A FEW FAVORITES

There are several bloggers out there who do a monthly favorites post and that's something I've always wanted to do. However, I don't think I have such an extreme dedication as to where I'll get something every month and love it extremely you know? So expect these posts to come and go sporadically. That and the things featured in these posts are pretty simple, if I do say so myself. 

Throughout the last days of May and the early days of June I've accumulated a few things that I've been using a whole lot. Some for art, some for daily activities. The first thing up is the Hario Ceramic Burr Grinder. 

I would never consider myself a coffee connoisseur (i still like to sometimes drown my coffee in sugar and creamer). But I can say that I've grown to appreciate coffee a lot more, so I went out and finally bought this burr grinder for myself. I got this as a present for my friend Nikki for Christmas and I fell in love with the design. My only complaint about this is that the English instructions attached don't tell you about how you can adjust the grinder to control the coarseness of the grind. You have to do it by trial and error to get the grind you want for the coffee beans. 

Next! A year ago I bought these Chiyogami Origami papers from Muji. 

Chiyogami refers to the repetitive pattern, but other than that this is like your ordinary origami paper. Like I've stated in many of my blogs before, I'm a devoted follower of Muji so when I saw the lovely designs the paper had, I went and bought it. In terms of Origami I'm so tempted to not use them to fold but for decorating my sketchbooks instead! My favorite pattern is the one I used for the Origami Lily. 

I realized that I wasn't such a kid anymore when I got really excited buying the next thing on this list, Ample Hills Creamery's recipe book. 

Ample Hills Creamery is a Brooklyn based ice cream parlor that produces some of the most interesting flavors of ice cream I've ever seen. What I love about this book so much aside from the recipes, is that the authors and owners, Brian Smith and Jackie Cuscuna, also write about the birth of their business and whatnot. I've made about two ice cream recipes from this book, one in particular you'll get to read about soon. My goal is that by the end of summer, I'll at least have made half of their creations! 

Music-wise, I've been loving Florence + The Machine's new album How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful.

This is Florence + The Machine's third studio album and the wait for it was well worth it. I was a huge fan of Florence when I was a freshman in high school but that died down when her band went on a slight hiatus. When she announced this third album I was so excited because I really did miss the sound she would put out! Long story short, I love this album. All the songs in it are like a blend of her first album, Lungs, and her second, Ceremonials. Queen of Peace, Ship to Wreck, What Kind of Man, and Delilah are some of my favorites on the album.

Lastly, my final favorite is De Vivre Magazine. De Vivre Magazine is a new independent platform that focuses on style, art, literature, and music. I also happen to be a contributor to this wonderful publication.

Issue One's theme was Being the Best You and I interviewed Nikki Maruyama and talked about how fashion helps define who she is. Aside from that, I also did a few fashion illustrations as well. The magazine also features several other articles worthy to be read, a look book, and many more. I'm so excited to be working on this magazine and to be apart of this amazing team. My intro on the about me page is so cheesy, haha.

Visit us at DE VIVRE MAGAZINE

That's it for the time being's favorites. I say time being because I'm not sure when the next favorites post is gonna be, lol. Thank you for reading, and be sure to be on the look out for that ice cream post, and De Vivre's next issue!

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