Happy Holidays!

I've had two yummy Christmas dinners and we're about to have a third with the whole Light family. After that: naps, Scrabble and Home Alone all afternoon.

Merry Christmas!

Good Girl

You know that green bag I bought? Well, it turns out that it's a fake. I only own one designer bag so when I got my "Dooney and Bourke" bag in the mail, I wanted to do some research on it. What I found were many differences between my bag and authentic bags. I emailed the seller and she was just as surprised as I was. She's accepting the return and I have learned some valuable lessons:
1. know who you are. As much as I'd like to be, I'm not a designer-handbag girl. I'm a tote-bag girl all the way.
2. research before you buy! I only had to do a little online research to find the differences between what's real and what's fake.
3. don't keep buying things I don't need! I have a closet full of bags. Did I really need another one?

There.
All settled.

Bad Girl

Last week, I bought this Dooney and Bourke leather tote from Becky Drolen's vintage shop on etsy. Though it was an impulse buy (peer pressure!), I am convinced that it's going to become my favorite bag. Check out her shop--Becky has great vintage clothes, bags and accessories at very reasonable prices.

Clare Owen, Illustrator

cats, cats, cats, I love cats

Help Keep Your Elders Warm This Winter

Singer Print.

Black Cat



The Chap.

I'm enjoying these illustrations by UK illustrator, Clare Owen--especially her illustrations of kitties!

Ring

I love these rings by Bernice Kelly. I'm more of a scarf-and-occasionally-a-necklace kind of girl but I could become an every-day ring wearer with one of these.

I'm Back!

I've borrowed my family's laptop so I'll be posting regularly again. Speaking of family, here's a preview of a photo shoot we did for my parent's 30th wedding anniversary (December 7th). My friend Alexis Rittle took the pictures of us goofing off in Mount Gretna, PA. Don't judge me on my jumping skills--I always jumped too early!

Absence

Forgive me for my lack of posting the last couple of weeks. My laptop is broken (I suspect it's a battery issue) so until my computer-whiz of a brother can look at it over Thanksgiving I won't be able to post regularly. The good news is I've been sewing up a storm and crossing many things off my big sewing to-do list. I'm also gearing up to begin my holiday decorating (I made myself wait until after Thanksgiving) and I'll be able to share all of my crafting ideas with you soon!

Ugh

Today I got my second bad haircut in a row. To make things worse, it was even more expensive than my first bad haircut. I'm completely frustrated with my "transition" style. I don't know if I can wait for it to grow out. Maybe I should just chop it all off again.

The best haircut I've ever had was also the cheapest. Late last spring I stopped at a Hair Cuttery in a Walmart stripmall and walked out with the best-looking bangs of my life--for $15 dollars! Now they've been cut too short twice and I can only wait until they grow back.

Anyone have any suggestions for styling transition hair?

Missed Connections

My favorite illustration so far from Sophie Blackall, the illustrator behind Missed Connections.

LOVE

Gardenia bib necklace from Anthropologie (price tag = $198.00). Maybe, if I'm very lucky, a little sister who is good at beading will make this for me.

apiece apart

I am absolutely in love with the Fall/Winter collection from designers Laura Cramer and Starr Hout and their line apiece apart. As a petite girl (5'2") and with a few extra pounds, the silhouettes of apiece apart are perfect for me-- short skirts and tights, touches of metallic fabrics, and solid, dark colors equal a perfect wardrobe for me. I'm going to be taking a lot of inspiration from them this winter.

While I'm discussing future wardrobes, I've decided that the only thing I want for Christmas this year is a great pair of boots. I have wide calves (16.5") which slightly limits the styles I can wear. I'm pretty certain that I want flat boots that hit just below the knee like a riding boot (I liked the boots featured in the November issue of Real Simple) but beyond that, I haven't any specifications--I'm not even sure if I want black or brown. On the bus to NYC this weekend I sat next to a girl wearing the most beautiful dark green boots. I really wanted to ask her where she got them but she was napping with her iPod on and I didn't want to disturb her. Her boots were a little more western than a riding boot, however. If anyone has any suggestions about brands or styles I should look at, please let me know!

Quick Project

This certainly isn't a new idea (I'm sure I've seen it on a dozen or more DIY sites) but it's a nice way to fill up a big blank wall without investing too much money. I'm a big fan of rotating pictures so this couldn't be better for me. I didn't even bother to put up picture hangers--I simply stapled the string to the wall. (I'm lucky to have a landlord who says it's OK).

