{Follow That Food Truck}

Raise your hand if you did not run after the ice cream truck when you were a kid - LOL!!! How great would it have been {back in the olden days} to follow the ice cream truck on Twitter, track it's location on Foursquare or "fan" it on Facebook? Food trucks are all the rage and I must admit I've jumped on the bandwagon. There is something about them that I absolutely love. I don't know if it's the thrill of trying to find where they will be located each day - or the fun of eating amazing gourmet food while meeting and socializing with others in line that you wouldn’t have a chance or reason to talk to - but I love them. Here in NC {especially Durham & Chapel Hill} gourmet food trucks are popping up all over the place. A few of my favorites are: Only Burger, Daisy Cakes, Parlez-Vous Crepe, and Carrboro Raw {click on each name to be directed to their Twitter, Facebook, or website}.

 

There are many business ventures that I would like to explore "when I grow up", and a food truck is definitely one of them. I have 2 really great ideas {I'll keep them secret...for now} and you better believe if I ever do start one, I will be bringing the food-truck-chic-ness to the block {LOL}! This is kind of what I'm talking about...kinda - but kicked up a few notches...

What do you think? Do you follow food trucks? What are some of your faves?

{Shoes Can Be Convertibles Too...}

We’ve all done it, worn ridiculously high and uncomfortable shoes because well... they look good, and then at the end of the night the only thing you want to do is rip them off your feet. Sound familiar? If so, I'm sure you're just as thrilled as I am to discover a range of fold-up shoes, ideal for slipping on after a long night partying or a tiring day shopping, putting on after a long day at work, taking with you on vacation, on a plane, and simply when you are on your feet all day long.

I've seen variations of fold up shoes at all the stores this past weekend - but these particular shoes, made by Redfoot,  come in a whole variety of styles and colors. Below are a few of my faves, but click here to view the whole collection:

If you're wondering about prices - they ship from the UK but you can get the shoes w/delivery to the US for under $40. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

{I Need A J.Crew Employee Discount...}

This weekend was a tax free holiday here in North Carolina and I had every intention in helping out the economy. I am still on the hunt for the perfect shoes for Italy {I've found several that I like, but nothing that's...perfect, ie. cute AND comfortable}, and I need lots of tops {the hardest thing for me to shop for} - I have the solids, I need some pattern and a little color. Why is it every time you have money and go looking for something, you can never find anything. Frustrating right?

Now one place that I know I would be able to find something is J.Crew - but because I'm trying to not break the bank before I get to Italy, I didn't even walk in. I did, however, drool and stop for a moment of silence at the jewelry in the window display. I mean seriously, can J.Crew do any wrong?

Just fab! I think I need to get a part-time job there just so I can get the employee discount. They wouldn't even have to pay me - just put my check on a J.Crew card and I promise to spend every cent in the store. Kind of genius right? 

{Weekend Plans}

TGIF Peeps!!!

{Pullin' From the Archives - Necklace DIY}

For those of you that are new to Flourish {and even for all my loyal readers from day 1} I thought I would go back into my archives and post one of my favorite DIY projects again. {...sigh - ok, you're right, I was too lazy to create a new blog post today because I was out cruzin' in my new car last night...priorities, I know! You would have done the same thing, right? For those that I haven't seen it yet via my Twitter or Facebook, I'll post a pic tomorrow}. LOL -  really, this is one of my favorite DIYs and every time I wear the necklace, I always get asked if I created it. My answer - "well sort of - I re-created it"...

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DIY projects are great because there is no other way to show ingenuity and inspiration than doing a project on your own. There's something about making one-of-a-kind pieces that are not available to the masses. Today's project is a necklace that I purchased in LA at Madewell 1937, which is the casual sister company to J.Crew.

At first glance I immediately loved the various silver and gunmetal chains, and of course the crystal clusters, but I didn't care for the green neon beads dispersed around the necklace. But because the necklace was on sale, and I really liked it, I decided to buy and reconstruct it.

I started with taking apart the entire necklace by cutting the wire and removing the neon green beads (as shown below)

Once I had the necklace completely taken apart, I took some time to figure out how I wanted it to look. While at Madewell 1937 I saw another necklace (much more expensive, btw) that had the crystals clustered together on one side and strings of chain on the other. So to create the-look-for-less, I started to wire all of the pieces back together...

...and here's the final piece!!!

So...what do you think, again? :-)