Halloweenie!

My loverly friend Jill has got me thinking about Halloween costumes. (Is she not amazing with all of her wonderful scrapbook pages!?)

When the fabric store had a sale, I picked up Simplicity pattern 3618. It's fun and flirty and could easily be reconstructed to make any kind of costume my little heart desires.

I have been tossing around two ideas:
the Swiss Miss hot chocolate girl or the Morton's salt girl.










If I go with the Heidi-like costume I would probably choose tartan plaids and and crisp white ruffles along with donning a pair of pigtails and a box of hot cocoa mix. (In the creation of this costume, there is no girl associated with the cocoa, but I figure what the hay it's Halloween and I can do what I want!)

If I decide the salt girl, I will play around with yellow and navy while twirling an umbrella and spilling salt in white tights.  






What do you think? Will ya give a girl some friendly advice?

Fall Fancies

Is it totally weird that I want these?! I am just enamored by these cage leggings. (It could also be because she is out frolicking in a forest and has a cool feather headband to boot!)
How fun they would be for fall with a pair of tights underneath and a skirt.

If I become daring enough, I think I will make them! (Am I crazy??)

While I have you on the phone, what would you like for dinner?

Tonight I am gathering at my beloved Anna's house to watch movies, drink a mojito (I have converted everyone to the minty, citrusy deliciousness that is a mojito!) and eat snacks.

My contribution to the snackage is puppy chow. It has to be the most loved sweet treat of all time! Who doesn't love the sticky-sweet combo of peanut butter, chocolate, and powdered sugar covering crunchy rice squares???(It's also as addicting as crack, so be warned!)

What, you've never had it before?! (What kind of deprived rock have you been living under??)
Well, suzy-q, it's surprisingly so very simple to put together. Melt together butter, peanut butter, and chocolate chips either via the double boiler method or through power of agitating molecules in the microwave. Stir together and then pour over the cereal. I prefer to have an incredibly LARGE bowl or the classic brown paper bag. Mix thoroughly to coat each and every piece. Then start dusting it with powdered sugar.(Here is where the paper bag version is the most fun as you can violently shake  or dance the bag around the kitchen) Once it has covered the squares enough to easily handle without covering you with more chocolate than is already up your arms, you are done dolly! By the by, I don't really ever measure when I make puppy chow and neither should you. Just have fun throwing together blobs of this and handfuls of that. You can't go wrong, chickadee, because you can always add more powered sugar and no one is the wiser ;)

If these easy-peasy-lemon-squeezey instructions don't convince you to whip up a batch hopefully these pictures will make you mouth water enough to thrown on a cute apron and get cookin'!

The butter, chocolate chips, and peanut butter ready to meet the heat!

The chocolaty, peanut buttery goodness has met the crispy rice squares

Ahh the small Everest of puppy chow! Seriously it's like crack covering your favorite morning cereal.

Trashy people litter

Oh I am soooo angry! Why do people litter? What is the rational running through an individual's mind as s/he slams trash onto the perfectly happy earth? It only makes the individual appear lazy and inconsiderate when s/he tosses waste where ever s/he pleases. I do not appreciate looking at trash. I do not appreciate having to pick up after someone who has little respect for the environment around him/her. And if s/he does not appreciate the environment, then s/he does not appreciate humanity!!! Or the flora and fauna for that matter! Just think of the ramifications on the biome starting with the larger species all the way down to the detrivores and soil. 
I also very much dislike having to include both genders when writing about the unidentified individual when it is perfectly reasonable in Latin to only use the male gender, while still leaving the gender open to either sex. 
Oh it just burns my buns to see litter. Urggalurrgggg!!!!!

Dress Dilemma Debunked

So as you could tell from my previous post, I will be working on a dress.
This weekend there have been sales at the fabric stores, so it seemed like the right time to pick out the fabric, but first I would have to choose the pattern!

I finally decided on the open back vogue pattern. I just like the bow so much! (I still don't like how high the neckline is, but after some consideration I will keep it and shorten the skirt to more of a babydoll length to make it flirty)

I then went to the fabric stores. I fell in love with some iridescent silks, but at $18 a yard (That's $72 for the 4 yards the pattern requires and that means no mess ups) I went with taffeta. It was terribly hard to choose a color, but after placing bolts upon bolts next to my face to try out the coloring I couldn't resist the cobalt blue. It is so striking! (Plus it was 60 inches wide so I only had to get 3 yards at $8!)

I'll post pictures as I go....

