A Fashionable 4th

Week of June 28 through July 4

To celebrate the 4th of July, I decided to make myself a new dress. That sounds like me, right? The prospect of three whole days over the holiday weekend, completely free for sewing to my heart's content, seduced my right-brain into a thread-induced euphoria of possibilities. Unfortunately, my right-brain has little to no concept of time, and all my big plans for the weekend were distilled into frantic, midnight hem-finishing.

I've made this dress before. This time, though, I made a few alterations. From my previous experience, I knew that I didn't need to build any additional ease into the pattern in order for it to fit. I also knew that the instructions called for a very meager hem, and even still the skirt was a little too short for my liking. So, I added six inches to the dress to allow a generous two-inch hem at my knee. In consideration of the heat-wave currently plaguing the great state of Texas, I opted this time for the sleeveless version of this dress.


I cut the dress out one afternoon on a whim, then put it in my "to-sew" basket for a later date. I am emotionally incapable of cutting out and sewing a project in the same day. The Crazy requires that I cut out every piece precisely, and that level of OCD insanity leaves me tired of looking at scissors and fabric. With the freedom of a long weekend in front of me, I decided to tackle this fully lined project, and managed to finish everything but the hem in one afternoon. Determined not to let this dress be delegated to the ironing-board-of-hem-ridicule (as my previous attempt was), I decided to take the unfinished garment with me to The Parents' house when we left for the weekend, hoping to use my brother's machine to sew the last few stitches. Thanks to hurried late-night hemming efforts, I finished this dress just in time to wear it on the 4th of July. Blue and white stripes are festive. According to my Dad, though, yellow is not an approved color for patriotic merriment.


This dress is so comfy and so easy to dress up or down. The blue striped seersucker makes it perfect for hot summer days. And Independence Day appropriate or not, the sunny yellow midriff brings in (what is supposed to be) the hot color of the season. The altered hem length is just right, but I'm still having trouble with the bodice. The straps of the dress are constantly falling off of my shoulders. Annoying. When I make this dress again, I'm going to have to make an adjustment to the length of the bodice to accommodate my incorrect proportion of boobs to hips. I'm a pear.


I love this pattern, and eventually, I'm going to have altered it enough that it is tailored to fit me perfectly. No matter how many versions I have to make. Persistence! That's what this country was founded on!

All Around Our House Next Week: Secret projects for upcoming events. Posting will be light, so as not to ruin any surprises, but the final results will be worth the wait.

100% Cotton

Week of April 19 through 25

The Husband and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary this week. As trite and cliched as it sounds, it is hard to believe that another year has passed.

The year since our first anniversary has been an exciting year for us. We bought and moved into our first house this year. The Husband is going to want to be technical about this (engineers, sheesh) and technically we moved into our house right before our first anniversary. April 2008 was a big month for us, and everything mushed together in my brain. We definitely made our house a home this year, so I'm going to count that. In July we travelled to Chicago with my parents for a fun vaction on the Magnificent Mile. We survived Hurricane Ike in August with no damage to our house, but were without power for three weeks. In October, The Husband earned a promotion that meant a little less international travel for him and a lot more responsibility. We hosted our families for Christmas for the first time in December. Then, in January, we celebrated The Husband's parents' 30th wedding anniversary at Disney World on a jam-packed whirlwind trip. In February, we skiied Colorado with some friends. I need a nap.

The Husband returned from his business trip just in time to celebrate this year together. He prepared a delicious anniversary dinner for us. Steak with blue cheese sauce, fresh baby green salad with homemade dressing and celery root mashed potatoes. Delectable. We drank the same wines that we had at our wedding reception and caught up with each other over our romantic dinner for two. Are you gagging at the adorableness yet?


Because the second anniversary gift is traditionally cotton, I set the table with cotton linens and used a cluster of cotton bolls as the centerpiece. I also wrapped The Husband's gifts in cotton chambray and tied cotton bolls into the bows. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little, because I am just too precious.


After our wonderful dinner, The Husband and I opened cards and gifts from our family, and then exchanged our gifts to each other. I gave The Husband 100% cotton terry shop towels and a stacked dado set for his table saw. I am expecting many home improvement projects to commence with these new tools. The Husband is expecting to purchase many more tools to go with these new tools. Somehow the desire to buy new tools is fueled by having just bought a new tool. I think tool manufacturers include a special testosterone activator inside each tool case that turns DIYers into tool addicts. They call it crack. And then you have to buy crack filler, a spackle knife, sandpaper and paint to fix the problem.


The Husband gave me a "clean cotton" scented candle (he's too cute!) and a new cotton quilt* for our bed.


