Oliver + S

+ Me

= gift for Abby's bun in the oven

I finally picked myself up one of these Oliver + S patterns from Liesel Gibson of Disdressed last week. I have been excited to make one of these dresses and finally had the perfect opportunity with Abby's baby shower this past weekend. The sundress pattern was fairly simple, although not without a few complications imposed on by myself, but it came together nicely and hopefully pleased the soon to be mama.

I must admit though, my favorite part about these patterns is the design. Simple, clean, and darling. And I can't not give a shout out to Brooke, who doesn't have a blog, although I beg her every day, for the creativity behind the packaging. The paper doll concept is genius, and I want to collect all the patterns if not just for the dolls. I even got to be a part of the Oliver + S process. I watched Brooke's kids while she worked on the packaging, and she even asked for my opinion on some of the details. It's great to have such talented friends.

I chose an Americana theme for this sundress. I love gingham and denim always compliments it well.

My favorite part of the dress is the buttons. Kelly taught me how to
make fabric covered buttons, and now I'm hooked. Matching buttons on
everything!!

They get me every time

I'm not a cry baby...really, I'm just touched easily. But usually after the second time I watch a movie I tend to forget about the story and start looking at the details e.g., acting, camera shots and angles, visual effects, etc.

There are a few movie scenes however that keep me locked in the moment, every time. I should also note that I have absolutely no problem with watching movies over and over again. Something I picked up early in my childhood, we only had the movies we recorded off the t.v. to choose from.

Here are my top four in order of tears and sobs.

1. Dirty Dancing

It's true. But only for this particular scene. Every time they do that final lift my eyes fill up with tears. I get emotional this way when I am really proud of someone, especially when they have overcome great odds. I mean Baby stood up to her parents, Johnny finally danced the way he wanted to, and both crowds came together to finally have the time of their lives...it's powerful.

2. Revenge of the Sith

Maybe it's my love for Obi Wan, or the hot lava, but this scene, I can't get over. It's just so heart wrenching, so sad. When Obi Wan yells to Anakin "But you were the chosen one", I lose it. 

3. The Fellowship of the Ring

I have several favorite characters in the Lord of the Rings, but Boromir is probably my favorite next to Galadriel. He's so tormented, weak, and real. His temptation to the ring finally lead to his demise, but his death to me is one of the most touching scenes in the entire trilogy. His last words to Aragorn " I would have followed you, my brother my captain, my king" crap, I am tearing up right now. I have watched this scene over and over, and the tears always come, even when I'm running on the treadmill at the gym.

4. Man on the Moon (not the one with Reese Witherspoon)

Maybe I am just really hormonal every time I watch this movie, but I sob during the entire last 20 minutes of it.  Even after its over, I have a hard time recovering. I think its Andy Kaufman overcoming his own odds; sick with cancer and finally performing at Carnegie hall, but combine that with his death and the final funeral scene, I'm pretty much a wreck.

Is it abnormal to be able to watch something over and over and still cry?  If not, I'd love to know if anything gets you the way these four get me.

Colorblocking

I think one of my first purchases from banana republic was a colorblocked sweater. I remember walking by the store and my eye immediately being drawn to two thick striped sweaters in different shades hanging faced out. I saved for one, wore it proudly longer than I should have, and since have had a love for anything with a stripe wider than three inches.

For this dress, I was mainly inspired by a dress I bought this winter at a Bird clearance sale. Clu makes really great colorblock dresses from different knits, I only wish I could make my own versions, so I mainly look at them for inspiration, or when they are 75% off.

For the bodice, I used very easy vogue pattern # 7871. The same pattern from the floral dress in this post. I changed it slightly, making the neck a little less boatnecky, and a little bigger (the floral one doesn't fit as well as it used to). The waist and skirt were trial and error. After a couple of attempts, I ended up using the simple skirt pattern in the sew u book giving it an extra inch and a half for gathers and a slightly less a-line shape. A patterning class would sure be helpful when I take on projects like these.

My favorite parts about this dress are actually the pockets and zipper. I love the trend of the exposed zipper and have wanted to try using one for awhile now. Lucky for me, they are much easier to put in than a lapped or invisible zipper, I usually avoid putting any form of them in if I can. And pockets, who doesn't love 'em?

And in other sewing news, I am thinking of opening up an etsy shop soon. No dresses yet, my 2009 goal, but most likely baby and toddler ties, and little dresses. You knew there must be a reason I post all of my makings, I'm trying to hook you in.

He's my boy!

He's 26 months today, and I can't believe my baby is so big. I can still get away with calling him that, after all he's my only one, and he's still in diapers. But I've been a slacker. He has changed, and the progression isn't documented anywhere. I need to be better about it...so here's my starting point.

For starters, he's a total ham. If I ask him to smile, he flashes his teethy grin and yells "cheese".

He still loves to cuddle with anything silk. However he's taken it to a new level, he wears my only slip around his neck. In fact, he is wearing it now.

He has an undying love for the Backyardigans. He asks to watch it at least 25 times a day, only three of which I usually say yes to. He goes to bed with his Pablo and Tyrone figurines and only wants to read his Backyardigan books before nap and bedtime. I understand though, it's a pretty cool show.

He is obsessed with shutting doors. He shuts every door he passes through. It is especially helpful when he gets out of bed 5x's a night. We can always catch him in the act...he hasn't caught on yet.

He's getting pretty good at signing, not so good at talking. He has three responses to my questions: a head nod for  yes, an always loud and dramatic NO, and most often the "I dunno".

His favorite foods are dino nuggets, vegetable soup, pb & honey, and candy. Fortunately he considers fruit leathers candy so I can suffice him half the time with a natural sugar.

He loves birds. He screams "Mommy, Mommy, a bird a bird", over and over again with increasing volume each time he sees a bird outside our window.

I'm afraid I've started something bad, but he loves tattoos and pirates. His favorite word is "arrrgh", and if he's got a tatoo on, chances are you've seen it at least a dozen times within the first 10 minutes of being around him.

He doesn't know how to speak "thank you" but he does sign it, and it is usually accompanied with the smack of his lips and a blown kiss.

He's got rhythm. Besides great dance moves, which he's not afraid to show off, he can also beat a bongo drum like nobody's business. He's always on beat, pauses between phrases, and goes crazy during every chorus.

He is the happiest kid ever when he is doing what he wants. The second he realizes he isn't, look out, he throws a pretty mean tantrum.

But he does shell out kisses and "I love you's" without even being asked.

Picture Time

Chris Lindsay, a notable photographer and super close friend, asked us if he could take our family picture before we left NY. We haven't had an even semi-professional picture taken of us, so saying yes wasn't difficult.  He came equipped with a studio; including lights, meters, an assistant, and lots of other stuff I didn't know photographers used. The session went all night, disbursed between eating thai food middle eastern food, laughing, talking old times, and taking a few pictures. It was memorable.

We just got the prints in the mail last week. So nice they are frame ready, now we can actually hang them up instead of intending to print them out, which wouldn't have happened for at least another year. They look much better in person than on screen, but its so great to have them, and we couldn't be happier.