Always late...

Just like always I'm starting the year off late.  So here's my delayed New Years Post & my official return to blogging seen as I failed over the last two weeks.

Although it didn't feel like it most of the time, 2012 was a pretty great year for me.

We finally became American Citizens & were able to vote in our first election!! 

I enjoyed time in Baltimore, DC, NYC, Atlantic City, New Orleans & Tennessee.  Travelling never gets old for me!!

My first trip to AC couldn't have been more perfect, a walk on the shore, fried oreo's on the boardwalk & some quick gambling of course.  I was a little sad I didn't see Snooki though!

NOLA lead to lots of indulgence.  Hurricanes, Beignets, Jazz & lots of laughs with great friends. It was the perfect place to celebrate a bride to be.

My trip to Baltimore was filled with issues with my love, Adam being the only saving grace.

Over the summer we also worked with a Sales Rep to sell Stella Jewelry.  I couldn't have asked for a better response from local stores & only hope to strengthen the relationships this year. 

In October I left my corporate office job to be a manager at a Beauty store.    The timing was perfect & so far I am much happier in life & finally feeling a little more like my old self.  I am also able to work on my jewelry more & am looking into silver smithing courses so maybe one day I can take the leap to make jewelry my full time job. 

Finally, I rang in the new year with some of my favorite people & loved when my friend Brianna opted to wear a pair of our new earrings for the evening!  I'm loving that it's all about Emerald this year.  What do you think of the new style?

My one regret from the year is not working on our website more, it needs so much work!  I am making this my #1 goal for the year, followed by being healthier, travelling more & reconnecting with old friends.

I hope you all had an amazing New Years & found someone to kiss at midnight!

Sparkle like diamonds in the sky.......

My life seems to have passed by to quickly since my last post in JULY!  I've traveled, celebrated love with friends, struggled with career decisions, enjoyed success with my jewelry & started a full time job I love.  

Now I am trying to find a balanced routine after months of new beginnings & finally blog again.  So when I received my email about this Friday Fancies being about Sparkles I knew it was time to jump back into blogging.  Nothing like some glitter to get this Spice Girl wannabe excited.

I can't get over this dress.  It really is the perfect combination of glamour & innocence.  I honestly want to wear this to every event the whole month of December & wouldn't care who judged me.

I have spent most of 2012 coveting bloggers top knots & raged with jealous when looking at Pinterest.  Finally my hair is long enough to join this party late & I love the idea of a bun with a high neckline.

How amazing are these Lanvin shoes? The contrast between the nude and coffee adds richness to my look & I am OBSESSED with the sole, what a fun surprise.  To tie all the pieces together a deep lip color ready to pout for the cameras.

Finally completed unrelated have you seen the new Maroon 5 video Daylight? When I thought I could love them more, the released an emotional, honest & inspiring video & I fall deeper.  

Enjoy!!

Stars & Stripes

When thinking of a look for the 4th July for some reason I always refer to festival wear.  I imagine care free people dancing & drinking in front of a stage to Sweet Home Alabama until the sun goes down & the fireworks begin. 

I am kind obsessed with this patriotic cut off shorts, they look super comfortable & easy to wear for the day.  Seen as they make a statement I opted for a comfy tee & a wrist full of bracelets to finish the look. 

This was my first official 4th of July as a citizen so I added a little nail art to my day, although it looked a little more wonder woman rather than American in the end. 

Oh well, I tried.  I hope everyone has a great weekend.  I am off to watch the X Factor auctions in North Carolina this weekend!  Not sure what to expect but hopefully its fun!

Don't forget to stop by and see the other looks at {longdistanceloving} today!

After the Storm

After last Fridays crazy storm causing thousands of people to loose power in VA, (thankfully all we lost was internet & cable until yesterday) I have had the most exhausting week. 

Along with the storm my close friend had an adorable baby boy, I was in a small car accident, work has been super busy & the temperature has been over 100 most days & this Brit can't handle that kind of heat & humidity.  Luckily I was able to relax a little on the Fourth & enjoy some fireworks. 

  

I hope everyone had a great Fourth & after five days without internet I am so happy to put together a look for Friday Fancies tomorrow.

Bitter Sweet

Warning:  Being personal and putting everything on my blog is hard for me.  I suffer from a issue I call “British Reserve” it means we like to keep our emotions to ourselves & definitely do not know how to articulate them properly.  So I will probably be a ramble & write to much, thank you in advance if you can make it to the end.

Over the last year I have talked about my struggle with never having enough time for everyday life, my jewelry & my intention to live a life of purpose.  However, I have never really disclosed the whole work reality so here’s a little back story leading to a major change & new intentions.  

Seven years ago I was a little lost with life, college wasn’t for me, I was still working at the same job I started in High School.  I was a manager & feel some sort of accomplishment with being so young but I was also miserable.  The retails hours were awful, the PTO was ok, except all I wanted to do was go home to England & five days off wasn’t enough. Eventually I decided I was going to leave the company & go home to see friends in England for a little while.  As I planned my trip & looked for something else I picked up a part time job at another retail store for fun & extra money.  The intention was never to stay with the job long.

