New Dress and (better) New Hair and New Grass

There was still quite a lot of dye left on my hair even after washing (and washing and washing) it out, so in the pictures I took the night I did it, it looked almost black. Well, after another good washing, the extra dye is gone and you can actually see the purple!


I made a new dress.


It basically looked like a shower curtain at first what with the ruffle at the top and the length, so I added the sash and halter tie. Much better.

I wore this to the Farmer's Market on Thursday evening. I got a compliment on the dress and several on the hair. One little girl who was riding her bike down a side street with helmet, training wheels and all, practically screamed, "Mommy, purple hair!" as I stepped down an alley to Main Street. It made me giggle.


The fabric is from a vintage sheet I got at Salvation Army or Goodwill or a yard sale. It's been so long I don't remember. Last summer, I made a drawstring backpack out of one of the pillow cases and some turquoise fabric.

Twirl! Always required after making and trying on a new dress.

You can also see our new grass, which is about a month old now. It still needs to fill in some spaces, but so far, so good! I'm just waiting for our water bill, which is sure to be massive. Although if this rain keeps up, maybe not!

New Hair

If you know me at all, you probably won't be surprised by what you're about to see. I got my hair cut quite short again (it was still short, but it had grown out for nearly three months), then made another change.

Bleach on

Bleached!
(I look like I belong in an anime....)

Purple hair!

This is how I usually wear my hair.

It's not very very purple. It actually turned out almost black, and is only purple in certain lights or at certain angles. Maybe as I wash it and it fades a little, it'll be lighter and more noticeable.

Sometimes I wear my hair like this.

Thanks, Mom, for being my hairdresser! I don't have to look like a teacher for another month and a half, so why not, right? I love it!

Dressed up

When I went to see The Producers at the college theater a couple months ago:



Dressed up with Megan to see Alice In Wonderland:





(My hair was way better both nights than it looks from the pictures, I swear.)

Wordless Wednesday

Hair and Stuff

Tried something new the other day with my hair. I think it turned out kinda cute! I just washed it that morning and put it up in clips to sort-of dry, then did the rolls and put the rest in a side-ponytail that afternoon. Would've been cuter if the ponytail was a little curled, or at least not the usual bushy craziness it is right after washing, but oh well. (I did the same style for work the next day after sleeping in rag curlers; much better.) It actually stayed in pretty well, too, despite moving around a bit and being out in the wind a little. I think a combination of damp + spray gel works well to keep my hair in a style.




Whooosh!


Arty pose

One just for fun:



I wore this to Jen's baby shower (the one having twins), to which I brought these:



Both prints are 100% cotton. The green with ladybugs has solid yellow flannel backing, and the yellow with ladybugs has green solid flannel backing.



Hats I started when I first learned about all the pregnant ladies last winter. There are little leaves at the top; someone at the shower said to stick these hats on them, put them in orange, and call them pumpkins for Halloween!

I made great big calendars for June and July to keep track of my work schedules and Matt's, as well as school deadlines, trips, and holidays. I'm not referring to it a whole lot just yet, but I do like having both our work schedules in one place so we can plan things.

Third time in the space of a week that I've posted! Who knows where the insanity will stop??

10 Things I am loving

1. This fabric:



I got it more than a year ago, when I just started sewing. It's since become 1/4 of a tiered skirt, which I love and wear all the time, and after using a bit for another project yesterday, I still have a little less than 1/4 of a yard, which I'm sure I will hoard for just the right project someday. Love it.

2. My "Chore Pockets" which I made from the above fabric and the leg of some of Matt's old jeans.



Everything starts out in the left pocket and moves to the right pocket as I get it done. The top is daily, the bottom is weekly. It's hanging just to my left as I sit at the desk, so I can enjoy the cute fabric, and be reminded of what I need to do every day.

3. Coffee with cinnamon in it. Some days I'll make regular coffee with about a tablespoon of Caramel Truffle (or whatever flavour I've picked up) coffee in it. That way the splurge on flavoured coffee lasts a long time, and I don't just drink regular coffee every day. But sometimes I'll put a shake or two of cinnamon in the filter before I brew the coffee, and yesterday especially it turned out quite delicious.

