Hodgepodge (hoj-poj)

I hope I'm not the only one, but I sometimes have weird half-asleep thoughts in the middle of the night.

I've been wanting to find and adopt a dress form for quite awhile (hold on, these two thoughts are about to connect...), and last night I had a weird fuzzy idea about actually saving up for one (a-HA!).
I'm going to start collecting all my change from here on out--keeping you updated all the while--with a dress form as my goal.

Currently in my little owl change bank (given to me by Dana) is $3.64, 2 Canadian pennies, 2 $2 bills, and a 1979 silver dollar.


I would show you a picture of little Satchel, but he's in the middle of being repainted and I think he would feel a bit self-conscious about being depicted half-nude for all the world to see (he's very modest for an owl).

On an unrelated note, Ducky has gotten up on the kitchen table twice this morning. She's out of control.

There's absolutely nothing better than waking up, thinking you have to rush somewhere, and then realizing that you have the whole day before you to do nothing. You can just sink back into your pillow a little bit deeper and relish the comfort of your comforter.

Today's Game Plan:

• Get dressed and ready to go
• Redeem recyclables
  
• Go to the library with Dana
• Play tennis with Dana (she doesn't know this yet, but as it has been unequivocally determined that I am a control freak...that's not a surprise.)
  
• Do some drawering with Dana for our story blog (she also doesn't know this either).
• Take pictures (for you) of my latest thrifty finds from when Goodwill had a 1/2 off sale on St. Patrick's Day (whaaaaat?)
  
• Have a serious talk with Duck about the direction her life is going. This is just getting out of hand.
  

Cats and Suitcases

One of these things is different...

One of these things just doesn't belong...

Meet Ducky--short for Jemima Puddleduck.

Like her namesake, she's the sweetest cat in the world, but not necessarily the brightest. Whereas Cricket sits on the table to be naughty, Ducky sits on the table because she has no idea where she is. We relate a lot, Duck and I.

Anyway, in the midst of Spring Cleaning, I decided to re-purpose one of my suitcases as a cat bed (credit for idea: mom--who credits someone else)

I put the suitcase down in the hallway to try to tempt the cats inside, since they always hop into our traveling bags before vacation. But, as cats are wont to do, they completely ignored just the thing I wanted them to pay attention to.
But not to be discouraged, I began making a lining for the suitcase. I figured if I made it as attractive as, say, those super classy cardboard boxes they like to sit in, they might be tempted inside.

Cricket trying to help me with my sewing.

I have dozens upon dozens of scraps I used for the lining--some from quilting, some from altering clothes. I tend to be a little bit of a perfectionist when it comes to sewing, so projects take me way longer than they need to (especially when I'm in a hurry and don't take the time to pre-measure anything). So my personal goal for this project was just to slap it together all willy nilly and not go back and fix anything.
It is, after all, just a cat bed.

Since I don't have a cutter-bobber to cut things on (like, say, a board), the bottom of the suitcase served as my table so cut on. I then sewed the pieces together in quilt-like fashion and hot glued the sucker to the inside of the lid.
I also had an extra pillow case from when I made my matching duvet cover, so I passed that on to the little wretches.
The end result:
Da-dun!

I've yet to lure the cats inside (with this brief exception, blurrily caught on film).

Cricket loves my mom's perfume and even my spritzing that inside doesn't help.
Darn you, cats!
I, therefore, left a very stern note, letting Cricket know that she is not allowed inside the suitcase under any circumstances!

We'll see if that works.

Today's Outfit

...is brought to you by the letters S, N, and L

I spent a good chunk of time scouring Google for outfits that I remembered the ladies of SNL wearing that indirectly influenced my outfit today, and nary a one.

So I moved on to Netflix, and spent forever (like 5 minutes) skimming through episodes and taking screen captures.

Ohhhkay creepo in the corner

So that's the style mood I was in when I got dressed.

Then I tried taking pictures outside of my actual outfit, and this is what happened:
And since I was too lazy (darn you, heat!) to find a ladder to set my camera on, you get this instead.

Basically put, there's a whole lot of lazy going on here.

Stats
Bought: Blue polka dot blouse (with matching skirt. ai-yee!) @ Goodwill
Price: Under $10

Bought: Red sweater vest @ Plato's Closet
Price: $5

Bought: H&M Jeans (as previously posted here)

Bought: Steve Madden wedges (the pride of my existence, which had never before been worn!) @ Goodwill
Price: Under $10

Bought: Double-wrap-around belt @ Urban Outfitters
Price: $4.99 (whaaaaat??)


Who influences what you wear?

Do you have one style or change it every day?