Did I mention that we ate cake? We had cake. It was good cake. REALLY good cake. I recommend cake to anyone. For anything. I ordered an anniversary cake from the same fantastically gifted woman who made our wedding cake. It was divine, and the perfect ending to a perfect anniversary celebration.

*I have no picture of the beautiful quilt from the Husband because I was distracted by CAKE.

Around Our House Next Week: Lots of cleaning and a little sewing, maybe some closet shelf installation (please hubby please?!)

Hopping Down The Bunny Trail

Week of March 29 through April 4

I always look forward to decorating for Easter, or for anything really, and this year was no exception. I haven't decorated for the Easter holiday in three years. Two years ago, rabbits and eggs didn't seem as important as packing for our wedding in Hawaii. Last year, around the bunny holiday, I was hosting a bachelorette party for a friend, we were closing on our house, and then we were moving. Pulling decorations out of a box, while packing the rest of our stuff into boxes didn't make much sense. Since I had forgotten what most of my Easter trinkets looked like, everything I unpacked was a surprise, which made decorating even more fun this year.

Some surprises, however, were not pleasant. I was particularly dismayed by some of the decorations I thought were cute three years ago. A stuffed rabbit on a spring sprayed with glitter was not one of my most savvy purchases. Plastic eggs strung on twinkle lights don't really create Easter ambiance, either. In my defense, these particular atrocities were purchased in college, when I had no money, and apparently no taste. Cheap and cute are mutually exclusive. There's no excuse for the cutout foam rabbits I bought this year, though. And those are glittered, too.

I've found that holiday decorating in this house is a bit of a challenge. Easter was especially bothersome because our color palette doesn't coordinate well with pastels. Combine the color issues and the tacky junk I found in my (fastidiously labeled) Easter box, and I was ready to give up and decorate for Christmas instead.

One decoration that made the cut was my tin bunny door decoration. He was a bit small on his own, so I revamped his style by tying him to a wreath and adding an egg garland. I'm not entirely happy about the bow - but I have promised myself not to buy any more ribbon until my entire collection can fit into one drawer in my craft room. One very large drawer. Yellow will have to do. For now.


Three papier-mache eggs from Germany (via Williams Sonoma) sit on our coffee table in our living room. These were a post-Easter sale find from last year. They arrived at our old house in the midst of moving and, in the hubbub of packing, I never opened the box. I was delighted when I finally opened them this week and remembered why I liked them so much. Easter decorations in deep colors are hard to come by. And my German heritage makes me a sucker for anything from the "home land."


My small collection of vintage children's books about bunnies sits on our secretary desk in the living room. The book on top is marked $.39 and is filled with the most precious illustrations. The Peter Rabbit book underneath is my oldest; circa 1932.


I found this bowl at an antiques store after Christmas filled with discarded glittered ornaments. (It has been established that I am a sucker for anything covered in glitter.) I am always scouring post-holiday sales for decorations that have been passed over, and when I find the perfect thing, I pounce, regardless of the time of year. Though this bowl lacks the all-important glitter element, I love the vintage look. My parents brought us the tiny bunny couple from Vienna, and their little baskets are filled with real reeds.


Our kitchen table is home to rabbits under glass. The exhibit illustrates the human condition. This art installment will be on display through the end of April. I don't really get art. (Actually, I put all of my stuffed bunnies in my apothecary jar to carry them downstairs, and then liked how it looked.)


The most important part of our Easter decoration is, of course, the dining room table, where our family will share Easter dinner together. I used our Easter tree as the centerpiece, covered with old and new Easter ornaments. On the table, on either side of the tree, are the beginnings of my vintage Easter toy collection. I know there are lots of vintage Easter basket goodies out there, just waiting to be found.


The table is set with an assortment of dishes and glassware. I love to mix-and-match place settings to create an eclectic table, so I used a combination of polka dotted and striped dishes, along with my china and accent plates. The flatware is my silver; originally my great-grandmother's handed down to my grandmother (Tata) and then given to me on my 21st birthday. The glassware is a combination of hand-painted balloon wineglasses and paper thin crystal. The crystal glasses were also given to me by my Tata, and the delicate etching matches the rosepoint pattern of the silver. This will be the first time I have used these glasses since receiving them as a wedding gift.


Hippity Hoppity Easter's on its way! We are so excited to be hosting Easter at our house this year. The Husband has to leave on Sunday for a business trip to Mexico, so we will be having Easter dinner on Saturday with all of the family. Our house is in between my parents and The Husband's parents, so we like to host as many get-togethers as we can here in the middle. Lots of room for family was one of the reasons we bought this house, after all. Having our family over to our house also means I get to plan a party, try new recipes and get out all of my fun dishes for entertaining. The meticulous planner in me loves it. All of my favorite things together: family, food and fancy dishes! Happy Easter!