It's February 1, Do You Know What That Means?

It means it's almost Valentine's Day- the best holiday ever created.  Maybe it's because I am hopelessly in love, or maybe it's because I grew up in a house that was always drenched in pink and red for Valentine's Day, but either way, I love Valentine's Day.  As a child, the best time of year was watching my mom tear down the Hanukkah decorations, and put up the Valentine's decorations.  The rugs and hand towels were switched out for heart shaped rugs and red towels, every door knob had a heart on it, and the front of the house always had six giant tinsel hearts (one for each door, of course).  My little brother and I were always the first kids in line to buy Valentine's for our class, in fact, I still pass out those cheesy Valentine's to all of my friends.  What a fabulous tradition- props to whoever invented those.  Every year I also brought homemade cookies-on-a-stick for my classmates.  Yes, you guessed it... Sessy made giant conversation heart cookies with sayings like "HUG ME" and "YOU'RE MY BFF."

But my favorite part of Valentine's Day was not the Valentines or the teddy bears or the cookies, but instead it was a tradition that my parents started when I was little.  Each year, before I went to school, I got to unwrap a present, and inside that present was always Valentine's pajamas.  To this day, my mom still sends me Valentine's pajamas, and I always wear them- no matter how ugly they may be (sorry, mom).

It is sad being in college and not being able to go home and see all of the Valentine's decorations.  So this year I had a bright idea, and asked my mom to bring the decorations to me.  We had so much fun hanging the decorations in my apartment, and now my roommates get to live in a love shack for the next month (they are thrilled, I promise).

Anyways, hope you all are enjoying the countdown to Valentine's Day as much as I am! ♥

California for the Weekend? Why Not!

To say that our trip to California this weekend was a last minute decision is an understatement.  A random weekend getaway is about as spontaneous as I get.  My weekend in Coronado with Cara, Brenna and Brenna's mom was amazing, even though the weather did not want to cooperate.  We had a 48 hour vacation and chose to eat and shop our way through California- I am still full from this weekend.

The highlight (and focus) of the weekend was definitely the food.  Luckily, Brenna has tried almost every restaurant in the greater San Diego area, so we only ate the best of the best.  One problem- every restaurant was her "favorite restaurant everrr," and we shouldn't worry because "we'll eat there tomorrow."  This is exactly how we managed to eat about 12 meals in two days.  These restaurants included Blue Water Seafood Market and Grill (as seen on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives), True Food, Hash House A Go Go, Bread & Cie, Point Loma Seafoods, Enoteca Adriano, and many snack and dessert places in between.  There is nothing better than spending quality time with your girlfriends over a delicious meal.

Amazing, fresh fish tacos from Blue Water Seafood Market & Grill

Playing in Fashion Valley Mall- what an amazing place!

Fresh, organic food from True Food.  We need one of these in Austin!

Edamame dumplings from True Food.  One of the best things I have ever tasted.

Dinner at True Food

My favorite meal of the weekend was at Hash House A Go Go because I absolutely love breakfast.  This was my second time to eat here, and hopefully not my last.  This restaurant is really fun and unique because every dish is what I like to call "Texas sized" (really really big).  At our table we had a brown sugar banana pancake, hot sticky granola with fruit, eggs, waffles, biscuits, lattes and more.

Gigantic, delicious granola from Hash House A Go Go

Attempting to hold our massive plates

Great Italian dinner at Enoteca Adriano

Assortment of cupcakes from Sprinkles Cupcakes.  Mine is the vanilla one, of course.

Beautiful outdoor lunch at Point Loma Seafood

Point Loma

View from our bedroom!

Saying goodbye to Coronado

Feeling Inspirational

As I sit here packing my bag to go to California for the weekend, I think about how lucky I am.  I am lucky to have such amazing opportunities and lucky to have such incredible friends.  Besides being able to go on this weekend getaway with my girlfriends, this week has given me many other things to be thankful for.  On Sunday I said goodbye to my mom, dad and brother after spending the best weekend here in Austin with them.  On Monday I was off from school and got to spend the day relaxing and setting up my new bedroom.  On Tuesday I started my internship with Launch787 and Austin Fashion Week.  On Wednesday I was able to unwind in a sweaty yoga class with a longtime friend.  Yesterday I watched my mom send hundreds of her Valentine's truffles off to be sold at Saks Fifth Avenue.  This morning I am packing my bag, and about to leave on a plane for California.

Why are you lucky?  What are you thankful for?

Focusing on all the positive in our lives really helps us forget about the negative things in our lives.  We need to be thankful for what we do have, instead of dwelling on what we don't.  Most importantly, we need to be thankful for the pretty little things in our lives.  As you can see, I am having one of those moments where I am feeling a bit inspirational.  So I thought I'd share a few inspirational quotes with you that have really touched me.

(All photos from Pinterest)

Ice Ice Baby

Fun fact: I really enjoy making jewelry- SURPRISE!  You could say it is my favorite hobby, but is also one of the only ways I can relax.  There is something about trying to fit leather through a tiny hole, wire-wrapping and beading that really distracts me from the stresses of the real world.

Thanks to Chardé Jewelers, where I have worked on and off for the past few years, I now have a jewelry addiction- which, might I add, is clearly not the best addiction to have.  After years of oohing and awing over every piece I laid eyes on, I finally decided to experiment and make some jewelry of my own.  The result of this experiment: Hannah Claire Designs (original, I know).

This past summer, I had my first show with MSL, Modern Styles for Life.  MSL is a company that sells fabulous jewelry, clothes and accessories for a good cause.  We decided to donate a minimum of 20% of our proceeds from the show to Evelyn Lauder's Breast Cancer Research Foundation.  The show was a huge hit, and I am hoping to have a show with MSL again in Summer 2013.

Although I am still trying to figure out the best techniques and business logistics, I have managed to make some jewelry that I am actually proud of.  If you see anything that you like, or have any suggestions of pieces I should attempt to make, please let me know.  I would love your feedback and critiques- good and bad!