rainy day in az

I'm absoloutley loving this gorgeous weather right now. 

the more I do my online school, the more I wish I had done this before. I  love being able to work on my own schedule. I have so much more time for my music and friends. 

last week I hung out with some of my closest friends, and got to catch up and make some incredible memories. 

I went to Tempe with one of my dear friends Camry, and had such a fun time! we ate at my favorite restaurant, haji babba's, and found some neat records at Zia's. definitely a memorable time. 

I also got to reunite with a group of girls what I've been close with for so long. Hayden, Maddie, brynn and I did a play together years ago and have been best friends ever since. we caused all sorts of shenanigans and had an incredible time. 

sicky pants.

last week one of our family friends approached me and asked if I would be willing to sing the national anthem at the republican GOP victory breakfast. of course I said yes, I mean, who the heck could turn that opportunity down? 

howevaa, I woke up on Monday morning with a sore throat and runny nose and started to think that maybe I wasn't going to be able to sing for the governor. 

I was way bummed, not gonna lie. 

I was crossing my fingers the whole week that I would feel better in time to sing on Thursday morning, but I just got worse and worse. when I went to sleep on Wednesday I could barely speak, and knew that if I woke up Thursday morning feeling like I had been feeling all week that there was no way I could do it. 

sure enough, I woke up on Thursday not being able to sing a note. 

but, I brewed some throat tea, sprayed some nasty throat spray, and hoped that everything would go over smoothly. 

when I arrived at soundcheck I was coughing and sneezing as I walked up to the mic, and I was absolutely terrified. if I couldn't sing it at sound check, I wouldn't be able to perform at this amazing event. 

first of all, I had never sung the national anthem all the way through before as a solo. and it's an intense song to sing.  second, I couldn't speak a word without going into a coughing fit. 

I stood in front of the mic, took a deep breath, and sang.

somehow I was able to get through the national anthem without any problems. 

that whole experience was such a confidence builder for me, and I still don't know how on earth I was able to sing such a crazy hard song without dying half way through or something. check out a little bit of my performance on my Instagram @thebellejewel 

Oh, Utah

This past week I've had the chance to be up at Education Week while my dad signed in the bookstore. I learned so much about the mind, marriage, who I am, and what my purpose in life is. It was a truly inspiring experience. I also met Marvin Goldstein, a hilarious and incredibly talented concert pianist.  If you haven't ever been to education week, you need to go!

Something that has been on my mind a lot lately is choices. (things are about to get deep, hold on)

What if i made the wrong choice by unenrolling myself from ALA?
Should i be starting college next semester?
Is moving to utah even the right thing to do?

These questions have kept me up for countless nights.

Choices are scary.

Being up on the BYU campus, singing at the open mics up here in Utah, and looking at homes gives me such a positive energy and i can't help but feel at home up here.


But then as soon as i log onto instagram or twitter, my timeline is filled with pictures of my friends attending the first highschool football game of the season, or  doing things that every highschooler does.

And i feel like I've made all the wrong choices.

My biggest fear is regret. What if i regret not having a "normal" senior year with all the amazing friends I've made in arizona? I won't get to walk at graduation with my friends, i'll receive a diploma from my online highschool. What if I move to Utah and im absolutely miserable? I might not make friends as great as the ones i already have.  Every question I've been asking myself lately has started with "what if". Theres another side of it though. What if i move to Utah and my music goes super well? There are so many opportunities for my music up here; people really believe in me. What if Arizona just isn't the right place for me anymore? I've had some great memories there, but everyone has got to grow up and move on sometime anyways.

anywaysss, only time can give me the answers to those questions.

Regardless of whatever happens, I'll go with the flow.

*deep breath*

Back to what i mentioned earlier about the open mic nights, i went to one this week at Velour and had the time of my life. The music scene up here is so unique, and there are so many supportive musicians and appreciators of musicians up here. I LOVE IT. Music is beyond healing for me, and to be able to perform for a group of native Utahans felt just like home.

A few weeks ago, i caught up with an old friend of mine and was able to do a photoshoot with him. Way back when in Sophmore year, Alton and I would take pictures of our outfits together. Everyone said we were weird and conceited, but we knew that we were fab (jokinggg) so we didnt care what they said. 

soo two years later we booked a professional photographer (keenan baird) to capture us doing what we do best. 

