black cats

It's the time of year to start pulling winter coats out of the back of the closet!  This bad boy is my absolute favorite winter coat.  It's a few years old and I've been trying to find another coat that I like as much so I don't wear this one 24/7 like I did last year.  Not that I don't love wearing this coat 24/7, but I would like something to rotate it with to keep the wear and tear down, since it's already been through two winters.  Last year I found a coat in the kids section of Target that I really liked and wore quite frequently, but it ended up kind of falling apart by the end of the season, and it wasn't very fitted to an hourglass frame.  All of this makes sense since kids grow out of clothes in a season, so their clothes are probably not made to last like adult clothing, and well, obviously kids don't have hourglass figures that need fitting to.  So this year I think I'm going to invest in a higher quality coat that is well made and classic, like this red plaid one.
Dan & I have both been thinking more about investment pieces lately.  We're both pretty frugal, so we tend to get cheaper things, but sometimes that means getting a lower quality product, which in turn means buying replacements when cheaper things break or wear out.  We'd like to transition to getting higher quality things that might have a higher price, but are going to last longer.  Now that I've got a pretty good base in my closet, I'm starting to want more statement pieces, or special pieces.  I still like those things to be remixable, but it's nice to have a few fun, special pieces in my wardrobe.  In the last year, those special pieces have been Dear Creatures dresses.  I got this dress last fall, and when I saw their fall '12 collection, I knew that I had to snag something from that collection as well!
dress/dear creatures courtesy of modcloth :: tights + shoes/courtesy of modcloth  jacket/tulle via lulu e. bebe :: bag/courtesy of handbag heaven :: photos by Dan
I'm not a big fan of cats... okay well I'm not a fan of cats at all (but really, they aren't a fan of me, so I say they started it), but this dress with the black cat print was too cute.  While I don't like the animal, I did spend countless hours practicing and performing the musical "CATS" in our basement, and this dress totally reminds me of singing "Jellical Cats"!  I can totally still sing all the lyrics to probably every song from CATS.  And if I was ever given the opportunity to actually sing and dance in a real production of CATS, you can bet your ass I'd take it in a heartbeat.  #nerdalert But anyway, lets forget that totally dorky revelation and get back to this dress.  I love the pretty details that Dear Creatures put into their garments, and the little pleated touches along the collar and sleeves is one of those great little details.  I can pretty much guarantee that I'll want something from every collection Dear Creatures puts out (if not everything).  I love that I've found a designer that I feel like makes clothes for me.  And their prices aren't so expensive that it would be ridiculous to buy something from them, they're just spendy enough that a DC dress feels like a little treat.  I'm already looking forward to their next collection!

minuet crochet giveaway

Last night my mom flew into Portland to visit my brother, so I decided to drive down and see them.  It was a super quick trip (and if I'd planned better I would've gone down earlier to hang out with blog friends!), but it's been a while since I've seen them, especially my brother, so it was fun.  Thankfully Seattle is the closest place in the lower 48 that you can fly to from Anchorage, so it's not a hassle for my parents to come visit.  That's actually one of the reasons I kind of wanted to live in the Seattle area.  Even if I can't live in the same town as my family, it's at least nice to live only one flight away.
dress/forever 21 :: jacket/courtesy of lulu's :: scarf/h&m tights/target :: boots/courtesy of modcloth  cup cozy + boot cuffs/courtesy of minuet crochet :: photos by Dan And now on to the giveaway!  Today I've partnered up with my sponsor Minuet Crochet to give away a set of her crocheted goodies!  In this post I'm wearing two items from the set, the cup cozy and the boot cuffs.  But this giveaway is for the full set: a cup cozy, an infinity scarf, wrist warmers and boot cuffs.  She makes them in a bunch of different colors, so if you win, you get to pick the color you want your set to come in! To Enter: Leave a comment on this post letting me know what color you'd like the set in if you're the winner, as well as a way to contact you if you win. The giveaway will be open for entries until Saturday, October 13th at 9pm PST.   If you want to go ahead and make a purchase from Minuet, you can get 10% off with the discount code "TACKY10"!

thick tomato soup

Soooo, I may be only posting soup recipes for a while.  The arrival of autumn has apparently brought with it a new obsession with making homemade soups.  Soup is just so easy to make, and you can make a bunch of it and eat it all week long, which is great because it's so easy to just toss some cold soup in a pot and heat it right up again.  I love pretty much any tomato soup, but this is thick and hearty and the perfect way to warm up your insides on a chilly day.

I've always loved tomato soup.  Something I haven't always loved?  Grilled cheese.  When I was a kid I hated melted cheese.  Grilled cheese and tomato soup was always a regular meal at summer camp at least once a week, and while I loved tomato soup, I definitely would pass on the grilled cheese.  One day the whole camp was playing a game on a baseball field where you divided in to two teams which stood on the 1st and 3rd base.  One person from each team would run from the base, to home and then up to the pitchers mound where they would grab a mystery food out of a paper bag, have to eat it and swallow completely before running back the base and tagging the next person to repeat the process.  First team to get everyone done won.  In the bag there were gross things and delicious things.  When I got there, I pulled out none other than a grilled cheese sandwich left over from lunch.  Of course everyone on my team was thrilled because most people would think grilled cheese is yummy.  I tried choking it down but couldn't do it and they let me run back without finishing it.  So, there's my grilled cheese horror story.  Did you even think such a thing could exist?  A grilled cheese horror story... anyway, long story short, I loved grilled cheese now (well, not with those nasty kraft singles fake cheese slices, that stuff still grosses me out).


