related to the former

shoes as actual art. No, seriously. Go check it out. Gorgeousness.

more thrifted treasures

Vintage napkins and a piece of fabric that coordinate rather strangely. Maybe a tote bag?


Lovely hat with a bit of net attached. I'm a sucker for the bit of net.

mad mad love

I've just discovered the photostream of violaceous daisy, and I'm completely enthralled. Looking at them, I feel as though I've wandered into a fairytale.

shoes as art, part two

Inspired by my earlier efforts, we decided to use my sister's shoe collection to decorate her dressing room. (Yes, she has a room just for clothes. But so do my husband and I, so it might be a family obsession.) Accordingly, today I went down to her house and took photos of some of my favorites of her shoes. These are the result.

perfect for a summer cookout

Lemon cupcakes with cream cheese lemon frosting.
I'll post the recipe later, I promise.

a handful of goodness

Sharp Lily shares her favorite shopping service, which I've since signed up for and am loving.
Billy Idol finger puppet. Total genius.
Totes from vintage fabric samples. Love these, and especially her fabric combos.
via bluelines: completely adorable plastic rings.

Ok, that's not much, but I'm procrastinating here, and there are a million things to be done. So...I'm off!

I'm back!

Wooooo! Online access is now mine! You can't imagine how lovely I think this is; hence the exclamation marks. I don't have time type much right now; I'm supposed to be sketching design layouts for le sister and getting ready to go out for sushi. I also might try to talk the husband into taking me to see "No Reservations;" I'll let you know how it is.
Oh! I think I've convinced most of the family to run a 5K together. It should be interesting.

having covet issues

The new urban outfitters catalog came yesterday. I wasn't impressed with a lot of the clothes, but the shoes??? Le sigh.

oh, right

I forgot to mention: for about a week there, I had green hair.

still busy, but I'm making good use of my time

Did a photoshoot with my sister-in-law while she was out here; she wore my wedding, and I'm absolutely thrilled with the results. That's my favorite photo below; if you click it, you can get to the rest of the images. (Isn't she absolutely gorgeous? She claims she's "not photogenic." To which I reply: pish posh.)

and so life continues

We're here now. Strangely, it doesn't quite feel like home, not yet. It's still "that place that I lived for most of my life but haven't been for a while." It's weird how that works. We're still in the midst of unloading--forget unpacking. We're camping in the old family farmhouse until we find a place of our own, and so I want to unpack as little as humanly possible.
Have I mentioned that my husband and I have a *lot* of clothes? 5 55-gallon trash bags full, to be precise. It's slightly embarrassing.
We have no internet access at the house yet, so bear with me. I'll be back before too long, I hope. In the meantime, you'll find me at the beach.
This week of sleeping in and generally relaxing has been fabulous for both of us--le husband's mono is gone, we think, and I haven't felt this rested in months. Of course, this is the closest thing we'll get to a vacation this year, so we're making the most of it.

sneak peek

Our internet hasn't been turned off! So anywhere, here are a few of the photos from the wedding we yesterday; I've barely touched most of them, but the bride wanted to send a few to a relative stationed in Iraq, so I gladly complied. And you all get to reap the benefits. Click on the picture if you need an explantion.

the last photo shoot in front of my beautiful blue walls

*sniffle*

shoes as art

I completely plan on using these on the walls wherever we end up.

how to clean out the fridge painlessly

This is the world's easiest cobbler.

Preheat oven to 350. Melt 1/2 c butter (in the baking pan if it's metal, otherwise on the stovetop) and pour into baking pan. Mix together 1 c flour, 1 c sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1 cup milk. Pour on top of melted butter. Sprinkle fruit on top. Don't stir! Bake for 45-50 minutes until done in the middle.

