Inspired By The Forties

I just love the 1940's silhouette in fashion. It seems to have been a very polished yet ladylike style that is classic and can still be worn today. I found these pictures on www.howtolookgood.com and I think that the hair, makeup and accessories complement each other perfectly. (except maybe the scary Joan Crawford penciled in eyebrows with the yellow dress, yikes!)

Dresses With Boots

I have noticed all winter, the trend of wearing boots with leggings or tights with dresses. I think it can look very stylish and cute and would like to try and pull that off...well I will TRY anyway! Of course for me at my ancient age it needs to be appropriate. I have picked up some dresses on clearance lately, mainly because it has happened that when an unexpected event pops up requiring being a little dressy, panic ensues! A dress can always be dressed up or down depending on the footwear, and boots give them such a nice casual feel.
I found these images by doing a google search and thought you might enjoy and be inspired by them!

Some Sweet Fashion

A little Zoe Deschanel

Emma by Red Head on Polyvore.com

I've yet to watch Glee, but many folks I know love the show and I had heard that Emma Pillsbury (the guidance counselor played by Jayma May) sports some cute retro styles.
I also especially like the retro vibe of singer and actress Zoe Deschanel. Hope you get some inspiration for spring with these colorful pictures!

My Inner Hippie is Coming Out! (eating healthier in 2010)

Well, last month I spent some time with my daughter Christina and my son in law Suj and sweet grandson Kavi in Florida. It was a lovely time even though Kavi was sick, then Christina was sick, and we didn't go out and about much! We still managed to eat some tasty Thai food at a retaurant nearby and watched a bunch of movies. (I really liked "Paul Blart ,Mall cop!") My husband Ray ended up surprising us at the end of the week by driving there from Alabama cause he was so bored and lonely and wanted to see everyone! (I had driven back to Florida with Christina and was to hitch a ride back with some friends who live across the street and were also visiting family in Fla)
Stina and Suj have Netflicks and can watch certain movies on demand by hooking up their laptop to the TV, so we watched a few BollyWood movies among others, but Suj and I really wanted to see "Food Inc", as I has seen something about it on Martha Stewart and was hungry to learn more, but Stina and Ray were not convinced it would be so fun to watch. Anyway, we DID end up watching it along with the documentary "King Corn" and let me tell you it was quite eye opening! Now I am not a vegetarian, but I do want to eat healthier meat and all, it's just that it is very hard to find chicken or beef that is grass fed and free roaming around these here parts at an affordable price! I live an hour away from "Whole Foods" which actually has some better priced organic meats and foods which makes it hard to spontaneously plan a meal!
I plan on making as many changes as I can within a reasonable budget and look forward to supporting my local farmers markets. Food inc. has come up with these 10 simple steps to effect change in our diets:

Learn more about these issues and how you can take action on Takepart.com

Stop drinking sodas and other sweetened beverages.

You can lose 25 lbs in a year by replacing one 20 oz soda a day with a no calorie beverage (preferably water).

Eat at home instead of eating out.

Children consume almost twice (1.8 times) as many calories when eating food prepared outside the home.

Support the passage of laws requiring chain restaurants to post calorie information on menus and menu boards.

Half of the leading chain restaurants provide no nutritional information to their customers.

Tell schools to stop selling sodas, junk food, and sports drinks.

Over the last two decades, rates of obesity have tripled in children and adolescents aged 6 to 19 years.

Meatless Mondays—Go without meat one day a week.

An estimated 70% of all antibiotics used in the United States are given to farm animals.

Buy organic or sustainable food with little or no pesticides.

According to the EPA, over 1 billion pounds of pesticides are used each year in the U.S.

Protect family farms; visit your local farmer's market.

Farmer's markets allow farmers to keep 80 to 90 cents of each dollar spent by the consumer.

Make a point to know where your food comes from—READ LABELS.

The average meal travels 1500 miles from the farm to your dinner plate.

Tell Congress that food safety is important to you.

Each year, contaminated food causes millions of illnesses and thousands of deaths in the U.S.

Demand job protections for farm workers and food processors, ensuring fair wages and other protections.

