february things

Fun fact: almost all of January I had a post sitting here, just waiting to be posted, but then I went through a little moment of questioning the narcissism of posting things about my life online and then a moment of I'm-really-busy and now I'm just tired and bored of reading fifty page documents about classroom management, while waiting or class to start. I know February's only been for like two days, but here we are, and the month is short, so, yeah... Sleepy brain doesn't write too well.

Recently I've:

...cast on for a pair of mittens to replace the ones that let in more wind than they keep out.

...cut out a Plantain from the leftovers from this dress. First PDF pattern, folks. I'm branching out into the 21st century.

...cut myself some DIY bangs. That's very recent, 'cos I did that this morning with my new fabric shears in front of my bathroom mirror. I've done it before (several times in fact), but I found this tutorial super helpful for stepping up my bang-cutting game this time.

...rediscovered makeup blogs and vlogs and tutorials. Feels very vain to say that. Oh my gosh so much narcissism in one little post!

...read The Financial Diet cover to cover (end to end? first post to last post? I'm gonna stick with the bookworm description) like a dork, because the advice A. feels fairly relevant to my status as a broke college student living on a very fixed income, B. makes me feel like a grown up. Even if I still can't purchase wine.

...made some delicious muffins loosely based off this recipe, but very, very changed. I might actually put the recipe here because they were so good and I want to make sure I get the recipe down.

...made a social studies journal, invented several math games, and played with water-based markers as alternative watercolors and with actual watercolors as watercolors. Oh, education classes I love you so.

...consumed a lot of tea and a lot of coffee and a lot of chocolate. None of this is probably that great for my health, because it's being done to counteract being on campus for weird hours and sleeping like a baby (not like the proverbial baby who sleeps peacefully for a perfect, refreshing eight hours, but like a real baby who wakes up every two hours starving and then can't fall back to sleep and therefore looks at recipes on Pinterest.)

...found out just how much fun a pair of "teacher shoes" (the kind with heels that make the click-clack sounds as you walk down the hallway) can be. Guys. It's like an instant power/confidence boost, as long as you stay within the limits of what you can walk in.

(Forgive me for the really bad collage at the top. I was trying to illustrate this! This is the source for the makeup photo.)

november things

Getting ready to see this out my window again!

It feels crazy to me that it's already November. But here we are, facing our first snow, talking about Thanksgiving, getting ready for the fall recital, counting the weeks down to finals and home. November is shaping up to be a busy month for me, but it's all good busy. The retreat I've been prepping for all semester, rehearsals, it's all coming together now!

• I am a firm believer in the importance of tea. Perhaps twice a day. Or more. As I told a friend recently, I basically live on the stuff. So tea lattes naturally happen, and that Emileigh's new recipe looks super yummy. 
• I've been pinning late 20th century stuff like crazy for my costume design class. And I have to take back what I've said about the 80s. There's some stuff that's not abysmal.
• But really, Charles James is where it's at. Forever. Oh my gosh, every dress is so beautifully designed!
• My newest favorite food blog: Half-Baked Harvest. Can I afford nice cheese and maple syrup? No. Do I want them anyway now? Yes. 
• Dirty Dancing. I want to be Baby, but only in the dancing scenes. Mambo!
• I'm starting to plan something of a Thanksgiving menu for myself, because I'm staying at school. Chipotle pumpkin soup sounds good, or maybe spaghetti squash with garbanzo beans and kale? Maybe I'll make some more pumpkin muffins or finally buy a loaf pan and bake some bread. Regardless, it'll be delicious. 
• So many papers. And now, 'cos I'm getting into the truly preparatory part of my teacher ed program, lesson plans. I can see the end coming and then I'm going to be a real person full time and do this all the time. Kinda crazy and more than a little bit scary!
• I really want to sew and knit everything. I'm optimistically hoping to whip out a Plantain during Thanksgiving. We'll have to see though. 

