"Hey Your That Girl That Sang Shania Twain!"

 

Do you guys have a go-to karaoke song? Every Wednesday I meet up with my friends from high school at a local bar and sing karaoke. Since I work a lot, I always look forward to my Wednesday jam sessions and a couple of beers. My friend and I sing Mr. Brightside by The Killers, no exaggeration, every single week. It's our go-to song. Not only have we mastered that song, it's always a lot of fun when the crowd joins in. We also have a couple other songs that we like to sing like, Dirty Little Secret by The All American Rejects, Africa by Toto, and Your Love by The Outfield. Currently trying to get the DJ to get Shake It Off by Taylor Swift on the board so I can stop singing it in the car or in the shower :)

 

 

 

 

You can actually buy the picture above as a print here!

Planetarium

 

At the end of August in Buffalo, there is the Elmwood Festival of the Arts that spans a good portion of Elmwood Avenue. The restaurants on the strip have specials and local artisans, as well as ones from across New York and Pennsylvania, come and display their goods. I have gone to a few dozen of these festivals in my lifetime and I always look at everything in the hopes of something catching my eye.

 

Low and behold I stumble upon Planetarium Textile Design Studio. Created by Esther &  Ofir Yaloz, a textile designer and product designer, they both graduated with honors from Shenkar College of Engineering and Design in Israel. After working in the design and fashion industry for several years, they followed their dream, and opened their own print and design studio.

 

 

Esther: "As a textile designer specializing in silk screen printing,  I carried my childhood fascination with wildflowers to botanical images. They have become a central motif in my textile design. I delight in details and textures, and am passionate about printing and creating patterns. I love  transforming raw materials into a unique final product. It’s all part of a magical process, accenting the uniqueness of each and every item."

 

 

 

"Everything is hand-printed, dyed, and sewn in our workshop with much passion and attention to detail. We design our products in small series, just as we prefer to purchase items for ourselves. Whenever possible, we source our raw materials from manufacturers in the USA."

 

I absolutely love everything that Esther has created, especially that scarf and those pillows! To look at more of Esther's textiles, check out her website :)

 

 

 



Investment

 

I'm usually not a handbag girl (keyword: usually). However, every once in a while something will catch my eye and this would be the case for the Coach Rhyder 33 Satchel in Nubuck. At first I couldn't decide which I liked better, the Pebbled or the Nubuck. But thinking it through, the investment on the Nubuck (THAT RED) surpasses that of many current handbags this season. [I'm especially depressed with every single female in this small town of mine carrying a Michael Kors bag. Loved his Spring 2015 show but hate seeing his bags everywhere!]

 

Stuart Vevers did a fantastic job with his first collection as the new Creative Director at Coach (F/W 14) and I cannot wait to see what else he has up his sleeves.

 

Go to Coach and check out the rest of the Fall/Winter Collection!

Weekend Musings

 

You know that song, "Everybody's workin' for the weekend..."? Well last week was one busy week. As I've said before, I'm a Jess-Of-All-Trades; currently I'm the store manager for my family run art gallery, as well as jewelry merchandiser for Chloe + Isabel. My father and I attended a local business expo to meet with other local businesses, as well as promote a new service we are offering called painting parties. Basically for $40 you get: 11x17 canvas, pallet of paint, brushes, instruction from a local area artist, as well as, a glass of wine and finger foods. It's such a fantastic time with girlfriends on a Friday night or if you want have your child's birthday party with us, just swap the wine for cupcakes :)

 

On top of making many connections, we were also preparing for the grand opening of our new Artist-in-Residence. Every once in a while we get a local artist who wants to show/sell their artwork in our gallery and we allow them to take residence for two weeks at a time. Last Friday and Saturday were days to meet and talk with the artist so after the expo last week we were getting the gallery all set up for the new artist.

 

 

On Saturday, my guy and I went up North to Old Forge in the Adirondacks to just walk around, relax, and take a couple photos of the leaves changing (though the leaves are going to be absolutely perfect in about two weeks time). We aim to go when it's not crowded and touristy but apparently there was a bit going on and it was as crowded as it would be during the Summer. Some of my favorite places to go to on the main strip are: The Old Forge Hardware Store, a new place called Oil Well (Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar Tasting Boutique), and Ozzie's Coffee Bar (above).

