Weekend Updates

My weekend consisted of a party, a remembrance day for my dad who died 5 years ago and lots of crafting!I went to the Blizzard Holiday party with Ryan, who has worked there for 5 years. They celebrated all of the 5 year employees by calling them onstage and giving them a $100 gift card. They also get a sword...yes, a real sword. It is kind of amazing. We has a great time and I was honored to be there with Ryan and I was at his very first Holiday party 5 years ago.


I know I have posted this photo before, but it is my favorite of me and my dad. Saturday was my dad's death day. He died 5 years ago. My family "celebrated" (a weird word to use, I know) by eating at his fave. restaurant, The Claim Jumper. We at WAY too much food and had a Molson Canadian beer in his honor (he was Canadian.) Then we drove around and looked at Christmas lights listening to an Ipod playlist of all of his favorite songs. It was a really nice time and I am glad my mom, sister and myself take the time to do things like this.


I opened a new ETSY shop!! For You With Love

This shop is going to contain more houseware-ish items. Like I mentioned before, I have been handmaking all of my holiday presents this year and it has been really really fun! It made me want to see if there was a market out there for my new creations. Go and take a look. My store is small right now but I am going to keep updating it everyday!

Holiday Fashion

Bib/Statement Necklaces!!

Anyone that knows me knows that I have a thing for large jewelry...especially necklaces. I have worn huge necklaces for years with everything from large rhinestones to anatomical hearts. I really adore jewelry in general and I think it is a really great way to spruce up any outfit. Big bold jewelry looks great with jeans and a t shirt and it looks good with the perfect black dress. I wear jewelry everyday and I love it.

When the Bib/Statement necklace started to gain popularity this season, I thought FINALLY!!! I have a Bib necklace that looks a lot like this...
This one is from Amazon and is pretty inexpensive. Again, so many stores have these necklaces and they range in prices. I think they are all pretty amazing. The do come in different sizes, so if you dont feel horribly daring there are small ones to meet your needs. Personally, I am a fan of the gigantic ones...the bigger the better!

Holiday Fashion

Another fashion item that I feel is really great for right now is...

LACE TIGHTS!!!

Since the weather is getting colder all I want to wear with my dresses are boots and tights. I love love love black tights...they go with everything and make so many outfits look more complete. When I feel like I have nothing to wear or I just dont feel like getting dressed I automatically go for black. When I am casual, its a black long sleeved T and jeans. When I want to be a bit more dressy, its a black dress, black shoes/boots and black tights! I have actually ventured out past my black tights comfort zone and bought a pair of brown tights...which are great as well.

However, lace tights seem to be the new black tights. Honestly, they dont make your legs look fat and they are a great way to make an outfit feel dressy and special. I also think they look great for a casual day. Lace leggings/tights are a great way to wear the fabric without feeling too dressed up!

I am obsessed with the ones from Target, but I cant find a good photo. It seems like every store has a pair. Here are some good ones...


These ones are from Dillard's and are pretty inexpensive...

These ones are from Banana Repbulic and are really cute as well.

Sometimes Life Gets In The Way...

I know I said that I would be posting this week with my holiday fashion favorites, but sometimes life happens and get in the way of other things!

My dog Daisy somehow got into some chocolate. I think a bag of chocolate chips fell out of the cupboard and she at ALL of it. She woke me up on Wed night/Thurs. morning around 130am and just seemed restless. I thought she needed to go outside so I let her in and out for about a half hour. The she just began to throw up...it was literally pure chocolate.

I took her to the Emergency Animal Clinic, which is expensive but open all night AND has a pet ambulance. They put her on an IV and kept her until 730ish when I took her to my regular vet where she was monitored all day.

Daisy is a small dog...only 13 lbs and that much chocolate in her system really affected her. She is doing GREAT now, but for the past couple days we were really worried.

So $500 later, I just haven't found the time to update. I will start back up tomorrow (Monday) with my holiday fashion ideas and with my baking and crafting adventures.

Holiday Fashion

I always love clothes and fashion. I feel like the colder months are better for dressing myself in fashion forward clothes. In Southern California the summer months are so hot and I never want to wear anything more than a dress and flip flops. When it cools down a bit outside, out come the tights, boots, scarves, hats and cardigans, chunky sweaters and layers!

There are always extra parties to go to around the holiday season which offer up more opportunities to go all out fashion-wise.

