Meet My Mantle

My mantle is one of my favorite parts of my bedroom. It's topped with memorables, trophies, and collages (among other knickknacks).

I found these cute little guys at a little shop in the Dominican Republic. I thought about giving them away as gifts, but I realized that I could not bear to let these little guys go!

Last summer with my Frenchie, Maelia, I went to a glass-blowing workshop. We learned how to blow glass, and I made this cute little bowl! I love the mix of Carolina blue and white!

One thing that is consistent about my room is the amount of beach photos. My walls are littered with spreads from surf magazines, and giant surf posters. I cannot surf at all, but the beach lifestyle captivates me. My favorite place has always been the beach.

I love making mood board collages. All year I literally rip out pages on pages of magazines and keep them for this sole purpose. I find it so relaxing! Because I want my future to be in fashion, I love forming my own opinions about the fashion magazines I buy off the stands today as a teen.

Any-who, that's my mantle! Catch y'all later.

Love,
Kelsey

Labels

One thing I like to do in my free time is make collages. I find my favorite phrases, photographs, and outfits from different mediums and form them into a jumbled form of self-expression. As I was flipping through an old ELLE magazine, scissors in hand, I realized that our world of endless advertising is wayyyy out of control. I ripped out as many adds as possible (without destroying the magazine's content) and the magazine was literally a small fraction of the behemoth it once was. I thought it would be interesting to make an advertising collage, and see how that turned out. Here is a sampling of the brands that threw their products in my face. (Oh, and by the way, as much as I like fashion, I really don't understand why Chanel had to have 8++ pages of advertising in one magazine) Now, I'm no expert. I do not know the best way to solve America's advertising affliction. I'm just pointing out... it really needs to change. And another thing, do those hundreds of pages of advertisements really encourage us to shop at that store? Buy that makeup? Get that botox? I doubt it.

Kisses!

Healthy Tuesday: Pretty in Pink Smoothie

My summertime smoothie addiction has only increased since my last smoothie post. I love experimenting with all of the different combinations that smoothies offer. I recommend smoothies post-workout, or for a light lunch! I love making myself a cool smoothie after a long and hot hour of paddle boarding!

Pretty in Pink Smoothie:

- Strawberries (1 Handful)
- 1 Ripe Banana
- 1 Frozen Nectarine
- Frozen Peaches (1 Handful)
- Frozen Mangos (1 Handful)
- Acai Juice
- Ice

Mix it all together and enjoy! I love putting my smoothies in different shaped mason jars. They are the perfect size for smoothies, and look so adorable!

Happy summer,
Kels

Saturday Six: And Now it's July

How is it already July. I just want to out a pause button on this summer. I am so not ready to return to school. The time is flying by! On another note, I hope everyone had a fantastic Independence Day!
Here are some of my favorite things from the interweb this summer.

1. These neon Jack Rogers sandals have caught my eye. I think they would love awesome with a summer tan! I bought my first pair of Jacks last summer in Nantucket and I am on the prowl for another pair, I just cannot decide which color!

2. For Love and Lemons: This brand is absolutely perfect. They have the best clothes, and the pictures from their lookbooks are perfection! Everything they sell looks very comfortable and stylish. Here are some of my favorite shots from their website:

3. Mackenzie Horan's blog, Design Darling. She has great fashion, travel, and lifestyle posts that are very relevant and interesting. She's so creative, her blog posts are always refreshing, because many ideas for posts are so overused. Her blog is a new favorite of mine, for sure!

4. These tassel earrings! They are adorable, and would look stunning with a flawy white sundress, I can just picture it now! A great summer accessory.

5. These surfboards. They are a collab between a custom surfboard company and an amazing beach photographer. The colors are unreal! My brother is a good surfer, but I honestly am terrible (but have never really given that much effort). Maybe when my brother is a little bit more advanced we can think about getting one of these boards.

6. This fridge. I love the idea of putting tons of snapshots on your fridge. Very cool. A great summer activity! (Speaking of summer activities... if y'all have any great summer craft ideas, throw them my way!)

Hope y'alls summers are going well! Take advantage of the killer weather.

XOXOXO,
Kels

Traveling

One thing that I think is really important is traveling to new places, especially internationally. I am so thankful that I have been able to travel all over the world this past year (to France and the Dominican Republic). My family friend recently made a comment to me that he hopes that I really appreciated the experiences I had because not very many people ever get to travel, and in the past four months I have had two major international excursions. I became somewhat defensive after hearing this, but in all honesty sometimes it is very important to reflect on those kind of experiences to another person. Here's my response: I am so thankful for the experiences that I have had traveling this year. Thinking about teaching kids in the Dominican, and playing hand games with my favorite buddy Jose is making me tear up. The people in the DR were the happiest that I have ever seen. Even though they have barely any clothes, no clean water, and no electricity these people are living their lives with a permanent smile on their face. I was blown away by the way that my French family took me in. I was practically a stranger, but they made me feel like a loved one.

After my travels, I am simply in love with our world. I want to see every nook and cranny. I really am interested in traveling the world in the near future. The volunteer work I did in the DR has taught me that teaching is hard, especially to people through a language barrier. However, I am already trying to leave the country yet again to work with people that I can help. ... Because all in all, it's just as much of a life changing cultural exchange as anything else. If you have any suggestions for service organizations, shoot me an email or comment below.

Some of my idols "travel-wise" have been on the internet. Jacksgap and Casey Neistat are both YouTube filmmakers with the passion for film and traveling. Their experinces are very inspirational for me. I love how their interest in sharing videos through YouTube has allowed them to be able to travel the world and still get paid. It goes along with the saying that "if you do what you love you'll never have to work a day in your life." Another web-traveling-idol is Jay Alvarrez. His passion for photography is stunning. Really cool guy.

Any-hoo, that's what has been on my mind.

Safe travels, friends.
Kelsey

playlist for this post: washing dishes - jack johnson // cape town (panama remix) - clubfeet // flake - jack johnson