Post-AGU Quick Takes

1. AGU went really really well this year! I gave my first talk and it seemed fine. The talk right before mine had technical difficulties in that all of his, mine, and the talk after mine slides had been removed from the network folder and replaced with talks from the previous day. Due to the AGU time constraints, he had to do about half the talk without slides until they were able to fix the problem. Thankfully, I did not have to do an interpretive dance about EMIC waves.


2. I love love that Matthew and I get to go to AGU together every year. I wish I could take him along to all my conferences.




3. I talked to potential future bosses while at the conference and instead of helping to limit my decision, it made things much more complicated. I'm confident I'll end up somewhere super awesome.


4. I made it back from San Francisco in one piece! The very very slow bus ride from Boston was a bit scary at times due to the heavy snow fall, but I was sitting next to a post-doc and our chatting made the time go by much quicker.


It really was a sea of white while driving.


5. After cleaning off the small layer of snow from the car and driving home from the bus station on Saturday, I woke up to this Sunday Morning.




6. Kitty butt was very happy to have me home. It is nice to be greeted by this little creature that sounds excited to see you. I dig it.




7. I made Chickpea Dumplings in Tomato Sauce last night for dinner and it was fantastic. The flavour from toasting the cumin, coriander, and mustard seeds was amazing and I liked the contrast of the sauce with the little dumplings. Since I was just cooking for me, I halved the amount of tomatoes and chickpea dumplings, but kept the seasoning the full amount and it was perfect for me. I was worried about the dumplings falling apart in my leftovers, but they held up like a champ.

Pre-AGU Quicktakes

1. Let it Snow!



2. I made a delicata squash rice bowl based on this recipe this week and it was good. Very good. My changes - pan roasted chickpeas with salt, pepper, and chipotle powder instead of the tofu and no mushrooms. For the sauce, I omitted the lemongrass.


3. I have enough nice Me-Made clothes to make it through the entire AGU week. And then I can show off my threads to everyone!


4. Over the last couple of weeks, I lost two earrings while wearing them. Now I have two sad earrings without mates. I should probably procure more those plastic earring backing so I don't lose anymore.


5. Over Thanksgiving, we went to Philadelphia for our 3rd Honeymoon trip. We visited the Mütter Museum, Eastern State Penitentiary, Rocky Statue, Magic Gardens, and Museum of Natural History with animatronic dinosaurs and a behind the scenes look at how the animal dioramas are made. We also made it to Vedge (oh my goodness so much good vegan food), Miss Rachel's Pantry (okay vegan food), and Brauhaus Schmitz (not even remotely vegan food). We used AirBnb for our lodging and the apartment we stayed in was quite lovely.


6. While in Philadelphia, we went to Hats in the Belfry and bought a couple of cute hats for Matthew - fedora and page boy.


7. We also went to Fabric Row and I quickly became completely overwhelmed by the sheer volume of fabric available! This is not your typical JoAnn's store which was exactly what I was looking for. Overall, Philadelphia was a fantastic trip.

Archer Shirt

I made a button up shirt! I used the Grainline Archer pattern (all patterns are 20% off through Monday with the code GIVETHANKS20) and love it!

I cut a size 4 and used the 1/2 inch seam allowance everywhere except the side seams where I increased it to 5/8 inch. I'll probably still bring in the side to make it a bit more fitted. I didn't use the instructions provided with the pattern, but followed along on the Grainline Sew-a-long. I sewed most of the shirt in a few hours, but then the cuffs started confusing me, so I had to put it away until the next day.

I am a big fan and already have several other lengths of fabric designated for this pattern. The only thing I don't like about the pattern? Having to sew on soooo many buttons.

Ghost Photos

A few weekends ago, Matthew and I went to a graveyard in town to take "ghostly" pictures. I wore a white dress I made and we used the Holga to take multiple exposed shots. The idea was to make me look like a ghost going through the cemetery. Next time, I will wear darker clothes - the white dress showed up a bit too well in all the shots. In the few Matthew was in, he looked much more ghost-like than I did.










We might use this as our Christmas card photo this year.


What do you think?

Photo Quick Takes

I went to Washington DC for work last month (right before the shut down!). Here are a few Holga pictures from that trip as well as some other photos.

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Mendum Pond for the Physics picnic.

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Creepy New England cemetery.

Autumn in New Hampshire

Takin' Quick

Goodness, this week went by quickly.

1. Cocktail party tonight! We went shopping yesterday at the liquor store and I felt like such a lush buying all the booze. We shouldn't run out though, which would be a disaster at a cocktail party! And I get to wear one of my handmade fancy dresses!

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2. Yesterday I was waiting for Matthew and saw this lovely spider hanging on the window (on the outside).


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3. Last weekend, Matthew and I were grocery shopping and I was trying to decide on a wine to drink. The "plays well with" did not persuade me to buy this wine.


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4. This was kitty butt being the most adorable cat this morning. My blog wouldn't be complete without cat pictures, right?


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5. I made Squash Risotto last night for dinner and it was amazingly delicious. I used a combination of butternut and delicata squash and when I make it again, I will roast the squash in the oven while the onions are caramelizing. We didn't end up eating until almost 20:00 because I was using the same pan for everything per the instructions.

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6. Matthew and I have been able to have short conversations in Deutsch, which makes me really happy. Wie geht es heute? Mir geht es so la la. Nicht ausgezeichnet? Nein, ausgezeichnet nicht. And maybe something about Frühstück as well.

