Time Lapse Photography or My Mugshot

I just returned from the Department of Motor Vehicles where I picked up my new federally compliant ID/driver's license-- my old license was set to expire on August 1st (my birthday), and as of 2014, all licenses will have to comply with the new federal standards.

This probably confirms me as shallow, but I said a quick prayer before having my photo taken as I didn't exactly relish the idea of carrying around a terrible-looking identification card for the next five years.  And, at the DMV they're pretty ruthless-- you get one shot and that's it!  I have to say that I am happy with the results, although with their no-smile policy, it does come off looking a bit like a mugshot.  Oh well!

While we're at it, I thought I'd post a few pics of me through the years.  Below (from left to right) you can see my first passport (I got it at fifteen to go to Juarez, Mexico on a mission trip with my church), my current passport (I got that in 2000 so that I could go to Paris, France-- my first trip overseas!), my last driver's license that I got when 26, and the "Under 21" license was my very first license, issued when I was sixteen and a half.

Next up: finding my misplaced passport so that I can renew it before it expires in October.  I'm hoping I have more travels ahead!

XOXO,

Winner for Book Giveaway

A few weeks ago, I posted a giveaway for the book I had just finished reading called The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. As you may recall, it's a bit of a mystery novel meets vampire novel. I like to think of it as the thinking (wo)man's version of Twilight.

The winner of the book is Joanna who sweetly wrote: O wow! That sounds incredible! I was reading your blog entry and thinking..."I wonder if this book is available here"! :) I love that you are giving it away and I would love to have it if I win :)

Joanna, can you please email me-- elventryst@gmail.com-- and let me know your address!


XOXO,

Abject Failure

Years have passed since I last touched a sewing machine. Well, strictly speaking, that is not exactly true, but after sewing every single day for four years in college (B.S. in apparel design from University of Delaware, thank you very much), I really needed a break, and pretty much didn't touch fabric or my sewing machine for years. Then my sister got married and asked me to make her wedding dress and bridesmaids dresses, and after that ordeal (just the pressure of sewing four dresses on a deadline), I once again retreated from the sewing world.



Enter July 2010, when I decided that I would make a dress to wear to my friend Lucia's wedding.  I pulled an out-of-print pattern (Vintage Vogue 2241) that I have in my stash and have never made and decided that this dress from 1931 would be "the one."  And, after days of pouring over it, drafting and re-drafting the pattern, sewing multiple muslin versions (the count is up to three now), I am beginning to think that the ban on sewing was probably a good idea.


One of my biggest problems was that my pattern was purchased in 2000, when I was definitely a size smaller.  The top seemed to be fine, but the hip area was way too small.  No worries, I thought, I'll just grade the pattern to a larger size.  Well, now the hips fit but the top is too big.


This problem is one big headache, because there are no side seams.  Laid flat, the pattern looks like one big rectangle, which is great in theory, but how many people's bodies are shaped like rectangles (meaning their hips and bust are the same size)?


The frustrating part is that I know patternmaking, and yet, I still don't know what to do next.  I'm ready to forget this dress and move on, but for some reason, I can't admit failure and move forward.  I won't get this finished in time for the wedding, but I may try to work on it some more once I'm back from the wedding.  Of course, then I won't have anywhere to wear this dress, but every girl should have a beautiful gown in her closet, right?


Sigh.  

XOXO,

Sainte-Chapelle (Paris)

My best friend, Corrie, is one of the coolest girls you'll ever meet.  She's really fun and outgoing with a huge personality and she's thoughtful and considerate to boot!

Look at this really cool postcard that she sent to me from Paris.  I love that she reused a vintage postcard!

She knows me too well :)  Look at the cute paper airplanes on the stamp!  (Can you believe it cost that much to mail a postcard?)

The postcard is of La Sainte-Chapelle, a beautiful chapel on a little island in the heart of Paris.  The stained glass is amazing, and if you stop by on a sunny day, it is like being inside a giant kaleidoscope!

