Necklaces

These Klein Reid key necklaces are so pretty. But expensive.

And did you know that you can dye glass pearls? I'd love to make one of these necklaces, just for kicks. Tutorial found here.

Trick or Treat

We love halloween in this household. We usually pick a theme and dress up as a family. However, this year our Stake Conference falls on halloween night. Halloween night! Forced to choose between receiving inspired instruction from religious leaders or dancing around a bonfire on a pagan holiday, we sadly decided on attending conference. Tough call, I know.

So, no elaborate costumes this time. {Too bad-- I was thinking cirque du soleil performers would have been a great way to use up all that spandex left over from last year.} Instead, we attended a trunk-or-treat event on short notice over the weekend. I was the Wicked Witch of the West {again} and L was my flying monkey. I called him monkey face and had to restrain myself from kissing his cheeks every time he walked by.

I set up a scarecrow in the trunk and a pair of striped stockings wearing ruby slippers peeked out from under the car. It was fun.

But I still can't wait until next year.

Sew-a-thon

In a fit of "I have nothing to wear", I decided to sew an outfit. First was the high-waisted pencil skirt in this blue-green. Marine blue, if you will. It was quite liberating to make something that fit and flattered and wasn't tagged with any specific size. {nothing kills self-esteem faster than not fitting into a desired size, don't you think?}

Then I purchased a cheap cardigan at Target and embellished away. To be honest, I'm not as happy with the results of the cardigan, though it was fun to do.

I think it'd be more flattering if it hit at the waist, had three-quarter sleeves and the embellishments wandered across the bust instead of looking like a beauty queen sash.

Speaking of embellished cardigans, I want to try this tutorial next {found via Liz}. So there you have it. 24 hours of sewing, ironing and pasting, and this is the outfit I ended up with. Makes you really respect those Project Runway contestants and their amazing results, doesn't it?

A Few Things B&W

Adoring the Twined Rockrose Necklace from Anthro. I've already started shopping for the beads to make it myself.

Japanese masking tape. Don't know what I'd do with it {exactly} but trust that something will come to me once I have my hands on all that stripy goodness.

The Ribbon Ravine dress from J Crew is even better in person. I'm waiting for it to go on sale, so y'all just stay away from the size 2, you hear?

I want this entire collection on my entryway table. Melanie Schopper is a genius.

I'd wear this Tracy Reese dress with the marine blue tights I just bought. That pattern makes me happy.

Patience

I know I promised to post the results of my 24 hour Project Runway sew-a-thon last week. So sorry! It's coming, I swear. In the meantime, here's some red lipstick and a feather fascinator to tide you over.

Little Miss C gets Baptized

There have only been a few moments in my life when I've been in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing for the right reason and have felt flooded by love, peace, and the surety that God lives. This weekend was one of those moments.

I hadn't expected to feel this way about C's baptism. After all, it was her day, her decision, and her opportunity to feel the warmth in her soul, the whispering in her mind, as the Holy Ghost let her know that she was taking the first step towards returning to her Heavenly Father. But instead, I was the one fighting back tears as she dressed all in white and stepped into the water with her Daddy to be baptized by immersion.

I watched my little girl beaming, and felt filled to the brim with all my hopes and dreams for her. It seemed incomprehensible that anyone could care for her more than her Daddy and I do, but I knew with a surety that God does. That he loves all of us more fiercely than I can comprehend.

Aside from the spiritual high, a few things that stand out in my mind from that day are these:

the image of walking into the chapel after arranging for a {much} earlier than usual baptism, only to find the font empty and the room unprepared. Family instantly began setting up chairs and turning on the water. It was heartwarming to see them all so unfazed. {It turned out that we were in the wrong building. }

After making our way to the correct building, walking in to see that our sweet primary president had set out programs with C's photo on a lovely table with flowers.

Looking out over the room filled with familiar faces, all as happy for and supportive of my daughter as I.

Little Miss C being taught by her 8 year old cousin about the purpose of baptism. How lucky they are to have each other!

Dressing C in the same diaphanous white and gold dress that my mother wore at her baptism, and I wore at mine.

The sun shining on her face like an angel as as she was confirmed.

It was a wonderful, wonderful day.

{If you desire, you can learn more about LDS Baptism here}

Painting

I'm painting today. I've just finished the baseboards {they're still white, but now they look so nice and crisp!} the tabletop {which had been peeling} and now I'm on to the boy's room. You'd think all this painting would have me burned out, but instead I find myself dreaming of painting the rest of the house. I'd love to paint over the Swiss Cocoa that is now the dominant color in most of our living areas, and replace it with a very pale grey, like this:

I even like the pop of turquoise. And I'd love to paint the kitchen cabinets white. We have black appliances, so maybe white on top and black on bottom, like this:

I'm keeping an eye out for a long, simple table like the one below, only in white. It'd lighten the room and look good with our dark chairs {until I can replace them with something like these}

I think all the above might be enough to dissuade me from attempting white walls or floors, which seem to crowd my inspiration folder.

Ah, Projects never end.

Fall Colors

J sent some pictures via iphone while on his latest film shoot. So pretty.

Aw, man. I love that red scruff. Time for him to come home so I can kiss it.

Beautiful.

Turning of the Seasons

J is off with a film crew taking in the fall colors. I would be {more} jealous except for the fact that the temperatures have dropped this week and I've been luxuriating in a taste of fall myself. Happy weekend all!

{Stay tuned for next week, when I'll have a camera-phone again and will be able to reveal the results of my 'Project Runway Experiment'}

Garden

J and I repaired the leaking drip system yesterday and planted our fall garden. There's something so satisfying about freshly turned earth and neat rows of labels.

The chickens went crazy finding worms while we were mixing mulch and fertilizer into the dirt. And as always, the kids helped plant. Which means we may have ten seeds in one hole, and then none in the next. We'll have to wait until they sprout to find out.

Moonlight

It's October. Here's a full moon time lapse Jared filmed. It should get you in the haunting mood. :)

zzzzz

Recently, my sister-in-law and I were talking about her little one, who's been having trouble sleeping. I made some comment about how difficult it is to have interrupted sleep, and how it always makes me wonder how I survived the feeding-every-two-hours stage.

It's like I cursed myself.

Since then, L will not sleep. He just cries and cries and stays up way too late and makes sure that I look and feel 10 years older in the morning. It's probably a stage. He's sick, or is having a growth spurt, or his newfound independence is giving him separation anxiety or something.

I don't know. I'm too tired to think.

But the other night, I went into his room after he'd been crying a while, and found that E had crawled into the crib with L, had wrapped his arms around his baby brother, and fallen asleep that way. L was still crying, but E's show of comfort and affection made me melt.

I'm so lucky to have kids. Even when they don't sleep.

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