another day another dress

Today I slept in way later than necessary, but I deserved it. I was up way too late last night and didn't have to be at work until 3:00. YAY! It was a shipment day though, and I am the one that usually opens the boxes, so I had to make sure it was casual enough and I could move around in it without getting in the way. I think I succeeded.


When I walked into work one of the girls heard my voice before she saw me and just yelled "Kess is wearing a dress!" Then someone from the office yelled "Kess wore a dress yesterday!" Then the girl right next to me yelled "Kess is wearing a dress every day for a month!" I don't know why, but it made me happy. There was a brief discussion about it afterward, but that was it.


The dress today is another one from Urban Outfitters. I got it the same day I got the one I wore yesterday. I also got a blue shirt that day. I must have been going through a blue thing. Anyway, I love the way it fits, and the fact that it has pockets. Every dress should have pockets. The first dress for a dress a day had pockets as well.
The tights are from the Gap. They are from this season. I think they are really cute with the blue dots. The remind me of the ones I would wear on Sundays when I was a little girl (yes smaller than I am now. It is possible) running across the street to church.
The shoes are old brown suede Gap ones that I got years ago on sale.
The shirt is a men's waffle pajama shirt I got from the Gap last year on sale and sewed up the sides and arms so it would fit me. I have a lot of shirts like that. The men's shirts are always so comfortable.


I realized yesterday that I needed to smile more in my pictures. I just look so gloomy most of the time. I mean I probably won't all the time just because they are dress a day shots, but still. Well, I'm tired and I think a spider bit my arm, so I'm off. Night. I'll be back tomorrow.

does this dress make me look asian?

We're like the same person. Me and my Dress form. Slightly creepy, but for some reason I thought it would be fun. You'll probably see the dress that's on the dress form on me sometime this month as well.


So I was at work today and this cute Asian girl complimented my dress, then proceeded to become best friends with me, show me her new tattoo, tell me about her past relationships and her plans for the night. It was delightful. It's one of the many wonders of working retail at a place that focuses on customer service. Anyway, I took it as a huge compliment. I usually take it that way when an Asian compliments my appearance because as a culture I adore their style.


The cardigan today was a cream boyfriend cardigan from the Gap... once again.
The dress was from Urban Outfitters. I love that it buttons in the back and has an open spot. Unfortunately I can't wear it with my back showing, so I have a red shade top on. Typical I know, but somehow it works.
The shoes are also from the Gap. Cute little red leather flats.


So my thing today was really I guess just a long bath. Becca and I also had rice balls and tea and are watching Gilmore Girls. Yeah, so my nine hour work day and the fact that the sun is going down earlier and earlier kind of kept me from doing anything too exciting. Then again a nice long bath is ALWAYS a good thing. Until tomorrow!

comfort food

Becca and I usually have people over for Sunday dinner. One day we should probably have other people cook the food, but until then... So today I said I would cook the main dish. Becca loves my chicken and dumplings, so because it's her birthday next week and she won't be here I decided to make them. It is also going to be our friend Leah's birthday next week, so they made pie as well. It was the PERFECT day for chicken and dumplings and pie. It was slightly grey and drizzly and just the right kind of cool for it. Our dinners are usually very lively. This one was toned down quite a bit. I take it as a compliment to the food. We were all still loud and enjoying ourselves, but we were content. All in all I would say it was a sucessful evening.


The dress for today was one that I got for Christmas last year. It is from Anthropologie, made completely of silk, and heavenly to wear.
The cardigan is another Gap one. That's what happens when you work there for five years and have a great discount. I think I have four of that one cardigan in different colors.
The shoes are some of my favorite heels. They are vintage red snakeskin. I found them in a boutique on University. They had been there for months because nobody could fit into them. Luckily I have small feet and a brother who was a cobbler for the first probably four or five years of employment that could give me pointers to make them work.


