Hey everyone! Happy Tuesday! Today I have a fun little post for you all which is pretty photo heavy. So if it wasn't already obvious on the blog I'm a bit of a cat person (see this post and this post), not that I don't love dogs, but I love how curious, graceful, and playful cats can be. I first heard about the Cat Cafes in Japan a little while ago (and when I go to Japan next year I CANNOT WAIT to explore some) but I knew that there weren't many open in the United States. 

Then in 2014 when I was in Lima, Peru I happened upon a Cat Park in Miraflores neighborhood (seriously so fun, check it out if you're in Lima, it's called John F. Kennedy Park). I got my fix of meeting cute, friendly cats, but I still wished we had something in our city. Dog parks are so common, why not something for cats?

Then I heard the first cat cafe, Le Cat Cafe, was opening in Philadelphia this past March! I was so excited, Alex and I literally couldn't wait to go! Since I was in and out of town all spring for work we didn't get around to going right away. However, since we had a pretty relaxed schedule this past weekend we decided to head up to the cat cafe on Sunday. 

All the cats are provided by Green Street Rescue and are available for adoption. You can pay for either an hour or half hour of playtime with the kitties. Each playtime also includes one Keurig beverage and you can purchase more drinks and cat treats for a small donation. 

The cafe also offers yoga on Mondays and pilates on Sundays with the kitties! I think I'm going to need to go back to try that out! Every cat was so friendly and there were plenty of toys available to interact with the cats. 

We thoroughly enjoyed our hour of playing with all the cats, it literally flew by! We even chatted with the staff about the stories of some of the rescued cats. For example, we learned the cat of the week 'Big Daddy' was actually rescued from Puerto Rico by the owner of the cafe while she was on vacation. 

Isn't it just cuteness overload? If you're in the Philadelphia area I highly recommend checking out the cafe, it's for a great cause and it's a fun way to spend an hour! 

Have you been to a cat cafe, would you go to one?

Follow along with Laura on Bloglovin, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, & Twitter

Weekend Rewind vol. 6 [NYC Edition]

Hello friends! How were your weekends? Mine went bye wayyy too quickly, one minute it was Friday at 6pm, the next I was getting up for work this morning! Alex came up to NYC this weekend to spend one last weekend in the city before I head back to Philadelphia to begin working on my project remotely. It was bittersweet, but we tried to enjoy every minute of the weekend, especially since the weather has gotten SO much better since December when I first start coming up to NYC for work. 

I started off by getting Bluestone Lane for breakfast on Friday morning, their banana toast with almond butter is AMAZING, a must-try! 

We went to dinner Friday night at Palma, I'm so mad I didn't get any good pictures from dinner because the restaurant was adorable and the food was divine, I highly recommend for dinner or brunch if you're in the city!

On Saturday afternoon we headed up to The West 79th Street Boat Basin for the Tulane Alumni Club of NYC annual crawfish boil. I was so happy to be able to hang out with some of my friends from school, all while enjoying unlimited crawfish, Abita, jambalaya, fried catfish, and red beans & rice! Besides my friends from Tulane, the thing I miss most about NOLA is the amazing food!

Gimme alllll the crawfish! So yummy!

On a tip from one of my co-workers we stopped by Levain Bakery while we were on the Upper West Side to try some of their chocolate chip cookies. Oh. My. God. they were AMAZING! Worth the line and the $4 price tag per cookie. Highly recommend if you find yourself in the area!

I was also loving the architecture and amazing pre-war buildings on the Upper West Side, if I ever move to NYC I could definitely see this being my neighborhood!

On Sunday morning Alex and I grabbed brunch at The Smith in East Village, which is another neighborhood I've come to love. The Smith is one of my favorite spots for cocktails and dinner, and the brunch did not disappoint! I really like the candied bacon scones and the fresh squeezed orange juice that comes free with your brunch entree!