Goodbye, October!

It'll be another year before the leaves are this color again.

Le Magazine de Mode Enfantine

I'll never be as cool as they are.
(found here).

My Weekend in Pictures

THE BIG LIST OF THINGS TO DO

Inspired by The Workroom, a craft-by-the-hour space I visited while in Toronto this summer, I have decided to make a master list of crafting and sewing projects I'd like to tackle over the next year. While DT is away at graduate school in NYC, I'm going to take my own advice and keep myself busy. Here we go:

• recover the blue and white Ikea chair.
• enter something in the Pennsylvania Farm Show
• make my own grocery bags (I hate going to Weis' with Giant bags).
• make a duvet cover for my green duvet.
• make a quilt for Jackie Dalley.
• copy my favorite J.Crew tote bag.
• make winter wool skirts from leftover thesis fabric.
• make a quilt from the fabric I bought at The Workroom.
• finish DT's penrose tile quilt.
  
• recover my purple desk chair.
  
• paint my bedroom.
• make a padded headboard for my bed.
• learn Shashiko embroidery.
• plan a project for the peacock fabric Alexis brought me from Senegal.

So Lovely

On a good day I can command this kind of casual elegance.

(From one of my favorite blogs, The Sartorialist.)

Bedroom Makeover

My bedroom doesn't feel very cozy. It's a small room (really only big enough for the bed) at the back of my second floor apartment. I like the room because the windows open to the little creek that runs behind my house. In the summertime it was so nice to fall asleep to the sound of the running water. Now that it's colder and I don't want the windows open, I am looking for a way to make the room cozier for the winter. I can change the wall color and the curtains very easily so that's where I'm focusing my search. I've spent the last hour looking at all my favorite design sites to fine color palates that would suit me. I only found the two images above (minus the leaf mural in the second picture).

My bedding is varied--a purple quilt from target, a yellow and white quilt I made two years ago, a lime green duvet from Urban Outfitters--so I'm not sure what to do about the miss-matchy look on my bed. I need all of the blankets for warmth so maybe I'll make a new mustardy-rust colored duvet cover to hide the rainbow underneath. The plaid-shirt pillows should be easy. Perhaps I'll stop by the thrift store tomorrow.

(P.S. I found the images at kelly+olive.)

What Not To Wear

I wanted to do a post about transitioning into my autumn wardrobe (last weekend I put away the short-sleeves and pulled out the sweaters). I did some looking around at my favorite place to shop (but rarely do): anthropologie. I shopped their site and several others and was so dissapointed; everything I saw was UGLY. There were too many ruffles and hideous lace inserts. For example, please see the horrible sweater above. Unless you want to look like you've lost 400 pounds and your skin is dripping off of you, please, don't buy this one! Even the twiggiest twig of a girl would look fat.

I've got a couple of bolts of good, fine English wool in my closet left over from my thesis. It looks like my autumn wardrobe is going to be homemade pencil skirts.

I'm enjoying these organized-by-color collages as my desktop background. I found them here.

Gloomy Saturday

Here are 10 things I'm doing today (or have already done):

1. Going to the fall-off-the-truck market for dented boxes of Quaker Oatmeal Squares.
2. Buying a new shower curtain liner (the old one is beyond icky).
3. Lavishing Penny with love and attention. And treats.
4. Thinking about special surprises to send to a boy away at school.
5. Working on Christmas presents for Robin.
6. Importing cd's into itunes. I recently cleared everything out of my itunes library. Now there's a lot of re-importing to do.
7. Watching one of the six movies I got from the library.
8. Staying warm. It's getting chillier in Limeport. The leaves are beginning to change. Autumn is coming.
9. Making macaroni and cheese from a box.
10. Reading A Prayer for Owen Meany.

Here's a picture I like a lot:


(Found on signs and wonder's flickr photostream here).

Rainbow

I was pleasantly surprised to see this rainbow as I was beginning the evening dishes. It's the second rainbow I've seen in a month. I must be lucky.

Improving the wardrobe

I bought this top at Target because:

1. I liked it.
2. My white blouses always get armpit stains (any ideas about how to get them out? is it my deodorant?) and I am constantly replacing them.
3. I knew it would be easy to pattern.

