life lately

sometimes i get surprised by how sewing-centric my blog is. when i started it my intention was to have it be far more well rounded, however perhaps thats just an example of how sewing obsessed my thoughts are! its true that much of my free time is spent behind my sewing machines - or else on the internet devouring everyone else's sewing creations. but like everyone else, i have a life (sorta). so this post is dedicated to all those other little things that have been meaning so much to me lately.

the daily bread:

while i enjoy cooking a good meal, my heart really belongs to baking. recently i've started baking our bread for the week. i use this recipe which, while more time consuming than some bread recipes, yields two large, lofty loaves that have a great yeasty flavor and a nice chewy consistency with a crunchy crust. we eat a lot of bread in our house (atkins be damned!) and we had gotten into the habit of buying our bread from a local bakery, which while utterly delicious, was sort of expensive for a loaf of bread. and as often happens with me i tend to get a bit rammy (i am an aries, afterall) about that sort of stuff and declare " i could make that!" then i jump in blindly, guns a blazin....

should you imagine me as some sort of baking goddess - i assure you, i am not. i spend most of my time in the kitchen with my hands covered in flour darting about like a mad woman and occasionally exclaiming "good god! the loooaaaavvveess!!!"

care for that skin:

for the past several months i've been experimenting with my skincare, trying to weed out chemicals and in the process heal my hormonal skin. i decided to give the oil cleansing method a try, and after much trial and error (and pimples) i think i've finally found a formula that works for me. i use this in the evenings as its perfect for removing makeup. i use rose geranium or just plain rosewater as a toner and concocted an oil serum specifically geared towards healing scars. my husband jokes that the bathroom is my favorite room in the house - and truthfully he's not too far off! I get some sort of witchy satisfaction from playing apothecary and blending my oils and essential oils and flower waters and clays and whatnot into my little concoctions, storing all in my lovely jars and vials. in the mornings i still use good ol' cetaphil, but after reading this blog post i'm very seriously considering trying to find a new, mostly chemical free alternative. if anyone out there knows of a nice, mild, non-sudsing cleanser of the more natural variety, i'm all ears.

in which we draw each other:

when my husband (then boyfriend) and i first moved to TX a few years ago we used to while away our evening hours drawing each other. we've recently picked up this past time again. its a lovely way to reconnect at the end of a day. one of us will assume a comfortable position and sit still while the other one sketches away. sometimes we chat - but most often we sit quietly this way, and then we switch.

*note* i'm only posting the pictures i've drawn of him since i don't know how my husband would feel about me posting his drawings. i suppose i could ask him but he's not home right now and i don't really feel like waiting...

contrary to what this drawing suggests, my husband is not a winking cyborg. but he did keep falling asleep while i was drawing him so one eye got drawn open, the other closed!

we have very different drawing styles, but i think we both enjoy seeing ourselves rendered by the other person - its sort of like reading and writing love letters for two un-eloquent people! ha! it has been such a long while since i've drawn anything i was a bit worried that i had "lost it". while i felt a bit rusty at first, i think its starting to come back to me. i love to draw, and i've always thought of it as my secret friend, always there for me whenever i should need it.

hunter/gatherer:

because i'm not sure i can write a post without mentioning sewing... this weekend we headed up to houston to buy some of those things we can't find on the island. for me this included a visit to the fabric stores (and whole foods to pick up my favorite hippie shampoo!). i'm in the process of gearing up for some spring sewing. as i know i mentioned before, its a bit hard for me to get sewing supplies without ordering it online which can be such a pain when you have to wait for it to ship. so i went to houston with a big fat list of fabrics and notions to carry me through my spring sewing. pictured here are some things i've received in the mail recently too, including my two purchases from tessuti - they're gorgeous!!!

and because no "life" update post is complete without it - here's a gratuitous cat picture for you...

mr. muscles was being a very curious kitty while i was wandering around the apartment snapping pictures, so i figured i'd snap one of him too, and he sat very demurely for me!

well i hope you enjoyed this little peek into the dusty corners of my life - you know, the parts that happen after i turn off the sewing machine!

xx

weird beauty

(pardon the weird lines in this photo, it has come to my attention that my camera is possessed)

does anyone remember those articles in teen vogue or glamour or whatever that featured interesting diy beauty remedies? like "for cheap, easy summer highlights spray a mixture of chamomile tea and lemon juice on your hair" or "to make your own body scrub mix sugar, honey, and olive oil" ? did anyone ever try them?

i tried them all. i've put (on separate occasions) avocado, egg, olive oil and vinegar in my hair - as well as the above mentioned chamomile tea and lemon juice combo. i've put vitamin e capsules, asprin, preparation h, toothpaste, beets, baking soda and (again) olive oil on my face. i've sat with my elbows in lemons and laid cucumber slices on my eyes. i've received weird looks from family members, roommates and boyfriends for storing little bowls and vials of my concoctions in the refrigerator.

