Sunday, November 20, 2011

Holiday Challenge

As if I didn't already have enough on my plate, I decided that this holiday season, I would make rather than buy presents for family and some friends' children. So I'll be sewing clothing and accessories -- new patterns that I've never tried before.

All while in the midst of moving. O_o

I'm not sure why I do this to myself. But you know what? After I asked what they would like, several family members got really excited about it, and one even sent me a link to this simple tutorial on making a circle scarf. Basically, all I'll be doing is buying the material and sewing the ends together. It's really that easy, but she is still really excited about getting such a simple hand-made item from me. It's worth it already, is my feeling. :-)

But most of the other items won't be so simple. I'm particularly looking forward to making clothes for the children, but apprehensive, too. I'll be using patterns and instructions from these two books:



I'll mostly be sticking to the beginner patterns, at least. Wish me luck. :-)

xo, Gladys


Disclosure: I'm a member of Amazon Associates, so if you click through the book images above and purchase anything on Amazon, it may result in my earning a small referral fee.

Wendyslookbook Scarf-Tying Tutorial


I believe this awesome video on "25 Ways to Wear a Scarf in 4.5 Minutes" has been making the rounds on Facebook and blogs recently (saw it most recently at the demure muse). Makes perfect sense for fall, even though the vid was created back in April. At around minute 4:36, you have the option of getting a tutorial on the specific scarf-tying of your choice. Great music, great editing, and really educational (at least for me :-). Enjoy!

xo, Gladys

Saturday, November 19, 2011

12 of 30: Dinner Outfit


Ugh, jeans again. Sorry about that. This was from a couple of days ago. I considered wearing a dress since I was going to be meeting up with old friends for dinner and drinks, but I realized that I needed to go more casual and comfortable because I would be walking around downtown L.A. Turned out to be a good choice. I wore a black cardigan over this (not in my 30 for 30 items, but it was warmer than what I had available) and a ladybug watch necklace from ModCloth (no longer available).

It was a really great evening -- stimulating intellectual and heartfelt conversation over sushi, sake, and Sapporo plus after-dinner Pinkberry. I hadn't seen a couple of these friends in years, but we were all in the same master's cohort a decade ago, and it was like our minds recognized each other again. It was easy to be happy hearing about what and how they'd been doing since the last time we met. It turned out that 3 out of the 4 of us were, are, or will soon be in the process of moving, separated by a two-week window each. That's some coincidence! Good times. :-)

Top: [no tag] via Speedygirl; Jeans: GAP; Socks: ?; Boots: Fluevog Raphael (Earth Angel family)

xo, Gladys

Friday, November 18, 2011

11 of 30: Burgundy Oxford Heels


The shoes are the star of the show in this super-simple outfit. The Operetta heel is my favorite and best-fitting Fluevog "family," and the Flagstads are another reason why. Love the perforated design and the rich colors. I had to wear jeans again and I wanted to dress up the outfit a little bit, hence the heels. Very comfy, even though I'm actually still breaking them in.

Top: Uno Core via Amazon; Jeans: GAP; Socks: ?; Oxford heels: Fluevog Flagstad (Operetta family) via Amazon (more colors here)

In other news, the new house has been recarpeted. It took the installers six hours, and I waited in the house almost the whole time. I was bored out of my mind for most of it, but at least I got a few other things done as well. 1) I got a Southern California Gas technician to come over and take care of a small leak in the kitchen stove. We won't be getting poisoned from that, thankfully! 2) The kitchen is a little cleaner. Still a ton more cleaning to do top-to-bottom, though, now that the major projects are complete. 3) I finally got my eyebrows done again!

xo, Gladys

Monday, November 14, 2011

Daisy Blue

Dress: Ezra via ModCloth (ON SALE!); Royal tights: Foot Traffic via Sockdreams; Shoes: Fluevog Guide (Prepare Family) via Clementine Shoes; Trench: Mossimo via Target (about five years old)

Outfit post today! Well, no, I didn't wear this today, but I totally forgot that I took these photos two weekends ago, when we went out for my mom's birthday. I adore the shoes and the dress (the only negative is that the arm bands are a little too snug and prevent full shoulder movement). The bright yellow goes so well with the blue, and I like the overall shape. It was fun to wear, which is really all I want.

(Btw, I'm not sure why there's a crease in the skirt of the dress as I washed and hung it to dry. Weird that it would keep the crease from when it was packaged.)

