Pink, Floral, and Fluevog

Dresses in my closet are making a comeback this season, finally. I wore this dress last summer and wore it again at my friend E's daughter's birthday party almost exactly a month ago. I'm only now sharing it because I didn't have great photos, but after some photo editing I think these will do. I like how the photos show the dress in action. It's made of 100% cotton, and it was comfortable on a very warm and sometimes windy day (no danger of the skirt flying up, thank goodness). The theme of the birthday party was fairies, and with the peter pan collar (get it? Tinkerbell? ;->), the floral motif worked very nicely.

Dress and belt: Janette Fashion via ModCloth | Shoes: Fluevog CBC (Radio family)

On a tangential note (since I wore Fluevogs above), I've been thinking A LOT about these new Fluevog Qtees:

Click on the image to go to Fluevog.com.

Fluevog is now finally making some styles in the super-popular Mini family in my size (5), for sale at the Fluevog stores and online. The catch is that the size 5 isn't available at my nearest Fluevog store (L.A. on Melrose Avenue). I don't know if I should wait for the new Fall styles to come to the Melrose store so that I can try them on properly, or if I should just jump on them and get the Union Square store in San Francisco to mail them to me. I know I should be sensible -- and I did just purchase a new pair recently -- but I do like this colorway very much. Since they don't make many of each style/colorway/size, once they're gone, they're gone (unless you get really lucky and find them on eBay or something). But what's really stopping me is the cost. If only the Melrose store had them, I'd put them on layaway for sure and pay within the next few months. But I don't think that's going to be possible for the San Francisco store. Oh well. I guess I will just have to save up and hope that more size 5 Minis -- in the styles and colorways that I love -- come to Melrose next season.

xo, Gladys

Project: Tabletop

For my birthday this year, my mother-in-law got me a patio set from Target when it went on sale. Here is the Dumont glass-topped table:

It finally saw some use during the Memorial Day holiday weekend, but then, just a week or so later, a piece of our canopied gazebo became unscrewed thanks to the high winds in our area and crashed through the top of the table, breaking the glass into literally millions of pieces.

First of all, UGH. It's no fun to have to deal with something like that, especially just a couple of weeks before you're supposed to host another big pool party (for my brother and sister-in-law's baby shower).

Second, my husband and I had a second think about replacing the table by buying the same thing over again (it's still on sale and available here). My husband fixed the gazebo for good, replacing the apparently-worn threaded screw with a fresh and even longer screw. It's not going to need replacing or updating for a good long time, even with the high winds. However, we were still horrified by the idea that another glass top could shatter like that again in the presence of little children. We were so lucky that this happened late at night when no one was outside. But next time, it doesn't have to be a piece of the gazebo; it can be anything that kids get their hands on, and we don't run the kind of elegant home where all the guests have to be on their best behavior. That's not us, anyway.

So we decided in the short run to replace the tabletop with wood (eventually we might get a stone-top table). We bought some fir plywood, measured and drew the outline for an overhanging (rather than fitted) tabletop, then sawed along the outline we drew and sanded the edges smooth.

The glass-less table frame in the foreground

The outline of the tabletop drawn on the wrong side of the plywood

The tabletop cut out and sanded, ready for the blocks that will keep the tabletop from skidding off the sides of the metal frame

Closeup of the blocks, all screwed on

Voila!

We won't be able to finish it with stain or polyurethane before the party this weekend, but since we'll be using tablecloths, it won't matter. I think it looks pretty good, actually, and I'm proud of my first attempt at handling wood since high school wood shop class almost twenty years ago. Granted, the hubby did most of the skilled work with his power tools. I'm just happy I didn't sustain any injuries this time. :-)

xo, Gladys

Baby Shower #2

Now that I'm back on the computer from a rather busy week, I have another outfit post for you. I have a lot of friends and family who are having babies in 2012. Just this month of June, I have to host and/or attend three baby showers back-to-back. (I even had to send regrets for a fourth one. And if you were interested, all of the babies being celebrated this month are boys!) This outfit is for shower #2, for my second cousin and his wife.

Dress: A. Byer via Amazon | Belt: ASOS | Sandals: Worishofer via Amazon | Bracelets and earrings: Kohl's (floral bracelet was from a little souvenir shop in Warsaw, Poland many years ago)

Sorry about the electrical outlet, btw. Anyway, if you've followed this blog since it started last fall, you might remember this dress (and belt) from one of my earliest posts. I love that it's a timeless outfit, perfect for any summer. And the dress has pockets! Always a plus. This time, I wore it with new-to-me shoes; my mom bought these very soft and comfortable Worishofer cork wedges sometime last year, but she decided to give them to me because she realized they weren't her style. As for me? Give me neutral granny wedges any day! I was going to wear nude gladiator sandals at first, but I'm glad that I wore the Worishofers instead. The lighter color made my nail polish look even brighter (I would have used "pop" but I'm kinda tired of that word).

I really loved the color scheme of my cousin's home. I would have walked out the door with this striped rug if I could have!

And bonus photo of their little girl wearing the toddler jumper dress that I made for her. It's still a little big on her, but it's just right for the warm weather (it feels like summer here already!).

Isn't she ridiculously adorable?? :-)

xo, Gladys

Garden

My husband thought it would awesome to plant a new garden at our new house so we could have some organic produce close at hand. Need some lettuce for a salad? Pick it out back. Want some carrots or broccoli for snacks? There you go. How about shallots, garlic, tomatoes, onions? Mm, yes, please. We planted at the very beginning of April (the hubby deserves the props for planning and executing these lovely beds):

A month and a half later, the plants looked like this:

And yesterday they looked like this:

It's quite incredible, how much their growth has exploded in just the last couple of weeks. We haven't sampled anything except for the bib lettuce. Our kid likes to pull lettuce leaves and eat them directly, without washing. They're very tender and slightly spicy. And apparently, small animals who can jump our little plastic fence think they're very tasty, too. They were so lovely just a week ago, but they're no longer as appetizing-looking since almost all of their large leafy leaves have been torn off. :-(

Next time (next year), we'll take more steps to protect them, or we'll just go ahead and pick them young to make baby green salads. The tomatoes (photo immediately below) are starting to flower as well. Perhaps we can save the fruit from getting eaten by birds by throwing mesh over the whole thing.

Bell peppers, which survived lots of gnawing by small animals when their leaves were young (they're why we put up the fence in the first place):

Eggplant and shallots in the front row; lettuce, garlic, and onion in the back row:

Carrot tops:

Broccoli:

I hope we can harvest the plants for at least a few meals this summer.

xo, Gladys

Baby Shower

I spent Saturday at a really beautiful baby shower with some of my girlfriends, in honor of dear S who is now full term and ready to drop her baby boy in the next couple of weeks. We dressed up, left the kids at home with babysitters, and helped put together activities, party favors (celosia flowers wrapped in kraft paper and twine), and a delicious brunch, including a wonderful pomegranate and champagne cocktail for the non-pregnant among us. :-)

I even have an outfit for you!

Dress: Janet Paris via ModCloth | Bolero: Old Navy | Flats: Blowfish via TJ Maxx

I've been trying not to be too hard on myself, but seeing this photo, I have some thoughts. 1) I need to improve my posture especially when wearing these boleros. Where the heck is my neck?! 2) I miss bangs and shorter hair. I really do. 3) I love this woven-cotton dress even though the bodice is a tad too large and the straps too long (hence the wearing of the bolero in the first place). I need to fix these somehow so I can wear the dress again worry-free some other time this summer.

Sounds like a plan.

xo, Gladys