25 Days of Giveaways from McCall's, Butterick, and Vogue Patterns

This just in!  Every day for 25 days, the McCall's Pattern Company (who own McCall's, Butterick, and Vogue Patterns) is giving stuff away.  For Free!!!


In order to qualify to win, you must be an email subscriber to Butterick.com, McCallPattern.com, VoguePatterns.com, or ClubBMV.com.  Sign up for their newsletter on any of those sites.

So, what can you win?  Yesterday's winner won a DVD by sewing guru Claire Shaeffer, while today's winner will win 2.38 yards of beautiful silver-colored crepe-back satin.  Stay posted to see what tomorrow's offerings are.

Do you want to know something fun? This is my best friend Laura on the cover of the Winter/Holiday 2010 Vogue Patterns Catalogue. Isn't she lovely? Laura and I met at a casting in NY aeons ago. We were roomies for several years-- first in Manhattan and then later in Brooklyn. Next time you go to the fabric store you can say, "Hi Laura!!!"

For My Delaware Friends

I shot this a while back, and it came out this month on newsstands.  It's the fall fashion preview and is in the November issue of Delaware Today.  I've shot for Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, Glamour, and now... Delaware Today!

I'm a Sucker For...

I really love the whole I'm-a-nomad/I-just-arrived-from-the-steppes-of-Mongolia look.  Pile on the colorful layers of knitted items, throw in some chunky jewelry, and tie your hair in multi-fishtail braids, and you'll find me completely on board.  I'm still figuring out how to rock this look (so you won't be seeing it on me anytime soon), but I am completely smitten.  


And, yes, I *love* the red hair, too.

The pics below are from the Free People Holiday 2010 Catalog.

Halloween 2010

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween.  With Halloween falling on a Sunday this year, we had quite a jam-packed weekend.  On Friday afternoon, the English language school where I work hosted a Halloween party for the international students.  For most of the students it was their first Halloween ever, so it was neat to watch the students carve pumpkins, dress in costumes, and stuff scarecrows for the first time in their lives.  On Friday evening, I went to another Halloween event for English-language students, and looked on as they carved pumpkins.  On Saturday, I went to a party hosted by the culture club at the University of Delaware, and once again, I was surrounded by people hailing from China, Colombia, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Russia, and Lithuania.  The dressing-in-costume was very novel for most of them, I think.


I decided to go dressed as a mime, which was a very easy costume for me, since I had everything I needed in my closet already.  I liked my costume (I felt very French!), unfortunately, most of the international students didn't know what I was.  I used it as an opportunity to teach them a new word: mime, which is both a noun and a verb.


I was completely Halloween-ed out by Sunday.  I had to get up early Sunday morning to perform in the orchestra for church, then had lunch with some missionaries, and then headed back to church at 6:00pm to see the end of the missions conference my church was holding.  I was too exhausted to do much of anything, so just decided to relax on Sunday night.


On Saturday night, one of my Saudi students asked me, "How many more days will Halloween go for?"  I thought that was funny, as Halloween is technically one day, but this year, it seems to have been spread from Thursday night until even today (Monday).  Tomorrow everyone's attention will be turned toward the elections, so I think that will effectively put the lid (or should I say "final nail in the coffin") on Halloween festivities this year.


What did you do for Halloween?

This is Dedicated to the Ones I Love...

Never shall I forget the days I spent with you. Continue to be my friend, as you will always find me yours.

~Ludwig van Beethoven

Chris and me at Young Life's Lake Champion in August 1998.

Back in the summer of 1998, I volunteered at a Christian camp in a little town called Glen Spey in New York.  Those of you in Young Life circles may recognize the name of the camp as Lake Champion.  It was an idyllic summer, my first away from home, and I passed my days sleeping in the dorm, answering phones in the office, and mingling with other like-minded folks.  I had just turned nineteen and I had my whole life before me.

I met some truly wonderful folks that summer, bonding with the other college and high school-aged staff who had given up a month of their summer to facilitate the running of this camp so that teenagers could come and hear about who Jesus is.  Of course, we all promised to write and stay in touch, but without social media sites such as Facebook, that proved harder than we thought it would be.  Over the years, I lost touch with every single person that I lived and worked with that summer.

