July Sponsor Highlight: Who's Your Female Celebrity Role Model?

I often wonder to myself why exactly I blog. I question why I spend so much time designing, writing posts, creating projects, emailing sponsors. The only conclusion I can arrive at, is that I can't help but be inspired by other wonderful female figures, and that drives me to share what I can create, and hopefully inspire other women out there. In my opinion, there is nothing more powerful that having someone to look up to, a role model who can be a source of courage and inspiration. So on that note, this month I asked my sponsors the question : 

What famous woman do you admire? Why?

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Matryoshka Collection: #1 Miss Kitty

This is the first post in a series that I'm starting, sharing with you my Matryoshka doll collection. My mom started it for me while I was in High School. Every time we were in San Francisco we would stop by a small Russian import store, that sold these traditional nesting dolls exclusively. This tiny little shop located in Fisherman's Wharf was crowded with them, in all different sizes, designs, and themes. I would look into each of their delicately painted faces and be in awe of all the detailed work. Every following year, my mom would surprise me with a new doll on my birthday. I've never had a place to display them, so they've stayed hidden away, wrapped up in a box left in storage. Now that I have a place to call my own, I've taken them out and put them on a shelf, and I'm reminded of how uniquely beautiful each doll is. 

Currently, I'm up to nine dolls, each one ranging in size and quality. This is the first one I'd like to share because well, it's one of my favorites. Can you tell why?

I love this set specifically because of all the kitties. I also adore it because of it's traditional quality, being a peasant girl in a jumper dress. But, it's also quirky and non-traditional because she's not wearing the regular head scarf.

If you would like to learn more about Matryoshka dolls and their origin, go here.

Do any of you collect Matryoshka dolls? 

Blogging 101: Removing Drop Shadows from your Images in Blogger

Are you using the "Simple" Template in Blogger? Have you noticed those annoying gray outlines around your images? Are you wondering how to get rid of them?

I tried forever to remove them in the template designer. I gave up convinced that they were an unchangeable part of the template, until my wonderful boyfriend found this super easy css tutorial. And now I don't have any shadows behind all my images!

Here's what you do...

1) Go to your blogger homepage, aka your dashboard.

2) Click on the "layout" tab.

3) At the top of the page, click on the link to "template designer". The template designer will open in a dark gray box at the top, and at the bottom you will see a preview of you blog. 

4) Click "advanced" at the top left, a list of items will open to the right, scroll down and choose "add css"

4) A blank form will open, just copy and past this exact text: 

.post-body img, .post-body .tr-caption-container, .Profile img, .Image img,
.BlogList .item-thumbnail img {
  padding: none !important;
  border: none !important;
  background: none !important;
  -moz-box-shadow: 0px 0px 0px transparent !important;
  -webkit-box-shadow: 0px 0px 0px transparent !important;
  box-shadow: 0px 0px 0px transparent !important;}

5) Click "apply to blog" at the top right and your done!

Hope this is helpful to all you bloggers out there! 

July Birchbox+GlamBag

Happy Friday everyone! This week has been another busy one for me, which explains the lack of posting on my part. Between several all-day teacher training workshops, and planning for the next school year, I've been left with zero energy for blogging. But, I did get this month's Birchbox and GlamBag, and it just makes the girly-girl inside of me squeal with excitement for some reason.  

Here's what I got in my box... 

Stila lip glaze in "Lights". It's about time they included a lip gloss, and the shade is nice. Score.

Bamboo Fade-Proof Fluide. Too bad I don't color my hair.

Jouer luminating moisture tint. This stuff is basically a liquid bronzer with sunscreen. I'm not a fan since I use powder foundation, and I've never been fond of bronzer.

Oscar de la Renta perfume. The scent is light and flowery.

Uber Nut and Fruit Bar. Tasty, but honestly I could live without granola bars, unless of course they're Chewy brand in chocolate chip.

Festive ear phones.

I liked Birchbox so much that I signed up for a subscription to Glam Bag. It's another website that sends you beauty samples based on a personal profile that you create. It's only $10 a month, and it comes in this nifty little cosmetic bag.

Here's what I got in my bag...

Juice Beauty Moisturizer with SPF. This was one of my favorite items in the bag. It smells so good, and I love that it has sunscreen. 

Nume Hydrating conditioner. Full of all kinds of yummy ingredients including argan oil, this conditioner is super moisturizing and smells divine.

Bare Essential "Buxom Lips" in Tonya. Love this lip gloss, especially the thickness and the shade. I use Bare Minerals for my foundation and blush, but this was my first time trying the lip gloss.

Circus Nail Laquer. Not crazy about white nail color, but I guess if there's any time for it, it's summer.

