Lately I’ve been feeling inspired by mid-century decor with a modern twist (take a peek at my Pinterest boards and see!). However, with any vintage decor you walk a fine line between looking cool and retro and looking just plain out-of-date. IKEA is, of course, the workhorse of everything mid-century and Scandinavian and affordable and AWESOME. San Francisco is ripe with secondhand stores and flea markets which are treasure troves of vintage furniture. Sawyer and I can’t wait to peruse them this weekend and maybe find a gem to take home with us! Hey, a girl can dream, right?!
Martha Stewart Living paint in ‘Enamelware‘: $2.94/sample
Hey gals! Sorry for my absence this past week, but I’ve been busy moving into my new apartment. For those of you who don’t know, I’ve relocated to gorgeous San Francisco! The city by the bay was calling my name. Anyway, things have been cray. Moving across the country is not easy, but luckily I’ve had the support of my family and boyfriend (like LITERAL support, see #1). Thank you SO MUCH, everyone. Even though I’ve only been here a few days, I’d like to reflect on a few things I’ve learned so far.
Take care of yourself. The day before I left, I badly injured my back by lifting my embarrassingly heavy suitcases. I was in a lot of pain and could barely even stand up… let alone walk! It’s been six days since then and I’m still riding the struggle bus. I figure I must’ve pinched a nerve or slipped a disc in my spine, which is pretty terrible when you’re not sure how accessible healthcare is out here and you’re relying on public transportation. My #1 piece of advice? Never overdo it and take good care of yourself.
You need less than you think. A few months before I moved, I made a spreadsheet with how much it would cost to move, using various scenarios (i.e. fly out and ship my stuff, pack my car up and drive out, etc.) and determined that I would save thousands (!) by only taking what I needed in a suitcase. I’m telling you now… sell it all. I sold all my furniture, consigned a huge bag of clothes, shoes, and purses, and packed up only what I truly loved to take with me. It’s kinda liberating starting our new apartment from scratch!
Public transportation isn’t really that scary. For a gal who’s been lucky enough to have a car to drive, public transportation in a large city can be an intimidating beast. I know I still have a lot to learn, but from what I can tell, it doesn’t look like it’s going to be too difficult to get around. Sure, there are certain limitations to it (no more drive-thru at 2am…) but I’m pretty sure I can adapt to eating my McChickens at a normal hour like a normal human. Besides, I’ve already signed up for ZipCar for our weekend outings!
More SF updates coming soon! Thank you for all your continued love and support.
Before I dedicate a post to contouring and highlighting (coming soon!), I thought I’d focus on something even more basic… finding your cheekbones! Many people have fuller cheeks and actually finding the bone can be tricky. For those of you who don’t have prominent cheekbones, here’s an easy and fool-proof way to find your cheekbones without a single cheek-sucking fish face in sight!
The usual way we learn to find our cheekbones is to suck in our cheeks and make a fish face. This technique doesn’t always work, however, and you can end up with less-than-strategic patches of bronzer on your face (not cute).
In order to correctly locate your cheekbones, place your thumb directly above your ear tragus (the little nub that sticks out). Then, place your index finger directly below your nostril. This line that your hand creates is exactly where every person’s cheekbone is located on their face. The zygomatic bone (cheekbone) articulates with the mandible right above the tragus and articulates with the maxilla below the nostril on every person, no matter their face shape.
Finish by sliding your thumb down your cheek in the line that you formed with your hand. Congrats! You’ve found your ever-elusive cheekbone! I’ll have a highlighting and contouring tutorial coming up to show you how to properly showcase those beauties.
Sartorially speaking, a girl can never have too many pairs of shoes. Practically, though, a girl realizes how many pairs of she has when she’s moving across the country… with just two suitcases (I just bought a bunch of those vacuum-sealed bags because I want to fit EVERYTHING). For the rest of you gals who aren’t moving, I recently found a fantastic dupe for Madewell’s Winston ankle boot. I love Madewell. I love ankle boots. I don’t love the price tag. Enter Crown Vintage’s Samantha bootie.
It was actually my friend Meghan who brought these to my attention. She had just purchased a pair of Crown Vintage ankle boots and she remarked how uncannily they resembled Madewell’s Winston boot. I have to say, I’m inclined to agree wholeheartedly. They are freakishly the same. But at $69.95, the Samantha boots are a lot easier to manage financially.
What do you think, gals? Would you get the look for less?
XO, J
P.S. I have it on good authority from Meghan that the Samantha boots are wickedly comfortable. Bonus!
This hot chocolate is good. Like… fantastically, phenomenally, earth-shatteringly GOOD. Most hot chocolate recipes call for cocoa powder, which usually leaves a gritty puddle in the bottom of your mug. This hot chocolate uses semi-sweet chocolate squares and heavy cream to create a cloud of fluffy chocolate mousse… which then gets melted into hot milk. It’s velvety, creamy, and frothy. It’s heavenly! We still have a lot of winter to get through. For the love of god, put down the Swiss Miss and just make this recipe.
5 squares Baker’s semi sweet chocolate
1 cup water
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp real vanilla extract
2 cups heavy cream
Grate the chocolate. Add to the water and melt over medium heat. When melted, add the sugar and salt. Cook for four minutes. Add the vanilla and cool to room temperature. Whip cream. Fold (not mix) with chocolate mixture. Store in refrigerator. To serve, add a super generous dollop to milk and heat slowly. Note: 3-5 Tbsp constitutes a “dollop.” :)
What are some of your hot chocolate recommendations?
XO, J
P.S. Thank you to my sweet mom who let me borrow this recipe.
