Winners!

It was so fun reading about every ones favorite comfort foods.  I chose two winners at random and they are: Beki who said "my favorite comfort food overall is mahed potatoes made in the butteriest, creamiest way possible. As far as sweets go, I' d say cinnamon things made from leftover pie dough." and Rebecca M (I knew her as Becca back in the day) "hands down mac&cheese. or maybe cheesy potatoes... butter, cheese, and carbs- you can't go wrong!" Oh yum I agree with both (and I thought the fact that the two winners names were forms of Rebecca was sort of funny). congratulations you two I hope it will bring cheer to your kitchens. Send me a message with your mailing info and I will get them to you as soon as possible.

So here's a question for all of you lovely blog readers. Michigan is strange, it's freezing cold one day and HOT the next (sometimes even the same day) especially this time of year. I want to be able to wear my hand made dresses as long as possible because I worked hard on them and they're cute. The question is: does this work?

 This is the birthday dress paired with a
hand-me-down jean jacket from my Aunt.
I've had the jacket for years and LOVE it.
Was so happy to fit into it again after
Conner was born.

This is the other dress I made this summer
Same jacket. I think the Jacket looks better with this dress.

Now that fall is here I could also wear a pair
of red heals with this dress (I have
a pair with a flower on it even) instead
of sandals.

So what do you think. Does the jacket work at all? Is one dress yes and another no, or do they both look cute? Would different shoes make it translate into autumn better, or am I just totally off base? I need your help readers because I love to sew and I love to thrift but sometimes I need help looking stylish.

Give-A-Way!

Autumn is now upon us. Where did summer actually go? I'm sitting here drinking coffee wearing a sweater of all things. I didn't get to go back to Lake Michigan like I had planned and have barely been to the zoo.  It just seems like there is too much to do in summer and it is as hard to grasp as pool water.

Gertrude is modeling these for us. I wish the apron
were a skirt b/c that is a super cute outfit.
Sweater is a thrifted Ann Taylor.

The only thing to be done is embrace fall. I do love fall, the smell and crispness in the air, the taste of tart apples, the way the light is all golden, even the sound of leaves skittering across the drive.  And what is the best thing about colder weather? Comfort food that's what!

I love that the shirt pocket get's used on the apron.

I hate cooking in the summer but as cooler weather approaches I find myself wanting to make and eat hot soups, roast beef, cookies, home made bread, cookies and more cookies.  So, to continue to celebrate the Second Time Challenge and as a symbolic gesture that I'm accepting the changing season I made these two aprons to give to two lucky readers.  They're made from mens dress shirts (I bought one at a garage sale and one at Good Will, how thrifty is that?) and were super fun and easy to make. All you have to do to win is leave a comment (on this blog) telling me what your favorite comfort food to make and or eat is.  Let's get inspired to spend some time in the kitchen, and you may end up with a cute apron to make it even more fun! The contest will run through Monday, just leave a comment, and if you sign in as a guest (so you don't have to have account) be sure to leave your name.  Good luck!

My favorite thing to cook is soup btw, I love to chop it and drop it. To get you started cooking this is a recipe for the best bean soup ever!

Here is a picture of it on a person. Oh and that's a "new" sweater
I'm going to get a lot of wearing in.

This is the other apron it's got pin tucks.  Gertrude is getting out the tea pot, she's so thoughtful that way.

My Annual Fair Round Up.

SuperH took this and it's pretty good! I'm in front of the local dairy stand.

I made this shirt. I like how it turned out. It's the free Sorbetto
pattern from Colette patterns. It was really easy if your looking
to learn this would be a good one to start on.
Oh, the buttons are vintage!

If you've been reading this blog for a while you know I love the fair. In fact, it's the fair that got me back into blogging after my long hiatus when Conner was born. We go every year with my parents in celebration of Hunter's birthday and it's just such a golden time.

baby cows!

Cute!

Because we never know for sure when my parents will be visiting we just go to the closest fair that is going while they're here. This year that was the Allegan County Fair. We've never been to this one and while it wasn't as clean as the Centerville Fair it was really nice and had some interesting features.  What it didn't have was a spot for classic tractors. That was really disappointing as I like to get a yearly picture of my dad and the boys in front of an Alice Chalmers.  Why have a fair with out old tractors?

Any way, they did have a section of the fair devoted to old buildings that are permanent structures there. It was like a mini Green Field Village and it was fabulous. Of course I loved it, seeing those buildings all decorated. There were two homes (one was a log cabin) a doctors office, a one room school, an old church and even an old merry-go-round the kids could play on.

The church was cool. I don't want to hear any one complaining about being uncomfortable in a modern church! This building was all about function. SuperH got up in front and we sat in the very wooden, hard pews and listened to his first sermon, which consisted of the hymn "pop goes the weasel" a prayer for an "old lady whose house burned down. Let's pray for her and give her money" and then the blessing and dismal to go eat "ice cream for a snack".  It was very moving.

This could have been our life 100 years ago.

 


This year my sister Heather also went with us and it was just so fun. And it was the first year the boys went on rides. Conster is such a serious rider! Hunter is in his element imagining something as soon as the ride goes. We ate way way too much, saw so many cute animals (Conster's favorites were the horses) fed a camel, saw great quilts and spent much needed quality time together. That's what the fair is really about; community and family.

Indeed they are loony.

Strike a pose.

This is what happens after a day at the fair (before we even got out of the parking lot).

Check back tomorrow for a chance to enter another give-a-way! 

And now, more cute animals.

He's my animal.

Gives new meaning to the species being called "hare".

"Help, my ears are so big it's trailing in the water!"

