I came across these really cool necklaces on seaofshoes.com. I was instantly attracted to them because it reminded me of my childhood growing up in Japan. I spent many summers going 'stag and kabutomushi' beetle hunting with my brother and his friends. We would go hunting late at night, armed with flashlights , chopsticks and bug cages.
The 'prize' beetle find would be the king beetle, which was a nice rich burgandy color. We were always successful in finding a few stag beetles on every hunt. I was always fond of the baby stags, I thought they were so cute!
These are such cool necklaces, maybe one day I will treat myself and buy one *smile*.
I love reading blogs.....I can spend hours looking and reading blogs about fashion,DIY projects, home decor and the list goes on. Before I started working, when I had all the time in the world, I often occupied my time with DIY projects or art/crafts.
I came across a DIY section on the Forever 21 blog. It was a DIY project on how to stud your bag with spikes. I have studded a clutch purse in the past with pyramid studs, but this was different. The spike studs came in two pieces, a base screw and the spike itself. I purchased the spike studs from www.studsandspikes.com (they carry all sorts of studs in all shapes and sizes!). You can purchase loose studs/spikes or buy them in bulk.
The blog on F21 spiked the bottom rim edge of a bucket style bag. I decided to do something different. I ended up spiking down the front of the purse.........I may add another row, but am undecided right now. The project took me about an hour to do , not too bad.
So I have been on the hunt for a good looking pair of penny loafers. I do have a favorite pair of suede loafer/moccasin style shoes I bought from Banana Republic 5 or 6 years ago. Well, I wore them out, I have a big ol' hole in the front....sniff sniff.
Now that I am employed, I felt like I needed a new pair of shoes for work. I went online to Endless.com, which is such a great site to shop for shoes! Every time I have ordered, they have offered next day or 2 day shipping.....for free!! (Shoots, I'll take free shipping to Hawaii anytime!) Anyways, my hunt for the shoes began......I sorted through lots of pairs and narrowed them down to 3 or 4 pairs. I called ms.cassy (check out her blog at www.mindlessmatterz.blogspot.com) to get her opinion. It came down to a pair of Hush Puppies slip ons or Bass Penny Loafers.
I decided on the Bass Cassell loafers, which were on sale and offered 2 day shipping for free. They arrived today, right when I got home from work! I love getting boxes :)
The loafers are a really nice, dark burgandy color. The fit is 'true to size' and fit perfectly. The only thing is their a little stiff, I just have to break them in.
Yay! Tomorrow is Wednesday, half way through the week!
I am not one who follows a ritual skin care regimen. There is so much skin care products out there, I always get overwhelmed just at the sight of the skin care aisle. I usually just buy drugstore brand moisturizer and face soap. Sometimes, if I feel like splurging, I'll go to Sephora and see what is affordable.
This weekend the family went on a little shopping spree at Ala Moana. I was in search of finding work shoes (penny loafers), no luck there, and work clothes. I took a break from shopping and stopped of at Blue Hawaii Cafe and sipped on their lava flow smoothie.......yuummmmmy!....Anyways, I noticed the store Origins was next door and decided to take a peek.
I've been in Origins before , maybe like 7-8 years ago. I have to say, I was really overwhelmed with all their products. I didn't even know where to start looking! Thank goodness a very helpful/knowledgeable sales associate asked if I needed help with anything...........I just said ' I need a moisturizer and face soap.......oh and I do not want a lot of products, i just want the basics.' She proceeded to ask me some questions about my skin and we went from there.
I actually ended up buying a couple products, one I am excited about using. It is called Modern Friction, a gentle dermabrasion cleanser. She demonstrated it on my hand and I was impressed. The sales associate only recommended using it 3 times a week, but she said if I stick with it, I should see results of smooth skin within a week or so.
I also ended up buying regular face soap, moisturizer and an eye de-puffer. As I mentioned in my earlier posts, I started working full time again and I wake up every morning with puffy eyes! So I am excited to try No Puffery eye serum tomorrow morning!
A really close friend of mine suggested I post a blog about my purchase from Origins (thanks Leina wink wink ;).....I will also post a blog of my reviews about these products in about 2 weeks or so?
Off to bed now, must prepare for a long long week and horrible traffic.......reminder, school starts tomorrow......school=really bad traffic :(
Just wanted to give a shout out to my talented bff Cassy ( her blogspot www.mindlessmatterz.blogspot.com) ! This weekend at Manifest there is going to be a photo show with over 200 photos from 12 different artists, which will feature many many talented local photographers, including Cassy and our friend John Hook. They have been working their butts off preparing for this amazing show!