Poverty among farm workers is more than twice that of all wage and salary employees.

http://www.foodincmovie.com

When I Create I Make A Mess!

One of the garlands I crocheted for my lonely post Christmas windows...

What it really looks like around me during a project...

I know, what a mess...

and a close up of the mess...

I love looking at artsy photos of yarn balls piled in a rustic basket with perfectly accenting knitting needles poking out in the dreamiest creamy lighting. It makes knitting and crocheting look so compact and functional yet glamorous. Or the pictures of knitters sitting cross legged on a big easy chair with just a tiny yarn ball of delicate yarn dangling from the needles... Then someone tell me why, when I am doing a simple project, the yarn takes over the couch, I have piles of things around me like my hook pouch, scissors,needle book, bag with my printed out patterns, crochet or knitting books,labels, scraps and crap all around me? It is not a photo opportunity when I create, it is a mess! Please tell me that someone out there can relate to me! Or am I the only disheveled crafter out there? Please someone tell me you know what I mean!

Not Your Granny's Granny Squares

Lately I have been inspired by some artful bloggers like
Dottie Angel who have been crocheting granny squares and granny circles to make accents for the home. I had to relearn this technique since it has been over 30 years since I had crocheted that particular motif. I recently blogged about garlands for my windows and such to replace my Christmas decorations, so I made three of them doing the granny circle, but it is a good thing they are high up on my windows, cause I am afraid I didn't increase the final row of yarn properly resulting in some puckering.(which seems to be a common dilemma when doing circles)
Even though I need to be refilling my etsy shop with some winter accessories (as the winter window is soon to close), I am instead practicing the granny stuff and thinking about making some coverings for chair seats and such!
These photos (some are way over the top but still very fun!)are amazing examples of the granny square and circle adding a colorful and artful touch to a room! I often eyed a large granny afghan sold at Anthropologie for a lot of money, thinking, "it might take a long time, but I could probably make something like this myself..."
Hopefully I will get back to filling my etsy shop now...

Going Dutch

A few months ago I splurged by buying something I have wanted for years but was too cheap to get! I have always wanted one of those two ton heavy dutch ovens that I have seen all the Food Network stars use. Something about them seemed so magical, like anything cooked in one of those babies would come out delicious!
When I had a $20 off coupon for a department store in the mall, I decided to explore the possibility of snagging a dutch oven for my very own. I wandered up and down the cookware aisle,still not sure I could do it, because even with 20 bucks off it was still a lot of money to me ($70.00 before the coupon)but I had 100.00 to spend since my 28 year old stainless steel steel pots were losing their handles and such, so I was looking for a whole set on sale or whatever was a good deal. They had a stainless steel set on sale for $50 and with my coupon for the dutch oven, my grand total was $100! I know to many people that was not a big amount to spend, but my original pots were a gift and even though I still cook almost everyday for a household of four I had rapid heartbeat as I paid for my treasures.
And...let me tell ya, the dutch oven really IS magic! Every meat, soup or stew I cook in that thing comes out moist, tasty and cooks a little faster than it would have in a regular pot. You can brown things on the stove AND put it in your oven! I wondered why I waited so long to do this!

There are tons of recipes at www.justdutchovenrecipes.com

Snow Beautiful...

So...it has been snowing lightly this morning and in our household almost everyone is happy! Ray is not too happy since it affects his work,but we are in the south after all so it shouldn't accumulate. What a lovely dusting of powdered sugar it is though! If you are a fan of Gilmore Girls, you know that Lorelai loved when it snowed and the most magical sounding vintage guitar music would play when it happened. I can hear it...I can hear it...la la la la, la la la la la la...

Some of my Fun Christmas Plunder...

My daughter Christina (considerthecoffee.blogspot.com)made me these adorable throw pillows for Christmas (in addition to some other sweet things ) and I love love love them! She has become more and more creative and talented as time goes on! Christmas is way more fun in our family since we have gotten crafty and etsy-fied!

The Beauty of a Winter Tree

I have always loved the beautiful silhouette of a winter tree. Trees in all the different seasons even when they are stripped of their colorful foliage, have a still, quiet charm about them. I know that winter tree shapes have been a trend for several years now, and I don't really think that it will ever end. At least not for me:)