october things

• Right now, basically everything I eat is made out of pumpkin. Not really joking either. One of my favorites was this homemade pumpkin spice chai latte (with Trader Joe's pumpkin pie spice, because it was super cheap and is also delicious.
• I recently watched Roman Holiday and was reminded just how amazing Audrey Hepburn is again. I may or may not kinda want a handsome, kind stranger to swoop in on a moped and sweep me off my feet too.
• Right now I really badly want to sew a full skirted three quarter sleeved red dress, reminiscent of this one and this one. Basically, I want a better fall/winter dress with sleeves. 
• I also really need a light cardigan to carry my summer dresses into fall. Especially 'cos I feel like I can't just wear my flannel or a floppy sweatshirt everyday because I'm observing in a school/kind of being a real person, which requires looking quasi professional. I hate having holes in my closet.
• New blog discoveries/loves: Top with Cinnamon (it's so beautiful and this loaf cake is now on my "to bake" list), these muffin/cupcakes from Sally, MP by Maude, and Poires au Chocolat.
• I learned how to watercolor for a costume design project last week, and it was surprisingly fun. I may have made some art that I'd actually be okay with hanging on my wall! And by art, I clearly meant costume renderings. No Dégas over here. Just a rough, but acceptable watercolor.
• Speaking of art, I don't have a kiddo and won't have one for a while, but I do get kid's art from working with them. I loved this idea for making them into super artsy prints. (Sidenote: I have a friend in art school who impressed a professor by using kid's art in his art project. 'Cos nothing is artsier than kid's art.)

So that's where I am, halfway through October (halfway through the semester too -- eek!). Here's to a good continuation of fall and to fall breaks everywhere!

fo: bucket-y bucketness

Forgive me for that title. I'm in the midst of midterm projects, actual midterms, sleep deprivation, and what looks like the slight beginnings of a cold. But I'm observing pre-K students who are basically little germ factories, so sick happens.

When you move into an apartment for the first time, it's this giant empty slate. Maybe you have some furniture that you acquired from the previous tenants. You have a couple of tchotchkes or knick-knacks (by the way, I love the word tchotchke and I wish we used it more often), but mostly, you have an empty room.

I wanted a little more storage, so I decided to make a bucket bag based on this tutorial from Victory Patterns. It took me three times longer than it normally would, because I had to hand sew the whole thing, but the result is that I finally have somewhere to stick my bobby pins, headbands, and hair ties. They used to be sprinkled liberally around the room. Not cool.

I used some mystery fabric I got from a friend for free and some leftover heavy interfacing instead of buckram, because I already had the interfacing and I figure they serve essentially the same purpose: make something not stiff act stiffer. The tutorial itself had clear enough instructions, for the most part. I didn't have to look anything up, and the techniques were basic enough, especially when you're making the whole thing using hand stitches you learned when you were five (whipstitch and running stitch for the win). Really, there's not much to say about it, except that it very perfectly fits its niche.

september things

Not quite fall, not summer anymore. Just September. Sidenote, does anyone remember Self-Stitched September? Like Me-Made May, except at a time when I feel more like taking pictures of what I wear (totally honest, once I'm home after finals, all I want to wear for like two weeks is my pajamas). I wanted to do it this year, and then I realized that no one apparently did it anymore.

• Lots of North and South. Early Victorian period drama with complex characters and social justice. Bestill my beating heart.
• Kinda the same note, but I procrastinated studied while watching TV last night and the TV shows coming out this fall was unimpressive. Every single character just felt like a flat trope, and dialogue seemed canned.
• Sketching from original Godey's Lady's Book fashion plates for my costume design and history class. AKA the best. 
• Loving fall -- sweaters and boots weather will always be my favorite! (Specifically, this sweater and a pair of brown lace-up boots; I've been feeling rather rustic and cozy in my style.)
• Figuring out how to grocery shop/cook for one person. And then there's the two days before grocery day when I eat peanut butter, and I pretend that's okay. Um, so basically that's tonight. 

