what i wore today:



boots: thrifted
grey tights: walmart
grey cord skirt: walmart
white t-shirt: old navy
belt: repurposed weight belt {see here}
silver hair clip: my mother's

and from behind:

what i wore yesterday:



boots: thrifted
brown tights: target
cord skirt: wal-mart
grey sweater: my mother's
leather jacket: old navy
rust scarf: brussels

i made these the other night using this recipe from
the november issue of bon appetit. rather than fuss
with a layer cake, i just made cupcakes because they're
cuter and more fun and who doesn't love cupcakes?
cupcakes, cupcakes, cupcakes. even the word is fun to
say. i also ditched the orange zest in the frosting
and just grated some fresh on top. on a scale of 1
to 10 my mother rated these magnolia.

i know that makes very little sense, but basically these
are freaking delicious and you should go make them.
now.

what i wore today:



clogs: dansko
railroad stripped pants: old navy
grey t-shirt: old navy
grey sweater: hand me down
brown leather jacket: old navy

déjeuner, aujourd'hui.



for lunch today i had some pumpkin and swiss chard
lasagne i made the other day {recipe here}, a
spinach salad and some fresh pear. all alongside a
giant mug of tea and lots of water and orange juice,
as i am on day 6 of a horrendous cold and was sent
home from work this morning. which means: catch up
time for computer projects.

O K T O B E R F E S T!

in honor of the season, my dad's german heritage,
and the three inches of snow outside we had our own
little oktoberfest tonight complete with spaten,
bockwurst, potatoes, red cabbage and i even made
pretzels from scratch:

















one of my co-teachers and her german husband and
another friend came over for dinner and a fire. and
we can't forget the polka music. all around a lovely
evening. eins, zwei, drei zuffa!

and i decided to fore go the dirndl and braids for this:








































brown leather maryjane pumps: walmart
grey tights: target
black jersey dress: ross
orange + black pashmina: cost plus world market
earrings: target
bierstein: germany (belonging to my co-teacher)

this evening i tried in vain to pretend that summer is not over,
despite the fact that the pine needles are falling, the telltale brisk,
autumnal breeze has blown in, i had to put on long sleeves for my
run and it was dark by the time i ate dinner. at least what i was
eating was summery.



i made spaghetti with oven roasted green and yellow zucchini, crumbled
goat cheese and lemon juice and zest. it was delicious. if only the weather
was complimentary.

this is one of the best unplanned, thrown together
meals i have ever made.
i started with some hamburger {i'll confess that
i use the frozen patties}. i topped that with some st.
agur blue cheese, put it on some sliced ciabatta from pearl
bakery and spread on some horseradish mayo. then
i added some sliced onion, some spring greens and a
sliced green tomato from the farmers' market.

















at the market, i also picked up some fresh beets. i've
never bought beats before so i just tried one sliced last
night with some balsamic and salt and pepper. but beets
have a much higher potential{and have you seen their
color!?!?!}, so today i shredded one and tossed it with a
little olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. to really
'make it work' as tim gunn would say i topped it with some
crumbled chevre and chopped fresh walnuts.


















eating like this should be illegal.

what i wore today:





















cowboy boots: thrifted
dress: ross
belt: thrifted
feather earrings: charlotte russe

we had quite the feast last night. at the special request
of one my roommates, i made toasties; a sun dried tomato,
garlic parmesan spread broiled on top of baguette slices.
we also had a cheese plate with some st. agur blue cheese,
tillamook cheddar, red grapes, garlic stuffed olives and
an artichoke jalapeno spread. there was a also a green
salad with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette, some fresh
cherries and a cucumber and heirloom tomato salad.
john made some lovely penne with lemon zest, goat
cheese and roasted summer squash.

































and kelly, not to be outdone, made this lovely
blackberry, plum and peach lattice work pie.

it was a lovely evening on the porch with great food,
good company and then a bike ride in the dark.

despite the extreme heat the roomies and i got all
dolled up the other night and biked to one of the
many rose gardens in the neighborhood. how i
managed to bike in a pencil skirt and heels i'll never
know. must be some french blood in there somewhere.

