Shoes from Finland

 My son's Karhu shoes (pictured here when brand new) are nearly a year old and falling apart at the seams: I'd say we got our money's worth!  So it's probably time to replace them.  

When he got them, I realized his feet were officially bigger than mine. He was 13. 

We got a real kick out of the fact that these are Finnish shoes. You see, my husband and I spent several weeks in Finland....about 40 weeks before Finn was born. You can do that math!  I loved Finland.  It's beautiful, serene, and clean. When we were there I was training for a marathon, and I did many long solo runs around several cities. I find there's no better way to fall in love with a place than to walk or run--you get such a feel for the people, the landscape, the flora! 

Off my husband goes to Finland again in one month! But this time I don't think he'll bring back another Finn. :)  Maybe he'll bring back some shoes?

Summer Capsule Wardrobe: A (Semi) Minimalist's Closet

 I am a fan of having a small wardrobe.  I think that if you only have a small amount of clothing, life is easier: you don't have as many decisions to make and you don't have to rummage through an overstuffed closet to find something! One of the reasons I love owning fewer clothing items is because nothing is ever languishing around in the closet. I only own what I actually wear or what has sentimental value to me (only a few of those items exist!).  Perhaps I do take this to an extreme, but I think I have too many clothes; compared to most American women, I probably have very few.

This was my summer wardrobe this year:

*4 dresses

*   1 pair of seersucker trousers

*1 skirt 

*3 pairs of shorts (I have several because I bought them before we went to DisneyWorld; otherwise, I wouldn't own any shorts!)

*2 blouses

*2 lightweight cardigans

Not pictured, in another drawer, are a couple of tee shirts that can be worn with the skirt or shorts. 

I don't count my exercise clothes or my swimsuits, because I only use those for a particular purpose.  The majority of the time this summer, I wore the clothes in the photo. 

For church I'd wear a dress with a cardigan and sometimes a scarf or wrap, as well as nice shoes and jewelry.  On a "normal" day of shopping or being around the house, I'd wear the same dress, but with more casual shoes or sandals.  I didn't wear the shorts very often, since they are not as much my style as dresses, but I wore those seersucker trousers with a tee shirt or blouse a lot! They are so comfortable and flattering. 

A friend of mine asked if I have to do a lot of laundry because of my small wardrobe.  The answer is not at all!  In fact, I don't feel like I do much of my own laundry.  With this many clothes, I can wear clothes for at least 6-7 days with no repeats at all (other than the cardigan, if I wear one).  I do not consider washing clothes once a week to be doing a lot of laundry! In reality, of course, I wash clothes a lot more frequently because I launder all our napkins, tablecloths, towels, and all of my family's clothing.  But as for my own clothing?  Once a week is plenty.  

My autumn wardrobe is similarly small (although a little larger; I have more long-sleeved shirts).  It's a lot like it was last year, although this year I've gotten rid of two of those sweaters, and probably need to replace them sometime this winter. 

Last year I meant to show my winter clothing as well, but I never did it.  I'll plan to do that this year, because I did buy a couple of winter dresses last year, and I am enjoying them! I also have a new secret weapon under dresses....so I'll talk about that as well.  But not until the temperature drops below, say, 65.....

There's a lot of freedom in owning less stuff, and that goes for wardrobing as well!

Fancy Hair

 I can't tell you what a treat it is to have a daughter who loves so many of the things that I love.  

Annie and I share a love of pretty things,* of flowers, of gorgeous old-fashioned dresses, of beautiful rooms, of babies, of flowers. Our similarities are intense; sometimes I imagine my mother laughing from heaven, because she used to tell me "one day you will have a daughter like you, and you'll understand what I mean!"  

Because in addition to these lovely traits, Annie is also like me in her drive, her stubborn nature (I remind myself that being obstinate can be a very good thing if you're obstinate over the right things), her impatience with inefficiency, her argumentativeness, her inability to ever be wrong.  My poor mother!  She was very laid-back, a "type Z" personality.  I am pretty type A.  So is Annie. 

I just love her to pieces!  Even with her (our) flaws, I can see so much potential in her personality, and I know from experience that she will likely mellow out one day. I sure have!

One thing we also love is pretty hair.  We created this intricate-looking hairstyle not long ago.  It's not at all hard, but it took a while to do all the pinning. 

Here are a few more fun styles....

A "figure 8" bun--

A French braid on one side that we pinned to go all the way around....

...and that's as much of Annie as you will see, since I have a hard and fast rule about my children's photos on the public World Wide Web.  I think showing the back of her hair doesn't violate my firm rules. 

