Inspired Wearing

Since the second grade I've approached dressing thematically. I would wake up and think "today I want to be pretty" and put on my twirliest dress, with a slip, tights, matching hair accoutrement and let's not forget the clicking shoes! (Did anyone else beg Mom for shoes that made the loudest click-clack?) Then the next day would be totally different, perhaps "funky." I would conjure my inner Punky Brewster and bust out the acid wash skit, blue shirt & yellow suspenders. I LOVE that my mom supplied me with such ensembles. I could always tell the 'new outfit' shaped boxes under the Christmas tree and ignored the groans and eye rolls of my family as I absconded to try on outfit number 4. What a lucky, lucky girl I was! Stretch pants, vests, feather hair clips, tights, hot pink spandex, jeans patched with leather... these clothes would make today's hipster swoon, I swear.

Obviously, the outer shell has been a concern my entire life. On numerous occasions, my little eight or nine year old mind even considered making a chart to keep from wearing the same outfit more than once a month. I often wonder if this kind of vanity is a weakness and grapple with whether to admit that or not. It can often take me a really long time to get dressed. It's SO important and what if I just don't know what to wear that day!? I wish I could roll out of bed and put on the first shirt I touch... but I just can't. We're taught that it's the inner beauty that counts, which I get and am cool with, but that's not my problem. I can wear messy clothes with holes that are baggy, unflattering, mis-matching, what have you... I just have to decide to and make a "look" out of it. (I'm somewhat comforted by the fact that there are people, stylists, who do this as a career!) It's not like I'm some high fashion slave who needs the next BIG thing. I know my worth as a human being has nothing to do with what I decide to wear, I just need to feel like myself.

Some days this is easier said than done, depending on how much breakfast I've had ( I'm a terrible dresser when I'm hungry) and what my closet is filled with. If I haven't done laundry... it's gets harder. I start to pull out rarely worn items, and then feel weird all day.

One of my resolutions for this new year is to get rid of clothes that don't fit, don't feel right, or aren't unique enough. Life is too short to wear a boring collar, I think, for me at least. I'm so excited for this one, I can't even wait for 2009 to start! The other day I tossed some undies that were too small, then later, a pair that was too big . From now on, if some article of clothing bugs me... I'm getting rid of it or making it better somehow.

Inspired by my friend Cal's crochet tutorials and mission to wear something handmade everyday, I decided to do my first fix up job. Now, it's just and old JCrew 'normal' sweater I've had it since I moved to NY in 2003. Despite it's being super warm and functional, it's not really that cute. Yet, I still find myself wearing it again and again all winter and it never feels quite right.





The answer to your question is..... "Yes"
I did just cut some new "Lego Bangs."

As for your other question, Yes.
I am aware that my room is one doily away from a the "Granny Chachka Museum" award.
Thanks for noticing. It's been hard work.

The new "to do" list

Some might remember this letter tray from an earlier post...

What was originally just a nice display has now developed into a sort of to do list. It's where I put lost buttons in need of re-sewing, charms I mean to do something with or photos I want to remember to admire on a daily basis. Basically I'm thinking I'll put anything small up here, that needs remembering and over time it'll become a little library of "thoughts."

Instead of having to find a suitable mismatched button, I'll know right where I put the matching one! This will also save me the trouble of configuring a back up outfit when I can't think of anything but the skirt in need of mending. Have I ever mentioned that virtually ALL of my mending occurs three minutes before I'm supposed to walk out the door?? Yeah. There I am, sporting half an outfit, frantically sewing on the end of my bed, when I could just throw on pair of jeans and tee shirt like a normal person.

But back to the tray... I'm always really interested in clutter. I certainly don't like messes, but there's something to the little chatchkas we humans collect. Every home seems to have some, whether its refrigerator magnets, tiny toys, rocks & shells, or even "real art." Imagine.

I'm also really interested in people's inability to deal with their clutter. In other words, organization, or lack thereof. In my world, what might look like a simple pile, actually has a lot of rhyme and reason to it. I think this is the difference between a mess and a display, the intention. I love the idea of turning a bad habit, or organizing weakness, into display. My idea for someone who is always throwing clothes on the floor, is to throw them on the wall instead. Install a grid of hooks, or even just long nails, and stuff your clothes up there instead. Sure it'll look like a pot of spaghetti clothes... but you'll have room to walk, you won't have to take the precious time to put them away and over time, it might end up looking kinda cool up there.

So here are all the thoughts so far in my tray:

This stack of British coins looked so beautiful against the dark wood, I just want to regularly admire it. I love the detailed edges... how come our coins aren't as cool?? Also, I might want to design something based off of these patterns.

These sparkly buttons need to be re-attached to this coat.

A squid and my handsome Grandpa in his navy uniform!! I miss you!

A map box I need to find a new chain for and scented green tea oil to liven up my draw papers!

A little lost tree bird checking things out, a broken pin that needs fixing or a new life and green thread that is just pretty.

