My husband Garth is the big three oh today. I’m thousands of miles away in Spokane, WA hanging out with my family in the snow while he works on his Austin Mini today….but I wish that I were close enough to don a party hat and make him a little cake.

Happy Birthday to my five fingered husband! (and to his twin sister in North Carolina!)

We got our official souvenier photo from the Navy Birthday Ball back today, and it’s so darling. I just wanted to share it, and share this group of photos that Mr. Garth has added to his flickr account. They are from his re-enlistment ceremony on Halloween- where he was dressed as Popeye. Totally worth the clicking. =)

We’re leaving bright and early tomorrow morning for Savannah, GA. Garth purchased a really large something with said re-enlistment bonus check, and we are going to pick it up. It’s baby blue, and wasn’t manufactured for American consumption.

Later dudes.
xoxoxoooooo
elle

Fueling my obsession with the Gap holiday sweater, I wandered over to the Gap’s online store to see this winters lineup and ran into their holiday marketing campaign. Rainn Wilson singing baby it’s cold outside and John Heder dancing like my brother Josh? I’m sold.

To get into the hip-holiday-stripey-sweater-ness check out www.gap.com/merrymixit. While you’re there watching the carols, you can also make little mixes of your own. It’ll have you smiling, and probably jonesin’ for one of those delicious stripies.

To feel all fuzzy from Gap commercials past, visit your neighborhood youtube. (I particularly adore the Audrey Hepburn & AC/DC combination, which I’ve previously raved about, and the Clare Daines one)

Happy Monday folksies, I’m up to my elbows in bow tie making and have the whole evening to myself as Garth is on an overnight schedule for the next few weeks.

love!
elle

6 TV shows:
( I don’t watch TV!- but I netflix or own these)
The Office
The Martha Stewart Show
Project Runway
Friends
Trading Spaces
um….I’ve seen every Smallville because Garth likes them, does that count?

6 Favorite Restaurants:
Red Robin
Taco Bell
Taco Time (even more now that I’m pregnant and there’s not one around)
Quizno’s
Pizza Hut
Qdoba/La Salsa/Chipotle (they’re almost all the same)

6 Things that happened today:
I had frosted mini spooners for breakfast
LeeAnn came over and we chatted and modified some pj’s
I ate the rest of the Halloween cookies
The wireless router had to be reset
I cried a little while looking at pics of my family who are 3000 miles away
Lots of sewing…Sally dresses and bow ties

6 Things I am looking forward to:
dinner (I think it’ll be veggie corn dogs and tater tots)
the holidays (all of them!!! but especially the ones ahead of us)
life changing (I’m kind of not looking forward to this one too)
hugging my family & meeting Samuel, my newest nephew
being done having kids (I know, that’s like 5 years away)
chilliness

6 Things on my wish list:
plane tickets!
wire binding machine
the new Holiday Inn DVD…so rad
tickets to Harry Connick, Jr.’s Christmas show in New Orleans (even though he’s not going there!)
a makeover for my super car, blue
lots and lots of baby supplies

I’ll leave you with a few photos that made me all weepy today missing my family. If you’re in that group, I LOVE you, even though I’m terrible about calling. All ya’ll are my heart!

xoxooooo
elle

A few weeks ago Garth and I started noticing the evidence of an uninvited guest living in our home. We found tiny droppings and half-chewed cupcake wrappers. We pulled our Halloween candy from the top shelf and found a tootsie pop that had been licked to the tootsie part on one side, wrapper still round.

Then we saw him. I saw him first, late in the kitchen at night. He ran from behind the fridge to behind the washing machine. A week or so later Garth and I were both in the kitchen and saw him follow the same course, only this time, we saw him jump up behind the dishwasher.

So on Halloween we went to the hadware store and purchased some traps. Garth was content with a set of those neck-breaking traps, but I wanted the live-catch ones where Mr mouse didn’t have to die trying to eat a fake piece of cheese. Garth bought his traps, and I bought mine. We set them all over the kitchen, and my live-catch trap got the prime spot right next to the dishwasher because it was safer for our toes if they should wander there while loading the dishwasher. Garth’s traps were set behind the washing machine and behind the fridge.

