Twelvemonth

In an act of boredom (and perhaps vanity), I rounded up some of my favorite outfit photos from the past year. March was a slow blogging month for me, so that is why there isn't any sartorial documentation. I can't really say that I have a definite favorite from this twelvemonth, but dressing in July was awfully fun! And in May, October, November... ah! Oh, and sorry for the disparity in photo sizing. This was the year I switched back and forth between Picasa, Flickr and Photobucket for image hosting. I tried my best to keep it uniform for this post.

January & February

April & May

June

July

July

July

August

September

October

October

October

November

November

November

December

{2009 review}

Red Velvet Sunset

I hope you all enjoyed a very merry and delightful Christmas. My warmest and happiest sentiments are extended to you! How did you celebrate?

Before dinner on Friday I attended a candlelight Christmas Eve service with one of my dearest friends and her husband. I hadn't seen them in a while, so it was a real treat on top of it being Christmas! Toward the end of the service we both ended up spilling wax on ourselves. Oops! We were probably worse than half the children there! She let out a little yelp and then I had a hard time keeping my composure while we sang ''Silent Night" (which is a shame because it's one of my favorite carols to sing).

Christmas day was spent in the company of family. My sister and I exchanged gifts with our mother and grandmother in the morning, complete with leftover quiche for breakfast. Mm mmm. Then we trekked over to our dad's to have Christmas dinner with him and one of our (many) uncles. Our brother joined us in the evening after work which solidified it as a very lovely day.

This was my outfit for the day's festivities. I was excited to wear the dress since the day I bought it, but it needed some serious attention first. It was frightfully long and a friend of mine kindly hemmed it for free. I was all ready to pay her for her efforts, but she resisted and we enjoyed a nice visit while she pinned, snipped, and sewed.

Big Christmas grin!

With the few remaining minutes of daylight, my sister and I ran outside to take these photos. The warmth of the wood stove was greatly missed, but we endured. We both think the above photo funny, so that's worth the time spent out in the cold, right?

The lace collar and the buttoned sleeves are my favorite bits about this dress! I'm trying to scheme up other ways to wear it this winter that are less Christmas-y. I can't banish it to the closet just yet... Speaking of banishing things to the closet, here are my favorite heels that only see the outside world once or twice a year. I need to work on that, too.

Laura Ashley dress: thrifted, Tights: Target, Shoes: Nina, Ring: Papyrus

O Tannenbaum

This will most likely be my last post until after Christmas. Since I'm pretty excited for that day to arrive I thought I'd share one of my very favorite things about Christmastime: Christmas trees! I suppose like a bird I'm attracted to glint-y, shiny things. Haha.

There are many things I love about Christmas. The most important being the true reason behind the celebration, but for today I'll stick to ornaments and tree boughs.

My siblings were pretty busy this year, so mostly all of the tree decorating was left to me. No problem there! At home we have this funny looking tree that our Dad chopped down. My sister will laugh as she reads this and attest that he always finds ''the little tree that could.'' They're not always picture perfect, but you can't help but love them! Hehe. I couldn't get a decent picture of it or the charming little rustic ornaments we have (a birch wood moose, a tiny canoe, metal fish and mini antlers), but trust me when I say it looks good!

What is it that makes Christmas trees so magical? All the excitement, anticipation and merriment we associate with them, of course! I love sitting back and admiring them after they go up and get adorned. The soft glow of the lights and tiny shimmers from reflective ornaments still make me as giddy as when I was a child. I love the sight of a Christmas tree at nighttime illuminated through a window almost as much as I love being snug on the couch with the tree twinkling before me!

The photos in this post are of the tree at my grandmother's house. My mother was all excited about tinsel this year, so for the first time in who knows how long we tinsel-ed our little hearts out! My only issue with artificial trees is that they don't have that smile-inducing evergreen smell, but other than that I don't really mind them. They still get the job done, right?

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

Your branches green delight us.
They are green when summer days are bright;
They are green when winter snow is white.
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree,
Your branches green delight us!

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,

Much pleasure dost thou bring me!
For ev’ry year the Christmas tree,
Brings to us all both joy and glee.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Much pleasure dost thou bring me!

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,

Thy candles shine out brightly!
Each bough doth hold its tiny light,
That makes each toy to sparkle bright.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy candles shine out brightly!

See that sweet angel atop a bell in the last photo? My grandmother has had that in her possession since her childhood in the 1930s.

Do you have any favorite Christmas tree ornaments? Favorite Christmas stories? Feel free to share!

Merry Christmas!
♥ Luke 2:9-14 ♥

Hello Winter

Hello everyone. Happy first day of Winter! I did a guest post today on Anna's blog, Much Love, featuring some winter film photos. Stop over and have a look! Oh, and stay warm :)

Pinhole camera experiment

Awhile back I found a pinhole camera kit in the toy section at TJ Maxx. It was less than $5, so without hesitation I bought it. Oddly enough, my initial excitement over finding such a contraption was not enough to keep me from setting it aside and forgetting about it for a month or two. Whoops. This morning I decided to assemble it:

The camera pieces + a needle and roll of film

The camera body all snapped together and the assembled ''lens''

A glimpse through the pinhole before I snapped the lens cover into place

Spring-loaded shutter shaft
(excuse the change in lighting and those pesky flecks of dust!)

Voilà!

Loading the film into this pinhole camera is very similar to loading a conventional camera. In theory it should be fairly simple, but I struggled a bit getting the film to stay wound around the winding knob axle. In the end I got it (I think) and speedily worked my way through a trial roll of film. My plan is to drop the film off for one-hour processing tomorrow. Depending on how that goes, maybe I'll share some results of this pinhole camera experiment in a few days.

Have you ever used a pinhole camera before?

Snow and squirrels

The snow has finally started to pile up on our doorstep. The outside world is coated in white and boasts a brisk wind. I've been snow-gazing from the warm interior, sitting by the wood stove and drinking tea. Here's an activity appropriate Polyvore to share:

Tea Time by TranquilEmily featuring ankle booties

Yes, friends, that is a squirrel cardigan and that is an acorn-print dress! You don't know how much they begin to excite me. Okay, well maybe my sister does (Hi Sister!) and Erin does (Hi Erin!). Ooh ooh, and wearing them together? It's perfection! If I had an extra $708 lying around that entire outfit would be mine. But, alas. A girl can dream!

Tell me, what are you doing to stay warm in the wintry weather? Or if you're in the Southern Hemisphere, what are you doing for fun out in the sun?

Back at the homestead

I mulled over the idea of buying orange-y rust colored tights for about a year or so. My hesitancy stemmed from the worry they'd be too loud or crazy. Yes, this is coming from the girl with bright kelly green and colorful floral tights. I am a strange fickle thing. This is probably why I still haven't shown the world my Capri-blue tights. Someday, someday. Haha, anyway. Earlier this week I came across this fine little pair and decided they had to come home with me. The color is so wonderfully rich and terrifically autumn-esque. I want to wear them with everything! How silly I was for not getting rust colored tights when the thought first entered my head.

Blouse: Metropolis Vintage in Albany, NY/ Skirt and tights: Forever 21
Belt: vintage/ Shoes: Aldo

Here's a thumbs-up for Sufjan Stevens and his latest release! I can't stop listening to it. It's pure Sufjan genius. I don't fully understand why some think it was a difficult listen the first time around. Sure, it isn't exactly the folksy banjo-driven stuff Sufjan fans know and love, but it isn't any less brilliant. I like this direction he's taken- synthesizer, filtered vocals and all. My favorite track by far is the last one, "Impossible Soul." All 25 minutes of it.

What have you been listening to lately?