So many things are happening here!  The leaves are turning and falling.  We celebrated our 21st anniversary, and my in-laws' 50th (we were married on the same day, October 9th!), with a lovely dinner at a local French restaurant (the first time we've eaten at a restaurant since February).  Our always-dry basement had some seepage below the baseboard, so our contractor came on Tuesday and removed drywall so we can identify and fix the problem--and I have a furniture delivery scheduled for that space in only a few short weeks (yikes!).  My father-in-law was diagnosed with prostate cancer this week, and we are hopeful that his treatment plan will be effective. We just finished our 6th week of the school year, and it has been a wonderful year so far.  I have tweaked and shuffled a little along the way, and as a result, we have the nicest schedule.....

So there's time and space for doing things like Fancy Hair!

Consider the Lilies: A Week of Feminine Clothing, Fall Edition

Back in the summer I challenged myself to wear dresses for a whole week. I loved it!  

As summer came to a close and fall descended, I began to wonder whether I had a sufficient autumn wardrobe.  I didn't want to spend money on anything new if I could help it, but I knew that I really did not have enough clothes to wear dresses every day. In fact, I wondered if I had enough clothes, period! So I decided to pull out my cooler weather clothes and take stock for a week, before deciding whether or not I truly needed to buy anything else. (Although at the end of the summer I did purchase new jeans--because the ones I bought last fall were too large--and a rust-colored sweater.)

The whole exercise reminded me of Matthew 6:28-29: "And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."

As it turns out, I really didn't have any cool-weather dresses.  So most of my wardrobe this week consisted of wearing trousers.  However, I tried to make the outfits look nice and feminine, even if I had to wear jeans!

Day One: On this day I homeschooled my children, and then took them to Spanish class, where I took a walk while they were in class. (Thus my tennis shoes and vest!)

Day Two: I am not even sure what I did this day!  But I love this striped swingy top, I think it makes jeans look a lot more feminine.  When I had to leave the house, I paired it with a wool scarf that my parents bought me in Scotland.

Day Three: A dress! This was a Sunday.  I wore a summer dress that I'd purchased for our trip to Disneyworld in May, but I wore it with a red wool Ralph Lauren sweater (thrift store, $3) and a scarf. 

....and this is how it looked when I was doing a few kitchen chores and felt chilly: an apron and a cashmere sweater (a castoff from a neighbor!).

Day Four: I believe this was co-op and ballet day for us.  I wore this sweet top which is essentially a sweatshirt (very cozy) with a peplum-ish border with....

...the most darling rickrack trim!!  I wore it with a pearl necklace that came from my grandmother.

And when I was at home, I wore it with my pink polka-dotted birthday apron. 

Day Five: While I was at home I wore a green summer dress with a black cashmere sweater (another castoff from a neighbor) and one of my favorite vintage aprons.

When I left the house, I paired it with a wool tartan scarf.  I love this scarf!  I think this came from a grandparent at some point.

Day Six: This is the sweater I purchased in early autumn, along with my new jeans. I wore them with my April Cornell apron at home.

And when I left the house, I wore it with a crocheted infinity scarf that I bought at a Silent Auction fundraiser at our church a few years ago!

Day Seven: My striped swingy top, covered by a navy blue cotton sweater that I've had for years, and worn with a blue necklace that was my grandmother's. 

And I wore it with my vintage apron at home. I love how an apron can make a jeans-and-sweater outfit look so feminine. 

I was pleased with my fall wardrobe after trying it out for a week, and it convinced me not to spend any additional money on more clothes for autumn!

I  did decide that I wanted to purchase a couple of dresses for winter weather (because the grey and green dresses I wore here are very thin, and not at all suitable for true winter), so I did that a couple of weeks ago. I'll show those in the winter edition! :) 

 And I'm still trying to decide about footwear: the only non-athletic winter shoe options I have are calf boots!  I'm trying to find a shoe that will be comfortable and will look good with skirts or trousers.  

It was a good exercise for me to wear my clothes and find satisfaction with what I already owned.  I am something of a minimalist, and we try to be thrifty and careful with our money, so I didn't want to purchase anything extra that I wouldn't need.  It's also such a blessing to look back at this and see how many things were gifts, or inherited: a pair of black pumps, a couple of necklaces, two pairs of earrings, two cashmere sweaters, a vintage apron, black trousers. 

That makes me feel like one of the "lilies of the field," and it makes me feel grateful. 