 

Sunday is always the day of rest + football. I go to my grandmother's every Sunday for brunch and then this past Sunday my guy was in town so we went to watch the 1pm game at his buddy's house. Pumpkin beer + pizza + football = good time :)

September [ Musings & Playlist ]

 

It's that time of year again... back to school, crisp air, and the leaves changing. Most people think the beginning of the New Year is the time for making changes, but for myself it has always been September. I've been making some changes in my life here and there. My grandfather passed away almost two weeks ago and so I have been home spending time with my father and grandmother. Helping out at the family store and planning on growing my own business (more of that soon!) It's hard because I'm about 3 hours away from my significant other, but it sure doesn't beat living abroad back in the Fall of 2011 (picture above is fall at Versailles).

 

Now for the playlist.. some popular songs, some off the radar, every single one is equally addicting :)

 

Shake It Off - Taylor Swift

Black Widow - Iggy Azalea ft. Rita Ora

Hands In the Air - Miley Cyrus ft. Ludacris

Strip Me - Natasha Bedingfield

Glory and Gore - Lorde

Best I Ever Had - Gavin DeGraw

Cowboy Boots - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis 

Needle and Haystack Life - Switchfoot

Raging Fire - Phillip Phillips

Supernova - Mr. Hudson & Kanye West

Candles

Let's just start off with me saying that I didn't really grow up in a candle house. My dad hates anything with a scent and the only time I saw my mom with a candle would be random occasions that were few and far between. So having just moved into a new apartment, I wanted a home smell. Something that if you smelled it anywhere's else, it would remind you of home. 

Well to start off, I hate all those tradtional smells of vanilla, lavender, etc. They are overused and mass produced and it just about makes me vomit. I absolutely love smells asscoiated to the holidays like fir tree, pumpkin, but that's just it; they are meant to remind one of the holidays. 

So a couple months back I was in my little sister's car and smelled something deliteful. Her "big" in her sorority had given her a car freshener and it was amazing. I was very shocked to find that it came from Bath & Body Works and it was called Sandalwood. Now, people, I very rarely venture into Bath & Body Works because each worker tries to convince you that what you are smelling in your hand, at that very moment. is very necessary to have in your house. So having already an idea in mind of what I wanted for the new place, I headed over to the nearest Bath & Body Works. 

Turns out Sandalwood is seasonal and was only available in the car freshener. However, a sales associate did show me one other called Mahogany Teakwood. 

This candle is one part nostalgia, since it reminds me of Abercrombie & Fitch, other part cabin in the woods. 

According to Bath & Body Works you can "revel in the cozy fine woods fragrances of mahogany, cedarwood, and oak, highlighted by delicate lavender and geranium notes."

This candle alone makes my tiny apartment, with boxes still everywhere, smell like home and I plan to buy this in bulk.

Decorate

Having officially moved into the current apartment about a month ago, I am slowly but surely decorating. Can I just say how hard it is to decorate when living with your significant other? He is the manliest of men and would just like to put a recliner in the living room along with all of his sports memorabilia. Compromise in this situation is key if I want it to look remotely presentable to people and have them come over. The only items I let him bring from his old apartment were the coffee table (marble), entertainment system and TV (didn't have one myself), and his dresser (I need my own space people). 

My mother literally hangs onto everything and passes stuff along to me on a daily basis; this goes for clothes as well (we are the same size). She gave us a couch, kitchen table (marble look-a-like), a couple rugs, and at least 5 lamps (my favorite comes with an outlet to charge your phone, since we are short on space and outlets). 

I will eventually show off more pictures of the apartment as it slowly falls into place, but here's a glance of the current living room situation: 

Remember when I said compromise? Most of my art is back at my parents place and so I was at a loss at what to hang above the couch. As it turns out, my significant other is a huge Every Time I Die fan. So when we saw them at this past Warped Tour and I saw that they had a huge flag in their merchandise tent, I thought why not? It was just the cherry on top that we got to meet them and have them sign the flag.