all i want for Christmas...

i blogged my favorite things over on my events blog... i wanted to invite all my JDV readers over to check it out here: Blair Britt Events

i'm baack!

so... i know it's been a few months, i've been really busy and haven't forgotten about you all who follow my blog - i've just been trying to get my feet back on the ground, which is slowly happening!

since my last post i coordinated my first official wedding {i'll be sure to start blogging the photos soon}, but, also my hubs and i found out some great news... he passed the CA Bar exam on the first try - yep that means as of this thursday's swearing in ceremony, i'll be married to an attorney!  it's been such a long journey in which i feel like i've been his "wingman" on, from all the law school final exams, Bar prep study classes, and 3 months of studying like a crazy person... it's all paid off and he's now crossed the finish line on this part of the journey! i'm so proud and so thankful that his hard work was rewarded, and i can't wait to see what's in store for him and us down the road.  also, congrats to anyone else out there who just went through what my hubs did, and was fortunate enough to pass!

ok now down to business.... =)

off to renegade!

sorry for my lack of posting since i've been back, but i've seriously been trying to play catch up!

i'm stoked today because i'm heading up to the LA Renegade Craft fair! it's on today and tomorrow and get this - you just have to pay to park, admission is free!

vacation time!

hi all -

just wanted to give a heads up that i leave town today and will be out of town & quasi out of touch internet-wise till the 5th of July... i'm not closing down my etsy shop - so please feel free to purchase and send messages, just know i might not be able to respond in a timely fashion! and i will get to ya...

i'm really looking forward to this trip - in case you are remotely curious we'll be heading to my cousin's wedding near Chicago for the weekend. and from there we will fly to Charleston, SC for a little girl time for the week! i'm so excited to be traveling, and it'll be a great way to come back nice and refreshed to work on the rest of the wedding season orders! =)

*b

{follow along} JDV Jewelry is on twitter

just in case you didn't know, you can follow along with Joie de Vie Jewelry on twitter as well - i've been tweeting for awhile, but i just wanted to let new followers know that you can find me there too!

find me here

{recipes} coconut cupcakes w/ lime buttercream frosting

a few months back we got a subscription of cooking light and i found this recipe for

coconut cupcakes w/ a lime buttercream frosting. . .  yummmm!

so i figured for my hubs' birthday i figured i'd attempt these - but rather than making full sized cupcakes i opted for mini - cupcakes {which is coming back to haunt me} .... the ones that are still lingering i think i need to thrown out now... but lets not talk about that!

i took the liberty of garnishing them with a little lime zest 

{sorry that's my restaurant background talking} =)

we couldn't get over this card he got for his bday... how awesome is that?  not awesome that it came from none other than his student loan lender... boo! but i though it'd look cute with his cupcakes {since i forgot to get candles}... bad wifey

 

wanna try these yourself?  find the recipe here

{warning} gratuitous kitty photos

late last night the hubs called me into our study to take a peek and what our spazzy kitty was doing.... 

i walked in to see this:

i left out one of my shipping boxes and apparently the little goof-ball wants to travel somewhere.... priority mail =)

{this one's a little blurry, i took the flash off so as to not create her demon red eyes}

have a great monday everyone!

*b

{random photos}

while i was away today my hubs borrowed my camera to capture two unrelated photos...

the first - our spazzy ragdoll, misty - she loves it when we put her up in the cut out above our glass slider... getting her down is another story...

and my hubs thought i'd love to see this: two ducks were taking a sun bath right by our pool which is viewable from our balcony.  so cute, and i love that they supposedly mate for life!

cute cute

i hope everyone had a great day with mom!

