OOTN: Fanatics.com Red Sox Challenge

As most of you know, I’ve lived in the Boston area all of my life. With that being said, it can be assumed that one of my favorite past times is definitely watching and attending Boston sports games!

And, if you’ve stuck around long enough, I’m positive you’ve seen at least one past blog posts where I rant and rave about attending a wicked awesome sports game in the area.

Contrary to popular belief, not every girl who likes sports dresses like a tom boy. I consider myself to have a great sense of fashion, so of course when I discovered fanatics.com, I had to challenge myself to create a look using one of their pieces. I just couldn't resist!

Not from the Boston area? 

Do you root for a different home team? 

Is your favorite sport hockey, lacrosse, or NASCAR? 

Fanatics.com is one of the top 50 internet retail companies in the game right now. They are home to thousands of officially licensed sports items. They offer flat rate shipping for $4.99 as well as easy returns 365 days of the year! You honestly can't beat that. With a massive selection of caps, jerseys and other merch, there's something for everyone!

Seeing as it’s baseball season, of course I chose to 
re-create a look based around the Boston Red Sox.

Naturally, I went with a very classic fitted Red Sox cap.

With over 200 Red Sox Hats to choose from, 
there's something for everyone!

If I had all the money in the world, I would watch every sporting event live from stadium seats, but unfortunately being a broke Grad student and a teacher, it’s highly unlikely. The next best thing however, is getting together with a bunch of my friends, taking the T into Fenway and watching the game at one of the crowded sports bars.

Wait! Can you really wear a hat in those bars?

Actually, those bars typically have no dress code so guys and gals are welcome to wear their wicked sweet Sox hats while cheering on the best team in MLB.

Okay, so I can wear a hat, but what if I don’t want to wear
my wicked expensive $120 jersey to the bar?
I don't want sloppy bar folk to spill anything on it!

AND, what if I want to hop back on the T after the game and take it to 

Faneuil Hall and finish off the night dancing?

There's got to be a catch...

Nope! No catch. It's quite simple actually.
With some style help from fanatics.com, I’ve come up with the perfect ensemble for a night out in Boston where you can watch the game, have a few brewskies and end the night dancing.

To Purchase:   | Hat |  Top  |  Bottoms  |  Shoes  |  Bag  |  Bracelets  |

One of the greatest things about this outfit is that it 
incorporates pieces that I already own. 

By using solid colors from the fanatics.com Red Sox cap, (red and navy blue) not only am I dressed appropriately to represent my home team at the bar, but I'm also ready to hit the club after.

Nothing is worse that feeling under-dressed or over-dressed when you're out on the town.
What rocks about this whole look is that regardless of where the night takes you, you will
look and feel comfortable.

Something else I love about these pieces is that the colors can be flip-flopped. Everything that is red can be navy blue and likewise, everything that is navy blue can be red.

The color scheme can also be substituted depending on the sport (Yellow & Black for the Bruins) or for the city (Yellow & Purple for LA).

One of the reasons why I love fashion so much is that it's completely your own.
Not into crop tops? 
A little chilly outside? 
What if you're out with the boyfriend and his parents watching the game?
The crop top that I've included can be easily put back into the closet. Instead, try a cute navy camisole, long sleeve pull over, or even denim button up.

What if you aren't going to a bar? 

What if you stood on your feet all day at work? 

Depending on your mood and where you will end up watching the sox game,
the black heels can also be exchanged for black flats, sneakers or sandals, too.

How would you recreate this look?

What's your favorite item from fanatics.com?
How would you style it?!

Leave it in the comments down below!

Until next time,

xoxo Ines

Celebrating 3 years with the love of my life...

On March 15, I had the honor of celebrating my 

three year anniversary with the love of my life!

Originally, we had planned to go away that weekend and spend time skiing and enjoying each other's company but because of a dance audition, we had to cancel last minute.

Regardless, we had a wonderful night. 

We went to one of our favorite restaurants in downtown Boston, Abby Lane, and enjoyed delicious gourmet cuisine.