The zipper claims this color to be Yale Blue. I like cobalt better ;)

I also found this beaded neckline which I had cut from another top. I am going to see if I can add it to the dress!

"Mattie, you're smart, but you can't figure this thing out"

Uhhh I want to make this dress (Is she not incredible in working her reconstruction magic?!)! I greatly enjoy how it is very open at the neckline in a flirty way, but with the skirt rising to an empire waist makes it retro and sweetly provocative. Even the buttons are great. I have an affinity for buttons though...

Maybe I'm reading too much into this dress, but ooo I just want to make it! But how?!
I don't know if it would be easier to reconstruct a top or start from scratch.If I start from scratch I will need to find a decent pattern, probably vintage. And if I reconstruct it, I am a bit hesitant that I will not be able to manipulate it well enough to transform into my ideal dress. This is a bit frustrating, although not entirely defeating. I just have to work it out and maybe find a bit of help.

You look like a hooker, but a high end hooker. Like for a congressman or an athlete

I am not usually one to buy random beauty products, unless I am in some curious, appearance            altering mood, but I was not on this particular day. I just needed mascara.Plain and simple.Well as luck would have it my mascara was not available. And by not available I mean it wasn't even given a hook among the others. So I had no choice but to find another type. 

I hope you are not totally creeped out by eyeballs, 

but just look at how massive my eyelashes look!

It is such a difficult process to choose just the right one, though. It appears that the mascara companies have a vendetta against the consumer having both length and volume by  making her choose between the two. I want both! (I mean who doesn't want long doe lashes!?). So, in turn I had always gone with Revlon's Grow Luscious by Fabulash (yes I copied that from the metallic green tube). It seemed brilliant enough to me; I would make my own lashes luscious. Meow! 

Yet, here I stood in the aisle reading the backs of boxes asking myself if I wanted length, no clumps, volume, softness, waterproof or not, a fine comb or a curved one, did I want it to vibrate? ( I really then began to question if I was even looking at makeup anymore!). Uhh why did this have to be so difficult?! I just want great lashes without the expense of flaking or irritation. 

I then saw Maybelline's The Falsies Volum' Express ( I really don't understand the use of an apostrophe here. Can anyone explain that?!). Obviously the volume would be there and with its claim of achieving  the "false lash look" I could only assume it will provide the length I desire without a garish hooker effect. (I still had to decide between brownish-black, blackest black, or very black coloring though. I can certainly tell the difference in the brown to black coloring, but how the hell do I distinguish between very black and blackest black? What kind of scale do they use to differentiate between one black and the other?)

To my pleasant surprise it is quite effective! (Not in embodying a  hooker, but the length and volume combined for lash magic). I suppose that is what you can get for feeding the microscopic mites which live on most eyelashes known as demodicids.(Kinda creepy, but totally normal). 

And sadly I cannot claim this to be any kind of scientific comparison, because it lacks any measurements or even before and after shots, but I would recommend you try it dolly if you are in the market for flirty length, volume, and the non-hooker-false-lash look for the low, low price of $6.29 (seriously don't save me the penny and just round up).

*

What an eventful and emotionally taxing summer I am overcoming. I have never felt such a wrenching of the heart from my body while at the same time having it filled with the possibilities and developments of relationships, explorations, and hopes. 

 *

While I still look back on my previous life with care and respect, I am working on facing it with fewer tears and pain.

*

In my journey I am discovering a self that is incredibly creative and beautifully pleasant. I am aware of my strengths and weaknesses with a more constructive lens. My heart is growing to meet my needs, my hopes, my intelligence. 

 *

I know that none of this development would have been possible had it not been for my break from  homeostasis and into this transitional, nebulous space

where I must face my self.  

Through heartbreak my life, my spirit is becoming more enriched that I have ever known. Thank you. 

*

It's like someone punched her in the face and she started to swell up in a healthy, happy way

While I have been out shopping the last few days I  have noticed the growing trend to wear large rings. And when I say large I am taking about taking over multiple fingers, moving parts,embedded jewels, metal prongs, and elevated from the hand by inches. While a ring can be a great accessory to any outfit, this is getting a little out of hand.                                      (no pun intended, or was it?!)

 

My conclusion from seeing the cornucopia of circlets is that rather than learning a few effective techniques to take down an assailant, women may use their massive rings to deflect and even decapitate the assaulter. Just look at all of the small, sharp edges perfect for gouging and scraping. Then the larger stones can be used for bruising or even breaking appendages. While we ohh and ahh over the creative genius that includes bows, bees,or other woodland creatures no one is going to want it as an impression in a cheekbone.