4. My husband. It seems kind of silly that he'd be on this list, since of course I love him--he's my husband! But I really do love and appreciate him. Yesterday he worked 6pm to 2am in order to paint his department at work. It was just him and two of his managers all night, and he came home with bright blue all over his pants--he tripped over a paint tray--and flecks on his arms and shoes. I was still awake when he got home, in part from the tea I'd drunk earlier in the night which was, apparently, not decaf, but also because it feels weird to sleep in our bed without him. And I was just so happy when he got home. (Yes, you can go gag now. Sue me.)

5. My hair the other day:


(It's really difficult to photograph the back of your own head!)

I'd washed my hair Friday morning, but the first day it's clean, I have Hermione Granger hair. Not the pretty waves they gave her in the movie (*eye roll* don't get me started) but the insane frizz she has in the books. So for work that afternoon, I decided to fix it fancy, since I had the time. Still damp, I braided the top half of it, then put the bottom half in a bun and sort of wrapped the braid around it. I hid the braid's rubber band with a little butterfly barrette I think I may have worn once since I got it back in jr. high.



It stayed in really well all night, and was, unsurprisingly, still a little damp in the middle when I let it out.

6. My writers' group, the Dames D'plume. I mentioned A___'s writing last night, but I was really really excited to hear the excerpts of our other two members as well (and I hope my own wasn't horribly lame in comparison like it felt). Clearly I was inspired by the meeting, if I couldn't stop thinking about building some steampunk-y world of my own, but just hearing the successes of other writers whom I knew and respected was uplifting. I'm so glad I have it to go to every week!

7. Sewing! I got Matt's breeches almost finished the other night when I posted. They're still waiting to be hemmed at the bottom because he's not sure if he's going to tuck them into boots, or just wear them long. But I also have my friend, Megan's, pants for the faire done. They're loose and baggy, dark green satin. She's going as a belly dancer (*resists rant on historical innacuracy*) and I think they turned out really well! Today I hope to at least get my chemise cut out. The sewing itself is extremely simple--just rectangles fitted together, then a lot of hemming and very long seams--but time-consuming since it's such a large garment. I'll probably wear it as a nightgown in the winter, probably with a shawl.

8. Shawls. I think they're pretty and romantic, and they make me feel old-fashioned. (Or more old-fashioned than usual with all my long skirts and weird jewelery.) I only have two right now. One is black and made of some slick, nylon (I think) cord, almost, with a pretty lacy pattern and long fringe, but it's not warm at all. The other:



was crocheted by a friend and I LOVE it. I think the yarn is just acrylic, not wool or something you'd think would be warm and cozy, and it's very holey, but it really does keep me warm when it's wrapped around my shoulders as I sit at the computer desk or on the sofa with a book. At the Dames D'plume yesterday, I finally picked up and explored a shawl C___ has had draped over a chair every time I've been there. I resisted previously, but couldn't stand it anymore. I stood up and tried it on, a pure white, very light confection of (probably) polyester with delicate fringe and a floral pattern. The other girls said I looked very writerly with my long, full skirt, and made me pick up the quill A___ had brought for us to play with and pose with it.

9. Quills! Speaking of. A___'s looked very like this one, and after Carrington and I played with it, I wanted to come home and get out my pen and nibs, which I hadn't done for years. The pen's just plastic, but I have a handful of different nibs for it, several of which are wide and flat. I used to play around doing calligraphy, and while all of my ink but the silver has dried up, I kind of want to get out my nice calligraphy paper, buy a new pot of black ink, and write a letter with it all! I scribbled a bit with the silver ink on some black paper last night, and did the alphabet as I remembered it (which was not very well) with one of the wider nibs. Fun! Geeky!

10. This song. I watched Once the other night, and have been singing this in my head almost nonstop since. So lovely, such a beautiful harmony!