Jammy Prints

{not in virginia anymore, bella}

Hiya! It’s me. Miss me? I’m slowly getting my life back now that I’m mildly settled … slowly. And I didn’t realize it at first, but baking and cooking up a storm has made my New York apartment finally feel like home. “You’re going to make me fat!” is something I hear daily from Sabrina, my adorable (not-fat-at-all) roommate. And deciding to whip up half a batch of this go-to cookie of mine isn’t helping her cause ….

before.

after.

interested? Then go here & bake like Ina.

So glad we took this minute to catch up! I missed you. xo, alainna

Ahoy!

Hi, friends! Sorry I’ve been MIA lately. Since I last wrote, I packed up my life into 2 suitcases, bought a one-way ticket to New York, and have been staying on the mattress of a sleeper sofa, my makeshift bed on the floor of my friend’s Brooklyn apartment, for almost 2 weeks now. Not having my sewing machine on hand has been beyond frustrating; but to be honest, I’ve not even the time to sew the tiniest sachet. Things here are bonkers. But hopefully all will go well with the new apartment (my friend and I put down a deposit on a Greenwich Village sardine can), and my parents will drive my machine up from Virginia next weekend. I will have negative square feet available to sew … but if will really equals way, I’ll be up and sewing and blogging in no time.

Since I have nothing to share (besides an observation that everyone in Brooklyn has skinny legs), see this freshly-pressed, NY-related truth + photo.

etsy sale

{SALE at thebaglaidy.etsy.com}

So they’re older and I don’t want to lug them with me to New York on Monday. But maybe you want one for $15 off? All bags in my Etsy shop are now $15 off through Friday. The new price is the currently listed price.

I’ll make (bigger & better?) bags again once I find my own place and have room for a sewing machine. Until then, I’ll have to find something else to blog about. Maybe I’ll temporarily change the name of my blog to “Adventures in Ivy’s Apartment” … or “Homeless, Penniless, & Without a Sewing Machine” … or “NY Has Beautiful Fabrics but I Can’t Touch Them Until I Find an Apartment and Bring my Sewing Macine” … or something like that.

eating. praying? loving.

{eat: check!}

This is a public service announcement: If you plan to watch Eat, Pray, Love, be prepared to be filled with the hungriest desire to eat and pray and love. Before I even got home from the theater, I picked up yummy salade nicoise fixins and a 6 of Hoegaarden to fill my belly with happiness. Yum. I could eat olives and blanched asparagus all day long. NB: Julia (“Liz”) doesn’t eat or drink these in the movie … but inspiration isn’t an exact science. After eating and lovingly feeding mi familia, I found myself sewing on instinct, and I ended up with this:

{love: check}

… and now I am loving. I realize that I may have the only heart on Earth capable of loving this tote, and that is so fine by me. The combination of these contrasting prints and textures just feeds my soul. But then there’s Mom’s idea of the thing: “Well … at least you and Kristin probably like it … and hippies, too.” Now I just need to work on the “pray” part.

Bing Cherry & Walnut Scones

{good morning & happy sunday to you!}

Before I embark on the culinary adventure du jour (Eat, Pray, Love at the theater), I had to fit in a morning batch of scones. Scones have been everywhere lately: my friend Maggie recently introduced me to Chocollage’s melt-in-your-mouth nibble (after which I’ve been lusting ever since), coffee shops everywhere from here to New York dried my mouth out with ancient scones on Tuesday, and The Painted Lady fed me a plain (cream?) scone that paired almost too well with their gooey lemon curd yesterday. So I decided to whip up a batch of my own little breads this morning:

They only take 15 minutes to bake and are so much better fresh out of the oven than even Chocollage’s scones (yeah, I said it). See this blog post at Savory Sweet Life for the recipe I followed. My only alteration: I added about 1/2 cup each of chopped walnuts and halved bing cherries. I give them an A+ for their lightness, moistness, and yumminess. And I plan to sneak a few into the theater … Happy Sunday!