A Week of Dresses: Summertime Edition

Annie, our 8-year old daughter, recently challenged and inspired me to try to wear more dresses.  She loves dresses and I love seeing her wear dresses.  She wears them virtually all the time! I like wearing dresses and skirts, but admit that over the past months I'd fallen into a rut of wearing my exercise clothes for my early morning workout, and then just keeping them on as I homeschooled my children and worked around the house.  I'd shower and change before leaving the house, of course, but some days when I stayed home I realized I was still in exercise clothes at 5pm! 

Annie encouraged me to wear more dresses. "But you have to get used to the idea," she warned, "that you have to cook dinner in the dress, and work outside in the dress, and wear it all the time!"  (Which was a good reminder to bring back another favorite item in my wardrobe: the apron.) 

Since I want her to be inspired by me, as I'm inspired by her, I took her challenge seriously.

Around the time she and I were having discussions about my lackluster wardrobe choices, I saw the film of the 1902 Charleston Exposition, and that sealed the deal for me.  

So this week I challenged myself to wear a dress every single day, no matter what my day's activities were going to be.  

I have to say: I LOVED IT.  A few days (like today) I was tempted to wear jeans, because it has been colder and rainier than usual here.  But I kept my commitment to Annie. Every day this week after I exercised in my workout clothes, I showered and changed into a dress, and it had a profound impact on the way I worked for the rest of the day.  I felt happier and more productive.  It just felt great to be dressing nicely again and to be happy with the clothes I was wearing.  I plan to keep it up!

I took photos each day, but they aren't great because I'm not a photographer. I just tried to snap a quick photo and get on with my day!  Also, our bathroom is being re-tiled, so there are spare baseboards on the floor in our bedroom.  We are living in a construction zone these days! :) 

So here's how I spent this week in dresses:

SUNDAY

On Sunday my husband had to help install a pastor at a church about an hour away, so we were guests there and had lunch at the church, then we visited a nearby waterfall and covered bridge before heading back to our own church, where we installed *our* new pastor!  

I wore this sleeveless dress, but I don't like wearing sleeveless clothes in church, so I wore the cardigan with it during both church services/events.

While driving around or visiting waterfalls....great for the warm afternoon...

...and while going to church....

MONDAY

Monday was an at-home day.  It's one of my two laundry days, so I spent the day homeschooling, doing housework, and getting my laundry done.  I wore this red dress.....

but had an apron (a sturdy April Cornell) over it most of the time....

and when I got chilly in our basement doing schoolwork, I just put my trusty black cashmere sweater over it!

TUESDAY

On Tuesday we did morning homeschool and then had errands in the afternoon. My children both had orthodontist appointments, and then we went to the feed store/nursery (to buy herbs!), to the pool to start our membership, and then to the grocery store.  

In the morning I wore this polka-dotted dress with my beloved vintage polka-dotted apron (and yes, my cozy houndstooth Vionic slippers--very comfortable) while doing housework and homeschooling.

The rest of the day, for errands, I just wore the dress with sandals.

WEDNESDAY 

On Wednesday we spent the morning doing schoolwork.  I spent the afternoon cooking because I was making a meal for a friend who has a new baby, and doing some freezer cooking to prepare for a busy week next week.  So most of the day I was another vintage apron....

...but in early evening I left home to drop the meal off and then get my hair cut, and I wore my dress and sandals. 

THURSDAY 

Thursday is a very busy day around here.  We had our last co-op all day on Thursday, followed by Annie's 2-hour ballet class.  So Thursday morning I was running around in my grey dress and this apron, which was a gift from a friend a few years back....(and bare feet, oh well!)....

...but for co-op I wore shoes. :) 

And because it's unseasonably cool here this week, I took along my black sweater and ended up wearing it for much of the day!

FRIDAY 

Yesterday was Finn's birthday!!  He turned 12.  In the morning we finished up our schoolwork before summer break, which basically meant a bit of grammar and math for Finn, and Annie's last standardized test.  I also did housework and baked Finn's cake. As you can see, I hadn't even made my bed yet at this point--I was so busy trying to get things done!

Finn, Annie, and I went out for lunch and then went to see a movie.  Normally I would not wear boots with this dress, but it was cold and rainy.  So I wore my boots,and later took along my trusty black sweater (again) to wear in the theatre. I'm glad I did!

And I just kept the sweater and dress on at home when we did dinner with my in-laws, cake, ice cream, and presents!

SATURDAY 

Finally, today!  I actually wore either pajamas or exercise clothes until noon, simply because it was a laid-back morning, and I knew I wanted to do a long workout in late morning.  But after I exercised, I changed into the green dress I wore on Wednesday, but paired it with boots, the same trusty sweater (I'll be washing that on Monday!), and a scarf because let me tell you: it's cool out there today!  I am spending the afternoon preparing for a conference that I'm presenting at soon, and this evening we are going to church for a potluck. 