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7. I made the Verity Dress a few weeks ago from a cotton-polyester blend knit from Joann's. I am a big big fan of this dress. I am going to try to depuff the sleeves because they don't do anything for my broad shoulders and I bought both red and grey knits to make similar dresses. I cut a size small and the fit has been great. On my next go around I need to lengthen the sleeves and waistband by about an inch and the skirt by a few inches. I left the bottom unhemmed so I wouldn't lose any length.

Takes, takes, takes, takes, takes, takes, takes

After writing "takes" so many times for the title, the word has lost all meaning.

One: I made a muslin for the Sureau Dress today. I am super excited about doing the real dress. I bought a grey super king duvet cover at Goodwill a few weeks ago that I am going to use as my final fabric - it is going to be a fantastic fall dress.

Two: We are having a fall cocktail party next Friday! I have been extremely introverted the last few months and haven't really called/hung out with anyone and I think it is now time for some social interaction.

Three: Today while I was sewing, I listened through a backlog of Slate's Political Gabfest episodes and decided I wanted something a bit lighter so I looked through the This American Life episodes I have downloaded. I started listening to Use Only as Directed about Tylenol and how unsafe it can be. Not the lighter kind of story I really wanted, but it was amazingly interesting and makes me want to not use many of the "very safe" over the counter drugs.

Four: It might be time to turn on the heater. I keep finding Frau Katze burrowed under the covers on the bed taking her naps.

Five: These Smoky Lentil Tacos with Kabocha Squash and Green Tomato Salsa are on the menu for tomorrow and are a perfect way to use up the some of the vegetables from our final CSA delivery.

Six: A couple of weeks ago, Matthew surprised me with starting a brew of kombucha! I hadn't used my SCOBY in maybe 6 or 7 months and it has been a bit slow going to turn this tea into kombucha. The new daughter looks beautiful, though, so I'm sure with just another week or two the batch will come out well and I can have a regular supply of kombucha.

Seven: With NSF shutting down the Antarctic research season, our instruments at the South Pole and McMurdo might be turned off. Silly government shut down ruining scientific research.

In which I make another dress and a purse!

A couple of weeks ago, the box I mailed from Mom's House of Fabric arrived in New Hampshire. Among the goodies I selected was an autumn coloured striped cotton fabric.

I found this dress on Pintrest a few weeks ago and I was inspired to make a dress with my striped fabric.


Via Pinterest from Ace & Jig.

I was undecided as to what I would use for the pattern, when I decided to go with a pattern that I knew fit and was sitting right next to me - the Washi Dress. I have made it twice before and loved the outcome.


Washi Tunic and Washi Dress

The two previous makes had been made with thrifted tablecloths and curtains, respectively, both of which are pretty heavy material. This time around, I used quilting cotton fabric. Next time I wear the dress, I'll wear it with a slip because the fabric clings to my leggings and rides up my legs in a funny way when I walk.



The fabric is a bit stiff, which I hope goes away with some washing. I lined the bodice using the videos posted here. The videos show a very very clever way to finish off the arm hole sleeves with the lining.

Because the pattern consists of three main pieces, I was able to match up my stripes reasonable well. The shoulder seams have a neat chevron effect from where the stripes match up.



I received several compliments on my outfit today and it is always fun to tell people that I made my dress.

Another thing I made this past week is a purse! One of my old roommates from Austin recently started a sewing blog and is hosting monthly sew-a-longs. This month, she chose the free Buttercup Purse Pattern.



For the fabric, I used an old pair of Matthew's shorts and some flower-y fabric from my newly acquired Mama stash. I was going to put a button closure on it, but decided to leave the top open. I did add a pocket on one side of the lining. It is the perfect size for me. It can hold my wallet, phone, keys and that is about it. I love it.

Quick takes!

1. Sunday marks five years of Matthew and I being together! He picked me up from the airport after a two week graduate school tour and we have rarely been separated since that moment. It has been nothing short of amazing.

2. This picture was taken when I was in the Wisconsin part of my grad school tour and hanging out with the Milos.


Photo by Cousin Lisa.

My hair was so long and red!

3. We decided to make tasty dinner tonight to celebrate our 60/12 year milestone.



We made Thai Tofu Cakes, Grilled Maple Rum Glazed Panzanella Salad, and chocolate chip cookies.

4. I made a new dress last night. Every time I told someone that today, they were very surprised. It is another Washi, but made into dress form unlike last time. I used a pair of blue curtains I purchased from Savers. I love the weight of the fabric and this dress is amazingly comfortable.



I thought it would look good with the belt around the waist, but I think it is much better without anything holding the dress back. It needs room to breathe! This time, I cut a small again and shifted the dart straight down by 1.5 cm. The dart now hits at the exact right spot. I also extended the length of the bodice by about 1.5 cm, so it now ends at the bottom of my ribcage instead of just under my breasts. It has pockets!

The necklace I am wearing is one of the necklaces I received from my Grandma Trudy and it goes perfectly with the blue of the dress.

5. The cat wanted to go outside tonight and I decided to take pictures of her while she was checking everything out. She didn't want to stay put for the entire duration of the exposure.



6. The cat was very lounge-y the other night. She is adorable.



7. My next sewing adventure is the Elisalex Dress. I found some shiny muted mint green curtains at Savers that I think would be perfect for it. I am planning on the long sleeved version, but I might make it 3/4 sleeves if the long sleeves seem too overwhelming for the dress. I am also planning on making the skirt several inches shorter. I am going to attempt a full bust adjustment for the first time!