A little bit of inspiration from around the web:

• This recipe for black bean soup. Yay for long lasting shelf stables!
• And this recipe for roasted garbanzos. And then after that, this recipe for cinnamon sugar ones. And 'cos it's all garbanzo beans and protein, you pretend it's all healthy.
• But maybe my questionable food habits will get better, because I really want to cook more like Kate's supper suggestions here. (Sidenote: I love her blog so much. Might be a little excessive.)
• I love winged black eyeliner. It's probably that dance life. So obviously, I loved these tips for making a better cat eye!
• I'm still slowly chipping away at this bag. I always forget how long sewing takes when I'm doing it all by hand. But never fear junk around my room! It will get done. Just...eventually. 
• Also, I'm super excited for pumpkin baking season. Pumpkin spice lattes are okay. But pumpkin bread is where it's at, folks. Just need to go buy some pumpkin!

I hope you're having a great start to fall! Go have some spiced chai or the requisite not pumpkin-pumpkin spice latte or cider or whatever your favorite fall beverage is.

end of summer things

Even though I'm eagerly awaiting autumn and those gorgeous trees, realistically, early August is hardly the end of summer. We still have half of the true season. But with my plane ride back to the land of schoolbooks and independent living rapidly approaching, it feels like the end of summer. Earlier, I talked here about Call the Midwife, chocolate, DIY, and my tendency to read blogs like magazines as my newfound summer obsessions. This is a little bit more of what I've been up to and into recently.

• This summer I've really been loving a clean, minimalist-meets-feminine aesthetic, like Shop Ruche or Lovely Friend. I did a little bit of redecorating around here, and it was largely inspired by reading these truly elegant blogs!
• Digital housecleaning: I've been going through my little online corners to tidy up what's there, especially my Pinterest boards. If it's not an inspiration anymore, why is it there?
• I really want to try my hand at pattern drafting! This guide by Madalynne really seems like it's going to be a big help.
• Watching Doctor Who on Netflix with my little brother - I love Clara!
•  I love the new Under Armor ad with Misty Copeland. She's such a beautiful dancer, she almost makes me cry.
• In the search for good small space/apartment/I-don't-have-a-dresser-anymore DIYs, I found this tutorial on Spoonflower for how to make hanging closet shelves. Maybe I should collect some of my favorite tutorials here?

I hope you're having a fantastic end of summer! Have you found anything inspiring or intriguing recently, either in the real world or in your Internet perusals?

summer things

There are a few things that I really don’t like. I usually try to offset them with things that I like a lot. Example: green beans and chocolate desserts (though not at the same time). Despite having grown up in the land of two seasons, warm and hot, I really hate summer. I hate the heat; I hate the inside temperatures that can reach 90 degrees when the swamp coolers become inefficient and fail to really provide some cooling. I really am trying to appreciate the summertime, because I would hope to enjoy all the seasons, but it’s a struggle.

So I’m accompanying it with things I like:

...daydream sewing: I want to make a Gabriola skirt and Simplicity 1587 (mainly because I have the pattern).

…running through the sprinklers and getting soaking wet

...reading beautiful blogs: right now, I'm slowly wandering through The Clothes Horse. Rebecca has a style that is so, so lovely, and she's inspiring my dream fall style (gotta get to sewing!)

....Call the Midwife in all its late fifties glory

…squares of dark chocolate as a reward for not complaining too much

…wearing pretty sundresses because they make me feel better about the triple digit temperatures

…reading recipe after recipe that requires heat, in fond memory of the time when it wasn’t too hot to cook--like this kale pizza Emma made or these pumpkin cupcakes from Sally. I miss pumpkin.

…cherry popsicles that paint my lips red

...doo wop and musicals and what my brother calls "hipster music"

...playing interior decorator in my head. I love these curtains!

…dreaming about that first snap of fall, when the mornings go from being a brief respite from the heat to being a crisp, cool herald of things to come.

I hope your summer so far has been filled with popsicles and sundresses and swimming and whatever sort of summer loveliness floats your boat. Happy Tuesday!

top three tuesday

As I write this, it's actually last Tuesday (to the future Tuesday people). But honestly, having had Internet for a matter of a two days as I settled back into the world of textbooks (don't get me started) and dorm life and class schedules, I didn't really have the time to write up a blog post.

Here's my top three

...bloggy fountains of inspiration (sidenote: nice mental picture, right?)

