Photographs, Time and Cakes

I was catching up on some of my favorite blogs and was very surprised when I came across this vintage photograph in a post by A Subtle Revelry.

Vintage Photo ca. 1940.

It’s so similar to photographs I took of my dad on his Birthday a few years ago! My favorite part was the reflection of candles in his glasses.

News and Updates

I’ve been busy working on new exciting projects, including a collaborative Etsy shop, and finishing up my school work. Below is a sneak peek of my thesis. If you are in NYC, I invite you to come see the amazing work done by the graduating class at the Fashion Institute of Technology Design Museum. The work will be on view till May 22.

Traveling Sephora Box

Traveling Sephora Boxes appeared on Sephora’s messaging boards about two years ago. They are a fun way to share your makeup stash with others and get some goodies in return (new products only). The rules are very simple: you receive the box in the mail, take whatever you want out of it, replace it with something of same or greater value and send the box to the next person. I participated in TSB’s before and recently started one of my own. This is what the box looked like when I sent it out. Can’t wait to see what it will look like at the end of its trip.

Photos from Cambodia coming up next!

-Edit 04/12: Unfortunately this box was stolen by one of the participants-

Natura Morta and Shopping

I spent most of my time in Thailand feeling under the weather. Good thing about Thailand: over-the-counter antibiotics (sold by a kind knowledgeable pharmacist). I took some photos while waiting for my medication to kick in.

Some of the things I picked up in Bangkok: small makeup cases from NaRaYa; teddy bear clothes from Teddy House (an adorable store and cafe complete with a bear hospital) for my Muffy Vanderbear; Can Make lip gloss; eyeshadow and lip gloss from Oriental Princess Society (a Thai makeup brand); cute papier-mache and amigurumi ornaments, elephant soap and cloth magnets from Motif & Maris; stickers and stationery from 555 Paperplus. I ‘m such a girl.

Tea and Company

My friend, Roman, took these in early November. He is a brilliant mathematician who never puts down his camera. I used to feel frustrated by this fact, but seeing these photos is making me reconsider. This is how I entertain guests – drinking tea on my front steps. Nothing fancy, but I rather enjoy it.

Bag: Tokidoki for LeSportsac, Top: Abercrombie & Fitch, Jeans: BDG, Jacket: H&M, Shoes: Nike.

I Live/ I Love

Hope everyone had a wonderful New Year celebration.

There is still time to see I Live/ I Love, a group gallery show featuring everything from photography and painting to 3D and 4 D work by young artists and designers. The gallery is open 12-6pm daily. The show will be up till January 7. 658 Broadway, Suite 404, New York, NY.

 

Christmas Morning

I’m sure Santa Came to my house last night; he ate some cookies and drank all the milk. I know most people would say that I’m way too old for this, but my cookie plate is getting more sophisticated as I get older – Santa got Godiva cookies this year.

My stocking is always filled with fruit.

I love making ornaments for my Christmas tree. You can see a tutorial for this Finnish Star at Craft Ideas.

Late Night Thought

Does anyone else feel like they don’t have a good concept of time? I think that everyone else feels that time moves in a linear fashion, but lately, mine has been standing still and just compounding. All standard measurements of day, hour etc. are a meaningless blur.

Hello Again

Hi everyone,

I’m glad to announce that CandleAshes is back to its regularly scheduled programing. Thank you for your patience and understanding in the last few months, I really appreciate it.

CandleAshes is on Facebook, so please follow the blog by clicking “like” on top of the page to keep track of new posts and get some extra info. I will be doing a fun giveaway when 100 people follow the page, so tell your friends about it.

I’m really excited and I will be seeing you all very soon.

“The Social Network”

The New Year is supposed to be filled with new beginnings and resolutions, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to bring change into my life. I decided to modify my mode of communication this year. I will be deleting my Facebook account on January 22 and will begin keeping in touch with my friends the old-fashioned way at least for a year. This began as an attempt to get more privacy and take distractions and stress out of my life, but is now evolving into a project on building more meaningful relationships. Facebook allows us to easily obtain a lot of information on others, but all of it is rather shallow. Facebook does have its benefits, but it’s a relationship crutch and I would like to see what life is like without it.

I got an address book and am looking forward to filling it with new contacts. I want to send some snail mail, so if anyone would like a pen-pal, send me a message. I did create a Facebook page for this blog, so now there is a convenient way to keep up with the updates if you don’t want to use Bloglovin’. I think that Facebook is well suited for this business type of interaction.

I will write an update on this experiment in 3 to 6 months. Will I miss out on my friend’s lives? Will I get excluded from party invitations? Will I be able to have deeper relationships with people? Will I pay more attention to the world around me? Whatever the answer, I think it will be an adventure; what do you think?