Merrick's Art

Open To Interpretation

2012-02-02T05:22:00.000-07:00

button up: target (altered), sweater: abercrombie (old), skirt: made by me (tutorial), sparkly flats: gift from my mom (shop)

Today is Open To Interpretation day with Kayla, Erica, and Amy. I love doing these challenges, but this one was seriously hard. A pencil skirt and heels is great for some days, but not so much for a day when you're home with Peanut and his two two-year-old friends and acting as a referee, a trampoline, and a cafeteria lady.

So mostly for modesty purposes, I went with the maxi skirt, and threw on some sparkly flats for good measure.

Head on over to the other girls blogs to see how everyone else interpreted the look!

Tools

2012-02-01T14:06:00.002-07:00

Over the last few months, many of you have asked about my hair and makeup products. And since I am nothing but obliging, here they are in all their drugstore quality glory:

1. Suave Extra Hold Mousse. I haven't ever tried expensive mousse because this stuff works great and does what I need it to do -- which is make my hair not look like a drowned rat on my head.

2. Hana Titanium Flat Iron (c/o Misikko -- review coming soon!). I trade off days between straightening and curling my hair. This straightener gets super hot and makes the straightening job quick and easy.

3. Conair 1" curling iron. I love this curling iron because it heats up in 60 seconds, and gets as hot as I need it to.

4. Johnson's Baby Powder. I learned the baby powder trick from Leanne. When your hair is greasy and you don't have time to wash it, put a tablespoon of baby powder in your palm, rub your hands together, and then scrub through your hair, starting at the roots. Works WAY better than dry shampoo, in my opinion.

5. Hana Shine Shield Thermal Protectant (c/o Misikko). I just got this, so I've started using it and I like the idea of protecting my hair against the heat. Plus, it does get rid of some of the post blow-drying frizzies.

6. Revlon 1875 Blow Dryer. I've used many a hair dryer in my day, and don't really notice a difference in any of them. This cheap-o one works great and gets my crazy mane of hair dry in under 10 minutes.

7. Herbal Essences Body Envy Volumizing Hair Spray. I've tried many cheap hair sprays too, and this is the best one of all the cheap-o ones, in my opinion. Plus, it smells so good.

In the order that I use them:

1. Prime Time Foundation Primer. You guys, I have BAD skin. I've had bad skin since I was 14, and I've tried everything in the book, from medication, to skin care routines, to makeup. Finally I splurged on some good quality makeup, and after only a month of use, I've already seen an improvement in my skin. This primer makes your skin velvety smooth, and your makeup stays on all day. Love it.

2. Bare Minerals Original Foundation and brush in "fairly light." Same as above. The expensive makeup is worth it. I was a little surprised that their foundation was powder, but it blends into your natural skin so well, and doesn't clog your pores, or irritate your skin. Never using another foundation (especially liquid), ever again.

3. Bare Minerals All-Over Face Color in "Warmth". This came with the starter package I got from Bare Minerals, and it's a nice bronzer that keeps me from looking SO pasty in the winter.

4. Sephora Makeup Palette. I don't know if they sell this anymore, but Landen got this for me for my birthday last year and I love it. It has 32 different eye shadows, 2 colors of blush, 2 bronzers, and 16 lipgloss colors. I use it right now for the eye shadow (I use a light pink and a combo of brown and dark purple) and blush, and both are fantastic. The two makeup brushes (powder & eyeshadow) are from Target.

5. Cover Girl Professional Loose Translucent Powder. After I've done my other makeup, I do a quick brush of this powder to set everything. It's not one bit heavy, and it keeps my makeup on all day.

6. Maybelline Eye Studio Eye Gel in "Blackest Black." I just started using this to replace my Ulta eye liner that I've been using for the last year, and I love it. It's super black, and the little brush helps make the perfect line across my lash line. Also it's not waterproof, so it comes of really easily at night.

7. e.l.f. Liquid Eyeliner in "black" (c/o Misikko). I've only used this once, for a special occasion, but that little pointy tip is perfect for applying a perfectly straight line. I even did a little cat eye with it, and it wasn't smeary, and didn't budge all night.

8. Maybelline Eye Studio Define-A-Brow Pencil in "Dark Brown." I was not blessed with good eyebrows. They are thin and sparce, and have several sections that don't grow at all. This fills them in perfectly with the tiny tip, and doesn't smear at all.

9. Cover Girl Lash Blast Fushion Mascara in "Very Black." I love this mascara -- it makes my eyelashes super dark, and look even longer and fuller than they already are. The only downside is that it dries out within a month or two.

10. Vaseline. I'm not a big lipgloss wearer, and my lips are naturally a perfect pink (in my opinion). So I throw on some vaseline every day for a little shine, and to make them nice and soft.

11. Victoria's Secret Dream Angels Heavenly Perfume. Philip bought me this perfume when we first got married, and I've worn it ever since. It smells fantastic, but it's not too strong. One little spritz every day is perfect.

(I was not paid for this post, and all of the products (except the ones I specifically mentioned) were purchased by me).

Yewwow

2012-01-31T06:00:00.000-07:00

gray cardigan: target, yellow shirt: swapped, scarf: made by me, black jeans: f21, boots: target

For the last few months we've been working on colors with Peanut. It took him quite a while to get the hang of it, and he'd go through phases where he'd guess one color (usually red) no matter what color you pointed to, and so many times I swore he was color blind, but finally one day, a few weeks ago, it clicked.

He still gets confused between black and brown, and red and orange, but it's so funny when he walks up to me and says in his little high pitched and raspy baby voice, "what color's dis one, mommy?"

Today, all day, he kept telling me about his "orness" (orange) shirt, and my "yewwow" shirt, and then climb on my lap and ask me one by one what all the colors in my scarf were. I'm so proud of him when he finally figures out how to say words correctly, but I'm seriously going to be so sad when he finally says "orange" the right way. It's my favorite.

1920

2012-01-30T05:28:00.000-07:00

black pea coat: christmas gift from my mom (macy's), black lace dress: stolen from Kayla (altered -- the before photos are coming later this week!), black belt: from another dress, black heels: target (shop), earrings: from my wedding, bracelet: no idea

On Saturday night we attended Philip's company holiday/20th anniversary party. Before we left, I ran outside and took some outfit photos, then we rushed off to the party. There was amazing food (prime rib! salmon! stuffed chicken! cheesecake!), a photobooth, a candy bar, a lady taking everyone's "prom photos," and lots and lots of people. Everyone (except a few of us) got drunk and danced like fools (to our great entertainment), and then finally it was late and we were exhausted, so we went home.

Then yesterday after church, I came home and went to upload my photos, only to find out that they were gone. All the other photos on my card remained, but all outfit photos had vanished. So I threw my dress back on and went outside to retake them....but the camera wasn't working. Every photo I took, no matter what I did, was out of focus. Finally I figured out the problem, got it to focus, and after two photos, my battery died.

I went back inside, charged the battery for a few minutes, and then finally on my third try, I got some photos. This fashion blogging thing is hard work!

. . . . . . . . . . .

I'm linking up with Kayla again this week for the 10 Day Challenge. Today is decade or region day. I think that black fur collared coat is totally twenties-inspired. Don't you??

. . . . . . . . . . .

Also, do you remember my Little Black Dress post from a few weeks ago? Well today I'm over at Kristina J's blog talking about it again, but going a lot more in-depth. Hop on over to her awesome blog and check it out!

Rain + Snow

2012-01-27T05:29:00.000-07:00

Striped sweater: kohls (old), plaid button up: old navy, blue jeggings: gap (shop), socks: target, boots: target (old)

Dude, I know this is all Utahns can talk about, but this weather is nuts. Earlier this week there was a huge snowstorm, then we got rain, then we got snow again. Then on Wednesday it was warm and sunny, and yesterday it was rainy again (hence the umbrella).

But you know, as long as we get some snow, I'm okay. Not because it makes for a good winter, but because I get to go outside with Peanut and make Frosty the Snowman.

And watch him eat about five gallons of snow.

. . . . . . . . . .

Linking up with Kayla this week for her 10 Day Challenge. Today was mixing patterns. Somehow I ended up wearing all blue (including that umbrella). Monochrome and mixing patterns -- do I get some bonus points for that??

Less Is More

2012-01-26T05:33:00.000-07:00

blazer: f21, white t-shirt: target, jeans: abercrombie (altered), heels: target (same shoe, different color), watch: dillards (gift from Philip)

A couple times a week, I babysit my friend's baby girl. We don't have a totally set schedule, and yesterday, just as I was about to venture out for photos (just moments after Peanut went down for his nap), she showed up. So here we are, inside, taking photos. Seeing these inside photos compared to my outside photos makes me even more brave about going outside, cause DUDE...it's worth it for the way better photos.

ANYWAY, today's challenge over at Kayla's blog, was to channel someone. She gave lots of good inspiration ideas from Disney characters, to Audrey Hepburn, to even Amelia Earheart, but none of them really stuck out for me. Finally, after lots of brainstorming sessions, and lots of tried and failed outfits, I decided to channel Jennifer Aniston. She has one of those styles that is simple, classic, and so effortless. I sometimes feel like, as a fashion blogger, I have to really push myself with all my outfits -- an outfit isn't complete without at least three layers, or a huge stack of bracelets, or mixed patterns. But this made me remember that simple style is classic for a reason, and occasionally less really is more.

Whenever I think of Jennifer, I think of this outfit, so that's what I went with (despite the fact that it forced me to wear my blazer once again -- although I've actually only worn it one other time this week since yesterday's photos were taken back in December). And what do you know? I felt really put together all day, even though this is the most basic outfit I've worn in a long time.

Trendy

2012-01-25T05:24:00.000-07:00

blazer: f21, striped t: target (altered), orange cords: anthropologie, wedges: target (shop), clutch: thrifted, bracelets & watch: gifts and dillards

photos courtesy of molly hunter photography

Back at the beginning of December, I went out with Molly and took some photos for a photography directing project she was working on. Basically I just stood there and she made me look good with her awesome camera skills. I just got the pictures from her, and conveniently some of them fit the bill for Kayla's 10 day challenge.

With today's challenge being "embrace a trend," I planned to try out this tutorial to give my hair an blond-at-the-bottom ombre effect (which I'm totally loving right now). But it got so messy, and my hair smelled like pastels, and the color barely came through, so I gave up. Then I decided to go for the asymmetrical hemline trend with a new top I recently stole from Kayla's Goodwill pile, but then it was so cold and snowy and I didn't feel like going outside to take pictures.

So while I am actually doing the challenge in real life, Molly's fabulous photos were better evidence of my trendiness. I rest my case.

Cloudy Gray

2012-01-24T05:39:00.000-07:00

striped tee: target, blazer: f21 (old), black jeans: f21, boots: charlotte russe (old)

Today is Monochromatic Day over at Kayla's blog. Were you hoping I'd go for an all red, or all orange look with my red or orange pants?? In all honesty, I did consider those outfits for a few minutes. But then yesterday morning was...well, not the best morning, and all I could muster up was an all gray outfit. Fitting.

Thankfully there were a few good things to help the day not be so bad:

1. awesome hair day
2. chocolate cookie dough
3. Leanne took Peanut for two hours so I could teach my art class in peace (bless you)
4. Philip did our taxes (and our tax return is lookin' real good)

All in all, I'm glad today is a new day. And I promise to wear some color.

Bad Words and Layers

2012-01-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

sweater: abercrombie (old), pashmina scarf: bought in London, striped dress: made by me, socks: target, boots: target (old), clutch: thrifted

photos courtesy of molly hunter photography

In the last few months, Peanut has turned into a total copycat, repeating pretty much everything that we say. Neither Philip nor I swear, but we still say words that I don't really want my almost two-year-old saying -- words like "Dang," "Heck," and "Stupid," just sound like swear words coming out of a baby's mouth, don't you think?

Because of this, we've both made a very conscious effort to change the phrases we say to things we don't mind him repeating. It makes me feel like a total grandma walking around saying things like "Goodness gracious!" and "Oh, Dear!" but it makes it all worth it when he drops his fork on the floor during dinner and says, very dramatically, "Oh, HEAVENS!"

It's the little things.

. . . . . . .

Today is Day One of Kayla's 10 Day Challenge, so I'll be linking up with her and many other bloggers for the next two weeks. Today we're Layering -- head on over and check out some more awesome outfits!

. . . . . . . .

Also, I still have a few spots left for Valentine's paintings! If you're interested in a custom painting of you and your Valentine, head on over to my art website and check out my ongoing special!

Happy Blogging

2012-01-19T05:42:00.000-07:00

via Pinterest (can't find the original source)

In the last few months I've seen many blog posts and had several conversations with friends about the negatives of fashion blogs and pinterest. About how lots of women find themselves reading fashion blogs or perusing pinterest and coveting the lives, clothing, style, hair, etc. of other women, and then thinking negatively about their own lives.

For me, that's not what blogging or Pinterest should be about, at all.

I read a lot of fashion blogs, and I'm a big pinterest lover, but instead of browsing and wishing I had a whole new closet or better hair, I make these blogs and my pins work for me. I'm not saying that I've never coveted someone else's things, but in the last few months I've tried to make some attitude changes and some social networking changes and it's helped a lot. For example, my "Dressing Myself" board, which I've mentioned before, started out as a board of outfits and clothing that I wanted. But lately I've forced it to morph into a board of pieces I already own and wouldn't have thought to put together. I read those fashion blogs and pin outfits from them that I could actually put together, or imitate in some way. Suddenly it's a helpful board instead of a jealousy board.