Except one.  I remember the first time I ever talked to Chris-- he was sitting on a bench by the rock-climbing wall.  It was my first day of camp, and I walked over and introduced myself.  As our conversation progressed, I asked him how he had become a Christian, to which he replied, "I'm not."  I was duly shocked, as it was a requirement to work at the camp.  I resolved to pray for him, and over the month, we became friends although I was grouped in with the college-age workers and he was still in high school.

On the last day of camp, I hugged him tightly and said goodbye.  He was heading back to California and I thought I would never see him again.

Years passed; I finished college and moved to New York City.  I had initially kept in touch with Chris, but, in time, that had died down.  Then, one day, I asked the girls in my Bible study to write down their summer addresses for me, and I noticed that one girl lived in the same town as my former friend, Chris.  Of course, I had to ask her if she knew him, and in the craziest coincidence, it turned out that she has dated his younger brother!

Photos taken in the photo booth at Lakeside Lounge.  On the left (circa July 2007) are me, Chris, and his friend, Colin.  We had a hilarious time that night!  The photos on the right are from September 11, 2010.

Chris and I have been in touch since then, although long periods of time go by between emails.  Three times he has been on the east coast, and each time, we make a point to meet up.  He was in New York two weeks ago (en route to South Africa, where he was going to volunteer at an orphanage), and we spent a wonderful day catching up.  Old friends are truly a blessing, and I am so thankful that God has put Chris in my life.

This post is dedicated to all of my friends scattered across the four corners of the earth.  I sincerely hope that we shall meet again.  "Never shall I forget the days I spent with you.  Continue to be my friend, as you will always find me yours."

XOXO,

Vanity Fair October 2010

I haven't looked inside the magazine at all, but I am loving Lindsay Lohan's look on the cover of the current issue of Vanity Fair.  The retro-styling is divine (as is the color of that dress), and for once, Ms. Lohan looks classy.

XOXO,

Wedded Bliss

Whilst celebrating my birthday on Sunday, little did I know that the wedding of the decade was going on.  No, I'm not referring to Chelsea Clinton (who got married on Saturday night), but to a certain Lisa Simpson who celebrated her nuptials at 1pm in the afternoon.

The episode originally aired in 1995 and was entitled, "Lisa's Wedding."

Lisa, I hope that you and Hugh St. John Alastair Parkfield have a beautiful life together.


XOXO,

The Clash of the Titans

Click on Picture to Enlarge (As Always!)

I am a nerd. Those of you who read this blog have probably figured that out already. I love all things Elves (and would love to learn some Elvish), took the time to memorize the English royal lineage (for fun!) from Henry VIII to the present, dream of visiting places like Pompeii (and various cemeteries) on my honeymoon, and I keep a running list of vocabulary I don't know so that I can look it up when I get home.

Well, maybe I'm not a nerd, but I fancy myself one.

This was my FAVORITE movie growing up (right alongside Red Sonya, The Beastmaster, and Conan the Barbarian. Am I a child of the 80s or what?!?). The Greek mythology fascinated me; I thought the mechanical owl, Bubo, was awesome; and desperately wanted to be Andromeda so that a Pegasus-riding Perseus would rescue me (Come to think of it, I still would like that). I thought the effects were awesome, and was especially mesmerized by the miniature pawns that looked like people that the gods in Olympia played with (changing the fates of real people along the way).

I developed a girl crush (definition here) on Miss Andromeda herself, Judi Bowker. I really thought she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen! You can see her above in the photo on the left and judge for yourself that she is indeed lovely (and what a tragic existence she leads!) You really must watch this classic movie if you haven't seen it.

Imagine my surprise when I saw on IMDB that they're making a new Clash of the Titans for 2010. I don't know much about it (who is this Sam Worthington and Alexa Davalos, playing Perseus and Andromeda, respectfully), but I'm excited.

I'm also looking forward to this movie:

XOXO,