Thrifted Find: Turquoise Edition

I was sitting on my balcony this morning and suddenly I was struck by the sudden urge to blog. I hope this feeling sticks around! I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm horribly homesick for all my crafting supplies! The other day I found the coolest dress in a vintage italian store and thought 'if only I had my sewing machine....' But in any case this is a thrifted find that I should have shared ages ago and just never did [bad blogger]! 

I found this ring at the SF flea market back home and we have yet to part since. In case you are new to my love of turquoise you can be caught up here. In any case, this little love and I are off to class. Field trip to the Ferragamo Museum today! Has anyone else had any good thrifted finds lately?

-E

Pisa & Cinque Terra

I bought a shock waterproof video camera my second week in Italia. It has quite possibly been my best purchase yet. Constantly in my hand I document every little thing that catches my eye. Some of the footage is priceless I swear! Here is a little video I put together from my weekend trip to Pisa and Cinque Tera:

Pisa

Porto Venere

On the boat to Monterosso...worried about getting sunburned

Saint Francis, Monterosso

Just flying the pocket kite in Monterosso 

I don’t know if I’ve even been so happy before. It’s hard for me to express what is happening in my life right now, and it’s even harder for me to explain everything to my friends back home. I think this is because for me there are no words to express just how in awe I am of everything. I didn’t know anything could be as beautiful as the places I’ve gone to, or be as perfect as an espresso in the corner café in the morning, or as exciting as booking a train ticket to some place I’ve never been to. I can even look back on getting locked out of my apartment after a long weekend trip and think of that as a good memory [picture below]. 

Another update coming soon! 

-E

My New Home

Today is my first Saturday in Firenze. The tile in my room is an oxidized green with beautiful patterns on it. My floor is a piece of art by its self. My bed is pressed against the far wall, when I sit up I can look out to my deck. The doors are tall and the ceiling taller. Normally the horrible heat flows into my room from those doors, but today a cool breeze and some rain drifts in. I don't know how to describe what I'm experiencing, I think my senses are as overwhelmed as I am.

 

In the morning I wake up and wander out to my deck and watch the bell swing back in forth in the tower. I can almost reach out and touch my neighbor, the Medici Chapel...

-E

My College Kitchen: Black Bean Salad

So it's true, I'm no longer in my dorm kitchen but that doesn't mean I still can't cook inexpensive meals like I am. This is protein packed salad is perfect for lunch.

 Ingredients: 

lime

avocado

tomato

green onion

bell pepper

black beans

If you've forgotten about all the good stuff packed into an avocado, don't worry, you can check it out here. I went a little heavy on the lime with mine because that's all the pow flavor there is in this meal. Can you say healthy?

Suggestion: I would have added corn too but I didn't have any! Frozen is fine! 

-E

Su·per·man Sunday: Framed Pressed Flowers

I was looking through my archive a la superman when I found these pictures of pressed leaves and flowers. I think they look very cool framed and hanging on the wall, especially the small ones on the individual white backs. That massive lead isn't looking too shabby its self though!

 I posted this pressed flower post a few weeks ago, and this is just another way to use those flowers! What do you think? 

               

su·per·man 1. binder serving as holder of my massive collection of photos and magazine clippings that have been deemed awesome  2. a widely considered American cultural icon. 

-E

Mason Jar Storage Fix

Mason jars are all over the internet right now. People are literally using them for just about everything, which is understandable because they are pretty adorable. Since moving back home I've had to downsize a lot. This is something I'm sure my dad would laugh at because I still have an oddly large amount of things, but it's true! One of the things to go was my blue distressed ikea drawers *tear*. Getting rid of storage has a horrible side effect of displaced things, enter mason jars. Easy fix to my homeless hair things, and earrings. If you have hard head bands, hang them on the side. What do you use mason jars for?

           

-E

Friday Music: Elizaveta

It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down with Friday. The weirdest thing happened to me this morning while I was driving to work...I was listening to the radio when the host suddenly said something to the extend that we should all cut loose because it was Friday. I practically swerved off the road in shock. I could have sworn it was Wednesday. I even spent half the drive rummaging through my purse for my phone to check the date. So today I learned it was Friday.