Dress Dilemma

I like dress A, which is the shorter green dress on the bottom right. I think this would be a great dress to mix in patterns and prints. Don't you think so?

So I am in need of a new fancy-pants dress. I am going to a few parties and a wedding in October for a family member and want to have a wonderful dress for these events. I am considering making my own dress. After collecting a few patterns I have narrowed it down to these two (that is unless there is another sale on patterns and I buy more haha). I'm thinking of using taffeta or a dupioni silk because I like the iridescent quality, texture and weight of the fabric. I  may even mix in a pattern just for fun! I just don't know which one to make!

While I love the open back with the bow, I feel this may not be very fun-loving and youthful.What do you think?

Girls in Billings

Jenafer, myself, Abi, Anneke, Laura

Oh Sunday brunch at the Bin with beautiful ladies and brilliant ideas is spectacular! Here are a few photos of the gorgeous ladies I dined with while talking about books, traveling, life, and happiness. (You wish you were there don't you!)

Next up we will be having monthly "life skills" parties to learn a new hobby, skill, or technique.
(Much like home ec only classier and with wine) 
We are considering cooking, sewing, martial arts, and even handstands! Yes, handstands! 

I went to work with a bottle of water and came home with a bottle of veuve

Oh what a delicious night last evening. It was cool and breezy. The patio of the Granary was buzzing,but not congested. I thoroughly enjoyed the company of Uncle Randy and Aunt Debbie discussing literature and life over mojitos, and bubbly champagne. It makes me feel sparkly :)

I went to look at a little studio apartment. It's located in a nice area and a pretty decent space just for lil' ol me, but when I went up to take a closer look I ran into the "neighbor." Upon greeting, we asked how he liked the place. His response: "Well I just got out of a relationship and this place works for now." 
That was a sign enough. And too ironic.
I don't want a place just for now and I don't want to be on the same plateau as him. No, I am working toward opening myself to opportunities and all that life can offer me in this transitional time. Although it's a daunting and anxiety inducing task to find the right place where I can be me, I am certain there is a wonderful place for me. I will live there while I finish up school and then move to transition onto another place even more promising for a career and a splendid life of happiness. Much like the friend in my next topic of discussion. Is it not amazing making the connections and building an intricate web between all the parts of your life?

Here is a recent finding. 

In our insect collection facility, also known as a pop-up net bug holder with zippers and a hook attachment, there in lies two caterpillars. They have an interesting physiology in that the tail appears to be the head with a horn, much like a unicorn (magic). Yet, when it moves it is obvious that the smaller end with a grub-like face is the head. That, or the poor creature spends its like moving in reverse, unlike the hummingbird which can do no such thing.

After a bit of research it was discovered that these caterpillars will transform (via metamorphosis of course) into a beautiful moth. (Does that not just drop with a thud realizing that it's not going to be some glorious butterfly) No, rather it will become a White-lined  Sphinx Moth, as shown in the picture above. They are quite large fitting inside the palm of your hand and have a rich coloring ranging from cream to tan to brown to a rusty sienna. Each color a scale and each scale making up the pattern so distinctive to each species. I've already caught the Five-spotted Hawk Moth, so it appears I have a bit of a collection going. I wonder what I will find next!

The bovine whisperer

On my way home this is what I encountered:

The sun is setting and it has cooled off. Not the chill of night, but an easy and comfortable coolness that makes me want to wander the gravel road for miles. The earthy sage and vibrant grasses crush under my step releasing the most refreshing sent; it's intoxicating and only keeps me moving forward to experience it again and again.

Moo Cow on the lose!

The escape route

As I rumble down the gravel road I see on the left a lose cow--black and dusty. It is just outside the barbedwire fence grinding the longer grasses between its flat teeth. Slowly I pull the car over to the side and get out. It's not that I have not been around cattle before, but I am very curious tonight. I want to see how close I can get.

Soon RC roars down the road and blows the horn. The cow quickly takes off before I am able to really get close. RC hops out when I tell him my plan. We follow the cow as it trots back toward the gully.With a quick thrust and snap of the wire the cow slips through the opening in the wire.
Luckily, there are a couple of cows lounging by the fence just a few feet down. We approach them. They rise from the ground dusty and covered with flies. We rip up a handful of grass and offer it to the cows. They are all too pleased and welcome our touch!

Thank you, RC, for greeting the cows with me :)