just being you. see you in a few hours! watch out brewfest! 

xoxo

tin

weekend wonders.

trail maintenance saturday morning on mt. penn with BAMBA. such a fun, sweaty, rewarding morning. we took to the trails to trim back the summer growth and get some poison ivy  and learn about some seriously cool trails BAMBA has been working on for the past few years; we can't wait to tackle them.

sunday morning stop at the west reading diner to fuel up for a long day of moving, followed by a snap of the most beautiful carrots from b&h organic. erica grows some dang pretty food.

it seems appropriate that the first meal at my new gently used kitchen table from just curious? was pizza, with my parents of course. the spoils of a sweaty day's work. 

so, welcome to west reading! i have arrived.

friday fuel

young and wild and free.

hot and saucy

after a recent visit to the awesome papa grande's with my bestie and her hubs, i was inspired to recreate the AH-MAZING vinegar based hot sauce on our table. what could i be!? we wondered, as we slathered it on everything in sight. upon further investigation, we learned it was puerto rican style hot sauce (pique). immediately i googled it and found this very similar recipe. stopped by the local kitchen store to pick up the appropriate glass containers and about thirty minutes later had my first batch. 

i played around with the portions because my containers are much smaller, so i'll let you know how the end result turns out. as far as i'm concerned, the hotter the better ;)

only the best

hop on over to bloom where you are:: today and check out the post on this years best of berks! i'm already overwhelmed at the thought of narrowing down my favorites! 

toast of the town!

don't forget to stop on over at the spread the love goodbye sale tomorrow at the independent space in kutztown! raise a glass and toast to the marvelous melanie linder as she sails off into the sunset of new beginnings! she's got some amazing sales going on, super amazing yummy snacks and rad sounds from ataloft. basically, it's the best party on the block and you don't want to miss it. congrats melanie! we all love you and will always to spread the love wherever we go.

tune in tuesday

weekend wonders | wedding edition

dan and alyssa got hitched this weekend and it was wonderful! such an amazing time to spend with family, laughing, eating, laughing, dancing, celebrating! congrats to the two love birds, may you be best of friends for life xoxoxo

- not a bad view for a reception and a plate of food too big to finish..maybe...

- pretty bridesmaids with their transplant pa cousin

- my favorite flower child aka niece ella

- officially deemed "the christin" rocked this bombshell black number by susan golembiski designs, with a bit of boho styling from the bestie ADZ

- photobooth fun with the great aunt and uncle

- pizza and salad from BAR was the perfect way to end the wedding day

- slow sunday morning breakfast with the fam: coffee, mini quiches and five kinds of hot sauce. duh. 

friday fuel

under construction

[image via studyblue]

so things have been really bare around here, and i want to apologize for that. i'm working on it. so this is a note to tell you: i'm working on it. doing a little personal maintenance and construction and letting blog take a break. i felt super caught up in trying to catch every moment and put it up here for you people to enjoy too that i think i lost sight of the shore for a minute. so i'm taking a little time to focus on the inside and then the outside will take care of itself. plus, no one wants to read boring blog content. thanks for being lovely. i hope you take some time for a little personal maintenance too :). namaste.

tune in tuesday

[image via brad imotichey]

oh, my. yes please! totally LOVING the blackfoot gypsies, all of the on the loose album. 

friday fuel

weekend wonders

this weekend post is really just a post about saturday. libby totally rocked out and won her division at the on the rocks race at french creek (she was also the first woman to cross the finish line in general, but refuses to make a big deal of it - if i ever cross the finish line at a mountain biking race i will make it the biggest deal EVER. just saying). we had a super fun day hanging out with the JB///Stoudt's team and cheering them on. still learning the ropes of a bike race, but i'm into it!

and then, to an eagerly awaited saturday night soiree!

what an incredible evening put on by the other farm brewing company. we enjoyed front row seats during an intimate evening of beer, cheese and dynamic duets pairings. everything was spot on and i can not wait until there is another match point event to enjoy! nice works dudes.

