Nov 4th 2010

Autumn fun

Let’s pretend, just for a moment, that it’s not nearly 100° here in Los Angeles. Let’s pretend this city actually has seasons and we’re in the midst of a cool, beautiful fall. It’s a perfect autumn day and we’re going on an adventure to the corn maze.

Here we are, excited about the pumpkins and fall squash a plenty.

Gorgeous pumpkins and gourds of all colors.

Squash bigger than I’ve ever seen. You could feed a whole family with one of those banana squash.

But we’re here for the corn maze, so let’s enter, shall we?

Let’s enjoy the afternoon and take some photos.

We’re surrounded by lovely lush corn. It’s an adventure for sure. Who knows where we’re going…

In fact, we might be lost and the GPS isn’t helping.

And you have to be careful of masked men in the corn.

The sun is moving lower in the sky and the corn is so tall we can’t tell which direction we’re going.

But we escaped!

Getting lost has never been so fun.

» adventure / events

Nov 3rd 2010

Making my wedding dress

With less than four months till our wedding, I’ve been in a state of complete indecision about my dress. It’s kind of a big deal. The dress I mean.

The problem is that I know exactly what I want and it’s not like anything I could buy. I kept searching for something that would maybe distract me from my idea but to no avail.

I just wanted to make it myself so it would look how I imagined, but I had some serious doubts that I could construct a dress without a pattern. While I’m quite adept at sewing, I’ve never learned proper construction. Nor do I have a dress form.

Luckily, I was introduced to a lovely seamstress who is going to take on the task of making my dream dress.

We’ve even picked out the fabric. I love all the combination of all the different laces. The hardest part was choosing the fabric that goes underneath all these laces. We found a gorgeous one, but of course it was silk so I had to pick something else.

It would be cool to say I got these at some fancy fabric store, or special ordered them from France, but they’re just from Joann’s. I probably shouldn’t admit that. It doesn’t matter though, they’re lovely and inexpensive and the dress is going to be awesome.

So these are the humble beginnings of my dress. Just some fabric and sketches and measurements and ideas. I’m so excited. I’m going to my first fitting in just a few weeks. It will just be a rough muslin thing but I can’t wait.

Now I just have to pick out some shoes.

» handmade

Nov 2nd 2010

Dia de los Muertos cookies

I wanted to make a few special cookies to celebrate Dia de los Muertos. I searched for a skull cookie cutter but to no avail. The closest I could come up with was a skull and cross bones. Not quite the same.

I went ahead and just drew the skulls on larger cookies with some royal icing. I’m still working on my technique, although I think these came out nicer than my Star Wars cookies. I would have liked to draw on some roses and other decorations but I don’t think I couldn’t have managed the detail. Thinking maybe next time I can paint food coloring on for more delicate lines.

Most importantly, they tasted awesome and were still pretty cute.

Cookie recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar

Icing recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking

» food

Oct 31st 2010

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!

I’ve been spending my morning hanging out with the kitties and reading about haunted houses.

I was just going to post a quick teaser of our Halloween costumes, but some of the photos are just too much fun, so I had to share more.

This year I was a prairie girl and Shawn was an astronaut. I didn’t have time to make a costume, so I bought this amazing dress from an awesome shop on Etsy. I love the dress so much, I might have to wear it all the time.

It’s true, we love Halloween.

We went to a party with some crazy dancing ghillie suit creatures. Watch out for this guy. His moves will blow away even you’re sweetest dance routine.

Even Cleopatra was there; cutting a rug on the dance floor.

There were cupcakes. They were devoured.

I’m so glad my friends love Halloween as much as I do.

We’re planning some more Halloween adventures for this afternoon. Can’t wait.

What are you doing for Halloween?

» events

Oct 27th 2010

Spider web cake

Halloween is nearly upon us and I feel like I haven’t yet gotten my yearly fill of creepy decorations and festivities. Granted, we’ve been to a haunted corn maze, had our 3rd annual Halloween movie marathon, I even baked a pumpkin. Not to mention, we’ve watched over 40 horror movies this month (so far).

It’s still not enough though. So tonight, just to satisfy my Halloween cravings, I made this spiderweb cake. I think it’s creepy but still has a bit of elegance. No one wants to eat a cake that looks gross, even if it’s supposed to evoke grossness.