I'll be hanging her postcard next to the one I bought there ten years ago (incidentally, the last time I was in Paris).

XOXO,

The Shoemaker and the Elves

Do you like fairy tales?  There was a time when I counted Hans Christian Andersen's book of fairy tales amongst my very favorite, and indeed I am sure were I to revisit it today it would soon be back at the top of the list of favored books.


I had forgotten about The Elves and the Shoemaker (by the Brothers Grimm) until it came up in conversation tonight, but it was illustrated children's book that my mom used to read to us and was probably the one I adored the most (well, that and The Twelve Dancing Princesses, also by Grimm).


It is a short story, quick to read.  I have reprinted it below.  I found it (and others) at this site, where it apparently resides in the public domain.  

The Elves and the Shoemaker

There was once a shoemaker, who worked very hard and was very honest: but still he could not earn enough to live upon; and at last all he had in the world was gone, save just leather enough to make one pair of shoes.

Then he cut his leather out, all ready to make up the next day, meaning to rise early in the morning to his work. His conscience was clear and his heart light amidst all his troubles; so he went peaceably to bed, left all his cares to Heaven, and soon fell asleep. In the morning after he had said his prayers, he sat himself down to his work; when, to his great wonder, there stood the shoes all ready made, upon the table. The good man knew not what to say or think at such an odd thing happening. He looked at the workmanship; there was not one false stitch in the whole job; all was so neat and true, that it was quite a masterpiece.

The same day a customer came in, and the shoes suited him so well that he willingly paid a price higher than usual for them; and the poor shoemaker, with the money, bought leather enough to make two pairs more. In the evening he cut out the work, and went to bed early, that he might get up and begin betimes next day; but he was saved all the trouble, for when he got up in the morning the work was done ready to his hand. Soon in came buyers, who paid him handsomely for his goods, so that he bought leather enough for four pair more. He cut out the work again overnight and found it done in the morning, as before; and so it went on for some time: what was got ready in the evening was always done by daybreak, and the good man soon became thriving and well off again.

One evening, about Christmas-time, as he and his wife were sitting over the fire chatting together, he said to her, ’I should like to sit up and watch tonight, that we may see who it is that comes and does my work for me.’ The wife liked the thought; so they left a light burning, and hid themselves in a corner of the room, behind a curtain that was hung up there, and watched what would happen.

As soon as it was midnight, there came in two little naked dwarfs; and they sat themselves upon the shoemaker’s bench, took up all the work that was cut out, and began to ply with their little fingers, stitching and rapping and tapping away at such a rate, that the shoemaker was all wonder, and could not take his eyes off them. And on they went, till the job was quite done, and the shoes stood ready for use upon the table. This was long before daybreak; and then they bustled away as quick as lightning.

The next day the wife said to the shoemaker. ’These little wights have made us rich, and we ought to be thankful to them, and do them a good turn if we can. I am quite sorry to see them run about as they do; and indeed it is not very decent, for they have nothing upon their backs to keep off the cold. I’ll tell you what, I will make each of them a shirt, and a coat and waistcoat, and a pair of pantaloons into the bargain; and do you make each of them a little pair of shoes.’

The thought pleased the good cobbler very much; and one evening, when all the things were ready, they laid them on the table, instead of the work that they used to cut out, and then went and hid themselves, to watch what the little elves would do.

About midnight in they came, dancing and skipping, hopped round the room, and then went to sit down to their work as usual; but when they saw the clothes lying for them, they laughed and chuckled, and seemed mightily delighted.

Then they dressed themselves in the twinkling of an eye, and danced and capered and sprang about, as merry as could be; till at last they danced out at the door, and away over the green.

The good couple saw them no more; but everything went well with them from that time forward, as long as they lived.

Thanks for stopping by!


XOXO,

If You Like Wine As Much As I Do

Then there will be probably be a day when this trick will come in handy.  Watch and learn what to do in the event that you find yourself with a bottle of wine but without a corkscrew.