[goat cheese & land of the look behind]

[english cheddar & ike wilder // daniel bower]

[gouda & ataloft]

friday fuel

all. weekend. long.

tune in tuesday

rocking out hard to this in my office right now. join my dance party!

weekend wonders.

29th  birthday style.

a brief note about gratitude for my birthday: wow. what a whirlwind of love, laughter and light. my deepest thanks to everyone who helped me usher in 29 with a big bang. to have all the people i love, surround me, in the same place and the same time, has overwhelmed me with gratitude and thankfulness. this life of mine is blessed with so many amazing human beings, and we all got to celebrate together and that was pretty much the best. i look forward to carrying the light of this weekend with me throughout the year as i shine bright like a diamond (sorry, i had to). there are literally no pictures from my party, but i don't think it's possible to capture something like that. all those important people from every aspect and stage of your life, communing in the same place, it's a really special thing and it makes me understand the depth of love my friends and family have for me. mine for them is infinite. as added extra awesomeness we got to stand on my porch and watch headlamps dot mt. penn like firefly's as more friends competed in the dark and dirty and then enjoyed the fireworks from the fightin' phils game. surreal.

so here's to 29, i'm gonna be iron like a lion in zion.

- picked up that pretty lady at the airport (best birthday gift EVER) and headed straight to vedge and scored a table for two for one of the best meals of my life. new favorite restaurant. 

- spontaneous trip to rehoboth to bask in the sunshine and see the ocean. 

- rocking my iron lion zion necklace from sorrelli with my susan golembiski designs party frock; birthday girl party outfit success!

holler.

You have to figure out a way to be happy without a partner, without a date, without sex, without a response to that text or a "like" on a Facebook picture or a flirty exchange on GChat.

- chiara atik 

really great article. 

i work out.

[image via the reading eagle]

here. and i'm in the best shape of my life and it's only getting better. because it's a lifestyle thing not a diet thing. so get out there and be good to yourself and i promise you will reap the benefits. learning to love yourself inside and out is a daily practice and you totally deserve it.

what i want wednesday

i mean, what blogger doesn't want these?

tune in tuesday

Alabama Shakes - ALWAYS ALRIGHT from Brian Havens on Vimeo.

i watched sliver linings playbook this weekend (loved it) and discovered this song (love it). i'm no stranger to the shakes but this one almost got past me! i dare you not to dance when you hear it.

twenty nine

[birthday selfie]

is the new black, says my best friend..and that totally works for me.

 i laid 28 to rest last night on my mat with sun salutations, gratitude and reflection for probably the most challenging year of my life.  

so, as a little birthday treat dear readers, here's five things i  bet you didn't know about me:

1. i still wear my retainer when i sleep.
2. i whistle all the time, like my dad.
3. sometimes on saturday night at 7pm i'll try to catch the lawrence welk show on pbs. i love it. i used to dance with my grandmother to it when i was little and wear her high heels.
4. i've always wanted to be just like my older cousin christina, because she's the coolest. still is.
5. i took voice lessons for four years.

weekend wonders

so, these are out of order. but i figure you're just happy to actually see some action on the blog and aren't picky about how my weekend shook out ;) it was amazingly gorgeous outside all weekend long and i think i spent about 24 hours of it outside and maybe, officially  became a mountain biker? it was a big weekend for birthdays and mountain biking; we hit up swatara state park to ride for libby's birthday on saturday and enjoyed the Duryea Downhill race with BAMBA friends on sunday (check out the entire Gravity East Series here, amazing!). cory had a birthday too and we celebrated it cinco de mayo style and played life-sized jenga (SO fun!). and last but not least, breakfast burritos (from melanie's organic farm bakery) and puppies made my sunday at the downhill race over-the-top awesome, after a long run with lady friends on neversink mountain of course. here's to many more happy weekends!

* oh yeah, the icing in my hair? that's the only proof i made two, three-layer carrot cakes with cinnamon cream cheese icing this weekend. they were a hit, obviously. who knew may babies loved carrot cake!?