LOVELY HUNT - A New Place to Buy Unique Handmade Jewelry

There's something about knowing an item was made by another person that makes it that much more special. Handmade means a deliberate creation. It means that work and heart went into the making of an item.

Handmade items have heart. They have soul. And that's why I am super excited to help spread the word about a pretty cool project: www.lovelyhunt.com

Lovely Hunt is an online store that offers jewelry, bags and decor from indie designers who are all about the details. And the best part?  All of it is made by hand. We're not talking handmade items that are reminiscent of arts of crafts class. Think raw, wild jewelry made of unique, vintage materials.

Love this neckalce. By Alchemilla.

Traditional metals like brass and copper are the total stars of the show. Lapis, Druzy, Onyx and Amethyst are left in more natural states to give pieces a totally untamed look.

Amazing bracelet, right? From Loop Jewelry

They have some pretty cute Vintage shoes, too ;)

Anyhow, if you have a few moments, feel free to go see for yourself :) I played a big role in this project, so I would really love to hear what you think the comments below!

BLOW YOUR SELMER TRUMPET

My dad, a collecting musician of sorts, lucked upon a vintage 1960's Selmer K-Modified Trumpet. 

He first saw it in the rear corner of a pawn shop window. When he went inside to inquire about the price, it became clear the pawn shop owner had absolutely no idea what a rare treasure he had in his possession.

Back in the 60's when it was originally made, the US and France did not have a friendly commerce relationship. The US imposed a tariff on imports from France to try and price them out of the US market. With the tariff in place, it would have been insanely difficult for French companies to make a profit on anything shipped into the US. 

So to get around that, The Selmer Company shipped the horn only partially assembled ((sneaky)) to allow the horn to officially be "made in the USA" and avoid paying the tariff.

 Here's where the K-Modified part comes in. "K"was a renowned horn craftsmen. The Selmer Company hired him to assemble the final pieces of their famously lightweight horn. 

He did it gladly... under one small condition. The Selmer Company had to agree to name the horn after him.

So name it they did. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA.

Happy birthday, USA!

Red, white and blue everywhere you turn. The one day excessive patriotism is okay in my book.

CLOUD LAKE

The heavy cloud cover over the lake made for an unusual first day of July. The air was crisp and was whispering threats of rain, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the waterfront.

I can't get enough of these American Apparel High-Waist Trousers. They come in a ton of deep, vibrant colors like aluminum, burgundy, sage and golden poppy. I've made it my personal mission to take all of the colors into my possession by the end of summer. Three colors down, 15 more to go.  

LIKE THE ORANGE BLOSSOM

Orange blossoms will bloom, even if there is no one to enjoy them.

THE TUNNEL LIGHT

It has certainly been a while. 

This past year has been incredibly difficult for me. I've dealt with the decline of my health, physical pain and borderline depression. I was forced to quit blogging, photography, dancing - even running. Practically everything I loved about life was taken away from me.

It's taken eight months, but I'm finally remembering who I am. I am not an injured person. I am not a stressed out 9-5er. I am ME.

You can't always wait until "things get better" to do what you love. And sometimes, despite all of the issues you're facing, you've just got to smile.

GOLDEN GATE PARK DANCE PARTY

Last weekend I went to a dance party in the Golden Gate Park in SF.

(trusty cowboots)

It was an impromptu, picnic sort of setting, and everyone who happened to find out about it came armed with blankets, lawn chairs, beer and...  ahemm... other recreational fun stuff, 100% prepared to relax and enjoy the sun clouds and the beats. A music promotion group called As You Like It was the host, and their DJs were playing some preetty spectacular house. 

In case you aren't familiar, house music isn't that sort of techno-y, rave-ish stuff that goes, "thud, thud, thud, thud." It does have some sort of electronic elements to it, but it's a hell of a lot more soulful. While sitting on the ground, you could feel the bass in your body. Loved it!

A steady flow a people trickled in, and the crowd of about 30 slowly grew to about 100 people. A nice intimate little gathering.

(picnic-couture heh)

(can you spot me?)

The pet doggies were having a great time, too! So many different breeds were there. Labs, pugs, cutiepie muts - all having a ridiculously good time sniffing each other's behinds and trolloping on whose ever blankets they pleased! They were all friendly and just wanted to play, so I don't think anyone minded.

 In fact, they were probably one of the more entertaining aspects of the day. Someone brought a remote controlled toy car and the dogs were dashing between legs and through the grass, chasing it aroounnd and arrouund. Seriously though, that toy car was giving even the largest dogs a run for their money! It must have had some sort of suped-up engine.. if toy cars even have such. After about a thirty minutes of non stop racing, most of the dogs retired for a mid afternoon nap. This black lab took a liking to Ryan and fell asleep right next to his foot. Aww! :)

About 5 hours into the dance party, people really started getting down and fuunnkyy!

By the end of it I was pooped. What more could you ask for of park party?

SIGHTED AND SEEN

I seriously need to get on with it and just move to SF already.

Ryan and I usually spend the majority of our weekends there. People always ask me, "What do you even do in SF all the time?" As much as I'd love to seem like an uber cool jet setter, the truth of the matter is that more often than not we really don't do anything particularly interesting... just walk around and hang with friends (at least during daylight hours).

I adore this grey sweater. It and the floral purse belong to my mom. I'm always sort of surprised when I she has pieces that I'd actually like to borrow. Don't get me wrong, my mom is definitely fashionable in her own way, but for a long time our two senses of fashion never seemed have a common ground. 

Either her sense of style is getting younger, or mine is getting older. Either way, all that means is that I now have even more clothing and accessories to choose from. I like!

And now for a series of sights and scenes.

(this robin's egg Vespa always seems to be parked outside of Ryan's favorite store, Union Made)