Hope it helps!

XOXO,

Paul the German Octopus Picks Spain to Win World Cup

My friend Kelly's Facebook status this morning says something about the German octopus that has predicted Spain to win the World Cup.  I had no idea what she was talking about, so I googled it.  Apparently, they have an octopus that predicts which teams win sporting events.  The keeper puts in two crates of mussels, each with the differing flags attached, and whichever one the octopus picks is the one that is predicted to win.  So far, the octopus is predicting with 100% accuracy during the World Cup.  

Personally, I'm hoping he gets it wrong today.

Go Germany!!!

XOXO,

Each Firework Type Has A Name

I've been frequenting the Hot Word Blog again, and today's entry tells us how to determine the names of each kind of firework.  How cool would it be for you to turn to your friend and say, "My, that was a lovely crossette, wasn't it?"  Well, it might earmark you for a nerd, but I think it's cool.


Brush up for tonight:

Happy Secession Day, y'all!


XOXO,

Happy Birthday, America!

American friends, I hope you have a blessed Independence Day.

Happy Birthday, USA!

Just Say No... Askers versus Guessers

The world can be divided into two kinds of people-- those who blithely ask away, never considering whether the answer might be no, and those who put feelers out and only ask when they feel sure that the answer will be yes.  Knowing which category you fall into can make a world of difference.

As one commenter explains it:

In some families, you grow up with the expectation that it's OK to ask for anything at all, but you gotta realize you might get no for an answer. This is Ask Culture.

In Guess Culture, you avoid putting a request into words unless you're pretty sure the answer will be yes. Guess Culture depends on a tight net of shared expectations. A key skill is putting out delicate feelers. If you do this with enough subtlety, you won't even have to make the request directly; you'll get an offer. Even then, the offer may be genuine or pro forma; it takes yet more skill and delicacy to discern whether you should accept.

This article in The Guardian continues:

Neither's "wrong", but when an Asker meets a Guesser, unpleasantness results. An Asker won't think it's rude to request two weeks in your spare room, but a Guess culture person will hear it as presumptuous and resent the agony involved in saying no. Your boss, asking for a project to be finished early, may be an overdemanding boor – or just an Asker, who's assuming you might decline. If you're a Guesser, you'll hear it as an expectation. This is a spectrum, not a dichotomy, and it explains cross-cultural awkwardnesses, too: Brits and Americans get discombobulated doing business in Japan, because it's a Guess culture, yet experience Russians as rude, because they're diehard Askers.

I am, without question, a Guesser.  I hate asking favors of anyone, and worry about being presumptuous.  The one thing about getting older, though, is that I'm learning to be more comfortable asking for things, and I'm also learning how to say no.  Figuring out which one I am and realizing that some people fall into the other category goes a long way in helping me to relate with others better.  It is a distinction that I am glad to have made.


Which one are you?  Are you an Asker or a Guesser?


XOXO,


(I an indebted to Trent of The Simple Dollar for bringing my attention to the idea of Askers and Guessers.)

My New Business Card

I just had these made a few weeks ago.  They are called comp cards in the biz, and they are the modeling world's version of the business card.  I'm taking a little time off of my world travels, so while I'm back at my parent's place trying to figure out what is next for me, I thought I would try to get some work out of Philadelphia.


The comp card looks quite different from the ones I use in other cities like Cape Town or New York, and that's because Philadelphia is a very commercial market.  You won't be shooting any high fashion magazines there, if you catch my drift!  For comparison, look at my old New York card here.

XOXO,

Get Back in Your Book!

I do love all things books, which is why I was immediately smitten with the Get Back in Your Book series from Canadian photographer, Lissi Larrichia.  She takes pictures full of whimsy (viewable via her Flickr account), and these are no exception.  Can you guess which literary characters these are?

Also, if you're looking for a book to read, be sure to check out my first blog giveaway, the New York Times Bestseller, The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.  Click here to find out how to enter.

XOXO,