I'm in love with the results. 

Overall its been a great week, and im having a great time up here in utah. For those of you wondering, we haven't moved quite yet! Soon, soon. 

Crazy Week

This week has been a week of photoshoots, reuniting with old friends, and music. 

So yeah, I'd say it was a good week. 

On Wednesday I got the opportunity to shoot with Keenan Baird at his studio in Tempe. Shooting with me was one of my good friends from Higley Highschool that I hadn't seen in ages. I think i've said this before but i love love love the kind of friendships and relationships where you can pick up right where you left off even after not seeing eachother for a long time.

That shoot was incredible, I'll post some pictures in a few weeks and you'll see what i mean.

Thursday night was my big show at Sozo Coffeehouse, and was easily one of my favorite performances. So many people came out to support me and for that i am incredibly grateful. It's so humbling for me to see that there are people out there that care about my music just as much as i do.I cant even emphasize how much fun i had that night.  

There's something about performing that is truly addictive, and I wish every night could be like thursday night. 


And just yesterday i had a photoshoot with the darling Kammie Maschue. Check out her photography  here! She's so darling and so easy to work with. She totally captured my vintage vision and im super super happy with how the pictures turned out. 

On a side note, i just recently designed some Belle Jewel merchandise, and it's now up for sale! Go to the website here. 

Here's hoping next week is as wonderful as this last one was. 

Modeling

In my experience and from what i've seen, being a model is viewed as a negative thing. 

Soo why do I model?

I think that at some point almost every little girl has a dream of being a famous pop star or model, and I was no different. When I was thirteen or fourteen I got signed to Leighton Talent Agency, and they have been wonderful to me. 

I began modeling because, quite simply, I enjoyed it. I quickly learned that the culture surrounding professional modeling wasn't the best, most of the time. There is such a huge emphasis placed on body image, appearance, and what other people think about you. 

Guess what?

None of that matters.

people get so caught up in how much they weigh or what their friends will think of them or what they do and don't look like; it takes away from the whole experience.

What matters to me is that I have a great time getting my hair and makeup done, posing for a camera, and creating art. Each picture tells a story, and there aren't many things i love more than looking back on pictures i've taken and remembering all the crazy fun stuff that went on behind the scenes. 

Through modeling i've built my self esteem, met incredible people, and gone on so many unforgettable adventures. 

In my most recent photoshoot, i had the honor of modeling for a dear friend of mine, the lovely Sarah Waggoner. Every month, she does a themed shoot, and she asked me to help her out in capturing her vision of shadow. For this shoot, I was modeling in a thick velvet dress in a parking garage in the middle of an arizona summer day. I'd say the results were well worth it, Sarah did an incredible job of capturing the contrast between light and dark in this project.  Look at the rest of the pictures here on her website! www.sarahwaggoner.com

outfit of the day

today i was feeling extremely fancy. no particular reason, i just haven't done my hair and makeup in three days and was hoping to compensate a little by dressing up real nice today. 

believe it or not, every part of this outfit was either thrifted or found at a garage sale. 

there are two things i love a ton: feeling pretty and getting a good deal. this is why hunting through racks of ugly clothes just to find one shirt is super fun for me. (weird, i know.)

in this fancy outfit i'm wearing a black babydoll shirt with adorable knitted accents on the sleeves. just $6 at a consignment store in Tempe.
 the jeans were only 14 bucks at name brand exchange, and the bracelet i found for .99 cents at Epic thrift store in Mesa. 
The jelly sandals were a super lucky find; i had been hunting for some for quite a while and found them on sale at Hot Topic for 7 dollars. 
and last but not least: my favorite part of today's outfit. My bag. i picked that baby up from a garage sale for only 15 dollars. easily one of my best garage sale finds. 

my hair is just a simple high pony twisted and tied off at the end. 

PS (not every post will be about my clothes, just hang in there, lovies) 

Rants and Rambles II

Goodbyes are never easy. 

Something i've been observing lately is that  a huge part of growing up (for me)  is being able to say goodbye, and in these last few months i think i've said more good byes and see you laters than i ever have before. 

Growing up means that you start to go your own way by doing new things, meeting new people, and going new places. Because of this, people split up and slowly fade out eachothers lives. It sucks. But just because goodbyes are hard to do, doesn't mean they're always a bad thing. 

