sock bun style: a jewelry wardrobe

 

 

 

 

 

 

today on my lunch break, I was catching up on my favorite blogs and saw this feature of Bario-Neal over on Snippet & Ink. I was enamored by the overall aesthetic of their jewelry pieces – it reminded me of home somehow. and when I realized that they are based in Philadelphia it made complete sense!

 

 

 

 

 

 

their jewelry is gorgeous: simple styles, precious stones and metals used in a mix of unique and classic ways, and set at price points that don’t seem to break the bank. one thing I have tried to be intentional about doing is building a well-thought jewelry wardrobe to compliment my regular wardrobe, and with pieces from Bario-Neal you couldn’t really go wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

their rings are especially lovely. I actually don’t wear rings very often – I have a class ring from high school, two sorority rings, and a couple of other rings from family vacations and Stella & Dot. but some of these Bario-Neal rings are pieces that I could actually see myself wearing regularly. the simplicity is so lovely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

periodically throughout the year I like to treat myself – birthdays, holidays, days I get paid… and after this discovery today I’m thinking that a ring from Bario-Neal may just have to be on the short list of presents for myself this year.

how do you approach your jewelry wardrobe? what are those pieces that you can’t live without?

the sounds of: an npr interview with Vampire Weekend

 

yesterday, the new album from Vampire Weekend was released. Vampire Weekend has been one of my favorite bands for some time now, so to say I was excited is a pretty big understatement. in response to their album release, the singer of the band was interviewed on npr. press play to hear the interview, and check back next week for some highlights of the album on the May playlist!

top five: summer in Indianapolis

Kurt, right before he walked across the stage to accept his diploma

you know what’s funny? I have not been able to think about summer plans for weeks. I know that summer is just around the corner (it is May after all!), but it just hasn’t seem quite real yet.

this weekend changed that. Kurt graduated this weekend from his master’s program – we spent the whole weekend celebrating and enjoying time with his family. one of my favorite things is the tradition and ritual of a graduation ceremony; experiencing this one definitely helped me move on from spring and begin to think about sunnier days!

this will be my fourth summer in Indianapolis, and every year I put together a list of things I want to do. I usually accomplish about half of that list, remembering that its OK to slow down midway through the summer. I’m not planning too ambitiously this year, but here are the top five things on my summer list:

 

five. partake in the IMA outdoor movie series. this summer, they have some great films in the lineup. and with Kurt’s house being within walking distance of the IMA, there is really no excuse to miss out on this.

four. get out my bike and ride the monon trail a couple of times. if you aren’t familiar, the monon trail is a paved trail running from Carmel, IN to downtown Indianapolis. total mileage is about 36 miles round trip, and Kurt and I have talked about trying to do the entire trail once or twice. it has been a very long time since I’ve been on a bike though, so we will definitely be working our way up to that mileage!

three. head over to Victory Field for an Indianapolis Indians game. the Indians are the minor league baseball team in Indianapolis. baseball isn’t my favorite sport in the world, but the great tradition of being in a ballpark in the summer months is something I really do enjoy.

two. learn German with Kurt. yes, I plan to learn some German this summer in preparation for visiting Kurt in Vienna later this year. he will be packing his bags and leaving for Vienna, Austria on August 3rd and will be there for ten months while he completes research and teaches at a business college as a part of the Fulbright Scholarship he was awarded. I plan to visit at least once, but need to brush up on my German skills before leaving and learning together with him this summer is going to be a lot of fun.

one. rearrange my apartment. something that I really enjoy is rearranging my personal living space with the change of seasons. it helps me feel ready for a fresh start and a fresh season, and when you live in a small space, sometimes things start to feel familiar very quickly. after living in my apartment for a year, there are definitely ways that I could maximize the space better, so be ready for a little apartment feature series once I’m all finished!

what are some of the things you are looking forward to this summer?

the week ahead: rested and ready

 

 

 

 

 

good morning and happy monday! what a weekend – I feel like I slept most of it away, but after the week I had last week it was probably necessary. while I don’t feel completely rested beginning today, I do feel more on my way, so here’s to a new week!

Kurt and I spent saturday poking around a local vintage arts fair. the photos are a few of the pieces I fell in love with… but alas we left empty-handed. there is another show in June, so if that chair is still there, it may be coming home with me. so, dear reader friends, cross your fingers for me! we got a couple of DIY ideas (that bowl below being one of them), so there may be a couple of fun projects coming up this summer too.

this week my work load is significantly calming down. while I still have quite a number of projects all going on at once, the largest of them was finished thursday last week. Kurt takes his final comprehensive exam today and once that’s finished its smooth sailing to graduation this weekend! here’s what you can expect this week here on circle city, twenty-six:

• the top five things I’m looking forward to about summer in Indy this year
• after being on a plane again last week, I’m itching to be up in the air. check back for a wanderlust post about a place I have on my mind!
• a sock bun style focused on organizing my closet. the time has come to finally make the switch from fall/winter wardrobe to spring/summer wardrobe and I’m going to outline how I keep things organized in my tiny apartment space!

the past few days…

bright tulips on a spring walk

keep portland weird. seriously.

Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland!

glitter covered walls of Voodoo Doughnut

freshly baked doughnuts

good things come in pink boxes

doughnuts ready for eating!

my poor little voodoo man

and what doughnut shop is complete without a giant doughnut on the wall?

from Seattle to Portland – three snowy mountain tops in the distance

flying over Mt. St. Helen’s

flying over San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge

the past few days have been extremely busy… a trip to Oregon last week for work left me without much time for blogging (let alone sleeping) so I’m still playing catch-up. it did, however, provide me with some good pictures and an awesome experience visiting Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland. seriously one of the best doughnuts I’ve ever had. and here’s a fun fact for you – did you know that you can get married in the doughnuts shops? my second cousin did – the pictures make it look like so much fun.

on my trip home from Portland flight delays ended up rerouting me from Portland to San Francisco, then a red-eye from SFO to Washington, D.C. before I was finally home in Indianapolis after that last flight from D.C. to Indy. I did buy a great little pillow from the Pendleton shop in PDX (that I had seen and been thinking about for months) and a couple of new books as well – once I have time to do my laundry and go to the grocery store I might do a little post sharing this new pillow with you all – maybe an apartment walk through? hmm… something for the summer I think!

clearly I’m a little tired. but I didn’t want to leave you all hanging for too long! Kurt and I have a few weekend plans, so I’ll see you all on Monday morning with the week ahead… until then!

 

the sounds of: spring apartment playlist

one of my favorite things to do in the spring is to read in my apartment with all of the windows wide open. my downtown apartment is great for this – there are these big, picturesque windows in the living room and my bedroom, and the breeze travels through the whole place so well.

this playlist is what I’m listening to while enjoying spring from my reading chair. it’s a good mix that keeps me mellow, which on the weekends I desperately need sometimes. surprisingly, I am loving live John Mayer now, so there are a few of his live versions on this list. I typically tend to stray away from live renditions, but he does it so well… which places him near the top of my concert bucket list. enjoy!

weekend DIY: kitchen spice storage

this isn’t the DIY I’ve been hinting at the past two weeks (I’m sorry – it’s coming soon!!), but it is a DIY that I think you will really enjoy! a few months ago, I found this idea for updating my spice storage over on a beautiful mess, one of my absolute favorite blogs. living in a tiny apartment with a tiny kitchen means that I am always on the look-out for new storage solutions, especially when it means freeing up valuable counter space! one of my goals for twenty-seven is also to streamline my living, so anything that helps with that is a good idea at this point.

enter in these great spice tins with magnets adhered to their bottoms! now I have clean, easy to use spice storage all on the side of my refrigerator. easily accessible, easily organized, and extremely appealing to look at. for those of you keeping score, that’s a win-win-win in my book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found the tins here and chose the 4 oz. size in order to ensure my spices would fit completely into their new homes. the clear lids allow me to keep track easily of what spices will need to be replaced as supplies run low. and the lids stay on tight… even when the containers are dropped a few times… so this is a relatively mess free storage option!

the magnet paper I found at Michael’s. it was about $10 for a 12 inch by 24 inch sheet, and that easily provided enough magnet circles for my thirty-one spice containers with some left over. the labels I found at Staples – they are just regular Avery labels. there are lots of size options, so choose the size that works for your containers!

while my counter space is still limited, this new storage option is so much easier to use. I can see everything that I have, and keeping everything aligned and organized will certainly satisfy my desire to keep things orderly. it was one of the simplest weekend DIYs I have ever done – now go forth and organize! enjoy!

the week ahead: getting ready to travel again

good morning! what a great weekend – lots of time spent with Kurt, and lots of organization projects completed in my apartment! only thing left is to switch my closet for spring and summer and I’ll be ready for May. speaking of which, how is it almost time for May?! these years seem to move faster and faster the older I get… not cool.

so this week. a few things on tap, but most excitedly, a trip back to Oregon on Friday! I’ll be there until Tuesday, so if posting is a little light that is why. enjoy your week!

• a DIY… but not the one I’ve been hinting at (it’s coming… I promise!)
• that apartment playlist I talked about last week
• the top five things I’m looking forward to about summer in Indianapolis this year
• another Whole30 recipe that I have really enjoyed

photos are from Saturday morning coffee with Kurt. latte for me, cappuccino for him.