After brunch we went shopping in SoHo and I scouted out my dream purse...which I will maybe be purchasing this summer, stay tuned for that one. We got dinner at Cafe Habana one of my favorite spots in NoLita before heading to Brooklyn to watch Game of Thrones at The Halyards and play Game of Thrones trivia before the episode. It was such a fun experience, I'm thinking about going to viewing parties in Philly from now on, it's so fun to see how the bar reacts to the show...even though I was tearing up at the end of this week's episode. 

How were your weekends? I hope everyone has a great Monday! I'll be working and then ordering my favorite take-out and watching The Bachelorette tonight, anyone else with me? 

Follow along with Laura on Bloglovin, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, & Twitter

Linking up with B Loved Boston and Her Heartland Soul

Weekend Rewind vol. 5

Hey everyone, happy Monday! I have some fun posts coming up for you this weekend, but today I thought it'd be fun to share some photos from this past weekend and give you a little weekend recap post since I haven't done one in awhile. 

Hello Friends! Happy Monday! I can't believe the weekend is already over. My friend Lori's birthday was this past week and she had a big birthday party on Saturday night. Lori and I were in the same sorority at Tulane and so our sorority sisters Alex and Lauren decided to make the trip up from D.C. to join in the celebrations. It was a great mini-reunion and we had amazing weather, I couldn't have asked for a better weekend!

On Friday night after we all arrived in Philly we went to The Franklin Bar which is a speakeasy style bar in Center City with amazing cocktails. We went to the Upstairs Bar portion which has a tropical theme and played amazing 90's music the whole time. Needless to say, I'll be back. We went to brunch on Saturday at The Dandelion, which is a British pub themed restaurant in Rittenhouse Square neighborhood in Philly and on Sunday we went to Hickory Lane Bistro in the Fairmount area. Both were delicious and I highly recommend if you're planning on visiting (or live in) Philly.

Other than eating and drinking we tried to spend time walking around the city and enjoying the weather. We went to Cira Green on Sunday afternoon which is quickly becoming one of my favorite outdoor spaces in the city (remember this post which I shot at Cira Green?).

Now, one more week of work until I'm back in Philly and getting ready to go to California next week! I am so ready for a little vacation, so I can't wait!

How were your weekends? Hope you have a great day!

Follow along with Laura on Bloglovin, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, & Twitter

Linking up with B Loved Boston and Her Heartland Soul

NYC: Galentine's Day Weekend in Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan

(this is Carrie Bradshaw's stoop from Sex and the City!)

Hi everyone! I hope you're all having a great week so far. I totally wanted to have this post ready to go up yesterday, but the weekend was crazy and it did not happen. Anyways, it's here now! I just wanted to share a little recap of my weekend with you guys, including some fun pictures from around NYC. 

I had five friends visit this weekend and stay with me in my apartment located in the Financial District. We hung out entirely in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, which are some of my favorite places in the city. The Lower East Side is becoming by go-to weekend hang out spot, Brooklyn is really growing on me, and SoHo is amazing (especially the shopping). 

I love having the opportunity to have my friends visit me in this new city and experience things we never would have gotten the chance to experience. On Friday we went out on the Lower East Side (dancing until late into the night), followed by bagels and blow outs on Saturday morning at Brookfield Place, a new mall near Battery Park, which is so gorgeous and you all should check it out. After we were all glamed up we went back to my apartment and got ready to go explore Brooklyn. We decided to walk to Brooklyn via the Brooklyn Bridge, which turned out to be crazy crowded and long, but it was an awesome bucket list experience. 

We explored Brooklyn Bridge State Park and the DUMBO district, including all of the really cool murals on the underpasses. It's really a cool neighborhood, filled with coffee shops, restaurants, little boutiques, and art galleries. I highly recommend checking it out if you have the chance! 

On Saturday night we got dinner at Sauce and then went out to Hotel Chantelle which is quickly becoming one of my favorite dance spots because the music is spot on. After a late night out we were troopers and were up early to get brunch Sunday morning at Jack's Wife Freda in SoHo. I highly recommend for a great brunch with friends, it's Mediterranean themed and so yummy, I had the Green Shakshuka. After brunch we walked around SoHo before arriving at Carrie Bradshaw's stoop in the West Village. 