This week I am going to list some of my favorite trends/looks for the holiday season!

SEQUINS!!

On hats, bags, shoes, cardigans, dresses, leggings…whatever! I love sequins all year round, but something about the holidays make me want to wear them constantly.


My personal favorite that I have been wearing non stop is a sequined slouchy beret.


This one is from Forever 21 and was super inexpensive. It instantly adds sparkle to anything I put on which is why I adore it!

Holiday Presents

So I am seriously starting to think about presents for the holidays. I really do enjoy giving gifts to people and I love when I can find that perfect thing that fits the person perfectly. I really put a lot of thought into every gift that I give…probably too much thought. Sometimes I will rack my brain for weeks on end trying to figure out the most perfect present for someone special.

I want to give myself less pressure this year in regards to the present situation. I know that gift giving is not about the money and thoughtfulness counts way more than a price tag. However, I am a person that can easily go overboard because I enjoy giving gifts so much. I have decided that I am going to try and make the majority of my gifts for this holiday season. Maybe this sounds like more work than buying something. Maybe this sounds like, once again, I am going overboard. Maybe this sounds insane given everything I have lined up for the next month and a half.

I am actually excited about making my presents this year. I used to do this as a little girl. My mom would have me make something every year to give to all of our family and friends. Mostly it was just an ornament, but it was super adorable. I am not trying to recreate my adorableness but I am trying to save money and be really thoughtful at the same time. I would tell you what I am making, but I know there are people who read this that I give presents too and I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise!

Here are some really nice links that talk about home-made gifts…

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/recipe-collections-favorites/easy-recipes-handsome-holiday-gifts-00000000023442/index.html

http://www.realsimple.com/holidays-entertaining/gifts/homemade-holiday-gifts-00000000024318/index.html

http://familycrafts.about.com/od/giftstomake/tp/HomeMadeGiftIdeas.htm

http://www.instructables.com/id/Homemade-Gifts/

http://www.marthastewart.com/crafts

New Listing!!

White Lace Necklace!!




This is my first attempt at making a necklace with lace. I love how it turned out!

I used antique bronze chain and findings as well as different pieces of lace. The larger lace section has a little beading on it including tiny pears and clear sequins. The smaller lace section had a plastic clear teardrop faceted bead hanging from it. The necklace measures about 10 inches long.

SALE

Sale at my ETSY shop!! Starting Friday Nov. 27th at 12am!

Buy one item, get 5% off
Buy two items, get 10% off
Buy three or more items, get 15% off

Just write "Happy Thanksgiving" in the message to seller and receive a new invoice or a refund through paypal.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

some more updates

Again, i have fallen out of touch. The dance concert at Santa Ana College is this week, so I have been BUSY...with rehearsals, music editing, costume altering, choreography and other production business.

I swear I will update way more often once this week is over. I have big plans for baking, crafting and fashion adventures.

love and hugs

updates

i have been out of touch for a little over a week. here is a recap of what happened...

Santa BarbaraHalloweenBaking cookies with Jenn
Saturday Nov. 7th was my dad's birthday. He would have been 54. It was actually more emotional for me than other years. My sister and I both had to work, but we spent the evening as a family with my mom. We ordered a pizza and went to Baskin Robbins for ice cream...both were my dad's absolute favorite. Then the three of us watched The Godfather" which was my dad's favorite movie.
It was nice to just be mellow and spend time together. I really miss him...everyday. I could tell he was around in the days leading up to his actual birthday and especially on the day.

Halloween!

What are you dressing up as for Halloween?

I really do love this holiday. I always have. I always decide my costume way in advance and piece it together throughout the year. When I was a kid, trick or treating was pure joy. My mom always sued to make our costumes...we NEVER bought one from the store. I think they were better that way.

This Halloween I am being funny and making a small social commentary at the same time. I am dressing up as Abraham Lincoln...but sexy...Babe-raham Lincoln.

There is a reason why I picked Lincoln...I have always been in love with him for some strange reason. As a little girl I liked him and he was an imaginary friend. My parents took me to Mt. Rushmore numerous times and I knew all the presidents on the huge mountain carving by the time I was like 2 years old. I was a weird kid...I know.

