Elsewhere on the Interwebs: For the Love of Vogs

It's no secret that I'm a Fluevog shoe addict ... or Flueddict as my friend Joanne would say. Well, she and I and two other friends have joined forces to share our love of Vogs in one (online) space. The new blog is called For the Love of Vogs.

Fluevog Elizabeth (Queen Transcendent family) in green

Look at this shoe! I mean, come on. How can you blame me for my addiction? :-) The new Elizabeths are a new style in a new family just out this fall season. The name of the family, Queen Transcendent, perfectly describes that heel. The 3.5" height is slightly offset by a 3/4" platform. And Fluevog specialist Alice at the Melrose store tells me they are pretty comfortable. They are available in black and burgundy as well, but I am in love with the green. I've been looking for green shoes for a while. I am thisclose to getting them.

I'll let you know after I try them on.

xo, Gladys

Gone Tropical

Top: Free Bird via ModCloth | Skirt: Old Navy | Shoes: Fluevog Believe (Hope family) | Purse: Kate Sheridan via ModCloth
The lei smelled really good, btw.

Sorry for the week-long radio silence, but I had a fabulous excuse. I went to beautiful Hawai'i for a week with my husband, son, and husband's family. :-D We stayed at the Disney resort, Aulani, which is on the southwestern tip of the island of O'ahu. The resort isn't on a very large plot of land, but the landscaping and striking architecture reminded me of Disneyland and made the place seem like it was sprawling.

The resort is basically a water park by the beach with lodging and restaurants surrounding it. There was a lazy river, a zero-entry pool for the kids that didn't get deeper than 4 feet, an aquarium of tropical fish where people could also snorkel for an extra fee, several hot spas including an infinity spa, and an adults-only pool that was unfortunately under construction while we were there. There were also two fun water slides and a water play area. We arrived in the early afternoon and as soon as we got into our hotel room, we changed the kiddo into his swim suit and let him jump into the play area.

It's a beautiful place. The view from our room wasn't the beach but back toward some hills. We were surprised to find out later that they weren't regular hills....

I'm not complaining. :-) And the weather in Hawai'i sure beat the weather at home.

More outfit pics to come from the trip in upcoming posts. It was fun to be able to wear some spring and summer outfits in the middle of October, and also swim outdoors again.

xo, Gladys

It's Friday, I'm in Love

My twin nephews at 11 days old. Happy Friday, everyone!

xo, Gladys

Sewing: Reversible Apron

I made another reversible apron from Lotta Jansdotter's pattern for my friend MC's upcoming birthday. I like how this one turned out as well. (My first attempt was for Joanne's cupcake apron.) This time, though, after cutting out the major pieces, I ended up with smaller scraps of leftover fabric so that 1) instead of making the red side of each strap out of one long piece, I had to sew together two pieces to make each red side of the straps, and 2) I had to make considerably-smaller pockets than the ones I made for Joanne. It must have been the way they were cut at the store; the red fabric in particular seemed smaller than one yard. The pockets turned out ok, though, but they're not as functional as the deep ones I made for J.

I admit I was kind of surprised to find this print fabric at Jo-Ann's. I liked it so much that I splurged and bought an extra yard (good thing I had a coupon for it). I'm excited to figure out what to do with that yard. Maybe a tote purse for myself?

I think the two separate pockets are really cute, especially with the print fabric. (Too bad this wasn't my best straight stitching.)

Process note:

As I mentioned in the cupcake apron post, the pleats were a bother because the pattern was confusing. How do you get two pleats from three folds/notches? You can't. Well, I almost edited the pattern by narrowing the shoulder and forgoing the pleats. But I decided to try something else instead: I added an extra notch on the pattern to make four, and you know what? It turned out perfectly. This makes me think it was just an accidental error of omission on the pattern.

xo, Gladys

Ladies' Night with Fluevog Qtees

Over the weekend, I got to dress up and test drive my new Fluevogs for an evening out with some girlfriends. The shoes stayed comfortable for the whole 5 hours, half of which I spent standing! I love this simple outfit and will definitely wear it out again (I got lots of compliments for it as well).

The dress deserves some special love here, too ... I love the 1950s-vintage shape with the nipped waist, full skirt, and shoulder rosettes. I'm also a fan of shirt dresses, plus it has pockets at the waist! It provided the perfect backdrop for the beautiful shoes.

(Sorry the lighting is a little wonky but the house photos were taken indoors with artificial lighting and no flash, and I subsequently edited the photos to get most of the yellow light out.)

Dress: A. Byer via Amazon | Belt: ASOS | Shoes: Fluevog Qtees (Mini family)

The only thing I didn't like 100% was my hairstyle, but I wanted to experiment after I saw this tutorial for a Simple Gibson Tuck (via Made by Rae who has some ridiculously-beautiful hair). Looking at the photo below, I feel like I should have pinned up the stray strands that were too short to stay in my loose ponytail. I also wish my shapeless bangs had been pulled back or swept to the side. They're a hot mess right now. Oh well, I still had a good time. :-)

xo, Gladys