That's it. Seriously. This particular one has black raspberries that were a little too dry to eat, and the remainder of a bag of frozen peaches. Delicious, especially with ice cream or whipped cream.

sharing the love

Posting for the next few days will be sporadic, at best. Tomorrow we're packing like crazy, and on Saturday the cable internet is disconnected, so don't expect to hear from me before Tuesday or so, when we'll be out there. But I had to share: Smart Bargain is having a 3 pairs of shoes for $99 sale until tomorrow. Might be worth checking out, ladies.

a huge thank you

Remember my second cousin who was a finalist in the duct tape contest? Well, he won! In his own words:

About 10 am my mother answered the phone. While I am in the middle of a peaceful shower I hear banging, clawing, barking and a high shrilled screamed... I had no choice but to take the phone call in the shower, stark naked no less and with my mother less than a foot away.... Once again I thank everyone who voted, spread the word, or just prayed because only God knows thats why we won.

They won scholarship money plus the $9000 grand prize. Thanks so much, everyone! (Also, here's an older story that has a couple of interesting bits. They had to ride standing up in the back of a pickup to get to the prom!)

what I'm going to buy as soon as I'm off this shopping ban

Yellow tights! Finally! I've been looking for these for a year. And it just so happens that they come in a set of three, with red and blue. For $15? I am so in.

I'm not going to buy these, but I thought I'd share the cuteness. Le sister and I had a discussion this morning about cheap shoes. I used to be a total shoe snob and refused to wear any shoe made out of man-made materials, but then I figured out that as long as a shoe doesn't look cheap, no one can tell the difference. So, while I still won't wear fake leather shoes (they always have that horrid, plasticy sheen) in the summer I go to town. All those fabric shoes? No one can tell by looking at them if they came from Target or are the real Louboutins. So I'm totally paying Target prices. Anyway, on to the shoes. As usual, click on the images for more information.

Polka dot wedges, $14.99.
Not exactly my favorite pair, but they're polka-dotted!

Candy Striper Wedges, $19.99
Ok, these are completely adorable. They might work to replace my red cherry wedges, which are currently dying by inches.


Pink lady wedges, $19.99
Not entirely sure about these, but they are nice and tall. Also, I can see them being very cute with a white outfit + rosy pink makeup.

covet

these boots
these chairs
this poster
this moped

and a good baby shower idea.

might even make washing dishes fun?

Brightly colored, handmade, linen dish towels. I want.
via funky finds

ramblings

So apparently when you are packing to move 500 miles, several things get left by the wayside. Things like:

• cleaning
• cooking
• blogging
• taking pictures (that aren't paid, I mean)
• mowing the lawn

Things that, so far, haven't been dismissed, but could be at any moment:

• personal hygiene
• eating
• sleeping
• buying shoes (shamed face)
• changing hair colors (I'm no longer pale blond. It's gotten much darker and much more boring.)

So, dear readers, don't expect too much of me. I'm rather consumed with this monstrous project.

Is it totally shallow that I have already planned the perfect outfit for "last sunday in this church"? In my defense, I've packed all my clothes except for what I need for this week, so I kind of had to.

in a barbie world

or, my first foray into street photography.



I saw this young lady at the fireworks on Friday night, and after admiring her outfit for quite some time, finally gained the courage to go over and ask to take a picture. She was chatting with friends while sitting on their blanket, which is why she's not wearing any shoes, so I haven't the faintest idea of what she was wearing on her feet.
Anyway, I love how her outfit is completely pulled-together looking while being comfy. I was especially impressed with the belting, because she's, um, well-endowed, and, while I belt things all the time, I'm so NOT! If she had worn her belt at the waist (what I normally do) it would have been less-than-flattering, but she moved the belt down a little and it helped define her curves and look completely feminine. Go Barbie!

apparently this is the year of the hair

because I keep changing mine the way some people change their men.

