vintage 101

I've had a love for vintage jewelry for quite some time. That's part of the reason why I became a jewelry designer. When incorporating vintage pieces in my designs, sometimes it is very hard to give them up (which has led to starting a little collection of my own). Since buying vintage seems to be the soup du jour, I thought I would write some tips on collecting and tidbits of things I've learned along the way.

i'm fasting

I hope you guys don't mind me going off topic a little bit from jewelry/fashion to finances. I know that when you think of fasting you imagine giving up sweets, sodas, or dare I say CHEESE!?!? I've participated in a few fasts for my Faith and they're never easy (call me a drama queen but the cheese one almost killed me) but they manage to always be a positive experience and refresh the way I think about my lifestyle and the world around me. This year I've got my sights on a "spending fast". I'm not going to go into the spirituality aspect of fasting for this post but I wanted to start a conversation about it and at least make myself accountable for what's coming up. Our family is starting our spending fast today. 

So really, what is a spending fast? In my opinion, a spending fast is a way to separate your needs and your wants by refraining for a certain length of time from buying anything that is not absolutely necessary. There are a lot of details that you can customize for your situation - mostly the length of the fast, what you consider to be your needs vs. wants, and the overall purpose. I'll break down some simple steps to start you on your way. 

Define the length. Since we like throwing the plastic around, we've decided to not bite off more than we can chew and start with a 2 week fast. It's enough to be challenging but not totally rock our worlds. We're wimps. Anna from And Then We Saved went on a 15 month fast and managed to pay of $24,000 worth of debt. Now that's impressive. 

Define your needs vs. wants. For us our needs include: rent, utilities, insurance, food (we plan to eat as much from our pantry as possible and only buy ingredients that we need to complete recipes plus staples like milk/bread/eggs are OK), cell phone/internet/cable, diapers, anything medical related, and gas. 

Wants include: shopping (clothes, electronics, home goods, knick knacks etc. etc.), iTunes, Amazon, unnecessary items for our son, movies. 

Lastly, define your purpose and goals. For us the purpose is not only to create more robust savings but to reboot how we think about material things and how fortunate to live where we live and have what we have. Sometimes you get smothered by the sheer volume of all the things around you that each individual loses its luster. Maybe it's time to get excited about the things we already own, go through junk piles, and pass on what we don't need. As a mother of a 3 month old, more and more I'm choosing to keep things simple. I believe this fast will aid to living a simpler life and help us hone in on what really matters, the people around us - and guess what, they're free. 

I hope this little summary and outline of our spending fast makes you think and even join in! Have you done a spending fast before?  Was it successful? Thinking about jumping in but need a little push? Let's hear your thoughts...

day dreaming

I don't know if it's the sleep deprived nights or the bagillion monogrammed shams that I have pinned on my bedrooms board that have me dreaming of a new set up.  Most of the rest of the house has had some sort of upgrade and somewhere along the way our linens have been neglected.

is this real life?

Well, it has been a little over three months since I've posted and I think I have a really good excuse.

this happened...

and then this…

 

and then this…

and then this…

with not a whole lot of this…

Becoming a mom has been the greatest thrill of my life. I stare at our beautiful baby boy and thank God for such a blessing. It really has rocked my world (and now I am the guru of the Nose Frida - if you don't know what that is go ahead and google it, glamorous my friends). But now that I'm getting a lil routine going (routine used loosely) I'm ready to get back in the saddle again - blog/business/adult life. I did have a HUGE holiday sale taking 50-80% off select pieces which was very successful and created quite a stir on my Facebook page. I look forward to posting little bits about family life, the jewelry biz, fashion, DIY etc. etc. So stay tuned!!

Also, a big thank you for all the warm wishes, yummy meals, and baby holding sessions! You guys rock.