Surviving the Duldrums: Post-Holiday Projects!

I hate to start out this post all gushy-like, but I have the best boyfriend ever. He got me a beautiful sewing machine for Christmas that I can't wait to start making fun stuff with!

Exhibit A: Dope-ass sewing machine

Now that I can get all crafty, I'm thinking of all the ways I can put this thing to use. I always tend to associate the months before spring/summer with the most BORING time of the year: it's friggin' cold, there are no work holidays, no birthdays. It's just that irritatingly long stretch before the real fun begins. Since I don't want three months of the year being wasted on yearning for summer, I'm going to get cracking on some cool DIY sewing projects!

My first endeavor is going to make myself a surfboard bag. I'm sick of trying to coordinate my towels to stay on my seats so that I don't end up with waxy bits on my headrests. I figure I can make a surfboard bag pretty easily out of some stretch terry cloth and a shoe lace for a cinched closure.

I found a bunch of DIY's on Pinterest so I hope once I get all my sewing accessories sorted out, I can get started!

I also want to start making my own swimsuits; just a few simple designs to start with and maybe try and make a cool monokini or fringe top. Because of my gigantic butt, I have a problem finding bottoms that don't dig in or give me enough coverage ( tired of flashing my coinslot), so creating my very own swimwear might be a way to circumvent all of my big-butt problems. 

Love this project from Goldfish Kiss

There are sooooo many fun projects that are just a sewing machine away from filling up a bunch of cold, rainy days. I can't wait to get going and have already been scouring the internet for cool fabrics. Hope you all had a nice Christmas/time off work because of Christmas. Whatever you did over the past week, I hope it was enjoyable. Until next time, adios amigos!

Take a Pretty Picture Break

Can you tell I've got one thing on my mind? Enjoy the visual aides, everyone!

Instagram @e_bythesea
Pinterest ebythesea

MAJOR Bikini Lust: Issa de' mar

If all was perfect and good with the world, I would own every single one of these bikinis by Issa de' mar and have a rockin' badonk to go with them. After following creators Melissa Eveland and Melissa Jasniy's much sought-after Tahitian hijinks on Instagram last summer and seeing their photo streams full of these awesome bikinis, I was going insane trying to find out where they came from. Come to find out, they were their own designs for their company's summer 2013 Tahitian Sunrise collection. I would kill to be a bikini designer, it just seems like the coolest job on the planet. They have just sort of formally launched their collection on their website and I'm loving everything! And check out these amazing photos. They make you want to tell your boss to eat a bag of dicks and run away to someplace tropical!

(All Photos property of Issa de' mar)

Moorea Top and Bottom 

Hina Top and Bottom

Poema Top and Moana Bottom

What I want to do everyday for the rest of my life.

Go visit Issa de' mar and get yourself a beautiful, unique, quality bikini for the summer that will blow away anything else on the beach or at the pool. Mahalo ladies!

Viva La Onesie!

Viva La Onesie! by elbonner featuring a ruched one piece swimsuit

Today I did something that I've been meaning to do for a long time: swim in the pool at the gym. Now, my gym pool isn't full of old people doing water aerobics or floating around on pool-noodles; I'm a member at a university gym with collegiate-level swimmers using the pool all the time. It took a lot of self-reflection and bathroom stall pep-talks for little chubby me to get up the courage to go get in that pool and swim a lane away from someone who may go to the Olympics one day. One thing that helped me with my pool-confidence and calmed my fear of accidentally flashing my whole butt to strangers was my awesome swimsuit. Feeling comfortable in something in front of strangers always helps you get over all of your other nervous jitters before doing something new. I recently bought the Body Glove Smoothies Zippered One-Piece you see in the upper right-hand corner in the brightest coral orange you can imagine. I was nervous about being seen in it in front of a bunch of career athletes, but low-and-behold I had the most bitchin' swimsuit there. The simple onesie swimsuit can create a lot of confidence by soothing your fears of having imperfect abs by giving you a little more coverage. Luckily, the swim industry has recently embraced the onesie and created so many cute suits that stay on no matter what activity you're doing. Above, I have accrued some really cute suits that can take you from swimming laps in the pool, to tumbling in rough surf, or to just feeling good in swimwear again. I've always gone by the idea that you should wear whatever you want because 99-100% of the time no-one will ever call you out on it or will end up being jealous of your courage, so throw on a onesie and work of your fitness!

Also, my pool workout totally kicked my butt so here's what I did:
-tread water for 30 seconds in the deep end
- 100m freestyle stroke
-tread water 30 seconds with arms and legs
-100m back stroke
-tread water for 30 seconds LEGS ONLY
-100m breaststroke 

repeat 5-10 times for a serious cardio workout!

clockwise:

Body Glove Smoothies Zippered One-Piece
J. Crew Ruched Bandeau Suit
L*Space Stardust Fringe One-Piece
Seea Riviera One-Piece
Wildfox Couture Classic One-Piece
Roxy Outdoor Fitness Lapped One-Piece
Mikoh Santorini One-Piece Suit

Happy New Years 2013!

Vacation- WILDFOX by elbonner featuring wildfox couture

We survived the Mayan "Apocalypse" and this awesome bikini by WILDFOX sounds like all of my New Years resolutions/favorite things ever combined and printed across two butt-cheeks. My only other resolution is to look good enough to feel comfortable with strangers reading things off of my butt! Happy New Year everyone!