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Saturday, June 30, 2012

June In Review

At the beginning of the month I made a June Goals list, so I thought with the month coming to a close, now would be a great time to look back on what I actually got accomplished, as well as some other cool stuff that has happened as well.

So here's the list and what I managed to scratch off in the past 30 days...

Find part time job.
Write more in my novel, Runaway.
Make and list more items for my shop.
Work out more and hoop every chance I get.
Sketch more and try my hand at some painting.
Perfect a vegan peanut butter muffin recipe.
Get outside as much as I can.
Get a feline friend for the apartment!


I got about half way there, haha. I probably could have done better. Finding a part time job has been much more difficult than I thought it was going to be. No one is hiring around here.
Working out and hooping was a goal I really wanted to get to work on, but June heated up so much that I've spent most days lying in front of the fan. I did hoop a bit on my beach trip though, and that was definitely fun!
I didn't really sketch or paint. Faaaail.
And I didn't even try to perfect that vegan muffin recipe. However, me and my boyfriend did make these delicious treats! That has to count for something, right?

Despite not getting as much done as I wanted to, I think June was a good month. I got to see friends, made some awesome new jewelry, made progress on my novel, and have had the chance to connect with some other bloggers a bit. Slowly I am working my way into the blog-world and maybe I'll even make friends! Haha, I will hold onto that dream.

Keep your eyes peeled for a July Goals post very soon! I'm hoping next month will be even better than this one. My birthday is in July, so it's looking good already.

Lady Unlaced

Friday, June 29, 2012

New Weekly Feature: Feminist Friday

Pinned Image

I have a lot of weekly features, some which don't actually happen every week, but I try. I have Music Monday (reeaallly need to do another one of those), Tumblr Tuesday, Wordy Wednesday and Thrifty Thursday. Friday has been a big question mark for me since I started this blog last October. I wanted it to be food posts, but I don't care about food enough. Don't get me wrong, I like to eat, I just don't feel strongly enough about it to dedicate that many posts to what I shovel in my mouth.

I also thought about doing a Fashion Friday. I love clothes and I love shopping. But I don't really have a decent camera that's mine to take pictures of consistently. I'd love to do weekly outfits posts, maybe a recap of everything I've worn that week, but it's just not plausible right now.

So, where does that leave us? Just as the title says: Feminist Friday.

Oh yeah, I am definitely a feminist. Big time. I realize it's a topic that makes some people uncomfortable, but that's not why I want to feature this part of my life every week. I don't want people to be at odds with women's rights and gender equality.

Feminism

Feminism is not something to be afraid of or to tiptoe around, especially if you're a woman! It's not about man-hating and thinking that having boobs makes you better. It's about having respect and equal rights for everyone, regardless of gender, sexual preference or race. Everyone.

I am a very positive person who believes in respect and love above all else. Sounds cheesy, but it's the best way to live life. There is no need for negativity and degradation in this world. Looking down on someone for something as superficial as their gender or skin colour or orientation is ridiculous. That's what feminism is about.

So! For this new feature expect posts with feminist quotes, article, images, etc. I hope you enjoy this new part of my blog and that it gets you thinking.

Lady Unlaced

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Exploring the Tarot: The Lovers

The Lovers
Keywords: trials, choices (in regards to relationships)

Contrary to what a lot of people may think, this card does not symbolize true love or a successful relationship. The Lovers is a card about making decisions regarding a relationship or other personal matter, but in no way does it promise a happy result or finding your soul mate.

In most decks, this card depicts a young man with two women on either side of him. One woman can represent a seductive young woman and the other a more maternal and wiser woman. This gives us the reading of choice -a possible dilemma. A blind cupid ("love is blind") is also sometimes shown flying overhead with an arrow pointed at the young man. 

In a reading, this card is instructing you to take a good look at your options before making any kind of decision. Consider the consequences of each choice -which are you willing to accept? The choice does not always have to refer to lovers or other relationships, but whatever choice it does point to is certain to be deeply personal. Choose wisely. 

Lady Unlaced


Connect With Me

I would love to connect with anyone who reads this blog! I like meeting people and networking with like-minded individuals. So you should check me out on all these awesome places:


Let's be friends, yeah? :D



And while we're talking about connecting you should all go check out the two lovely blogs I'm sponsoring during July.

Shell runs a great blog called Kitty And Buck that has become a quick favourite of mine. She posts a photo everyday which I really love. I wish i was as motivated to share that many photos! I also love all her outfits posts. She's sweet as can be so give her some love!


This is an even newer find of mine but from the second I came across Amanda's blog, Dragonflight Dreams,  I knew it was love! She blogs about books, fashion/style, and all sorts of awesome stuff. Give her a look?

Aaaand don't forget to go click on all the buttons over there on the sidebar under "Favourite Reads." There are some seriously fantastic blogs over there.

I'm hoping to start my own sponsorship set up sometime soon. Would anyone be interested? It would be cheap -I'm not famous in the blogging world by any means. The money made from any sponsors would go into supporting someone else's blog or jewelry supplies for the shop. Thoughts?