Now, I made a promise to myself that I would ride my bike to work as much as possible and I did everyday this week. Except today. Why you may ask? Because I had a meeting and I felt a little silly rolling up to it on two wheels. But what felt weirder than potentially wobbling to work on my bike was the fact that I scheduled, and attended a business meeting. Ugh how adult-ish and depressing. Cue Peter Pan and the lost boys...I don't ever want to grow up!

This song and the above story have nothing in common except for the little spot they share together on my blog!

Meant: Elizaveta

-E

Under the Sea

When my parents first got married they lived in San Diego. They also had a massive salt water fish tank. The fish tank may be no more, but this fella is certainly a survivor. My dad wanted to toss it, but I think it's just about the coolest thing ever [like just about everything else I post on my blog:-)]. Talk about an awesome coffee table piece. I can't wait to get my own apartment! Until then, it's home is on the bookshelf in my old room. 

Does he look familiar? He should, he made another appearance in a post here!

On another note I've had a vision of all my dried roses I've collected over the years on a silver canvas with silver paint and glitter...it looks cooler in my mind than it sounds. I'll be pondering this all day while I'm typing away in my cubical at work!  

-E

Lamp Shaaaades

I have a crush on lamp shades. Especially awesomely patterned ones. I'm convinced you could design an entire room around a baller lamp shade [yes, I just said baller]. 

-E

Happy Mother's Day

Yesterday my mom and I spent the day pool side at Indian Springs, an absolutely adorable spa about an hour away from Sonoma in Calistoga. After soaking up some sun and floating care-free in their pool we mosied on over to the spa for a mud bath. It was pretty cool! A day early but in the name of mother's day all the same. I love you mom, you're a goddess! 

-E

DIY: Microscope Slide Jewelry

I've gone through a lot of jewelry phases. First [besides the plastic beads] was 'junk jewelry' or repurposing cans and bottles caps and things like that. I'd take apart calculators and computer chips and odd looking industrial things and make bracelets and earrings and necklaces out of them. Then I briefly transitioned into a glass soldering phase, which is what this post is about. I don't have any steps pictures, but they really are easy-peasy to make.

Supplies: Soldering gun, solder, flux, microscope slide/half marble, copper tape, jump ring, cord or chain, art for backing

1. Cut the piece of art you want to show through the marble to fit. 

2. Secure art to marble by backing with copper tape, the more you smooth it down the less bumpy the back will be and the more secured it will be. Make sure it covers sides as well! 

3. Smear flux on tape, cover the tape with solder, attach jump ring [ also smear flux on jump ring]

4. Attach to cord or chain. 

5. Work it girl! 

For more extensive directions on how-to solder with the copper tape check out this older post. 

[note: not all metals will adhere with the solder, so be sure to check that your jump ring will]

-E

My College Kitchen: Sauce-less Veggie, Feta, and Sausage Pasta

This picture makes me miss my darling little electric cooking pot. Here are some spare pictures from a meal I made back in school in my literal college kitchen! This is a white pasta with no sauce, but all the flavor from the cheese and veggies and sausage was enough for me! This pasta is also great cold! 

Ingredients:

olive oil

onion

asparagus

lemon

tomato

garlic

sausage 

noodles

salt&pepper

First put your pasta on to boil [ I would recommend penne pasta but I didn't have any]. Saute the onion and asparagus together. Onion is cooked when it is clear and asparagus should still be firm, not squishy! Then I squeezed a lemon on it. I halved some cherry tomatoes and cooked with olive oil and garlic. You don't want them to get squishy either, just soak up some of the flavor from the garlic. Low heat.

I bought sun dried tomato and basil chicken sausage but any kind you pick will do! Throw them in the pan as well. I like when they are a little crunchy on the outside so I let them brown for a while. 

Mix asparagus, tomato, and sausage with feta cheese and pasta. Olive oil and salt to taste. Enjoy! 

