The Bee's Knees | 01

"What we're currently crushing on! The trendiest trend stuff everyone really loves but I'm not sure why! Buy this thing that is super in right now!"

:(

I don't know about you, but we're tired of all that. There is such an over saturation of products being marketed at us and and endorsed by people we don't know these days, that we can never really be sure what's real and what isn't. It feels like high school again. "What? You don't have one of these?! How do you even, what is life?" It almost makes me feel... bad (sometimes) but mostly uncomfortable.

But I suppose that really is the point.

Here at The Sunshine District, Jacqueline and I are quite similar in a number of ways but we have a LOT of varying interests. Many times they are things that don't exactly fit within the perimeters of our blog and sometimes they do. Regardless, we want to enjoy and celebrate the things that we love. Because those things are special to us, and possibly other people will find them special too.

They may be products that work for us, other blogs we read, music we have just recently discovered (even if it's 15 years old), books we're currently reading, the list can go on. The Bee's Knees feature is our opportunity to share those things with you!

We won't focus on the trends of the day/week/month, rather we want to share with you things that make us feel good and happy. Possibly some of you will feel the same and wouldn't that we wonderful?

We think so.

Why don't we start then!

Skyler 

Image from A Daily Something

- A few weeks ago I began looking at another blog called A Daily Something. A very lovely site which focuses on home entertaining, recipes, parties and elegant crafty projects. Rebecca is a master stylist with beautiful photography! In the process of exploring, I found these wonderful free downloadable prints of different botanicals created by Jen Olmstead.  They're lovely and would look absolutely gorgeous framed! (That's my plan anyway)

- While I work, I'm majorly into instrumental music. If it has singing or lyrics in english that I could possibly in some way sing along to... I will get absolutely nothing accomplished. So I'm bonkers about 8tracks and I have a a number mixes that are my go-to's while I crack away at my work. Like this one, and that one, and this! The more other worldly the better for me, it keeps my mind focused and centered creatively. Three cheers for getting stuff done!

- Have you ever heard of Yujacha? You haven't!? Omg get your butt over here and let me tell you about it. 

Yuja is an East Asian citrus fruit, it's actually the Korean name for yuzu which you're probably already familiar with. Yujacha is a traditional Korean herbal tea made from thin slices of the fruit, peel and all, that is combined with honey or sugar. It sort of turns into syrupy/marmalade like mixture. You combine a spoonful of it with hot water and you get a sweet and sour tea that is stinking addicting. The best part of this tea is that when you finish you're left with these candy-like yuja peel pieces that are like a little surprise snack at the end. What's not to like about that?!

I usually buy jars of this at my local asian market in the tea section. Then recently I noticed it in the asian isle of my local grocery store! Maybe check out your local market and see if it's there, I promise you'll love it! You can also make this tea yourself with any citrus fruit you like. This recipe by one of my favorite food Youtubers is awesome and so cute! 

Jacqueline 

- I'm currently in the midst of gearing up for the annual McDowell Mountain Music Festival. What usually pops into my head when I hear the word "festival" is flower crowns and sunshine. While I will definitely be rocking the flower crown and SPF, the main word associated with this festival is "charity".  MMMF donates 100% of their proceeds to local charities in Arizona. How amazing is that?? If you live in the valley and are looking for something to do the weekend of March 11-13, you should check it out. The main headliners include Beck, Kid Cudi and The Avett Brothers. I will be volunteering Friday night serving beer in the beer tents. Come by and say hi :)

- I'm not what you'd call a beauty junkie by any means. I usually find something I like, and stick with it for life. I've been using the same brand of face wash since I was 16 if that gives any insight to my product loyalty. The only beauty area I do like to mix up is eyeshadow. I've been using the same Naked palette I stole from my sister for awhile now, and I've used up all of my favorite shades leaving the rejects. I was not excited to buy a whole new palette (makeup is expensive!) when I happened to stumble upon a similar, but smaller pallette in the Maybelline isle at my local drug store. It's called Blushed Nudes. I've been using it for a couple of months now, and I love it. There are so many different combinations you can blend together, and I haven't gotten bored with the colors yet. If Urban Decay isn't in the budget, this is a great alternative and similar to their Naked 3 color scheme. 

-skyler & jac