Now because I'm nice, I'm going to throw in the chicken and dumplings recipe. The picture looks gross I know, but that was when the broth and chicken were being all cooked up. Trust me, it was good. Plus, this is one of the cheapest meals ever. I think I dished out like $6.50 to feed six people and have a massive amount of leftovers.

For the chicken soup I got a chicken (better uncooked. It may be faster to buy a precooked one, but then you have to mess with finding chicken stock and all that jazz. Plus it tastes better this way), one large yellow onion or two small ones, a whole garlic, and some flat leaf parsley. You don't have to chop everything up all nice. I basically pulled apart the garlic, chopped the parsley in half, cut the onion into chunks and threw them in the pot. You'll want to put them in the pot with a lot of salt and the chicken, then fill it up with water just to the top of the chicken. After that you just put it on the stove and as we like to say in our family, "boil the snot out of it." This will take about an hour and a half. You know it's done when the meat falls off the chicken when you pull it out of the water. Now it's time to burn yourself. Just take the chicken out and take the meat off of it. At this point I like to take most of the chunks of onion, garlic and parsley out of the pot as well. Now throw the good pieces of chicken (shreaded to whatever size you like) back into the pot with that delicious broth still in it. Viola, you have chicken soup. Yumm.

Now for the dumplings I used my brother's recipe that he actually took from someone else. Anyway, it was good. He warns you NOT to take the lid off the pot and peek at them while they are cooking. DON'T DO IT. I know you want to soo badly. Trust me, it is a bad idea. I once tried to make dumplings in a pot with a lid that didn't fit it and I came out with really thick chicken soup and no dumplings. It was still good, but I wanted to cry a little. You want them to be like fluffy rolls floating in delicious soup. This will happen if you do not look at it.

http://quotidianefficacy.blogspot.com/2008/11/chicken-and-dumplings.html

Now go enjoy the delicious cool weather comfort food. You'll want to add salt and peper to taste when you sit down to eat it. Also, it's the perfect thing to put the chicken soup in a bag and freeze and then whip up some more dumplings when you want it again. That's another reason why I love it.

trees trees trees

On to day two. Becca and I decided to go to The Chocolate today. It's a cute little place that's an old house that serves cake, cupcakes, cookies, and milk. Yummm. While we were sitting there upstairs eating our desserts we decided that Orem has been good to us. Classic Skating is right behind The Chocolate (we decided we need to take dates there), Target is nearby, there are orchards everywhere, people are selling things on the streets all around, etc. Orem has been good to us.



Another thing that Orem has given us is a beautiful apple orchard in the backyard. Unfortunately the apples were harvested last week, but it's still great. It's nice to have a bunch of trees to run through when needs be. I was making fun of the way I was sitting and have the poutiest face in this one. It made me laugh and I had to add it.



I kind of look scary in these last two. The light was a little crazy.



Cardigan and tights are Gap
Shoes are Blowfish sugars in whiskey
The dress is one that I made last year when Grandma let me use the cabin in Driggs. It was grand being there for a week by myself. Making this dress seemed to be perfect for fall in the mountains in Idaho.

a dress a day

... for a month. So I moved into a new place and when I finally got around to organizing my clothes, I realized I have a ton of them. Really wow. So I counted my dresses. I have 45 dresses, maybe more, and I have material and plans for many more. I kind of think that's insane, but I still want more. Some of my dresses are too fancy for every day use, and some are too nightgownish or summery. Anyway, the point is that I decided that I need to wear a different dress every day for a month. I also decided that I didn't want to wait and started on the Ides of October. Seeing as how I haven't blogged FOREVER, I still need to desperately update this thing, I am posting yesterday's outfit today. It was also very late when I got home and was able to take pictures, so sorry about the state of them.


tights, dress and cardigan are all Gap
boots are Blowfish falls in whiskey
scarf is a vintage find from a rummage sale my friend and I spotted on the way home from the zoo about a month ago
also, I love how my hair turned out today/yesterday. I really never know how it's going to turn out considering I always just let it air dry and then sometimes I touch up the bangs with a straightener. It was big and wild and very Chuck from Pushing Daisies.


