Weekend update: Sidewalk sales and art fairs

July 18, 2011 / 1 Comment

It has been a looong weekend, where to even begin?! Spent the whole Saturday in McHenry – supporting Trend Cellar in their sidewalk sales – we did pretty good! Pic spam follows…

It was early and the event started a wee bit late, we managed to squeeze in some time to get a big banner up on the store.

We took a short break to check out the Art in the Park fair just a short walk down the street. Ashley bought some cool art pieces by Mike (more pictures in the slideshow)

Then we hit the motherload at the art fair. This lovely old lady had a stockpile of awesome rocks, quartz, jewelry— you name it. It was really hard walking away with only a couple pieces, the rocks were priced a bit high… but SO inspiring. Lots more pictures in the gallery below…



Hopefully your Mondays started off better than mine, forgot to set my alarm! I still managed to leave the house semi-on time… later!! :)

Posted by Weronika in Blog
 

One ‘milestone’ of many

July 15, 2011 / Comments Off

We hit 100 fans on Facebook yesterday!!! It’s actually up to 101 right now – thanks everyone so much!!


Photo by The Light Fantastic

To make things a little bit more interesting, I want to give away some of my Pinterest invites. So if you’ve heard about Pinterest and would like to get on it and they didn’t send you an invite (I did that a while ago and it hasn’t come) – just leave a comment here using your real email (it won’t show publicly) and I’ll send it over! I only have 5 invites so first come first serve ;)


Thanks for checking us out and reading the blog! Have an awesome Friday!!!

Posted by Smitten in Blog
 

Fun with Diana F+ @ Ikea & my desk space!

July 13, 2011 / 9 Comments

Ever since I bought my Diana F+ camera – I’ve had the best results with outside photos. I must invest in the flash attachment really soon, indoor pictures are impossible to take – especially when someone else is operating the camera *cough*mysister*cough* nevertheless, she got a little lucky capturing this picture from Sunday. This is my second (sort of) HC update for this week.


Please excuse the shlumpiness… I guess the wind blew and it was hot

We made a quick trip to Ikea – I haven’t been there in a long while and they moved so many things around! After back tracking and walking in circles, I finally found what I came for (some desk organizers) – we had pizza and frozen yogurt because no trip to Ikea is complete without ice cream :)

As for my desk – here are the pictures of my now organized desk space… it’s usually overrun with papers, bills, beads and other jewelry making supplies because that’s just how I roll. Let’s see how long I can keep it clean!


Two pen cups – absolutely necessary! I cleaned out an old candle tin from Anthropologie, I’ve been meaning to do that for a long long time. A quick and practical fix :) And hello, look at that – desk post twins!

I also got a new planner/journal that isn’t too big so I can carry it with me, very helpful and hasn’t gotten a break for 2 days! Busy noting and sketching – I’ve drafted a couple of listings on Etsy and will slowly publish them as I go – making sure all the pictures are pretty :)

Have an awesome Hump day!

Posted by Weronika in Blog, Hazel's closet, Home Decor, Photography
 

Hazel’s Closet update from the weekend!

July 12, 2011 / 3 Comments

What a busy week! I planned a lot of things for this week and around this past weekend, so I prepared myself to keep the blog up to date and not boring, yay! My to-do list is never ending but I’m getting through it…

But back to business – I’ve been slacking with HC updates this year, mainly because I’ve been camera less… and my face has been extra acne prone (ew) workin’ on it… anyways this was my Saturday road trip outfit. By 10am it was already 87 degrees and if you couldn’t tell- the sun was blinding!!


I had Ashley snap these pictures right behind Trend Cellar – how cool is that parking sign? Spontaneous location but pretty neat. It seemed like I was in McHenry for a long time but we barely finished what I had on my list, like just talking about stuff. We took some cute Instax pictures with my Diana F+ for our sad and neglected about page (yikes) it’s soon to be updated ~finally!! ;)

The details:
Necklace – Summer Gold Bunting Flag Necklace – going up on our Etsy shop in a couple of days!
Bracelets – Wishing on a Black Moon – going up on our Etsy shop in a couple of days!
Stripe top – not sure, was my sister’s | Army green shorts – from Marshall’s | Sandals – Forever 21

Back to being a busy bee – I’m making up for lost time – more HC updates coming up later in the week.

Posted by Weronika in Blog, Fashion, Hazel's closet, Photography
 

Weekend update: S&H meets Black Orchid Boutique

July 11, 2011 / 2 Comments

Quick weekend update, I wish I gotten more pictures but here goes…

Took a short road trip up to McHenry to visit Ashley (we had some official S&H business to get to) and it was my first time ‘officially’ visiting the Black Orchid Boutique, a new store Carol opened. It’s soo cute! I love the store space, the furniture and displays, super fun. Dreaming and wishing about our own store, a long way into the future…


My handmade necklaces are now available in a retail setting. Really, really exciting! Of course, you can grab them on our Etsy page – get 15% off with the coupon in the sidebar – I’ll be posting ~new jewelry pieces later this week.

