Best of adventures.. since I got my Macbook Pro

The other day I was going through my computer, removing old photos on to my hard drive to make room for new adventures. My current storage keeps messaging me it's almost out. I guess 4 years with my Macbook Pro and 12K+ photos later will do that.. By doing so I found so many amazing adventures that I've had, some I never even shared before so thought I'd share some of my favorites on the blog this morning. Looking forward to what 2015 adventures will bring!

Apple picking in Indian ladder farms - Altamont, NY.

Outdoor camping and canoeing on the Delaware River - Bethel, NY.

Antiquing in Hudson, NY.

Planting in green houses - Castleton, NY.

RVing off the Mississippi River - West Memphis, AR.

Wandering around New Mexico.

Cross country road trips.

Old Nevada - Bonnie Springs Ranch, NV.

Opus One Winery - Napa Valley, CA.

Fog over the Golden Gate bridge - San Fransisco, CA.

First step ever in the Pacific - Huntington Beach, CA.

Treasure Hunting in Quartzsite, AZ.

Horseback riding in Zion National Park, UT.

Snow in Mt. Charleston, NV.

Visits back east to my hometown - Albany, NY.

Full Moon Meditations - Mt. Charleston, NV.

Celebrating 110th anniversary of Harley-Davidson - Milwaukee, WI.

Rainbows, sunsets, and bottles of red - Red Rock Canyon, NV.

Sailing on Lake Mead, NV.

Exploring Valley of Fire, NV.

Home away from home - Scottsdale, AZ.

New Jewels

The first new little collection for 2015, "winter blues" includes one of a kind ready to ship turquoise, blue lace agate, titanium blue druzy, aqua aura quartz, lapis, and sterling silver are now all available in shop www.nikdreamer.com/new. Also I just opened up a page for custom jewels, please contact me if you're interested here. I will be traveling through Arizona in the upcoming weeks on a hunt for new gems for 2015. If there is any particular gemstone you would like me to find and custom make, do let me know. I always love creating one of a kind jewels!

when nights comes

I'm always more inspired at night when the moon is shining. This is the first week since holiday season began back in November that I've had time to start working on new designs. Below is a lil glimpse of the last few nights on the bench. Looking forward to announcing a couple new 2015 collections very soon! Follow me on instagram or twitter, @nikdreamer for all the latest updates and announcements.

Also, this past week I reopened my etsy shop for a limited time with some one of a kind pieces I had in "the vault." I'll be traveling in late January through Arizona for all new gems and jewels, so I figure it was time to let go some of my favorites I had made last year. Visit the shop here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/nikdreamer

Dream Bigger, 2015.

Only one wish, dream bigger. Happy 2015!

2014.

As this year is quickly coming to an end, I think back to January and can't believe all the obstacles and challenges that I have overcome in just this last year. Sometimes I think how is this all real? Some days I want to pinch myself and be like, what are you doing??

I wake up today thinking this is just another day to be grateful for everything and everyone brought in to my life, and remember to live life to its fullest every day. To see and believe in only the good in the world, and cherish those people and places worth loving. I am of course thankful for the simple things. Food, water, air, breathing, mother nature and all her beauty.. I am thankful for all those little things that make me happy. Laughing so hard my stomach hurts, unexpected thinking of you calls and texts, the people that hold doors for you, happy hours, morning licks from my puppy...  I am thankful for the inspiration I am surrounded with daily. Thankful for Vegas, a small little city that sits in a desert, that has taken my dreams to new levels and allowing me to grow into a real woman. Very thankful to see the sun shining here almost everyday. Thankful for all those little and big moments you can't put into words. Thankful for my family and friends who are always there when I need them and supportive of my dreams and passions. Thankful for all those people that I have met on my journey, that have inspired me and pushed me to keep chasing the dream. Thankful for you, all of you that have been there to support my journey, those who have picked up a piece from my collection along the way, and those I have yet to meet.

Today I wake up and remember that no matter what obstacles come my way, or how uncertain the road may be to keep chasing the dream, and never settle for anything less. I look forward to this new year, with no set resolutions in place, only to keep working hard, travel as much as possible, and surround myself with all the like-minded rebels, lovers, and dreamers out there. Thank YOU.

Xo,

Nicole

Food for the soul: a day in the mountains

Sometimes you just need to surround yourself with good people, in a good place that makes you feel like home. Today was one of those really good days. Being from upstate NY, I do get homesick around the holidays because the weather in Vegas still doesn't feel like home, but I love being able to drive 30 minutes to the Mt. Charleston where the snow is just beginning to stick to the ground. Today was exactly what I needed to bring back those feelings of home. Although I can say after spending the day up there, I definitely don't miss the "cold" weather but do miss that crisp air and smell of December pine.

