The Plaid Shirt

So here is the finished shirt! All ready for fall. I rolled the sleeves, but I didn't make that permanent because I wanted to be able to scrunch them up if I wanted to. While that's a nice, trendy idea, I don't think I ever will, because it's such a bother. But it's a possibility. I put three gathers down each side on the front to make it more fitted. Since it's plaid it just looks neat anyways. I also removed the pocket flaps and buttons. It was very easy, and now it doesn't look like a sack anymore! It would also look cute belted. I couldn't think of anything else to do to it, so I stopped there.

Of course I'm scrunched over in most of these pictures, I realised, so it's hard to tell the difference.

There is an interesting story here. . .my sisters and I went out in the woods to do this, and my nine-year-old sister Grace took the pictures. Now, there's a little girl who may give me a run for my money! I was very surprised, she seemed to know exactly what she was doing, like she'd done clothing shoots a million times before. ;-) She was like:

"Okay, turn a little bit--lift your head up more--and move your arm, move it a little to the right--okay, hold that. *flash* Okay, now I'm going to take a vertical one. Very good! Okay, now we'll do one next to the tree. . ."

I told her I felt like Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face!

After a while she just started taking random pictures, all of which turned out great. She centered them, adjusted the zoom, etc. I take about five pictures before I get one I'm happy with, but she's very conscious of all the picture-taking steps. For instance, we were actually "done" picture-taking when I started finding mushrooms. . .I dug the one in the picture above out of the leaves, and she snapped that one.

The pleats. . .

The Great Pumpkin Saga

So, since I can't hit a Starbucks every day, I've really, really been wanting to get some canned pumpkin so that I can make those pumpkin lattes at home! However, when we went to the grocery store, they were actually sold out of canned pumpkin. At a Wal-Mart supermarket. Apparently they were also sold out of pumpkin at my Nana's grocery store in Florida, and she says it's just been a bad year for pumpkin, causing a shortage of some sort. (Which bodes ill for Thanksgiving). Whatever the cause, I was forced to take pioneer methods and make my own. Seeing as we have two pumpkins from our garden, I chose the smaller one and decided to make my own pumpkin puree. You cut up the pumpkin into halves or quarters, put it in a pan, cover it with tinfoil (this takes a lot of dexterity and meditation--believe me, it's not that easy!) and then bake it at 350 until it's soft and the edges are browned and wrinkled--just like baking a squash, if you've ever done that. Then you manage to scrape it out (don't believe Internet stories that you can just peel the skin off) and puree it in the blender. My online sources assured me that after having fresh pumpkin puree I would never want to go back to store bought, but I'm not quite that enthusiastic. It took forever for the pumpkin to cook! I finally bumped it up to 375.

I found this inside the pumpkin, growing in the rows of seeds. Apparently one sprouted. . .and started growing. . .and turned green. . .all inside the pumpkin. Which seems impossible to me, but whatever. You can see the trailing white tail it has, that was almost rooted in the pumpkin guts, I pulled it out and could feel it separate from the pumpkin. Too weird for words, I know. Although perhaps professional pumpkin puree-ers see that sort of thing all the time.

I thought it was interesting how the pumpkin was whiter and softer at the top, and then got yellow and firm--an entirely different consistency altogether. Very pretty.

Also, I decided to be very thrifty and roast the seeds. You can see I got quite a lot from one small pumpkin.

And they're an excellent excuse to take yet another close-up of something.

Ah, yes--the puree. I'm going to freeze it instead of canning it, which seems way over the top and entirely unnecessary to me, when I have a much simpler method of preservation. Until the power goes out, of course. Aha! Now for the most important part. . .the only thing that got me to even look twice at that pumpkin in the first place.

Here is the pumpkin latte mixture in the pot:

And the lovely end result! Two delicious pumpkin lattes. Although I will admit, I decided it needed more pumpkin than the recipe called and it was a little chunky. And I got distracted trying to explain the concept of a matching mug to an anonymous family member and the mixture boiled, which may have made the coffee taste a little strong. But otherwise, completely delicious!

The Old Plaid Shirt

So this is my trusty old plaid shirt. I've had it ever since I was ten. I believe my aunt gave it to me--it was hers before that, so I don't know how old it is. The arms are a bit short, and as you can see, it is truly horrible in its sloppiness. (Okay, so pairing it with an orange shirt and plaid skirt did nothing to make it more attractive, but you get the idea). It makes me look like I've raided the closet of a lumberjack, and I don't think I've worn it in public since I was eleven or twelve.

But I love this shirt! It's so soft and comfy. I always wear it as a jacket around the house, and a few times when I've been really desperate in winter (our house is big and old, and subsequently gets really cold, we don't have central heat) I've worn it as one layer out of many. All last winter I always put it on over my pajamas when I woke up in the morning for added heat after leaving my warm bed.

But it's always been a great regret that it's too sloppy to wear in public! However, upon receiving the newest Anthropologie magazine, I was a bit inspired. The setting was very artistic and interesting, telling a story, which I liked a lot, and the setting they used--autumn woods and weekend cabin, as well as some small-town/general store settings--seemed very North Carolinian to me. And of course, since it's their fall mag, there was a lot of inspiring plaid clothing!

As you can see in the above picture, the shirt has pocket flaps and buttons. I didn't put it on all the way because I had already started altering one side before I thought to take before pictures. ;-) You can sort of see the pleats on the side that I'm holding out.

Here are some good befores--I hadn't done anything to it at this point. The cloth is good, even after many years of wear. It's 100% cotton, and Faded Glory, which I'm pretty sure is a Wal-Mart brand.As you can see, the torso is very roomy, the arms strangely short, the pocket flaps persistently wrinkled and the whole thing just rather frumpy, lifeless, and limp. I believe a good shirt should look attractive all by itself on the hanger--if it doesn't, it probably won't look much better on the wearer.

So with that philosophy in mind, I decided to renovate my old shirt and make it wearable for this fall.

So, these are the befores. . .afters to follow. . .

Pumpkin Spice Latte

And here's a recipe from my mom that I haven't actually tried yet, but intend to do in the very near future. It looks impossibly delicious.

Pumpkin Spice Latte
makes enough for two generous servings
2 cups milk
2 Tbsp canned pumpkin
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp vanilla (yes, the recipe says tablespoons!)
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (OR 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp cloves, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, and pinch of ginger)
1/2 cup brewed espresso (OR 3/4 cup strong brewed coffee)
whipped cream for garnish, if desired

Combine all ingredients and cook over low heat until flavors are combined. Pour into large coffee mugs, garnish with whipped cream (optional), and serve with ginger snaps. Think FALL!

"The discovery of coffee has enlarged the realm of illusion and given more promise to hope."
~ Isidore Bourdon

Feels Like Fall

It's starting to feel a little bit like fall, which calls for an autumn-y picture.

Doesn't this just feel so fiery and exuberant? I find it very uplifting, since I'm not particularly looking forward to the cold, miserable weather that follows the beautiful autumn. . .