Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Aaaaaaand we're live!

I've had an Etsy account for over two years now. When I first started making my baby clothes I created one and was SO excited for it. Turns out, most people really wanted custom pieces in custom sizes (and to be quite honest, Etsy can be a bit overwhelming), so I just ended up cutting out the middle man and just doing my selling via e-mail/text and Paypal.

I recently started making fun Christmas stockings and people have really shown an interest so, I used that as an excuse to get my Etsy shop up and running! I listed all eleven stockings that I've made so far last night and one already sold this morning! It will be headed to Virginia! I am so excited to see what Etsy has in store for me. Until then, feel free to check out my shop!



xoxo,
shea

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Puppy Love

Anyone who has ever had a dog knows the crazy, innocent, overwhelming love that a dog can give and, in return, the love that you yourself give back to your dog.
 
My close friend and roommate Stefana recently lost her childhood dog. Anyone who has ever had to say goodbye to their four-legged friend knows how horribly gut wrenching this can be. In the days following I've hugged my pups a little harder, pet them a little longer and {tried by best} to be more patient. The love of a dog is like no other. They have a way of making you feel like you are the most important person alive. To them, you are the whole world.
 
Ironically enough, yesterday, I stumbled upon an article about Fiona Apple. She recently had to cancel the South American leg of her tour due to an ailing dog. On her website, she posted a four page handwritten letter explaining the situation.
 
(If the handwriting is hard to read, I re-wrote the letter below)




It's 6pm on Friday, and I'm writing to a few thousand friends I have not met yet.
 I am writing to ask them to change our plans and meet a little while later.

Here's the thing.

I have a dog Janet, and she's been ill for almost two years now, as a tumor has been idling in her chest, growing ever so slowly. She's almost 14 years old now.I got her when she was 4 months old. I was 21 then ,an adult officially - and she was my child.

She is a pit bull, and was found in Echo Park, with a rope around her neck, and bites all over her ears and face.

She was the one the dog fighters use to puff up the confidence of the contenders.

She's almost 14 and I've never seen her start a fight ,or bite, or even growl, so I can understand why they chose her for that awful role. She's a pacifist.

Janet has been the most consistent relationship of my adult life, and that is just a fact.

We've lived in numerous houses, and jumped a few make shift families, but it's always really been the two of us.

She slept in bed with me, her head on the pillow, and she accepted my hysterical, tearful face into her chest, with her paws around me, every time I was heartbroken, or spirit-broken, or just lost, and as years went by, she let me take the role of her child, as I fell asleep, with her chin resting above my head.

She was under the piano when I wrote songs, barked any time I tried to record anything, and she was in the studio with me all the time we recorded the last album.

The last time I came back from tour, she was spry as ever, and she's used to me being gone for a few weeks every 6 or 7 years.

She has Addison's Disease, which makes it dangerous for her to travel since she needs regular injections of Cortisol, because she reacts to stress and to excitement without the physiological tools which keep most of us from literally panicking to death.

Despite all of this, she’s effortlessly joyful and playful, and only stopped acting like a puppy about 3 years ago.

She's my best friend and my mother and my daughter, my benefactor, and she's the one who taught me what love is.
I can't come to South America. Not now.

When I got back from the last leg of the US tour, there was a big, big difference.

She doesn't even want to go for walks anymore.
I know that she's not sad about aging or dying. Animals have a survival instinct, but a sense of mortality and vanity, they do not. That’s why they are so much more present than people.
But I know that she is coming close to point where she will stop being a dog, and instead, be part of everything. She’ll be in the wind, and in the soil, and the snow, and in me, wherever I go.

I just can't leave her now, please understand.

If I go away again, I’m afraid she'll die and I won't have the honor of singing her to sleep, of escorting her out.

Sometimes it takes me 20 minutes to pick which socks to wear to bed.

But this decision is instant.

These are the choices we make, which define us.

I will not be the woman who puts her career ahead of love and friendship.

I am the woman who stays home and bakes Tilapia for my dearest, oldest friend.

And helps her be comfortable, and comforted, and safe, and important.

Many of us these days, we dread the death of a loved one. It is the ugly truth of Life, that keeps us feeling terrified and alone.

I wish we could also appreciate the time that lies right beside the end of time.

I know that I will feel the most overwhelming knowledge of her, and of her life and of my love for her, in the last moments.

I need to do my damnedest to be there for that.

Because it will be the most beautiful, the most intense, the most enriching experience of life I've ever known.
 When she dies.

So I am staying home, and I am listening to her snore and wheeze, and reveling in the swampiest, most awful breath that ever emanated from an angel.

And I am asking for your blessing.


I'll be seeing you. 


Love, Fiona



It is quite possibly the most beautiful thing that I have ever read. She truly captures the bond that a dog and a human share. It's so ironic how things work, how I randomly stumbled upon this just days after Stefana, herself, had the heartbreak of losing a dog. I didn't post this to be a total Debbie Downer. I more so posted this to celebrate the love that we are so blessed to be able to share with such amazing creatures. To the dogs we have had in the past, the dogs we currently have, and the dogs that we have yet to have. Thank you.

xoxo,
shea

 
(Fiona and Janet Photo Credit)

Monday, November 19, 2012

My Veteran's Day (in Photos)

So this post is a week late but... better late than never...
 
