Another Feather

I just discovered the most beautiful line of jewelry called Another Feather. I'm especially fascinated by the thin gold rings in the "Artemis" collection. They're delicate yet strong at the same time.

The first two photos are from Another Feather's blog and and the last two are from the main site. 

Jewelry Making

Yo. I've been spending some of my free time this week trying to get back into jewelry making. It's been rough. I have no idea what I'm doing. 

But at least I've gotten to spruce up the photos of my works-in-progress with some fun effects from A Beautiful Mess' app!

 

 

Okay, goodnight. I'll probably give more updates later on what's going on with this whole jewelry thing.

Two Pretty Things from Today

White paint, now on my walls. 

Oh My Deer print, now framed and ready to be displayed.

Goodnight. 

Life Lately

Over the last couple of weeks, I've been dealing with some very painful tendonitis in my hands and have therefore not felt like typing at all. But I have been taking a lot of iPhone photos. Here are some from the last few weeks, in no particular order.

 I'm obsessed with crates:)

 Looking over at my pretty Thai purse somehow makes my work cubicle not quite so depressing.

A few years ago, I spent a couple days in a village in Thailand, working with the coffee farmers that make Muan Jai for Starbucks. The people I was staying with told me that the CEO of Starbucks had also stayed in their hut. Ha, something might have gotten mixed up in the translation, but I at least know that some official Starbucks people stayed there before. You can order it from their site but I don't believe it's sold in US stores (despite the beautiful canvas of it hanging in this Starbucks).

 My friend Jenny and I got Thai for lunch this weekend. I'm so sad she'll be moving to NY soon:(

 My current favorite Pandora station alternates between Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, Elton John, and Tom Petty:)

 Some gnocchi I made last week... It's in a tomato cream sauce and topped with grated parmesan.

 Food truck park with Dad. The Slider House was incredible.

This is what I got there... it had a bunch of blue cheese and carmelized onions inside.

I just reorganized my bathroom counter with this little set of baskets from Ikea (five dollars for all three).

 Jenny opening up bridal shower gifts with her amazing maid of honor/twin sister, Steph.

 More twin-mazingness.

 

AND a selfie. Haha. Though it looks like I decided to just randomly put my hand on top of my head, I was actually leaning on the arm of a couch. The photo hanging in the background is of Buddhist monks walking in Burma, just in case you were wondering. 

THE END

A Poor Girl's Guide to Making Nightstands

Well, I don't know that I could say I actually made anything here... 

I took three wooden crates (about six bucks each), sanded off their rough edges, sealed them with a water-based protective finish, and stacked them.

I had considered laying at least one of the crates on its side to create a little shelf area, but I just didn't like the look as much... Maybe sometime down the road I will change it up though (one of the reasons I didn't glue them together). 

Well, that's it!

A Poor Girl's Guide to Pretty Pillow Making

At about ten o'clock this evening, I decided that I wanted a pretty pillow for a little chair in my bedroom.

And I wanted it right away.

And it had to cost ten dollars or less... preferably nothing at all.

So, I made it happen.

First, I scoured my closet for some kind of clothing item that would match my bedroom colors. I found this shirt that is cute but has always been a little tight on me.

Next, I found this feather-stuffed pillow that I originally bought thinking it would make my neck feel more comfortable while sleeping... I ended up just wrestling with it all night until I threw it across the bed in frustration. Ha. It will now be serving a better purpose. 

I then cut off the top of the shirt, turned it inside-out to stitch the bottom together, then turned it right-side-out so I could stuff the pillow in and close the other end.

Et voila! I like how the shirt gave the pillow a unique shape that works perfectly with the chair.

I can now go to sleep satisfied, knowing that my chair has the pillow it so desperately needed:)

A Letter to Myself

Dear Self,

Do you remember those days when your life wasn't boring? When almost every few months you were set out on a new adventure across the country or planet? Yeah, those were good times. It's been a while since you got that adrenaline rush... That "I'm living life to its fullest" kinda feeling... That strange sense that when you're furthest away from where you were born, you're somehow the most at home. You should try to get in touch with that again. Really. I know you don't know where to begin and you have a long list of concerns. But just allow me to just throw out some ideas for you:

1) Perhaps you could try to get to Africa for the first time. I know that all of your previous attempts to get there failed miserably, but maybe it just wasn't the right timing.

2) You could try to get back to India. Even though your first time there was kinda rough, I sense that there's something deep down that's still drawing you to that place. Besides, you know people there. You've got connections.

3) Or there's the obvious. Just move to Thailand already.

Did that give you some inspiration? I hope so... because we all know your current situation isn't working out too well. You're legitimately losing your mind by just staring at numbers on a computer screen all day. It's not healthy.

I'll be praying you make the right decision.

love,
Me

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

This post was largely inspired by listening to this song while at work today.