I still have some cleaning and oranizing to do. The books I'm sitting on are actually ones I've been meaning to sell. I didn't like them sitting in my room in boxes, so I just made them into a armchair by my bathroom. I love the idea of books as decoration, so I might just keep them and stack them in different ways whenever I feel like it.

Aside from the next month being that of dresses, I have also decided it needs to be one of discipline and fun. In other words, only social tv. No more sitting in my bed watching hulu and netflix late into the night. I'll fall asleep reading. I have so many books I need to catch up on. I'll also report on the ones I finish. I think today I'm going to restart The Secret Life of Bees. I was having a terrible day on Thursday and that was what my mom suggested I read again. I'm also planning on going through the Wizard of Oz books.

I am planning on keeping my expenses to necessary social, and food... and gas... and maybe a few other things that I really need, but definitely not clothes! Unless I find something I can't pass up. Sigh. I'm helpless.

I'm also planning on doing one something a day. Becca and I were talking about how we need to get our sass back. We can be very sassy, but lately it's been coming and going. Mostly going. Yesterday, as the first day in this, I went a hung out with my friend Dave. Being harassed at Walmart by the passers by (with hilariously obvious statements like "a scarf" or "they got a pillow" you had to be there) with a friend is definitely still doing something. At least I wasn't in my room filling my body with junk food and expensive soda like I was the night before, but a good wallow is a good wallow and much needed.

Well I believe that's it. I'll post today's dress later. LET THE DRESSES BEGIN!

My Everest

I am leaving. I have packed my bags and I will be starting the first leg of my journey in about half an hour. I can't believe it. Nepal for a month. I think it is the much needed escape I've been looking for.

When I get back I've decided I need to hop back on the blogging thing. I didn't do it often before, but I have been working on so many projects and finishing things finally that people have been asking me to post pictures of the things that I have made. Blogging seems to be the easiest solution to showing everybody my crafts.

So to start off the blogging (although it will most likely be put on hold for a month), I am going to show off the bag I made for my trip. I don't like backpacks much, and I have been wanting an excuse to get or make a big sack type of bag for a while. I used nutmeg colored duck cloth for the main part of the bag, and an adorable oil cloth that I picked up in a store in Dallas for the rest. I have to admit though, I did steel the design from a bag my roommate's boyfriend gave her for Christmas... then I added my own twist as usual.



The dress is one of my own creations, as is the bag of course. The dress is more legitimately my creation considering I didn't get the idea from anything I guess.



I love the print of the inside. I added a couple of places to hang things, and an extra hidden pocket for cash. Perfect for the trip. The whole front is a pocket as well. My roommate didn't even know that about her own bag until I was looking at hers to figure out a pattern.

So I'll actually update my blog and make it look all pretty when I come back. I'll be sure to post lots of pictures from my trip as well. Wish me luck!

My new dress

So I came home the other day and decided to actually make the dress I had cut out many months ago. I made it out of an old large linen skirt that my mom or grandma gave me a while ago and some tatting I got from a mainstream store. But because it was a remake from an old lady skirt it has pockets. Always a must in a dress. The pattern was somewhat inspired by an Anthropologie dress that I had seen. Actually just the neckline really. For some reason I felt inspired to create something. It always puts me in a better mood. So I wore the dress to church and work today and felt like I could wear this dress over and over again. That usually doesn't happen with my creations. Usually I wear something I make once and decide it is too different to wear again. This actually also made me realize that I want desperately to invest in a good dress form. Unfortunately I'll most likely have to pay full price because petites aren't usually in stores... especially here in Provo. Oh how I long for Dallas and its many conveniences. Oh well. I'll just use the money from the crochet flower hair clips I sell and Christmas money. Anyway, here's the dress.