Laura

A few nights ago I watched the movie Laura, staring Gene Tierney, for the first time.  Great movie, a little strange, but very good.  Gene Tierney's hats and hair in this movie are incredible.  Where can I get myself these hats!? Of course, would I really wear them?  I'm not sure I'm brave enough.  Why don't women wear hats anymore!?  And oh this hair!   That I would wear if I could figure it out.  It's gorgeous!

Now This Is More Like It!

Yep, that's me...outside.  If only every day in the Florida fall were more like this one!  It is in the 70s today here.  It's breezy, it's sunny, and I can breath when I walk outside.  In fact, I even have my windows open (a good thing too since my room reeks of roach spray...had a little run in with one last night.  Bleh!)!  Considering it's been in the 90s here lately, I am absolutely loving this weather.  It will only last for a few days, but I am going to be thankful for it while it lasts.  I walked around outside for awhile.  You know, I'm not much of an outdoor girl, but when I do get myself away from the laptop and out the door, I always end up discovering all over again that it really is rather beautiful here.  Sure, I miss the fall leaves and the cool weather and the opportunity to wear sweaters, but really, on a day like this, Florida is a very nice place to be.

I took a few pictures as I wondered around outside today. 

These are the Mangrove roots and trees that are supposedly holding Florida together or something like that.  They are highly protected.

And this is a bit of the view from our dock behind the house. It was windy out there, and I was almost chilly enough to want long sleeves! For me, that's a thrill. ;)

And just for the fun of it, here is a hairstyle I came up with yesterday. I'm having a bit of trouble with victory rolls and some other authentic techniques. I think it is in part because the ends are getting kind of scraggly. I am in serious need of a haircut. Still, I'm having lots of fun playing around with hairstyles lately.

Late Night Movie Inspiration

Last night I had every intention of going to bed early so I could get up and accomplish things this morning. I have a room to clean, laundry to do, and fabric to cut out. No time for wasting my whole morning in bed. This, at least, was my grand plan. Instead I found myself watching The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer on Netflix Instant Play somewhere around 2 AM. If you haven't seen of the films Shirley Temple made as a teenager, you should! Gone are the little girl ringlets, the tap shoes, and the short dresses. In their place you find several lovely 1940s hairstyles and some fabulous outfits.

I think this hairstyle is adorable, and I'm going to work on recreating it for myself. I'm not sure if I will be successful. I can do braids on other people, but I have a hard time getting them tight enough on my own hair. Still, I will attempt it!

I am also a little envious of these outfits. I'm not sure that they'd even look good on me as my figure is no where near as slight as Shirley Temple's was. They are beautiful though. I especially love the belt detail on the black (I suppose it could really be any dark color) dress and the way the skirt on the other is high in the front and lower in the back. Again, not sure I'd be able to pull them off, but they look great on her!

Images from RKO Radio Pictures, INC's The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer.

One Small Dream Come True

For several years now I have been envisioning the perfect apron. It would be long, have big ruffles on the shoulder straps, and have a bib wide enough to cover my front (so many aprons have such skinny bibs!). The trouble with all of this was that I could never find one. I have looked everywhere I go that sells aprons, but have never been able to find anything like what I really wanted. Oh, I found other aprons that I loved, and a few weeks ago I even found some awesome retro apron patterns that I plan to make for myself, but I could never find THE apron. Well, Monday night my mom and I went to one of the few Wal-marts in our area that still sells fabric. We were flipping through pattern books when suddenly, there it was. MY apron! And to make it better, it was a McCall's Easy Stitch and Save pattern, so it was even relatively cheap! With pattern in hand, I went on a hunt for the right fabric, and, wonder of wonders, found it in the $1 section! I bought it, took it home, and started cutting out my pattern. Now, understand, while I have made a few articles of clothing in my life, it has been many years, and none of them were done without a great deal of help with my mother. I was determined that this time I would figure it out for myself. Naturally, that didn't work out as planned. Mom had to be called in for consultation many times, but I did do the work all on my own. None of this letting her grab it up to do it for me stuff. No my friends, I did the work on this one all by myself and with very little screaming and yelling. Only once did I throw up my hands and threaten to quit and burn the wretched thing (and trust me, that's a big improvement over my usual modus operandi! Jenn, Kate, and Collin, you have NO idea how many times your quilts were threatened with being sacrificed to the fire gods). Anyway, the apron is done now (though I need to put in new button holes as the straps are a bit too long for me). My dad got some pictures of me this morning. He thinks he is a world class photographer, but frankly, well, he isn't. I fiddled a great deal with the pictures to get them anywhere near decent. But, without further ado, I give you Lauren's Dream Apron!


