Thrifted Tuesday.

A day late, but I'm sure you will forgive me.
I popped in to the op shops, as I often do, on the way to get Aesop on Monday. In the first shop I found the African-style printed skirt and the bird glasses. I was well impressed and would have gone home a happy lady, but then.. the Sallies provided some pure second hand GOLD for me.
I have been dreaming of pinafore type dresses lately, thinking of ways I could make some uniform-esque frocks for the Winter, that I can chuck on over my tights and top to leave the house. Check out the colour! (Ignore the lack of ironing!) Check out the pockets! Check out the fact that it fits me peeeeerfectly. Oooh yeah. And if that wasn't enough- I also scored the cute little cardi and the gem of a trivet.
Sometimes the thirft gods are so good to me. I really must get round to cleaning out the shed so I can keep the good karma coming.

List update- March

Okay, so I didn't end up doing many of the numbers I planned to. In fact this month was another slow one! Jeepers, I better pick up my game if I want to get anywhere near finishing this list.

In April I intend to do numbers:  4, 17, and 24.
Half of numbers: 6, 10, 15, 16
And carry on with 18, 23 and 30.

1. Fit into my favourite summer top. - Nope, still the boobs. Though I think I gained over Aesop's birthday week too. 
2. Sew myself at least one DRESS. - Done!
3. Knit myself a cardigan I love. - Have chosen the pattern.
4. Make Abraham a hoodie. - I hear there's a birthday in April...
5. Start sewing to sell again. - Might have changed my mind about this one.
6. List GIANT pile of thing on Trademe. - Everything still ready and waiting for me to start.
7. Print the majority of our photos. - Still waiting for a sale.
8. Plant a vege garden. -  Done in februrary Yay!
9. Go to the movies. - Done in March
10. Back up our photos on hardrive/ preserve fruit, make jam. - No. And no. But I might try and see if my friend will leet me raid her fig tree in April.
11. Start blogging again. 01/01
12. Get business cards. - Have had them designed. But not sure I'll need them if I don't start sewing!
13. Buy 2 pairs of decent shoes. - First pair ordered and they're too big. stinkoes!
14. Take Aesop to the zoo. - July is the month for this! Waiting on an Auckland-dwelling baby niece or nephew to arrive!
15. Send (at least) 2 parcels to Amy. - Have sent one in Jan and am amassing things for the second.
16. Finish at least 2 duathlon type events. - One down, one to go!
17. Sort out entire garage. - Have made a start, but nowhere near finishing!
18. Finish yoyo quilt. - Chipping away at it.
19. Earn $1000 through sewing. - $91 down $909 to go. Hahah. Also not going to really work if I don't start sewing.
20. Have a bbq/dinner with over 10 people. - Nope. This might need to be a Winter event.
21. See some live music. - Done Feb.
22. Save over $1000/ have an outdoor movie night - Have found a projector to use but haven't set a date.
23. pay off our laptop and buy a new camera. - Yet to pay off the laptop but did buy the camera 01/01
24. Sew 10 garments for the kids. - 4 down (ottos crawling pants, ewok costume  and a hoodie for aesop), 6 to go.
25. Knit Aesop a jumper. - Have decided on pattern and started to do gauge swatch.
26. Make the mix cd to end all mix cds. - Nope. But I have begun the list.
27. Cover the cushions on the window seat. - Nope. Our couch is dying so might need to rethink my fabric choices.
28. Get away for a night without the kids! - Will be the end of the year (read: end of breastfeeding) for this one.
29. Get mentioned in a magazine. - Nope. Looking very unlikely if I choose not to start sewing again!
30. Make most of the gifts we give (this year). - A bit of a continuous goal this one. But going really well.


The anti-pants plan is going okay. Did wear pants under a long tunic-y  top/dress the other day, not sure but that might count as my first slip-up? tsk tsk.

The wedding.

On Saturday, dressed in my new dress, I was privileged enough to attend a very beautiful wedding.
It was held up near lake Okataina, close to Rotorua. The ceremony took place in the prettiest little clearing in the bush, accessed by a ramble along a pathway lined with blackberries and natives shrub.
The sun shone, the birds chirped and we were witness to the marriage of two very lovely people.
The vows were sincere and beautifully written, the reading went without a hitch and the attention to detail was spectacular- bunting in the gazebo (I forgot to get a picture!), a hundred or so tiny mismatched vintage sherry glasses for a round of mead wine, flower petals up the 'aisle', vintage linen table cloths buckets of green and white foliage and flowers, and a delectable carrot cake.
And that's just the ceremony. The reception was held in a marquee - decked out with white table clothes, vintage glass bottles holding hand-picked flowers, tealight candles, fern fronds and even a glass chandelier. Stunning.
The the speeches were the prefect mix of funny and sentimental, food was great, the music was incredibly dance-worthy (good work Abraham!) and the company was even better.
I love family weddings!
Oh, but did I mention the dress?! It was absolutely breathtaking. Holly is gorgeous anyway, but she looked so, so beautiful walking down the aisle it brought a tear to my eye. Such a vision.

Holly and Ben are not 'internet-y' people like us so I can't show you to a flickr page or anything for more photos, and I will keep my fingers crossed that Holly is okay with me showing you the one photo. But surely I couldn't keep such a beautiful day all to myself?


(Let us not mention the stress of getting ready, the fact we had to leave early with a screaming baby and Aesop whinging through the entire service, okay? These are things best forgotten...)

List #2- A dress!