At the end of my workday, I lifted a pattern from the original blouse; it took me about half an hour. When I got home, I cut it out and built my new top in under two hours--I was done by 9pm. Now I have a pretty new top for tomorrow and it didn't cost me a dime!


I didn't have enough of this cotton to make a complete back so I had to do some clever piecing. I did a roll-and-roll hem on the armscyes which turned out a little puckery. Next time I'll do a bias facing.

I can't wait to make more of these!

Praising the French Press

Last night, my friend Ben was praising the superiority of the french press. He's convinced me that I really don't know what good coffee tastes like (I know it's certainly NOT the IKEA coffee that I bought and have been suffering through for the last week). I like this french press travel mug from Target as I take coffee to work with me everyday. I wish I could get this press from Willams-Sonoma but it's a little pricey for me right now. (Christmas present, hint, hint?)

Yosigo

I am really enjoying the photography of Jose Javier Serrano. I stumbled on his work by randomly searching Flickr, one of my favorite ways to spend a spare moment. You can see more of Serrano's work on his website, Yosigo.

In progress: penrose tile quilt

penrose tile quilt begun
Originally uploaded by light_speed

Last night I got this project out of its box and started working on it again. It's gotten so big that it's become difficult to work on. And, of course, Penny likes to eat all the paper diamonds. My goal is to have it done by the end of the year.

Vacation Highlights

After staying with friends in Boston on Friday night (thanks, Danielle and Lindsay!), DT and I drove to Maine to pick up my sister from her job at a summer camp for girls. We couldn't pick her up until Sunday morning so we spent Saturday night in Freeport, Maine, a town whose only claim to fame is being the headquarters of LL Bean. Rather then spending a lot on a hotel room, DT and I camped at the Desert of Maine campground. The desert is a genuine freak-of-nature; about 100 years ago, sand began piling up on what was a fertile farm. Now the entire farm is buried under 20-30 feet of the purest, softest sand I ever touched. As registered campers, DT and I got free admission to the desert.



The LL Bean boot in Freeport, ME.



As thanks for picking her up from camp, Becca treated us to a lobster lunch in Naples, ME.





We arrived at the vacation house in the Adirondacks on Sunday night. With 15 people in the house, getting groups of hikers, kayakers, birdwatchers and painters out the door every morning was insane. But the kayaking was great and we had the best view of the meteor shower on Tuesday night.



On Wednesday, DT and I went to Montreal for the day. It was scorching hot, even in Montreal. I was glad when we finally had lunch at this cafe. I loved the salad I got--black rice (dyed with squid ink?), asparagus, tomato, mint and vinaigrette dressing--and the lemonade was tart, just the way I like it.



Because I'm a nervous passenger, I did most of the driving.



The highlight of the trip for DT was stopping at Sticky Lips BBQ in Rochester, NY. We sat on the outdoor deck until the yellow jackets became too bothersome (Becca is allergic) and we moved inside.




In Buffalo we stayed with Joyce, one of DT's professors from Temple. She took us on an architecture tour of Buffalo. We saw lots of buildings but my favorite was the one that wasn't there; Frank Lloyd Wright's Larkin Administration Building was demolished in 1950 and all that remains is this parking lot and a retaining wall. The demolition of the Larkin Building is considered to be one of the saddest moments in American architectural history.




We took a day trip to Toronto for more architectural sight-seeing. While DT looked at buildings, Becca and I walked a long, long way from center city to visit The Workroom, a shop I've been admiring for a long time. I bought some fabric to make new pillowcases. I spent more than I should have, but their selection of designer cotton fabrics is fantastic. I can't get anything like it in Limeport. You can follow their blog, make something, here. (The above picture was of some beautiful dresses in a boutique window on Queen Street West.)



We spent a lot of time in the car. Becca finished a cross-stitch project she had started 10 years ago.



After Buffalo, Becca, DT and I drove to western PA to see FL Wright's Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob. Doesn't it look like DT and I are in front of a fake Fallingwater?



We spent the last day of the vacation road-trip at Knobles Amusement Park in central PA. I loved that it's a pay-per-ride park that encourages you to bring your own lunch (unlike Hersheypark that charges a $60 admission fee AND $6 for a bottled water). The Twister roller coaster was hands-down the best roller coaster I've ever been on.

Now it's back to reality--school starts on Monday and DT will be moving to NYC soon. Time to start finishing all of the projects I've abandoned this summer.