It is far from perfect of course. I messed up here and there, and as I said, the straps are too long and need to be adjusted, but I am thrilled with how it turned out. I wanted to wear it to work. I wanted to wear it forever! Right now, as I sit at work while my class naps, I am longing for the time when I can go home and put it back on. Crazy? Perhaps. I'm OK with crazy. :)

Oh, and for good measure, here are some close ups of my hair today. If you are interested in watching any of the tutorials that I've been basing the looks off of, go check out Casey, Aya, or Lisa on youtube.


Note that the ribbon matches my apron. ;) Oh, I am having way too much fun with all of this!!!

Picture Update

I just wanted to update today with some pictures.

My niece is waaaaay cuter in my knitted hat than I am. ;)





And here is today's 1940's hairstyle. I curled it with a curling iron and then attempted some victory rolls.



I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out...not sure if they will stay in though. I guess we will see. I figure if they can survive a classroom full of toddlers, they will be able to survive anything!

Could Someone Spare Some Focus?

It's been too long since I've posted anything. I feel rather like I'm being pulled in 57 different creative directions right now. Of course, I'm the one doing the pulling! And what happens when I want to do so many things? Well, I end up focus-less and doing nothing, and that is not cool!

I've been working a lot lately on my vidding. I have completed several Lois and Clark videos (see the youtube link in the sidebar if you care to watch) in the past few weeks, and I'm working on a new one for Doctor Who that I am pretty excited about. I've learned some new techniques and effects that I'm having a lot of fun playing around with. I have about a million video ideas in my head right now, and I can't wait to get going on all of them.

I recently decided to get over my fear of knitting and give that a whirl. I started by watching some youtube videos and reading some online tutorials. Once I got the hang of the basics I hit the library for some knitting books. I ended up making myself a hat that I will probably never get to wear in this Florida heat, but I'm still pretty proud of it. I want to start working on something else, but I think I'm still hanging on to some fears that I really can't do it. Sure, that hat was simple, but can I really tackle a more complicated project. The truth is, I probably can, but I just hate to fail! I especially hate to go out and spend money on yarn and then fail. I guess I need to do some more small projects with the scrap yarns I already have. That way I can improve my technique before going on to more difficult projects.

For awhile I was crocheting like crazy, but the fact of the matter is, there are only so many little dolls that one girl needs! ;) I'd really like to find some patterns for things that are more useful, but I haven't found many that I think are worth making yet. I did see a pattern for a clutch that I may make this weekend. It's a fairly simple pattern that could be fun to do on the long car trip I have ahead of me...but more on that later.

I really, really, really (is that enough reallys?) want to start working on improving my nearly non-existent sewing skills. I mean, sure I can use the sewing machine. I can piece a quilt, and I've made a few fairly simple things in the past (with a ton of help from my mom!), but I would love to be able to make some of my own clothing. I'm totally in love so many vintage clothing styles, but I don't love digging through piles of nasty clothes at a thrift store in hopes of finding that one great treasure. My preference would be to simply make my own clothes based on those styles. I suppose I just need to get some cheap fabric and some simple patterns and dig in and start practicing, but as I said with the knitting, I HATE to fail. That fear of failure thing is a huge issue for me, but that's subject matter for an entirely different post.

To go along with the subject of vintage clothing, I am now also going to be trying out some vintage hair styles. Last night, quite by chance, I discovered youtube video tutorials on 1940s hairstyles. I watched several of them, and said to myself, "Self, we can do this!" (Ok, I don't actually talk to myself like that, but you get the idea.) So, this morning I decided to try out a 40s style. It would have turned out better if I'd had the time to curl my hair, but I still like how it turned out. I'm pretty sure this will not be the last time this sort of hairstyle graces my head!

Anyway, so many projects, so little time...wait! What am I saying?! I work 25 hours a week, and about half of those hours are spent sitting in a room with sleeping children! I have loads of time. I just need to get going!

Speaking of going, I'll be heading up to one of my favorite places this weekend! Time for a little Disney trip! I'm going up with some friends from church for Night of Joy. We will be leaving sometime around the crack of dawn on Saturday morning and coming home Sunday afternoon. Yay for Disney!!

ETA: I am so jealous of all these blogs with beautiful, professional looking photography! I apologize for my crappy web cam pics, but really, it's the best I can do for you right now. ;) Perhaps I should hire my photographer sister to start taking my pictures for my blog.