Some recent creations...

Over the last few weeks, I've been getting back into knitting. I did quite a bit of sewing in my free time this year, but winter is defeinitely a good time to get back into sewing. My good friend Brance just loves the stocking that I knit for him a couple of years ago. He loves it so much, he actually wanted a coordinating one to give to his girlfriend this Christmas. The only way to get a truly coordinating stocking made with the same pattern and yarn is to go right back to the source. 

You can see the original stocking I knit for Brance on this older post, and of course the coordinating one for his girlfriend here: 

I'm pretty excited about how it came out. This stocking is such a great one- it knits in just a couple of hours. the yarn is thick and chunky and the needles are size 13, so it really does go very quickly once you get started. It knits on double-pointed needles. The loop and pom-poms are my own addition to the pattern and  like how they came out! 

In addition to the stocking, I also managed to make a super snuggle-y infinity scarf for Juhree using a cream colored thick yarn. The pattern is simple- just popcorn stitch the whole way, then sew the ends together: 

So warm and cuddly! It took a little less than four skeins of yarn and about 6 hours to knit this scarf. The popcorn stitch looks great, but it uses a LOT of yarn. If you want to make one for yourself, just use size 10 1/2 needles and 4 balls of Wool-ease Thick & Quick Yarn in the color of your choice. Cast on 32 stitches and knit in popcorn stitch (K1,P1 across odd rows, P1, K1 across even rows) until the scarf measures 60 inches or so. Sew the ends together to create a loop. You'll be warm all winter in this gorgeous scarf.

Now that I'm done my projects, I really want to find a new one to work on. Rather than head to the store for more yarn, I'm going to see what left-over yarn I have kicking around and I'm going to see what I can do with what I have.

Do you knit or crochet? I'd love to see the projects you are working on! Email me or leave a comment to tell me all about it! Thanks for reading!

Rate My Look: An Oldie...

My friend Melanie snapped this photo of me over a month ago when we got together for lunch and a matinee viewing of the most recent Twlight movie. Yes, I like Twlight-the books, the movies- it's all so fun. Sparkly vampires and a love story? What's not to like? Anyway, we caused a stir in the restaurant where we had lunch- several of the waitstaff approached our table to tell us how fabulously stylish we both looked.

You can check out Mel's outfit from the day here. We posed outside of the Mexican restaurant where we had just eaten a delicious lunch consisting of garlic cheese nachos and taco salads. So tasty! It was unseasonably warm for mid-November, so I went without tights and in light-weight, almost summer-y fabrics. my denim jacket kept the slight chill out and my boots were pretty toasty warm. You may even have noticed my bag in the corner of the photo- a bridesmaid gift from Beth from the week prior. I don't think I've featured it on the blog yet, and now I'm kicking myself for putting it down when we took the photo. Amateur mistake. I guess it shows that I'm a little out of practice when it comes to blogging. I have been very busy lately and I've really struggled to find the time to blog. When it comes down to it, I've been choosing to spend time with friends and family rather than focus on blogging. It used to be something I thought about constantly, but lately I've needed a break. Given how many posts I've managed over the last three years, it's not surprising that I would finally need a bit of a breather, so I hope you all understand and still continue to read even if I post less frequently. I appreciate your continued support! 

Anyway, why not let me know how you feel about my outfit (and my blogging hiatus) in the comments! Thanks for reading!  

Holiday Party Photos

November and December are the major party months of the year and this year was no exception. Between the official company holiday party and the various other parties thrown by my coworkers, I feel like I haven't had a weekend free in a while. We were all very fashionable for our company party, so I'd like to share some of the photos with you:

Brandie, Kristin and I at our company holiday party

I was in love with my outfit for this particular event. I found the dress and the sequin cardigan at Forever 21 of all places! Combined, they cost less than my shoes (which I found at DSW). I felt festive and sexy and up for a night on the town with my girls! I hope I get to wear this outfit again sometime. It would make a great date outfit as well. 

Juhree and I at our company holiday party

You can't really tell in either photo, but I also sported one of my fascinators. You can check it out in this post. I thought it was a fun, funky finishing accessory for my outfit. As for Juhree's outfit- I love that she didn't wear just a standard LBD (like most of us!), but rocked a bold, cobalt blue satin dress. I don't have a photo of the whole dress, but trust me when I say she looked hot! 

McKenzie and Jeff

McKenzie's dress made me drool all night long- a simple LBD in a fitted bodice with a full skirt and the fabric was sparkly and lush. She's so gorgeous, I can hardly handle it! I also love that her boyfriend Jeff wore a newsboy cap- so cute!  