I spent the day with Brie, Mae, and Micha. Brie, I met when planning for my look book for the Fall collection. She is the one who created all the photo magic from the "Roots" look book. Her work has always inspired me, see more from her site here. Mae, I met exactly a year ago, on a shoot for Dark Beauty. Since then, we've become very close. One of my best friends since being here in Vegas. And lastly, Micha who I just met today who was so fun to shoot with. Between the four of us, we were able to capture and create some magical moments in the mountains. I still can't get over the massive tree fort we stumbled upon on our adventure. It ended up being the center for our shoot today. Below are some outtakes//behind the scenes. We stopped on the way out from our shoot at the lodge to warm up with some hot chocolate and some "are you afraid of the dark" stories/laughs. Love these days!

Market Row

I can't believe it has been a whole year since I've done an event for Nikdreamer. I believe our last one was at West Elm last December and First Friday in December as well. This year went just like that! I was extremely excited to be asked to be a part of Stitch Factory's Market Row holiday event last Thursday evening. It was their first time hosting this event that included local fashion, art, crafts, food, etc. It was the perfect mix of vendors. I had a great time. Thankful for my friends that came out to support and new friends that I met from being there. We all had a blast! Looking forward to doing more events in the near future.

Freedom and the Valley of Fire

In celebration of being self-employed (yes - i am officially free!) I treated myself to a full day adventure in the Valley of Fire with a fellow jeweler friend. It has been a full week now that I left my full time job at Harley-Davidson. Right after the mercury retrograde, I had so much bottled up inside that I knew I needed to change. It was a hard decision to make, one that I thought about for quite some time - if you asked me 10 years ago right after college what my dream job would be, it would have been doing marketing/events for a company such as Harley-Davidson. It has been hard to let that go.. but today my dreams are bigger. This road I'm taking has no maps and is quite scary, but I've never been so ready for this journey.

Yesterday was exactly what I needed to celebrate this freedom. I need adventure, inspiration, and to always be traveling on those roads (and hiking paths) with no maps. I'm going to make a pact to myself, that at least once a month I adventure to a new place I've never been. The adventure yesterday was my first time, and luckily I went with a friend that knew exactly where to go and share the magic. I will say we definitely had our share of unexpected adventuring - especially when we went off-roading and my car sank in the quicksand. Lesson learned in the desert... thankfully a couple saw us and helped get us out and back on the road. So grateful for them, I made sure they didn't leave without a crystal I had in my pocket. I put extra in that day, because I had a feeling I was going to need them. The power of crystals.

For those of you that have never been to the Valley of Fire (which is about an hour outside Las Vegas), I highly suggest putting this on a top visit in the Southwest. To be honest, I enjoyed it more than Red Rock Canyon. At some points on our hike, I felt like I was on another planet, the extensive erosion was so amazing photos don't even really capture it's beauty. Here's a peek inside the Valley.

7 simple things

I know this has been my worst year yet keeping the blog updated. I cannot believe the summer officially ends today and tomorrow begins the first day of fall. I couldn't be more excited, my favorite season of all. It's like everything starts over again in the fall. This summer I feel as though I've experienced so much in such a short period of time. My summer started off with a promotion at Harley-Davidson to marketing and social media manager, which has required at lot more time and attention than my previous position. So to say the very least, it has been keeping my plate quite full {hence the lack of blog love}.  To keep sane I still always check in every week and think of all those simple lil moments that make me happy. Here's to seven that just happened in this last week.

{private trunk show parties on sunday}

[coffee and cake with these two}

{passing my motorcycle road test, officially licensed to ride}

{When creative friends from the other side of the world collaborate and design you gifts of love, forever grateful. Check out more of Jacquie from Bird Black's work on etsy https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/BirdBlackEmporium}

{Gifted with a special edit from the Roots Lookbook by Brie Seavey, http://www.soulsynergyimagery.com/}

{fresh cut flowers on friday}

 {lil paws while i'm working}

photo diary: SF

I enjoyed spending labor day weekend in one of my favorite cities, San Francisco. I have been to SF a couple times before and every time I seem to fall more in love with this city.  Here's a little photo diary of  our weekend in San Francisco. 

 the first night we stayed at a Hotel Triton that was in Union Square, and walked right in to chinatown after a morning café

 Ferry plaza farmers market

  The Painted Ladies

 sunsets and windy evenings  - felt like fall <3 - in alamo square park

City streets like this. i really loved this neighborhood, we spent two nights at an apartment off Hayes St.

 dinner at bar crudo, then adventured to the mission for the rest of the evening for drinks and 2am tacos

one of my favorite moments, getting lost on the walk to the bike rental shop and wandering right in to this, Presidio Park

bike adventures over the bridge to Sausalito

last photo stop before we crossed the golden gate.

 visiting Kate and Nick (and baby Louie's) new home in Sausalito

 when in the bay, seafood all day

 Salito's Crab house

 bakeries and cafes off Fillmore street

 the magical gardens aka japanese tea garden

  SF adventures with miss hovland

 last stop before my flight smugglers cove