I've made a list of my few "unwritten rules" about fashion blogs and pinterest, and if you find yourself in the aforementioned situation, maybe these will work for you too.

1. I never pin something in my "dressing myself" board that doesn't have at least one element of the outfit that I already own (whether it's a nearly identical piece or a piece that's similar in some way -- color, shape, pattern)

2. I use the captions on my pins to remember the elements of the outfit that I like or want to imitate.

3. I don't copy every outfit I pin exactly -- I copy color palettes, or patterns mixed, or belting methods, or interesting clothing combinations, and that helps me get beyond the obvious outfits in my closet.

4. If you really, really want a clothing item, pin it to a separate "clothes to purchase" board. Then when you get some birthday money, go back to the board and buy something from that list. Having it sit there for a few weeks (or months) might make you re-evaluate your passionate love for it. If you still love it as much as the day it was pinned, it's obviously a worthwhile purchase. And then that special birthday money won't go to waste on a item that you don't actually need or love that much. (discalimer: I don't have a board like this -- I got the idea from Whoorl and I think it's brilliant. In fact, I might start a board like that).

5. I only subscribe to fashion blogs that have styles that I like, that are similar to my own, or have a style that I aspire to. (following blogs about women gallavanting around the world to black tie parties and balls in Jimmy Choo's and Harry Winston jewelry would not really coincide with my stay at home mom style, and would probably just make me covet their exciting lifestyles)

6. I read blogs to feel inspired, motivated, uplifted, and happy. If a blog is making me feel unhappy about my life, or depressed about my wardrobe, I unsubscribe.

7. As hard as it is, I try to remember that even the most gorgeous and stylish bloggers out there have struggles. Just because they don't blog about it doesn't mean they don't have bad days, or family problems, or acne (ok, maybe that last one is just me).

It's so easy as women to get down on ourselves and feel inadequate or unattractive compared to other women. If your pins or the blogs you follow are making you feel that way, get them out of your life! Blogging is such a great way for people to express themselves, whether it be through writing, photography, cooking, design, or fashion. But if a certain blog is giving you negative feelings, for any reason at all, then that blog is not for you. Walk away and watch how much more you'll appreciate your own life.

Let's try to get back to the purpose of blogging and appreciate the amazing talent of others and use it for inspiration and motivation rather than for negative thoughts and coveting.

What do you say?

True Friends

2012-01-18T05:45:00.000-07:00

cardigan: f21 (altered in the arms) (shop), polka dot blouse: jcpenney, belt: from an old dress, jeans: abercrombie (altered), boots: target (old), watch: dkny

Yesterday, Kayla invited Peanut and me over to her house for a little playdate. While our boys (who are only two weeks apart) played, Kayla and I talked. This girl is seriously a kindred spirit -- we laughed, we cried (only a little bit), we ranted and commiserated, we shared personal things, and we shared embarrassing things. It takes a true friend to get all those things out of me, and she definitely does it.

And while we talked, she let me weed through her Goodwill box and steal all her old, unwanted clothing, which was basically a goldmine of items waiting to be refashioned. (In fact, I found the PERFECT dress to wear to Philip's upcoming company holiday party...I'm so excited!).

And all the while, she never even once made fun of me for wearing this crazy polka dot on polka dot outfit.

Now that's a true friend.

Date Night (#1)

2012-01-16T09:18:00.000-07:00

white coat: h&m (circa 2009), polka dot blouse: lauren conrad via kohls (shop), blue pants: gap (shop), gray cardigan: target, mary jane wedges: target (shop)

For Christmas, my main gift to Philip was a version of Shannon Brown's A Year of Dates. One of my goals this year is to spend more quality time with my husband (and, ahem, not my laptop), so I planned out one date for each month of this year and bought gift cards, printed out schedules, and got a few date accessories to go along with each month's date.

Well, last weekend we scheduled date number one -- a date to Park City to eat at PRIME Steakhouse and Piano Bar. It was, in part, to celebrate our recent five year anniversary, and also because we've been talking about trying out PRIME for months and this was a good excuse. I was hoping to go during the Sundance Film Festival, but the dates didn't work out with our schedule. Guess I'll have to save my celebrity spotting for another date.

PRIME

The bathroom was channeling breakfast at tiffany's with their blue walls, bejeweled everything, and large picture of Audrey Hepburn. So fun.

Park City Main Street at night

Dinner was delicious, even though Philip's strip steak was way better than my filet (weird, right?), Park City was as beautiful as always, and we had a total blast.

We picked up Peanut from Leanne's house (thank you!), whisked him home to bed, and then finished off the night with homemade chocolate lava cakes.

It was the perfect way to start off our year of dates!

***********

I'm linking up with Shannon Brown (the brains behind the Year of Dates idea) for lots of great date night ideas! Go check out her post to see more good ideas!

Ronald

2012-01-13T05:30:00.000-07:00

cardigan: cozy, blue button up: target (altered - shop), red jeans: f21 (gifted), leopard print flats: steve madden (c/o plato's closet)

On Wednesday morning I woke up with the flu. I tried to call in sick, but the boss (Peanut) had no intentions of letting me have the day completely off. It took him an hour or so of pulling my hands and begging until he realized there was no way I was getting off the couch. Then he became the most helpful baby in the whole world, bringing me water, helping me take my temperature, bringing me stacks of books so we could lay on the couch and read together, and even hefting the full gallon of milk over to the couch to fill up his sippy cup so I didn't have to get up.

He didn't even complain about having to eat dried mangos and toast with jam for dinner because that was the only food I could tolerate looking at.

I'm finally feeling better, but it took several hot baths, a few back rubs from Philip, lots of sips of water, and lots of laying on the couch. Mom's should be exempt from sickness, period.

. . . . . . .

I'm linking up with Sarah from Frills for Thrills today, copying the gorgeous style of Katie from Running on Happiness. Her outfit is colorful and fun -- I think mine feels a little Ronald McDonald. What do you think?

. . . . . . .

p.s. don't forget to check out my valentine's day painting special on my art website!

Polka Dots and Pleather

2012-01-11T05:30:00.000-07:00

leather jacket: f21, maroon sweater: abercrombie (old), polka dot tie blouse: jcpenney, jeans: abercrombie (altered), boots: target (old)

Philip's company Christmas party is coming up in a few weeks (I know, Christmas was three weeks ago, but it's more of a holiday/the company's anniversary party), and it's black tie. The last holiday party that we attended three years ago was at the local arcade/mini golf course, complete with pizza and five arcade tokens for everyone. The next two years they didn't have a holiday party, so here we are with a major step up, and although I'm super excited to actually have a fancy event to attend, what in the world do I wear?!

I've come up with a few options that I'll probably show you over the next week or so, but while I'm deciding that, I'm also thinking about makeup. I've seen a billion fashion bloggers experimenting with red lipstick, and I thought that a black cocktail dress paired with a red lip could be fantastic. So I gave it a test drive today with a dark pink lipstick just for fun (even though I only went to the library and the grocery store). It took all of about fourteen seconds until I had lipstick all over my teeth. I should write a book: "How To Impress Your Husband's Boss in One Easy Step."

Probably should save the red lip for another occasion. Valentine's Day, perhaps?

. . . . . . .

And speaking of Valentine's Day, I'm doing a little painting special over at my website. Go check it out -- I'd love to do a custom painting for you!

Black, White, and Green All Over

2012-01-10T05:30:00.000-07:00

cardigan: target, tunic: h&m (seen here), green pencil skirt: made by me, tights: f21, patent leather wedges: forever young shoes

Remember when I went to LA's fabric district with my mom and scored all those awesome fabrics? Well I've been working my way through the stack for the last few months, and finally arrived at my beloved grass green twill. When I bought the fabric, I had a specific skirt in mind that I wanted to make -- one that I'd pinned (and could never find the original source for). I scoured pencil skirt patterns online and at the fabric store, but couldn't find anything even close to what I wanted.

Finally I settled on Butterick's B5566 and went with version C. I reversed the front skirt piece so the point was inverted, and then added an extra inch or so to the sides for the pleats. Then I used the larger of the cross-in-front pieces, folded it in half and adjusted it enough to make the pointed waistband.

I LOVE how it turned out. It was the perfect pencil skirt I was hoping for. Although the sizing on the pattern was off (according to the sizing charts I was supposed to make a size 12, but I ended up having to take it in about 3 inches), it fit like a glove once all was said and done. The fabric does get pretty wrinkly (I'd been sitting down all morning at church so those lines on the waistband are wrinkles, not fabric pulling), but the color is gorgeous and fun, and this will definitely be my go-to pencil skirt.

I have a baby houndstooth fabric that I'm dying to make into a pencil skirt just like this one, so if you're lucky I'll make a little tutorial for the pattern adjustments. And if I'm lucky, I'll put pockets in it this time around.

. . . . . . .

I'm linking up with EBEW: Black and White today. We'll see if anyone else does a primarily non-black-and-white outfit like me. Oops.

Real Friends

2012-01-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

can it get more awkward than that stupid face and awkward reaching around hand? no, it cannot.

my outfit: polka dot cardi: f21 (shop), orange cords: anthropologie, black boots: target (shop)

preethi's outfit: details found on her blog (don't you love that teal suede pencil skirt? I die.)

A few weeks ago, Preethi emailed me and told me she was coming to Provo. "Let's meet and be real friends!" she said. So we did. She came to my house, I met her adorable baby and super nice husband, we had breakfast together, and then, because we're both newbie fashion bloggers, we did what fashion bloggers do best -- take pictures of ourselves.

The freshly fallen snow was a perfect backdrop, and although we froze our tails off, and couldn't figure out how to coordinate serious faces and smiles, and ended up with lots of awkward faces (mostly me -- is that how I always look when I laugh??), we had a total blast. She was fabulous, smart, adorable, and hilarious. Her visit was much too short. Oh, and I'm really glad she wasn't some old scary creeper man, pretending to be a fashion blogger. That was definitely a high point.

Red + Gray

2012-01-06T05:30:00.000-07:00

striped t: from my mom (target), cardigan: target, scarf: from my mom (h&m), red jeans: Christmas gift from in-laws (f21), black wedges: forever young shoes, earrings: gift from Philip (tiffany's)

Some days when I wake up, an outfit just comes to me. Most of the time, I rummage through my closet for many minutes, trying on different tops, holding up several pieces together, and then eventually throwing them all on the floor in frustration. It's times like these that I run straight to the computer and open my Pinterest boards as fast as my slow internet will let me. And then I pat myself on the back for having a "Dressing Myself" board, cause it saves me many a bad outfit days.

Today it was Veronica P from Bittersweet Colours that came to the rescue. Red and gray. Perfect. She rocked it a million times better than I did, but she was gallivanting around New York City -- I was sitting at home playing garbage trucks with Peanut. So I'll give myself a few bonus points.

Happy Friday!

Home Bleep Home

2012-01-05T05:38:00.000-07:00

leather jacket: f21, striped t: Target (altered), blue pants: gap (shop), wedges: target (shop)

I moved to Provo almost seven years ago to go to college. It's a small college town outside of Salt Lake, and it's widely known as "Happy Valley." Crime is ridiculously low, many of the people are young college singles, or freshly married couples, and in general it's just a happy little bubble.

And yet, even in Happy Valley, there is the rough side of town. And somehow our nice little condo ended up smack dab in the middle of that area. We're surrounded on all sides by run down apartment buildings and an old gas station that attracts questionable-looking customers. The walls around our condo frequently get decorated with graffiti, and we've even had a homeless woman knock on our door asking for food.

So it wasn't a huge surprise to walk outside to take outfit photos and hear a man yelling at the top of his lungs on the other side of the wall separating his and my house, but when the strings of expletives started, and were suddenly sounding pretty aggressive, and were interspersed with some serious threats, I nearly grabbed my tripod and high-tailed it inside (three inch heels and all) to the safety of my own couch and locked front door. And I thought peepers were my biggest concern.

Welcome to *bleepity* Happy Valley. I think it's time to move.

[by the way, the dude drove away a few minutes later and all was back to normal. it appears that no one was hurt. all is back to normal in happy valley, just in case you were worried :)]

Black and Blues

2012-01-04T05:30:00.000-07:00

sweater: kohls (old), button up: target (boys section, altered - shop), black jeans: f21, boots: target, gold bracelets: gift, earrings: gift, clutch: thrifted

I very rarely get a case of the blues, but Monday was just one of those days where I was just feeling "ugh" and could not get past it. It was Philip's last day of vacation so he was home all day with us, but I was trying to get out of vacation-mode, Peanut was begging for attention every moment, and I was bugged that it was the new year (time to start my new years resolutions!) and yet we did nothing all day.

Then I logged into facebook and saw my sweet friend, Sherry's status: "Sherry thinks tonight is like Christmas Eve for Mothers! Tomorrow brings structure, schedule, ROUTINE!!"

And she was so right. Tuesday morning I woke up bright (dark) and early, studied my scriptures, exercised, got ready for the day, spent all day working on letters, playing and reading with Peanut, ate healthy meals, spent quality time with Philip, and got us right back on schedule. It was glorious. And what do you know? The blues were gone.

Except for all the blue I wore. But that didn't bother me one bit -- in fact, it made me feel even better.

Gifting

2012-01-02T05:30:00.000-07:00

Once again, this Christmas was the year of the homemade gifts. I've been a sewing, painting and crafting like a maniac the last few months.