What did you wear to your company holiday party? Was it a dressy event? Send me a picture or leave a comment below to tell me all about it!  

Stylin' Friend

Remember Mel's Shoes?

Well, today I'd like to share the rest of her outfit: 

I love everything about her outfit- the bold red coat, the leather bag, the shoes, the skirt- all of it! She wore this before Thanksgiving (I'm behind on my blogging, I know!) when the two of us got together for lunch and a viewing of the most recent Twilight movie (Team Edward). I thought that Mel's outfit was a great way to take a summer-y piece and use it year round. Her seersucker skirt looks adorable with the fitted top and tights. You may also remember that she won the necklace she's wearing in last year's Thanksgiveaway. 

Leave a comment and tell Mel how adorable she looks- she certainly got a lot of compliments while we were out on the town that day. Enjoy the rest of your day, everyone! Thanks for reading. 

Shoesday Tuesday: New Shoes at Work and an Update on My Busy Life

Where have I been?!?!?!? I have been a blogging slacker lately and I'm sorry about that! The month of November was particularly crazy for me. I did a lot of traveling-mostly short trips for a couple of days at a time, but by the end of the month, I was ready to stop living out of a suitcase. I feel like I spent a small fortune on travel-size toiletries, too.

I started off the month with a quick trip down to North Carolina which was pretty adventurous for me because I went down there to meet a gentleman I'd been talking to on match.com. I won't go into the details now, but let's just say that my friends have been asking, "When are you going to do a blog post called 'How to Dress for a Skype Date'?"

The week after that was Beth's wedding, and you've all read a little about that. I had more fun at that wedding than I ever thought possible. I enjoy weddings- the food, the friends, the dancing- but there was definitely something special about that wedding in particular. It was an awesome time with wonderful friends and some really great fashions, too.

The following week, I went with some co-workers down to Providence, RI to visit a friend performing in the touring stage production of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It was a wonderful show and a really fun trip. It rained while we were there, but our moods were sunny the whole time. I purchased a pair of adorable flat oxfords while I was there, too!

The week after that was consumed by prepping and cooking for Thanksgiving- we had a small family gathering with enough food for an army. On Black Friday, Madeleine's Daughter held our annual sample sale and it was record-setting! So many brides came in looking for a bargain and they got it! Dresses were marked up to 80% off and it was exciting to see the smiles on the faces of the brides who found amazing dresses at even more amazing prices.

Finally, I finished off the month with a quick trip down to Lancaster, PA to visit some friends from my old job at AMT. I saw a matinee performance of their current Christmas show and also spent a lot of time catching up with cast, band and crew. I hadn't seen most of those people in over a year, so we had a LOT of catching up to do. I loved hearing about what's been going in their lives and of course I loved talking about what's happening in mine. Between my job that I love and my new budding match.com romance, there was a lot to share.

Now we're into December and I can hardly believe it! I feel as though I didn't really work at all last month and this month is so full of holiday parties that I can't imagine how I'll stay focused at work! First up is our company Holiday party this Friday. It's a secret what we're doing, but we've all been told to dress up. I plan to recycle an old stand-by- my red dress. It's a great dress, so why not wear it at every opportunity, right? The very next day is a holiday party hosted by my coworker Brandie. I plan to wear a dress that I also wore  on my trip to North Carolina. I promise I'll take a photo to share it with you. It will forever be known as "the date dress" but that's a story for another time. The following weekend, my other coworker Sadie is hosting her annual "Yule Ball" and I've got an awesome outfit picked out for that party. I'm excited to show it to all of you. The only thing I haven't figured out is the shoes, but I've got some time. After that, there's a bit of a breather and I'll get to just enjoy the next couple of weeks leading up to Christmas and the New Year. However, my New Year's plans just changed last night. Originally, I had planned to go to a party that my other coworker Juhree is hosting. I even bought a fabulous dress and super sparkly cardigan that I was SO excited to wear. But then I was surprised with the offer to take New Year's Eve off of work, so I took it. After a little research, I was able to book a flight down to North Carolina, so I'll be ringing in the New Year in a more intimate setting.

Phew! That's a lot of news to share, but I had to get it all out in one shot! I hope you'll forgive me for being such a blogging slacker these last couple of weeks. I'll try to be better! I promise.

In the meantime, check out these amazing shoes we're going to be carrying at Madeleine's very soon:

Are they spectacular or what? I can't wait to try them on! Speaking of work, you may have noticed I've been blogging over at the Madeleine's Daughter blog pretty regularly. So, technically, I haven't been a complete blogging slacker. Check out those posts when you have a minute and follow that blog, too! 

Have a great Shoesday Tuesday, everyone!