During a recent trip to China, my aunt surprised my mother with a beautiful bangle bracelet from Folli Follie. I had never heard of them before until my mother told me about the bracelet. They have so many wonderful things!

Folli Follie first started up in Greece in 1982 and expanded out to other parts of the world. Their philosophy is…

“The original design and sale of a fun, versatile, and affordable luxury collection designed to meet the varied and dynamic needs of trend-conscious women and girls worldwide.”

I think the biggest mistake of Folli Follie is me finding out about them. I want almost EVERYTHING!

Happy Thursday! Long-overdue for a Things I Love Thursday! I can barely remember the last one I shared.

Orla Kiely Limited Edition Fox Wallet: I love the patterns that Orla Kiely comes up with. She uses a lot of simple shapes/patterns, but they are very catchy to look at and admire. I have really been into animal printed things lately and this fox print wallet caught my attention.

Butter London Fiver Nail Lacquer: Butter London released their spring collection not too long ago and this color has been on my mind since! This minty shade is one of my favorite colors. I remember painting a lot of room decor in this shade in the past. So bright and happy!

Gap Fitted Boyfriend Cat Print Shirt: I visited a Gap store last month and spotted this shirt on the way out of the store (despite it being right up in front as you walk in — George actually spotted it BEFORE me and pointed it out!). I ended up finally buying it!

I have been on a silent hiatus and have been thinking about my blog. I realized a big part of me is missing from it…my creativity. For those that do not, I have been artsy since I was a kid and spent a most of my life drawing. I graduated from college with a computer science degree and spent a bit of time in technology (Google) before focusing on just design — roaringsheep.com.

ANYWAYS…I do not want my blog to be entirely about things I bought and reviews because there is more to me than just that. I am now going to share my crafting projects and hope everyone enjoys the change.

On the subject of creativity, I have been getting into the idea of making jewelry. I bought a few empty pocket watch cases to create worlds inside them. Still a work in progress, but wanted to give a visual of what is going on.

The pocket watches originally had this flower pattern which I thought takes up too much view of what I will create inside.

With some help of a Dremel and my boyfriend (I am still learning to use a Dremel to gain pro status) we were able to get rid of the flower.

George did an awesome job with smoothing out the edges. I am excited to get started on my part now!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and had fun ringing in the New Year! I took 2 weeks off from work for the holidays and it was glorious. I spent my time with family and friends. I actually made a promise to myself that I would not blog during my vacation, wanted to make the most out of the time I was spending with people I love – sorry for the disappearing act.

I took a few photos here and there. Lots of exciting things for 2013. I have some special projects I am working on that I will share soon and other stuff.

I have been searching for a pair of plain black flats seeing my last pair were a looking sad (too worn out). You would think finding black flats would be simple, but I have a list of wants that define the PERFECT pair which makes things complicated.

After a few weeks of looking around online and in stores I ended up finding a pair of flats from ShoeMint…well sorta. They do not match the whole “plain” look I was going for, but I had a hard time saying no to the cuteness of them.

These shoes have been comfy to wear so far. I hate when some shoes cause blisters because they are too stiff or poorly made. The flats were originally around $79.98USD, but with a promo they had I got them for $34USD. The only thing I worry about is accidentally kicking something and having one of the bows fall off because of it — being REALLY careful about that.

As much as I love my new shoes, I still would really like a “plain” pair. I have had my eyes on flats at Madewell, but waiting to see if a good deal comes along!

Just a quick extra update. I have really been wanting to change my layout and I finally got past my LAZY spell and did it! I liked my old layout, but it seemed so summery for the winter.

Seeing I have been crocheting a bit more and have been indulging on teas, I thought I should put something together that reflects on those things.

Today at work, my boss brought Trader Joe’s Vanilla & Cinnamon Tea to share with everyone! I love teas, especially flavored teas so I was really curious on how this would taste.

The packaging is so CUTE and the tea made the entire inside of the box smell like vanilla! When I brewed the tea in my cup, it had a very rich vanilla aroma. I was surprised by the taste because you actually notice the vanilla and cinnamon in it. The flavor is not powerful, but just enough to get a hint of it.

This tea is seasonal only and apparently it disappears off of store shelves fast. I plan to go this weekend to stock up on it. They also have a Candy Cane Green Tea that my boss said was really good too! This tea arrived in perfect timing because the gloomy weather outside has been making me want to bundle up in a blanket with a warm drink.

Happy Thursday again! It is WINDY and rainy here in San Francisco today. I am already missing the sun, but I love bundling up in warm winter clothes. The gloomy weather did not keep me from a Things I Love Thursday today!

ShoeMint Taia Flats: I wore my old black flats out and have been needing a new pair. I ended up buying these cute flats! I thought the gold bow added a sweet and playful touch. I am hoping they are comfy because flats are my go to sort of shoe. I DO NOT love being in heels all the time.

Poketo Owl Mug: As a crazy mug lady, I adore this mug. I am not sure what it is with me and mugs. Do I really need so many??? No. That is the problem with cute stuff, you want and want, but you do not really NEED. I still seem to make room though (I need to stop doing that).

MADEBYHANK Polka Dot Bag: Polka dots would probably be one of my favorite patterns. I came across this bag and not only love the spots, but also the fact that each one is stitched on.

Madewell Jackalope Sweater: Having an actually bunny in our family makes me fond of rabbits. When I saw this sweater, I immediately thought of our Mini Rex rabbit, BB. BB may not be a jackrabbit, let alone a jackalope…but this still reminds me of him! I would have no problem wearing this about with a oxford shirt underneath.

I had tried out Ishizawa’s Double Collagen Ball with Royal Jelly and thought it was a nice change of things instead of using bath salts. It is a tad bit pricey, but this is perfect for using once in a while as a “special” beauty treatment.

I liked that this collagen ball had a very delicate scent, but was a little disappointed that it was not as moisturizing as I had hoped. I did not think it would be incredible with skin softening, but just expected a little more than what I experienced.

Use as a collagen pack on a cleansed body by taking some collagen out of the package and spreading it on your body. Soak yourself in a hot bath OR use as a cooling beauty treatment by refrigerating the collagen ball for 2 hours. When it becomes jelly-like, it is ready to use. Spread out the collagen on your body and soak yourself in a hot bath.

I ended up using it at room temperature and think I will try to refrigerate it next time. I will probably try a different version of this collagen ball to mix things up!

This Thanksgiving was full of family, memorable moments and of course…FOOD (lots and lots)! Like last year, I had two Thanksgivings to attend so I spent a bit of time in the kitchen cooking and baking. I now have some pounds to lose after all the eating I did.

I have been more addicted to Instagram (I am under “roaringsheep”) lately and was inspired to change things up and use filters to share my holiday time.

To those who also celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you had a wonderful time with family and friends!