One of the best things about our little house is the lighting in the kitchen.  This main window faces the north/northwest and the light does not change much the whole day.  Even on the grayest of days there is plenty of light and I’m ever so grateful for this; I’ve lived in places that were dark and, really, I found it depressing.   This is the light in our kitchen right now: very bright and soft and white.  Yes, some of the doors are hanging off their hinges, the 80+ year old sink has seen better days but it’s really quite cozy, especially now.

My parents got us this Kitchen-Aid mixer as a wedding gift.   I know, I’m super fancy now.   I mean WE are super fancy.  So far I’ve made rapid rise bread with it (from the recipe book that came in the box;  pretty good but I’d like to try others) and some super fluffy cake frosting.   You know what would be really cool?  The pasta attachment.  Then I could make homemade pasta to go with my homemade lamb ragu (a household favorite).

And right now the weather in L.A. is perfect.  Very comfortable in the high 60s, bright and sunny, but not too hot to turn up the oven.  I’ve been brewing up all kinds of things lately which inspired me to make some fall-ish recipe cards.  I decided to post them as PDFs for free because, you know, I like you that much!

We’ve got a 4″x6″ recipe card:

And a 3″x5″ one too:

(Click images or links below to download.)  Just print them on your color printer, “best” setting, cut and go.

» Download: 4″x6″ Recipe Card

» Download: 3″x5″ Recipe Card

Oh, by the way, THANK YOU for the swan-love!  I’m so pleased you liked her.   She’ll have some friends soon.

Have a lovely fall-ish weekend!

Speaking of being tired, I’m feeling a little under the weather.  Besides lack of sleep, it must have something to do with the constant supply of chocolate chip and yellow cake, plus rum and sugar cane coke (in other words, sugar!) this past weekend.  Oh well.  My husband took me out for dinner since I didn’t feel like cooking and I had a nice, large bowl of tubu chigae which is spicy Korean tofu soup.  Despite my lack of desire to cook, I managed to make a trip to the grocery store after work when I was feeling ambitious in terms of what’s for dinner this week: grilled steak and arugula, French onion soup, roasted vegetables.  Oh, maybe some mushroom chicken too.   At the very least I can pop the vegies in the oven in the morning since they are not too much effort.

Anyway, on to sewing. Casey posted some wonderful vintage pieces she hopes to work on; my favorite being the 1930s jumper.  I love jumpers!  There is something very sweet and girlish about them, yet decidedly practical too.  I was inspired to look through my pattern stash and find some jumper patterns that I might want to work on.  I won’t commit at the moment, since you know how that goes!  I think it’s better if I practically finish something before I announce its inception on this blog, therefore we can all be pleasantly surprised by the finished product.

The pattern above is 1950s and the full-skirted version is pretty fabulous.  I’ve decided that I look good in this silhouette.  I wonder, though, if I could possibly have enough fabric?

I love this early 1940s jumper, on the right:

The blouse is pretty sweet too!

This early ’80s style reminds me of something my mom might have made and worn.  I even like that floral print.  It would be especially nostalgic in a fine wale corduroy.

I’m throwing in this non-jumper pattern because it’s another thing I find inspiring right now:

Oh my goodness, can you imagine me traipsing around L.A., sporting a bonnet??  But, really, too cute, yes?  Which one is your favorite?

I was looking for some photos in my folders which apparently don’t exist - have you ever thought you took photos of something but as it turns out, you didn’t?  Well, I’ll have to remedy that soon.  Anyway, I found some photos of a quilt I made for my friend Susan that I meant to show you last year but completely forgot!  I should probably share this with you know lest I want to wait until next fall.

Susan is distinctly an autumn person, at least in my mind anyway.  Anything maple-y/pumpkin-y/autumn-y makes me think of her and the cozy Arts and Crafts-inspired home she and her significant other have carved out for themselves.  (And I mean that almost literally - her boyfriend is quite skilled in wood-working and did most of the remodeling himself.)  For a long time I had been collecting fall-ish prints — acorns and autumn leaves, mostly — to make them a quilt, including some pieces found at a quilt shop on Bainbridge Island on a trip we took with her sister many years ago.

I think this pattern is called a Roman quilt although I’m not 100% sure of that.   It’s pretty easy to do but looks fairly intricate.  As you can see, 3 long rectangles to make a square; then each square turned 90 degrees from the one next to it to create the zigzag design.  The layers are held together with a variety of brownish buttons (ones that are smooth and flat so they don’t scratch or poke).

It’s a small thing, the right size for your lap, as you’re curled up with a book and a mug of tea.  I wish I had taken better photos of it but oh well, what can you do.  I’m happy with how it turned out and now it’s with Susan, where it belongs!