(adapted from Jenny Steffens Hobick)

3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 - 14 oz. cans of diced tomatoes
1 - 14 oz. can of whole tomatoes
2 cups of chicken broth (or vegetable)
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of sugar
1/2 tsp of pepper
2 tsp rosemary
1/4 cup of heavy cream

1. Saute the garlic in olive oil in a saucepan on medium heat for a minute.  Then add the diced and whole tomatoes (juice and all), chicken stock, salt, pepper, rosemary and sugar.

2. Cook the soup on medium at a simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Reduce the heat to low and stir in heavy cream.  Transfer to a blender and puree (or use an immersion blender).

I served it with a slice of french bread toasted with cheddar on it (open faced grilled cheese?).  Yum!

cues for change

The colors of fall and spring are so fleeting, but so incredible.  Sometimes I wish it was this colorful always, but then I think they wouldn't be as incredible.  We'd get used to it and then it'd be normal.  The few weeks in fall and spring when the world is teeming with color are to be cherished.  Plus, it's a visual cue that change is happening.  A reminder that change is a good and natural thing, and that it is also pretty damn beautiful at times.  
Speaking of change, you might notice that things look a bit different around here today!  I've been trying to come up with a new blog design for a long time, and it always seems harder to design for oneself than for clients.  Such was the case.  But I knew I needed something new.  I knew I wanted something simpler and cleaner.  I hope you guys like it.  I like it.  It feels like a breath of fresh air.  It feels like I moved out of a tiny stuffy house and into a bigger, more grown-up house (now, if only this could happen in real life...).  
dress/courtesy of modcloth :: scarf/h&m :: jacket/courtesy of asianicandy hat/nordstrom :: vest/old navy :: boots/courtesy of blowfish :: belt/thrifted bag/courtesy of handbag heaven :: photos by Dan
Dan & I have started taking more walks lately.   It's especially nice with the fall colors and weather.  The rain and clouds haven't hit just yet, so it's been absolutely perfect fall weather.  Just a little brisk, with a bit of warmth still left from the sun.  I'm so glad we live within walking distance of most places we love going.  Everything is the perfect distance away.  Some places are close enough for a short walk, and others just far enough away for a long, but not too-long, walk.  Plus, there are coffee shops along the way to stop at and warm up/refuel for a bit.

my everyday makeup routine

Lately I've been getting quite a few requests for a post on my makeup routine.  Truth be told, it's pretty simple.  I've never been much of a makeup maven, and while I love getting fancified for some occasions, my daily look is quick and basic.  None of this takes longer than a few minutes, and I like my makeup to be as light as possible so it doesn't feel like I'm wearing makeup.


I use 1-5 products, depending on how lazy I'm feeling.  Sometimes I just throw on some eyeliner and go, sometimes I do eyeliner and blush, and sometimes I use everything.  It really just depends on how I'm feeling that day.


Lately I've been using this tinted moisturizer as a base.  Modcloth asked me if I'd be interested in trying anything from this line of makeup that they're carrying right now, and a tinted moisturizer piqued my interest, since my skin gets dryer (and whiter) in the winter.  So far I'm really liking it.  I've never liked liquid foundations (or foundation of any kind really). It feels heavy and oily and I always feel like I have makeup caked on, even if it doesn't look that way.  This moisturizer is nice because it doesn't feel heavy at all, it's just a nice base to give my skin some moisture and a little glow.


I've been using the same blush for a while.  I just scrub it lightly on to my cheek bones, and blend it out a bit with my powder brush.  Sometimes I go over everything lightly with a bit of powder, sometimes not, but I do like how it kind of evens everything out and blends.  Like I said, I hate feeling like I have makeup on, so the lighter the better.  Less layers of stuff is better, in my mind.



The thing I do everyday is eyeliner.  Always winged.  I started doing this years ago and now it's just my standard eye makeup.  I do variations for fancier events by adding eyeshadow (like the makeup I did for our wedding), but for just every day, I don't use any eyeshadow, just the liner.  It's pretty standard cat-eye winged eyeliner, but I thought I'd do a little video tutorial since it can be hard to explain using just pictures and text.  So if you want to watch me ramble on and put on eyeliner for five minutes, here's your chance!

Recently I discovered lipliner and it's one of my new favorite cosmetics.  I never wore it before because I really only thought it was to draw a line around your lips so your lipstick didn't bleed.  Then I read somewhere that you should fill in your lips with lipliner before applying lipstick, so the lipstick has something to stick to and make it last longer.  So I started doing that and I realized that I actually liked the look of just the lipliner without adding any lipstick on top.  I usually line my top and bottom lip and then sort of lightly fill in the rest of my lips, creating a bit of a gradient with the darkest liner around the edge of the lip, and then getting lighter as I get to the middle, where my top and bottom lips meet.  I like it because a) it looks natural, but fills in the uneven colors in my lips and defines them more, and b) I can still kiss Dan without him being afraid of getting lipstick transfer.  I still like using lipstick, but I use lipliner more for everyday.

Products I Use:

Motives Pressed Powder in Neutral Rose // Motives Blush in So Peachy

Motives Luxe Precision Eyeliner in Black // Palladio Lipliner in Spice

theBalm Balm Shelter Tinted Moisturizer in Light c/o Modcloth

Thats it!  Let me know if you have any questions and if I missed anything you want more info I'll update this post.  I've linked all the products I use above, so you should be able to find it all online!