So the sexy part...Personally I am bothered that Halloween costumes for women are all automatically something "sexy." And the fact that women think that MUST dress up as something "sexy" for Halloween bothers me too. I think it is silly and unnecessary. I NEVER dress up as "sexy" anything and a make it a point to dress up as something almost the opposite (example: 2 years ago, Uma Thurman from Pulp Fiction AFTER her overdose, needle in chest and blood all over).

So my idea was to dress up as something that was ridiculous "sexy" i.e. Lincoln. I will have this dress on...
It is actually a nice dress and can be short or long...obvuiusly for Halloween it will be short. I will also have fishnets and my FABULOUS Madden Girl grey peep toe platform pumps with a huge flower on the toe.

The finishing touch?
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

the cutest dress i have seen in a while

i love fashion and clothes. i admit it. i am an addict. sadly, i dont make enough money to fulfill my addiction and actually buy all of the clothing and accessory items i want.

in order to satisfy my shopping desires, i constantly "window shop" on the internet. making countless numbers of "wish lists' and/or shopping carts filled to the brim. i rarely ever make these purchases as some of the grand totals are worth more than my life :)
however, continuing with my little ritual gives me a feeling of satisfaction and is conducive to my shopping sobriety.

i did stumble across this little beauty yesterday on B&Lu. i am pretty much in love and i am really really considering buying it. i dont normally spend on trendy items of clothing, but i feel like this fits my style and i could wear it forever.

(photo from B&Lu.com)

i also found this adorable dress...

(photo from Missphit.com)

this dress is from the website Missphit. i basically adore it.

i love fake shopping and sharing it with the world

my new makeup love

i have seen spray makeup for years and i have either not wanted to try it or couldn't find it. even though i dont wear foundation on a regular basis, i do try and wear it to work because i want to look a bit nicer. i have just not been able to find a foundation that is light but doesnt disappear.

this foundation is really amazing. it is really light and it totally evens out my skin.

i would recommend giving it a try!

thrifting sucess

i am currently choreographing a piece for Santa Ana College's Fall faculty show. since there has been so many cutbacks in the budget this semester, we basically have no money for production which means our costume people are non existent. so this semester it is up to the choreographers to get their own costumes.

yesterday i went into the dance departments costume storage facility (which i helped organize when i was a student there) and looked around for costumes. i was fairly unlucky and only picked up a few things.

on my way home i decided to stop over at my local Goodwill and see what i could find. in my head, i was seeing my dancers is feminine dresses...with a vintagey feel...ruffles and lace and floral print.

i was unbelievably successful. i got 9 dresses (i have 8 dancers, but having extras is always good) and a cardigan (also for the dance) for $80!

all of the dresses "go" together and i feel like they are really cohesive. i think they will look great together on stage.

i also got a few other things...2 to sell on ETSY and one for ME!

for ETSY



for ETSY
for ME!!!

the weekend

my weekend consisted of home made food, flowers, shopping, some organization, late night adventures and kitty cats.

the lasagna i mentioned before turned out to be delicious! i shared it with friends and family and there was basically nothing left over, which is always a good sign.


cheesy, melty, gooey, veggie goodness



i bought these flowers at a local supermarket. normally supermarket flowers are not my first choice, but i cannot resist sunflowers.

i found the best pair of sunglasses EVER. they are dark and large and cover a lot of my face, which is exactly what i want in a pair of sunglasses. they are so amazing (and cheap at 9.99) i bought 2...one in black and one in brown!

i re-took some of my ETSY photos. i read a great article on etsy photographs and i am trying to make my pictures more consistent and better quality. remember...1) i am not a photographer and 2) i dont have a fancy camera. however, i think they look better than before. here is an example...

finally...late night adventures and kitty cats dont need much explaination

cooking adventures

last night i went to the farmer's market in downtown Fullerton. i really enjoy this market in particular because of the community feel it has. it is in a great location that is surrounded with restaurants, little shops, yoga studios, tea houses, dance studios and great old houses. there is also a stage with a variety of different performers...mostly bands and most of the time the bands are not so good, but people consistently come to watch and set up their chairs in a half circle around the stage. there are food vendors that sell food to eat and other people selling their crafts. loads of people bring their children and dogs. it is just really lovely and i enjoy going.

i bought a bunch of fresh vegetables so i could make a lasagna. i made it today to let it sit over night and i will be putting it in the oven tomorrow. i didnt really follow a recipe...i just remembered other lasagna recipes i have made in the past and went off instinct.

