Lace & Pearls

A Seattle Style blog. Helping women who struggle with their personal style or those who just need a fashion fix!

Lace & Pearls Jewelry is Open for Business!

Lace & Pearls Jewelry has officially arrived!!! This passion project has been a long time coming and I'm so excited to share it with you!Lace & Pearls Jewelry has officially arrived!!! This passion project has been a long time coming and I’m so excited to share it with you! You might have seen small mentions here or there but if this is your first time hearing about it, let me get you caught up.

Lace & Pearls Jewelry

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ve probably seen a recurring theme/fashion tip: accessorize, accessorize, accessorize. Some people are shoe people and others love a good handbag, but I love jewelry! It’s a girl’s best friend in my opinion.

A couple years back, December 2015 to be exact, I decided to take a jewelry class. From that point on, I got the itch to create my own pieces and eventually create an online marketplace to showcase and sell my creations. I toyed with the idea of an Etsy shop but after a discussion with a friend and doing my own research, I decided to go bigger and create an ecommerce store.

Lace & Pearls Jewelry has officially arrived!!! This passion project has been a long time coming and I'm so excited to share it with you!If you love a good signature necklace or something special, you’re in for a treat! All of the pieces in the Lace & Pearls Jewelry line are handmade by me and made of fine materials that include gold-filled, sterling silver, and brass chains along with real stones and pearls. I would describe my pieces as feminine meets minimalism. Everything is meant to feel dainty yet exquisite.

I hope you have fun checking out the site! Don’t forget to sign up for the mailing list and follow/like my Instagram and Facebook page. It would mean the world to me to have your support!

Lace & Pearls Jewelry has officially arrived!!! This passion project has been a long time coming and I'm so excited to share it with you!Inspirational Word

Today’s takeaway is to follow your dreams! I know this is cliche, but honestly, I never thought I would see this into fruition. The truth is, I didn’t really think much about it. Instead, I just kept moving forward because I knew that if I let myself get in my head, I would just hold myself back. During this entire process, I almost felt like it wasn’t me, but an alter-ego that was pushing me forward. I attributed that to staying out of my head. I will admit some days I did get in my head (let’s be real, a lot of days), but for the most part, I just persevered.

These photos are from earlier this year when it was warm. This was my first time shooting and wearing my pieces. Unfortunately, there are only two of these necklaces with the black onyx druzy stone, Life of Aani has one and the other is available on the site. I hope to make another similar piece soon but the stone will be slightly different.

Dress: J.Crew (old) | Necklace: Lace & Pearls Jewelry | Purse: Ted Baker London | Shoes: Josep Seibel | Lipstick: Rimmel London (Crystal Mauve) â„…

Lace & Pearls Jewelry has officially arrived!!! This passion project has been a long time coming and I'm so excited to share it with you!Thank you!

I have so many people to thank for helping get this business off the ground.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments. Thank you all so much!

📷’s by  Luba Kochubey Portraits

Related posts:

  1. What I’ve Learned from One Year of Blogging
  2. Fashion First
  3. 3 Year Blogiversary + The Prettiest Tulle Dress
  4. New Year’s Reflection: Stressed, Overweight and Tired!

Break a Bad Habit in 30 Days or Less

I've developed some bad habits.The above might seem trivial, but it's impacted me in a big way. I'm positive correcting one thing will lead to the other. Target Who What Wear Blouse, worn with J.Crew grey toothpick jean. In January of 2016, my health wasn’t the best and from that point on things kind of fell apart. I was always tired, required a lot of sleep, and started gaining weight. This resulted in late nights, sleeping in, driving to work instead of taking the bus, and then getting to work later than I’d prefer.

So, if you haven’t caught on, I’ve developed some really bad habits. The above might seem trivial, but it’s impacted me in a big way and I’m positive if I can correct one thing the rest will follow. Sometimes you just need a little push to get started, then once the momentum starts you’re on a roll. Whenever I start something new, it’s much easier than I thought it was going to be!

I've developed some bad habits.The above might seem trivial, but it's impacted me in a big way. I'm positive correcting one thing will lead to the other. Target Who What Wear Blouse, worn with J.Crew grey toothpick jean. My plan to break these habits is to get up earlier so I can be tired earlier. In theory, if I change this one thing, I will be able to go to bed on time and wake up early which allows me to take the bus and start work on time. Win-win!

Now, if only starting it was that easy.