Here are a few of my favorites:

matching dresses for my darling nieces

paris night-scape for my dad (now hanging in my parents bedroom)

framed maps for deborah & sam (idea found here)

nyc painting for my father in law

Now it's finally time to work on some projects for me (and I have lots of good ones to show you)!

Happy New Year!

25 + 27

2011-12-28T05:30:00.000-07:00

Dude, Philip did so good this year.

Christmas Morning

My new iphone! I'm now one of those people (I waste no time)

The full Harry Potter movie collection...can you tell I'm excited??

My anniversary ring -- Philip sent me on a treasure hunt for it around the house (my favorite!)

Out to Litchfield's for our anniversary -- still drooling over my steak

It's been a good few days :)

Five

2011-12-27T05:30:00.000-07:00

Five years ago today I married my best friend. And five years later we only look slightly older than babies....

But I can't worry about that. I'm too busy staring at my new gorgeous "five year" ring. It's even more sparkly and gorgeous in person!

...all the details are coming tomorrow!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-23T06:30:00.000-07:00

...from our house to yours!

Pieces

2011-12-22T06:30:00.000-07:00

It took me years to figure this out, but just in the last year or so, I've realized that my closet needs be made up of good "pieces" -- items of clothing that are versatile and can be worn in many ways with many other pieces. If you have good pieces, the outfits possibilities are endless. Now, not everything in my closet is completely versatile, but much of it now is and I'm well on my way to having a closet that I'm really, really happy with. Getting dressed everyday is now like a game, figuring out how to wear things differently than I ever have, or pairing unexpected pieces together.

Today I want to show you one of the most versatile items in my closet, a piece that all of you probably have too -- the Little Black Dress.

I have several LBD's, some fancy, some more casual. This one is kind of in the middle, but I can change the entire look of the dress, either very casual or very dressy, and all very not-boring, with just a few key pieces. Check it out.

Here's the dress by itself (cute, but snoooooze):

dress: downeast basics

Now let's change it up with five very different looks:

[click image to enlarge]

1. Casual striped t-shirt: h&m, knee high socks: target, boots: target

2. Sophisticated blue button up: target, blazer: f21, nude heels: kohl's, glasses: old & embarrassing (remind me to never wear my glasses in a photo again...)

3. Funky cardigan: cozy, leopard scarf: made by me, tights: kohl's, mary jane wedges: target

4. Feminine lace skirt: made by me, polka dot tie blouse: jcpenney, heels: forever young shoes, red lips: sephora

5. Dressy velvet blazer: anthropologie, fishnet tights: target, heels: forever young shoes, earrings: gift from Philip

All of the added clothing items are pretty standard kinds of pieces that most of you probably have sitting in your closet right now. Wearing them by themselves can be pretty boring -- learning how to put them together and creating different interesting looks is how you express your personality through your clothing and have fun with your clothes; and that's the name of the game. Now go start playing!

Oh, p.s. Kohls.com has generously provided my readers with several discount codes for next week, so if you're now in need of a few fantastic new pieces, head on over to their site and check out their awesome post-Christmas deals (and seriously, they have great stuff).

Extra 20% Off Kohls.com
Promo code: MISTLETOE
Valid 12/25

Extra 15% Off Kohls.com
Promo Code: SLED15
Valid: 12/26-1/2

Extra 20% Off Kohls.com with a $100 purchase
Promo Code: SLED20
Valid: 12/26-1/2

Christmas Bread

2011-12-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

One of those things that I've assigned myself as the woman of the house, is taking care of Christmas gifts for everyone. Philip does gifts for me (and does an amazing job every year), and likes to help with Peanut's gifts if we happen to be out together, but besides that I take care of everyone -- his parents, his family, his co-workers, etc. I really like being in charge of this because it makes me feel like a good wife, and plus I really like to give gifts.

For his co-workers, it's become a yearly tradition to make Christmas bread. It's simple, it's pretty, it's delicious, and everyone likes a good sweet bread (right?). I didn't really plan on doing it every year, but the first year we were married I made it and his boss ate the entire loaf before he got home. I mentioned it to his wife a week or so later and she had no idea we'd even given them bread! The next year he asked Philip if I was going to make it again, and the tradition was born. (also, I don't think he saved any for his wife on year two!).

This year Philip is in a smaller office, so I only made three loaves. Much easier and faster than my usual seven or eight.

The bread is actually a coffee cake recipe from Betty Crocker's cookbook, but it makes a fantastic bread, and a loaf is a little bit less weird than giving your co-workers a coffee cake, no?

So go make some and if you plan to give it away, at least make one extra loaf so you don't miss out on the deliciousness.

Christmas Bread (makes 2 loafs)

1-1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
3 large eggs
3 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1-1/2 cups sour cream

Brown Sugar Filling

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts (optional; I've never put them in)
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Heat oven to 350. Grease bottom and sides of 2 loaf pans.
2. Prepare brown sugar filling and set aside.
3. Beat together sugar, butter, vanilla & eggs in large bowl with electric mixer on medium for 2 minutes. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Add flour mixture and sour cream alternately into sugar mixture on low speed until blended.
4. Spread 1/4 of the batter (about 1-1/2 cups) into each pan, then sprinkle each with one fourth of the filling; repeat once.
5. Bake for about 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool slightly; remove from pans and place top side up on wire rack. Cool 10 minutes. Serve warm or cool (but it's best warm!)

A Hole Lot of Nothing

2011-12-19T06:30:00.000-07:00

cardigan: target, striped top: target, scarf: made by me (fabric from joann's), belt: husbands, pants: gap, boots: target

Before I became a mom, there were a lot of things that I expected to happen once I had a baby. For example, I expected to change a lot of diapers. I expected to get less sleep for a while. And I expected to get puked on (although with a baby with acid reflux, my worst nightmares could not have prepared me for the amount of puke that I had to deal with).

But one thing that I did not anticipate was how much I would be on my knees. Since becoming an adult, I'm not sure I'd walked on my knees or crawled around more than ten times ever. Now I do it at least ten times daily, between horsey rides, cleaning up toys before naptime (it's much too strenuous to do it standing up and have to bend over), and chasing a little boy around the kitchen island.

Several pairs of my pants now have holes in the knees, and most of the others are faded and worn. Now I'm fearing for the life of my precious new blue gap pants (which are thin and delicate to begin with). If they were a shirt, I could just sew on some darling elbow patches. But somehow I think those patches wouldn't look quite as adorable on my knees. It's just a hunch.

Shades of Gold

2011-12-15T06:21:00.000-07:00

top: anthropologie, cardigan: cozy, scarf: made by my mom, jeans: nordstrom (hand-me-downs), boots: target, belt: husbands

My mom bought me this top for my birthday over the summer and because of its asymmetrical hemline, I have a hard time styling it, and thus I've only worn it a few times (mostly tucked into high waisted skirts). I absolutely love the pattern, I just can't always get the hemline to look good. But for me, fashion blogging is to help me push myself and push my closet past the obvious. So out it came today, and with a few other favorite pieces layered over it, I loved how I looks. Success!

On an unrelated note, I'm trying to figure out how to continue taking outdoor outfit photos (look at me, actually enjoying this now!) with the ever dropping temperatures. Pretty sure I'm going to have to invest in several good heat packs. If I suddenly start looking lumpy, it's just those. I hope...

Ornaments

2011-12-13T06:30:00.000-07:00

Years and years ago, my parents started a tradition where they bought a Christmas ornament when they went on vacation -- something that represented where they'd been. I love looking at their tree every year and remembering all the fun trips we've been on. One of my favorites is a gorgeous little glass teapot that my mom and I picked up on our mother/daughter trip to Boston in 1998.

This past summer when we were in Texas visiting Janssen and Bart, Philip and I decided to start our own collection of "travel ornaments," and picked up this little clay Alamo.

A brisket or ribs ornament would have probably been more appropriate to the trip, but they didn't appear to sell those. Darn.

With all of the traveling that we've done as a couple so far, and plan to do with our children over the years, I hope to acquire a big collection of ornaments from all over the country and world. But for now, we have one.

Although these beauties from my parents trips, and other trips from my childhood, help make our tree special in the mean time.

(a real glittered starfish from my parents recent trip to Hawaii)

(A glass angel from my college study abroad in London)

(can't remember where this one came from, but it's a gorgeous little glass butterfly)

Frostbite

2011-12-12T06:30:00.000-07:00

Striped T: Target, Belt: Macy's, Pleated Chiffon Midi Skirt: made by me, Tights: Kohls, Mary Janes: Target

Last week Philip was out of town on a business trip, and the very worst part about him being away is how cold I am, all the time. He's always gone during the workday every day, but at night without a third body in the house, it's just colder. Consequently, I slept with about fourteen layers on (including a sweatshirt with the hood over my head, drawstring pulled), just to stay warm.

Then he got home and suddenly I was warm again. So I threw on a light breezy skirt and a fairly thin t-shirt. Bad idea. While taking these pictures it was probably twenty degrees in the shade. Do not be fooled by the smile on my face...I was on the verge of frostbite. Next photoshoot I'm wearing sweatpants and Ugg boots.

(just kidding, I don't even own sweatpants OR Ugg boots...)

Open To Interpretation

2011-12-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

black t-shirt: urban outfitters, striped t-shirt: target, cable knit scarf: hand me down (refashioned into an infinity scarf), orange cords: anthropologie, brown mary janes: target

For me, the worst part about the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas is the waiting game. I may be twenty four, but I'm still eight years old when it comes to Christmas. It's particularly bad when you're not spending Christmas with your parents, so your mom ships stuff directly to your house and you're forced to wrap your own gifts. Self control is not my strongest attribute, so wrapping a shoe box with a pair of new shoes for you inside is pure torture. I promise, I did not peek...but I was tempted.

Luckily, my mom helped tide me over by buying me these amazing orange cords as an early Christmas gift. She also picked them out. I'm much too chicken to buy a pair of orange pants -- but what do you know? I love them. She's pretty much the reason I have anything interesting in my closet. You're the best, Mom.

---------

I'm linking up with Kayla today for Open For Interpretation.

We used this outfit as inspiration. Perfect for my orange pants' debut....but now I'm pretty sure I need some red pants. Head on over to her blog to see her interpretation of this outfit, as well as a bunch of other bloggers outfits!

Refashion 101

2011-12-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

I got an email from a reader the other day with a question about how to get in to refashioning. She is a student and a new mom, so clothing money is tight, and her closet is feeling really boring and outdated. Now, I don't pretend to know much about refashioning -- I've done a grand total of maybe twenty refashions ever. But it was a good question and got me thinking.

How do you get into refashioning? How do you make things look professional and not homemade? How do you get the creative juices flowing?

Here are a few of the ideas I thought of and shared with her:

1. Learn to use your sewing machine. This is huge for me. Your clothing will most likely look homemade if you are just tying knots, or gluing things on. You only need to know the basics of sewing for most refashion projects, but doing real seams will make a world of difference in making your clothing look professional.

2. Utilize Pinterest. There are so many amazing ideas on there, but not just DIY projects. Most of the things I make or refashion come from outfits I see models or other bloggers wearing. An idea is usually sparked when I see a model wearing a shirt with a similar color or pattern to a shirt I already own, and from there I can figure out how to manipulate my shirt to look like the models'.

3. Make a "repair box" and then go through your closet and put everything in there that you don't wear. Going through your closet one piece at a time lets you know what you have to work with when refashioning. Then when you see a refashioning idea, you know exactly what you own and how you can use it to make a piece you love. Also, work on each piece in the repair box one at a time. Seeing each item individually can help the task seem easier. Attacking your whole closet at once will get overwhelming really fast. Some of my clothes have only needed a simple seam for me to love them again (baggy sleeves are a big one for me...I've taken in so many sleeves and suddenly the cardigan or shirt fits me like a dream and makes me love it again).

4. Clean out your closet. I have a strict policy that I don't keep anything in my closet that I don't like and won't wear. I either get rid of it or put it in the repair box. Having a big closet full of clothes that I don't like makes me unhappy. Who cares if you have a lot of clothes in your closet if you hate them all? It's okay if your closet is small if you love and will wear every single item in there.

5. Don't be limited to your closet only. Utilize your husband's (or boyfriend, or brother) old clothes, if he's going to get rid of them. I did that with my polo refashion, and it's now one of my favorite tops. Also, there may be lots of potential in cheap thrifted items -- taking in the sides or hemming the bottom can often make an awful piece into an amazing piece.

6. Accept the fact that some clothes are not fixable. I've sent plenty of shirts to Goodwill, or thrown them away, because there is nothing I can do with them (after I've tried). Don't hang on to it forever, hoping that it will somehow get new life, or it will become a thorn in your side or a wet blanket for your creativity. Sometimes you just have to throw things away. It's okay.

7. Learn how to layer. Pinterest is another great guide for this, as are fashion blogs. Style is about putting pieces together in interesting and creative ways. If you learn how to mix pieces, you have endless outfit possibilities, even if you're using the same pieces over and over. Use belts, scarves, cardigans, and tights to mix and match your clothing, and make it feel new and fresh. I've had some of the same pieces in my closet for years that I've always worn the same way, and suddenly when I layer them together, new interesting outfits are born.

8. Re-purpose. Put a shirt on over a dress, and turn that dress into a skirt for a day. Or the opposite -- put a skirt on over the dress and turn it into a top. Use a thin scarf as a belt, or a headwrap. Wrap long necklaces around your wrist to create the look of several bracelets. When you start thinking outside of the box, style and creativity start developing.

