Talented Friends Joanna Torres

In the previous posts I had you meet Julia LoVan of Julia LoVan Dresses and Corrie Hill Sullivan of Corrie Hill Design. Now I would like to introduce you to another fellow Etsyian Joanna Cheng Torres aka JojoCheng with her Jojo's Handspun Yarn shop on Etsy!



Joanna is another person that is a part of the Mosaic Community however I know her through her husband John Torres who is a very talented musician and a wonderful friend to my husband!
Joanna lovingly hand spins yarn which is a process I really want to see! Her yarn varies from rustic to ornate with a wide range of unique and vibrant colors. The color qualities seem to stand out even more with the attributes they are named with.

This one is called EFFERVESCENCE and is a delightful almost alchemistical mix of merino, corriedale cross wool, baby (cria) alpaca, tussah silk, BFL (bluefaced leicester), firestar (glitz). With such hand spun delights it's no wonder why her shop is near empty right now! But don't fret more will surly be up soon so keep an eye on this talented yarn maker!

Talented Friends Julia LoVan

I would like to recognize some of my amazingly talented friends that I know in person! I will try to spotlight someone either each Friday, within my next few blog posts or just sporadically because I'm bad with blogging in general.

The first person I want to showcase is Julia LoVan the creative mind behind Julia LoVan Dresses on Etsy



The things I appreciate the most about Julia is her dedication to the underprivileged community and in addition to that focuses on being eco-conscious by being, "on the constant search to use more recycled or sustainable materials." Her day job is working with intercity kids and I had the pleasure of helping her with Illuminate that gives a safe and creative haven to underprivileged kids during the summer, by equipping them with useful artistic abilities that they otherwise would not have known.



With everything she does she gives back in some way and this is stated in her shop. "Julia LoVan Dresses operates out of Los Angeles and create products that are hope-filled. We are on the constant search to use more recycled or sustainable materials. The desire to do so comes from a passion to seek justice for our friends: the local and international poor and underserved populations. This is achieved through using fashion and networking with global organizations to create housing and jobs. Part of the proceeds goes towards the building of orphanages in Lusaka, Zambia with Breath of Heaven Children's Ministries. For more information or to partner in this endeavor, please email julialovandresses@gmail.com.
Simplicity, compassion, beauty."

Recently she has been featured on Wrecked For The Ordinary



So kudos to Julia as she is one of my talented friends that really shines!

Aloha goodbye

Jason and I arrived safely in LAX at 8am thins morning (redeye flights For The Win) with my left ankle(which has two metal screws in it) painful and swollen =/ I slept most of the way home so I didn't move my legs around as I should have which can cause blood clotting while being pregnant because of the increased blood flow. Right now my ankle is elevated and I'll see if it improves over night if not I get a field trip to the Doc tomorrow =(
My time in Hawaii was great and crappy as well. For some reason my body does not like Hawaiian food even if it is vegan =/ but I did alright with veggie sushi(ume shiso and natto rolls are a new obsession since albacore is out for now) which unfortunate for me was not really near where Jason and I were staying (which was at my brother's house). Other then that being pregnant puts a damper on things while Jason was out partying with the bridal party and other wedding guests I was at my brother's place reading The Graveyard Book. So needless to say I didn't get any quality with my husband(besides sleeping) because we had to be chauffeured by someone since we didn't rent a car =( which was a bad idea at times. But the one fun thing I was able to do besides walking around and shopping on a super tight budget was snorkeling and finding a sea turtle which was great and there's a whole back story with that and my first trip to Hawaii when I was 5.
The main highlight of the trip was my brother's wedding. Which I must say was beautiful and Lindsey (my new sister) looked very lovey They rented a beautiful beach house for the bridal party and the ceremony which worked out really well and made things a lot of fun. There was a threat of rain which actually passed before the ceremony and high winds which worked to give the wedding a mystical appearance with Lindsey's veil flowing elegantly with it. Most of all with this trip it was great to be able to know Lindsey more and meet her great family and their friends as well. It's always great to see most of the family gathered together and I was able to meet my Uncle Dee (my aunt Teresa just re-married a year or two ago) and other family members I don't get to see that often. Although the wedding guest list was small(because the trip to Hawaii is expensive) I personally thought and felt that things were more meaningful families joined together as if they always were, new friends were made and everything that meant the most worked out beautifully.