 Saying goodbye to a toxic relationship with someone was one of the hardest but most positive things i've ever done. 

Saying goodbye to all my arizonians when i move up to UT will be awful. But  moving will give me the chance to meet some more amazing people.

alright, enough with the rants and rambles for now. 

my very bestest friend since seventh grade just visited AZ from california this last week, and i got to spend some time with her before she went back to the coast. LOVE that girl. 

her and i are lucky enough to have the kind of friendship where we can go without seeing eachother for a year and still be just as close as we were in junior high.

i'm not sure what i'd do without that woman, she's the bomb diggity and beyond.

While she was here, we thrifted for HOURS. im super excited about my haul, which ill talk about more in my next post. 

we also stayed up watching "Keeping up with the Kardashians" until 3 in the morning.

we're a little obsessed. 

anyways, this last week was wonderful. there arent many things i love more than reconnecting with people i havent seen in forever. 

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They Call Me Thrift Junkie

This last week has been crazy. I decided a few weeks ago that i was going to attend ALA until i moved to Utah.  Well, after waking up late for first hour today I decided to dis-enroll myself. I'm sure I'll regret it tomorrow but it was worth getting an extra few hours of sleep. Long story short, I went to ALA for two days this year. Gnarly. 

I'll talk more about that and a few other things that happened this week in my next Rants and Rambles post (Saturday), so don't you worry. 

THIS post is all about why I thrift, where i thrift, and how i thrift.

Some people may turn their noses up at the idea of wearing some strangers t shirt or someone else's pair of shoes, which I totally understand. But, those kind of people are the people who have never really been thrifting. (and if you have been thrifting and still feel that way, that's a shame.) 

So Belle, what got you into wearing other people's clothes? 

Once upon a time, my dad decided he wanted to do something else with his his talents. As an artist, starting over means rounding up a whole new fan base, and a whole new line of customers. So when he decided to make the switch from doing mostly fantasy art to fine and religious artwork, he had to start over with a new fan base and new customers. This meant that money was tight for a while. As a preteen at the time, I was always wanting new clothes, which we didn't have the money for. But the first time I stepped into goodwill and discovered i could put together an outfit for the price of a shirt at a retail store, a whole new realm of creativity opened up to me. I found outfits at goodwill that were almost identical to what everyone else was wearing, except i was paying 15 dollars for a shirt, shoes, and pants instead of 60 or 70. 

Then, I decided i wanted to take advantage of all the unique clothes that can be found at second hand stores. I started to dress how I wanted to dress, not how everyone else dressed. And another door of creativity was opened. Now, not only was i saving myself a ton of money, I had clothes that no one else had. And it felt wonderful.

(Don't get me wrong, there are some hideous clothes at thrift stores. The fun part is looking through the racks of gross pieces to find ones that can be turned into something unique and wearable.) 

people gave me compliments like "only you could pull that off"  "I saw this shirt and it totally made me think of you!" and " you have such a unique taste."

For me, getting compliments and remarks like that was much more satisfying than hearing someone say "i have that same shirt! It looks good on you."

I'm not shaming anyone who shops at malls or chain stores, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I shop at them too, but there's one condition.

 I wont buy anything over 15 dollars. Anything. Just about every piece of clothing in my closet is either from a garage sale, clearance rack, thrift store, or a clothing exchange. 

 

It's weird, i know, but shopping like this has taught me how to get creative, learn to budget, and save myself loads of money. 

This outfit right here cost me 20 dollars total. 

tights: h and m clearance (2.50)

shoes: an outlet mall in utah (8.00)

dress: goodwill  (3.00)

thermal: pacsun clearance (4.00)

necklace: goodwill (2.50)

So what's the big secret to thrift shopping? 

You just have to look. That's all. Unlike just about every store in the mall, you can't just walk into a thrift store and see something you like, it rarely happens. You have to look through every rack, be brave enough to buy stuff that just needs some TLC and a sewing machine, and have an open mind. 

Rants and Rambles

since I'm new to this whole blogging thing, i'll just start out with 3 things you need to know about me, belle.

1. I love change. with that being said, it's easy to understand why I've been to not one high school, not two, but four different high schools (and counting). i'm crazy, i know. but i'll explain why i did this later on in this post.

