Wanderlust

wan-der-lust n. An insatiable urge to travel the world.

I am definitely subject to bouts of wanderlust. God has blessed me with the opportunity to travel to some neat (and some not-so-neat) places with my volleyball team, but I've always felt that there is so much beauty in this world yet to be seen.

J.R.R. Tolkien said, "Not all those that wander are lost." Sometimes I wish I could just be a gypsy for the rest of my life; exploring new places, meeting new people and experiencing cultures that are vastly different than what I know. Forget finding a job; forget owning a home; I just want to explore.

When I was four, my family moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, where we lived for four wonderful years. When I was eight, I went to Denmark for three weeks. Copenhagen is such a beautiful, colorful city and I only wish I had appreciated what a blessing it was to be there when I was young. Other cool places I've travelled: Jackson Hole, Wyoming (what a name, right?); Las Vegas, Nevada; Hawaii; Fairbanks, Alaska; Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; Lake Tahoe, Nevada; Vicente Guerrero, Mexico.

Now the fun list -- places I desperately want to go:
London. Barcelona. Florence. Paris. Sydney. NYC. Buenos Aires. Cairo. Panama City. Delhi. Hong Kong. San Juan. Stockholm. Machu Picchu. Dublin. Cinque Terre.

And pretty much everywhere else.. sigh.

Aaaand now for the obligatory inspirational photos:

Stockholm

Barcelona

Cinque Terre

Copenhagen

London

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

Toledo

Delhi

Dublin 

Florence

Greece

Indonesia

New York City

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Machu Picchu, Peru



But for now, I'll just have to be satisfied with this..

And trust me, I'm not complaining.

Bed Head

Like every young girl, I absolutely loved playing with dolls. Molly, my American Girl doll, had tons of clothes and my grandpa even built her a miniature bed - with a headboard. My sister Jenny and I were stuck in bunk beds, while our older sister Angie had her own twin size. Our mom fashioned a simple and cute picket fence-esque headboard for Angie's bed that I was pretty jealous about..

Why the nostalgic trip down memory lame, you may ask? Ever since Molly had one, I too have wanted a headboard. They're. So. Cute.

Favorites:

Hooray for nostalgia and cute bedrooms.

True Beauty



"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others;

For beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness;

And for poise, walk with the knowledge

that you are never alone."

-Audrey Hepburn

A Good Frame of Mind

I'm excited. My roommates and I are in the process of moving from our current house into a new one just a few blocks away. This means boxing up clothes, taking apart my desk, and de-photo-izing my walls. Why am I excited? A new house means a new room; a new room means a new chance to decorate! Lately I am all about picture frames. I absolutely love it when an eclectic mix of photos and art are displayed in an assortment of frames on the wall. I'm definitely going to be attempting this look in my new room - and I'll be sure to post pictures! For now, here is some inspiration:

And twenty points to Gryffindor if you know which TV character's room this next one is:

Trend Alert: Mullets

No no no, not THAT kind of mullet...

Raise those hemlines, ladies! Some of my favorite dresses are leggy in the front, conservative in the back. Celebrities have been sporting this trend for some time now, and here are a few of my favorite inspirations:

Anna Paquin in a ruffled Monique Lhuillier mullet dress.

Fergie in a gorgeous leopard printed Roberto Cavalli dress.

Sienna Miller is STUNNING in this navy Emilio Pucci gown.

And here are a few suuuper cute, more casual mullet dresses that are perfect for that awkward transition from summer to fall..

asos.com

polyvore.com

fabricly.com

asos.com

topshop.com

I'm loving these dresses! And I just remembered I have a maxi dress that's been gathering dust in my closet for far too long... I think I feel a project coming on!! Stay tuned! And in the meantime, here's to redefining "mullet" from this...

to this...

DIY Project: Fabric Flowers

A few weeks ago I was playing around with some leftover fabric I had lying around, and I thought I'd try my hand at some fabric flowers. I've seen some reeeallly cute ideas for rosettes on skirts, purses, and other things, so tonight I decided to make a necklace! It was really easy:

First, cut four large squares (about 3x3 inches) out of any material you want.
Then, cut four slightly smaller squares (2x2-ish).
Next, cut all of the squares into circles. The key here is to not be precise - you don't want all the circles to be exactly the same size or perfect in shape.
Then, place the four larger circles on top of one another, with the four smaller ones on top, into one big stack of fabric circles.
Finally, fold the stack in half and hand-sew them in place. Fold it in half the opposite way and sew again, to pucker the flower.

And there you have it! I made five flowers and sewed them onto a long ribbon to wear as a necklace.

And look - it doubles as a belt! Don't you just love two-for-one deals?



I was feeling pretty proud of this until I searched google images for fabric flowers to show you and saw some freakishly adorable necklaces and other goodies that looked waaayyyy better than what I made. Serves me right for thinking too highly of my sewing skills. Oops! Oh well, you gotta start somewhere, right? Here are some other ways to use a fabric rosette that I'll definitely be trying out more and more.

Happy DIY-ing :)