post-christmas review

the season came and went and my oh my, was it fun. busy, but fun. even though i was a little late, i managed to sell and ship most items in my tiny holiday collection on time (you guys are amazing, thank you!), visit with my mom and dad while running around and doing fun holiday activities, help out the local ballet theater put on a beautiful performance of the nutcracker, have a wonderful after-christmas phone date my best friend, and spend a restful and relaxing time with my little family watching awesome movies and sleeping under the christmas tree. i really hope your holidays were filled with as much peace + love.

tis the season for giving!

i missed the cyber-monday deals yesterday, and thought it would be a good idea to hold a cyber-tuesday sale for buyers like me! i'll be opening up shop today at 6pm EST, where all of my items will be on discount. and because i love you all so much, i'm offering free domestic shipping, with $5 shipping everywhere else! 12 hours only, so hurry on over!

like mother, like daughter

mom's and my thanksgiving centerpieces, a thousand miles from each other

i recently sent my mom two noritake "wheaton" place settings that i found at my thrift store. knowing that i have too many dishes of my own but still finding the pattern beautiful and seasonally inspiring, i instead let them influence the centerpiece for my own november table. weeks later as soon as my mom got the box of dishes, she ran right outside (in her pajamas) and decorated the table on the deck and took pictures. i died when i saw what she used as her centerpiece! can you tell where i get my love of decor?

quiet and lonely lunches

lonely lunches while doug was gone

i'm used to eating lunch everyday with doug since he works from home, but while he was gone this last week and after jenny left, i had to get used to eating lunch alone in a freakishly quiet house. i used to love the quiet, but i guess that over the years i've gotten used to so much activity during the day, so the first day alone was especially hard. i had just dropped jenny off at the airport and returning to the quiet, still home seemed like such a drastic contrast to the day before when the house was filled with laughter and great conversation. suddenly the house was so quiet and lonely. before i had even finished eating my first lonely meal, i decided the next couple of afternoons wouldn't be the same, and i'd take advantage of the silence. the next day with the newly fallen snow on the ground, i decided to run down the thrift store and buy some holiday lp's to play all through the day, make a light, girly meal, and open the shades wide to let in the bright wintry light. looking back on the week, i think these lunches helped me to really enjoy being alone. and now that doug's back, i plan on trying my best to recreate those peaceful, comforting afternoons. so doug if you're reading, come on upstairs in five minutes and there will be vegetarian sandwiches, lambic and bing crosby waiting!

wow, talk about the best surprise

jenny and i just minutes before i had to take her to the airport

there was no time to prepare, no time to obsessively clean, no time to plan meals, which made the surprise visit from my best friend absolutely perfect! doug flew jenny out from new york to spend a week with me and i had no idea - friday night, jenny was there, standing at my front door in the most adorable wiksten skirt, ready to spend the next five days hanging out. i have so many fond memories of this trip, that it's hard to reminisce without choking up about how far apart we live from each other. but i will take what i can get, and this surprise was one of the most enjoyable of my life. doug was actually going to take a business trip out to the city, and it didn't work for me to go with. i tried my best to put on a happy face about not getting to go, but i'm pretty sure doug could tell i was crushed and decided on his own to instead see if jenny could fly out here the same week. jenny was totally up for it, even though she's crazy busy with her fall line and the classes she's teaching at lena's studio. she even trusted doug to go ahead and just schedule tickets and tell her when to be at the airport! she is such a cool friend.

now, let's see if i can talk about the week without tearing up. some of my favorite memories were sitting down to the table eating the meals jenny was kind enough to make for us. she's an incredible cook, and has a special knack for making meals that comfort - exactly what i needed. most nights we would sit together and knit, a first for us, and take advantage of the chance to talk without it being added to a cell phone bill. i loved watching jenny knit. she has a confidence and grace with all hand crafts that is mesmerizing to watch.

one chilly night, jenny and i walked around town and stopped in at the historic hotel so i could show her the lobby. the concierge was so warm and friendly though, and was nice enough to share stories of her celebrity encounters while taking us on a ride in the elevator built in 1905 to let us peek at one of the nicest rooms in the hotel. it was so much fun.

even though i could have showed jenny much more of our town, she knew that stopping at the magical thrift store to see if she could score some treasures to bring back to new york was a must. although she didn't score a set of herman miller chairs, she still had good luck, and now a priority flat rate box full of vintage mugs is waiting patiently to be dropped off at the post office.

i think my favorite day was the one spent learning to grade patterns. it was a really fun day - no rush, lots of good food (made by jenny) and fun discussion. she shared her valuable grading knowledge with me and was such a excellent teacher; patient and easy for me to understand. and like knitting, it was amazing to watch her gracefully and quickly work. when i watched her grade the first pattern piece, i thought it was a really quick process. but then i gave it a try and realized that jenny is just really skilled at what she does! i can't wait to try again - to use a skill that was passed down to me by my best friend.

the only regret i have is not getting more pictures. we were just having too much fun, and i do treasure the few photos i have.

wheatland jumper

i promise, i will post about something other than my shop soon! since being sick, it's been all business (BORE-RING), but i have been collecting a bunch of photos and blogs i've found inspiring which i hope to get a chance to copy down here. until then, i've added a dress to the shop and hope to make more items over the next week. here's the sizing the wheatland jumper in size six:

18.5" bust
22" through hip
24" length, from front of neck

buffalo check timbermill shirt - size six

in the shop now. here are the measurements lying flat:

• chest: 18.5"
  
• shoulder to shoulder: 14"
  
• hip: 22"
  
• shoulder to armpit: 8.5"
  
• shoulder to hem: 26"
  

and go ahead and let me know if you'd like any other measurements.

oatmeal sweetgrass sweater in the shop now

since i don't have a return policy, i've been mulling over a fixed way of letting my customers know my sizing, and I've found that the most tried and true way is to just measure the items lying flat. i've marked this sweater as a small, but it can generally fit someone who's a size six. here are the measurements:

• chest: 17"
  
• shoulder to hem: 22"
  
• shoulder to armpit: 8"
  
• armpit to cuff: 21"
  
• hip: 18"
  

and you can always let me know what other measurements you'd like, and i'll get those to you.

the bed may be unmade

i may still sound like a happy little donkey, the house is an insane mess, and we're eating fast food every chance we get, but...

i'm wearing a beautiful necklace from sarah fox of cursive design. how amazing is this necklace? seriously. i love it. just love it. it's even more beautiful than i expected it would be.

crazy part is, sarah and her sister kristin and our families used to vacation at the same place most summers growing up. while searching through our stuff before moving, i found a card from her parents with sarah's business name mentioned, and through a little snooping around, i found out that both sarah and i had most of the same flickr contacts, but had not bumped into each other on the internets. yet, at least. what a small world!

and even though life is nuts, i did push really hard to get my orders dropped in the post this morning. it's always a load off my mind to know that everything is out of my house and on its way to my customers! now we're just planning on taking it easy this weekend, finishing up some halloween costumes, watching good movies, doing puzzles and getting some much needed rest. mmm, sounds good to me!

hows about a little shop sale?

i've been working on another corduroy timbermill dress, this time in grey, and i've decided to put it in my shop as my first green olives sale item! i'm a bit of a perfectionist, and this dress didn't turn out exactly how i was expecting it to, so my loss is (hopefully) your gain!

i've also added a couple new items to the shop, too. enjoy!