Overall it was a great girlfriend weekend and I'm so happy I got to spend time with my friends. Especially since we all live in different cities (none of my friends who came live in Philly!) and time together is so precious. If you take nothing else from this post, take a minute to talk to your girlfriends :) 

Have you ever had a girl's weekend in NYC or gone to any of these places? I hope you enjoy these NYC posts, if you'd like more of them please let me know! Have a great rest of the week!

Follow along with Laura on Bloglovin, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, & Twitter

Weekend Rewind + President's Day Sales Shopping Guide

Hey Everyone! Happy Monday! If you live in the Northeast I'm sure you were frozen all weekend like me. It was brutal guys, Alex and I went up to my hometown to hang out with my mom and dad on Saturday and took the train back into the city. I'm not going to lie, walking home from the train station was the worst (i.e. coldest) 15 minutes I've had in a long time. I should probably count my blessings for that. We made it back to the warmth and popped a bottle of rosé  and watched 27 Dressed (well I did) and all was ok.

On Sunday we grabbed dinner at Vernick Food and Drink in Center City and had a nice relaxing evening. It was especially nice since I am working from home in Philly today and didn't have to wake up early to catch the Amtrak back to NYC. Anyways, long story short I was planning on taking two sets of outfit photos this weekend, but I just did not want freeze taking photos and decided to forgo the process, sorry guys! Don't worry there's some great content coming up this week, so keep popping by the blog! Also, there's still time to enter my giveaway with CaseApp for your chance to a win a $40 gift card to their website where you can design your own phone case or laptop skin (or choose from their selection of beautiful designs). Head over right here to enter that, today is the last day!

Anyways, if you're lucky enough to be home and not working today its the perfect time to do a little online shopping! Lots of stores are having great sales on Fall/Winter merchandise, and some are even offering savings on items which would be perfect for Spring!

Nordstrom is having a Winter Clearance Sale with up to 40% off favorite styles for women, men, and kids. I have rounded up my top picks (and personal wishlist) below:

Ann Taylor: Use code "LOVE" to take 30% off all new styles and 50% off all sale styles. My picks are this gorgeous skirt, these shorts, and this shell which would be perfect for work

Steve Madden: Use code "PREZ" for 25% off. My picks are these flats which would be great for work, these awesome heels, or these classic slides which are perfect to tuck away for spring or summer.

Anthropologie: Extra 40% off sale styles at Anthro with code "EXTRA40". They are one of my favorite retailers and I always find something I wish was just a little bit less expensive. Now is the time to score, I am eyeing this mixed pattern dress, this chic blouse, this floral dress, and this eyelet swing dress.

Madewell: Extra 30% off sale times with code "XOXOMW". My picks are this plaid coat, this classic bucket bag, and these classic heels.

J.Crew: Extra 40% off final sale styles with code "SHOPSALE". My picks are this beautiful coat, or this one, this classic crossbody bag, and this classic striped top.

ASOS: 20% off with code "Lincoln". This gray wrap dress, this Ted Baker dress (actually included in this post), this front button mini skirt, and this off-shoulder white dress.

GAP: 40% off with code "LONGWKND".  Loving this striped t-shirt dress, these jogger-style sweatpants, and these girlfriend style shorts.

Athleta: 20% off sale styles with code "EXTRA20". Now is the time to stock up on classic black leggings, these printed leggings, this printer tank top, or this mesh tank.

Lilly Pultizer: Spend $200 and get a free cosmetic bag. I'd pick up these athletic pants, this cute spring dress, or a classic Elsa top.

Will you be shopping the sales today? What are you in the market for? I hope everyone has a happy Monday and happy shopping!

Follow along with Laura on Bloglovin, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, & Twitter

Linking up with B Loved Boston and Her Heartland Soul