Island Fare

I spent the last couple days on the Island visiting my Grandma and other various Sidney/Victoria relatives. It was lovely and relaxing as always, and I had fun catching up with my gma, my aunt Lea, and my cousins Erin and Jeff.  The first night we were there Lea came over for dinner and we babysat Jeff's daughter Catalina- she is SO much fun, and so so bright.  Thursday morning I experienced the most epic grocery shop of my life (3 different locations and nearly 2 and a half hours!), and then my mom and I went into Vic to catch up with Erin and hear all the latest on her upcoming wedding (eeeeeeeee!).

My Thursday outfit was pretty simple, and so my jewelry was too.  I added a little splash of colour to two of my most classic pieces by borrowing from my ever-so-fashionable mother.  Look on and see.

I don't think I can eloquently explain how much I love this pearl earrings from Violette.  Pearls have got to be one of the most versatile stones out there, and I'm so lucky to have this beautiful pair from designer Leah Alexandra.  I can wear these babies with almost anything and always feel super classy and sophisticated when they're gracing my ears.

The lighting on this one is a little off, but I think you can see that I'm wearing my sterling silver heart necklace, on a long silver chain.  Come to think of it- I stole this from my mum too, but its been down in my room for so long that I've started to think of it as my own.  She got it at "The Calgary Gift Show"- how fancy- over 30 years ago.  Some things never go out of style.

And finally, my splash of colour:

This is a recent mom-theft, and its a recent addition to her own collection.  Don't know exactly where this bracelet came from, since it was a gift that my bestie Lisa gave my mum at Christmas. So its from somewhere in Kingston.  That's all I can give you.  In this pic I'm also sporting some new nail polish I got down in the states at the beginning of this week.  "Aquamarine" and "Frenzy" from Sinful Colour.

Enjoy your weekends, lovelies!

out of the deep

I got a pinterest account a couple of nights ago, and when my mother discovered this fact, her response was: "You should spend time on your blogs! Not on this thing, looking at other people's stuff.  Do your own stuff!"

So this is an attempt to get back in the blog world, and please my mother, so she has things to look at when she's bored.

I didn't plan my jewelry today with posting it for all to see in mind, so its not super inspired, but its still "pretty".

This necklace is a simple piece from Forever21.  My mum and I have a self-enforced rule that you have to buy jewels or an accessory of some sort everytime you go in there.  The exception being, of course, if you've already spent over $100 on clothes.  Then you don't HAVE to.  But you probably will anyways.

Forever is great for cheap pieces that have the potential to look not so cheap.  My mum has oodles of success there, and I've had some luck as well.  I often find that the jewelry section at forever is a great go-to place for bday presents for fashionista friends.

I like that the bronze charm somewhat resembles the claddagh heart, but with a very funky spin on the typical crown.

I wanted to keep things simple today, so attempting a bit of a match to the little black balls of the necklace chain, I adorned my ears today with my latest gift from Violette. (thanks for the xmas pressie, Lea and Erin!!)  These little navy pearls from Viv and Ingrid are so versatile, in that they can be a cute addition to a fairly casual outfit like the one I'm sporting today, but can also be super sophisticated and formal with fancier clothing, and are also understated enough that I can wear them in performances without pissing off my conductors/choir moms, etc.  

Be warned that in an attempt to facilitate more frequent posting, I've started taking my photos with my iPhone and not my real camera.  The picture quality suffers a little because of it.  So if ever you let out a little "ooo" at something you see on here, know that in really life, you'd exclaim it a bit louder.

I wish I was visiting my Grandma

This weekend, my mom and brother are going over to the island.  They will get to sleep in, they will have poached eggs and bacon and tea made for them the second they get up in the morning.  They will have homemade soup served in front of a waterfront view at lunch.  They will probably get roast chicken and mashed potatoes for dinner.  Every meal is followed by dessert.  Toast with jam for snacks at night.

They are going to my grandma's.  AND I'M JEALOUS!

This saturday, I'm singing with the Surrey Children's Choir and Youth Chorus at Surrey Central's "Santa's Arrival" Celebration.  No pampering for me.  It will be quite fun to ring in the season tomorrow morning though, singing fun favourite like Winter Wonderland, White Christmas, and Silver Bells.

In remembrance of my lovely Gma and the lovely town of Sidney though, here are a cutesy pair of earrings I bought the last time I was there, from one of my fave Sidney stores, Cameron Rose.

They can be dressed up or dressed down- something I always appreciate in an earring.  Cute cute cute.

SHE my heart's friend

Jennifer Kelly- this blog title is for you.

Its also practically relevant, as tonight's post centres on a cutesy key/heart inspired necklace that I got from S.H.E by design in Ft. Langley this past weekend.