I've developed some bad habits.The above might seem trivial, but it's impacted me in a big way. I'm positive correcting one thing will lead to the other. Target Who What Wear Blouse, worn with J.Crew grey toothpick jean. I've developed some bad habits.The above might seem trivial, but it's impacted me in a big way. I'm positive correcting one thing will lead to the other. Target Who What Wear Blouse, worn with J.Crew grey toothpick jean. Blouse: Who What Wear | Denim: J.Crew | Necklace: Loft (old) | Ring: Happiness Boutique c/o | Boots: DSW | Purse: Marc by Marc Jacobs (similar) | Lipstick: Burberry (color Bright Plum #49) c/o 

Break a Bad Habit in 30 days

  1. Start small. No goal is too small. I believe making small improvements can have big outcomes.
  2. Write it down. Track the days that you achieve your goal and the days you don’t. Work to improve each week. Plus, later you can look back and see how easy it was to start your good habit!
  3. Make it visual. Create a vision board. Bringing it front and center makes it hard to ignore.
  4. Don’t be hard on yourself. If you don’t achieve your goal this week, reassess and break it up into smaller chunks. As long as you’re not giving up, you are on the right track.

What bad habits are you trying to break? Share in the comments.

Photos by Hello Rigby

Related posts:

  1. Juggling a Day Job, Blog, and Jewelry Business
  2. Tips For Styling a Peplum Top
  3. How to Stay Motivated + 2 Year Blogiversary
  4. How to Overcome Anxiety When Networking

3 Year Blogiversary + The Prettiest Tulle Dress

Celebrating a blogiversary is like gearing up for a new year. It’s that time to reflect and begin thinking of new ideas and goals. Tulle dress. I can’t believe I made it to year three (actual blogiversary is on 10/6)! This time last year I was contemplating giving up the blog. I was definitely feeling like my progress was stagnant, but according to some sources, year three is when things start to happen. This gave me hope and allowed me to quantify my progress: year one is for learning, year two is for putting things in motion, and year three is for scaling and growth.

Celebrating a blogiversary is like gearing up for a new year. It’s that time to reflect and begin thinking of new ideas and goals. Tulle dress, denim jacket.Celebrating a blogiversary is like gearing up for a new year. It’s that time to reflect and begin thinking of new ideas and goals. My jewelry line is just one example. I wrote about launching it all the way back in January of 2016. At the time, I just had too much going on and knew that if I wanted to really pursue this blogging thing, then the jewelry would have to wait. But how cool is it that I finally made it happen?! Who cares if it took almost two years from when I spoke about it. The point is that I actually did it! Let this be a lesson to anyone who has a dream, it can happen and will, you just have to take the steps to get it done.

Celebrating a blogiversary is like gearing up for a new year. It’s that time to reflect and begin thinking of new ideas and goals. Tulle dress, denim jacket. Blog Accomplishments

  • Improved writing. I’ve always felt insecure about my writing. Earlier this year, I went ahead and hired someone to proofread my posts. She primarily looks at grammar and whether things sound awkward, but it’s been life-changing and allowed me to spend less time reworking a post and more time doing the things I love. It’s also helped me become a better writer and recognize patterns. Kristyn has since helped me scale and work on things like gearing up my monthly newsletter and jewelry line.
  • Monthly Newsletter. Email lists are so important! In this business, you’re constantly bombarded with growing your list. This is something I’ve had on my to-do for a long time. My hope is to bridge the gap between me and my readers. I want my content to be more relevant to what they’re wanting. The newsletter is a direct way to communicate this to me.
  • Work ahead of schedule. At the end of July, I had three months of content planned out and about half of them written. This has truly given me room to breathe and create at my own pace rather than coming up with something every week. Again, I have my good friend Kristyn to thank for that! With her savvy editing skills, I can really get a leg up in my other blogging goals.
  • Sponsored content. I’ve finally begun to get sponsored posts! When you’re sponsored by a brand, you are not only gifted product but paid to share about the brand. I am very selective with whom I work with and turned down a lot of opportunities. It has to be a good fit for me and my audience. My photography expenses are pretty spendy, so having sponsored content to cover the cost of photos is something I am working towards.

Blog Learnings

  • Get help. If I’ve learned anything this year is you can’t do it all on your own. Plus, it’s much more fun when you have others to collaborate with and friends who support you in your dreams.
  • Make lists. Most nights I find it incredibly hard to shut down and get to bed early. I tend to keep all my to-dos in my head. Making a list and doing a mind dump gets it out on paper and allows me to step away and feel confident when I return.

