food. glorious food.

while on our little summer trip we did alot of...eating.

in all honesty, I gained five pounds.

no joke.

part five of my summer adventure.

part four

part three

part two

part one

colored/flavored ice.

colored ice.
flavored ice.
and umbrellas.
is there anything better?

http://www.bahamabucks.com/

part four of my summer adventure.

part three

part two

part one

ice cream. but not.

regardless of whether it was ice cream or not...it was delish.

cowboy gelato. 

part three of my summer adventure

part two

part one

of spray-painting cadillacs.

have you ever heard of the cadillac ranch? it's a place where about ten cadillacs are sticking out of the ground. in the middle of nowhere. and you can bring cans of spray-paint.

which, we did.

and now several cadillacs bear our initials.

part two of my summer adventure

part one

an adventure.

some people might not think adventures are possible in an antique store.
I say they are.

part one of my summer adventure.

already thinking of christmas.

for one. I miss wearing my scarves. and hats. and mittens. and wool coat. and boots.

for another. the "best Christmas pageant ever" play was cast. I'm playing imogene herdman. a rough, tomboy. if you don't know the story...look it up. not only is it hilarious. but it has a touching story.

thirdly. I'm sick of 100 degree weather. not. fun.

and last. I'm starting present making NOW. with tech week. two weekends of performances. and a reenactment. my december is booked. I'm not making the same mistake I did last year.

winter? soon? please?

pitiful.

my arms are sore.
that's not pitiful.

my arms are sore from playing the hand bells.
that's not quite so pitiful.

my arms are sore from playing the hand bells on the wii.
that's. pitiful.

what...finished already?

it's only taken me a year to get these done. sigh.

but now I'm on to bigger and better things!
like...more curtains for the costume shop.
joy.

curtains are my lot in life.

one of those nights.

dad is hanging my curtains. 

mom is at a retreat.
michelle is playing on the wii.
the cat has hoped into my lap.
and there's lightening and thunder.

I think tonight's one of those nights to read a good book.
after folding the laundry, of course.

(photo from a few days ago. of me. by me.)

simple joys of maidenhood.

my latest etsy shop item:

made with polished cotton. 

rolled hems. 

hand stitched pleating. 

hook and eye closure.

summer. it's almost over.

school starts August 23rd for me.
that's only a few weeks away.

the summer has literally flown by.
leaving me wondering what really got accomplished.

I had a list of goals.
none of them completely finished yet.

here's the update:

1. Finish curtains - ahem. cough, cough. well...all of the panels have been lined and all that is lacking is the hemming and rod pocket. surely after making 15 curtains for somebody else I'd have the enthusiasm to finish mine (which have been in the works for over a year now).

2. get my license by the end of June - ha. haha. obviously not. I'm now shooting for the end of August, by the time school starts, etc. hey! it's possible! 

3. study for the PSAT - I'm taking a practice test once a week, and during the week studying...so I'm not completely a failure at EVERYTHING.

4. work on my Drama jr. class - I've written out a class syllabus for the year, and the parent teacher meeting is next week. this one is nearly accomplished, actually!

5. etsy shop - well. I have a skirt to add to my shop only I haven't taken any pictures yet. so that's one item. ahem. 

added goals:

6. actually read some pleasure books - OKAY this is one I have done! I've read: Cranford, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Phantom of the Opera, and I'm nearly done with The Pickwick Papers. Since these are all pretty hefty books...I'd say this is quite an accomplishment, thank you.

7. upstairs sewing room - well. I've done everything on my side. what lacks is: electricity and the patching of some gaping holes. after which I can begin the fun task of painting and organizing!

8. organize the "Costume Closet" - I have been planning on cataloguing all of the costumes we have for drama. taking pictures, making descriptions, and listing them by numbers (which are sewn in to the garment). I've done a bit of work on it. and made descriptions of all the ladies costumes.

9. organize my closet and room - DONE AND DONE! :)

anyways. most of this is for me to see how much is lacking and how hard I need to work in the next 20 days to get all of this accomplished. 

apparently I have quite a bit of work.

has summer flown by for you?

the operatic phantom.

better known as the Phantom of the Opera.
who's name is apparently...Erik.
an epic name, really.

after seeing the movie (about a thousand times).

listening to the c.d. (even more).

going to see it on stage (is there any experience more thrilling?!).

and even watching the silent movie version (quite frightening, really).