So, when last week arrived and I realised I was 5 days out from an important wedding and both beautiful dress-less and money-less the solution seemed obvious. Not easy, or even particularly sane, but obvious. Amongst the rest of my tasks for the week, I would need to sew myself a dress.

I decided I should stick to something simple, and something I knew would work and would suit me without alterations. I knew that the fabric would have to be what made it a wedding-attending dress as opposed to a round-the-house dress, but that I wouldn't be able to buy any. Then I remembered I had picked up this curtain fabric a year or so ago and figured that a 'statement' dress was in order!

I have more than half a dozen dresses in this style (see here and here and here and here and here for a few examples!), you could pretty much say it's my staple. I have found them over the years in all different colours, patterns and sizes. They're just so perfect for just chucking on in Summer with my jandals, and in Winter with leggings and a merino top. 
So when I found one early this month in the Sallies, in the right size but a hideous pattern, I snapped it up (and then chopped it up). I had planned (and still do plan..) to make myself another half dozen dresses from the pattern, but certainly not in such a rush as this one!

So I present you with my first dress of the year. Perhaps I will get through this list afterall.

(More on the wedding later in the week..)

Formspring Friday.

(Totally unrelated again, I struggle with picture-less posts.)

My questions for this week:

Do you still make bonnets? Your bonnets rocked.
Thanks! Not often, I was very kindly allowed to make a few from the pattern (not mine) for craft fairs and local sales but not online. I'm planning on making myself a new, padded one for chilly mornings this winter though : )

what's your favourite thing to bake?
Fresh fig tart! oh, and choc chunk cookies, though I end up eating much more of the dough than the actual cookies.

if you were an animal, what would you be?
Right now I feel like I'd be a sloth. But Aesop says I would be a morepork (a type of owl) because I stay up so late or a dragon because I growl him so much. hahah

if you could meet any person, alive or dead, who would it be?
My 'twin' Amy. We have text nearly every day for a year and a half (or longer?) and spoken on the phone but never met!

What is your favorite food? :)
Fresh ciabatta buns with margarine, ham-off-the-bone and just a little salt and pepper. Mmmm hamwiches.

if you were in an orchestra, what instrument would you play?

I have less rhythm than a brick so as I am now no orchestra would go near me. but in another life? The trombone!

if you could go back to any age you've been before, but with the knowledge you have now, which would you choose and why?
I would love to redo high school, and focus on school work instead of who was kissing who and who wasn't talking to who. And know that frankly, nasty people are usually either jealous, insecure or just not worth thinking about!
Delete Your Response
If you were a music genre, which one would you be?
I'd be one of those indie bands with a girl and a guy singer. Or an out-of tune barbershop quartet. Does that count?

Delete Your ResponseWhat is your favourite blog at the moment?
I'm loving craftykin (http://craftykin.blogspot.com) but also loving seeing snippets of my friend Rachels life in her new blog ( http://shelambcatrabbit.blogspot.com/ ). They are both so very talented and super inspiring.

Delete Your Responseif you had a daughter, what would you call her?
Olive Poppy Larsen. Although, as a few people have pointed out, that sounds a lot like olive oyl and popeye, and olive and poppy are both plants. I don't mind.. Olive is Abraham's nanas name and I think it would be perfect.

Do you like living in Whakatane?
It has its moments. Has taken awhile to find our 'place' and settle into a group of friends etc, but the town itself is beautiful and we plan to be here for a long time!

What's your favourite toast topping? by Showyourworking
Margarine, natural peanut butter (ours is made in nelson), anatoths rasp jam and a sprinkle of rock salt!


Awesome. Anything you want to know, or if you just want to make me smile a little bit, the question box is on the right and I'll post all my answers for the week each Friday!

Formsprung!

Also, I have added a formspring box to the sidebar. I had no idea, until a few weeks ago, what the heck that meant but basically it means people can (anonymously) ask you annnnnything their heart desires and you can, well.. answer their questions.
Not sure why people would want to ask me questions but it struck me as a bit of fun, so scroll down and ask away!
What will the internet think of next?

A green day..

Yesterday was a green sort of a day. The weather might have been closer to grey, and my week as a whole might be closer to a horrendously busy 80's neon pattern, but yesterday was definitely green.
My lovely sis-in-law Holly and her man are getting married this weekend  and it's all go around here ( I hate to think how things are at her place!) to get things ready for the wedding and to get jobs done in order to be able to head away for the weekend.

My 'job' was to make the bunting. It seems to be becoming my 'thing', after I made it for Aesop's second birthday it has featured in most family events since.
I was asked to make at least 20 metres of green and white ( the wedding colours) bunting to decorate the marquee. I think at last count there were about 130+ little double sided flags and I, thankfully, only have about two metres of binding left to sew and I'll be done.  Remind me next time not to leave it til the last week, okay? Oh, and also pretty please remind me that I should plan my outfit ahead of time too. That floral snippet up there is the dress I started on Tuesday when I decided I didn't like anything in my closet. Oh dear.

Something else that has not helped our busy week are Otto's ears.  I mentioned briefly that he had ear infections in both ears over the birthday party week.. well now those infections have turned into glue ear. The poor wee guy is just not having much luck at the moment. And in turn, we're not having the greatest time sleeping.

So I'm keeping my fingers crossed, and  I hope you will too, that the little ears calm down for the wedding weekend and also that I manage to finish my must-be-mad-to-be-making dress in time! I can just picture it now, all the family photos of me in some other raggedy old dress, holding a screaming, snotty baby. Oh dear!