It's not the right shade yet, but I'm working on it.

beautifulness to last you through the weekend

• gorgeous rooms (I love the books!)
• cutie booties (that's a pdf link to the actual pattern)
• insanely awesome bathroom. (sock monkeys!)
• wow. one quilt per week for years. That's incredible.
• little felty houses! These look like they hopped out of the pages of a storybook.
• and just in case you get bored: creatively named mixed drinks. Blueberry pancake, anyone?

hooray for midweek holidays

I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't take a single picture yesterday; I just didn't feel like it. I also didn't take any pictures of our last-ever "girls night." See, my sisters-in-law, having been raised in a houseful of boys, are entirely familiar with the action movie genre, but when it comes to movies for teen girls, are very clueless. So every so often, I have them over for a night and we watch cheesy teen movies ("Save the Last Dance" is a favorite), eat junk food, paint our toenails, go shopping, and generally terrorize my husband.
Well, since Tuesday night was going to be the last one, we had to make it extra awesome. We made a wal-mart run for junk food and sour patch kids, drank too much coffee, went to Waffle House at 2:30 in the morning (something I've always wanted to do), and stayed up until 5:00. (I usually only make it until 3, so they wanted to see if I could last all night.) Then we got up at 9 and made banana pudding and went shopping. (The thrift store was having a sale!)
So, I, um, didn't watch any fireworks last night. I was too busy being exhausted next to my poor husband, who has been sick since Friday.
Here's hoping you all had lovely holidays!

two addictive ways to spend time

how many presidents can you name in 10 minutes? (Without googling! Duh!) I am very ashamed to admit I got 15. Fifteen!!!! I am so brushing up on american history. I knew a lot of the founding fathers, but Abraham Lincoln was in a sea of blank spaces. Lame, eh?
edited to add: I think I'm going to retake this in a couple of days when I'm not suffering sleep deprivation. I forgot people like Kennedy and Eisenhower, so I think (actually, I know) that maybe I'm not thinking very clearly right now.

How "clean" is your life? My sister says this sounds like a vanilla life; I say it sounds like a good way to clean stress out of your. My score is 54; There are certainly some that I need to work on and this was a good reminder.

I think this one might end up framed on the wall

ebay finds under $10, the vintage shoe edition

Or, cute stuff I shall share only because it either doesn't fit my foot or my budget. Click pictures to go to the auction.
Totally adorable, are they not? Love the minimal look. Size 8.

Sexy strappy slingbacks in gray leather = lovely gorgeousness. Size nine.

These are tiny (size 5 1/2) but so adorable! I want them to fit on my giant boat feet!

Sleek, simple flats in leather, size 10. This seller has several other pairs (including some peach Pappgallos) that are also quite tempting.

They're Delmans. And they're purple. Unfortunately, they're also size 7, so please, someone, take advantage of their lovely quirkiness.

have I mentioned that I'm cheap?

As in, I shudder at paying $5 for a tshirt. (Seriously.) But when I saw these adorable little lamps for $4 each at cb2, well, I was sold. They're battery operated, too, which makes them that much easier to use. I think I feel a cookout coming on. Click pictures for more information.


images from cb2

like rock stars

When we're bored, we take pictures.

Now I'm convinced that everyone should have a big armchair in the backyard; it's an awesome prop for posing.

a rather productive weekend

I'm participating in a polka-dots themed swap this month, so one of the items in my package was this pencil case. I did a kind of random piecing job, and then quilted outlines. The zipper is a vintage one handed down from my grandmother's stash. I was happy with how it came out.




This is an apron I made to go in my mum's birthday package. I picked up the fabric on clearance at Joann's, and was loath to part with all those little birdies. But I know mum will love it despite my less-than-professional finishing job (bias binding and I were not having a good day). The pattern is my much loved "1 yard apron" that I got from sewmamasew.

I started a dress yesterday, and I'm hoping to wear it on Saturday to the family get-together. I think the fact that I'm starting a project with only two weeks to go before I move is a sign that I should be seriously concerned about my mental health? (But it's going to be very cute. All stripey and halter-necked.)