If you are ever in the Downtown Theater District of Boston, I highly recommend Abby Lane. Especially in the spring and summer month, I suggest sitting upstairs because they open all the windows!

Anyways, we spend the majority of our night enjoying wine and beer, talking and laughing.

Because of my crazy dance schedule lately, Brendan and I hadn't gotten a lot of time to hang out, catch up and just chat like we usually do.

He's the most understanding, flexible, supportive person I've ever met and I'm lucky to have him in my life. 

It's funny because when we hit out 1 year anniversary, I can remember thinking, "Wow, it feels more like 5 years have gone by!"

But not that it's our 3 year anniversary, I find it hilarious that now I'm thinking, "Wow, it only feels like 1 year."

The reason I say this is because it literally feels like just yesterday that I met him 6 years ago in high school. Or that it feels like just yesterday when we had our first kiss outside my house 3 years ago when we started dating.

I find it interesting that in the beginning it felt like time was going so slow and that it felt as though years and years had gone by, and now I'm looking at out relationship and I honestly can't believe it's already been three years.

It's been three years of nothing but joy, laughter, support, love, listening, affection and any other synonym I can think for any f these words.

My only wish is that more people in the world got to experience what I experience with Brendan everyday. 

I love him to the moon and back a thousand time and I always will.

Until next time,

XOXO Ines

One Year Milestone | Anniversary

Brendan and myself celebrated our one year anniversary on March 14, 2013.

It was more than I could have ever imagined an anniversary to be.

 

It was amazing! 

 

 

 

My relationship with Brendan is the healthiest, most supportive and loving relationship I have ever

experienced.

 

To me, having an amazing one year anniversary was a minimal detail because the past 365 days with him had already been so amazing.

 

But, because I am such a people pleaser, when he did ask me what I wanted to do to celebrate, you could say I was a bit indecisive.

 

Usually, I tend to lean towards doing what others want to do as opposed to what I want to do because of just how much of a people pleaser I am. I put my desires to the side.

One of the things I love most about Brendan is that he wants to do what I want to do.

 

He will sit there until I finally speak up and tell him what I want to do; and I'm glad he does because he knows deep down inside I have an idea of what I want to do but I'll put his wants before mine.

 

 

I need someone like him in my life. 

 

 

What we eventually decided on was to get dressed up, get dinner in downtown Boston, go dancing and stay over night in the city. 

The night was more than I could have imagined.

 

 

...It was like something out of a movie...

 

 

He picked me up from work and we drove into the city.

 

When I walked into the hotel room he let me go first. There were rose petals all over the bed, champagne chilling in the corner and a gift perfectly placed in the middle.

 

 

#PrinceCharming

 

 

 

We quickly got dressed and headed over to what is now one of our favorite restaurants, Abby Lane.

 

Located in the heart of the theater district in Boston, I was taken over by the breath taking view and the lounge-like feeling. 

After dinner, we headed over to a place where everybody knew our names.

 

No I don't mean Cheer's!

 

I'm talking about the Bell In Hand on Union Street.

 

Over the past year of our relationship, Brendan and I would get drinks and dance the night away at the oldest bar in America.

 

Of course, it was a plus that at one point Brendan had about 6 best friends working the doors as bouncers.

 

Regardless, we knew that we wanted to head on over to 'our spot' to end the night.

After a couple hours of dance, kissing, laughing and drinking we walked back over to out hotel room and ended the night enjoyed strawberries and chanpagne and each others company. 

 

It's true what they say,

"when you know, you know..."

 

Until Next time, 

Ines xoxo

Looking Back on 2 Years

Our two year anniversary was March 15, 2014.

It's hard to believe that more than two years with my wonderful guy have already flown by, so I thought I would take some time and reminisce about our two year anniversary.

For our 2 year, we returned to one of our favorite places! Abby Lane. One our one year, we decided to grab dinner here after I had tried out the restaurant with some friends. We fell in love and of course had to keep the tradition going.