Victory Garden--A Brief History and Explanation

Briefly and in bullet point form:

• Foods rationed during WWII: Sugar, butter, milk, cheese, eggs, coffee, meat and canned goods.
• The government and businesses urged people to make gardening a family and community effort.
• Soybeans originated in China and Manchuria.
• Tofu is one food product made from soybeans and is a major source of protein in oriental diets.
• When the war started, the USDA exhorted farmers to produce much more of "the miracle bean," (soybeans) as they started calling it.

All information taken from The Wessels Living History Farm website.

As made obvious by my oh-so-subtle font amplification, I chose the name "Victory Garden" because many of the foods rationed are ones I can't eat, my family (mom especially) have really been good about trying new foods that are healthy for us all, and soybeans have become an important dietary staple for me.

A couple of exceptions:

• I will never give up coffee
• I don't have the room to plant my own veggies so I'll be going to the Farmer's Market instead

One of the biggest problems I've been having with not eating dairy and meat has been that I'm hungry all the time! So I decided for breakie this morning I would have some oatmeal and black tea. That should stick to my ribs for awhile. Fingers crossed.

Victory Garden

When I was younger, I was an incredibly picky eater. I remember sitting at the dinner table hours after my family had finished, left to stare at my asparagus, growing colder and slimier by the second. While I never resorted to the antics of my sister (i.e. sticking her carrots down the floor heating vent), I was not a happy camper when it came to eating my veggies. Broccoli was fine drowned in melted cheese but as for everything else--no, thank you. Even apples had to have the skins cut off or else I would gag as I tried to swallow them.

Suffice to say I've always had food issues.

In the past two months or so, I've realized that I have more food intolerances than I knew at first. Let's take a look, shall we?

Things that I'm allergic to:
1. Garlic
2. Pineapple (maybe)
3. Pollen
4. Oil paint
5. Keira Knightley

Things that make me sick:
1. Low-blood sugar (i.e. not eating enough)
2. Lactose
3. Beer
4. Red meat
5. White meat, in excess
6. Citrus, in excess (maybe)
7. Bananas (they're mushy and make me gag)
8. See previous list

As a result, I've been eating a fairly vegetarian and soy-based diet. Now, I do enjoy my veggies quite a bit--more so certainly than when I was younger. But it hasn't been quite so fun trying to find additional sources of protein and iron and all those other nutritional words that mean nothing to me. Also (since I'm in list mode). . .

Previously enjoyable activities that have now been ruined for me:
1. Baseball games (beer and hot dog)
2. Having a giant glass of milk with a warm fresh-out-of-the-oven brownie
3. Barbecues (guess who's going to be the urchin nibbling on the tomato and lettuce toppings while everyone else is gobbling up their giant hamburgers this summer)
4. Eating Caesar Salad (garlic)
5. Talking about Pride and Prejudice (NO! I don't mean the new one! I mean the mini-series that was created before it got ruined!)

This leads me to my point. I'm going to be posting a new segment every once in awhile entitled "Victory Garden." Having to watch what I eat, I think it will be interesting to see how long I can keep myself alive before I, as a weak gazelle, am forced to lie down beside the watering hole, curled up in the fetal position, whimpering to the scavenging predators that they win.

But as for now, I'm up and about, leaping around, hooves pleasantly pattering along the plains.

Currently, I'm headed in the direction of the Farmer's Market downtown.

You Can Be an American Girl Too

It all started when I saw these shorts on ModCloth:

and they immediately reminded me of An American Girl: Molly.

When I was younger, I spent hours poring over these books, which is the reason why you're about to read a post featuring clothing found online for the grown woman who wants to dress like one of her childhood dolls (which, who doesn't want to do that...?).

A couple of things to note before we begin.
1. These are chronological. Trust me. I looked them up.
2. These are obviously inspirations, not direct replicas (unlike the Josefina outfit that my mom made for me for my 4th Grade Walk Thru California History Day).
3. These are only the original American Girls (Plus Josefina). None of this contemporary, unpronounceably named doll nonsense.
4. I had the Kirsten doll. (Not really necessary for you to know, but interesting since she's a Swede who moved to Minnesota and my grandma is a Norwegian who moved to Wisconsin)

Felicity


Josefina:


Kirsten:

Addy:

Samantha:

She gets 2. Just because.

Bonus:
You didn't really think I would deny you pictures of me dressed up as a blond Josefina, did you?

Close up:
Yes, I was a Muppet.

Spring

Spring

by Karla Kuskin

I’m shouting

I’m singing

I’m swinging through trees

I’m winging skyhigh

With the buzzing black bees.

I’m the sun

I’m the moon

I’m the dew on the rose.

I’m a rabbit

Whose habit

Is twitching his nose.

I’m lively

I’m lovely

I’m kicking my heels.

I’m crying “Come Dance”

To the fresh water eels.

I’m racing through meadows

Without any coat

I’m a gamboling lamb

I’m a light leaping goat

I’m a bud

I’m a bloom

I’m a dove on the wing.

I’m running on rooftops

And welcoming spring!

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