Speaking of tea, it’s time for mine.

I’ve been a bit frazzled lately.  Last week I started to feel a summer cold coming on (the worst!) I realized that I needed to rest.   You know, I’ve been trying to do wedding stuff + shop stuff (although that hasn’t really been happening since the wedding stuff - will have to be corrected soon) and then just all the other stuff that goes on in life.   I was constantly waivering between “Wweeeeeeeeeeeee!” and “Aaaackk!”  So now, to remedy that, I’m taking some Pantothenic acid (Vitamin B5, good for the nerves), cut out the caffeine (green tea, not the chocolate - can’t stop that!) and forcing myself to go to bed at a “normal” (normal for me) time which is difficult since I’m like a child in that I really don’t want to go to sleep.  Ever.

And this morning?  Mostly I’m “weeeee!,” with a tiny bit “aack.”  Better.  I’m having a moment of calm, dears, so let’s take advantage of it.  Wedding Update!

You already knew we were on the fast track and had tentatively planned a wedding for autumn.  While trying to figure out the logistics (the most fun or the worst part of any planning depending on your personality - guess where I fall?) I started to feel wigged out by the stress of it;  I wanted to enjoy my short engagement and all the planning wasn’t helping; so we decided to elope.  Just us.  It was great.  I was still going to make my dress, still going to have wonderful pictures of the event.

For a long time I would say, “When I get married, I want to elope.”  My parents knew this.  And when I told them about our engagement they told me, “You’re adults, do what you want.  Go elope, it’s fine with us.”  “Really??”  “Yes.”  (I think my parents were just happy I was actually getting married and not going to turn into an old spinster [Clarification: I personally do not have a problem with old spinsters].)

So, that’s what I told them - “Scrap the wedding plans, we are just going to elope.”  Gave them the date, in August.  (Why wait when you’re just going to run off?)  Well, guess what?  Mom and Dad were not happy about it.  At all.  (Make a mental note here: When eloping, do not tell parents.)

ANYHOW, we are still going to to have a summer wedding only now the parents are coming to the ceremony!   At first I resisted the idea.  What happened to my utterly romantic vision of two people running away together?  What about my reluctance to become weepy and sentimental in front of an audience? But my parents were truly disappointed and I couldn’t very well run away knowing they felt excluded from our special day.   So, I’m over that and am now glad our (out of town) parents are involved.   (Not sure if anyone else would be coming.  We need to keep it small.)  And we still plan to celebrate party-style with our friends and family in the fall so that will be fun!  How many people get a summer wedding and an autumn reception?

So, again, I’ve been frazzled lately.  But at this point most things are taken care of and I’m feeling really excited about things.  On my to do list: I still need to get my wedding band sized, alter my fiance’s vest.  Make the boutonnieres. (Yes, I’m making those now, for all three men.)   Maybe a bouquet for me, I’ve got some ideas for that.  And my dress.  The dress!

Yes, I know, this dress just screams “BRIDE.”  Ok not really, but it’s working out.  I thought at first I would go more 1930s tea-length.  Then I thought about a full-length, early 1950s style.  But what I really wanted was something  pretty but relatively easy.  This pattern, from 1948, did not jump out at me at first but I think the silhouette looks pretty good on my figure and it’s not too complicated.  Plus I’m customizing it so it won’t end up looking like an everyday sundress.

Fabric: I’ve had this soft white lace for years now - I originally bought it to make my Maid of Honor dress for my friend Natalie’s big, formal wedding.  When it was decided that we were going to buy dresses, I knew that I’d find a use for this lace someday. This lace has turned out to be quite perfect for the dress.  It’s nice but not overly fancy.  Light, not too heavy.  The lace is for the lace overdress; the lining will be a separate dress. This way I can change the lining dress underneath (I hope to be able to wear this dress again and not put it away in storage.)

My wedding colors went from muted early fall tones (iris, hydrangea, ivory and mustard) to more light and happy summer hues (pinks and yellows and white - maybe blue too).  I may use this petal pink batiste and nude gauze (above) for the lining.  I can”t guarantee I’ll use either of these since I’ve changed my mind 3 times already!  But it would be pretty, yes?  And as far as decorating the dress, I’m still trying to figure out that part - vintage flowers, a velvet ribbon belt, vintage foil-back buttons….just some more ideas I’m playing around with.

I hope that was a satisfying update!  I don’t want to give away too many details - I think it will be more fun this way when I show you the wedding pictures eventually.  (Which I will, of course!)

Thank you for letting me share with you all and have a lovely weekend!