i used 3 kinds of cheeses, a jar of alfredo sauce, and 1 can of diced tomatoes italian style. The vegetables i used included; tomatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, carrots, onion and garlic. i also threw in some meatless "ground beef" like crumbles to give it some texture.

i cooked everything up a little bit in a saute pan before i placed it all in the baking dish.

then i just layered everything until the pan was full and put loads and loads of cheese on top.




how could it be bad right?

have a good weekend friends!

news

someone sent me this article announcing that some of the SIGG water bottles have BPA in them. sad for all of us who have one. read on...

http://www.ecokaren.com/2009/08/bpa-in-sigg-water-bottles/

i happen to have a SIGG water bottle. it looks like this...(photo from Sigg website)


i got reusable water bottles to avoid BPA and other chemicals in plastic water bottles. luckily i have a couple Klean Kanteen bottles to use. hopefully i will get my stuff together and send it back to SIGG for a replacement (read the article, it tells you what to do)

sneak preview

i am pretty much finished with this necklace and i thought i would give my blog readers a sneak preview.
it is a little heavy, but sits along the collar bones. the flower is made from a few different bronze flowers glued together and the beads are plastic.


i am excited to list it. i might make one for myself.

fun finds

i love finding treasures in different places. i have found a few thing recently that i really want to share!i found this the other day at my little mailbox/post office place. i was standing in line waiting to ship some ETSY items and i looked over to my left and there it was. my lovely friend jenn (Sweet Pea Studios) has one of these cats and i have always been jealous.

now i have my own little cat. he sits up high on a shelf waving and waving and waving. i lovelovelove him.

i also found this AMAZING mirror at a garage sale a couple weekends ago. it was only $10!


it was painted this retro yellow color by the previous owner and it is super heavy. it is special and vintage and one of a kind. i am in love with it!

things i love

i haven't bought these boots yet, but i am seriously considering it.( photo from Payless website)

Payless shoes are great because they are cheap and trendy, but because they are so inexpensive it doesn't matter if they break or go out of style in a year.



i bought this necklace in gold from Forever 21. i ADORE it.
(photo from Forever 21 website)

it is hard to tell, but the owl has rhinestones in his eyes and a large jewel in his belly. i have gotten so many compliments on my new little friend.

i got my new headband from Heart of Light today.

(photo from Heart of Light website)

it is SO PRETTY! i can't wait to wear it! the packaging was adorable and it came to my house really quickly. lovelovelove

i found this dress today on ModCloth.

(photo from ModCloth website)

it is super cute and feminine and professional. i have nothing like it and i think it would look great with all of the colored heels i have

day off

i dont have work today, which is nice. my mom is having work done on the house today, so i have to sit here and be available for whatever they need. it is always awkward and weird when strangers come into your house.

i did make two sales on ETSY today. i sold a really cool necklace and a ring. i am very happy. it seems like that is how my ETSY selling always goes. i sell a handful of things all at the same time and then i will go for a bit without selling anything. weird...

i did buy myself something LOVELY today on ETSY from "Heart of Light"

(photo from Heart of Light)

i am really excited to get my headband and wear it all the time!

new kitten

once again an animal has found its way into my life. our neighbors found a kitten on their driveway and they couldn't find the owners. obviously i told them that if they can't find a place for her, my house would take her...
she is absolutely adorable. we haven't really named her yet...nothing seems to be fitting. she is really really feisty and has loads of energy. she is all black with a tiny tiny white spot on her chest. she has been a huge distraction, so my crafting has been put on hold. i will be back with more craft news and new listings!

i love thrift stores

i went to the local goodwill and found some really nice things. more importantly, my tulip bowls came today. i love vintage house wears. i love the colors and the durability. they are just amazing and extra wonderful when found in really good condition. i tried to photograph my little set up...but the photo is not that good...


i still love my little set up. i will probably change it in the next 10 minutes, but i love it regardless.

i also found a cute 80's dress

and an AMAZING pink coat from (im guessing) the 1960's



both items will be listed on my ETSY store as soon as i take measurements. i can tell you now that the dress would probably fit a medium to extra large. the coat is more like a small to medium. they both are in REALLY good condition, which is always exciting with vintage clothes.

i plan to keep thrifting at my local stores so my collection will grow. i dont really need a larger collection of things, but its too fun to stop.