i love a self-made spa moment. i love home beauty remedies. the ones i love best are the ones that work really well. and i have found a few that work really well for me.

one of my current favorites is a yogurt facial. this sounds, and is pretty disgusting, and if it wasn't for my history of putting weird edibles on my face i probably wouldn't have tried it. but try it i did, and i gotta say, i kinda lurve it. this is a pore tightening, skin clearing, softening and brightening mask. the lactic acid in the yogurt exfoliates skin without the use of harsh scrubbers or particles that can scratch skin. the yogurt and honey are also moisturizing and honey is an anti-microbial that prevents the spread of bacteria. lemon juice and/or strawberries lighten marks like acne scars. after i use this mask i always feel that my complexion looks a bit brighter and healthier (at least for a day or two!)

making a yogurt mask is cheap, easy, and i usually have all the ingredients on hand because, lets face it, this isn't too far off from what i eat for breakfast every morning. i use a spoonful of full fat or 2% greek yogurt. we make our own because we're cheap we're fancy. i add a dollop of honey and a squeeze of lemon. if i have them on hand i might mash up 1/2 a strawberry. then i sit with this on my face for awhile. write a blog post, like i'm doing right now. and generally look like this...

source

i like to do this on days when my husband isn't home so he doesn't wonder why i'm putting my breakfast on my face. i don't like explanations, and i don't want him to worry for my sanity. plus while this little mask dries you kinda look like freddy kruger....

xx

RR

reader request.

if you have a sister, you are among the lucky ones. if you have a big sister, you're really lucky. if your big sister is also beautiful and kind, if you could steal her much cooler clothes, learned all your makeup tricks from her, if she offered to braid your hair, and is generally your biggest fan, then you already know how lucky you are. if your big sister also happens to be the hardest working mother of four children under the age of 3 you know, and still finds time to ichat with you and visit your blog, then we should probably meet, because we might be the same person.

i'm not under any delusions that anyone reads this blog besides myself, my husband, my sister, and occasionally my mom, and so i feel perfectly at liberty to tailor a post directly to one reader in particular.

in an email response to my post introducing my fall palette, my sister, in all her wisdom, wondered at what makeup, accessories, and nail polish one would pair with these looks. i guess i hadn't really thought of it, because, well i live with myself and i know that my makeup, accessorizing, and nail polish routines are rudimentary at best, and completely lacking most often. i'm not going to pretend that i'm all cool and low maintenance and like, "who me? i just roll out of bed this way..." because that would be very far from the truth, and my other reader, my husband, could call me out on it, to my face!

so very briefly, i'll give you the reality. i've been way more into skincare than makeup lately. in an effort to normalize my misbehaving skin i've sort of laid off the makeup routine - and maybe its my beachy atmosphere, but i feel this is working for me. i typically stick to some concealer, a little blush and mascara. as for my nails, well i always feel that nail polish is one of those places that you can go a little crazy - especially on your toes.

but in my fantasy life, things are a bit more glamorous. of course i wouldn't constantly be at war with my skin, and it would just be perfect. all the time. like my fall palette, i would use bold colors to accent an otherwise natural look.

emily weiss of into the gloss

i like the power an orange-y red lip gives to a clean face - plus the fiery shade is a nice update on the classic red lip look. on days when i'm not feeling so.... lippy, i'd probably fall back on the always classic nude lip. since a lot of my look is sort of 60's inspired, the orange and nude lip are particularly fitting.

NARS Heat Wave
NARS Honolulu Honey

when it comes to nailpolish, i believe that matching and restraint are for people i hope to never meet. once again, in reality my hands don't get much attention - i just like to keep my nails a little longer, rounded, and clean. but my toes i try to change once a week or (we're talking reality here) once every two weeks. but the fantasy me? she'd be all about the manicure. and like i said, matching is not a priority here. i don't care how classic my wardrobe may be, in nail polish i am always drawn to the most complex colors out there. and for that, i think chanel does it best. not that i've ever actually owned chanel nail polish, but from what i can tell they make the most interesting colors.

Chanel

the real me is particularly lacking in the accessories department. i own one purse - and i'll only replace it once it starts to fall apart. i do, however, really like jewelry. unfortunately my tastes and my finances don't often agree - like, ever - so the real me only owns a few fun jewelry pieces that i keep on heavy rotation. until i get sick of them, and then they get no rotation. but the fantasy me would not have such silly problems like budgeting and could afford to spend surplus cash on fun accessories.

Top: The Vamoose Bottom: Of a Kind

I like the idea of pairing jewelry with natural elements and indigenous designs with a more classic, buttoned up wardrobe. it keeps things feeling a bit looser and free and picks up on the more bohemian aspects of my dream self wardrobe.

and those, are my thoughts on makeup, nails, and accessories. well for now at least... trust me, i could go on. but i think instead i will focus my attention back to sewing.

xx