Why is this guy sitting in his water dish? So the other's can't use it?

I love donkeys so much!

This guy is definitely a rock-n-roll chicken with a british accent.

An Outdoor Wedding and Hats.

Dress: $30 Double Exposure

Hat: $5 Jill's Addictions

Purse: $5 Jill's Addictions

Shoes: ? Antique store in MD.

Pearls: Birthday gift from My sister Courtney.

One of my cousins got married this weekend which meant I got to go on a date dressed to the nines with my husband and see my mom, dad and sister. Yea!!! The wedding was beautiful. It was outdoors in front of this rambling river with amazing gardens and such lush green grass. It did rain but the rain just sort of added to the magic of the moment, I thought.  I totally didn't get any good pictures of the bride, which is a shame because she looked amazing and who doesn't want to see a picture of a bride?

I did get plenty of pictures of my outfit though! I bought this dress a while ago at Double Exposure Consignment shop. It's a London Times brand and when I looked on line the dresses new were over $100 so I'd say I got a good deal at $30.  I love the sixties silhouette. My sister Heather and I also decided to wear vintage hats, which looked so cute and turned out great because of the rain! My neighbor came over and curled my hair for me. It looked so pretty. I felt so feminine! 

These shoes are totally vintage, I bought them at an antiques shop in MD and then forced my feet to fit in them. I LOVE them. They are so cute (hard to see in the pic I know) and look like they're from the 1940's. The heal is just enough to look lady-like but small enough to be comfortable.

Heather looks cute no matter what. But don't you just love her plaid dress?

My cousin Kenton (who looks painfully young in my wedding photos, which makes me feel OLD) and his fiancé Chelsea (they just got engaged) so I'll get to put together a fabulous ensemble for their wedding, I'm assuming in a year or so.

My husband is so attractive. If  you can swing it to marry a guy who not only fits you perfectly and is so great but also looks like this then you are a lucky girl indeed! He even wore a suit so we'd "go together" isn't that sweet?

This is one of my favorite pics of us together ever.

As was suggested by several people after my last post, I've been playing around with a bit more editing and I thought this picture looked good "antiqued". I will say the photos do look better, who knew? Well, you all knew thanks for sharing such good tips!

Close up of the purse. It's vintage. My dad bought it for me from Jill's Addictions for $5! That is a crazy good deal. And it's perfect for the dress and small so it's fancier but big enough to hold essentials and my camera!

Close up of the shoe.

What I Wore, Sort of.

Shirt: Good Will
Skirt: Good Will, Talbots brand $3
Bracelet: My charm bracelet.
I think I wore this to youth group.

A close up of the Talbots skirt (what a great find) and the bracelet.
I got the bracelet when I was a young teen and I love that the charms show
all these things that were important to me at different times in my youth
(horse and horseshoe, Hello ten year old me). I also love the sound it makes "tinkle tinkle"

So far I'm loving this clothing challenge. I'm having fun exploring new consignment shops and I'm actually having fun putting outfits together.  However, I've noticed a strange phenomenon. When I look in the mirror I think "All right that looks pretty cute." but if someone takes a picture of me it's like a totally different person is now in the photo or inhabiting my body.  It's super weird. I am going to call it the Dork Principal.

The dork principal works the same way the vampire principal works. If your wondering if someone is a vampire you hold a mirror up to them or take their picture and they won't show up. In the same way, if your wondering if someone is a dork take their picture and their true identity will be revealed. In my case I can go a pretty long time with out revealing my nerd (my sister says, "your nerd is showing.") I just have to remind myself not to make too many Battle Star Galactica or Fire Fly references.  So I put on a really cute outfit strut around pretending I know what I'm doing and some people are fooled.

Pull out a camera, however, and my real identity is revealed. I was at my writers group this weekend and I brought along my camera because I was wearing a super cute outfit. A "new" sweater which is short sleeved and perfect for this in-between weather and it looks sort of like it's from the 1930's (I could totally see this sweater at a sepia toned football game). And a skirt which was also thrifted and flattering. I'm serious I got some nice compliments at church. So, I'm thinking I'll get a few photos of me in the really neat coffee shop looking all deep and authorish, but as soon as they pull out the camera I can't remember how to stand properly, and my arms feel like robot arms (what are you suppose to do with your arms in a photo?) and my smiles are too goofy but my deep introspective face looks like I just passed gas. I feel like the photo reveals my true identity; a slouchy nerdy girl. It even reveals a comic book thought bubble that says, "If only Captain Adama were my father!"

These are author photos of my friend Susie.
See how her expressions says,"I have so
many deep and amazing ideas I don't have
time to brush my hair." but still looks
mysterious and sexy?

When Susie get's famous I'm going to go
to one of her book signings and readings
and say really smugly to the person sitting
next to me, "I know her, we're friends."
If your interested in her writing's check out
her site.

All that to say that I feel like these photos aren't doing justice to the really nice clothing I'm getting second hand. I'm no model that's for sure and my camera is old and been dropped on it's head numerous times. But I'm still having fun and I hope you can see through my wonky photos and get a glimpse of how fun this thrifting is. Also, if you have any suggestions for posing or cameras or anything I'll take them!

Now these photos show you that I am a horrible fake laugher.
And the top photo really showcases my glasses and out of sorts hair
that was totally looking good before the camera came out.
These are the best of the photos taken FYI.

This one is all right.
Sweater: Thrifted from 360 in Kzoo $9?
Skirt: Thrifted from Double Exposure in Kzoo
Lace Camisole: hand-me down from my mom, altered by me.
Pearls: Gift from my sister.
Worn to Church and my Writer's group in Grand Rapids.