Amiss, Awry, Askew, Astray … an A

{A is for amiss, awry, and askew .. astray and ALB, too}

The appliqué stitching was supposed to look unintentionally, though intentionally, amiss. The monogram was supposed to look unintentionally, though intentionally, askew. And the decorative stitching was supposed to look unintentionally, though intentionally, artistic. But the combination … well, it’s all awry! The overall feel was supposed to be much, much more sophisticated/chic/boho equestrian.  Too bad my aim was all astray. Can you tell I’m contemplating words that begin with the letter “A”? It’s the champagne I had at afternoon tea at The Painted Lady with Mum. Yikes.

So this is me admitting I’ve failed at something. Perhaps my next attempt at the unintentional, though intentional, Anthropologie-esque look will yield better results. Until then, I’m off to enjoy more bubbly of some sort. Stay tuned.

slip into these puppies

{all mine mine mine}

Dear Reader,

If you are my friend and expect a Christmas gift from me this year, be prepared to share with me your shoe size because you will be getting monogrammed slippers!

Love,
me

Okay, that is probably a lie, but I am already obsessed with these little beauties and think that everyone should have a pair with their own initials! I got the idea from Martha Stewart’s Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts, but you can read the same page here on marthastewart.com. Instead of hand embroidery, I used my brand new embroidery machine (love) for the monogram. And FYI: I got these Dearfoams slippers for $6 at TJMaxx … but would happily pay $30 minimum for these personalized babies at a boutique. Jealous?

Earring Frame

{for tori's george washington dorm room}

If you’re too short on space for a proper jewelry box, you may consider replicating this little earring holder that Clare and I made for Tori’s dorm room.  You just need a frame capable of holding staples (wood, etc.), some mesh, and a staple gun.

1. Remove everything from the frame except hanging hardware.
2. Cut a piece of mesh a little larger than the frame. *we used aluminum mesh
3. Lay the frame face-side down.
4. Pull the mesh taut over the frame & staple it along the inside ledge:

Depending on the mesh you use, and I’m not even sure the proper term for this stuff is “mesh”, you may or may not need to cover the edges of it. Since we used aluminum mesh, we covered the edges with duct tape to keep Tori from pricking her fingers.

When you finally have your frame done, you can mount it on a nail like this, using the hardware already on the back of a hanging frame …

… or, if you’re moving to a dorm like Tori, you can add some wire to the back of the frame & hang the frame on a couple wall-friendly, removable 3M hooks. To really maximize wall space, add a few tiny hooks along the bottom of the frame so that you can hang your necklaces, too!

[And thanks to Clare for letting me in on this project.
It was fun. I hope you love it, Tori.]

Happy crafting! xx

{for: Ann. love, yo’ momma}

{just for ann}

Dear Ann,

You have such a great mom; I just love her. When she ordered this yoga mat bag for you, the first thing she said was, “I want to get one for Ann … just because she is a great daughter.” I think that’s super sweet, and I hope you love your custom bag!

It wasn’t easy to match the green Kaffe Fassett fabric you like; but I think this blue coral fabric works well, and I’ve heard you like coral (apparently we have quite a bit in common! haha). But if you don’t love it, make sure you let us know … great daughters should never settle for so-so accessories.

Cheers,
Alainna

Catching Up

{right outside my window}

Say whaaat? You’d prefer a rainbow or the moon outside your window? Well, sighting these little mushrooms made my day yesterday, so I thought I’d share. They inspired me to think of fall … and black leggings with a crisp, white oxford and brown riding boots. So I snapped a photo of the little beauties, mixed up a skim white russian, & got to work on this large tote for fall:

I’ll be putting it on Etsy this afternoon, but I secretly hope no one buys it … because I’d love to keep it for myself. This is a larger version of the Cruisin’ Tote, style name TBD. I love my Cruisin’ Tote’s compactness, perfect for a quick beach cruise to 7-11 for más cervezas, but wanted to make a larger version of it for fall. Come November, I’ll need the extra room to tote a quilt and thermos of coffee to the beach, and this bag should be perfect for all that and a bag of Milanos.

Since summer’s still upon us, I also made a Cruisin’ Tote with this Kaffe Fassett home dec fabric I lurve:

Yum. Off to sew up a custom yoga mat bag … see you again soon!