I tried on a lovely floral dress from Billabong, thinking when to wear it out. I’ll be back in McHenry next Saturday for their famous sidewalk sales – cannot wait!!! Check out more store pix below…

Posted by Weronika in Blog, Etsy Shop
 

Beads & Watercolor

July 11, 2011 / 2 Comments

Billabong Tee & Roxy Shorts (Trend Cellar Skateshop) | Beads & Bangle (Garage Sale) 

Found some great things at a garage sale recently. These long beaded necklaces and bangle are just a few of them! I’ve been obsessed with these Billabong slouchy pocket tees and added another one to my wardrobe today.  So cute and comfortable!

 

Posted by Smitten in Blog, Fashion, Photo shooting
 

What a beautiful place…

July 09, 2011 / 2 Comments

This summer I had the opportunity to go visit Martha’s Vineyard.  I really didn’t know what to expect since I never really heard anyone talk about it or knew anyone who had  been there before.  I can start off my telling you its one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, and I met  some of the most amazing people! It was a surprise to see how different it was from any where I’ve been and have been surrounded by everyday. It was a refreshing experience, I came back feeling rejuvenated and ready for change. You’re probably wondering what was so amazing and magical about this little island that I knew nothing about until recently. And I will tell you…

My brothers girlfriend is from the Vineyard and we were so lucky to be invited to tag along to go visit and drive her car back to Chicago! I feel like I was able to see so much more and take so much in because we were with someone who knew the island like the back of her hand. She showed us all the cool hidden spots and best places to eat! We started our adventure by flying into Boston and taking a 2hour bus ride to Woods Hole where we then hopped onto a ferry that would take us to the island!

Every corner had a farm stand where you could pick up fresh veggies and fruits that had been grown right there on the island. Although we live in the Midwest and are surrounded by cornfields, we definitely don’t see enough of that around here. Everyone we encountered was so aware of what they were eating. It was a real eye opener, to see all these young adults that had all grown up on the island together and each one was taught to appreciate where their food was from. Almost everyone of them we had met, had at one point worked on a farm and enjoyed doing so! If we were to make a quick stop for snacks before the beach they would run to a farm stand and grab some mangos, avocados, and bags of arugula to snack on! Definitely not something you see everyday back home. Seeing this made me want to come home and have a much more healthy lifestyle. I don’t think I’m a horrible eater, but there’s always room for improvement. :-)

Did I mention there’s not one single chain or fast food restaurant on the Island! AMAZING right?!

There was the most delicious places to eat!! Each one was just as good or better than the last.

That’s all for now! Too many stories and pictures to post! Stay tuned to find out about one of my favorite things on the Island….The Dump.

Posted by Smitten in Blog
 

What a day…

July 07, 2011 / Leave a comment?

To say I’m exhausted is an understatement. Today was a really blah day – as blah as it can get. Work was crazy busy, if I wasn’t answering one phone call after the other (on t h r e e lines mind you) – I was running back and forth to grab things. In the middle of writing up new orders and checking on old ones and feeling like a human punching bag.


I have no energy left but to pass out. The photo above describes this day very accurately. Tomorrow is Friday, even though it’s shaping up to be a really busy one (Friday is always our busiest day at the shop) I am happy to call this week done. (Picture from Orlando trip back in March)

Saturday going to McHenry – checking out the new shop and handing off some of my handmade necklaces to sell – yay!!! Also seeing Ashley to cook up some more goodies. Catch ya later ;)

P.S. don’t forget to visit the Etsy shop and grab some jewelry with the coupon code TAKE15 – changes rolling in next week!!!

Posted by Weronika in Blog
 

In the works: wish bracelets

July 06, 2011 / 2 Comments

Here’s a quick peek at what I’ve been working on — wish bracelets! I’m really excited because these little things are the cutest and not at all difficult to make (they just take time and patience.) I already started layering them with other woven and friendship bracelets.


I’ll try to list a couple of these babies on Etsy starting some time next week! I’m going to do a little revamp – so right now you can grab 15% off your order with the code TAKE15 ;)

Posted by Weronika in Blog, Craftyness, Etsy Shop, Handmade
 

Weekend adventure @ Taste of Chicago

July 06, 2011 / Leave a comment?

It’s hump day, middle of a short work week so we’re really close to another hot Summer weekend — yay! Today I’m sharing a small Instagram spam from Taste of Chicago. I went to the city with my sister on Sunday (I lied, not Saturday!) – it was a hot hot day (not as hot as Saturday actually) had some amazing food and saw lots of people enjoying it too, as it was the last Taste day.


Here I am with my delicious polish sausage with kraut – so yummy! I couldn’t eat anymore after that haha and, yes that is the Buckingham Fountain in the background (it was a tad crowded)


Random bits from the city on our way back to the train…


and at the train station… and at the post office – USA!

It was a fun day, we were both very exhausted by 1:30 – a lot of walking and eating – and the HEAT! I was sunscreened but somehow I missed some spots on the back of my shoulders, now I have weird tan lines.

Here’s my sis being kinda dorky

Right now, I have an awesome outlook for the rest of the week. Getting organized with things and making new things (super exciting) – I’ll be posting what I started working on later today. Have a great day!

Posted by Weronika in Blog