Jennifer Andrew

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dreamy duvet covers

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I am on the lookout for a beautiful, simple, cheap duvet cover for my new peach room. In the past week, I’ve looked at hundreds of them and I am having terrible luck! Some call it an obsession but I call it determination The best duvet covers I have found so far are for full/queen-sized beds, but I recently traded mine for a twin.

When I search my favorite blogs, I find tutorials on how to make my own duvet cover which is a brilliant idea. I would love to buy my own fabric and hire someone else to make it because… I hate sewing. So much. I don’t even like to weave in my edges when I crochet.

Anyway, the search is still on but in the mean time, here are some bedding linens that I love. These are all almost perfect, just not the right size, color, or type.

These are from Full Moon Loom and they are all so beautiful! I would buy any of them in a heartbeat, only they’re for full/queen beds. So sad! 


Anthropologie
Urban Outfitters

I also love this one, but I don’t think it is for sale anymore:

I might settle on a neutral, solid color. Then I can decorate it with crocheted blankets and sheets!! It’s a whole different world! Look at these pretty choices:

Anthropologie
When I finally settle on one, I will stop being such a negative nancy. I realize this post has a bunch of negative sentences.

On a happier note, my mom is home from the hospital! Thank you for your prayers. She’ll be chillin’ at home for 3-4 months but hopefully someday she will dance and do pilates again. 

queen of the sun: what are the bees telling us?

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Queen of the Sun is a documentary floating around independent theaters in the US this summer that addresses the disappearing bee colonies all over the world. Joelle and I went to see it last night at Varsity Theatre in Davis. The film is guided by a handful of beekeepers, scientists, authors, including Michael Pollan, Gunther Hauk, and our favorite Yvon Achard, a Frenchman who uses his bristly mustache to brush the beehive frames :)



It was beautifully filmed and presented facts in a way that held my attention and further increased my love of honeybees. There were also fun animations and collage-y moments in between the interviews.


Bees pollinate so many things that we need in order to be healthy (check out this super long list!). Large beekeeping industries try to speed up the process and create efficiency by messing up the natural order of things. They even put high fructose corn syrup in the beehives! 

And while independent beekeepers are taking careful steps to care for their bees, crops, and fellow human beings, there is nothing they can do when a big plane sprays pesticides across a neighboring field. A gust of wind will just blow the pesticides right over to the natural beehives.

The narrators highlight the rising trend of backyard beekeeping and rooftop beekeeping. I really want to have a hive in my backyard one of these days. This movie shows the struggles that go along with beekeeping, but still makes it seem doable. I have to keeping crossing books off of my reading list until I finally get to Keeping Bees with Ashley White.

Ways that you can help our bees: 

Plant bee-friendly flowers and flowering herbs in your garden and yard.
Don’t use chemicals and pesticides to treat your lawn or garden.
Buy local, organic food from a farmer that you know.
Bees are thirsty. Put a small basin of fresh water outside your home.

Please check out the film, or at least the trailer for now. I thought it was wonderful :) 

weekend trip: carmel by the sea

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Earthbound Farms & Flower Nursery

Turkish Rugs, lamps, and good patterns everywhere.

This place carried my favorite yarn brand ever!!! 

and I thought it was only in Italy. 

The Ocean

 

and French Dessert & Lavender Lemon Tea @ La Bicyclette
 

A successful mini road trip if you ask me :)

readwritelearnpaintcrochet, slow down.

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One of my biggest weaknesses is that I take on more than I can handle, and it never ends well. In the beginning, I view it as simply being efficient. Why not take a bunch of extra classes to get them out of the way? Why not take on a few small, but time consuming jobs even if they kind of overlap? I say “yes” because I don’t want to pass up any opportunities or miss out on life. In my leadership class a few months ago, we talked about how there can be a hidden meaning in inefficiency. Jesus did inefficient things all the time, and it didn’t mean that time was being wasted. It just didn’t yield immediate visible results.

Okay, so the school year is over and has been for a month. It’s time to relax and be free of obligations and deadlines! The only problem is that my “summer list” has piled up to the freaking sky. 
There are a lot of things I want to do. Most involve yarn. Some involve fabric. Oh, and paper! I love paper crafts. I am trying to read all the Harry Potter books before July 15th. Some other books too. I want to learn about beekeeping. I’m in that painting class so I should paint every now and then. And I should empty out my room asap because it will be painted soon. Summer means that I can hang out with my sisters, which will be super fun. And I want to go to the gym. I started learning French on the Rosetta Stone, but I realized today that I haven’t used it in a week. And I’ve used the phrase, “we should hang out soon!” like twenty times this week. 
The point is that by trying to do a hundred things at once, I haven’t done anything. There is a big mess surrounding me. A half-finished book. A half-finished friendship bracelet. A half-finished iPod cozy. Some fabric with unraveling thread running through it. An unattractive painting that I gave up on. 
(I know these all sound like goals a fourth grader would have.)
What does it look like to enjoy summer for all that it is? I’m not sure. I think it looks something like being thankful for specifics daily and spending quality time with Jesus outside in my backyard. Having plans and following through (whether it involves making something, reading something, or spending time with someone). But also, not having plans and being okay with that.

Today when I was outside painting, I realized how much beauty was around me. The backyard was so green, with sunlight streaming through the trees. I wanted to throw my paint around and make something bright, abstract, and possibly ugly, but I made boring little squares instead.

I am going to practice being present in this season. It’s warm out. There is so much free time. I can do all sorts of things…or I can just rest.

harmony festival recap

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My mom and I went to the festival in Santa Rosa yesterday and had a fantastic time. Was it worth all the money it cost to get in? Kind of. I’m glad we went :)

I bought a few headbands and a sarong, which I will probably use for decoration rather than clothing:

The main reason why we went was to see Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, and they were amazing. I love Jade’s voice so much. Alexander wore his usual strange dress thing. They were a loving group of talented people and I’m happy that I finally got to see them.

Sorry about the quality, these are all from my mom’s phone. 

For the remainder of the time, we just walked around. I used to go to festivals like these when I was little, so it felt like home :)

At the Harmony Cafe, I had a delicious Chai & Believe and my mom tried the Mayan Gold. Mmm!

We found this New Tree chocolate. Sooooo good. I love the variety and so-called health benefits (anything can sell me when it comes to chocolate). We bought lavender milk chocolate. I didn’t tell the lady selling it that I actually have gotten the same chocolate from Walmart. That’s okay. Maybe it isn’t **Very Special, Very Rare** (cafe joke for my Jessup friends!), but at least it’s accessible :)

Finally I can say that I’m thankful that I grew up going to reggae concerts! …even though I can still only handle it in small doses. And I’m thankful for a mom who will dance to my favorite music.

get your paint on – summer 2011

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A week ago, I was browsing on Bloglovin’ and I noticed an advertisement for the Get Your Paint On Summer 2011 course. I’m surprised I even saw it because I was 300 blog posts behind. I will catch up soon! But anyway, first I disregarded the class… but then I felt pressured. I don’t really know how to paint. At all. As much as I would like to just improvise and paint abstract things, I can’t even really do that. I need to learn some technique.

So, I signed up! It is an online course and will be led by Lisa Congdon and Mati McDonough who are artists and illustrators from San Francisco. Please go look at their work. It is bright, colorful, and alive :)

by Mati McDonough
by Lisa Congdon

The course is five weeks long and it starts tomorrow! Each week, we’ll go through a certain format that looks something like: reading assignment, inspiration related to the topic, interview with an artist, weekly wrap up, and assignment due date. Hopefully I can stay on track :)

get in touch