The End Of Winter

 HOLY CRAP, I'm behind. I have seriously been lacking in the time department. We have been so busy with moving Beadlush to a new location, that my daily routine has not had any room for blogging. But our lovely new home is (mostly) complete and I've found a few minuets to post. 

After the meekest winter I have ever experienced in NC, spring just didn't seen to want to come. The groundhog seriously misread his shadow this year. We spent the entirety of March in cold to chilly conditions (but still no real snow). The good news about extended chilliness is I get to layer for longer! Now at the end of April it's reaching a more typical Hot and humid Charlotte spring, but I still had this photo set to post. And I loved this outfit! This dress has a very low V-neck, which isn't usually my thing, and not great for cold weather. Layering to the rescue! My standby of a collared shirt and cardigan made this a bit more cozy. Add a contesting scarf, and this ended up being one of my favorite outfits this winter.

 Dress: Thrifted
Blouse: Also Thrifted
Cardigan: Forever 21
Tights: Betsy Johnson
Boots: Seychelles
Scarf: Arden B
Jewelry: Corvidae Jewelry

Hopefully, I'll have some more time for creating and posting soon. 

Luv,

Vanessa*

New pieces

Shockingly, I have been working,pretty hard, at my table. I've been slowly tapping into my creativity to build new pieces. I'm still on a bit of a tribal kick, but I've been visiting some alternate influences as well. I'm digging SciFi posters and art (especially vintage stuff). The colors and textures are lovely and still use a lot of geometric shapes that I'm digging. So these are some of the first jewels rolling of the line.

My "Red Planet" necklace is available in my shop --> HERE
It fetures two of the summer's hottest colors, mint and coral, as well as robin's egg blue vintage glass, black carved bone, and brick red Agate.

Keep checking back, I have more pieces to put up soon!
Luv,
Vanessa*

Smile for the camera

 Shooting isn't always fun. Even if the weather is lovely (as it was here) and the light is beautiful, and you feel cute, and your hair is behaving. Sometimes you are just having a total crap day, and it hard to muster up a smile. This was just kind of a crummy day, but I managed to get around to photos, so I wasn't going to skip! The result was strange urban outfitters catalog photos. I look extremely unhappy, and it's weird lighting. If I looked emaciated, then it really would look like UO.

  Cardigan:Madewell
Blouse: Thrifted
Skirt: BB Dakota
Tights: Target
Shoes: Seychelles
Jewelry: Corvidae

And there's a real smile.

 Here's a reminder to keep your chin up, and push on even when life isn't the easiest. And it really does help to dress a little bit extra pretty when you aren't feeling tip top. Bright colors and pretty jewels always brighten my day.

Keep Smiling,

Vanessa*

Soup kinda day.

I love soup. I seriously could eat it every day. If it has pasta in it then I'm even happier. If it has pasta and is really super easy to make, then I'm in love. This soup can be made vegan pretty easily, and vegetarian no problem! I also am exited to jazz it up a bit more next time. I made the soup in 15(!) minuets and made mt new favorite open faced sandwich to accompany.  I'm going to tell you how to make both!

Ingrediants:
Soup:
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth (i used TJ chicken)
1 pack fresh cheese tortellini (i'm sure there are vegan options somewhere)
Half bag of Baby spinach
sea salt
pepper
Parmesan cheese for sprinkling on top. (optional)

Sandwich:
Lovely whole grain wheat bread
goat cheese (I used TJ medallions)
Avacado
lemon
sea salt

Soup:

Bring broth and 1 cup of water to a boil in a large saucepan. Turn the heat down and add the tortellini. Simmer about 6 min until the pasta is cooked (make your sandwich at this time). Stir in the spinach ( i found it best to do one hand full at a time) and cook about 2 min to wilt. Add salt and pepper to taste. After you serve it, add Parmesan cheese to the top. This soup does not undergo any amazing chemical changes that create unique and complex flavor compounds. This soup tastes EXACTLY how you expect it to taste. It's simplicity is the whole point. However, I plan to try to add to it up in the future, and will report back on any successes.

Sandwich:

Place bread in the toaster until it begins to form a crusty top. Remove and spread on the goat cheese. Go as thick as you like. Place back in the toaster for about 1 min (give or take. you have to pay attention to this). Remove avocado from its skin, slice, and salt it. Fresh from the toaster, spread the avocado onto the bread. Squeeze a bit of lemon juice onto the top and enjoy.

This quick meal is perfect for dinner, and you'll have (soup) leftovers for lunch. Enjoy! 

Luv,

Vanessa*

Swingin Afternoon

  If you aren't from NC, then you wouldn't know how ridiculous our weather has been lately. Most of the time we have been hovering between 40 & 60 degrees, but we have had days in the 70's followed very quickly by low 30's and snow. Oh, and SO MUCH RAIN. So any day that is pleasant it's nice to get out of the apartment for a walk. John and I were joined by his sister Sarah, and we went for a quick walk around the corner. There is a crappy tiny park around the corner with swings. So off we went for a little break.

 This is the closest thing to a full body show we managed to get today (i'm the worst blogger. I swear) so i guess it will have to do.

dress: Modcloth
shirt: Forever 21
tights: Target
Shoes: Urban outfitters
Jewelry: Corvidae

Anyway, we had a lovely time, and we made it home before the rain set in.

Oh, and as a bonus, here is a picture of a duck we saw on out walk. Hope you guys have been ducky(sorry)!

Luv,

Vanessa*

Tea for 2(sday) -to go

My first tea post of the new year! And honestly it's kind of a snooze. Well for you guys anyway. I started my morning bright and early with a great big thermos of highly caffeinated Matcha. I needed it too. I headed up the mountain with my boss to shop a wholesale bead show. We acquired a lovely selection for the shop and I picked up a few goodies for myself. I'll show them off later this week!

Until then,

Luv

Vanessa*

Lucky (20)13

Happy New Year All! I've been a little bit lax after having an extremely busy holiday season, and then waking up on New Year's day feeling more poorly than just a hangover. I managed to make it all the way through the Xmas season before catching a cold. I haven't really felt up to editing and writing. But I'm feeling better now, and I missed sharing!

On New Years Eve we headed over to our friend's house to have a very low key hang out. We snacked, liquored up (Some of us more than others. I'm a lightweight, but I definitely had more than my usual share), and set off some leftover fireworks. Man we had a Blast (Ha!) or at least I did, but I was probably too drunk to be swinging around that sparkler.

I hope yours was happy and safe, and I look forward to an exciting (lucky) 2013!

Luv,

Vanessa*