Emma's old food blog, Food Coma, which has been my new obsessive read. Recently, I read a lot of A Beautiful Mess, too, which is really just food for all my DIY daydreams, which led me to Emma's blog, which is simply gorgeous and also delicious. I love that all the recipes are A. meatless and B. actually things I might make, as a broke college student. Sure, I love reading about the truffle-and-lobster-and-ridiculous-amounts-of-expensive-cheese concoctions of deliciosity that awesome food bloggers make. But I can't afford to make them. Emma's recipes are just so much more...obtainable. Which makes me happy.

Pati's Mexican Table 'cos I already miss Mexican food. And Pati just makes me happy with her joy of cooking and Mexican accent.

Flashback Summer--Emileigh is an amazingly sweet blogger and a wonderful vintage gal (to quote her) and I love her words of wisdom about living a vintage college life, especially here.

...things I'd like to try to do or make

turning this now shrunken sweater into a dance warm up

making an apron a la Marie's tutorial

Velvet Morning (the yarn should be in the mail soon--yay for yarny Christmas presents!) which I desperately want to call either Winter Night or Velvet Night and then I realize that I'm reeeally off.

...on my reading list (not the one just assigned to me, but the stuff I actually want to read)

The Story of a Soul by St. Thérèse of Lisieux--my current read. Oddly enough, the introduction called the book poorly written from a literary point of view, but I (a former English major) am finding it warm and personable, like sitting down for a cup of tea with her.

Divergent by Veronica Roth--I've been informed that I HAVE to read this, especially before the movie.

Citrus County by John Brandon--I started this one before break and it's too weird not to finish. Seriously. There's a kidnapped toddler and I don't know what exactly to do with it (the book, not the toddler).

So what's inspiring you? What are your creating fingers itching to make? What are you reading (or rather, in a self-serving way, are you reading anything that you think I should be reading)? I'm off to try to make the first grocery list of the year. Have a great week!

top three tuesday: halloween edition

Two days to Halloween! Do you have your costume? Sadly, I don't, but I'm sure I will! Here are some of my favorite Halloweeny things.

...costume idea posts

Marie's little black dress procrastinator costumes. These are so simple, but a great twist on something that almost everyone has in their closet--a little black dress! It actually started giving me an idea for my own costume. Hmmm...

this owl costume from A Beautiful Mess. Oh, for the time to actually make a costume, even one as simple as that...

doing a thrifted Breakfast Club costume like this woman did for New Dress a Day (though I'd totally be Ally Sheedy's character--I want to just run around and act crazy!)

...Halloween foods

Campbell's Harvest Orange Tomato soup with pepper. It's orange and black! (plus, it's a great college student, I-don't-want-to-leave-my-room-'cos-it's-Saturday-but-I-need-foods lunch)

pumpkin bread--specifically, this pumpkin bread from Humblebee and Me, because I love chai and I love chocolate. Mmmm...

any and all candy recipes, but especially the Twix and Butterfinger ones. I'm also hoping to make some Butterfinger cookies next weekend, if I get the candy on sale at the after Halloween candy sales I'm counting on the grocery store having!

...Halloween candy (definitively ranked)

Reese's (hands down, those were the one thing I never traded)

Hershey's bars--the ones with four separatable little pieces, not the miniatures. Receiving miniature Hershey's was a bit of a sad event, except for dark chocolate which was the best. 

Dum Dums. Those things are delicious, especially Mango! 

no honorable mention given to: 

candy corn--the stuff is ucky in my book. 

anything that tried to be healthy--I'm looking at you Halloween pretzels and boxes of raisins. Sure, I love pretzels and raisins. But the point of Halloween is to receive enough sugary goodness to cause a fleet of kids cavities.

all the soft candies that went hard on me because I was only allowed three or four pieces of candy a week and I always went for the chocolate first (the real chocolate, not the Tootsie Rolls). 

What were your favorite Halloween memories? Favorite candies? Favorite costumes? (I dressed up as Jane Eyre one year. I thought it was so clever. Everyone else thought I was a sad Victorian lady.)

top three tuesday

Today, I decided to take a slightly different tact and pin down some of the more abstract things unpinnable things in my life, instead of just gathering up the best of the Internet in the past week (or two, 'cos mid-semester insanity hit during last week).