So I went to England & Italy, came back and randomly decided to quit my full time job without a new full time job in place.   I really enjoyed that summer & who wouldn’t? It felt amazing to only work part time & enjoy life; I took some jewelry classes; which evoked my passion for the arts, creativity & fashion again.  I had let go of my artistic dreams for to long & honestly feel like that’s why I was a little lost at the time.  I couldn’t get enough of my new hobby but unfortunately, the summer had to end & I found a 9-5 job in Corporate America.  It wasn’t creative, exciting or anything I was passionate about.  Yet it seemed to be the perfect schedule, I would have my weekends to myself, real PTO (5 weeks to be exact).  However, I decided to stay at the part time job for a little longer for extra money to buy a car.  The plan was six months.

Fast forward 6 ½ years later, I am still working both jobs & nothing major has changed in my life, not what I planned but that was my reality.   Some weeks over holidays I have worked 70 hrs plus worked on Stella Jewelry, tried to keep up with family & friends & sometimes taking classes.  I was trying to it ALL but wasn’t doing any of it well.  That’s not the person I want to be, I want to exceed expectations & create a life I enjoy not just work it away.

Yet I love my part time job so much, I have had many ups & downs, gained valuable work experience, made life long friends & it was honestly more than a job at the mall.  It’s not something I can explain unless you worked with us but there a bond & a connection with the brand, that you feel part of something bigger than working retail.  I love the brand, the products & their values as a company.  Unfortunately, I want my life to move forward & there are no opportunities available for me at this time to move forward with them.  

So for the last year I have been trying to define my purpose, it’s so hard because I don’t know what I enjoy or love anymore because I have spent six years working & not living.  I started to get in a fog again so this week I re read some past posts by Jess on Make Under my Life to hopefully see things cleared & make a plan.  I know Stella Jewelry is my passion right now & I want to create a company I am proud of, professionally that is my ultimate purpose & by creating the a job I love, I can’t help but believe I will learn to love & enjoy my personal life.

Monday I looked at myself with an outside perspective, emotionally & financially, scary intimidating stuff but worth it.  Ultimately I wish I could leave the comfort of the corporate pay check.  However I am scared I need the paycheck to move my jewelry forward.  So I had to make the emotional decision to leave my part time job.  This may seem so trivial to most & maybe it is but to me it is sooo bitter sweet.  I have formed a second family there; it seems like the end of an era in my life & although I am excited for the future personally I am sad I won’t be part of the brand I love so much. 

I will now be able to decdicate the appriopate time to my creativity, to friends, family & finding new hobbies I love.  I can't wait to see where I go from here & will be back tomorrow with my intentions for creating a REAL business out of Stella Jewelry.

Hope you will all follow me on my journey to a life of purpose that I will love!!



How Exciting!

When I started making jewelry I never realized how exciting it would be to see people wearing & enjoying something I create.  It makes our little company so worth the time & effort.

This week I was pleasantly surprised to see my pieces featured in our local Street Style blog by David Verde.  I may have squealed in excitement when I saw the post :)

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Alissa looks adorable, I love the flirty top with skinny jeans!!

Back to Work!

Ahh the weekend is over again & its Monday morning, unfortunately I am back at work after a weeks staycation! Hopefully Today won't be to rough me.  

  I spent most of the week just catching up on life after a busy May & putting a lot of effort into Stella Jewelry!  Then finished the weekend with Relay for Life, celebrating my friends officially becoming old 30 & of course fathers day!

While at Relay for Life we were lucky enough to hear Superbowl winner Mark Zerzlich speak about being a Cancer Survivor.  Originally his doctor told him he would not be able to play football again.  Mark vowed to not give upon his dream & refused to let cancer overtake his life.  Such a great story!  

The little cutie on the right talked me into some new arm candy! Seriously she is a little hustler for charity!  

Saturday night called for a lovely dinner at a local steakhouse to celebrate the ladies birthdays!  I opted for stuffed shrimp filled with crab, scallops, herbs & bacon.  They couldn't have been more delightful.  Then we hopped around a couple of local bars for some drinks & ended the evening at local favorite, Metro for a little dancing.

If you are ever in Roanoke & are looking for a fantastic Martini or Sushi  I always suggest Metro.  The restaurant is fun modern spot in our historic market area.

I am not a huge raw fish fan but seriously cannot get enough of their California Roll & their Crab Rangoon!  

For Fathers Day we took a quick day trip into the Blue Ridge Mountains to Floyd Va.  Famous for its hippy vibe, artisan galleries & music.  The town is very small, like literally one stop light small.  Yet is full of culture & amazing food.

When in Floyd, Natasha's for brunch is a must, the ingredient's are all local & fresh.  They have the BEST bacon I have ever had in America.  It is perfectly sweet & saltly & never crispy!  I hate crispy bacon!!  Instead of Coca Cola they have what is apparently "Real Cola", the gluten, caffeine & preservative free option.  I can't say it was bad, but it wasn't the refreshing soda I was hoping for. 

How cute are those chocolates?  Adorable!  My Dad loves the beer selection in Floyd, they have all kinds from all over world & let you create your own six pack!  Easiest Fathers Day gift ever :)

I hope everyone had a great weekend, spoiled their Dads rotten & remember fondly those Dads no longer with us!

I am linking up with the Join The Gossip for their Weekend Update Link up, so hop on over their & meet some new bloggers!