2. I make music. not just to perform on a stage and share with other people, I make music primarily for myself. some people collect spoons or watch old movies to get through the day (idk) but i self medicate with music. I love the phrase "there is such thing as magic, it's called music." super true.

3. I like my life exactly the way it is. before you think to yourself "bullcrap" just hear me out. By saying this, I don't mean that I don't want it to change (see number 1) but that I like the changes that have happened, are happening, and will happen. i'm happy with my life because i'm not the person that my 13 year old self thought I'd be, and im happy with my life because I know i'm not the kind of person i want to be when im 18. i'm a much stronger and better person than i ever thought i'd be, but i've still got some growing up and learning to do, which is super scary and exciting at the same time.

Other than that, all you really need to know about me is that im hopelessly addicted to salt and vinegar chips and thrift shopping. hopelessly addicted.

so belle, what possessed you to switch schools a million times? well, i'll tell you.

I started out at Mountain View Highschool in Mesa, Arizona as a freshman. Had one real friend, got ok grades, and ended up in some sticky situations that i should've been smart enough to avoid. overall, it wasn't my best year. i thought i was going to be stuck there for a few more years but my family and i made the spontaneous decision to move to gilbert, and it was the best thing that has ever happened to me. (not that i loathe mesa or regret living there, queen creek was just the fresh start that i needed.) sooo, i started out my sophomore year as a Higley Knight and loved almost every minute of it. i was in the improv comedy troupe, ate churros for lunch every day, and had some incredible friends. but something was missing. even though i was happy, i felt like i was supposed to be somewhere else. ( on a side note, whenever people say "highschool is the best part of growing up" i want to punch them in the gut. highschool itself, even though it may be different for other people, will definitely not be remembered as the best time of my life.) anyways, after i was at higley for one lovely semester, i took a last minute plunge into Perry high school. I honestly can't say that i have one definite opinion about that school. I met new people and had alot of great experiences, but i dont think i would ever do it again. even though i was comfortable there, i still didnt feel like it was where i was supposed to be.

So i decided to give up on highschool and finish it up online so i could move on to bigger and better things. ( i thought)

then came along this guy (he who shall not be named, even though half my readers know exactly who i'm talking about) who convinced me to go to american leadership academy. as soon as i stepped onto that campus i felt like i was home. i made the top choir, immediately felt like i had made some wonderful friendships, and loved my classes and teachers. it really was too good to be true. i spent a great year there. i fell in love, made friends, learned new things about myself, won prom princess and took risks that i would've never even considered taking prior to being an ALA patriot. I signed up for a dance class, which was huge for me. i've always hated how un-athletic and uncoordinated i am. but that class taught me that the only opinion out there about me that matters is mine.

long story short i spent a crazy and picture perfect year there. up until right about may. my relationship with he who shall not be named started to fall apart for reasons that shall not be discussed, i started to felt like i was losing friends left and right, and i had no idea what i was going to do for senior year. I felt lost and frustrated with myself again. on top of all this, my family had started to talk about the possibility of moving to utah. Earlier this year even the thought of leaving queen creek drove me to tears. now i can honestly say i can't wait to pack up and get myself out of here. it's not going to be easy of course; im leaving behind a few wonderful and irreplaceable friends that have helped me become the person i am today, and ill miss them way too much.

but like i said, i love change.

now, as im writing this, people are putting offers on our house. it hasnt really hit me that in a month ill be a whole state away from everyone i love. but im sure it will soon. it'll be bittersweet, i know that for sure.

So why the heck am i moving?

good question.

simply put, there are hundreds more opportunities up there for my whole family, but more specifically for me and my dad. both his art (http://www.howardlyon.com/) and my music will have air to breathe up there. just in the few weeks that i was up in utah this summer, i had the opportunity to perform at Country Explosion, compete to perform at Stadium of Fire, record a single for a new TV show (details later), and meet the coolest people and bands in the entire world. some of those people and bands being Alex Boye, Ryan Innes, Mimi Knowles, The Show Ponies, Allred, and Jim Hollister. UNREAL. I cant even believe how incredible this summer was because of that. Utah has so much to offer me right now, and im going to seize every opportunity i can.

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude." -Maya Angelou