Most Beautiful of Days

Today was the most beautiful of days. The best of Texas weather. Cool, clear and sunny with a nice breeze. I love it. I went for a jog this morning and it was so nice to be outside.

The garden is loving this weather too!

I'm working on this right now. A Milk Chocolate Malt Ball Cake. The cake is Vanilla Malt with Milk Chocolate Frosting. I think it is going to be really good! It is for my little brother's birthday.

Could it really be?

It's hard to believe, but yesterday was mine and Frank's eight year wedding anniversary. Time really does fly. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from that day.

We married under a tree in the backyard of my childhood home.

We danced into the night with some of our best friends.
I keep this picture in a frame by my desk, it may be my favorite memory of that day.

Monday evening I saw a check that someone wrote at work with the date of October 15th and it dawned on me that the next day was our anniversary. Sure, I knew it was coming up and we had talked about it, but it really snuck up on me. It doesn't help that I'm on a nine day stretch of work before a weekend off. I'm a bit out of sorts, with days running together! We celebrated last night by making Green Curry for dinner, which was appropriate since we had our first date at a Thai restaurant.

I would say that we have come a long way, but really things are pretty much the same.  We live in the same house and have the same friends.  We lost a beloved dog and gained a silly cat.  Besides growing older, and possibly wiser, I think we are about the same people that we were that day.  We still love each other and get along awfully well. We have seen a lot of babies born and children grow like weeds, but none of them are ours.  We have a happy home, and that is what matters.

Happy anniversary Frank, I still feel like one lucky lady to have you as my husband.

Draped Pocket Dress

I made this dress earlier in the summer after becoming consumed with figuring out how to copy a draped pocket dress that I had seen. I didn't wear it until yesterday and I'm not sure why because it is insanely comfortable and pretty damn cute too!

Oh look, this dress has pockets.
 

The pockets are lined with the same hand dyed yellow knit that I used for the binding.

I drafted this dress myself. It is very simple, but took some figuring to get the pockets how I wanted them. The top/tank part is based on the Built By Wendy Sew U Home Stretch tank pattern that I have made before and have altered to fit myself well. The waistband is lined and I used knit interfacing to stabilize it, but it isn't as stretchy as I had hoped. The skirt is gathered, as is the tank.  The pockets were created by extending the front rectangle up at angles on each side, folding under at the corners and then gathering in the middle.  Does that make sense?  I had to play around with it a lot to get it just how I wanted.  I added the tie belt as an after thought because I wanted to be able to cinch in the waist more, and I'm glad I did.  It is a woven fabric and was re-purposed after I had removed it from a thrifted top.

The knit fabric is from Joann and was on clearance.  I had just enough to make this.  It is a bit summery but I can wear it with a cardigan into Fall.  The fabric is very stretchy and stretched out a bit at the armholes.  It doesn't show much when wearing but I know it's there.  I really want a serger as I LOVE sewing with knits.  I just wish there was a local fabric store that had a good selection of knit fabrics.  I already have another knit cardigan that I want to copy. 

Getting in the Spirit

This is what I have been looking at at work for over a month. Don't get me wrong, I love them. I love all the funky varieties, colors and textures. I just wasn't ready for pumpkins when they showed up early this year.
 

With a friend coming to town I finally got in the spirit this weekend and decorated my table for Fall. I kept it simple with mini white pumpkins, sunflowers and carnations. I am not into the pumpkin spice candles, but got a fireside candle instead.

 I'm still not feeling all the pumpkin flavored everything that I see on pinterest. I am more of a gingerbread person, I suppose.

I jogged today after three days off.  It feels so good, and I don't like it when I miss days.  I was off Saturday and my main agenda was to go trail running.  It was too dang cold and windy.  We were having our December weather in October, and I'm so not ready for that.  Fall is my favorite season and I don't want to rush it.  Lets slow time down and enjoy this.  Yesterday was perfectly sunny and in the high sixties.  My favorite weather.  Ahhhhhh

Cooler Days Mean

Cuddly Pets


I'm knitting again
 

Soups, stews and roasts in the kitchen. We made Chili the other night and I have a whole list of cold weather recipes that I want to make. The usuals like Tortilla soup, Crockpot chicken, Caldo, Navy bean soup, Charro beans and so on. I also have a seemingly endless supply of cooking inspiration going on over at Pinterest. Yum!

Cooler days also mean that I can go for a jog at noon and not die of a heat stroke. I did that yesterday, well just before noon, and it felt great. It was in the high sixties and overcast just perfect for jogging, in my opinion. Today I was hoping to go to a local park with hilly hiking trails, but it is cold out there!

Enjoy your weekend.
xoxo
Ashley

Today I...

...ran up a bunch of hills.

About 45 minutes into my hour long workout I got stung by a bee on the neck. I freaked out for a minute but kept running after that and was pretty proud of myself for it. You can see the sting on my neck, just to the left of my headphone wires.
 

I use my nano on shuffle when I run and forward through any songs that aren't doing it for me at the moment. Today I had an awesome sequence of motivating songs all in a row. I was hoping to find an mp3 player that I could embed here to share them with you but I can't seem to find any that work well.

Tomorrow night we are going to see a friend's work at the Dallas Contemporary art museum. One of my bff's who I haven't seen in months is in town and joining us. It should be a wonderful evening!

Embracing Change

Tomorrow is the first day of Fall. In Texas that doesn't necessarily mean much. Days go back and forth between perfectly cool and hot and humid. We take what we can get when it comes to those perfect Fall days. We have already had a few, which is unusual this early for us. My workouts have been harder the past few days, I'm not sure why. I took it a little easier yesterday and just walked.

 I love Fall, it is my favorite season and it doesn't hurt that my birthday is in the Fall.

The garden is always happier when Fall arrives too.

Roberta watching over me in the garden.

My zinnias are no show flowers, they flop over and are kind of scraggly but I still love them!

This canna is in a pot that I inherited from my mom when they moved. I've never had this one and I think it is so pretty.
 

This picture cracks me up. Lucy and Berta just staring at me in the morning.
 Probably wanting my breakfast.
 

Welcoming Fall and cooler weather is an easy change. I won't miss too much about Summer, though I did embrace it this year more than ever before. The harder changes that we are making have to do with our diet and lifestyle. I am on the right track with exercise and it is making me feel better overall. Frank has had a cold and hasn't been able to join me yet. I always struggle with meal planning, shopping and finding time to get dinner on the table. I love to cook, but working at a grocery store with odd and ever changing hours has messed it all up for me.

Frank was diagnosed with high blood pressure this week, so now I'm on a mission to change our diets. I have gotten some really great resources from my facebook friends and just started delving into them. I will put together a list and add them to my blog links as well. Last night we made broiled Salmon and carrots with Kale salad. All easy, delicious and heart healthy. I need more meals like that in my repertoire!

If you have any suggestions for lowering blood pressure naturally or websites that you visit for healthy eating and living please do share.
Happy Fall!
xoxo
Ashley