A close-up of the scarf--I love it, it's Pendleton wool and so warm. It goes perfectly with the dress and sweater, so I'm going to remember that for fall!

I was glad to get back into a dress today after spending the morning in exercise clothes.  I do feel that it helps me feel better and aids me in being focused and productive. I don't understand the science behind that, but I don't care: I just know it works!

*                *              *

And that's one week in dresses: the "cool weather summer" edition. I may do this again in the fall; it was fun and it motivated me to think harder about my wardrobe and how to look nice while still going about all of my daily activities. 

And besides all that: I love aprons!

1902 Charleston, South Carolina Exposition

My father, knowing that I'm something of an amateur historian when it comes to our beloved city of Charleston, South Carolina, sent me this video that was taken by Thomas Edison at the 1902 Charleston Exposition. I was absolutely captivated by it, and about halfway through I realized what was captivating me the most: the wonderful attire!

The ladies and girls are in long skirts and beautiful hats.  The men and boys are in suits, and I noticed at least one of the men tip his hat! Their more formal attire matched so prettily with the beautiful backdrop.

I was just home from a week at Disneyworld (a generous Christmas gift to our children from my in-laws!) and the juxtaposition was stark. Over the past 117 years the world has seen many great strides and improvements, but the trend to wearing as few scraps of fabric as possible isn't one of them. I'm not saying we need to dress like the Victorians (although those skirts!! I love them!!), but I do think we've lost a certain amount of grace, beauty, and propriety.  And I am inspired to do more to bring these qualities back into the 21st century wardrobe.

Here's the clip of the exposition.  Those skirts!!!

Annie (age 8) has been asking me to sew a few dresses and nightgowns for her. I am inspired to go forth and do that now!

Grandma's Necklaces, and a Revised Post on Parenting

Back in January I was visiting my grandfather and he encouraged me to go into my grandmother's closet and see if there's anything I wanted. I've done this before, but this time I noticed her costume necklaces. 

First of all: this woman didn't do Pinterest, but look how cleverly she rigged this coat hanger up to keep the necklaces separate.  She often created clever, inexpensive little "fixes" for problems like this.  I have always admired that quality!

Second, as I examined these sweet little necklaces I realized I had ten of them.  And there are five great-granddaughters in the family.  Viola!  I took them home, and last month I wrapped them up and sent them to each great-granddaughter.  Annie helped me pick who gets what.  She's the oldest of the great-granddaughters; the other girls are 6, 5, 4, and 1.  It was fun for us to choose the necklaces, then wrap them carefully in tissue paper and send them to their new homes.  They have no monetary value--their value is only sentimental.  But perhaps the little girls will enjoy having a few "fancy" necklaces from the lady I love so much.  

*           *           * 

Also, I revised a post I wrote ages ago on parenting.  We learn as we go, don't we?  And my revisions reflect that, I think. My tone was too didactic.  And honestly, I think I was wrong about a couple of things. The basic ideas are the same, but this reflects my shifted perspective.  For the revised post, look here.  

Christmas Hair

I checked a book on hair out of the library recently and was inspired to do some Fancy Hair on Annie for Christmas.  Isn't this beautiful?  

This was right before we left for church on Christmas morning.  Annie's dress has a beaded waistline in front and an organza overlay on the skirt.  The next time I do this little hairstyle, I'll tuck something into that roll...flowers at Easter, perhaps?

Having a little girl is so, so much fun!

The Warby Parker Winner Is....Chilton in Blueberry Buckle

I took full advantage of Warby Parker's at-home try-on program and tried on fifteen different pairs of glasses, before settling on the Chilton.

In "Blueberry Buckle," which you can sort of see in this silly picture. 

My smartphone isn't smart enough to have the selfie capability, which suits me just fine, but does mean I have to rely on my mirror. 

Fortunately, the glasses are chosen and thus endeth my string of taking bathroom mirror photos and inflicting them upon my friends in an attempt to get opinions on which glasses everyone likes best.  At the end of the day, I didn't send these two photos to anyone.  It's like shopping for your wedding dress: when you find The One, you just know.

I loved Warby Parker's customer service, too.  They are tops. 

Choosing the Frames

My Warby Parker box came this week!  As I suspected, the red frames were no good (sallow skin!).  I was surprised to find that the pink tortoiseshells were not happening, either--they weren't quite pink enough for me.  So it was down to the blues:

a thinner-framed, very blue ("Crane" in Atlantic Blue) 

and a thicker-framed mottled black-and-blue ("Simone" in Blue Coral)

Tough choice.  I think the former looks better in person, but in the photo I am liking the latter.  The boys are lobbying hard for the thicker, darker frames. 

