Jan 5, 2013

This + That

Madeline Beard DIY + Home, Other Adventures, Photography camera strap, DIY, downtown, headband, Las Vegas, lights, neon, pink 1 Comment

Last night I went to First Friday in downtown Las Vegas with my sweet ma and pa. This part of the city is inspiring to me — something about the mix of concrete and neon, old glamour and graffiti, mid-century architecture converted to new galleries and art spaces, made the whole experience feel more authentic and fulfilling than wandering around on the strip.

This morning I finally completed a long anticipated DIY project. What feels like eons ago, I wrote about a gorgeous floral camera strap that I spotted at Fashion Week. I wanted to add it to this year’s Christmas list, until I showed it to my mom — she pointed out it could be easily recreated with some festive trim and the strap I currently own. So, after a bit of Googling, I ordered trim from this Etsy shop and got to work. Here’s the result:

An added bonus? The left over trim makes the coolest floral headband.

On my schedule for the rest of today: pinning, sipping of tea, and perfecting the art of lounging. With only 72 hours left at home, I am soaking up all of the down time I can get. Hope you all enjoyed this weekend’s edition of “Selfie Saturday” — maybe I can actually make that a thing? Or better yet, “Mirror Pic Monday”? Ahh, I can just imagine the hash tags.

♥

Dec 23, 2012

40 Day Dream

Madeline Beard Other Adventures 40 day dream, epiphany, goodbye, indigo girls, Las Vegas, recap 1 Comment

Annnnnnd finally — I’m back! It has been 40 17 crazy, roller coaster days since my last post and let me just say, I could not be happier to get my blog thing going again. So what has happened between December 6th and now? Here is the short version:

Finals. And great news: I survived! Two graphic design projects, one paper, one presentation and two final exams later, I am done with another semester. Hallelujah, it feels so good to be free!

An epiphany. It came to me in the form of a song:

We used to sing “Closer to Fine” at my summer camp in Colorado and until a couple weeks ago, I hadn’t thought of it for at least three or four years. In a deeply introspective state that one can only achieve through sleep deprivation and high caffeine intake, I remembered these lyrics and everything just clicked. All of the worries, joy, heartache and discovery of this semester came together and these words were the outcome of my thoughts. The soundtrack I had been endlessly searching for:

The less I seek my source for some definitive,
the closer I am to fine.
A heartfelt goodbye. My roommate and one of my closest friends at school, Kelsey, is embarking on the most amazing adventure in just a few short weeks — a semester studying abroad and interning in London! While saying goodbye to her was one of the hardest parts about the semester ending, it gave me the chance to reflect on how lucky I am to have people like her in my life: the ones who can embrace my weirdness, who are so motivated and proactive they inspire me to shoot for the moon and who are — to put it simply — so beautiful inside and out. She will be missed by many, but I am beyond excited to see where this new journey takes her.
A change in location. And after all of the above occurred, I hopped on a plane and flew back West for winter break. I am now writing from the great city of Las Vegas and I am warning you now, get ready for SLB Sin City style. What does this entail exactly? Probably lots of glitter, fish nets, feather boas and neon. Oh my.

I think that about covers it. The last few days at home have been a happy balance of sleeping, eating, recuperating and getting some last minute Christmas shopping done. I am looking forward to introducing some new features and elements on SLB, but I’ll save all of that exciting stuff for tomorrow. Hope everyone is having a wonderful and restful holiday season, more adventures to come.

♥