Above The Woods

This brown dress has been such a reliable piece in both autumn and winter for me over the last few years. I need to make another in black, these sleeves are just too fun to wear and I don't have a black wool dress in my wardrobe for some absurd reason!

This time I paired the cozy woolen dress with coordinating brown "crocodile" accessories, having recently snatched up this handbag on Etsy for just $12 to wear with my much loved pumps from Remix Vintage Shoes. A matching belt, also found on Etsy a few years back, and some antique brass toned jewelry finished the ensemble. I pulled the brassy yellow to add golden tan gloves too for the chillier elevations.

These photos were shot in Estes Park Colorado and my traveling companion (my mom) and I hiked up a little hill to some odd "ruins" to try and snap some photos after lunch as a local restaurant. It was too nice a day for photography really, I prefer some cloud cover! Then it was time for a jaunt into the very quaint and super local...Starbucks...for some fuel to continue on our way to driving the scenic Peak to Peak highway. We usually drive Guanella pass this time of year, and I have to say, Guanella is a much better drive! More places to stop (for outfit photo shoots, what? Isn't that why everyone else goes to the mountains?) with golden aspens and epic waterfalls, and a nice above-the-tree-line tundra summit. One never knows if another route may be better until they try it I suppose, but I hope to me back to Guanella next year :)

I hope you're all well as fall is now in full swing. I've been having a bit of a rough one so far, finding I am over scheduling and over working myself as usual, but with some new added stressors too that certainly aren't helping! I even tried the much publicized remedy here in Colorado, CBD oil, to try and help me get to sleep easier but found it didn't work for me. Hopefully once I'm done building my new backdrop set for YouTube I'll be able to find a few days to relax.

Happy pumpkin season!

Dress: Made by me

Shoes: Remix Vintage Shoes

Handbag, Belt, & Brooch: Vintage

Gloves: Vintage (gift)

Earrings: I make them, get some here if you'd like :)

A Garden of Glass: Dale Chihuly in Denver

I didn't want to write anything until you got down here, I think these photos let the sculpture speak for itself! If you live in Denver, or Colorado (or Wyoming...) you really must to go see the Dale Chihuly exhibit at the Denver Botanic Gardens! Amazing installations of glass work set in lush gardens, what more can you ask for in an afternoon out? For those of you who are thinking "Chihuly who?", you know the awe inspiring undulating glass ceiling at the Belaggio hotel in Las Vegas? That's Chihuly! Find out more about him in the video interview below...

Time Travel: Kenwood House

Something I didn't mention in my last post about Dido Elizabeth Belle was the house she lived in for nearly thirty years as a ward of the 1st Earl of Manchester, Kenwood House! This gorgeous mansion is located in Hampstead Heath in London and I had the opportunity to visit while I was there studying abroad in 2012!

While in London, I tried to soak up as much of the city as possible, mostly by haunting the museums until closing time. It is impossible to see all of London in one visit, even if like me your visit is five months long! Londonium is a very big town indeed! I wanted to visit as many English Heritage properties accessible easily from London as I could while in town, and low and behold I discovered Kenwood was only just up the road from my dorm building! A twenty minute buss ride later and I was at the gates of Hampstead Heath and Kenwood House. I couldn't believe I had been so close for months to Hampstead Heath and hadn't realized!

The park is sprawling and very much a Jane Austen worthy landscape where one expects to run into Emma Woodhouse or Mr Darcy any minute. I was blown away by Kenwood, mostly because I couldn't believe I had waited so long to go and visit when, if I had know how beautiful it truly was, I would have gone all the time! Visiting the house is free and the 18th century interiors (and remarkable artworks they house) are a wonder to behold. I was there the Saturday before they closed Kenwood for the restoration and therefore only got to visit once, but I can only blame myself for that!

After 18 months of restoration the house is open to visitors again. If you live in London, or are planning a visit, you must go to Kenwood house! Better still, in addition to the period restored rooms and stunning old master paintings, Kenwood is currently running an exhibition of the costumes from the film Belle! In the smaller rooms upstairs there is a great display of 18th century buckles and miniatures too, what more could a historic costume lover ask for in a day out!

The house as drawn in its time

The library, AKA the most stunning room ever, also delectably pastel!

Gainsborough, Rembrandt, all your favorites hang out at this house (and its free to visit! I can't get over how great that is!)

not me in this photo but I was similarly enamored :)

Run don't walk to Kenwood, I know I can't wait to visit again, especially now that the place is restored and extra lovely!



Interior images of Kenwood from here<

1920's Fern Print Dress

Here is a new dress I managed to finish sewing recently! I really wanted something tropical and sheer for summer and found this great print at Colorado Fabrics! I used my 1920's basic dress pattern with a square skirt. It doesn't look particularly 20's in these photos with my hair pulled back and rather modern sandals but I hope it will look more vintage when styled differently. This dress is one of three chiffon 20's/30's styles I have sewn up lately so I look forward to showing you the two others soon. My dad and I walked around the Denver Botanic Gardens again for these photos as they were having their spring plant sale. He got a few plants for our garden and I got nice photo backdrops!

the plant sale!

Dreaming of Disneyland

I have just found out I might get my ultimate birthday wish this summer and spend my 23rd at Disneyland! I was lucky enough to go last spring with both my college roommates which was super fun, and the summer before that I went to Disneyland Paris with my roommate Gina while I was there studying abroad. What can I say, I love Disneyland! As a Californian I naturally love the original Disneyland in Anaheim California best, though I have yet to visit Walt Disney World. I am super excited at the prospect of visiting again this summer, I am a very lucky girl! 

Here are some photos from my last few Disney trips! I promise I'll have more sewing to show you soon!