9. If you can, buy something new every once in a while. Having a new piece in your wardrobe can spark new ideas, make a bunch of new outfits, and make you feel like your closet is staying current.

Okay, fellow bloggers, what else can you add to this list? Help me make this a nice even 10, cause that's driving me crazy.

Thievery

2011-12-01T06:50:00.000-07:00

Jeans: Abercrombie (altered to skinnies), boots: target, belt: husband's, top: old navy, cardigan: cozy, scarf: made by my mom (I think)

When I participated in Kayla's 21 Day Challenge a few months ago, I really struggled with her "Menswear" challenge. I didn't feel like any of my clothes were particularly masculine, except for maybe that old blazer that I bought a few years ago? Much too long after that challenge, I realized how dumb I had been...half of my closet is menswear.

I'm not about to wear my husband's khaki slacks or anything, but stealing his belt seemed like a great idea yesterday. Time to look a little closer in there and see what else I can swipe.

Giving Thanks

2011-11-30T06:33:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday, we woke up early, packed up the car, and started our Thanksgiving roadtrip to Las Vegas.

After nearly four hours of driving, we stopped in St. George. Philip had to attend a few work meetings, so Peanut and I went off together for a few hours and killed time having lunch together and playing on the temple grounds.

We arrived in Las Vegas in the early evening, and after a fun night with the family, we all went to bed much too late. We were up bright and early (thanks to Peanut's lack of time change adjustment), but were welcomed with pumpkin pancakes and deviled eggs, which made the morning much happier.

We spent the rest of Thanksgiving day making and eating lots of delicious food, taking naps, watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and of course, watching lots of football.

On Friday, we spent the day at the Venetian hotel with Philip's parents who drove up to spend Thanksgiving with my side of the family. Philip and Peanut were the only ones brave enough to try out the heated (but still chilly) pool.

After a fun day on the strip, we left Peanut with a babysitter, and all the adults went off to the Aria hotel to see Cirque de Soleil's new show Viva Elvis. It was a fantastic show [and who knew that Elvis was actually attractive in his younger [pre-sideburn/white jumpsuit] days?!].

We spent the rest of the weekend with my family, and after church on Sunday, and a quick picture of Peanut with his grandparents, we headed back home.

Definitely a weekend to be thankful for.

Photomania

2011-11-29T06:53:00.000-07:00

Almost two years ago (hard to believe), my friend Molly, who I met my freshman year at BYU, took some beautiful maternity pictures of me a month or two before Peanut was born.

Then just days after Peanut arrived, she came over and took some gorgeous newborn photos of him.

Are you swooning yet? She is fantastic -- I love every single photo she took.

[also, look how tiny my baby is!!]

And this morning, she is coming over again to take some more photos for me of my sewing projects. I am so excited and can't wait to see what she comes up with! I promise to post them as soon as I have the edited photos in my hands. Be excited.

Stretchy Pants

2011-11-25T06:43:00.000-07:00

cardigan: cozy fashion, polka dot top: old navy, blue jeggings: gap, leopard flats: plato's closet (steve madden)

A few months ago I won a giveaway from RA for a free pair of gap jeans. It took me a long time to get to the mall, since I was waiting for a trip when I could actually spend some time sifting through the jeans and trying things on, but finally the time came and I entered the dressing room with high hopes and a huge pile of pants.

As soon as I pulled these slate blue jeggings on, I knew they had to be mine. Maybe it was because I loved the gorgeous color. Or maybe it was because I liked they way they make my legs look. Or maybe because they add a little variety to the pants section of my closet. But probably it's because I can wear them on Thanksgiving day and eat my weight in turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes and they just stretttttch and strettttch with every pound gained. Jeggings, welcome to my life. Let's be best friends.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T15:13:00.001-07:00

I'm feeling so grateful today. I just want to publicly share a few things that I'm really thankful for.

1. My wonderful Philip. Life is complete with him.

2. Of course my sweet Peanut. Constant entertainment, joy, love, and sweetness.

3. My wonderful family (including Philip's family). I'm so blessed to have such a great family support system.

4. The opportunity to be a mom. I know so many who don't have or have yet to have this opportunity. I feel grateful to have Peanut every single day.

5. Amazing friends. I've always had fantastic friends, and I continue to meet new people that inspire me, encourage me, and uplift me.

6. My church. I can't even begin to express how grateful I am to have that direction and strength in my life.
7. Being with a lot of our family to celebrate this holiday!

There are lots more things I'm grateful for, but I'll save those for another day.

I hope you're all feel grateful today too. Happy Thanksgiving!

Leaves

2011-11-22T06:32:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, when I had the photography bug, I took Peanut outside for a little photoshoot. The weather was slightly cool -- enough to make his little nose rosy -- the leaves were perfectly crunchy and colorful, and the light was gorgeous. How could we pass up these perfect circumstances? Add an adorable bear hat and you may have my very favorite pictures ever.

He has asked to go play in the leaves every day since. I just freaking love this little man.

p.s. we're taking family photos this week (for our Christmas card, you know), and planning outfits for the three of us may be the most difficult thing EVER. Heaven help me when I have more children. That's it...just thought you should know.

Dolman Sleeve Top (Tutorial)

2011-11-16T05:19:00.000-07:00

Over the past few months, I've seen slouchy tops popping up everywhere. Most of the tops in my closet are slim fitting, so to add a little variety to the mix I took a shot at making this blue slouchy dolman sleeved shirt.

I loved how it turned out, so I made another.

And because I like you guys so much, I made a tutorial to go along with it.

What you'll need:

1 1/2 yards of knit/stretchy fabric (slightly more or less depending on your size)
thread in a coordinating color

Step 1. With a measuring tape, measure the length from elbow to elbow, with the measuring tape going behind your head across your neck. Next, measure the distance around your hips and divide that number in half. Lastly, measure the length from the top of your shoulder to your waistband (wherever you want the hem of your top to hit -- I made mine a little long so it would bunch at the bottom). Now add one inch to each of those measurements for your seam allowance. (My measurements were 34" x 18" x 29").

Step 2. Cut two identical rectangles using your top (34") and side (29") measurements. Then center your bottom width (18") along the hemline and cut at an angle (dotted lines) toward the top. Stop about 6-7 inches from the top to leave plenty of room for the arm holes.

Once they're cut, they should look like this:

Step 3. Now it's time to cut the neckline. Fold your fabric in half, and cut out a scoop (see photo below). I wanted a boatneck, so my cut was 4 1/2" across and 2 1/2" down. You can adjust to your liking. Just keep your seam allowance in mind -- your neckline will be roughly 1/4" bigger than what you cut.

Next, with right sides together, sew up your shoulder seams. (You can choose to do this straight across or at an angle (as shown below with a dotted line). I chose to do an angled seam only so there would be less fabric under my arms when the shirt was complete. It's up to you.) Trim the extra seam allowance fabric and zigzag the raw edge.*

* I've heard many people say they have no desire to sew because they don't have a serger, and feel like their clothes will look "homemade" without one. Yes, a serger will do wonders for your sewing and will make all your edges look professional, but I do not own a serger (and probably won't for many years), and I feel like my handmade clothes can still look professional. For all my regular seams, I do a straight stitch, trim the extra seam allowance fabric, and then zigzag the edges. The look is similar to a serger, and just as effective. Try it.

Step 4. Now it's time to tackle the neckline. This gets a little lengthy, but is pretty straight forward. Along a folded edge, cut a rectangle that is wide enough to cover your neck hole. (Mine was roughly 11"x 4").

Line up the rectangle and the top of your shirt, and cut an identical neck hole along the folded edge, as seen below:

Now, with right sides together, pin the rectangle to your top, matching up the neck holes. Sew a straight seam (with a 1/4" s.a.) around the entire hole:

Turn the shirt right side out and press. Then re-pin the neckline and do another 1/4" straight seam around the entire neckline to hold the lining rectangle in place. Use a slightly longer stitch for this seam, as a shorter stitch will create bunching.

Trim the extra fabric and re-press. Now your top should look like this:

Step 5. Now it's time for the side seams. (I ended up re-sewing these three or four times until they were exactly to my liking. This orange fabric is a fairly heavy knit, so it didn't hang as nicely as the blue knit I used for my original dolman shirt. Depending on your fabric, you might have to do some adjusting too. Try it on after each adjustment until you're happy with it). With right sides together, sew a straight stitch seam from the arm hole to the hemline. Or if you want it more fitted around the middle (like mine), angle your seam for the top half of your seam, then straighten out for the bottom half (as seen below).

Trim your extra seam allowance fabric and zigzag the raw edge. Turn right side out and press.

Step 6. Time for the armbands. Measure the distance around your upper arm where the armband will sit. Then decide how thick you want the armbands (mine were about 3"). Add an inch to each measurement for your seam allowance. On the fabric fold, cut two rectangles with the dimensions you just measured. Mine was 10"x4".

With right sides together, sew a straight seam along the short side, then trim the excess fabric and zigzag the edges. Turn right side out and press. Your band should look like this:

With right sides together, slip your armband inside of your arm hole, with all the raw edges facing out. Pin together, sew a 1/4" straight seam, trim the edges, and zigzag. (I left my arm hole slightly (about one inch) bigger than my arm band, and sewed over a few tucks while doing this seam. This creates a little volume in the sleeve. I did not do this on the blue top -- you can tell the difference in the two photos at the top of this post).

Turn your top right side out and press. It should now look like this:

Step 7. Try your top on and pin the hemline to your desired length. Hem using a slightly longer stitch than normal to avoid bunching. Press.

Voila! Your new favorite top!

If you have any questions regarding this tutorial, please email me. And if you make this top, email me a photo -- I'd love to see! Happy sewing!

Brave

2011-11-15T05:46:00.000-07:00

YOU GUYS. Are you seeing what I'm seeing??

This is me. Taking outfit pictures....OUTSIDE.

For years I've seen all the big-kid bloggers brave enough to go outside and take pictures, but until now I've never mustered up the courage to do it. I like to be inside in the safety and comfort of my own bedroom, with nobody able to peek through their blinds and see me doing stupid poses (like anyone cares, but still...my imagination runs wild). If I had a nice fenced in backyard, I would be out there in a heartbeat. Alas, I'm forced to stand in the center of about nine different apartment complexes and push that camera remote button as fast as it will go, then run back inside before anyone sees.

But today I grabbed my camera, marched myself outside, and started taking pictures before I could change my mind. And you know what? It wasn't all that bad. No one laughed, no one gawked out of their windows, in fact, I didn't see a single person. It was a pretty good first run... I may get up the courage to do it again sometime. Maybe.

Oh, by the way, the whole reason I even took these photos is because I made this orange top. Recognize the fabric from the LA pile? It was my second shot at a dolman sleeved top, and this time I made a tutorial, just for you. It's coming tomorrow.

Standby.

Sprinkle

2011-11-13T15:46:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, I helped throw a little baby shower for one of my best friends, Kayla. With all the millions of good ideas out there, it was hard to narrow it down and come up with a good shower theme. Seriously, it was almost overwhelming. Finally we narrowed it down and eventually decided to base our ideas (a.k.a. copy the entire thing) off of this adorable "Sprinkled With Love" shower.

If you didn't know (I did not), a shower for a second baby is actually called a "sprinkle," rather than a "shower." And since this is Kayla's second baby, the theme fit perfectly.

We based all our decoration and food colors off of her baby girl's bedroom -- aqua, light pink, and fuchsia. Thanks to all the great ideas from the shower we copied, everything turned out so cute.

Leanne was in charge of a lot of the food, and made these adorable (and delicious) cupcakes

My favorite thing that we copied was the sprinkle dipped glasses...they were a hit. Someone asked if they were pop-rocks, and that sparked a good idea. Next time we'll have to do that instead of sprinkles!

I made the "sprinkled with love" sign using a circle cutter and a paint pen

The delicious ice cream bar with several different toppings to sprinkle on top.

The two main things I was in charge of were decorations (since it was at my house) and games. I've mentioned before that I'm not a big fan of most shower games, so I scoured the internet and pinterest and finally decided to do versions of the mad-lib questionnaire from this shower, and the baby trivia game from Emily's shower (which I actually attended, and was so cute in person!)

As the guests arrived, they filled out the mad-lib card, giving advice to the soon-to-be mother of two. Most people went with serious or sweet advice, but some of them were hilarious and a bit snarky. Just what we like. Then after everyone had eaten, we played the trivia game -- ten questions about the heaviest baby ever born, the woman who had the most children ever, and strange Chinese pregnancy traditions. It was great fun (although no one got more than 4 right...it was a tough quiz!).

It was a great shower, everyone seemed to have a blast, and Kayla got some seriously adorable baby girl clothes...I think I need to have a baby girl just so I can get clothes as cute as those. Happy baby!

Before and After

2011-11-10T06:12:00.000-07:00

I've been on a project binge lately, fixing up all sorts of stuff. My closet has been overhauled several times, I've delved through my repair box over and over, and of course I've been working through all my loot from the fabric district.

But one project that has been on the top of my list for the last few months is our bar stools. We bought them about five years ago, and after eating dinner at our bar nearly every night of those five years, these poor chairs were in bad shape.

See?? So sad. So embarrassing.

