Small Town Parade

I love small town parades.

Let me be precise.

I live in a small town.

Unlike some people who most likely do not live in small towns themselves, I do not romanticize the smallness of it.

I do even love my small town all that much. I do not love the one crowded grocery store, or the overwhelming likelihood of running into acquaintances while dashing in for a carton of milk. I do not love the lack of convenience, or lack of movie theater. The schools are not great. I like anonymity and diversity. Both of these are in short supply in most small northwestern towns.

Moving on.

There is something about our small town parade, perhaps like a thousand others nationwide (I can't be sure.) I look forward to it. Year after year. We walk down to the end of the crowded street (I do not love it enough to actually stand IN the crowd) and wait with anticipation for the police car to wail it's siren and begin.

In case you couldn't read the sign. I enlarged it for you. I am good like that.

It is much like Stephen King is narrating in my head. The way he writes each character, making them so full of humanness.

Best politics ever. Cleaning up after the horses.

Like the act of choosing to walk or ride down the middle of the street; not glamourous, just people really; simply to be seen, makes them so... human.

I want to grin, and wave and clap, "I see you! You are seen!" And I do.

Swantown, Olympia

My hubby and I took our anniversary trip a bit early this year. Ok, a month early. Blame Living Social. We decided to take a break from our usual coastal explorations, and headed to Olympia, WA. We stayed at the Swantown Inn B & B. Swantown is a lovely Victorian, with great Craftsman details, and I forgot my camera. I got in a few shots with my old, old phone. Let's see what Photoshop can do.

Olympia feels kind of rock and roll to me. In the style of a 90's grunge band. We hung out in a record store, and bought a Jack White Album, and Norah Jones latest. A dark break-up album that she wrote with Danger Mouse. There were some great thrift stores, and there may have been a flannel shirt purchase. There was even a jam band. We listened for about 3 songs. Sorry. Jam bands are kind of boring. Even good ones with saxophones, and flutists, and a lead guitarist that looks like Jesus.

There were also street kids hanging out in the warm rain, coffee, and there were bookstores. Olympia's vibe may have been influenced by my choice of reading material. A novel about a rock station with Vampire DJ's. Maybe. 

Snow Day

 

This was our view this morning. 20 minutes south, and 20 minutes north of us, they only got a light dusting, but right here in this little pocket of a town we woke up to 6 inches of snow, easy. The light is amazing. The fire is cozy. Tomorrow we will probably have to think about going back to work, but for now, we are just rolling with it.

2011 Embroidery

Here is the extent of my Christmas crafting. A bit of embroidery. These were really my first embroidery projects, and I was pretty pleased with how they turned out. The samplers are from this pattern by Alicia Paulson. She makes lovely patterns which include very detailed instructions including a really wonderful tutorial on framing your needlework.

I altered the color schemes form the original to coordinate with their new homes. The first is mostly rose shades and blues, and the second is in brighter cherries, coral, and greens to match an old-fashioned afghan that lays at the foot of my parents bed.

You should be able to click on each to see them larger.

These next little embroideries were inspired by something I found on pinterest, and made for a couple I happen to like a lot. I know that they are available on etsy.com if you are not inspired to make your own.

Cheers!

Dress Makeover or A Tim Burton Love Story

After:

In a practically unprecedented display of social participation, my husband and I went a Halloween party on Saturday. In anticipation of this event, I set about altering an old wedding gown to be more Burtonesque. Also to fit. 

It was meant to be black, but polyester does not take dye terribly well. I also extended the straps with black velvet, and added some vintage lace to the front to compensate. The back became lace-up corset style, with the help of some metal toggle loops found in the beading section, and painstakingly stitched up the back (24 in all.) 

Before:

We won't be discussing how beautifully this dress fit me when I first wore it. I was twenty, so it doesn't count.

Lizzy's House of Cakes

Liz is one of those people that you just fall in love with immediately. She is genuine and sweet and adorable, plus she makes amazing cakes. I was super excited to work with her on her new website, which I am happy to announce is up and running. Check it out, and then hurry and get yourself some cake as soon as possible.

Some Beach, Somewhere

In an idyllic world, this is my summer. River banks with rocky beaches, straw hats, potato chips in the sun, Tom Petty playing on the radio from some dusty truck. This is not today, or even this weekend ; though I did spend several hours on Saturday lying in the shade on a blanket; but at some point this summer, I did spend an entire lovely afternoon at the river. The sun was perfectly hot on my skin, and the river was cold and clear. We had potato chips, and tuna sandwiches. I guess I can be ready for fall now.

Let Them Eat

Just like me to wake up with a craving for cake on the hottest day of summer. Butter cake with almond whipped cream and candied walnuts to be specific.

Death by Stereo

I guess that every generation has its vampire story. I like my Twilight as much as the next girl, but my heart will always belong to the Lost Boys. Every iconic line has me cheering, nineties fashion, classic soundtrack, surprisingly understated acting, and Jason Patrick still steals it every time with his heart stopping stare. Eat you heart out Cullens.

Evening Light

Today we:

Painted.

Cleaned.

Chopped.

Decorated.

Tonight, if someone has an extra glass of wine, she might not feel guilty at all.

Stripey Bag Share

For whatever reason, I have found myself not in the mood to share lately. It could be the lack of light we have been having around here or the past several months. It could be the thing where set Martha standards of gargantuan proportions for myself and fail to hire the crew of minions to do things for me. Whatever. Today I feel a bit lighter, and so to celebrate, I am sharing this stripey crocheted bag with you. It is no particular pattern, and is not a bag yet, but rather and large stripy loop with 5 balls of cotton yarn dangling from it. You may remember them from this. Or not. The colors, and the sunshine, and the green grass are happy, are they not?