Hello everyone! I missed you guys. Winter break was a rollercoaster, but I’ve gathered some super awesome things I have been loving recently. As always, I am always open to criticism or content suggestions! Enjoy!
Travel
Over j-term, I got to go to Mexico for the first time with my aunt and my sister! I loved it. It was so gorgeous, and I didn’t realize how much I needed to be in the sun. Our days consisted mainly of reading on the beach and eating delicious dinners and I was not complaining. I think I had shrimp in some form every day for dinner.
Art
I have been obsessed with matchbooks lately. They took over my Pinterest a few months ago and I will not look back. The box art, making art with the boxes, collecting them, all of it. My favorite coffee shop from home started selling their own literally a week after I started getting into it all. I was able to pick up another one at a restaurant on vacation over summer break. I might’ve already mentioned this all before, but over winter break, I received a HUGE bucket of someone’s matchbox collection from a thrift store (shout out miss emma fink). And I love them SO much. There were a ton in this collection from Chicago and New York, but also Australia, London, and California. I sorted through all of them and gave away a few duplicates, but I have my favorites stored in a glass vase in my room. I hope to continue to find and collect more, hopefully, from real places I visit!
I am still on my crochet hat game. The hobby resurfaced over winter break when I was just sitting alone in my apartment on my days off, watching movies. I found a new pattern and I love it. The fit is so much better. I made some for my boys at work and it is so fun to give such a happy gift. I made myself a new blue one, and a black one, and am working on a light gray one. I just love them and I am excited to wear them.
I also crocheted a shirt, which was an endeavor in itself. Of course, I had to use the tiniest yarn and hook known to man, so this took forever. But I am so satisfied with the result, I just have to find a place to wear it!
I decided to tackle a new project: sewing my own baggu. I thrifted a tablecloth and a quilt and bought zippers and webbing for the straps. I purchased the Blackbird Fabrics “Bestie Bag” pattern and I can’t wait to start. The pattern is cheap and easy to understand and cut out, so I am looking forward to the sewing part.
Nothing crazy, but I figured out how to use the collage feature on the Pinterest app (I know. I’m late to the game), and I am utilizing them for Instagram stories and my 2024 monthly Spotify covers!
On the tangent of collages, I started a “junk” journal! I bought a little bullet journal from Amazon at the beginning of January, and I have been adding little pieces throughout the month. I am so excited to try to keep up with it!
I AM BACK IN A PRINT CLASS THIS SEMESTER! 🙂 I am so happy. I missed the professor, and I feel so relaxed and lucky to immerse myself again in this process. I already have two really cool ideas that I am so excited to get started on, and I will keep you guys updated! I am also entering two pieces into the student juried show, so we’ll see if either of them gets selected!
Recent inspiration!
Fashion
Guys. I thrifted Birkenstock Londons. For $75. Brand new. In my size. They are some of my prized possessions. They are a gorgeous color and they add such a fun element to my outfits. I love finding new ways to style them, and I have gotten so many compliments. I highly recommend them if you find a pair somewhere. I will say that they are not as easy to wear barefoot as the Bostons are.
Also, this is so random but Cat has let me borrow her Skims dress twice and I am so grateful. It 100% lives up to the hype. Like. I get it now. And I’m so close to buying one of my own.
Some other fun items I’ve acquired recently:
- this black hoodie (platos closet)
kavu fleece 5-panel hat (ebay)
green leather purse (tj maxx)
red tank (urban outfitters)
target low back tops
Other recent outfits!
Inspiration: (guys I just really want tall boots)
Shopping
Some non-fashion items I’ve acquired recently:
- elf reviver lip oil in ‘red delicious’ and ‘jam session’
- owala!
- misfits protein bars
- yasso mochi
- hozier tickets !!
- star jelly cat
- new stanley
Media
You need to read Eli Rallo’s I Didn’t Know I Needed This if you haven’t already (thank you miss Josie.) It is such a well-written advice book, from such an intelligent gal. I love Eli’s little corner of the internet, and I love how she voices her thoughts and experiences. Her rules for dating and relationships of all kinds were so fun and refreshing and this is definitely one I will reread multiple times. She is also very fun to interact with on social media.
I also read Abby Jimenez’s Yours Truly and it is now one of my top favorites of all time. The addition of the male love interest’s side of the story is so fun and endearing. I am obsessed with Jacob. I can’t wait to read the rest of her work!
Another rom com favorite I read was Every Summer After by Carley Fortune. I LOVED this one. The plot twists were amazing and I really fell in love with the male interests. I crammed probably the last four chapters in during the shuttle ride to our hotel in Mexico and it was a wild ride.
Got to watch the brilliant Reneé Rapp in the electric Mean Girls: The Movie Musical. I went on a Wednesday and wore pink, which is the only way you should be watching it. Renee killed it, her vocal skills carrying much of the movie. The casting for Karen was perfect, as well as Janice and Damien. I forgot how funny this script is. Highly recommend.
Also: I have a new celebrity crush. Enter Callum Turner. I saw The Boys In The Boat and have not stopped thinking about him. Like at a concerning level probably. Of course, I had to go and watch more things he was in. The Last Letter From Your Lover was beautiful. The time jumps take a little bit to understand, but the love story is amazing. Shaline Woodley and Callum play a period piece so well. My favorite past piece of Callum’s, though, is The Only Living Boy In New York. Yes, the sexy nerd schtick will do it for me every time. Especially when he has such insane chemistry with his father’s mistress. Screwed up, but I’m not complaining. Young, freckly Callum in glasses just works. Considering watching Masters of the Air next.
I finally finished How I Met Your Mother after putting it off for months. This show comes with a lot of past emotions for me, but I am so glad I am getting around to continuing it and finishing it. I have grown so fond of this cast and I already cannot wait to rewatch it. Going to display my little gifted blue french horn wherever possible. Also: justice for Tracy. If you know, you know.
Loved watching the new Percy Jackson series as well. Walker Scobell is a budding brilliant actor and I think this has been cast so well. It has been so fun to dive back into this series again after so long.
Music favorites as of late:
- Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked – Cage The Elephant
- Taken Out By The Wind – Annika Kilkenny
- Like or Like Like – Miniature Tigers
- Loser – Beck
- Different Kind Of Beautiful – Alec Benjamin
- Tummy Hurts – Reneé Rapp
- J’s Lullaby – Delaney Bailey
- Find My Way – Gabe Dixon
- Clean (Taylor’s Version) – Taylor Swift
- Omaha – Katie Lynn Sharbaugh
- Headstones and Landmines – Lizzy Mcalpine
- Hemenway – Tiny Habits
There is also SO much new music coming in the next couple of months – can’t wait to talk about it all in upcoming blogs!!
Other
I have been loving my job! Bartending is so fun and creative and I didn’t realize how much I would enjoy it. I work a lot of brunch shifts and we have a nice espresso machine, so I’m kind of doing double duty as a barista as well. I am learning so many things and it’s an industry I never thought I’d see myself in but here we are. I make a mean old-fashioned and Irish coffee. I have also been able to experiment behind the bar a little bit as well. I brewed a chai syrup and created a ‘dirty chai-tini’ cocktail with it, and it has gotten great reviews. It feels so nice to have my skills validated for working in a new industry and for learning so quickly.
Tried a new coffee shop with the ladies in December! Chain and Spoke on Ingersoll is a coffee shop slash bike shop and we loved it. It’s super fun and industrial but their menu is experimental and creative.
YOU MADE IT! Thank you so much for reading. Write soon!
xoxo