The plan was the find some good upholstery fabric in LA, but despite the miles of fabric to choose from, I didn't love any of them. Poor Philip was sad when I came home empty handed. But happily for him, I jumped on fabric.com a few days later and found this pretty fabric.

A few staples later, these chairs are as good as new.

Another successful project to cross off the list.

Deep Thoughts on Photography

2011-11-09T06:01:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, during her baby shower, my cousin's wife, Kortney, mentioned she wanted to take some maternity pictures. Somehow, amidst that conversation, I ended up offering to take them for her. And somehow she trusted me, despite the fact that I'm not a professional, and that she's probably only seen the pictures that I've taken on here, which are about as unprofessional as they get...(What? You don't like my closet door as a background over and over and over again? My bad.)

Anyway, we drove up beautiful Provo canyon a few days later, just as the sun was about to set, and got some pretty good photos of her in all her glowing pregnant beauty.

And now several people have been like, "hey, do you do photography now?" And the honest answer is, um, "I don't know." It's kind of a fun little hobby for me, but I have no desire to make a big business out of it. I have so many other things that I'm involved in, and the thought of booking shoots, or advertising, or building a website just makes me want to die. I think I'd much rather do it every once in a while, all by word of mouth, and keep it very casual, and mostly just for fun. Cause if I'm going to be totally honest with myself, I will hate it the second it becomes a job.

Oh, and I must promise myself that I will not offer to take anyone else's photos until I get an external hard drive. Cause guess what...my computer is out of memory. I can hardly check my email without little warnings popping up everywhere telling me my startup disk is almost full. Christmas cannot come soon enough.

Scallops: Part 2

2011-11-03T06:55:00.000-06:00

Remember the little sneak peak I gave you the other day? Well, the project is done. Actually, it was done when I posted the sneak peak, but I couldn't show you the entire thing since it was a gift for my niece and my sister in law reads my blog. Didn't want any surprises to be ruined!

My little niece turned three on Halloween, so I whipped up this little dress for her, based off of this adorable dress from Zara.

I initially made the dress with only one layer of scallops, since I only had a little bit of this fabric, but then Leanne had the genius idea to line the entire dress and then add the second layer of scallops to the hemline of the lining. It looked a little rough around the edges since I added the lining after the fact, but I think that having two layers of scallops made a big difference in the look of the dress. So it was worth it.

I used a plastic cup and a sharpie to mark out the scalloped edge, then cut along the lines and zigzagged the raw edges. If I were to go back and do it again, I would line the entire thing and do a straight stitch along the scalloped edge (with right sides together), then turn it right side out, press out the scallops and do another straight seam along the scalloped edge to keep the scallops in place. Oh well...next time...

For the rosette, I just used a old piece of fabric, sewed in the rose shape, and then hot glued a piece of felt to the back. I pinned it to the dress so it is removable and any flower can be pinned to the dress.

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, and I hear that my niece loved it. So here's to another successful gift.

And now that all the family birthdays are done for the year, it's time to get started on Christmas gifts!

Dolman

2011-11-02T08:54:00.000-06:00

After making my maxi skirt the other day, I was still in a sewing mood. Those skirts are so quick to whip up that I don't lose my sewing drive mid-project, as usual.

With about a yard of the blue fabric left, I thought I'd try out a top. I've been loving all the loose flowy tops with dolman sleeves, so I gave it a try.

top: made by me, jeans: abercrombie (refashioned), boots: target, watch: dkny, earrings: gift from my sister

It was all trial and error, so there was no way I could make a tutorial as I went. But I love the top so much, especially with the boatneck and tapered hemline, that I'll be making another one in the next few days and will definitely do a tutorial to go along with that one. Then you can all make one too and be in love with yours as much as I am with mine.

Stay tuned!

Halloween (Take 2)

2011-11-01T06:03:00.000-06:00

Yesterday morning I held Mommy School at my house, so we did a little Halloween Party to celebrate. All the kids dressed up in their costumes, we read a few Halloween books, we decorated Halloween cookies, and we had a potluck brunch/dessert party to use all those pumpkin flavored foods we've been hoarding on Pinterest but haven't made. I made this. There was no time for a picture since we all devoured it while it was still warm. With all the other amazing treats everyone else brought, we all left on the verge of slipping into a sugar coma.

After we ate, we took the kids outside and attempted a group picture. Not completely successful, but at least all the children were up on the bench and nobody fell off during the picture.

Being outside also gave me a chance to take a few pictures of Peanut in his football uniform. Seriously, how could I not? That big diaper bum in stretchy pants was irresistible.

It took us forever to decide on a costume for him. There were a million ideas on Pinterest, but none that I just loved. Plus, I was looking for something simple, fun, and also something he would keep on for more than thirty seconds (he's getting quite opinionated about his outfits these days).

I don't know what sparked the idea, but one day it just came to me -- BYU football player. We always talk about how our solid little boy will be a football player one day, and since both Philip and I graduated from BYU, there wasn't a more perfect costume.

I got most of the materials from Walmart (and some I already owned), and then did some easy assembling. I took the pocket off of a big blue t-shirt, used iron on letters for the small letters on the front and back, cut out white felt for the "07" and sewed them on the front and back, and used folded-over (7 times) batting for the shoulder pads. I also used white bais tape for the sleeve stripes, and then used a bit of elastic to make the sleeves tight on his arms.

The pants I got from Old Navy in the girls section -- leggings with little lace on the ankles. A little snip and some blue bias tape stripes and they became very masculine football pants. We used his navy blue church socks and black tennis shoes that we already owned, and my black eyeliner for his eye black.

Thanks to Google and some coaching from Philip, it turned out better than I could have hoped. Definitely keeping this one for future baby boys (or even next Halloween if Peanut hasn't completely grown out of it!).

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T08:39:00.000-06:00

Representing our Alma Mater.

Happy Halloween!

p.s. Happy 3rd birthday to the baby girl that first made me an aunt!

Maxi

2011-10-24T13:43:00.000-06:00

Maxi skirts and dresses were one of those trends that I thought I'd never get sucked in to. I don't know if it was the negative connotation I had with the word "maxi," or if it was just the fact that a floor length skirt seemed so pioneer to me, but either way I wasn't a huge fan when these skirts hit the runway.

Then I started seeing people actually wear them, and they looked so soft and comfy, like a big blanket around their legs all day. But they still looked pretty and feminine, and not one bit pioneer-ish!

Oh, and I became good friends with Leanne, who is currently the queen of rocking the maxi skirt, and made me covet every outfit she wore. Seriously, when I have another baby I'm wearing a maxi skirt every day just so I can look like her.

So yesterday I pulled up Leanne's tutorial and made myself a maxi. It would have taken no time at all except for the full two side seams that I sewed and then had to unpick (without a seam ripper!) because the skirt was like a suction cup to my hips. Cute. I think that's a pretty clear sign that I need to start working out regularly again...

Oh, and that blanket around the legs all day thing that I mentioned? Totally true. I'm hooked.

Scalloped

2011-10-21T06:37:00.000-06:00

Have you seen all the scalloped hemlines that are popping up everywhere? I think they're absolutely gorgeous. Well, I have been working on a special project the last few days that involves that very fun detail.

I'll show you the finished product in a few days!

Happy Friday!

Purple Girl (Product Review)

2011-10-20T14:57:00.000-06:00

Dress: eShakti, Cardigan: Target, Belt: Cozy, Heels: Sole Envy

When I was searching for a black bridesmaid dress for Landen's wedding back in August, I searched high and low on the internet (and in stores) to find something great. It's a tough job to find black dresses in July, but also everything was so expensive and/or ugly and/or too long/too short.

After an extensive search, my sister, Janssen, recommended looking at eShakti, an online clothing website that specializes in personal alterations -- basically, you can purchase any of their clothing items and then send in your exact measurements and have them make it to fit you perfectly. You can also change the sleeves, hemline, and neckline on almost all of their clothes. I'd never heard of it, but it sounded amazing! Immediately I found seven or eight dresses that I loved, and I ended up ordering this one in black. It was pretty and simple (but also kind of fun for a LBD), very reasonably priced, and I was able to have it altered to knee-length. It was absolutely perfect for the wedding, and I got tons of compliments on it.

I just received this purple dress in the mail from eShakti and again, it is the perfect fit. I had them add little capped sleeves, and now it's a fun, interesting party dress that I can wear to all my holiday events this year. I was particularly impressed at the quality of the fabric, and all the details that are so well done. If you haven't checked out their website, they have tons of beautiful fall and winter dresses that have just arrived!

FTC Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post, but the dress was provided by eShakti.

Loot

2011-10-18T06:47:00.000-06:00

In case you missed yesterday's post, my mom and I took a quick trip to Pasadena, California this past weekend. As part of the trip, we hit the LA Fashion District.

There was seriously no way to prepare for something like the Fabric District, even with the amazing help of Leanne (who is a pro after living there this past summer, and shared all her tips). Store after store with bolts and bolts of fabric stacked to the ceiling -- where do you even start?

Luckily, we had hours to dig, and I ended up scoring several great fabrics for next to nothing.

Here's the breakdown.

We started at Michael Levine's "The Loft" where they sell all their fabrics for $2.50/lb. There are huge boxes full of fabric scraps, so digging is required, but once you have a stack of fabric you throw it on the scale and your price is determined. The watercoloresque fabric on the right is very lightweight, so that probably cost me a few cents. The other two fabrics are jersey knits and are slightly heavier, but still only cost a few bucks total.

I also picked up a little scrap of this collar/sleeve edging at The Loft and I'm planning to attempt a little t-shirt for Peanut. This also probably cost only a few cents because it was so lightweight.

One of the stores Leanne recommended was Angel Textiles. This was the only fabric I bought there (a girl can only carry so much!), but it was such a cool store with so many great fabrics. In yesterday's post I have a picture of it -- it's the one with fabric bolts stacked twenty feet tall on both sides of the isle. This is a deep orange jersey knit with a gorgeous metallic gold stripe. There are so many possibilities with this fabric, and it only cost $2/yd.

This was the best find of the day -- gold sequined and embellished fabric. We found this in some little random shop, and my mom and I had our first (and last) fabric bartering experience (thankfully, cause I hate bartering). The gold sequined fabric was originally $12/yd, but we convinced them to give us the rest of the bolt (several yards) for $15. The yellow fabric next to it is the lining (the gold fabric is completely sheer) and only cost $3. I have a special project in mind which I will hopefully get started on here in the next few weeks.

We found this beautiful grass green cotton twill at Mood Fabrics, and my mom treated me to it. This was $15/yd (Mood's fabrics were much more expensive), but I didn't even get an entire yard, so it still didn't cost much, and will be the cheapest and most adorable pencil skirt you've ever seen when I'm done with it.

And finally, we couldn't leave the amazing button store without picking up a few fun gems. We spent forever scouring the little boxes full of buttons finding the best ones. Just adding these darling buttons will spice up any top, jacket, or skirt. Oh, the possibilities!

Now all I need is an excuse to go back every six months!

Getaway

2011-10-17T08:24:00.000-06:00

On Friday night, my mom and I both jumped on a plane (me from Salt Lake and her from Las Vegas) and headed off to Pasadena, California.

That night we drove to an adorable bed and breakfast in South Pasadena (with amazing homemade toffee on the bedside table to greet us upon arrival), then woke up the next morning to delicious breakfast of baked apple, spinach and mushroom quiche, sausage link, and cinnamon bread toast. Then off we went to the Fashion District, and more specifically the Textiles/Fabric district.

For the entire morning, and late into the afternoon, we were in fabric HEAVEN.

After our feet couldn't handle much more walking, we packed up our loot and drove to Mood Fabrics, made famous by Project Runway (my mom's a huge fan). After the chaos of the fabric district, we were thrilled to see some organization and structure in a store, although the price tags were a shock after the dirt cheap fabrics we'd just scored.

After an hour or so at Mood, we were off to the Norton Simon Art Museum -- the whole excuse for this trip (which ended up being the shortest activity we did). We stopped for a quick late lunch in the museum cafe, and then zipped through the museum going as slowly as we could with the approaching close time. It was an amazing museum, and unbelievable how much great art one man collected. My favorites were the Rembrandts.

After an incredibly long day full of walking and standing, we drove back to the bed and breakfast and sat around for the rest of the evening, some of it spent out on the beautiful front porch in the gorgeous California weather, and some of it spent eating the amazing biscotti in the lobby.

Then after another night's sleep, we were up early to catch our flight and return home. Certainly a whirlwind trip, but so much fun and so great to spend many uninterrupted hours with my mom.

Tomorrow I'll show you all my loot!

Yesterday

2011-10-14T06:19:00.000-06:00

Being a stay at home mom is not always an easy job. Many days are so great, but there is the big responsibility to teach your children, some days you never leave the house except to walk the twenty steps to the mailbox, and there are dirty diapers and scheduling and occasional tantrums to deal with.

But some days, everyone's schedules work together and you get invited to a lunch/playdate with several of your best friends, you eat delicious food, the babies play quietly and nicely together, and you get to sit together for a few hours and have wonderful conversation.

Yesterday was one of those days.

Yesterday was a great day.

p.s. Tonight I'm off to LA with my mom for a mom/daughter weekend at the Norton Simon Art Museum and the LA Fabric District. Eeee! Be prepared for a full report next week! Happy Weekend!

Let Me Help You Help Me

2011-10-13T06:05:00.000-06:00

In the last week, my blog traffic has suddenly skyrocketed, thanks to the help of Pinterest and a certain little refashion post that's been making the rounds. Very exciting.