I plan to order five more to try before making my final decision.  This is fun!

In the Mail

Mr. Polly informed me that we still have a fair amount of cash in our flexible spending account (we had a healthy year in 2015!).  Oh goody, I thought--new glasses!

I love Warby Parker's policy of giving a pair of frames to someone in need for every pair of frames purchased, and their "try five frames for free" policy is generous and exciting.  The glasses I currently own are plum-colored plastic frames (cute, but old, and hard to adjust to fit my face--they slide around a lot) and a pair of conservative, smart wire-rimmed olive-hued Coach glasses.  I think it's time for something fun.

So these babies are going to arrive any day now!  I picked two reds two blues and one that is a sort of pink tortoiseshell, because why not? 

I do not think the ginormous red "Preston" frames will suit me at all, but I couldn't resist. 

We'll see! (Literally!) 

Pink Birthday Treats (and Gluten-Free Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting)

My birthday was a whole month ago! But I just transferred photos from the camera to the computer....

My father and stepmother always send me a bouquet of flowers. I love this tradition. 

On my visit to the antiques store, I bought this apron.  The hanger doesn't do it justice: it's the cutest thing ever.  I love cleaning house in all these polka dots!

My carrot cake was delicious. I had been thinking about it since I made one for my friend MB's birthday in May 2014.  Yes, I thought about carrot cake for a long time!

*Gluten-Free Carrot Cake*
No pineapple, no nuts in the batter, no raisins!

2 c. all-purpose gluten-free flour blend (make your own, or buy one! I bought one for the first time ever!)

a couple hearty shakes of cinnamon

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1/2 c. sucanat

1/2 c. brown sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup buttermilk

4 eggs

6 carrots, peeled and finely grated on a box grater

Preheat oven to 350 and grease 2 9-inch cake pans, I also line mine with parchment paper.

Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.  

Beat sugars, oil and buttermilk until well-combined, then beat in eggs one at a time. Fold in the carrots, then add flour mixture a little at a time.  Pour into the pans and bake until done. (I usually don't time my baking, so I can't say how long! My guesstimate: 25 minutes-ish.)

Cool cake completely before frosting. 

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

8-oz. softened cream cheese

1/2 stick of softened butter

8 ounces confectioner's sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 T. buttermilk

a few shakes of cinnamon

Combine cream cheese and butter and beat 3 minutes.  Add the sugar slowly and beat until combined, then add the vanilla, buttermilk and cinnamon and beat until fluffy.  

I sprinkled cinnamon on top of my icing, too, just because it looked good. When I made it for MB I put crushed pecans all around the sides, but I skipped that this time due to a nut allergy among our guests.

 Enjoy!

Beads and Tulle

Annie is a wonderful child to behold: she loves fancy stuff and picks the best clothes to wear.  The other day she ran around in her jersey-and-tulle pink dress (excellent for twirling) and, because it was chilly, she wore a gorgeous white sweater with beading all along the edge.

All day I enjoyed looking at her sparkles. 

Dress for a Flower Girl

Annie will be a flower girl in a wedding in August and yesterday I *finally* had some free time to work on her dress.  I based this dress on vintage Advance 7933, which I have made before in a pink-polka-dotted print.  This time I lengthened the skirt by 9 inches so it is floor-length, re-drafted the back bodice piece for a lower neckline and omission of back buttons, and messed around with it so I could figure out how to sew it without the bias binding on the sleeves.  Lesson: it takes a long time to simplify things...and to sew without instructions!

The bridesmaids are wearing "capri" blue, so I wanted to incorporate blue into the dress somehow. I made it in a white cotton sateen from the big box fabric store--about $7/yard. I bought some pale blue organza and tried my hand at an organza overlay, something I'd never done before!  I bought a wide pale blue ribbon to attach around the waist.  My goal was to make a comfortable dress because the wedding is outside, in mid-August, when our climate is usually *extremely* sticky and humid. Her hair will be up and she will wear a flower crown. 

Last night at midnight I triumphantly finished the construction and admired it, only to soon realize that I had sewed the front inside bodice piece to the back pieces when I attached the gathered skirt. I said things like "no! oh NO!" After the initial shock I ripped the skirt off, losing a few gathers in the process.  And then I went to bed. Lesson: when your intuition tells you to sew bodice pieces together at the waistline, do it. 

This afternoon I rallied myself and re-attached the skirt (after sewing the inside and outside back and front bodice pieces together!!!).  I'm celebrating by leaving it in my closet for a week or two before tackling the hemming.

Very simple and sweet!