For many Novembers, my mother and I (often joined by crew members Kirst and G.dawg) have made a tradition of spending a day in Ft. Langley.  To be fair, I must attribute this annual affair to Taylor Luckock, who introduced me to the beautiful thing that is The Little White House.  Not only does L.W.H start playing Christmas Carols in November, but they have fabulous Christmas decorations (I especially appreciate their vintage miniature Christmas trees) and adorable (if pricey) party dresses.

The back of the store is a cottage-y tea house of sorts, that boasts a pretty admirable tea list, a delectable house salad, and fluffy, yummy quiches.  

Back to the jewelry though.  This year, my mom and I extensively enlarged our Ft. Langley day, which isn't really saying much as the town is like, a block long.  But we were quite delighted in S.H.E, where along with tonight's feature I also got an utterly chic navy dress perfect for winter parties.

Without any further ado, feast your eyes on the newest member of the Danica Kell necklace club, and drool over how girly, sharp, and simple it is.

The Summer Days are Gone too Soon

This is the song that goes along with this post:





From head to toe, I've been sharing with your my everyday pretties- my daith piercing and my tattoos, my 3 favourite rings, and finally- my friendship anklets.

I can't tell you how much trouble these get me in with some people.  My mother especially can't stand that I insist on wearing them even with formal gowns and fancy high-heeled shoes.  Once, my choir director made me take them off for a folk song competition in which we were dancing and not wearing shoes (If you want a laugh, look no further than here), claiming they would "stick out" too much.  He promised to keep them in his suit pocket and give them back- it was the only way I'd take them off.  If you know him, you won't be surprised to hear I didn't get them back.

Since that summer in 2004 (yes choir nerds, the vid is from 2008 though), I have never taken off an anklet.  I wear them til they break off, and to sentimental ol' me, they are more then knotted embroidery thread- they are keepers of memory.  Typically friendship bracelets are GIVEN in a show of friendship, and yes, I mess with this tradition in that I make them for myself.  That said, every anklet I wear has a buddy, or buddies, somewhere else, and that speaks friendship to me.

Those of you who follow my lit blog know of my love affair with Kosh Lake, and my cottage summers. These friendship anklets are a huge staple of my summers there, and it comforts me to know that I hold a little piece of my cottage buddies, and other best friends across the country (I'm looking at you, Karley and Lisa), with me throughout the year.

Claddagh Ring (also, I suck).

For whatever reason, I'm hugely sucking at both my blogs right now.  Consider this a vow to start doing better.

I still have yet to finish my "always accessories" feature of sorts, and this post brings me one step closer.

I have worn a claddagh ring longer than any other piece of jewelry.  I got my first ring, which looked a little something like this ------>
when I was in grade 6.  I just recently joined Irish Dance classes (check me out here or here, I was half decent!) and was attending (not dancing) a feis in Richmond to see what the competition scene was all about.  I have irish heritage on both sides of my family, so when I saw the table of claddagh rings, in particular a silver one with a blue stone, I felt like I needed it, and my mother hooked a daughter up.

At the time, not a lot of people knew the whole "claddagh ring" story, although it seems to be a lot more common these days.  For any of my readers who don't know the "rules" of sorts that go with the rings...here they are.

The claddagh ring represents love, friendship, and especially loyalty.  As you can see, it is two hands clasping a heart, topped with a crown.  If worn on the right hand, with the heart pointing out (the way I wear mine), it means your heart is open.  If you wear it on your right hand with the heart pointing towards you, it means your heart is taken.  If its worn on your left hand pointing in, you've found true love (yay!).  When I started dating a boy in highschool I turned mine around and he noticed and it was really cute.

Sadly though, my sparkly blue ring was kind of for a child (11 year old Danica had smaller fingers), and it literally snapped off my finger in grade 12.  I should have stopped wearing it earlier, and saved it for my chilluns or something.  ANYWAYS! I got my current claddagh ring for Christmas from my lovely brother, from a celtic store in Steveston.  Due to my sucking at taking pictures- it looks a little something like this:





But to prove I actually have this 'pretty thing', here is my ring on my finger.  My heart is OPEN yo! So bring it on boys.

Trickster Ring

Moving on down the line, the next ring on my finger everyday is the beautiful gold and white gold ring that my parents gave me for my 21st birthday.  It is so so special to me, as my mom has the same ring, and my grandma and aunts also have jewelry made by the same artist coast salish artist, Dean Larden. Not only do I love this ring because of the way it links me to my other female relatives, but also because I have mad love for Canada,  and I'm really proud to wear a piece by a local native artist that represents a bit of our country's history.

My ring is carved with the raven, the "trickster" in the mythology of many of Canada's first nations peoples.  According to the Haida creation story, raven is the one who unleashed humankind into the universe when he cracked open a clamshell.

This stunning Bill Reid piece is housed at UBC's Museum of Anthropology

While the raven enjoys stirring shit up, he has also done some good for humanity, stealing us the sun, moon and starts from the Sky Chief, and getting us salmon.  Good job, trickster.

You can't see the detail very well in this pic, but trust me- its a gorgeous ring.