So if you're new around these parts, welcome. Glad you're here. Hope you'll stay. There are many more projects in the works, so stay tuned!

Along with all this new traffic, I'm also getting many new commenters. While this is very exciting and fun, it's also frustrating because I like to respond individually to each comment via email, and so, so, so many of you new commenters do not have your email hooked up to your blogger profile.

[Actually, many of you old commenters don't either, but I've been able to track down your emails through your blogs, or facebook, or some of you are my old friends or family members so I already have your email address -- but that doesn't excuse you from following this tutorial and fixing it now].

So when I go to reply to your very nice comment to answer your very kind questions, it looks like this:

See? That <noreply-comment@blogger.com> means your email address is not hooked up to the blogger profile you're using to comment, and that means I can't reply. So, would you be so kind as to check your blogger profile right now and see if your email address is viewable? It literally takes five seconds.

Just go to your blogger profile and click the Edit Profile button:

Then click the little box that says "Show my email address."

And that's it! Now we can be friends and I don't have to hunt down your email address, or type it in myself (ahem, ahem), or just let your very nice comment/question float around in the void forever.

Janssen, Grace, and Kayla also blogged about this very subject many moons ago, so if after all those prompts you still haven't done it, just do it now. Please. For my sanity.

18

2011-10-12T06:04:00.000-06:00

Dear Peanut,

Today you are one and a half. I am shocked at how fast the time has gone and what a little man you have suddenly become. There is not much talk about you on the blog these days, so today is your special day...a post dedicated just to you.

You have changed so much since your twelve month post. In fact, your development has shocked the doctor and made your dad and I into those parents who can't help but brag about their smart, handsome, sweet, hilarious, and perfect little boy. Dad also loves it that you're in the 89th percentile for height...he's praying for a basketball star.

Your favorite thing these days is reading. We would read books from sun up to sun down every day if I let you, but sometimes we have to get out of the house, or eat lunch, or take a bath. I know, mean mom. I don't know if it's all the reading we do, or your magnetic letters that sit on the fridge, but you recently became really interested in letters and after asking what several letters were, you were suddenly seeing them all over the place and remembering them. We have gone in no particular order, only taking cues from you when you point to a new letter and ask what it is, and so far you can recognize and say nearly all the letters in the alphabet (a, b, e, f, g, i, k, m, n, o, r, s, t, u, v, x, y, z -- in case you're curious). Whenever we're driving and we pass a billboard or store sign with a letter you recognize, you shout it out from the backseat -- it is so cute, and makes me so proud.

At twelve months you were saying only one word consistently: "mama." This didn't concern the doctor, but he said most children your age were saying three words. I wasn't worried either, but in an effort to communicate in some way with you, I started teaching you a few signs -- "more," "all done", "milk," and "please." After only a few days of signing them, you picked it up and started signing all day long, and always in the correct context. Then within a month, something clicked and you were suddenly saying and signing several words like a pro. Now, only six months later, you are talking non-stop, starting to form sentences, and repeating everything we say. We are often shocked at the kinds of words you remember after only hearing them one time.

This past week we finally took your bottle away -- cold turkey. You have no problem drinking water and juice out of a cup or a sippy cup, but milk must be in the bottle. It's been a rough few days with you asking for milk about fifty times a day, but every time we offer it to you, there are meltdowns, tantrums, and sippy cup throwing because it's not in the bottle. It's getting better each day, but I think we still have a few grumpy days ahead of us.

We've also started going to a little playgroup/preschool with some of the kids in our neighborhood. We call it "Mommy School," and we learn about letters, read books, play games, learn how to share, and just get out of the house to socialize. It's so interesting to see you in big groups and small groups of kids because you are just like me: loud, silly, and outgoing with small groups, and very reserved and quiet in big groups. I noticed it first when we started going to nursery at church a few weeks ago. You sing, clap, or wave your prop during singing time but always from the back of the room, you stand away from the crowd when the teacher blows bubbles for all the kids to pop, and you pretty much just want to sit on my lap during reading time. I'm so curious to see how these personality traits will pan out as you get older.

In the mean time, I am so grateful to have you as my little boy, and I'm soaking in every moment of this stage. I can't imagine loving you any more than I do right now.

Love, Mommy

first day of "school" -- yes, I'm that mom already!

Finally brave enough to go down the slide by himself

The Shocked Face -- we saw this a lot for about a month. Sadly, the phase has passed and we haven't seen it in a few weeks. But we enjoyed it while it lasted because it is so hilarious.

figuring out the camera remote and showing of the few teeth that he has (sorry, dude, you got my slow teeth...)

Ruffled

2011-10-11T13:05:00.000-06:00

[cardigan: target (gifted), top: target (refashioned), jeans: abercrombie (refashioned to skinnies), mary jane wedges: target]

Here's something you may not know about me: I'm not a huge shopper. Now, that doesn't mean I don't like to shop, because I do. It just means that I really try to limit myself so I don't just go out and blow tons of money on clothes that I won't care about in two months. Because here's another piece of info about me -- I get bored of my clothes pretty quickly.

So here's my secret. I go through my closet every four or five months and pull out everything that I haven't worn in at least six months (and have no desire to wear in the next six months), and instead of throwing it away or donating it, I put it in my repair bin until I receive some awesome inspiration as to how to make it lovable again. Sometimes that means cutting it up and making it into leg warmers and an infinity scarf, other times it means just adding some embellishments, or making the sleeves more fitted, or the hem a few inches higher.

In this case, it meant cutting off the big ruffly sleeves that made me look like a linebacker and sewing them onto the front to make a pretty feminine embellishment:

It went from a shirt that I never wore to one that I love and will wear often. And it didn't cost me a thing.

...although these did:
Sometimes I can't help myself.

Infinity

2011-10-10T15:02:00.000-06:00

I love scarves. I have an entire drawer full, and I anxiously anticipate the fall and winter when I can wear a scarf every single day. Well, at least I anxiously anticipated it last year....and then, I wore a scarf like two time the entire winter. And I think those times were more for warmth than for looks.

Here's the problem. All my scarves are either too short, too long, have too much fringe at the ends, or are just too bulky to wear in a way that's remotely attractive.

So, I fixed the problem.

All these too long, too short, too fat, too bulky scarves are now infinity scarves. A quick snip of either end, a seam to attach the two ends, and voila. Five new infinity scarves that I will be wearing all winter long.

Seriously, this time.

[p.s. the striped one second to the right is actually an old sweater that I chopped up and re-purposed into a few different things. I think with the loose cable knit (and stripes!) it's my favorite]

Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto

2011-10-07T13:37:00.000-06:00

[top: old navy, cardigan: target (gifted), jeans: ross, belt: cozy, boots: target]

For the last ten years or so, I've had arrhythmia. It happens once a month, or so, and my heart just starts beating really really quickly, as if I've just run a marathon (when all I've actually done is um, drive my car. Or bend over and pick up something off the ground. Exhausting!). It usually lasts for a few minutes and if I just sit down and relax, it goes away.

The other day I was out with some friends and it started...and wouldn't stop. For three hours. I felt like I was dying -- I couldn't catch my breath, I was sweating like crazy, and my heart felt like it was about to jump right through my skin. Not fun.

So off I went to the cardiologist a few days later to get things checked out, just in case. Sitting in the waiting room for forty-five minutes with twenty other people, all over the age of seventy, was anything but comforting, but after an EKG and a heart ultrasound, the doctor said he thought it was pretty harmless. If anything I might have to have a little outpatient surgery where they connect two little "wires" of my heart that are probably causing the racing. But still...that's heart surgery. Terrifying.

But before we get all serious about diagnoses, I've been instructed to wear a heart monitor for the next three weeks so they can record any episodes of arrythmia and then be 100% sure in their diagnosis.

Today is my first day wearing the heart monitor and I feel kind of like a robot, hooked up to wires and ready to push "record" the moment my heart starts racing.

You can call me Mrs. Roboto.

Polo Refashion

2011-10-04T10:10:00.001-06:00

A few months ago Philip and I weeded through our closets and made a big pile of stuff to donate to Goodwill. After the pile was made, I went through and took out anything I thought I could refashion. One of them was an old Abercrombie polo that Philip no longer liked. I'd seen a few polo refashions floating around on Pinterest, and although none of them had struck my fancy, I was sure I could do something awesome with this shirt.

Then the other day I saw this photo and fell in love. Out came the fabric box and there was that old gray polo, ready and waiting to be loved.

I turned it backward, cut out the collar (leaving the buttons so that it has a button-up back), took in the sleeves, and gave it a little hem.

It's the perfect comfy casual top that can be dressed up for date night or dressed down for playgroup. I'm in love.

Copper Sky

2011-09-27T06:42:00.000-06:00

After six weeks of constant painting, day and night, for the Spark Commission, I was totally burned out. In fact, I had no desire to even pick up a paint brush for weeks. Yesterday, it had finally been a few weeks too long since I'd painted and I was starting to get the itch.

I pulled out all my stuff while Peanut was sleeping and did a quick 90 minute painting. It's not my best painting ever, but I'm glad to see that I didn't totally lose all my abilities after almost two months of no painting. I wish the colors came out better in this photo-- the purples and oranges are quite a bit brighter -- but overall I'm happy with this painting. A little glaze after it dries and it will be done.

"Copper Sky" - Oil on Panel, 90 min painting, 9.26.11

Happy Tuesday!

Sick.

2011-09-23T12:45:00.000-06:00

A major cold has hit our house this week. It started with Peanut (we thought it might be teething since he's currently cutting 3 molars), but then it hit me, and now poor Philip has been subjected. We're all congested, coughing, and exhausted.

For the past week our living room has been strewn with books as I sit on the couch and Peanut brings me one after the other, asking to be read to. I love that he suddenly has a seriously love for reading (and the patience to sit through many books in a row), but I'm so sick of Dr. Suess, Eric Carl and Sandra Boynton, I could gouge my eyes out. We have read them each roughly five million times.

We went to the library and picked up about ten new books, but he refuses to look at most of them, despite the fact that one of them is one of the most hilarious childrens book I've ever read. Why he dislikes that one, I don't know. Instead we read Hop on Pop for the zillionth time.

Hopefully the weekend will cure us of our ailments and we'll be back in business (and back to blogging) by Monday.

Hope you have a happy (and healthy) weekend.

p.s. Have you checked out my holiday commission special? Order your custom painting before they're all sold out!

Giveaway Winner & My Next Big Project Announced!

2011-09-21T05:52:00.000-06:00

First of all, thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who participated in the giveaway. I was overwhelmed by the response and appreciate every single one of you. Some of you were old time readers, but some of you were brand new to my blog. I hope you'll stick around!

And now, without further ado, here are the giveaway winners!

Winner number one, of the "Boat Dock" painting is....

and....

Winner number two of the custom painting is....

Congratulations to both of you! Email me at merricksart@gmail.com to claim your painting!

-----------------------------------

And now, I'm excited to announce my Holiday Commission Special!

Some of you may remember that last year I did a similar holiday special. This time around the only difference is the size of paintings offered. The offer is good for the next seven weeks and all the paintings will be shipped out several weeks before Christmas (all the details are on my website).

So if you didn't win the giveaway and still want a painting, or you're completely stumped on what to give your significant other, parents, best friend, or grandparents for the holidays, head on over to my website and purchase a painting.

What better gift could you give yourself or someone else?

Again, thank you for participating in the giveaway. I hope to see you over at my website soon! I'd love to do a very special painting just for you!

Especially Grateful For. [3rd Edition]

2011-09-18T15:50:00.000-06:00

I've missed the last few weeks of "especially grateful for.." since I was on vacation and then recovering from vacation. But here I am -- back on the bandwagon and seriously feeling the need to express my thanks.

So today I am especially grateful for...

1. our incredibly welcoming new ward
2. Peanut sleeping during the entire 2nd flight home from Philly (and letting me get a much needed nap!)
3. Philip being home after three days in St. George for work
4. Strawberry ice cream (to drown our sorrows in over BYU's loss)
5. Date nights with Philip
6. Planning Christmas gifts that I know Philip will love (but maybe not as much as I'll love giving them!)
7. Story time at the library that allowed Peanut and me to get out of the house and spend a fun morning together
8. free audio book downloads (from librivox.org) so I can still listen to books on cd that are currently checked out from the library and are $15 to download on itunes
9. Saturday morning at the park with my little family (especially because we had the park to ourselves)
10. This movie that comes out next month -- I just finished the book, and the movie looks so fun (especially with Will Turner and Mr. Darcy :))

Happy Sunday!

p.s. My giveaway ends Tuesday night. Have you entered to win one of my two paintings yet? If not, go here to enter!

Eating For a Week

2011-09-15T06:08:00.000-06:00

I mentioned on facebook the other day that it was a good week when your every item on the weeks dinner menu included fresh basil in some form.

Well then all the sudden everyone was wanting me to post my menu! Make this a new feature on my blog! Oh, all the ideas that I can share!

Gah, the pressure!

I have no intention of doing this on a weekly basis, but for this week I will indulge. Here is what I'm cooking this week for dinner.

