Well you might guess what it is. I'm not very good at secrets.
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But needless to say if you have not become a part of my online community you will want to join quick to not miss out on my next perk.

Bud vases are the perfect form to make floral arrangements with crocus because a crocus's stems are really short. I also love the diversity of colors of the crocus. I picked these white and purple crocuses from my yard, and they make the perfect flower arrangement for Easter!

This is my favorite way to arrange flowers in some sort of asymmetrical balance. See how that single white flower becomes the focal point in the flowers.

This is where you get all the heights of the flowers to make a perfect domed shape. This dome shape is so voluptuous. 

Similar to the dome shape except that the fan is wider than it is tall. I like how in this example the flowers span out farther than the width of the vase.

The pyramid is a triangular shaped flower arrangement. It can be fun to play with the shape of the triangle as well, and how tall of a peak the flowers could make.

Ps. I will be running a giveaway this week. You have a chance to win this bud vase by jumping on my email list; see side by to sign up. In addition, you can get extra entries to possibly win this vase by participating in the giveaway on instagram and facebook.

Cheers to my fellow March and April b-days as we learn how to celebrate a Birthday in the midst of quarantine and the COVID-19 crisis. Listed below are some of my approaches to still making my B-day special in the midst of isolation as we quarantine.

Good food is a must for any celebration!
My husband made us an amazing breakfast before we each started our work day on my Bday. This included a healthy spread of fruit salad, sweet potatoes, avocado, healthy but yummy banana bread, and not feature in the picture was the scrambled eggs. This was perfect for me as breakfast is my favorite meal, and really enjoy savoring slow breakfasts on special days like my B-day.
In contrast to my healthy breakfast was tea time ice cream and cake. Aldi sold this fabulous Godiva lava cake mix which all I had to do was add butter and eggs, and it backed really quickly as well. I loved these mini sized lava cakes and gooey hot center.

When it comes to good coffee I have to give a shout out to Stone Creek Coffee's Cream City roast. I'm not an affiliate for them they just make my absolute favorite coffee! I got a 5lbs bag of cream city roasted coffee for my B-day. And you should know that they are offering free shipping right now! 
Ps. a mug made by me and beans from stone creek coffee would make the best b-day/thinking of you gift.
​Plus my beautiful bouquet of aldi flowers in a Lisa York Arts vase.

Finally, a double win with takeout food was getting to support a local restaurant and not having to cook. I ordered pho from Vientiane Noodle Shop. This was a the perfect meal for our picnic at Lake Michigan because it was a little cold to have a picnic. It's good to remember that we are still able to enjoy nature at our local parks we just need to make an effort to keep the appropriate social distance of 6ft.

Haha...so I guess you know my favorite things now: pottery, food, and nature. Well I had a fabulous pottery b-day, and I hope you, my fellow quarantined B-day buds, make an effort to have a special, celebrated Birthday during COVID-19 quarantine as well.

And hey we can always celebrate our Birthday again with travel and/or people post the quarantine. In the mean while, we can day dream of being able to explore and travel again this summer.

I feel totally spoiled to have another artist in the family. My sister Vera York is an amazing photographer, and  a great cook as you can see in the images!

"Being raised with a chaotic and less to normal childhood, anxiety got the best of me throughout my life. As I aged it got worse, I always felt overwhelmed by noise, visual stimulus, or being with a lot of people. I started to realize that I needed to find tactics for myself to help my mental state. This is where slowing down came to be in my life. It’s a learning process but has made a huge change for my mental health and overall well being."

-Vera York

I would highly encourage you to check out more of Vera's Photography and words of encouragement she shares on her instagram page Simple_Mentality.

A few more pictures from La Jolla Cove park.

Want to see reviews of other great restaurants or out doorsy experiences?

​You don't have to have a sweet heart to treat yourself... Find your own unique gift.

Allee Etheridge Shares her love of coffee, and the memory of buying her Lisa York mug while at her art residency in Las Vegas.
She says her mug reminds her "both of the neon lights of Vegas strip as well as the colors of the Nevada dessert" and that"it's a good size...important for her ability to drink inhuman amount of coffee every single day...and used it every single for the entire summer she was there [Vegas]."

This mug was purchased from the exhibition "Serve It Up" at Clay Art Vegas. they still offer art residencies and amazing art exhibits.