barely autumn dress

autumn has snuck up upon us in the northeast, but not before i could make one last summer dress for the year (maybe).  i made this dress by copying a dress i already owned and adding an elastic waist to change it up a little.  the original dress was pink on top and black on the bottom, and a-lined out.  

i bought the floral fabric on our last trip to finland, and the maker is liberty- which i believe is a english brand.  the cotton is very comfortable and superb quality.

somehow the dress became shorter than i intended. i guess my legs aren't as short as i thought!  

philly

we spent the labor day weekend in the city of brotherly love.  i don't know why it's known as such.   do you?

we visited some historical sites. the husband learned what the liberty bell is.  i learned that what they taught us about the liberty bell in school is a lie.  

i got a little bit of a work out...

...gosh that's heavy.

we also indulged. heavily.  i recommend a visit to morimoto (a restaurant of one of the japanese iron chefs) if you ever make it to philadelphia.  if you don't know what an iron chef is, i'm not sure we can be friends.   

just kidding.  

kind of.

marimekko guest post

i'm guest blogging today on marimekko (surprised?) over at imadeitso.com.

pop on over and take a moment to meet ana.  she has a fabulous blog, and also believes in the minimal use  of her shift key.   my kind of gal. 

another laptop case...

this time for my macbook.   

the outside (canvas) fabric is made by another finnish company, finlayson.  i have it in two color ways, and felt that a laptop case would be a worthy use of this grey, brown, and white one.  the inside is lined with a basic purple cotton fabric.  i padded it with stiff interfacing and two layers of felt, much like in my kindle tutorial. 

on the "front", i chose to pleat it the same way i pleated this clutch, thanks to noodlehead's tutorial.  

stripes, stripes, and stripes

as i was unpacking my bags during my last vacation, i surveyed what i brought, and realized that 95% of the clothes in my suitcase had stripes.   horizontal. diagonal. vertical....  multidirectional.  thin. wide. colorful, monotone.  they are all different, yet all the same.

i felt the need to further expand my stripe collection by sewing a loose knit top.  i bought the knit during our last trip to finland.  the store had a huge selection of nice quality knits, and i visited several times admiring their collection.  i traced another top (also striped), and altered the pattern a little to create this shirt.  i keep on forgetting that my shoulders are narrow, though, and made the neckline too wide.  seems to be becoming a habit of mine.  i'll just pretend that i meant the shirt to fall off one shoulder, all 80s-esque.  

i forecast that my next clothing obsession will be tiny floral prints (which is so unlike me).  what trends do you see in your current wardrobe? 

strawberry mango mint iced tea smoothie

sometimes it's just too hot to eat real food.

the temperatures are cooling down here in the northeast, but i know a great deal of people out there are still being tormented by insufferable heat.  when it's exceptionally hot, i often opt for smoothies in place of solid food. a few weeks ago when we were in the throws of summer, i blended a strawberry mango mint iced tea smoothie.

you need: 

8 oz of frozen mangos and strawberries (because the fruit is frozen, it's not necessary to add ice)

3-4 oz silken tofu (excellent source of protein and makes the smoothie filling)

8 oz cold brewed green tea with mint (twinings makes cold brewed iced tea packets)

preferred sweetener, to taste (i didn't need any)

blend. blend.  BLEND.
cold. refreshing. filling. ahhhh.

la provence macarons

it's been a great two weeks.  i've been on the road again, and then immediately afterward had friends visiting us from LA.  

and they brought us this!

a box full of GIANT macarons. i have never encountered macarons so large.    and yes, i ate some for breakfast.  go ahead, judge me.  i don't care.

these have a nice texture and flavor and aren't too sweet.    thank you so much, laura & tim! my taste buds applaud you. 

la provence patisserie & cafe
brentwood gardens
11677 san vicente blvd
los angeles, ca 90049
310.442.1144

or

beverly hills plaza
8950 west olympics blvd.
beverly hills, ca 90211
310.88.8833

laprovencecafe.com