Monday:

Pasta with Bacon and Asparagus [this was a new recipe for us, and definitely a keeper. But then again, how can you go wrong with pasta and bacon?? All three of us scarfed it down.]
homemade biscuits with jam
green grapes

Tuesday:

Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta [another new recipe. Philip thought it was too lemony, but Peanut and I loved it. He's been asking for leftover "noo-noo's" all day!]
Spinach salad with candied almonds, craisins, and homemade poppyseed dressing
Fresh strawberries

Wednesday:

Basil Chicken in Coconut Curry Sauce over steamed rice [Philip was out of town for this dinner, and since he was in St. George, I was thinking about our last trip to St. George where I ate the most amazing curry at Benja's Thai. I tried not to compare, but I couldn't help myself. This was delicious, but not AS delicious as Benja's. I'll make it again and try to have an open mind].
Steamed asparagus
Fresh strawberries

Thursday:

Friday:

Homemade pizza (homemade sauce, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms, jalapenos, fresh basil, and freshly grated parmesan cheese)
Fruit Smoothies

**I usually don't have so much pasta in one week, but that's just the way it turned out this week. Usually I try to have a good balance between pasta, rice, soups, etc, and also have a balance between different types of meats. I'll do better next week...**

A Tiny Dress

2011-09-14T13:22:00.000-06:00

A few months ago, I found this adorable dress on Pinterest.

via

As you know, there are no girl babies in this house, but I HAD.TO. MAKE. THIS. DRESS! So I pinned it away for the future, and then suddenly Janssen's baby girl, Ella's, birthday was coming up and I needed a gift. It was perfect.

I rummaged through my fabric box and found the leftover table runner fabric from Landen's French bridal shower, and a large scrap of yellow cotton that I stole from my mom's fabric box at some point.

[If you are interested in making your own dress like this, here are a few of my tips. If you don't care, you can skip the following paragraph :)]

Since there was no pattern, and I didn't have Ella's measurements (it would have given away the secret if I'd asked Janssen for them!), I just made it up as a went along. The top of the dress is similar to the polka dot blouse I'm wearing in these photos, so I used that as a reference, which ended up being really helpful. Then for the skirt, I cut a full circle with a hole in the middle, then two more thin circles in black and yellow for the black band and the bottom of the skirt. I ironed the pleats and then carefully pinned them while I sewed, then re-ironed them after the dress was done. I put hidden snaps under the buttons on the blouse so it would be easier to put on a baby, and then the back of the skirt has velcro. I also added little sleeves, which were just little ruched half-circles.

I was in a time crunch toward the end, so as soon as the dress was finished I rushed it over to the post office without taking a final photo. Luckily, Ella was kind enough to model it after church one day and I was sent a few photos.

[looks like those nicely ironed pleats didn't last long! :)]

There are quite a few elementary mistakes, but overall I'm thrilled with how it came out. And even more thrilled that it actually fit Ella.

Happy belated birthday, baby girl. And happy ACTUAL birthday to Janssen today!

p.s. Don't forget about my giveaway! If you haven't entered, go here for a chance to win one of two paintings!

Iiiiiiiit's Giveaway Time! -- CLOSED

2011-09-13T06:05:00.000-06:00

This giveaway is now closed. Check my recent post for winner announcements and some great information about my holiday painting special!

------------------------

I started this blog several years ago as a place to post my art. It was mostly so my mom could see what I was working on in my college art classes, but it's morphed over the years into a place where I talk not only about my art, but also my family, good food, traveling, fashion, and anything else I feel like.

In addition to finding myself and my interests through this blog, I've also found many, many good friends in the blogging world. Probably only three people (my mom, my sister, and my husband) read this blog in the beginning, and now I have people from all over the place stopping by and sharing kind words. Seriously, this has been so fun.

So now it's time to give back to all you nice people. Because I like you.

Today I am giving away TWO things, which means there will be TWO winners!

Giveaway Item #1: This painting!

"boat dock"

I did this painting earlier this year from a photo I took in San Diego during our summer 2010 trip. It is a 4"x6" oil painting on masonite panel, and comes with a black floater frame (as pictured). This is one of my favorite paintings to date.

Giveaway Item #2: A custom 5"x7" painting of your choice!

Choose your favorite photo of your baby, your parents, your pet, your car, or even a location and I will paint it for you (limit of 2 subjects). This one will not be framed, but it's a standard size so a frame can easily be purchased. If you check out my art website, you can find my commissioned work under "gallery 4." This will give you an idea of the past commissions I've done and hopefully give you some ideas of what you want painted if you are the winner!

This giveaway will be open until Tuesday, the 20th of September, at midnight (one week)!

To enter, leave a comment telling me which painting you want to win, and why.

Good luck!!

The Philly Finale

2011-09-09T13:37:00.000-06:00

1. Visiting Smith Kids' Play Place -- going down the huge wooden slide
2. Peanut driving the play truck ("dive, dive!")
3. Cousins on the teeter totter
4. Peanut stressing out (and holding on to me for dear life) on the fun swing
5 & 6. Peanut finding and playing with every truck, car, and bus in the playhouse
7. lunch at Tony Luke's!
8. Delicious cheesesteaks and french fries from Tony Luke's

Tomorrow we go home!

Another Few Days in Philadelphia

2011-09-08T06:19:00.000-06:00

1. Philadelphia Art Museum
2. My favorite Marcel Duchamp painting in real life (!!)
3. Kitchen Kettle Village in Amish Country
4. Peanut playing on the train in Amish Country
5 & 6. Peanut freaking out at the petting zoo
7. The Llama and me showing off our nice teeth
8. Immergut pretzels -- the most amazing pretzels in the world
9. Dinner at El Vez
10. My amazing pork tacos at El Vez

Ocean City

2011-09-06T07:03:00.001-06:00

1. Ocean City boardwalk
2. Peanut and me playing in the ocean (he was in love -- 2 straight hours of smiles)
3. My first gyro -- DELICIOUS.
4. Fresh homemade chips on the boardwalk
5. On the boardwalk
6. With the beach and a million kites behind us (you can only see one, but there were a ton)
7. Boardwalk fair
8. Adorable beach houses

Backward Boatnecks

2011-09-01T13:14:00.000-06:00

[striped tee: target, jeans: abercrombie (altered by me), necklace: gifted (francesca's), sandals: target]

This striped tee was a must-have when I saw it on the shelf at Target. All my other striped clothing is more dressy, so having a navy and white striped casual tee was just what my closet was wanting. Then, the second time I wore it, I got a nice orange stain two or three stripes below the neckline. I tried stain remover and bleaching over and over, but to no avail. Finally I bought a white fabric marker and went at the stain with that last night, but because the shirt is actually slightly off-white, the white paint was too obvious.

I was bound and determined to not throw this shirt away (I know what you're thinking -- why not run to Target and buy another for $8? I tried. They were gone. Sad story), so this morning, on a whim, I tried it on backward. And just like that, it's a boatneck beauty. And I love it.

Welcome back to my closet, striped tee. Welcome back.

Forcing Fall

2011-08-31T13:17:00.000-06:00

[mustard cardigan: cozy, striped tunic: H&M, leggings: target, brown boots: target]

Tomorrow is the first day of September, which means fall is coming! And fall means boots! and cardigans! So even though it's still sunny and a million degrees outside, I'm dressing for fall. Cause whether or not the weather is ready for fall, I am.

I'll just wear extra deodorant today.

Three Fon-DO's

2011-08-31T06:47:00.000-06:00

Last night I hosted book club with a bunch of girlfriends. We took the summer off, so this was our "jumpstart" / "choose books for the next few months" night. We usually do a potluck of some sort, and we've done everything from a potato bar, to knock-off cafe rio salads, to soup/salad/breadsticks night. I wanted to something a little different, and after racking my brain and coming up with nothing fun or original, I finally turned to Janssen and she recommended a fondue night. Brilliant. That's why I keep sisters around.

I ended up doing three fondues -- two cheese and one chocolate. And now I will share those recipes with you because I cannot just sit here and bask in the deliciousness all by myself and not tell you to go make these RIGHT NOW.

Fondue #1 was a Pesto Fondue (also found by Janssen) from Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body. This fondue was AMAZING. So flavorful, so creamy, and a perfect amount of pesto flavor. Not overpowering, but not too subtle. This was a crowd pleaser.

Ingredients
3 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1 1/2 cups dry white wine or chicken broth
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 garlic cloves
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves (chopped)
1/4 cup almonds

Directions
Put basil, almonds and garlic in blender or food precessor. While blending add 1/4 cup of wine (or chicken broth) and blend until thick. Set aside.

In a large saucepan, add the pesto mixture and remaining white wine until it reaches a slow rolling boil.

In a large bowl, toss the shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheese with the cornstarch. Slowly stir it into saucepan with the boiling pesto/wine one small handful at a time. Stir over medium heat until it is melted and stringy.

Fondue #2 was a Cheddar Cheese Fondue (a knock-off from The Melting Pot). I did this one more as a safe backup just in case everyone hated the pesto fondue, but it ended up also being a hit and was definitely not just a "safe" cheese fondue. Very flavorful, and very creamy and smooth.

ingredients:
6 ounces medium sharp cheddar cheese
2 ounces Swiss Cheese
1 cup of half and half (more if you want it thinner)
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons flour

directions:
In a double boiler, combine half and half, garlic, mustard powder, and Worcestershire sauce, and stir. Heat to a low boil. Shred all the cheese, and toss with flour, coating cheese well. The flour will help thicken the sauce. When the half and half mixture is warm add one third of the cheese into the mixture, and whisk very well. Once the cheese has been incorporated well, add second third of cheese, whisk in very well, and add in the remaining cheese and whisk until nice and smooth. Add more half and half if you need to thin it out. Serve immediately.

And finally, Fondue #3, Chocolate Fondue. While searching for a good fondue recipe, I came across Mel's Truffle Hot Chocolate Balls recipe. In the comments section, someone mentioned that they used this exact recipe for fondue --- and bam! I was sold. This was the perfect chocolate fondue...too bad several people left before dessert so I'll be eating it for a week. Seriously, too bad.... :)

ingredients:
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (about 2 cups)
4 ounces of milk chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

directions:
In a pot, combine cream, sugar and salt and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add chocolate chips. Let sit for a few minutes until chocolate is softened. Then stir continuously until mixture thickens and is evenly combined. Serve immediately.

Oh, and by the way...did I mention that all three of these are 100% FAT FREE??? Yes, you just make these and keep thinking that...you'll sleep much better that night. You're welcome.

Lazy

2011-08-30T13:40:00.001-06:00

[blazer: forever 21, polka dot blouse: jcpenney, dress: target (maternity), sandals: target]

I know what you're thinking. The title of this post is very misleading because this outfit is not a lazy type of outfit. In fact, it's kind of uptight and stiff. And that is why it was on for a total of three minutes, just enough for me to take these pictures. Then off came the blouse, off came the blazer, on came a pair of leggings, and a big old comfy black and white striped sweater. And that is because today I am feeling LAZY.

We have been working on some big family decisions over here, and although I'm feeling really good about these changes, I was thinking about it alllllll night long. Tossing and turning. Then 7:30 am rolled around and since I couldn't sleep anymore, I got up and exercised which made me even more tired. So like I said, LAZY DAY.

So bring on the comfy cardigans and leggings. It's not a blazer and blouse kind of day.

A Hairy Situation

2011-08-29T13:55:00.000-06:00

[dress: downeast basics, earrings: gifted, sandals: target, hairdo: inspired by this]

Doing my hair in a fancy way today reminded me of the good old days when my sisters and I would wait in line every morning to have our hair done by my mom. Our favorite (and my mom's specialty) was the "question mark braid." I have no idea where my mom learned to do it, but it was a french braid that started above one ear, then circled around our head, past the other ear, and down the neck in a big question mark shape.

This also reminded me that I should brush up on my hair skills before I have any girl babies, cause these fingers are out of practice. Hence the big ol' mess of bun currently on my head.

Luckily, Peanut hasn't asked for any french braids in his hair. Let's hope it stays that way...

Especially Grateful For... [2nd Edition]

2011-08-29T08:18:00.000-06:00

[family pictures done in Texas by Ralphie]

I fully intended to do my second edition of "Especially Grateful For" yesterday, but then I laid down on the bed for a moment after church and woke up three hours later. I guess I was a little tired!

So here we are on Monday. Today I am especially grateful for...

1. my quick trip down to Las Vegas to see my family last week.
2. Sunday naps with my love.
3. kind compliments from people that make me feel so good
4. long talks with Philip about our future
5. laying in bed at night with the lights off, the window open, and watching the lightening outside
6. making schedules for our trip to Philadelphia next week
7. good friends
8. Pinterest and all its fantastic ideas
9. the delicious BLT's I've made several times this week for my lunches
10. Peanut learning to say "Mommmeeee!"

SPARK

2011-08-24T07:51:00.000-06:00

Today Peanut and I are jet-setting off to Las Vegas for a quick two day trip. I'm going to help my dad with a project for his dental office, but it's certainly an added bonus to spend a little one on one time with my parents and little brother.

In the mean time, I thought you'd enjoy seeing the final results of my latest commission which I've mentioned here and there. I put my blood, sweat and tears into these humongous paintings, and I couldn't be more happy with how they turned out.

If you're in the Provo area, go check them out at SPARK restaurant. And get some delicious food while you're there!

Win and Lose

2011-08-23T13:27:00.001-06:00

[gray top: gap, striped skirt: made by me (fabric from fabric.com), silver metallic sandals: target, belt: cozy boutique, silver stud earrings: tiffany's, watch: dkny]

This morning I woke up and couldn't find anything in my closet that I wanted to wear. I often have days like that, but today was different because I actually had a solution to that problem. I went to my fabric box, pulled out my favorite silver and white striped fabric, and made myself a skirt. It's not the prettiest thing in the world (it has no hem or waistband), but I think it looks cute and it has managed to stay up on my hips this far into the day, so I count that a win.