anyways:
yellow maryjane heels: target
black pencil skirt: kmart
white ruffled blouse: old navy
pearl earrings: gift

i started and finished this project several weeks ago, but i'm just know
getting around to the photos. i have two old, mismatched chairs i've
acquired from an old roommate and the goodwill.





i decided to refinish and reupholster them so they are updated and match
a little better. i had originally planned on painting the wood frames
but once i was done sanding off the old finishes i was really happy with
the raw wood. then i recovered the cushions with some fabric i got on
sale. overall, i'm quite happy with the results.



and no, these chairs don't live outside. there is just a
complete lack of natural light in my house which makes
photographing things quite difficult.

mmmmm dinner. i usually cook pretty simple and cheap meals, but
after a visit to the farmers' market yesterday, something better was in
store.



first i oven roasted some veggies by just coating some sliced zucchini and
carrots and chopped onion in olive oil. then i sprinkled on some salt, pepper
and herbes de provence. then i roasted them in a hot oven (about 450 degrees)
for about 20 minutes. they were delicious.



while those were roasting a pork chop was marinating in some chopped garlic,
fresh rosemary (picked from a bush around the corner), olive oil, red wine
vinegar, salt and pepper. after it had sat for a while, i put it in a hot pan to
sear both sides then turned the heat down to cook it through. after letting
it rest a few minutes, i sliced it and it was perfect. not too dry or tough.



to top off the pork chops i caramelized an apricot by just slicing it and heating
it in a pan. super easy and a great compliment to the pork.



last, but certainly not least, a green salad with gorgonzola crumbles and
walnuts. i made a simple boysenberry dressing by mashing up some berries
with red wine vinegar and a bit of mustard.



all this was thoroughly enjoyed on the front porch.

what i wore today:



now i ain't complaining, but it has been hot. and
apprently only supposed to get hotter this weekend
and into next week. i'm talking triple digits. finding
decent outfits for that kind of heat {most of portland
is a/c free} that also work on my bike is tough. but
here's one that works.

woven leather flats: thrifted
coral skirt: a too short dress from f21 that i made into a skirt.
black tank: ross
mexican scarf: my mother's
pearl earrings: gift

what i wore today:
{in honor of bastille day, sort of. at least by
virtue of the menswear shirt and cuffed shorts.}





























{i was having problems with the flash but i
kind of like the beachy, washed out effect.}

leather flats: thrifted in tahoe
khaki shorts {cuffed by me}: old navy
menswear shirt: my dad's
belt: thifted in portland
brass bangle: my mom's
brass earrings: charlotte russe

and a clearer version:




























p.s. jouyeux fête de la bastille mes amis français!
hurray for the proletariat violently overthrowing
the ruling aristocratic class! but not really
overthrowing them just yet, rather destroying a no
longer used royal prison brick by brick.
then surviving numerous additional violent
revolutions.

inspired by this:
















{via a cup of jo}

i tried and somewhat accomplished this:






















it has almost the same idea, but not as well executed.
the inspiration called it seahorse curls.
i call mine the pin 'n pray method.
twist and pin everything up and pray it stays
through the day. it did for the most part, barring
my biking all over town and ripping my helmet on and
off.

'bout time i updated this.
what i wore saturday (with my goofy roommate laura):






















a bunch of us went to the bastille day
festival in jameson park on saturday, even
though the actual holiday isn't until tomorrow
(the 14th).

red wedges: target
black pencil skirt: target
red patent belt: thrifted
white tank: hanes

and the photo was taken by my other lovely roommate, emily.
more updates later. maybe.

what i wore today:





















navy salt water sandals: thrifted
high wast, wide-leg jeans: old navy
blue floral camisole: old navy
white camisole: old navy
leather skinny belt: my mother's
earrings: charlotte russe

i don't completely understand all the techie goop
but this is very exciting. so basically right now
only a select few fonts are supported by html
coding. so when you post something on a website
it must be in one of these 8 fonts. if you'd like to
use a different font you have to create your
content in an image that is then hosted or use
a flash animation. with this new fangled typekit,
they will be hosting a multitude of fonts so html
will soon be able to support nearly any font. oh
the possibilities...
(via kottke)

what i wore today:



a little black dress of sorts...