{things i dig} my former prowler sunglasses

this is a really random post - seeing how i'm up being an insomniac... all bets are off! =)

last summer while i still had a quasi-expendable income i purchase the von zipper "prowler" glasses i'd had my eye on for some time... i loved them!  had them for all of two and a half months and they were lost and/or stolen from me at the pool in vegas.... which made me super bummed.

i had just the standard black ones pictured here:

and black's an odd color pick for me since i'm blonde, but i really did love them!

i'm just wondering... if i had it to do all over again, should i go with the standard black or change up for the black with grey satin stripes?  pictured below....
or should i choose the blonde's best accessory... tortoise shell??? 

tough decision... not like i wanna really shell out to buy another pair right now, since i have a perfectly functioning pair of electrics... but hey a girl can dream about the what if, right? =)

i have no idea how i'm so coherent at this time of night to write this... ok now back to bed

*random note: while most girls opt for A list designer sunglasses, my orange county, beachy upbringing automatically makes me prefer the surf brands, plus they're a few hundred dollas cheaper!*

{things i dig} Cupcake Social on etsy

i've been wanting to make some muffins or cupcakes lately...

... now theses goodies from Cupcake Social really make me want to!

pastel green tulip cupcake liners

and for a 13year old girls bday party! - animal print liners - CUTE!

sophisticated liners for an uptown fete

little red riding hood liners...

and wouldn't these be so cute for 4th of july cupcakes?

the shop also offers uber cute flags and pin-wheel topper for your cupcakes

- i'm really diggin' these pirate flags - yo ho, yo ho... well, you know how it goes!

we're back.... again!

we just got back from a last minute trip to see a family friend of my hubs' family in tampa, fl.

it was a quick get away, but well worth it to be able to meet people who mean so much to my hubs, and now myself!  here's a photo below of the two families rallied in the restaurant Old Chicago near tampa. it was a great evening filled with chatting, reminiscing, and good times - we will cherish always!

we were joined by my MIL and bro & sis in law

while in tampa BIL coordinated us taking in a Yankees vs. Tigers spring training game - i love baseball and was glad for the opportunity, but i still love my Anaheim Angels... go halos!
above is a photo of general petraeus right after he threw out the first pitch... way better than a fly-over.

and below is a token hubs and i photo.... man those yankees have a nice spring training facility!

prior to the trip i had been going about a mile and minute and have needed a little creativity break, which has been great to get some other much needed tasks accomplished... but by this next weekend i'll be back up a running with some new goodies in store for ya'll.  

sneak peak: i'll be starting an item of the month beginning april 1st!

{things i dig} .... organization

hey, it's tax season after all!... why not organize my business & personal tax system (which needs improvement anyway)  mind you i don't do much online shopping when it comes to Wal-Mart. rather, i prefer to walk into the mega store in all its overwhelming glory!  i believe that its way easier to wander aimlessly from aisle to aisle stumbling upon great finds rather than finding an item online then trying my darnest to hunt it down in person... i never seem to be sucessful at the hunt for a specific item in that store!  

but.... i did find this:

it's a bill filer, well, not really - it's a card filer, which would double for a handy bill filer for me!

there's a small file up front and standard sized files in the back, and i could stash some stamps in the cubbies along with my checkbook and some pens.  but i'm not really diggin' the color... maybe i'd cover in in a pretty fabric.....?

....i think is worth hunting for! maybe there will be a fluke and i'll actually find it without spending 15 minutes just trying to hunt down a friendly employee to track it down for me....  we shall see =)

we're back!

just returned from a great weekend away with my husband and friends in santa barbara, ca.

everything was great, i'll post more about this wedding soon, it was great to help my friend design her special day... and on sunday we finished the weekend off with my very first wine tasting mini-trip to Solvang

here's a photo of us and one of our close friends/married couple

a little good news/ bad news

no, no i haven't run out of the eternite necklaces again.... but, after visiting my friendly component supplier and discusing the price of gold (which is hovering very close to $1,000 a ounce, yow!)  i thought real long and hard about it and realized that all good things come to an end... and unfortunately so will the current prices for my gold eternite necklaces, the gold "love" necklace, and some of my other gold pieces.  

while prices will still be very affordable, i do have to adjust my pricing to reflect the cost of gold these days, especially given the current financial state we are all finding ourselves in right now! (it seems the worse the stock market gets, the more gold spikes, go figure)

not to worry though the ever popular eternite and "love" necklaces will not be moving to an unaffordably high price... 

here's the price breakdown:

- petite will go from $26 to $30 

- grande will go from $38 to $42

- love will go from $30 to $34

but.... i did save the good news for last!.... it is that i will continue my current pricing through the end of February! so if you act now, i will be happy to sell you these pieces till the end of the month for the lesser price... so if you've been thinking about placing an order but have put it off, now's the time to act! =) my new pricing will begin March 1st, so visit my etsy shop to pick up any goodies you've been thinking about before the end of the month!