...ways to challenge myself creatively

('cos we at still a chispita here are all about being creative)

fashion sketches (I've shared a little here, but it's a big part of my attempt to be more creative. I'm trying to teach myself the basics of fashion illustration so that I make my vague ideas something of a concrete reality.)

pick a random object or ingredient in my room and make something with it, whether cooking or sewing or crafting or what have you--tonight it's cream cheese and eggs :)

I use my wall to save pictures, playbills, quotes and drawings that inspire me

surrounding myself with cool things and people who do awesome things, creative or otherwise (my university is great for this--there's so much out there to involve yourself in and so many amazing people who do things  I never even considered, which is all super inspiring)

...favorite comfort foods

beans and tortillas (I used to say I could live off them. I just might do that when I become a real person with a job and student loans to pay off)

microwave chocolate mug cake (it might be kind of a now thing, but I eat this more than I should...)

spaghetti, the way my mommy makes it ('cos there's something special about the way mommies make everything)

...ways to use a three-day weekend

(This was actually my weekend last weekend. As my ballet teacher likes to say, hidden agenda. :)

look at the pretty little muffins posing on a bowl!

muffin-baking (Friday's adventure, with strawberry-oatmeal-dark chocolate muffins)

a little bit of service (Saturday's adventure)

hitting the books (all weekend/Sunday's adventure, 'cos I'm still a full-time college student!) It may not be my favorite use of a day, but it sure beats the mid-week late nights because none of the studies got done on the weekend.

That said, I'm off to go read more French--this time a love-sick couple with strength of character issues (she has all the spine, he has none of it). Have a great week!

top three tuesday

This is super late in the game, but I'm really only doing this because I want to have nothing to do with my French paper*.

...things I wish I could cook, but can't because of ingredients/appliances/supplies

coming from the time-wasting buzzfeed

all those pancakes (except for the red velvet because I'm allergic to red food dye).

buttermilk chocolate chip crumb cupcakes

cookie dough dip with garbanzo beans (darn you lack of food processor!)

It's kind of just not fair that I don't have access to all these ingredients and a gourmet kitchen in my building. I mean, I have a whole pinboard of things I want to make. :(

...things that are sew inspiring (aren't I clever, using the oldest sewing pun ever) in blogland

this pattern book from 1940 posted by Lucky Lucille--it's absolutely beautiful.

Anna's entire blog--I've been procrastinating on my homework taking long well-earned breaks reading it, working my way back to the beginning. I kinda want to be her best friend. In a normal, well-adjusted kind of way.

this gorgeous magazine page about appropriate dance clothes by none other than the lovely Irene Castle (dance nerd smile)

...favorite ravelry finds

Susie Roger's Reading Mitts--I actually have these just barely started because I have extra yarn from my sad, shrunken sweater. 

Aidez--my mommy wants a cabled sweater and this just looks like it might be it. 

Faerie Wings--why don't I have a pattern for knitting fairy wings?

...goings on in chispita world

getting a cold and then not sleeping which really does wonders for the cold

silly, silly French papers

The Mark of Athena, by Rick Riordan--from my recent fantasy-literature-for-kids presentation, I know this book is roughly a fifth to sixth grade reading level; my eleven-year-old sister reads them. But. That didn't stop my college kid self from reading it in 12 hours over the weekend, completely enthralled. I have super mature tastes in books. 

*I actually like the book this time, and I usually like French. Honest. I'm just struggling a little bit this semester. 

top three tuesday..

(I kinda feel like making this a Tuesday thing. A, 'cos I love alliteration. B, 'cos nothing really goes on in my life on Tuesdays, except Mass and Soup and leading a discussion group of freshmen, which is not the same thing as exciting sewing/knitting/foods stuff.)

...pins of the last week

I actually have all the dry ingredients for this granola mixed, sitting in a baggie on my desk.

I'm pretty sure I already considered Mrs. Depew a genius, but this way of sewing darts seems just so...wonderful.

I love journals! I kinda want to cover every single one I own like this.

