Nightly walk through Ann Arbor and a quick visit to the stadium of the University of Michigan. This is the biggest stadium in the US and the third largest in the whole world (107,601 capacity)🤯
I had no idea homemade beef summer sausage was this easy — and so much better.
This woman shows how to make it with just 7 ingredients and less than 5 minutes of prep. No preservatives, no fillers, and no curing agents. You just mix, form into logs, refrigerate for 24 hours, then bake.
For comparison, most store-bought summer sausages contain 12–20+ ingredients, including preservatives and additives for shelf stability.
Once you see how simple this is, you might not want to go back to the store-bought version.
Would you ever try making summer sausage at home?
17.
That’s how many Whatnot shows it took before I made my very first sale today. 🎉
17 shows of talking to virtually empty rooms.
17 shows of showing up anyway.
17 shows of wondering if anyone would ever trust me as a new luxury live seller.
The reality is that new luxury live sellers don’t have the luxury (no pun intended 🤪) for $1 starts, massive giveaways, or crazy low start auctions.
What I do have? Intense determination, sheer grit, and a willingness to keep showing up when the results aren’t immediate.
The vast majority of new luxury live sellers quit before the breakthrough.
I still have a massive mountain to climb to get “big”, but MAN does this small victory give me fuel 😌
Keep going guys. Always keep going.
Welcome to this week’s “Save Your Money Monday”, where I use my luxury reseller expertise to de-influence you from the most overhyped, overpriced designer bags.
X, meet today's victim: the Louis Vuitton Capucines MM.
In 2013, Louis Vuitton launched the Capucines with one goal: lure in the Hermès Kelly customer.
The brand wanted to win back affluent buyers who had grown tired of LV’s logo-heavy era and were gravitating toward structured, understated luxury. Enter the Capucines, a sophisticated, ladylike handbag with a premium price tag.
Spoiler alert: it was an epic fail.
Features include:
• Resale value is brutal. The majority of these bags lose 50%-75% (‼️) of their retail value on the secondary market, even in excellent pre-loved condition.
• The center zip compartment takes up a huge amount of usable space and makes the bag surprisingly impractical to carry even the most basic of necessities.
• It’s heavy and stiff as a board. (Are we sensing a common theme in these Save Your Money Monday bags?!?) The thick Taurillon leather, substantial hardware, and rigid construction make it feel like you’re carrying a brick before you’ve even put anything inside. Don’t skip arm day at the gym if you want this bad boy! 💪🏻
• The top flap is extremely stiff and awkward to use, and repeated opening and closing leaves scratch marks on the LV hardware. In other words, the very flap you need to use to access your belongings damages the bag each time you use it. 🤦🏻♀️
Retail price? $7,950
Resale price? $2K on average 💸
This series exists because too many people buy luxury bags based on hype, celebrity photos, and influencer recommendations without ever handling them in person.
Then reality hits.
The bag doesn't fit their lifestyle, and it ends up with me on the resale market at a paintul loss.
Buy what YOU love, always! But don't say ! didn't warn you.
Love this series? Follow me @avivafashion11 for luxury bag reviews, industry insights, and a behind-the-scenes look at building a luxury resale business in real time.
Before 1492, this land wasn’t “wild.”
It was measured, mapped, and managed.
Fire shaped the forests. Law guided the nations. Trade linked the oceans.
America wasn’t discovered…it was interrupted.
🧵 What the world looked like before Columbus.
Before 1492
America was mathematical, agricultural, diplomatic, and sacred.
After 1492, it was rewritten.
But the soil still remembers.
The mounds still rise.
The languages are returning.
The descendants are still here.
Read their story next time you say “discovery.”
Just a quick note because I’ve seen some confusion between June grass and sargassum. Both can wash up on Gulf Coast beaches, especially this time of year, but they’re not the same thing.
🌿 June grass is a green algae that can be annoying for swimmers because it gets tangled in hair and swimsuits.
🍂 Sargassum is a brown, free-floating seaweed that can wash ashore in large amounts and may create a strong odor as it decomposes.
While they may not be the most enjoyable beach visitors, both play an important role in the coastal ecosystem by providing food and habitat for marine life.
Both are generally safe to touch and swim around, though some people may experience skin or eye irritation from decomposing sargassum.
We don’t know when sargassum conditions will improve, but many local lifeguard pages share daily water condition updates if you’re planning a beach trip