Two charms that need chains and a "G" typewriter key for the pair of initial cuff links I owe my friend Garth.

The Rare Bird

You know those times when your roommate invites you to see the friend of the guy downstairs play bass for the first time with this other guy... those times? Well we all know its a gamble don't we? And yet we go, time and time again to show support for our brethren, the struggling artists, because a night out with the rooms typically bodes well for you. So you hop on the G train to Williamsburg's Pete's Candy Store and order yourself a shot of whiskey. You thoughtfully nurse that whiskey until his set is done, when, in all honesty, you thank the 'guy' for playing.

And just when you begin debating whether or not to get another drink, it happens. The second act, King Wilkie saves your life. Not only redeeming this and all other nights you've gambled on in the past, but becoming an instant favorite band. Inspiring desires in you to create matching tie tacks and cuff links for each member and learn millinery so you can outfit them in matching derby's or something. They have a nerdy cool presence on stage and the beautiful bass & mandolin combo is heavenly. I really took to them, can you tell?

Almond Chicken

He picked me up at Port Authority and went with me all the way to Brooklyn, my new home. I had moved just one month ago, in January, but was getting back from a quick trip home to visit or maybe do some dance thing. Moving to NY was a big shift from small town Maine and I was thrilled to have him there, even if it was only for a few weeks. I clung to his company during this transition to new life. My new, urban, what-am-I-going-to-do, life.

Once in Brooklyn I did the usual: popped off the train, asked what he might like for dinner and went shopping for supplies. I don't remember him having had any preference of what we should eat, so needless to say, Almond Chicken was my decision. It also happened to be the one 'new' recipe I was kind of good at. I ripped it out of my Martha Stewart magazine to bring with me before the move. Being just out of college, any type of cooking was pretty darn impressive and my mind was set to knock his socks off- either with the outfit I put on after my shower or me cooking in it, whichever affected him first. Typically he could barely contain himself, jumping the gun before any key could unlock a door, but not this time. I guess that should have been a warning.

Quietly he sat while dinner was prepared, enjoyed and cleaned up after. Thankfully, before I started throwing myself at him, he launched into his speech, the speech he had obviously been trying to not get to all evening. Yeah, he dumped me. I'll spare you the details but let me stress- if you're going to break up with a girl, please be kind and do it before you spoil one of her favorite recipes!

Tonight, many years later, I gave it another shot and found it's still a great recipe. A favorite, even. Am I healed? Well, writing this story might prove something, but I'll leave it to the reader to decide.

Almond Chicken
from Martha Stewart Living magazine with my words in parenthesis

1/4 cup bread crumbs (mixed with coarse salt and pepper if you want)
2 lg eggs
2 tsps water (I forgot this oops)
2 boneless,skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 cups sliced almonds
2 tbls unsalted butter
2 tbls canola oil (definitely use canola... I tried olive oil and it burned too quickly!)

(If your frying pan is not fit for the oven... like if it has a plastic handle or something, make up a baking pan with a bit of oil an butter in it also. You can transfer the chicken to it in order to bake in the oven. This is what I do and will always do. That is, until someone awesome chooses the new pots and pans for me off my future wedding registry...)

Preheat oven to 400. Place breadcrumb mixture in a bowl (plate.) (Place almonds on another plate.) Crack eggs into a bowl (big enough for the chickens!!) and beat lightly. Dip chicken first in egg, scraping off any extra with your hands (duh) then dip in bread crumbs. Dip chicken again in egg and then coat with almonds.

Heat oil and butter in skillet over medium heat. Saute chicken until nicely browned, about three minutes, and turn over. Cook one minute more then transfer to oven. bake until chicken is cooked through, about 10 more minutes. (I usually go a bit longer than that.)

Tonight I completed my meal with mashed potatoes, orange cranberry sauce and a watercress, bacon & blue cheese salad. Yum.

Weekend Review

Friday night I went out to a bar, that shall remain nameless. I did a lot of dancing, which was awesome and much needed. The fun thing about hipster bars (oh yeah, if you hadn't already figured, I didn't want to out my inner hipster, hence the nameless bar) is that the music is dancy but not your typical dance music. Country jams in abundance, who knows music from the ... ?? Not one song had I heard before, but I rocked out hardcore dudes!

There were some good dancers on the floor. Seriously, but I felt bad for this one guy who tried to get me to dance about seven times. The first time I actually went for it. He grabbed my hand and pulled me close and I thought "maybe he knows what he's doing and this could be fun." He put his hand on my shoulder and pushed me away about as hard as he could. I jerked to a halt when his arm ran out and then he yanked my arm to pull me back to him. When I got there, we just kind of collided and he pushed me away again. Figuring I'd give the boy a little help, I tried a little turn on the second way back, but we still collided and he continued pushing and pulling me as hard as he could. After a little bit more of this I stopped to say that I just didn't feel like dancing that way right now. All through the night though, he kept grabbing my hand to dance again but it was more like he forgot he had already tried me, than him being a pest. Once he come up from behind and when I turned he said, "oh, it's you" and walked away. Yeah, like I'm the problem. Boys should really learn how to lead if they want to twirl you round the dance floor!