 
 
It's not often that I get a week day off so when I found out that I was getting Veteran's Day off I decided I was going to make the most of it (as you can see).
1- bts thrift boutique- the bf and I were out in Culver City and thought it would be fun to go thrift store shopping. I used my handy dandy iPhone to find thrift stores around us and, as luck would have it, we found this AWESOME one. We are definitely going back soon.
2- Beamer's new dog bed- like most, I have a bit of a Target obsession. I have been eying this dog bed for months and months but at this point I pretty much have a dog bed in every room of the house so I couldn't allow myself to buy another one...that is... until now. My mom and I recently gave my garage/craft room a makeover and I have been spending a lot more time out there. Beamer (the one in the photo) is basically my shadow. He HAS to be everywhere that I am. Sooooo... I had to get him a craft room dog bed! What a perfect excuse! The best part is that he seems to love it just as much as I do!
3- new striped plates- these were one of the great finds from the bts thrift boutique. It was a set of 4 for $12. They are in great shape and are really unique. Once I spotted them I knew I had to have them.
4- new nightstands- I have been wanting, for quite some time, to revamp my bedroom. I only had a nightstand on one side of my bed, which always kind of bothered me, on top of the fact that my "nightstand" was really just a cheap target table. I have been searching for some nightstands that I really liked and Sunday night I was looking on craigs list and found these adorable white vintage looking nightstands. Sam went with me to pick them up in Culver City (hence why we were in Culver City to begin with) and they were only $50 for the pair! I love them!
5- accidentally matching- when Sam got to my house on Monday we were both wearing stripes! He was kind of embarrassed but I refused to change (plus I thought it was kind of cute ;) ).
6- two of my favorite things- another cute photo of my little man, Beamer. He was being so nosy so I let him sit on my sewing desk. It made me smile to see him next to my sewing machine so I snapped a photo.
7- my little girl- this is Lexie. She's a little more independent than Beamer but every once in awhile she is starving for attention and this was one of those moments.
8- Compton license plate- how could I NOT take a photo of this??
9- my man- outside of the bts thrift boutique carrying my new craft room storage unit. Haven't yet decided where it's going or what it will hold but it was cute and orange and only $10! 
10- thread- one of the many things that make me happy.
11- The Walking Dead- after we spent the first half of the day doing everything I wanted to do, we switched things up and did what Sam wanted. He wanted to go comic book shopping. He is definitely not generally a comic book fan but, like I've mentioned before, we have gotten SUPER into "The Walking Dead" so he wanted to see if he could find some of the comics. I have to say, walking into a comic book store is pretty much EXACTLY what you would imagine. It was fun though and Sam got a few comics to begin what I can only imagine is going to become a growing collection.

Obviously I know that Veteran's day isn't just a long weekend but it's the day that we have set aside to honor the men and women who have served in the armed services so that we have the safety and freedom that we oftentimes take for granted. They risk their lives and many have lost their lives to give us all the lives that we have today. I could never even begin to show my immense gratitude for the sacrifices that these men and woman make every single day. I can merely say a heartfelt "Thank you". I hope that all of you had a happy and safe Veteran's Day.

xoxo,
shea

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Target Haul!

Ok so, I've never done a "haul" before. I've seen lots of haul videos and to be honest I'm always like "I don't really care what you got" unless it was on some sort of crazy sale or something. Obviously that is just me or the videos would stop all together.

The other day I was at one of my favorite places EVER... Target perusing the dollar spot (which is always a must) and found some really great stuff (along with some other non-dollar spot items, which, lets be real, it's Target, you always end up with WAY more than you went in for. I went in for dryer sheets and Pam and ended up with all this stuff in the video. haha.) and I wanted to share so I made a quick video to share some of my finds. If you watch this and think "I don't really care what you got" believe me, I get it. But maybe someone out there will. So this video is for you, person who might care. Haha.


*Sidenote- yes, I made this video right after I made my November Birchbox video, hence why I am in the same clothes. Don't worry, I don't wear the same thing every day.*

xoxo,
shea

Friday, November 16, 2012

Novem-brrrrr Birchbox

Happy November!
 
(I know it's already the 16th but I haven't blogged yet this month. Whoopsies!)
 
It's finally starting to feel like fall (though there are still some gorgeous California days sprinkled in).
 
November is when the holidays are in full effect, retailers are pushing Christmas onto us full force. I've seen the words "Black Friday" more times than I've seen the word "Thanksgiving" lately which, to me, is kind of sad. We should be given this chance to give thanks before the mass media shoves the latest electronics down our throats. I don't know how they manage to do it but each year it seems like Christmas comes earlier and earlier. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not some ba-humbug scrooge who hates Christmas. I love Christmas. I just wish Thanksgiving was given it's chance to be celebrated before Christmas is forced upon us.
 
That being said, I received my November Birchbox on Wednesday. The theme of this box was "Give", very fitting for the month of November. Finally, someone not skipping right over Thanksgiving! So, without further adieu... here is my review:


*Sidenote: No matter WHAT I do, the three "thumbnail choices" for my videos are always AWFUL... thats why I tried to make a little title screen... I thought that MAYBE it would let me choose that as a thumbnail but obviously... I was wrong. Haha.*

I hope you get a chance to spend the next week giving thanks and really celebrating what Thanksgiving is all about.

xoxo,
shea
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