Jess Lively

In the journey to makeunder and design a life with intention, there needs to be intrinsic motivation to create change. Once that internal urge is secured, the next step is to find ways to capture that gut feeling. Just putting the intention into words or images makes the likelihood of success more probable. Throughout my [...]

My End of the Week Exfoliation this week is a pitcher that used to hold my kitchen utensils. Last weekend I went flea market shopping and found a pitcher that fit my current style better than this one. I reasoned that as long as I exfoliated my existing pitcher (above), I could buy the new [...]

Here are the Makeunder and Intention topics from the last two months, easy to browse, review, and catch up on all the action. Intentional Obessions: all things lovely and (eventually) mine A nice hunk’a watch A bike made of gold White marble… anything End of the Week Exfoliation: all things lovely and (no longer) mine [...]

Welcome to a new interview series, DESIGN YOUR LIFE. In the months ahead I will be asking people of all walks of life what their intentions are, and how they design their life to fulfill those goals. Because when you think about it, everyone is a designer of their life, and we might all be [...]

Big news! Busy bees have been buzzing around our jewelry studio the last few weeks getting ready to launch a new sister line for Jess LC, Studio 1423. We named the line Studio 1423 because it’s our actual studio number and it sounds like a cool name for a jewelry collection. Don’t you think? our [...]

Attention: This week’s Dressing Charlotte actually breaks my own accessory rule. Previously, I have advised women to avoid wearing necklaces with turtlenecks entirely. But if you have seen me around much this winter, you know I have been breaking this rule about four times a month. Horrid! Here is the revised rule for 2009: Don’t [...]

This weekend I spoke with a friend about how my vegan cleanse fit under the makeunder umbrella. My friend didn’t understand how eating vegan was actually making under, since it was more expensive, made eating out difficult, and made cooking more complicated. And I admit, she was right on all three accounts. It was challenging [...]

My new Intentional Obsession is an oversize watch. Currently, I don’t wear a watch and substitute my cell phone as a timepiece. But with summer approaching, I am thinking of a watch as more a piece of jewelry or standout accessory than a functional object. Function follows form, if you will. I have narrowed down [...]

Welcome to my cooking class part three. For this installment I chose to pair the Pan Seared Filet of Beef with the Truffle Potato Puree- known to laymen as steak and mashed potatoes. Both recipes are delicious, but I would put my flexitarian money on the steak, if forced to choose between the two. See [...]

This week’s Post Its are a bit eclectic, just they way they should be. Enjoy! A Link Love post I made for Dolan Geiman’s blog which reveals my inspiration for the next Jess LC collection. Because of this before and after I am going thrift shopping this weekend. The new recycled wine glasses I am [...]

This week’s exfoliation was both obvious and a bit tricky. It is obvious that I should pass on this camera to someone who could use it because I have gotten a new, better camera. Since I only use one camera, I only need one camera. Duh. But then this little voice in the back of [...]

This installment of the cooking class features two of the side dishes we prepared. The first is Haricot Vert (the French name for green beans) with toasted almonds. The second dish is a Prosciutto Carpaccio and Arugula salad. Both take just minutes!Haricot Vert(2 servings) Ingredients: - 8oz Haricot Vert (French green beans), trimmed- 1 tbs. [...]

Anne at City Sage has just posted a great interview I did for her blog regarding Jess LC. Check out how I design collections, and how the line has evolved since I was 15-years-old.

This week’s Dressing Charlotte is a look I created for myself using my Grandma’s vintage silk scarves. When she passed away, I inherited a handful of these great accessories. I am not sure how often she wore them, or what era they are from (1960′s or 1970′s?). But the same look can be achieved with [...]

Sometimes I feel spoiled by all of the awesome Chicago stores and restaurants. So I plan to share my favorite places via a new post sequence called “field trips.” My first stop was to Two Sided at 2958 N. Clark. Though there are more gift shops in Chicago than Barack Obama posters, Two Sided definitely [...]

This week’s Treat of the Week actually came last Saturday and was devoured by the next night. Erwin brought home a great fruit bouquet with chocolate covered strawberries and apples from Edible Arrangements. It was delicious and pseudo-nutritious. Flowers and chocolates… guess he figured he’d kill two birds with one stone. And what a tasty [...]

Of all the recipes from the Valentines Day cooking class, this appetizer was my favorite dish of the night- and it is also the first one that I will make again! It is so tasty and is a perfect appetizer for a dinner party. The final product looks complicated but really it couldn’t be easier. [...]

After listening a good long while to customers at jewelry shows last fall we realized at Jess LC that we were missing a very important accessory in our line: bracelets. Believe it or not, before yesterday we only had one bracelet in the entire Chicago collection. So the new Addison Collection is long overdue. Below [...]

Check out the Jess LC spotlight on Bloomacious.com.

The romantic candlelit setting. I return back to the jewelry studio tired but with a smile on my face from all the fun I had this weekend. My boyfriend, Erwin, is very thoughtful and romantic- which means Valentine’s Day at our “house” (really, it’s more of a tiny studio than a house) is always an [...]

As you can imagine with this year’s economy, many people have asked me how Jess LC is fairing. I understand their concern and I can say, that thanks to all of you, our online sales have seen an incredible increase! INCREDIBLE!If you told me last August what kind of traffic and response we would get [...]

Welcome to a new end of the week segment, Post Its.* My intention is to make my last entry each week a compilation of posts worth a virtual Post-It-Note, across many different blogs. Get your creative hat on. The coolest chalkboard art. Ever. Cheerful photographs. Cookies with charm. Super cool + cheap Valentine’s Day project. [...]

Exfoliating objects from one’s life is like exfoliating one’s face. The process is not as pretty as the results. Today is no exception. This water bottle is ugly, cheap, unused, and has sat in my cabinet for over a year now. Why I have allowed it to remain amongst my belongings for this long remains [...]

Treat of the week: another feature which will post weekly, or as often as my photo taking diligence allows. Since my infamous Quantum Wellness Cleanse, I have decided to continue treating myself to decadent desserts once a week. Here is what my friend Kaitlyn and I dined on last night at Molly’s Cupcakes, at 2536 [...]

In the depths of January I mentioned that I desperately wanted the Gary Fisher Simple City bicycle. Since that post, two events have occurred. The first fleeting interaction I had with an actual Simple City bike was through the Johnny Sprockets window, “conveniently” on my daily path to ship FedEx orders. The Simple City bicycle [...]

Reading Jill’s entry on her blog, The Good Life for Less, is like a giant hug on this cold, rainy, dark Chicago afternoon. Check out her feature on the Jess LC Lucky In Bed necklace and MakeunderMyLife! Thanks, Jill. Good thing it was a cyber hug, I wouldn’t want my soaking jacket to get you [...]

What a cool British design company! More of their prints can be found on the Bold & Noble website. Definitely worth checking out.[Bold& Noble found via Poppytalk, images from Bold&Noble]

Any questions?

Meet Charlotte. She’s the newest member of the Jess LC team. She’s blonde. She’s skinny. She doesn’t say much. But boy does she sure look cute wearing my clothes. As a jewelry designer, people often ask me what jewelry I like to personally wear. My hope is to use this new recurring segment, Dressing Charlotte, [...]

So now that I am back to being flexitarian* I have decided to continue a few of the habits I formed while on the cleanse. Here is a quick run down of my new intentions: Regarding meat and dairy I actually didn’t mind going without dairy as much as I thought I would, so I [...]