After dinner, Brendan treated me to The Blue Man group in downtown Boston. It was perfect because we were already in the theater district so we only had to walk over one street to the Charles Playhouse.

The show was awesome and my jaw was open on the ground the entire time!! After the show, we quickly moved to the lobby where we snagged a couple pictures with a Blue Man.

The night was magical and my love couldn't have planned it any better. If we had stayed in and snuggled on the couch all night I would have still enjoyed myself because of who I was snuggling with and the wonderful relationship we have.

Until next time,
Ines xoxo

I WANT TO BE YOUR GIRLFRIEND! #tbt

This was the first picture Brendan and myself ever took together!

It was March 7, 2012 and it was my 21st birthday. Only two of my other girlfriends were 21 so I invited Brendan out with us to dinner then drinks afterwards. We had been dating for about 4 months at that point, but I was extremely nervous to have him there with me. 

Talk about butterflies in my stomach all night! 

I feel as though once you invite the person you are somewhat dating out with your friends, or to a family party, you're pretty much silently screaming

                                      I WANT TO BE YOUR GIRLFRIEND! 

I was falling hard for him. We had been dating 4 months. I had met his parents and friends. I had gone out with him and his friends. I opened myself up to him and became vulnerable. He was (and still is) wonderful. I was ready to take the next step.

And sometimes, because I am so nice, I tend to accept and trust everyone too easily. I end up misinterpreting other people intentions or I get completely taken advantage of.  Then, I'm left with feeling let down and hurt. 

Back in high school, me and Brendan briefly dated for maybe 3 months. It was never anything serious and being a naive 17 year old girl, I misjudged his actions and what he wanted. He wasn't as serious as I was. I started to develop feelings but he didn't feel the same way. A few days before I had planned to tell him exactly how I felt he told me he was interested in someone else.

But that's okay!

I'm glad it didn't work out between us back then. I was an unstable lunatic who had never had a real relationship so I know for a fact I would not have been able to handle Brendan. Plus, now that I've gone through some rough patches in my life and I know what I want and I can appreciate him and everything he is and does whole-heartedly.

It's funny how you meet someone, exchange numbers and quickly start to develop feelings for them. You can't wait for the next date, the next opportunity to dress up, hold their hand and get intense butterflies.

With more butterflies comes more anxiety; Am I what he wants? Does he actually like me? Is he only trying to get into my pants? How long will we date until he asks me to be his girlfriend? Should I actually tell him how I feel, or will that freak him out?

Should I wait for him to tell me first?

First time around did not go so well, but this time, he made up for it. He apologized for the past, admitted his wrongs and told me how much I meant to him.

About a week after my birthday Brendan asked me to be his girlfriend. I am so grateful for that day. And, I can tell you with the biggest smile on my face, two years later I still get butterflies in my stomach and in my throat every time I see him.

Love is out there for everyone, you just can't go looking for it.

It needs to find you.

.

If you found this blog post at all helpful, make sure to share, follow and give it a +1!

Until next time,

Ines xoxo

First Country Concert of the Summer!

I've always loved country music. 

Ever since I can remember, it's what my dad listened to in the car on the way to and from school. And he wouldn't sing along, he would whistle; it's one of my favorite memories. 

I think it's hilarious considering my dad is a little Portuguese man.

Thank goodness Brendan loves country too. None of my hometown friends are into it, so he's my concert buddy once summertime rolls around.

Because of this, it wasn't until last year in July 2013 that I went to my first country concert. We ended up going to Jason Aldean @ Fenway Park both nights. IT WAS AWESOME!

(Jason Aldean: July 2013)

Tickets are 20 rows back from the stage and I've never been more excited!

It's even more exciting because George Straight is on a farewell tour. His concert at Gillette will be his second to last concert ever, large venue wise. I'm sure he plans to do appearances and play smaller crowds.  

If I could go to every country concert MA had to offer, I'd be the happiest girl in the world….

Too bad I'd be too poor to do anything else. haha. But it would all be worth it. 

(Update and Pictures from the George Straight concert to follow in a later post)

Until next time, 

Ines xoxo