My Travel Bucket List: Crystal River

This incredible river, also know as "the river that ran away from paradise" is located in Columbia's Serrania de la Macarena which is a remote area best accessed by flight.  This particular river is very temperamental.  During most of year, it looks like any other river, full of ordinary rocks covered with ordinary plants.  However, for just a few weeks between the wet and dry seasons, the plant life changes colors and this river transforms into an aquatic rainbow.  For more information on what causes this extraordinary metamorphosis, click here.  

Someday I will swim in this river when it is full of red and green and gold.  What places are on your travel bucket list?

Love,

Amanda

Note: These photos were just found via Google Images.  If any of them belong to you, please leave me a comment and I will make sure to give credit appropriately.

A Nice Surprise

Last week, I purchased this beautiful necklace from the Etsy shop of the lovely lady behind the blog Bayou Bohemian.  Last night, as I was catching up on my blog reading, I stumbled across a post on her equally lovely blog, thanking me for the purchase and even including a link to my blog!  It was such a nice surprise and totally made my night!  This type of  interaction is one of the many, many reasons why I love shopping vintage and handmade, especially on Etsy.  It is always nice to know that your purchase is truly appreciated.

I encourage you to take the time to stop by Bayou Bohemian to check out her amazing collection of vintage and handmade treasures and then stop by her blog for a quick hello.


Love,


Amanda

10 Things I Love #3

1. All of acne.org's gentle yet effective skin care products.  If you have any problems with acne at all, I highly suggest that you check out this site.

2. Great Danes.  They are just so huge!  I feel like nobody would ever mess with me if I had one of these always by my side.  I guess this one is a little random, but I have always wanted to have another enormous dog ever since my childhood dog, Mindy died.

3. Jelly shoes.  I was completely obsessed with these as a kid and I think it would totally NOT be weird if I bought some new or vintage ones in my size.


How about these?

4. Isn't this just the most perfect '50s dress ever?  If I could re-do my sweet 16 all over again, this is what I would wear... except my sweet 16 was a pool party so I guess that would have been a little bit inappropriate.

5. Oxford heels.

How gorgeous are these?  Too bad they cost the same as two months of rent.

Luckily there are more affordable options such as this super adorable pair from Forever 21

6. This gorgeous nail color from Chanel.  It's spot on with fall's new nail color trends.

7. This little embroidered pouch purse is so pretty!  Too bad it's already been sold :(

8.  This series of photos done by Laura of the blog Make Do & Mend.  She lives in an old convent that has been converted into an apartment building.  How cool!  Click the link to see all of the amazing photos and read about how she achieved this effect.

9. These super cute and crafty DIYs on how to jazz up your vintage luggage.  Found on Oh So Lovely Vintage.  If I ever happen upon a plain vintage suitcase during one of my thrifting adventures, I know how I'll be decorating it!

DIY #1

DIY #2

10. Nest Rest.  I can envision many, many hours spent curled up in one of these, reading a book and sipping tea.  One site refers to it as a birdhouse for humans.  I can't decide if I like that idea or not.

If you have a recent list of favorites, I would love for you to share the link with me.  I hope you are having a bright and sunshiny day!


Love,


Amanda

Fair Ivy

Hello lovelies!


I am here to share with you a really neat concept that I recently came across online.  It's called Fair Ivy.  The whole idea is that you can pay a flat price and receive one package full of mostly handmade goodies or you can pay a monthly fee and receive a subscription to Fair Ivy which will get you a new goody bag each month. 

You can also buy surprise packages for your man, dog, cat, or teen.  Click the one of the links above to find out more!

Neat!

The A to Z of Me

Here I am, jumping on the blogging bandwagon again.  Just call me bandwagon girl!  And yes, if all the other bloggers jumped off a bridge, I would do it too.