...recent/upcoming projects (kinda a teaser of the forthcoming)

re-working oven/stovetop foods for the microwave--like this nummy oatmeal recipe, so get excited! :)

reshaping the guy's button-down I got for free at the campus trading store

the granola that's based off the recipe above

...thoughts I've been a-thinking

why is this a required text if we're only reading 70 of the 360 pages?

is it necessary to fold the laundry or can I just pull out of the bag, cleaned? (I will fold it, guys, I'm just thinking it)

how can I put off doing this reading/writing this essay/being productive? (Answer: write a blog post)

(wow, it really sounds like Procrastination Central round here. I am getting some reading done I promise.)

...new fancy projects I wish I was working on

before it got felted by some careless college student :(

another Lepidoptera (probably in a dove grey)

Simplicity 1587 in forest green (either rayon challis, which just sounds fancy, or cotton)...but that pattern is sitting pretty at home :(

the Three-Hour Sweater pattern--it seems so classy

...things I've been listening to

this song from the musical Bonnie and Clyde (yep it's a musical; yep I'm a musical theatre geek; also I want to choreograph to it so badly!)

Regina Spektor, because I'm trying to convince myself it's good study music/I love it more than studying

the cricket in my common room--oh you stupid, confused cricket!

perfect timing: the American Duchess giveaway!

So what happens when you post about a favorite shoe company and their lovely new shoe that you wish you could but can't afford to buy?

Not only do you write convoluted sentences like the one above, that shoe company just might hold a giveaway for that very shoe that reinstated your shoe envy.

American Duchess is hosting a giveaway for her lovely, oh-so-Edwardian Gibson shoes. Which, coming after that shoe envy and a two episodes of Downton day, is the perfect addition to a slightly sick day.

I have to say, the Gibsons look amazing. They may not be Astorias (oh Astorias, someday I will own you!), but they are still amazingly cute. I could easily imagine wearing a black pair with my Titanic prom dress or with a skirt to look all shnazzy for walking to class in...or even jeans for just Those Days when caring is harder to do (I am a college student after all!). I would love to own these shoes--they're just beautiful!

linkety fun stuffs

I fully intended to do a Filmspiration Friday. Fully intended. And then, all of sudden my computer had trouble (over the entire weekend) and the week became a mess of papers and homework assignments and reading and...college. Yeah. Blame it on the school.

Anyway, these are some of the things that have been keeping me reading instead of working on my rhetorical analysis (due--eep! Monday), illustrated with random pictures 'cos I hate big blocks of dry text.

'Cos Valentine's Day was yesterday and it's beautiful
(ignore the messy fridge top...)

This reminded me that as a sewist (seamstress? sewer? person who sews? still don't know where I stand on that debate), I already have all the skills to make something from scratch. I don't need to blindly rely on McCall's or Simplicity, no matter how much confidence I may lack.

These shoes are making me wish I wasn't a broke college student. American Duchess shoes never fail to do that for me though. I wanted a pair of Astorias so badly! I still do, actually. They're my idea of the perfect black heel--not too high, interesting design but not cluttered, classy, and the big one for me, wearable with a lot of different things. But the Gibsons are pretty darn nice too. What can I say? Anything Edwardian/WWI era gets my little chispita heart a-thumping.

I know I haven't talked about my love for dance or Les Mis here yet, but dance is a big part of my life (as in over ten hours a week) and I fell in love with Les Mis when I got to go see it on stage last semester. Especially Éponine, who I've loved since I was a sophomore in high school and I read an abridged version of the brick. This costume combines dance and Hugo's masterpiece...and I had something close to a tumblr fangirl moment (no disrespect to tumblr fangirls! I love tumblr fangirls, I'm just not one.) Curtain Call has a Les Mis themed mini line this year and it's making me wish I was picking out my senior solo costume again.

What Tara did with this dress was amazing. I always love a good refashion, but it's something else entirely when the refashion is with something you yourself sewed. She took a dress that could've lied unworn in a closet or a drawer and instead made it into something absolutely darling!

Gratuitous cute penguin picture from our trip to the zoo.