* also, a bonus: if you have shopped with me before i'm happy to give you 10% off your purchase through the end of the month as well... so consider this my first S-A-L-E people! =)

{about JDV} unconventional workspaces

i am not about to show you my "so called" studio because.... well.... i don't really have one.  does that surprise you? well for those who know me, you most likely understand why that is...

i'm always on the go!

case and point: the following photo was on my way back from my grandpa's memorial in Illinois... we spent some great time with family celebrating his 94 years of life, but once we were back on the plane heading home to CA - it was back to work for me.  below is a photo i snapped of my "mock airplane tray-table studio."  my mom and i were joking that i should commemorate the fact that TSA let me on the plane with my tools (not to be confused with weapons) =)

the cup holder comes in handy to hold loose beads and findings in the event of turbulence.

and if you want a closer look at the custom Christmas order i was working on, here it is:

it's a sterling silver (teal, purple, & brown) version of my l'eau necklace

the truth is, i have some very handy dandy snapware containers that snap apart and lock together, so i can take the trays that i need, and leave the ones i don't ... take a look

i knew about snapware, because i already love their snap n serve tupperware line, but when i found these on a recent trip to WalMart (i'm not ashamed to admit i shop/find great deals there) i bought up quite a few for jewelry, gocco, and stamping portable storage! and at $4.95, it's such a deal!

next i'm gonna have to snatch up some of these crafty helpers too!

i guess i should tell you now... 

i love organization especially when it helps the portability of my business supplies! 

a clearly amazing idea

it's no secret i love to travel... i just don't get the opportunity to do so very often, but man if i did - this little card would come in handy!

forgive me if i'm behind the times - but an offer for a trial membership for a CLEAR card just appeared in my email from SPG. and if you've spend much time in the airports - as i recently have (unfortunately), this might be a worthwhile investment for any frequent travelers!

to my understanding, it's the equivalent of a Disney Fastpass for grown -ups! =)

no really, it's expected to get you through security screenings and to your gate in approxamately 5 minutes! at $199 it seems a little stiff, but that's a years membership and if you travel even once a month i bet it more than pays for itself in the form of stress and anxiety relief!

... now if only it would rescue your checked bags and bring them to you at the curb in 5 mintues too... that would make it the ultimate card!

oh how brilliant...

i found this while sitting waiting during my jury duty day....

and this is when i start thinking, man i WISH i thought of this! i showed it to the hubs tonight and he took a confused look at what i was flashing in front of his face... then he lit up ...

(well maybe that was the computer screen)

and he said "i need one of these for you, where do i sign you up"

enough said

check it out: the little pink card

ps. but you better believe that i'll be making one for the hubs since i'm such a DIYer =)

my civic duty

well... more like county than anything... dear readers, i write to you from a bench on the 11th floor of the Orange County Central Courthouse where i'm sitting and playing the waiting game for jury duty.

i guess this day can kinda be counted as a blessing in disguise, the gov't has made serving a little more friendly and productive by allowing us to use complimentary WiFi while we wait... this way we can be amused, happier, and perhaps even get work done!

so i just thought i'd write this post to let you know that you can expect to see more frequent posts from me - since i'll try to use this day to get caught up on blog posts.

-Blair

past time blogs - total randomness

thanks to my brother and sister in law for the intro to 

FailBlog

my family and i were back east visiting family and they told my husband and i about this blog, and i kid you not, my husband spent 2 hours laughing at every other post and video clip on this site...

here's a sample of the humor