Saturday was fun Brunch at Maggie Brown then cleaning and craft time. I made these mailboxes for my roommate and I. I've been wanting a way to cleanup our mail jumble and thought it'd be cute to have an 'official' mail location. I hung them in our hallway so we can drop the mail off on our way in.

I just used chip board, which I punched holes in and sewed together with a bulky yarn. I brought out my inner teenage collage spirit by cutting out letters from magazines to spell our names. I think I found a solution to make it a little more grown up though... I decided to stay in one color scheme. It was hard as heck to find a blue/green/yellow U, but I think it feels a little more 'designed' that way.

I found these pins at a street fair


Louis actually had nothing to do with the spilled sangria...

Ghetto Living


Ok guys. I know you already think I'm weird and stuff, but right now I'm super excited to go clean my bathroom! And then take a long shower, if I want, and not worry if the tub is going to overflow!

See, my tub has hag a clog forever! Me being all miss handy lady, I have tried to fix it a number of times and ways. This includes many a drain de-clogging substance, one of those powerful pressure cans and an auger (aka 'snake') which failed. I have a hard time calling the super unless absolutely necessary, but I finally did. Together we snaked out some of the most god awful clog and it still didn't work! Oh man, you should have seen that water! The previously murky white-with-soap-scum water turned absolutely black and Walter turns to me a says "Can we finish tomorrow?"

Tomorrow! Are you kidding me? I haven't had a good shower in weeks and everybody know s how I love my showers!! I've had to go super fast and time them out according to my roommate to make sure the tub wasn't too full and gross. Besides, what about all this black water??? And it's 100 degrees outside! We need to shower people!!- of course I didn't say all that. I said, sure and wasn't suprised when he called to postpone another today. And no, I didn't shower in the black water. I scooped it all out into the toilet, scrubbed like crazy and continued to bail out the tub after each shower until he came back this morning with a power snake!

Man did he get that sucker! He also fixed the knob that had been leaking for nearly a year... so now, I have a practically perfect bathroom and all I have to do is scrub it down!!

Now if Louis could only catch that mouse I hear squeaking..

Love dot dot dot

Originally I had envisioned this blog to be about projects and the inspirations behind them... Inspired Knitting... but I've found that many other things seep in to fill the cracks of my brain and either enhance my creative process or distract me from it. Who's to say the distractions aren't just as important though? Maybe by actually giving them some of our time, they might be satisfied and leave us a lone for a bit.

So Love. Is it an enhancer or a distracter? Well, both I suppose and like many, I've been thinking about it a lot lately. About what exactly? Pretty much all of it, but mostly worrying about missing the boat. Like, what if you met the love of your life and did nothing about it? Or what if you thought you had found that love but they didn't love you back. Or maybe they did, but then dumped you out of the blue, leaving you baffled. Or maybe the person is less than perfect and all you want to do is run for the hills, but you can't help it. Love is an active thing, we do have a choice in the matter, right? How do we get on the same page with each other? And also, why can't we be satisfied with all the love all around us (our family & friends), instead of running toward the most difficult?

It's driving me crazy people. I'll admit to being young and easily swindled by the grip of love... but fool I am not. So why do I feel like one just for talking about all this??

If you want to be married and have children, you have to imagine yourself being married and having children with someone. And if you've thought these things, even if it was WAY before you were really ready for them, it is difficult to break your attached to them. And IF, without even knowing it, you've become attached to such fantasies... how do you get rid of them?

How do you mourn a loss of something, that never even existed???

I should team up with Nicholas Sparks on this one and write a real tear jerker...

What if the love of your life doesn't know he was the love of your life?

OR
look out

What if you thinking someone was the love of your life, keeps you from seeing the true one right in front of you?

Either way I'm stunted and destined for spinsterhood.

Oh well, more time for knitting!

New Label topic: Single Girl Stuff

A friend recently told me that I might earn more readers if I started my posts... "So I met a guy last night...." and maybe this is true considering most of my posts have to do with small children and needle crafts... maybe I should explore more things my age... and so the birth of Single Girl Stuff.

Well, I don't have anything too juicy, but I do go out from time to time and come home with funny stories. Like this Friday night, I met my rooms Lauren for drinks in D.U.M.B.O. (How annoying am I with the periods!?) It was a fun night. We were sitting next to these dudes who work at Steiner studios. Well, I know a guy who works there and it turns out he's kind of a big wig to these guys. They immediately treated us like one of the bros... well, more like cute ladies and insisted on buying us drinks. Then the cute bar tender started paying a little closer attention to me, which equaled more free drinks. Um, so this is my question. When a tall, handsome, tattooed bartender asks your name and offers you a drink on him, does he think you're cute or is it something else... like he wants a tip?

Well, I left without really finding out the answer to that question and all I know is that my hair was super awesome the next morning and I wished someone else could see...