I found now would be as good a time as any to read the novel.

hmm.

are there words to describe the intensity? 

the passion.

the story.

I do believe POTO is a classic.

some upsetting facts however:

• erik is a violent, creepy, stalkerish, murdering, insane fellow. 
• rauol is a pitiful creature.
• christine is so easily swayed.
• and the BEST character from the book (who ends up saving both Christine & Raoul's life) isn't even in the movie, musical, etc. sigh.

I do believe, however, that to be a true Phantom fan...you must read the book.

you gain such depth and understanding regarding situations and characters.

and you develop an even deeper (if that's possible) respect for the story.

so put it on your summer reading list. 

and read it.

because it's a good 'un.

dreaming in black and white.

I got a job to sew some curtains for a costume shop in Dallas. They were moving into a new building and needed new curtains for their grand re-opening. Long story on how they found me (or better...how we found them)...but it was a blast from the past and they hired me to make them.

15 curtains later.
I am sick of black and white stripes.

But they turned out really nicely.
And when we brought them over, I got to take some pics of the store.

I'm so excited that my curtains will be in the windows. 

I'll be able to drive by and be like..."heh. I made those."

One Day More!

Do you hear the people sing?!

We made a movie. My friendy Morgie and I spent ALL the live long day workin on it...

It is a spoof, of sorts, from the musical Les Miserables. To see the original go here.

Morgan played: Eponine, Marius, Javert, and M. Thenardier.
I portrayed: Cosette, Jean Valjean, Enjorlas, and Madame Thenardier.

Please enjoy. And do let us know what you think.

EDITED TO ADD: Apparently a lot of you can't see it...so I uploaded it to youtube. Let me know if you can view it now!

the theatre. the theatre.

I love the theatre. 

truly.

the thrill of arriving at the theatre...dressed ever so nicely.

sitting down.

looking through the program.

the announcements finish.

the lights dim.

and the music begins. 

this summer we've enjoyed countless youth productions. all of them quite excellent.

Les Miserables @ artisan theatre

The Pirates of Penzance @ backdoor theatre

Robin Hood @ cottage theatre (CHE)

School House Rock @ CHE 

a dying art.

sewing is a dying art. 

sad, but true.

Wal-mart has gradually been removing the sewing sections of the store.

small, independent sewing stores have been closing down everywhere.

Saturday, we saw another victim of this cruel and unhappy fate. a sewing store...going out of business. however, lucky for me (and all the other old ladies) who were able to benefit from the great deals.

the previous owner had passed on, and her husband and children and grand children were trying to sell everything. as we were checking out, we saw tears. mom and I had to bite our lip and blink our eyes in a rapid motion (to prevent said tears).

But let other pens dwell on guilt and misery...

we reaped large benefits from the sale.

 $15 quilts:

some $1 a yard fabric:

and a CUTE vintage dress: 

tonight I'm attending a gala for the "Cottage Theatre". 

I have been nominated for "best supporting actress in a non-musical" from my performance as Rachel Lynde in Anne of Green Gables. 

I'm very excited. they will also be showing clips from every play ever done there, and having...DESSERTS! 

it sounds like  a very enjoyable evening.

as the peaches jellify.

besides my lovely visit to Atlanta's residence...my life has been laid back, but quite busy...a typical summer.

we were gifted with overripe peaches on Saturday.
only we had no time to do anything with them until Monday.
by then, they had become even more overripe, and we were only able to use half of them.

I spent almost all of Monday peeling, pitting, and ridding of moldy/blackish stuff. By the time I got to the good stuff, there were only a few slices worth keeping. So it took FOREVER to get enough to actually make some jelly-ish/preserves.

yesterday we canned them.

they look quite delish if I do say so myself.

a truth universally acknowledged.

Yesterday I experienced one of the most epic photo shoots of my existence. There were two subjects: Atlanta and I...with two torturers *ahem* photographers: Mom and Mrs. Shannon. The purpose: a Regency inspired photoshoot. The result: 400 amazing pictures (we narrowed it down to the best)!! :) enjoy.

to see more go to Atlanta's blog.