hello 2017

I know I'm a few days late to welcoming in the new year, but I've been spending some time reflecting on the past year and thinking about my goals for this year. 2016 treated me well- it was a year of lots of adventures! Since I was young, I always said I wanted to travel as much as I could when I "grew up". Although I don't feel grown up yet, I'm so grateful for all the traveling I was able to do! I feel like I travelled more this year than ever before, despite being a poor college student! Looking back, I'm amazed at how I managed to do everything I did! I somehow went on a trip, big or small, every month. 

most beautiful songs

You know those songs that the first time you hear them, you can't help but stop what you're doing and just listen? The songs that send shivers through your spine? The songs that you can close your eyes and feel? Songs like that are hard to come by. There's good music, and then there is absolutely beautiful music. Here's a list of the songs that leave me stunned every time I listen to them. Songs that I can listen to over and over again and they never lose their beauty.

Saturn and Turning Page
Sleeping at Last is one of the most incredible musicians I have ever discovered. He has a way with lyrics that makes me speechless. Saturn is the most beautiful song, if I were to rank them. The lyrics combined with the strings and piano is breathtaking. Turning Page is another song that is lyrically brilliant and leaves me nostalgic for a love I've never had.
"With shortness of breath, I'll explain the infinite. How rare and beautiful it truly is that we exist".
"Nothing prepared me for the privilege of being yours".

Weather
Novo Amor is another amazing musician who writes songs that make me feel the way I do when I look up on a clear night and see a vast starry sky. Weather has soft vocals and wistful strums that I just want to listen to over and over again.
"Burn the bed and the dreams I've never met, those wishes were never for granted".

Know Me Well
Roo Panes has a voice that melts my heart, and his song Know Me Well has me all weepy (in the best way possible) every time I listen to it. This song is the love I want to have. Lyrically and musically it is a masterpiece, and I'd rank it up there with Saturn.
"What can I fear when I know that I walk with you by my side? You're the fortress within which I've got nothing to hide".

Bloodstream
As soon as the opening chords began the first time I heard Bloodstream, I knew I was going to love it. This is a song meant to be listened to when you're driving on the highway late at night and have nothing ahead of you but the long empty road and dark sky. The vocals are breathy and the lyrics are sensual and it's just a beautiful song altogether.
"I think I might have inhaled you, I can feel you behind my eyes".

You Don't Know How Lucky You Are
Keaton Henson has a way of making you feel exactly what he felt with his music. You Don't Know How Lucky You Are is beautiful melancholy. The lyrics are hopelessly and mournfully romantic, and paired with his delicate voice this is an emotionally magnificent song.
"Does his love make your head spin?"

Promise
This song makes me think of standing on top of a mountain looking over the landscape feeling awestruck by the beauty of the earth. Ben Howard's music is beautifully nostalgic. Promise is a roadtrip on a bright, sunny day in the middle of summer with people you love.
"And meet me there, bundles of flowers we'll wait through the hours of cold".

Alpenglow
S. Carey wrote the album which Alpenglow is featured on, inspired by the writings of John Muir about Yosemite. The album as a whole is outstanding, but Alpenglow is especially beautiful. The lyrics are full of love, and this song perfectly represents what I would feel being in the middle of Yosemite, watching the alpenglow on the mountain peaks as the sun set.
"I was wondering if you'd be my wife, be the compass in my rugged life".

Cavalier
James Vincent McMorrow has a one of a kind voice that pairs incredibly with the sound of this song. I don't have much to say about it, except that I really love it.
"Half waist and high raised arms kicking at the slightest form".

Medicine
You can't help but fall in love with Daughter's voice when you listen to her songs. Medicine is another song that is melancholy but beautiful. Her soft voice with the piano and strings is captivating.
"You could still be what you want to be, what you said you were when you met me".

wildness is a necessity

We live in an age where we're constantly connected, plugged into a device, reading status updates and posting pictures of our coffee, responding to texts and commenting on someone's photo. Our minds can never be quiet because we always have something to check, some update to read or message to respond to. Our phones are never more than a few feet away, our laptops always ready to be opened. We're distracted from the beautiful moments in life because we're trying to get the perfect instagram picture. And if we don't, we're disappointed. The beauty of that moment has somehow diminished. We've become chained to our technology, we're living our lives through our screens.

Now don't get me wrong, I love that we have the ability to show our friends the amazing sunset we saw on our way home, I love that I can write a post on my blog and connect with people who have the same interests as me, I think it's incredible that we can make friends with people from all over the world.

But there comes a point when it all just becomes exhausting. Filling our minds with who ate what for breakfast and how many followers we have and why a photo doesn't have a certain number of "likes". We are dissatisfied with our lives and feeling detached from ourselves. And the only cure to this is to turn it all off and get outside.