However, that win is negated since I'm having possibly the worst hair day ever. That's what I get for being vain. I've been sufficiently humbled.

Happy Tuesday. Hope your hair looks better than mine.

Wild Child

2011-08-22T14:00:00.001-06:00

[white tee: target, sequin infinity scarf: charlotte russe, jeans: abercrombie (altered to skinnies by me -- tutorial here), nude heels: kohls, nail polish: hard as nails "gray area"]

Let's first get one thing straight. My nails are not black, they are gray. Black is goth. Gray is awesome. In high school I somehow got targeted as "the wild child" by the ladies who worked at my dad's dental office, and although I have no idea what elicited this stereotype, I always thought it was pretty hilarious. Cause if you really know me, you know I follow the rules and am a pretty good kind of girl.

Well then last Christmas, my mother in law took me shopping, and as part of a special when a certain amount of money was purchased at Charlotte Russe, you got a free scarf. They asked me what color I wanted, but they were hanging about ten feet away all bunched together and it was really hard to tell what they looked like. I picked gray, they grabbed one from under the counter and threw it in the bag, and we were on our merry way. Then when we got home, my sweet mother in law pulled the scarf out of the bag and was appalled that we'd accidentally gotten a sequined tube top. After a little discussion between everyone, we decided it was definitely a scarf. Just an infinity scarf (which none of us had even heard of at that time). I guess the wild child within was just showing its ugly head again. I make no promises for New Years Eve, but to stay conservative today, I wore it as a scarf. You're welcome.

Especially Grateful For... [1st Edition]

2011-08-21T18:16:00.000-06:00

My good friend, Whitney, has been doing her "especially grateful for" lists for several months. I'm inspired by everything that Whit does (I met her in art school...she was a creative genius back then too), but especially by these lists.

I want to start doing a list like this every Sunday just to remind myself of the little things in my life that I truly am grateful for.

So today I am especially grateful for...

1. Sewing. I've been sewing like a mad woman for the past few weeks and have loved having that creative outlet.
2. Lazy Saturdays with my two favorite boys.
3. My sisters and sister-in-law. Now that they're all far away from me, I realize how much I love having family around and how sad it is that I don't anymore.
4. The Book of Mormon.
5. Upcoming vacations. We have a few this fall and I'm brimming with anticipation.
6. Reading good books. I just finished The Three Musketeers and loved it. Classics are classics for a reason.
7. Good food. We are making the rounds through every restaurant in Provo, and have found several keepers.
8. My hair. I know this is kind of vain, but I've seriously have more good hair days in a row lately than I've had in my entire life combined. I recently got it SERIOUSLY textured, so it's about 1/3 the thickness it used to be and it's made all the difference.
9. Peanut's little voice. He has suddenly become so vocal and tries to repeat any and every word that you say to him. I could (and do) listen to his voice all day long, I love it so much.
10. Getting back into running. It's been far too long and it feels so good.

Casual Friday

2011-08-19T14:11:00.001-06:00

[boyfriend tee: target, jeans: abercrombie (altered by me), both belts: cozy boutique, earrings: gift from Brit, shoes: steve madden via plato's closet, watch dkny]

Although I like doing these challenges, it seriously wears me out. I know, what can be so draining about choosing an outfit? I don't know...I am weak. Good thing my husband dragged me out of the house to meet him for lunch or else I might never have gotten dressed today.

So after a week of outfits, it's time for a casual Friday. Out comes the boyfriend tee and my insanely comfortable new favorite jeans. I'll be back in full swing tomorrow, but right now all I want to do is lay on the couch and paint my nails with my new gray nail polish.

Til tomorrow!

A Skinny Jean Is Born: Tutorial

2011-08-19T08:18:00.000-06:00

A few people have asked me about my alterations from bootcut to skinny jeans. I have done this with several of my pants and love them a million billion times better post-alteration. You will too. This is not only limited to bootcut...if you have some full on 70's flares, you can also use this tutorial to save them.
Step 1: try on your pants and with a pin or a piece of fabric chalk, mark on one leg where you want to start tapering (around the knee, usually), and another mark to show how skinny you want to go at the ankle. [having a cute assistant is optional]:

Step 2: with your starting and stopping points marked, carefully (if you're using pins) remove the pants and turn the pants inside out, moving your pins to the inside. Don't worry if your markings move a centimeter or two...these are rough measurements and can be adjusted as we move on.

Step 3: Then with your pants turned inside out, sew from the knee pin to the ankle pin at a nice even angle. Start sewing just barely off of the pants and gradually angle onto the pants. This will make a nice taper with no weird tucks or gathers at the knee. [as you can see, my pants are not turned inside out here, but make sure yours are! Also, make sure you do this seam on the inside of the leg. The outside will be much more noticeable!]:

Step 4: try the pants back on with one leg "skinnied" and one leg not. If you are happy with how the skinny leg looks, move on. If not, resew your seam and then try them on again. Once you're happy with your skinny leg, cut out the extra fabric and secure your cut edge with a zigzag stitch or a serged seam.

Step 5: fold your pants in half and measure the skinny leg against the bootcut leg. Mark where you started and stopped and then do an identical seam on the other leg. Try your pants on and make sure you're happy with both sides. If you are, cut out the extra fabric on the second leg and secure the raw edge.

And Voila! Skinny Jeans!
A quick note: These jeans were a little bit long, so I considered hemming them, but then once they were done I decided I liked the bunching at the ankle. Plus, I figured I'd be cuffing them occasionally so I wanted to keep the nice professional hem at the bottom that would show when cuffed. If your jeans are super long and must be hemmed, I'd suggest using Melissa's excellent tutorial here.

Any questions???

An Art Lesson

2011-08-18T13:36:00.000-06:00

[yellow top: swapped, magenta dress: target (maternity), sandals: target, belt: cozy, watch: dkny, earrings: handmade gift from a friend]

In art color theory classes, you learn about the color wheel. How red, yellow and blue are the primary colors, and how when you pair those colors together (like red + yellow) you get the secondary colors green, purple, and orange. And then the complimentary colors are the ones across from each other on the color wheel, like orange and blue, or red and green.

And then you have my outfit: yellow and magenta. And I guess you could kind of say it works because digital media uses magenta, yellow, and cyan as their primary colors, which they call the subtractive primaries, but really who knows about that stuff? And who cares about studying all this anyway? It all gets complicated and the colors start blending together and your eyes begin to cross from staring at too many colors and....let's just pretend that yellow and magenta were meant to be together. OK?

And you thought your college major was hard.

By the way, Peanut has discovered how to use the camera remote. I have about fifty pictures pretty much identical to this one. I guess he wants to participate in the 21 day challenge too...

[jammies: target]

Pattern On Pattern

2011-08-17T15:41:00.000-06:00

[floral shirt: from the Netherlands (gift from mom), pinstriped skirt: downeast basics outlet (altered to my size (formerly about 10 sizes too big)), sandals: target, earrings: stolen from my little sister (oops!), watch: dkny]

Let me just put it out there right now that I am NOT a fashionista. In fact, I sort of loathe that word and all that is associated with it. It sounds pretentious and kind of kitschy and reminds me of a person that wears way too many accessories and thinks it's awesome. What I should say is, I don't really know anything about fashion. Because last time I checked, mixing patterns was a no-no. Aren't there a million stories about wives telling their husbands to go and change because, "striped shirts and plaid shorts do not match!"

Then all the sudden mixing patterns was the cool thing. The runways and pinterest are suddenly exploding with pattern mixing. Seriously, fashion is so hard to figure out. Pretty soon we'll all be wearing sandals with socks and think it's the best thing ever. Whatever...I'll jump on the bandwagon.

p.s. A few of you asked about my bootcut to skinny jeans alteration...I happen to have a pair in my closet that are waiting to be altered, so I think it's time for a tutorial. Stay tuned!

Jane and Jill

2011-08-16T14:34:00.000-06:00

[cardigan: target (gift), top: gap, belt: cozy, jeans: abercrombie (altered to skinnies), sandals: target, earrings: claires, watch: DKNY]

Have you ever heard that story about Jane and Jill where the parents say how smart Jane is and how pretty Jill is, and all Jane hears is that she's not pretty, and all Jill hears is that she's not smart. Well, we had a little version of that in our family growing up...the kind that is meant in good fun, but has scarred me for life. When talking about the shapes of our faces, my parents would say "This is Janssen," and then they would shape their hands into a nice tall oval. Then they would turn that oval horizontally and say, "and this is Merrick," and then they'd shrink that hand shape into a teeny tiny circle and say, "this is Landen."

So yes, that's me. The pumpkin head. It's one of those things that as I get older I know is not true, but I cannot, for the life of me, get it out of my head. And thus, I avoid big stud earrings because I feel like it makes my already wiiiiiiiide face look even wider. But today I'm wearing these earrings because they're the ones I got for my sister's wedding and they need to be worn more than just once. And because they looked good with my outfit. And because I am nothing but generous and kind to you readers who I know wanted me to wear some big earrings today.

The Fave Five.

2011-08-15T14:46:00.000-06:00

[mustard cardigan: Cozy, polka dot blouse: jcpenneys, white shorts: old navy, black sandals: target, white watch: DKNY (dillards), earrings: tiffany's]

I'm not sure exactly when it started, but I'm guessing sometime around 5th or 6th grade I started getting really picky about my clothes. I found four or five shirts in my closet and would rotate through those (and only those), until they started falling apart and then I'd pick a new set. My poor mother would buy me new clothes and they would then sit in my closet collecting dust because they weren't one of my "fave five."

Even as an adult I found myself falling into this trap. I had a few shirts that I loved and that I'd constantly wear, while others fell to the back of the closet, unworn and unloved. But then along came this polka dot blouse -- not a comfy t-shirt, not a typical everyday mommy type of shirt -- and I fell in love. This shirt made me realize I could love more than five shirts. I didn't have to wear it once a week to love it, but I could rotate through all my shirts and love them equally. Ok, I still wear my favorite boyfriend tees from target almost every other day, but still....I'm trying. Give a girl a break.

By the way, for the next three weeks, I'm participating in Kayla's 21 Day Challenge.

The Last Few Weeks in Photos

2011-08-04T06:29:00.000-06:00

[girls day out -- Landen's wedding is today!!]

[meeting blog friends (and sisters) -- Kayla and Nikki]

[pre-wedding shoot with Landen and Adam]

[family reunion family photo]

[canoeing on bear lake with Janssen, Bart and Ella -- family reunion]

[attempting to pedal in the broken pedal boat -- Peanut kills me in that big life jacket]

[jet skiing on bear lake]

[last spark painting -- finished!]

[hanging paintings in spark]

[trip to bryce canyon]

[at the st. regis in deer valley]

[hiking in zions]

Family Pictures

2011-07-18T07:35:00.000-06:00

Last year, when we visited Texas, we enlisted Ralphie's help with this recreated family photo. In addition to the group shots, Ralphie took this one of my little family.

However, there was only the one shot, and I wanted to give Ralphie another chance to capture our little family in a more casual style. So as we planned our trip to Texas this year, I asked her to do a little photo session with us. She was more than willing. She brought a few fun props, was so good with Peanut (even though he was super grumpy and hot for most of it), was great at getting us to feel natural in front of the camera, and even let me borrow her belt. Now that is the kind of photographer you want to work with..right?

The cd of images just showed up three days ago and I have literally looked through them fifty times already. I. love. them. so. much. I had sent her a few photos ideas showing the look and feel I was going for, but the rest was all her. They are perfect. I love how most of them are not posed family shots, but rather moments that she captures as we play together.

Now all I need is a bigger house so I can print, frame and hang every single one of them.

Merrick's Art

Open To Interpretation

Tools

Yewwow

1920

Rain + Snow

Less Is More

Trendy

Cloudy Gray

Bad Words and Layers

Happy Blogging

True Friends

Date Night (#1)

Ronald

Polka Dots and Pleather

Black, White, and Green All Over

Real Friends

Red + Gray

Home *Bleep* Home

Black and Blues

Gifting

25 + 27

Five

Merry Christmas

Pieces

Christmas Bread

A Hole Lot of Nothing

Shades of Gold

Ornaments

Frostbite

Open To Interpretation

Refashion 101

Thievery

Giving Thanks

Photomania

Stretchy Pants

Happy Thanksgiving!

Leaves

Dolman Sleeve Top (Tutorial)

Brave

Sprinkle

Before and After

Deep Thoughts on Photography

Scallops: Part 2

Dolman

Halloween (Take 2)

Happy Halloween!

Maxi

Scalloped

Purple Girl (Product Review)

Loot

Getaway

Yesterday

Let Me Help You Help Me

18

Ruffled

Infinity

Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto

Polo Refashion

Copper Sky

Sick.

Giveaway Winner & My Next Big Project Announced!

Especially Grateful For. [3rd Edition]

Eating For a Week

A Tiny Dress

Iiiiiiiit's Giveaway Time! -- CLOSED

The Philly Finale

Another Few Days in Philadelphia

Ocean City

Backward Boatnecks

Forcing Fall

Three Fon-DO's

Lazy

A Hairy Situation

Especially Grateful For... [2nd Edition]

SPARK

Win and Lose

Wild Child

Especially Grateful For... [1st Edition]

Casual Friday

Home Bleep Home