-E

San Francisco for dayyyz

I've been in San Francisco for a the past few days. I had an emotional reunion with the downtown Anthropologie store, my favorite sushi place, and all the little things in between. I love this city.

It was a leather bag and roses kind of day

If you're going to San Francisco be sure to wear flowers in your hair

China town colors

The city is stately and imposing, it is surrounded by a high, thick
wall of green marble, polished smooth and set with green emeralds,
each one facing one of the countries in the Land of Oz. 

Rare urban fish sighting

Today I am off to apply for my VISA and then back home to Sonoma to celebrate mi madres birthday!

-E 

For the Love of eBay

I love eBay. This romance was kindled over a year ago when I discovered I could purchase my  obsession's [anthropologie] apparel for a fraction of their overly priced price. And if you're reading my blog chances are you love a deal just as much as I do! I really don't shop on eBay so much as sell on it now, and there are several tricks to really improve your eBay 'store' and ratings. One of them involves some minimal crafting and is more of a nice gesture.

I noticed that when I purchased things from etsy I more often than not received a little thank you note with the item. It's cute! And it made me like the person who I purchased from even more. Tip: Make a little note and send it off with the item, it makes the buyer feel appreciated!

ALSO: Kat from That Zanni Girl left me a comment with a great tip that I figured could be added to the post! Here's what she had to say: If you've got a bunch of old thank-you cards that are blank on the back of the front flap (most people write on the other half of the fold), tear the card down the fold. That way, you can reuse the cute part of the card (and write your message on the back) when you send out thank-you notes with your orders!

Thanks Kat! I love to hear what you guys have to say, so be sure to comment!

-E

Tea Party Dress

Hey guys! Here is a little before and after of a dress I worked on. I really did like it before, but the sleeves were a little too much fabric and made the dress rise up every time I moved my arms. Sorry the picture isn't the best quality, but i guess that's what happens when you're alone in your room taking timed pictures of yourself! 

Before:

After:

 Something as simple as removing sleeves can completely transform an article of clothing. I also cut down into the back. I thought it would be a nice balance to the high neckline in the front! I did this while away from school so consequently machine-less. I'm slightly proud of my hand stitched creation! Doesn't Chelsea [the oh so lovely model] look ready for a tea party? Check out her necklace here.

-E

News!

Finals are over, and my dad and I made the 20 hour drive back home! I woke up to sunny skies and warm weather. Life is but a dream! Now that I am home, most all the papers are in, and I'm about to begin full-time work mode I feel like this is an appropriate time to share the news. I won't be going back to Washington next year for school because I'M MOVING TO ITALY [for a year]!!! Excited doesn't even cover how I feel. So bring it summer, I'll work your bootay into the ground so that come August I'll be on that plane to Florence.

 Sorry if you were looking forward to a Super Man Sunday, but I wanted to share with you all! Expect regular daily posts again guys, I just needed to focus on school :-) And a poster giveaway will be coming up as well!

-E 

Expensive Poster Problem Fix

Believe it or not I have one week left of school. As in this week. As in I go home Saturday. I'm having mixed emotions, one side is I want to get the heck out of here because then finals week will be over. The other is I don't want to pack up my life here in Pullman. Especially because I won't be coming back for a long time [that's an announcement for another post!!] Not to mention I have to get rid of most all my things. I'm convinced that if I had the space and the time, I would be on hoarders. But my mom assured me that it's okay to let things go, especially when you have a weird knack [like myself] of accumulating things at a really fast rate. All of my stuff is replaceable! Whew. Deep breathes, and cheers to eBay!

My posters are one of those things. I was thinking a potential giveaway item?? Thoughts?

But on a slightly different note, this isn't quite a DIY but a little tip. Posters can be expensive, especially when you have big walls to fill up. Try going to a decorative paper store, you can get poster like sheets [like these] for under 5 dollars. Granted you probably won't get your favorite band, but vintage looking prints like these? absolutely! Pair with some frames like these  and you've got great inexpensive wall art! Wish me luck on finals my darling readers! 

-E