Blog Goals

  • Bring in more sponsored content and brand collaborations to cover blogging expenses. I would love to be able to establish some long-term partnerships rather than one-time gigs.
  • Connect more with my readers and create content they love. My newsletter will help with this.
  • Lace & Pearls Jewelry is an extension of this blog and my love for jewelry. I hope to do some craft shows, sell stuff online, and have my products in several stores by end of 2018.

If you don’t take anything else from today’s post, remember this. Go for your dream, no matter how big or small it is. The worst that can happen is it doesn’t work. On the flip side, it could be a huge success. Don’t go through life wondering what if, instead think I will!

Celebrating a blogiversary is like gearing up for a new year. It’s that time to reflect and begin thinking of new ideas and goals. Tulle dress, denim jacket. The Prettiest Tulle Dress

For this milestone, I wanted to wear a party dress but still remain true to my personal style. This tulle dress hit the mark and is one that I will definitely wear repeatedly. I like that it can easily be dressed down. I was tempted to pair it with some booties but decided against it.

Celebrating a blogiversary is like gearing up for a new year. It’s that time to reflect and begin thinking of new ideas and goals. Tulle dress, denim jacket. If you’re a girly-girl like me then definitely grab this dress! I have a feeling it will go fast. Oh, I almost forgot to call out these gorgeous earrings! They’re SugarFix by Bauble Bar. They’re the perfect blush pink and totally my style. The necklace is one of my own designs and will be available soon to shop.

A big thank you to those who have supported my blogging journey! Every comment, visit, and acknowledgment means more than you know. Most of all, hugs and kisses to my sweet mom who is still my biggest cheerleader in every facet of my life. Love you much!

Shop the Post:

Dress: Asos | Jacket: Gap (similar) | Necklace: Lace & Pearls Jewelry | Earrings: Sugarfix by Bauble Bar c/o | Shoes: Josef Seibel | Clutch: Banana Republic (old)

📷’s by  Luba Kochubey Portraits

Related posts:

  1. What I’ve Learned from One Year of Blogging
  2. What I’ve Accomplished in One Year of Blogging
  3. 4 Blogging Tips For New Bloggers
  4. Fashion First

Lace & Pearls – The Girl Behind the Blog

When you follow a lot of blogs, you become curious about the person behind the blog and wonder about their background and lifestyle. I thought it would be fun to share a bit about myself and what inspired me to create this blog.

I live in Seattle, Washington with my husband and our two cats; we adopted them last year when they were four months old. It is my first time being a pet owner and I love it! Full disclosure, my husband and I are both dog people, but with us both being away from home for so many hours a day, it just didn’t make sense to have a dog yet. Last fall, my husband talked about possibly getting two cats and I was tickled with excitement! I still remember the first day we brought them home. We are literally smitten with them.

My husband and I met in college and have been married for seven years this July. He was my first boyfriend, and after dating for four years, we got married. We bought our first home last March and are having a blast buying furniture, planting vegetable beds, and doing other projects. He works in Marketing & Communications as a web developer and is wise beyond his years. Seriously, is there anything this man can’t do? He’s truly the best thing that has ever happened to me and our love for one another grows each and every day.

Lace & Pearls – The Girl Behind the Blog

In college, I majored in communications and got a job at Nordstrom in their corporate office when I graduated. Before school, I worked at Nordstrom Rack full time and continued doing seasonal work during breaks. When I graduated from college,  I worked in the Brass Plum buying office as an administrative assistant. I mostly managed purchase orders and got to make sure our vendors shipped products to us on time. Towards the tail end of things, I made the transition to Nordstrom.com and worked on the front end of the site, loading images and curating style suggestions to customers.

After trying to move up in the company, I applied for work externally and got a job in healthcare. I have been promoted a few times since and am now a project manager. When I switched over to healthcare I really missed being immersed in fashion and hearing about the latest trends. I wanted so badly to have that part of my life back and so Lace & Pearls was born.

My first year, I blogged under the radar, I was scared that if people found out, they would discourage me from what I was trying to do so I only told my mom and a few family members. It can also be tough to balance work and the blog, and there have been so many times where I’ve wanted to throw in the towel, but what has kept me going are the relationships I’ve formed, getting to improve my writing skills, and having something that allows me to be creative on a weekly basis.