A. Age: 23. Does that mean I have to act like a grown up now?
B. Bed size: Full.  In my opinion, it's way too small.
C. Chore that you hate: Dishes.  They always smell bad.  There's just something about food mixed with water that grosses me out.
D. Dogs: We have two family dogs back home. Winston is a corgi and Zoe is a sheltie.  Zoe is really dumb and Winston always sneezes on me but they are my babies and I miss them all the time :(
E. Essential start to your day: A shower.  I don't like to go anywhere out in public (unless I'm out exercising) before having a shower.  I wash my hair every day even though I guess it would be better for it if I didn't.
F. Favorite color: I love anything that's colorful.  My favorite colors in general are blue and green.  My favorite color to wear in clothing is red.  There's just something about a bright red dress that makes me feel so classy and sexy.
G. Gold or Silver: Uuuummm probably silver if I had to choose.  I have started recently wearing a lot more gold toned jewelry though.
H. Height: 5 foot 1 and a half inches.  I'm a shorty but I don't mind because I can wear crazy tall heels and they will make me look normal sized.  And I will never be taller than Tim no matter what shoes I wear.
I. Instruments you play: I've taken a stab at learning guitar and piano but never stuck with either for very long.  I would love to get back into it.  I also took voice lessons as a kid and was in some sort of singing group up until about two years ago.  Something I would also love to get back into.
J. Job title: Job?  What's that?  Just kidding... kinda. Right now I wait tables at a gorgeous little restaurant called Naphtali.  I do have a degree in biology and a minor in genetics which I definitely plan on using sometime in the near future.  I am hoping to work in a lab as a research scientist.  If I could do absolutely any job in the world, though, I would be a Broadway star or work as an art curator for a museum.
K. Kids: I love kids.  One day I would like to have two or three but for now, I get to have fun playing with Tim's nieces but can still send them home with their mama at the end of the day :)
L. Live: Originally from North Carolina, currently living on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia.
M. Mother’s name: Cheryl (hi mom!)
N. Nicknames: Panda (my dad uses that one), Mandy, George (there's a funny story behind that one), Circle (an old one from high school), Mando, Tim's niece adds on a d and calls me Damanda.
O. Overnight hospital stays: None yet, knock on wood.
P. Pet peeves: Knuckle cracking. I also really, really hate it when people spell their business names wrong on purpose.  Like for instance, I once passed a shop called Kasey's Kloset. That just looks stupid. Neither 'Casey' nor 'closet' are normally spelled with a k.  I would never shop there just because the name irritates me.
Q. Quote from a movie: "Nobody puts Baby in a corner."  It was the first one I thought of.
R. Right or left handed: Righty tighty!
S. Siblings: A lil bro and a lil sis. They are both taller than me and always like to point that out.
U. Underwear: I am definitely pro underwear.  Definitely.  I think that wearing pretty, lacy underroos can help a lady feel pretty all the wear through!
V. Vegetable you hate: I don't hate any vegetables.  Honest!  As a kid I hated brussel sprouts but now I like those too.
W. What makes you run late: Everything. Makeup, tv shows, food, choosing my outfit, doing my hair, spotting something shiny... it's pretty bad actually.
X. X-Rays you’ve had: Just teeth and arm when I broke it while snowboarding about two years ago.
Y. Yummy food that you make: I recently made a really awesome soup with lentils and bacon.  Tim was very proud of me for cooking an entire meal all by myself!
Z. Zoo animal: Seals and sea lions.  When I go to the Asheboro zoo, I always make sure to stop and see them.  I could watch them for hours and hours.  They are so graceful and effortless! 


I bet you were just dying to know all of that right?


If you do an A to Z of yourself, comment here and leave me a link!  I would love to learn a little bit about more of my fellow bloggers.


Love,


Amanda 

**home is wherever i'm with you**

Hi there.


Just popping in to share another song that I'm loving right now: Home by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros.

Such a nice song and it's so, so true.  I hope you are having a lovely day, wherever in the world you are.

Love,

Amanda

Dancing Models

Once I saw this I just HAD to share it.  How hilarious is this video?  Models may look graceful as they saunter down the runway but they make the most awkward music video dancers ever!

I originally found this video here on The Glamourai.  Thanks for sharing this, Kelly!