Come support the art scene this Saturday nite ! I know i'll be there :)
I love going on Etsy.com and just browsing through all the amazing handcrafted items people have for sale. It is also a great place to buy hard to find vintage accessories, whether it be purses , camera's , decor.....
I just wanted to share with you some pieces of handmade jewelry that I have been eye-ing for a long while now....
One day I will post a blog of some my favorite pieces of jewelry that I own.....be warned it's a skimpy collection.
As a kid I never really enjoyed the taste of ginger....only if it was cooked in foods ie. ginger pork . My taste buds must of changed because I love ginger now. Especially ginger gummies , pickled ginger and ginger candy.
Govinda sells a drink called 'Ginger Rush', and boy it's fabulous! In the past I only treated myself to a small bottle once in a while (it's kind of expensive) , usually during times I felt like splurging on myself :).........Well guess what.....Costco just started selling the 1/2 gallon size for less than $6.00. That is such a great deal! I've seen the 1/2 gallon sell at health food stores for almost $10.00!
You like ginger ale soda? Just mix soda water with ginger juice and wal-a ....you have ginger ale! It's not real sweet so you can probably add sugar or agave nectar to sweeten it up.
On a different note........I am officially back in the work force!! Woo hooo!! I am excited, anxious, nervous, happy....I am ready to learn! Wish me luck :)
It was such a beautiful day yesterday, we all decided to go to Moanalua Gardens and have a picnic with friends. We met up with Minnie , Leina and Mika and pulled out a blankie and had some Mickey D's and Soon's bbq.
Everytime I go to the park, I always see some new upgrades. They have these awesome wood benches around the park, the bathrooms are nice, and there is a concession stand that sells goodies. (thanks goodness the concession stand was open, I did not bring enough water to hydrate ourselves! )
We wanted to take pictures of the kids and do a small kine photo shoot with our outfits. Well, the photo shoot with our outfits didn't go so well. I realized it's so much harder to be alone in a picture and have to pose. I was a major goofball and felt stupid........you 'll see that in the pictures :)
So last year when I visited my parents in Florida, I asked my father if my grandma had any old Polaroid cameras (she had passed away months earlier). I remember for a long time my grandparents always used Polaroid cameras, they never updated and used roll film cameras. Well my dad looked at me and said " oh, i just threw one away when i was cleaning out her house." I found out he threw away the Polaroid sx-70! I couldn't believe it!
Fortunately my dad kept one Polaroid camera my grandma owned.....the Polaroid land camera. It had been sitting in the box for years and years.....we put new batteries in it but had no film. I searched online to see if they still made film and sure enough they did! Fuji film still makes the peel away film used for these types of Polaroid cameras. I ordered both color and b+w film and started shooting away.
My father also gave me his first 35 mm Canon camera he bought used from a co-worker in 1975 or 1976. He paid 150-200.00? for it and basically used his whole paycheck ...hehe.
I am clueless when it comes to the details of taking pictures......i hope one day to take photography class just so that I can understand the basics. I would love to learn how to use the canon my dad gave me and print the pics (dark room style)....one day ....one day!
Here are 2 sample pics from the Polaroid land camera. I ended up buying another camera because for some reason this camera is not working! Once I get my new one , my bff and I are off on a Polaroid excursion! Anyone want to join???
Gheezz! Last year I had this idea to start a blog..........a blog about anything really----fashion, photography, crafting, bellydancing, exercising, kids etc. etc. I did my first real post in May of 09, and never touched my blog again. So ....here we go again. I will attempt to keep my blog updated with whatevers.....lets just see how well i do!
Well i guess my first post coming back to my blog will be on a little project i just finished 2 days ago. I love looking at interior decor blogs and came across this idea of painting a chalkboard onto our closet doors thats located in our living room. I think the kids will get good use out of it. We're still waiting to use it though, it says wait 3 days after applying the paint before drawing on the chalkboard.....we are on day 2.
I love all things....fashion, photography, dance, art, crafting,interior decor, food, staying healthy .....and the list could go on and on. When I was crafting and selling goods, my business name was Lisee's Pieces....(Lisee is my oldest daughter's nickname)...I decided to change Pieces to Peace for my blog.....enjoy!