Well, I think that covers the basics. If you’ve stuck around this long, thank you! If you have any questions for me, please leave them in the comments. I always love hearing from you. Thanks for reading.

Shop the Post:

Chambray: Old Navy | Denim: J.Crew | Necklace: J.Crew (sold out)| Ring: Happiness Boutique (silver version) c/o | Boots: Hunter | Tote: Ralph Ralph Lauren (similar) | Lipstick: Burberry ( No. 49 – intense plum)c/o

Photos by Jenn of Hello Rigby.

Related posts:

  1. Fashion First
  2. Styling Texture
  3. Pretty Particular + A Giveaway
  4. Outfit Remix: Ruffle Pleat Cardigan

A Year In Review + A Unique Spin on New Year’s Resolutions

In just a few days 2016 will be over and a new year will begin. There is no better time than now to reflect on and discuss 2016. Keep reading for my year in review.

It’s been quite a year (personal and professional). My husband and I bought our first home, adopted two kittens, and we both got promoted. In just a few days 2016 will be over and a new year will begin. There is no better time than now to reflect on and discuss 2016. Keep reading for my year in review.

I am not going to focus on what I didn’t do this year but rather what I did do. I encourage you to do the same. Revisit your previous year’s goals and check if they are still relevant. If you didn’t do everything on your list, don’t beat yourself up. There is nothing you can do about it now. Re-evaluate and determine if you will continue to chase the same goals.

Forget New Year’s Resolutions – Do This Instead

This year, I am choosing a word that represents what I want to do rather than a resolution. My individual list will roll up into that one word, allowing me to reach that goal. My word is Healthy. So much in my life right now revolves around getting healthy. If I have my health, I feel that everything else will fall into place. I recommend that you choose a word that will keep you on track throughout the year, revisiting it whenever you feel challenged. For example, when I get the craving to overindulge in snacks during a Netflix marathon, I’ll think of my goal and opt for a healthier alternative like fruit or tea.

Note that my personal goals are the same as the previous two years, but they still rank highest on my list.

A Year in Review

Personal

  1. Up my workout intensity. I currently take daily walks during my lunch break, but I need to focus on breaking a sweat to see results.
  2. Get 7.5-8 hours of sleep per night. My husband and I have been getting up early between 5:30-6 am. This is helping with my night owl tendencies.
  3. Lose 15 pounds. I still need to drop some weight for health purposes. Upping my workout, getting a decent night’s rest, and portion control is the plan.
  4. Pay off debt. Our YNAB (You Need A Budget) is set and ready to break ground. For some actionable budget tips, check out 6 Debt Reduction Tips.

Blog

  1. Receive compensation for posts in addition to the product. One of my goals this past year was to begin working with brands. From January on, I accomplished this. In case you missed any of them, you can see them all here.
  2. Begin pitching to brands. Brands have reached out to collaborate, but I also want to be pitching to them.
  3. Increase blog traffic. Three words, Search Engine Optimization (SEO). When I started this blog, I had no clue about optimizing post to their full potential. Mid-year, I began optimizing and now my number one traffic referrer is Google. I want to go back through all posts and elevate them so people can better find them.
  4. Build an email list. This will help me connect with readers on a more personal level and understand what they struggle with when it comes to personal style.

Top 10 Posts From 2016

In just a few days 2016 will be over and a new year will begin. There is no better time than now to reflect on and discuss 2016. Keep reading for my year in review.

  1. How to Collaborate with Other Bloggers
  2. Drugstore Volume Mascaras: The Good and the Bad
  3. 6 Essential Ways to Start Dressing Confidently
  4. Thrift Store Fashion – A Beginner’s Guide
  5. Tips For Styling a Peplum Top
  6. How to Stay Motivated + 2 year Blogiversary
  7. 8 Tips for Defining Your Personal Style
  8. How to Avoid Blogger Burnout
  9. The Ultimate Pattern Mixing Guide
  10. 5 Tips for Achieving Effortless Style

What does your year in review look like? What will your focus word be? Share in the comments.

Thank you for supporting Lace & Pearls. Happy New Year! See you in 2017.

First image by Luba Kochubey Portraits

Related posts:

  1. How to Stay Motivated + 2 Year Blogiversary
  2. How to Overcome Anxiety When Networking
  3. Stop Comparing Yourself to Others
  4. Pause & Reflect: Celebrate Yourself aka Self-Care! 6 Ideas

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