Feel free to leave me some of your links as well, whether it's a blog, twitter account, pinterest, whatever! I will definitely go check out any pages.

Lady Unlaced

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Wordy Wednesday: Writing Inspiration

I have no new pieces of writing to share with you all this week, mostly because I'm too lazy to type the new stuff up. I was on a writing kick a few days ago at my other half's house, but I just haven't found the motivation to get it from notebook to computer. Maybe next week!

In the mean time, here's some writing inspiration for everyone.


typewritertype:

(via)

Quotes:
"I want to write because I have the urge to excell in one medium of translation and expression of life. I can’t be satisfied with the colossal job of merely living. Oh, no, I must order life in sonnets and sestinas and provide a verbal reflector for my 60-watt lighted head." -Sylvia Plath

 "The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible." -Vladimir Nabakov

"Writing’s a lot like cooking. Sometimes the cake won’t rise, no matter what you do, and every now and again the cake tastes better than you ever could have dreamed it would." -Neil Gaiman

Happy writing!

Lady Unlaced

Shop Update

I've got two more beautiful rings listed in my shop, take a look!



I usually take pictures of my jewelry on one of the windowsills in our apartment because it's the best lighting for it and today Eli decided he wanted to attempt to knock them off. I stopped him from sending them crashing to the ground, but he thought it was a game for awhile and I finally had to shoo him to the other side of the room. Cats! I love him to pieces but sometimes he can be a pain in the butt.

Lady Unlaced


Tuesday, June 26, 2012

New Look!

If you've visited my blog before then you may have noticed that things have changed in the past few hours. That's because I have spent a good portion of my day giving my blog a makeover!

Why was this so difficult? Well, first of all I couldn't upload a banner for the top of the page with the google account I have been using. So I had to make another account and make it an admin of my existing one so that I could use the new account to make changes. I don't know if that made sense to anyone, but the point is it worked! I was allowed to upload a banner aaaannndd change the background, something I haven't been able to do in awhile.

The background image I created on colourlovers.com. Jjolimie is responsible for the design of the pattern and I added the colours that I wanted. By the way, you can check out my ColourLovers account here.

The new header-banner is just something I whipped up in photoshop. It's not very complex but I think it works well and all in all I'm quite happy with the way everything looks. It may not be as bright and fancy as other blogs, but I think it fits who I am as a person. And that's the important part, right?

I hope everyone is having a lovely Tuesday!

Lady Unlaced

Tumblr Tuesday

Maybe it's because school is out for all the college and high school kids, but tumblr has been awesome lately! I know I say that a lot, but seriously, check out all this cool stuff:





Lady Unlaced




Monday, June 25, 2012

Nutella-Filled Sugar Cookie Cups

Can we just talk about how delicious these are? I found the recipe for these a few days back and immediately told my boyfriend that we needed to make them. Needed. Saturday night we did just that and alshfkuslfnhkjld are they good!

THIS is the original recipe I came across which is to make mini version of what we made. We would have made ours mini but we don't have a mini-muffin tin (a real tragedy, let me tell you) so we just used a regular muffin tin. It comes out perfectly fine, although the centers of the cookie-muffins are a bit more doughy. If you're into doughy cookies then they're amazing.




No worries, the recipe makes more than what is shown in the pictures, we just ate most of them already. Also, we had a bunch of leftover dough after filling up the muffin tin so we decided to use it and make one giant sugar cookie.


If you like sugar cookies and Nutella then you definitely have to try this recipe out. Seriously, you will be in heaven.

Lady Unlaced




Gypsy Dreaming

When I was little all I wanted was to be a gypsy. I'm serious -not a princess or a movie star or even a vampire (that one came later, haha) -a gypsy. The idea of travelling in a caravan filled with incense and candles, telling people's fortunes, and spending nights by the fire dancing and playing the tambourine seemed like the dream. Years later, it still kind of is. 

Running off and travelling across the country selling my jewelry, writing novels, and reading people their cards doesn't exactly fit into my life, but it's definitely something I wish I could have done.





All photos found on tumblr.

Expect another tarot post soon. I know I keep saying that, but I'm serious this time.

Lady Unlaced





Sunday, June 24, 2012

Sea Salt Hair Spray DIY

This is a tutorial I have been seeing a lot of in the blogsphere and I had to give  it a shot. I absolutely love the texture the sea water gives your hair -sure it gets knotted up, but it looks awesome! Maybe that's just me...

Anyways, this is a simple DIY that I originally found on The Wonder Forest that will give your hair a beachy texture (without the knots.) 

You'll Need 
Spray Bottle
2 cups warm water
2 tbsp sea salt (don't use table salt)
2 tbsp rubbing alcohol (or vodka, your choice!)
a little bit of hair gel
essential oil/coconut oil (optional)


Pour it all into your spray bottle and shake up. Done! How simple is that? And cheap -the only thing I had to buy was the spray bottle which I got for $1 at Family Dollar. 