Nature is rejuvenating. Spending time amongst the trees, by the water, under the golden sun, is the cure for the anxieties and stresses of everyday life. And though it might not make your problems go away, it will clear your mind so you can handle whatever comes your way. Fresh air is good for your spirit, and gives you back the energy your technology has taken from you.

I've been making it my point lately to get outside and refresh my mind. I've been taking days to hike with my friends, going for runs on the trail by the river, sitting under trees to read, and watching the beautiful sunsets that happen every single night. I didn't realize how disconnected I've become with myself until I spent more of my time outside than inside. Life is passing so quickly, I want to make it full of as many beautiful moments as I can. And these moments won't come when I'm staring at a screen.

 I've been leaving my phone at home more often. I've been trying to stop mindlessly scrolling through social media, and just let myself be with my thoughts. I've been figuring out what makes life meaningful.


There is so much out there in the world that you miss by wasting your time inside. We're all going to waste time, but we'll never feel fulfilled by wasting it in front of a screen. Waste your time outside instead.

"Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity".   -John Muir

stellaire notes

I'm excited to announce a new project I am beginning- a monthly newsletter for all my readers!

I'm calling it "Stellaire Notes". Each month I will create a "note" to mail out, which may include easy DIY projects, mixtapes, advice or things I've learned, and perhaps some quotes I found inspiring. These notes will essentially be like a blog post, but exclusive content you won't find on my blog- delivered right to your inbox! If you'd like to start receiving these monthly Stellaire Notes, you can subscribe below or use the form in the side bar!

Be on the look out for the first Stellaire Note coming out next week.

As always, thank you all for your love and support. I'm so happy you read my blog!
xoxoJordan

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penpal letter + book DIY

As  promised in the last post, here is the letter that I sent back to Gwen! I forgot to take a picture of the actual letter I wrote to her, but you can see the airmail envelope I used! Now besides the letter, I made a little book (I've been making a lot of those lately, haven't I?), and even though it is pretty self-explanatory on how to make it, I took pictures to show you anyway!


First, fold some blank index cards in half, put them together, and sew the binding. Print out some nice quotes that you like.


Decorate the front cover. I kept mine simple with just washi tape, part of a paper doily, and a handwritten title.


Then decorate the inside with those quotes you printed out, scraps of paper, stickers, paint, sequins, washi tape, etc... I'm not going to show you every page I made because this post will be way too long, but I will share a couple of my favorites.








This is how I packaged my tiny book; a small glassine envelope, edge folded over, sealed with washi tape, and tied with embroidery floss.

I think I'll start doing more posts on the letters I send, because I mail letters quite often. ♥

letter from Gwen

Did anybody go Black Friday shopping? I wasn't planning on going, but at the last minute my friend and I decided to go. Yes, we were the ones who left late at night and didn't return home until the wee hours of the morning. And we actually had fun, because when else do you get to go shopping in the middle of the night? And since I don't live in a big city, the crowds weren't much of a problem. I got lots of Christmas shopping done and made one pretty big purchase that I'll be showing you guys soon! (I ordered it online so I have to wait for it to be shipped to me).

Anyway, today I'm sharing a post I meant to publish quite a while ago, but better late then never!


At the beginning of the school year, one of my lovely readers contacted me about becoming penpals. Of course I thought it was a great idea! Her name is Gwen and she is from Singapore! So I will show you the beautiful letter I received from her! The above picture is the lovely handmade envelope (created by herself) that arrived in my mailbox, sealed with pretty, floral tape!


Inside was her letter and another tiny, heart-printed envelope.


This is the letter! How gorgeous is her handwriting??


And inside that tiny envelope were these adorable sticker bookmarks! Love them!

Next I will post the letter I sent back to her, so keep an eye out for that. And a bonus, there will be a DIY! ♥

dance and fly

I prefer to dance and fly with the butterfly by likegiselle

 

“I said that I’m a fairy… and I prefer to dance and fly with the butterfly but they made me talk and walk - and I hate walking and talking” — Sasha Pivovarova

inspire

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 A few times in my life I've had moments of absolute clarity. When for a few brief seconds the silence drowns out the noise and I can feel rather than think, and things seem so sharp and the world seems so fresh. It's though it had all just come into existence. I can never make these moments last. I cling to them, but like everything, they fade. I have lived my life on these moments. They pull me back to the present, anI realize that everything is exactly the way it was meant to be.

-Christopher Isherwood

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I was sitting at home and had a profound experience. I experienced, in all of my being, that someday I was going to die, and it wouldn't be like it had been happening, almost dying but somehow staying alive, but I would just die! And two things would happen right before I died: I would regret my entire life; I would want to live it over again. This terrified me. The thought that I would live my entire life, look at it and realize I blew it, forced me to do somethng with my life.

-Hubert Selby Jr. 

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 I'd like to repeat the advice that I gave you before, in that I think you really should make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt. So many people live within unppy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of securiy, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to teh adventurous spirit within a man than  secure future. The very basic core of a man's spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy o life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is nt greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.

-Christopher McCandless

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