Yes to Cucumbers facial towelettes. I finally introduced myself to facial cleansing towelettes this summer, and I'm totally smitten. I first got them for a camping trip, since hot water is hard to find, and now I carry them around with me all the time. I've tried a bunch of different brands from Neutrogena to Burt's Bees. They're just so refreshing. And these ones are definitely on the top of the list.

Overall, I was happy with both my bag and box this month. Birchbox offers more diverse products, but they are often small, and are not always useful (a granola bar, seriously?) Glambag seems to include less samples, but in my opinion are products that I would actually use and even go as far as buying the full-size versions. And how fun is it to get a cute little cosmetic bag full of products every month?

If you'd like to try out Birchbox or Glambag, you can sign up for the wait list or send me an email and I'll invite you!

Wishlist: Homewares

Happy Monday! Here's a few pretty things I've been drooling over lately. I've been window shopping online for ways to decorate our place, trying to find pieces that are functional but also have character.  Most of these are way out of my budget but it's fun to dream...

/1/ I'm searching for small shelves to hang in our kitchen window to hold some plants and herbs. These glass shelves from Urban come in different colors.

/2/ LOVE this handblown shade.

/3/ We just inherited a few little bistro chairs like this one from Chris' parents. Currently they're white, but I'm sooo tempted to paint them a new color.

/4/ How beautiful is this handmade cotton rope basket?

Settling In

So... I'm writing to you from our new place! You'll have to excuse me, I took an unannounced, much needed break from blogging and just my computer in general this past week. It really freed me up to focus all my time on unpacking, cleaning, and making this little place a home. We've got a long, long way to go, and I'm reminded of this especially as I'm sitting in a camping chair in the living room. But I've never been so excited to start a new chapter in life. Here's what my days have been looking like around here lately. 

Three lovely little succulents from my aunt, they are really loving the all-day light in our kitchen window.

Dishes and more dishes.

Lunchtime.

Thinking about where to hang all these, scared to put holes in the wall. I have a habit of changing my mind once it's nailed.

The little girl has found a handful of kitty lofts in the apartment. Why are cats so curious?

It feels good to catch up on the blog and update you all. I have lists and lists of ideas, plans and dreams and I can't wait to share them!

Bits & Pieces

Lately I've been sort of mia, due to the move. For me, this last week has been about packing up the things that I need, and getting rid of everything I don't. I've already donated seriously a ton of stuff. I mean bags and bags of clothes that I'll never mend or alter, books that I'll never read, and projects that I'll most likely never complete. Honestly, it feels really good to purge and let go of things that are just weighing me down, literally. Anyways, here's a few snapshots of what my life has been looking like:

Some more trinkets to add to my collection. Finally snagged the perfect granny square blanket.

The little girl has been watching me pack everything into boxes, she definitely knows something is up. I actually left the house wearing two different flip-flops on one day, and we got to see our friends' not-so-little-anymore puppy.

Some of my favorite recent munchies recently. Right there are two Long Island Ice Tea's made by my own personal mixologist (Chris). And that's us on a the 4th of July, we rented a little boat and putted around the Long Beach harbor with some friends. 

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

52 Week Challenge: #23 DIY Tie-Dye Shirt

Here's my second adventure in Tie-Dying.  I'm really happy with how my shirt came out. I just love using this dying technique, it's so exciting because you never know how it's going to come out. This was my first attempt. So far I've been pleasantly surprised. Here's what you'll need to make your own:

>>>A t-shirt made of %100 percent natural fibers, this can be cotton, linen, silk, rayon, bamboo, etc. I thrifted mine.

>>>Salt, I used about 1/2 cup for this shirt.

>>>Powdered or liquid dye. I used half a packet of Rit dye that I had left over from my last project.

>>>Rubber bands. You can also use string or twine if you have it laying around.

With my scarf, I created stripes, so this time I wanted to make a sunburst design, so I pinched the middle of the shirt and tied a rubber band. This will be the center of your design.

Continue to secure rubber bands along the shirt, until the last one is wrapped around the sleeves and the bottom hem of the shirt.

Prepare your dye bath according to instructions. I diluted my dye with about 2 cups of very warm water.

Bring a large pot of water and the salt to simmer, then add the dye and stir. Carefully drop your shirt into the bath. Even though the Rit instructions say that you can leave your garment in the bath for up to 20-50 min, I was worried that leaving it in there for too long, would let the dye seep through the rubber bands, making the shirt solid. So, I just let it simmer for about 10 minutes while stirring.

Remove the shirt from the bath and immediately run it under cold water to set the dye. Cut the rubber bands, and rinse until the water runs clear. Then hang it out to dry.

Here's how it came out, what do you think?

I am absolutely in love with tie-dying now. I'm so looking forward to finding some new colors, tackling new patterns, and sharing them all with you!  

Happy crafting!