Speaking of yellows and blues, we painted the last room at the new house yesterday, from dark blue/dark gray to light yellow. It took two full coats, and I'm not sure we covered the dark paint completely. Still, it looks so much brighter in there now. Good for guests. :-)

xo, Gladys

Saturday, November 12, 2011

House Madness

It's been a week since my last post, and I've definitely missed updating this blog. Sadly, I haven't been able to take any outfit photos mostly because I haven't really been wearing anything but this or something like this:


Definitely not photo-worthy! (And sadly I've looked worse this week.) I have spent the past week at the new house cleaning, calling contractors, overseeing contractors, transferring utilities in our name, painting, having some awesome friends over to watch the preschooler while I work, and just being stressed out. I've lost a couple of pounds at least in part because I don't have ready access to a fridge!

Anyway, we did decide to do some DIY projects like repainting this room, which was red-purple before we got to it. They left some of the paint, and guess what it was called? "Mom's Lipstick"!

BEFORE: The paint looks white here but it's really mint green.

AFTER: This room looks even better now, as the electric sockets have been replaced and I repainted the trim/baseboards white just a few hours ago. I'll put up more photos at some point.

The painters, who did the rest of the house, have come and gone. They didn't do as good of a job as I had hoped, but they were actually able to take care of patching up some unanticipated holes in the ceiling due to a leaky upstairs toilet, and the house inside generally looks much better than it did before. Before it was like walking into a cave -- dark colors in the kitchen and family room and blotchy emo textured brown-on-brown paint in the entry -- and now with the new slightly-pink off-white paint, the place seems much larger and airier.

:-@ (screaming) and =/ (angry) but at least they are patched and virtually undetectable now.

We have a lot more painting to do this weekend. The hubby painted the tall ceiling in the front room and dining room himself (one of the things that the painters did a half-assed job on), which he was able to do in a few hours by himself. Amazing, really. This weekend will mean more painting: baseboards, the family room ceiling (which is thankfully low), and one last room. Once the new carpet is installed next week, we can start moving in our heavier stuff. Cleaning and scrubbing will also commence with a vengeance. I need more coffee!

But late next week I will be taking a break to meet up with some old friends in L.A., so I should have an outfit photo by then at the latest...I hope. :-) Have a great weekend!

xo, Gladys

Friday, November 4, 2011

Little Gems

Top, jeans, and cardi: GAP (top was hand-me-down); Boots: Fluevog PRI (Radio family)

Sorry I haven't been posting much this week. I needed a break after Disneyland, and more importantly, we've had to focus on house stuff. Because guess what?

Escrow closed on the new house today!

We got the keys and everything. Now the really hard work begins. And today I had two painters come in to give me quotes on repainting the whole interior. It looks like it's going to be really expensive, so my husband and I are thinking of doing at least part of it ourselves. We will see if we have enough time and energy for a DIY.

I finally did laundry, so I should be able to get back into my 30 for 30 outfits soon. I did want to show you what I managed to put together on this special but hectic day. I found this gem of a top in my closet; I grabbed it because it was one of the few long-sleeved things I own and it's gotten cold here. It was a hand-me-down that I'd never worn, so I was pleasantly surprised by how cute it was. I guess I like the boxy styles. This top also has pockets! So charming. And I don't need to tell you again how much I love the boots. How cool that I was able to squeeze them over my jeans today.

xo, Gladys

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

10 of 30: Disneyland

Dress: Blue Bird via ModCloth; T-shirt: GAPbody; Tights: Happy Socks; Boots: Fluevog PRI (Radio family); Bag: Envirosax (via Zulily)

I just wanted to give some love to the boots. First, they are purple!!! Second, they are comfortable and truly made for walking. I wore them to Disneyland today, and they lasted over eight hours. My feet are not sore, I swear.

The bag also needs some props. Envirosax is a brand of reusable shopping bags, but this particular design (the Slingsax) is supposed to work like a tote bag (they have a smaller version that's more like a hand purse). It's constructed with two large pockets, one outside and one inside, so I was able to keep my phone, lip balm, and gum inside the bag without losing them to the bottomless mess that usually happens in huge bags without efficient inside pockets. I was able to stick lots of things inside the main pouch without worry. The straps can be tied together to make it a handbag or a shoulder bag. It worked incredibly well being taken on and off all day (the knotted straps were secure). And seriously, it is super cute. Big flowers? Polka-dots? Fun colors? I'm there!

xo, Gladys

P.S. I am 1/3 of the way through my challenge!
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