Now that your hair spray is done, feel free to spritz your hair and bask in beachy texture. Just remember to shake well before each use. Now check out my awesome results:


Sorry for the crap-quality of that second photo, taking pictures of your own hair is hard. The only thing I recommend with this DIY is that you do use some kind of scented oil, otherwise your spray will have a bit of an alcohol-scent. It doesn't make your head smell like rubbing alcohol all day or anything, but you can definitely smell it when you use the spray.

Lady Unlaced




Saturday, June 23, 2012

Treasure! My Beach Finds

It finally cooled down enough for me to gather up enough energy to shoot some photos of the treasures I found on my beach trip earlier this week. I was so happy we went to a beach that had lots of shells to pick up and collect. Last summer I mostly just collected snail shells and smooth rocks, but Easton Beach is great for finding clam shells and crab head shells. I used to go there as a kid so it was nice to go back so many years later.

Take a look-sy at what I took home with me.






Awesome, right? I'm so happy about everything I found. Now if i could just find someplace to put it all.

Lady Unlaced





Thursday, June 21, 2012

Beach Trip! + Happy (late) Solstice!

Yesterday was the Summer Solstice, otherwise more simply known as the first day of summer! For the witchy types like me, this is an important holiday, one which me and my other half decided to spend at the beautiful Easton beach in Newport, Rhode Island with some friends. It was a long drive, but totally worth the  8 hours of beach time we got in! Yep, I said 8 hours. It was pretty awesome.

The water was beautiful, the sun was shining, and we all left with sunburns, hurrah! Haha, I don't usually burn in the sun, but I do every time I go to the beach. The sand and salt just magnify the sun and make it impossible not to, no matter how much sunscreen I put on. The burn is worth it though!

Now check out some crappy phone pictures I took of the day :D

It really wasn't crowded at all.
Some yummy hummus & crackers.
Some of my first shell finds of the day.
The beach practically empty at 5:30.

I have lots of cool shells and stuff I found that I want to share, I just haven't gotten around to taking nice photos of them yet, and it's too hot for it right now. It's in the 90s here in Mass and the humidity is disgusting. Summer weather certainly came out of nowhere. Hopefully it eases up a bit soon.

I hope everyone else had a great Summer Solstice! Anyone been to the beach lately? Where do you go? Collect anything cool?

Lady Unlaced







Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Tumblr Tuesday!

As always, I find the best stuff on Tumblr. But that's because I follow nothing but totally awesome people. 
Check it out :)



Actually saw this mug in a shop in North Hampton the other day :)


That last one just looks like heaven to me. I've wanted to be a gypsy since I was little. Not a princess, and not even a vampire like goth kids claimed they wanted to be, haha. Nope, I wanted to wear flowy skirts, live in a caravan and read people's fortunes. I still do to be honest. Sounds like the life.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Lady Unlaced




Monday, June 18, 2012

Back to Blogging


Sorry I kind of disappeared without warning this weekend. I went from a new post just about everyday to disappearing for three days. Buuuut I was not home or near a computer all weekend as I was visiting with a few old friends from high school.

I'll be honest, I'm not that great with keeping in touch with people, and I don't actually have the desire to talk to most people i knew when I was a teenager. High school was a disaster for me and I try not to think about it. But I had been texting an old friend for a few weeks and we finally decided to make a reunion happen. He's one of the few friends from those days I still would like to be connected to. That's saying a lot. We had a good time hanging out, I can't wait to do it again!

I did miss my blog-life while I was gone though, as lame as that it! Between this blog and my tumblr I have found an internet home. Again, lame, I know! But I just love you all so much :D

I also missed my boyfriend and my cat. I am hopelessly attached to both of them and not falling asleep next to them is always a little bit sad. Devoted girlfriend? Absolutely. Crazy cat lady? Oh yeah.

Anywaaaays, I will be back to blogging daily. Expect another tarot post soon (maybe even today!), a Tumblr Tuesday tomorrow, and some other neat-o stuff. I am thinking or writing a tribute post to my internet family and how the blogosphere has influenced my life.

How was everyone else's weekend?? Seriously, I want to know!

Lady Unlaced

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Etsy Finds

Today I thought I would take some time to share the things I've been drooling over on Etsy. Why must I be so broke? D: Anyways, take  look!





So much cool and beautiful stuff!

Lady Unlaced




Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Shop Update!

I'm really happy I actually managed to get in another shop update so quickly! I was definitely feeling the creative vibes today and put them to good use. I set out all my supplies on the bedroom floor (I don't really have an official work space) and got to work. Eli had fun climbing over everything and trying to fit himself inside the carry-bag I keep all my beads in. I wish I had taken pictures of it.

Anyways, here are my two most recent creations!



I think both came out great and I am definitely going to have to make versions of them for myself!

Also, my lovely other half, got me some lovely quartz points and two other stones today while at our local new age shop, so you can definitely expect some things using those soon! Remember that netted necklace I made? There were definitely be one or two of those in the shop, and hopefully soon!


Tumblr Tuesday

Check out what I have been loving this week:






That last one was definitely me in high school... and most of college, haha.

Happy Tuesday all!

Lady Unlaced







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