After we had them all set, Garth spent a good 2 hours in the living room with my drawer of sharpees, listening to Hotel California over and over. Eventually Garth told me that he had a surprise for me and I followed him into the kitchen where this sign was placed above my trap. =)

The next morning Garth came into the bedroom, holding my trap, excited that our guest was caught so quickly. I was excited that Mr mouse chose my trap out of the 5 that were placed in the kitchen. We set him free later that afternoon on our way to church. Mr mouse sprung so quickly out of the trap that we could barely tell that his tail was tied in a knot. Goodbye Mr mouse. Now ya’ll know: mice prefer live-catch traps, even if it’s only because they offer real food as bait. =)

So today is election day, as all ya’ll know. I am one of the 6 people left in the nation who are still undecided. Honestly, I don’t really like either canidate…but I’ll make a decision before this afternoon. Hope the rest of you earn your I voted sticker today!

xo
elle

We had a great Halloween! We went as Olive Oyl and Popeye. We tried to stay as close to the cartoon as possible, and make everything with quality and comfort in mind. Here’s what we did…

Popeye. We patterned the top after the US Navy’s dress blues jumper. I used black, red, and blue twill. The collar I had to construct after I’d sewn the jumper. I added black bias tape and iron-on star patches for the embellishments. The blue on the sleeves is slightly stuffed with poly-fill. The pants are made using a vintage bellbottom pattern and twill dyed royal blue. I made the pockets with flower linings and extra large belt loops. The buttons are large plastic buttons that we spray painted yellow, and the belt is an extra uniform belt that Garth had, dyed yellow. The hat is one of Garth’s uniform hats, and the shoes are his regular brown shoes. Garth made the corn cob pipe from frozen corn-on-the-cob that we had in the freezer (he microwaved it to death) and some scrap wood we found in the garage. His spinach can is made out of a large can of chili (that Garth ate in one sitting-ick!), an old poster re-painted with a spinach label, and some green scrap fleece machine and hand sewn into spinachy clumps. The arms were the hardest. We spent a good afternoon discussing and planning how to do it and eventually we purchased several pounds of Crayola’s Model Magic. We sculpted the arms to the size we wanted over Garth’s and then very carefully used a razor blade to cut them down the sides (I only gave Garth one little cut!). They were placed on Garth’s arms, covered in thin strips of white knit (to cover the transition and even out the tone), then covered with three layers of tights and panty hose, and finally, tattoos were drawn on the forearms using a sharpee.

Olive. Olive is by far the easier costume. I used a basic shirt pattern to make the shirt from a slightly stretchy polyester blend knit. I added the sleeves and collar using a similar white knit. The skirt is an older version of the US Navy female dress blues that I found at a thrift store. I added a wide yellow grossgrain ribbon. Long white socks and a pair of Garth’s old boots, spray painted brown, finished it off. I wore the skirt higher than my natural waist becasue it made my legs look longer, and because my 5-month-pregnant-belly fit better that way.

We had so much fun! Garth re-enlisted in the morning in his costume (I couldn’t take my camera in, but I think we’ll be able to get some of the photographers pics), and we spent the evening giving candy to the trick-or-treaters, carving our pumpkins, watching movies, and eating our homemade pizza and homemade root beer. Yum!

Love to everyone that I love!
Laura. =)

Garth was a super sport today in modeling 20 newly created bow ties for me this morning in the really intense Florida sun. So I made him some peaches and cream, and then he took a little nap on our front porch, using my pumpkin as a pillow. This kid can sleep anywhere, it amazes me.

There is already one of those new ties in the shop, and the rest will be trickling in this week. I’ve also got a stack of aprons to photograph (but my belly is showing!) and list…hopefully I can get to them this week because the Halloween chaos is almost over! (even though my costume for this year is only still a collection of thoughts, but more to come on that later)

hugs and popcorn balls for all!

Laura. =)

Garth and I went to the fair this week with $37.75 in our pocket. We left with $1.25. Admission was free since it was the grand opening, and we didn’t shell out the $11 that it cost for the two of us to ride the ferris wheel once…so where did it all go?

Food. And the freak show.
curly fries for Laura: $5.00
turkey leg for Garth: $7.00
bottomless birch beer in a collectable metal cup: $7.00
deep fried twinkie for Garth: $4.00
deluxe caramel apple for Laura: $5.50
admission to the freak show(four-legged dancing girl!): $4.00
parking: $4.00

It was a fabulous evening. We hope to do it again real soon.

Laura. =)

We made a super entrance to the ball on our bicycles. The ball was taking place downtown at Palafox Pier and we live less than two miles away. It was pretty entertaining to see people stare at us as we rode through downtown.

We had a delightful time and danced to the ONE slow song that was played all night, some karaoke version of Unchained Melody. And then, it was back on our bikes for the dark ride home through the deserted streets.

This is when I like Pensacola. =)
loves!
Laura. =)

I should be eating more…I’ve only gained two pounds so far. Yikes. However, my belly is progressing nicely. I’m still just looking rather chubby, but Garth and I have confidence that it will turn into something more substantial in the near future. Our ultrasound is coming in a few weeks and we’ll be able to start saying ginger or danger rather than baby when referencing my belly.

Now I’m off to be a good pregnant lady and eat some more. I’m making crepes! mmmmm…..

loves,
elle aye you are aye