Lydali

Hi friends! Apologies for the super long absence from this blog - I'd actually be surprised if anyone is checking anymore. :) I've been crazy busy working on Lydali, which launched today! My friend Lydia and I have been collecting beautiful products by designers and artists from around the world, photographing pieces, writing copy, learning Photoshop to create graphics, and a million other things, on top of both working in full-time "real" jobs. I hope to be back to posting more regularly on here in the future, but you know me. I've made those promises before and look at me now. 

Anyways, check out Lydali and let me know what you think! I'd love to hear all kinds of feedback - good and bad. 

xo

A weekend in Maui

About two weeks ago, and about the last time I posted, Jonny and I were heading off to Hawaii for a long weekend. We stayed a few days in Maui for what was one of the most relaxing getaways I've ever been on, complete with morning coffee by the pool, stacks of books, daily ocean swimming, beachy cocktails, long dinners, and lots of sunshine. I want to give this vacation to everyone I know - we came back feeling so rested and refreshed! 

New Lydali Bangles

We got home from Hawaii last night and I'm feeling so refreshed and recharged. It's amazing what a few days at the beach with your favorite person can do for you. 

I had some fun packages waiting for me for Lydali when I got home, and I wanted to share some images of sample bangles we received today. These are made in Kenya and Tanzania, and they're really beautiful. Do you have a favorite? Let me know in the comments, or head over to Lydali on Facebook to cast your vote. We're ordering soon and would love feedback!

Heading to Hawaii!

We're taking off for Maui tomorrow morning for a few days in Hawaii. I've been craving sunshine, getting through stacks of books, hanging with Jonny doing absolutely nothing, and leaving my computer at home. See you next week! 

Sparkling water

As you may note, I've been trying out my (extremely limited) Photoshop skills as of late. It's more just for play as I'm working on learning some tools so that I can do for real stuff on Lydali. 

I truly have been loving on sparkling water lately. Jonny and I decided to give up alcohol for Lent, and I decided to throw sweets into the mix too, so I'm now trying to avoid habitual sweet-eating and wine-drinking. It's been pretty challenging, and it hasn't even been a full week yet. One of the things I'm really enjoying more of, though, is sparkling water. 

We had some friends over on Friday night, and normally we'd open up a bottle (or two) of wine, but since Jonny and I both weren't drinking, we just poured wine for our friends and then went through about four bottles of sparkling water! We've been buying it daily and drinking it like crazy since then. 

Going without alcohol or desserts has been an interesting exercise in discipline and self control so far - two character traits I am lacking in! Only 40 days to go...

Cookhouse

For Valentine's day, I gave Jonny a Beer and Cheese pairing class hosted at Cookhouse. We went last night, and it was such a cool experience. We learned tons more than we ever knew there was to know about cheese and beer and how they work together. 

It reminded me that I'd never posted about my earlier experience at cookhouse, and these are some long overdue pictures from a little Indian cooking adventure back in October. My friend Sri taught the class at Cookhouse, which turned out to be even more beautiful in real life than I had expected from the pictures on the internet. Sri taught us how to make several yummy dishes, and I would share the recipes if I could find the recipe sheet she printed out (oh the joys of being disorganized!). You'll just have to sign up for one of her classes and try it for yourself! 

Real Life

Whenever I read other peoples' blogs, they're always posting about doing cute things and exploring their cities and loving life. I post a lot about the fun stuff I do, but I'm working on making a point of posting more about real life. Real life on Sunday meant lazing around on the couch reading and doing work, leaving a pile of dishes from brunch with friends in the kitchen. Real life sometimes means we're so busy that we go two or three weeks without doing laundry. Sometimes it means I get grouchy for no real reason and take it out on Jonny when he's done nothing wrong. And sometimes real life means travel and dancing and good food and great things that often get featured on this blog. But there's a balance. And I want to make sure anyone who reads this knows that.