Stacyverb

Sunny and surreal

It was another beautiful spring weekend in the ATL! I am loving it. Especially because my sweetie just finished up a huge freelance job, so he has more time to goof off now. We spent Sunday afternoon at one of our favorite places, the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

 

Tulips and flowering trees were out in full force, and the Chihuly fountain was sparkling in the sunshine.

 

LOVED these tulips in hot colors. (I planted tulips once. Squirrels stole my bulbs. *shaking fist* Damn you, squirrels!!!)

 

Woody trunk of a wisteria vine. Impressive, huh? The wisteria wasn't blooming yet. It seems a bit late this year. The trees in our neighborhood are usually dripping with it by now.

 

This strange-looking tree reminded me of something out of a Tim Burton movie. I couldn't get close enough to its little label to see what it's called. Anybody know?

These umbrellas and upside-down flower pots were part of the Orchid Daze: Surreal Beauty exhibit.

 

Ditto these colorful shoe planters in the trees in the orchid house.

 

Not part of the surrealism exhibit, but a just plain gorgeous orchid.

 

Two goofballs enjoying the beautiful day together. I hope you all are having some wonderful days, too. Make the most of them!

Spring in Oakland Cemetery

The other day Anthony and I happened to be driving past historic Oakland Cemetery and we decided it was a great day to take a walk around there.

I'm not into cemeteries as a rule, but Oakland is a such an interesting feature of the city and a lovely place to walk around admiring monuments, landscaping, and city views.

Yes, the sky was really this blue. I love the light in Atlanta at this time of year, before the air gets so hazy with pollen and humidity.

Much like last weekend when I got on a roll with tail light photos, on this day I became obsessed with...mausoleum doors. (Click to embiggen.)

Now, I'm not a tour guide or a history expert, so I actually have no idea who any of these grand monuments belong to. But if you'd like to do more than casually admire Oakland Cemetery, they have a very informative web site, and for those of you who are local or plan on visiting Atlanta, they offer guided tours and other community events.

 

Here's one of my favorite sights in the cemetery. This mausoleum is so over the top, and I love the weird combination of Gothic architecture and landscaped...cacti?? Plus, this is such a cool view, with the MARTA track running behind it in the distance (and yes, I purposely did wait to take this shot until a MARTA train went by).

 

Here's a peek through the ironwork doors to the inside of the mausoleum.

 

And here's a shot of the gargoyles guarding it from the tower. (I don't know who "Richards" was, but I'm gonna go ahead and guess, "a rich white guy.")

So there you have it--a beautiful April day in Oakland Cemetery. It's a wonderful place to spend an afternoon, whether you visit for the history, the architecture, or just for some peaceful exercise.

Brunch and chrome

Happy Easter to those of you celebrating it! We don't make a big deal out of it in our household, but it was a great day nonetheless.

One of our favorite comfort food spots, Our Way Cafe, hosted an Easter brunch that was totally scrumptious. They don't normally do brunch, but today's event was such a huge success, I'm hoping they'll make it a regular thing. Here we are enjoying our eggs, home fries, Pine Street Market bacon, biscuits, and gravy. Not to mention the cupcakes for dessert!

 

Meanwhile, in the parking lot, vehicles were gathering for an antique car parade. After brunch, we had a great time checking out all the cool cars.

 

Groovy grills!

 

Assorted old timey vehicles.

 

The pest control truck was made by a guy, from scratch! (You can just make a car?? Mind. Blown.) I was in love with that blue Ford on the bottom. I wanted Anthony to cause a distraction so I could steal it.

 

This cutie pie is Chumley. How he managed to restore this car with no thumbs, I have no idea, but he did a great job. Let's take a closer look at that tailfin....

 

Wow. I'm not generally a big fan of fins on cars, but these tail lights were spec.tac.ular. Then I became obsessed with taking pictures of taillights.

 

So many interesting design variations! One lady noticed me taking pictures of taillights and commented that people don't usually notice them, and that hood ornaments are the most popular subject for photos. Here I hope I've given these beautiful taillights the attention they deserve.

By far, though, the most jaw-dropping taillights had to be the ones on this (1958?) Mercury.

AMAZING.

Another angle.

 

Back view of the Mercury. I wish I'd gotten a shot of the whole car, because it was INSANE. Huge and shiny and full of all these weird, fabulous details.

So that was our Easter Sunday, non-Eastery though it was. I hope you all had a great day!

Snapshot: Garden lettuce

Fresh from Anthony's mom's garden in Tennessee.

Snapshot: Mermaid Access

Restroom at Harbour Bar & Fish House

Two problems solved

If you read yesterday's post, you'll remember that I was lamenting the state of my unmanageable hair and also waxing longingly about my lust for a certain shade of green.

Well, this morning I awoke to find this message in my inbox.  Loyal reader Bam Bammerson wrote:

I just read your blog and thanks to my excellent photoshop skills I solved your dilemma.

You're welcome!

You're all speechless, right?  I know.  I was, too. 

Thanks, Bam.  What a perfect example of that old adage, "Killing two birds with one fake yarn wig photo."

Equipment failure

Arrrrgh!  I had written a nice informative post for you all about a recently-completed sewing project, but while attempting a photo shoot of said project, I discovered that my camera is apparently dead.  It has power and acts like it wants to work, yet shows nothing but blackness in its little view finder screen thingie.  And then when you allegedly take a photo, all you get is that blackness.  Booooooo.

I may try to borrow a camera so I can finish that project post.  Beyond that, be prepared for upcoming posts of me just talking.  Or drawing little stick pictures.

Arrrrgh, I say again!

Another wardrobe challenge (or several)

Well, Me-Made-May is over.  I must admit that by the end of the month, I was jonesing to slip into my old reliable Dockers black capri pants and/or a store-bought T-shirt (I'm wearing the latter as we speak--albeit with a me-made skirt).  Overall, though, I loved the challenge and most of all enjoyed bonding with fellow sewists around the world.  Most of us find ourselves now asking, "Now what?"  Well, without even searching, I've discovered several clothing challenges that should keep the creativity flowing for months to come.

Looking at my daily outfit photos from Me-Made-May, I realized that on 8 out of 31 days, I wore a solid black garment either on top or bottom (and frequently craved the company of the aforementioned black capris).  Black is chic, of course, and it's so easy to combine with other colors and patterns, but it seems like I'm using it as a crutch.  So when I read about Sal's Summer Black-Out, I was intrigued.  Sal herself has pledged to wear no black all summer (which sounds like crazy talk to me), but has challenged her readers to join her for a mini-black-out next week.  It's only from June 7 to June 14.  I can manage that, right?  We'll find out!  

Ali, a Me-Made-Mayer, was so inspired by the camaraderie she found in the MMM group that she's started a summer sew-along so we can keep the mojo going.  The goal is for each participant to sew five summer garments by August 1.  This sounds like a good challenge--it won't be easy for me to squeeze in that much sewing time, but I think it's still do-able.  Having the support of my fellow sew-alongers (which is totally not a word) should keep me focused.

For a while now, I've been thinking about trying to make a coat.  This sew-along could give me the motivation I need.  I haven't committed to this, but the timeline on the sew-along blog gives me until June 24 to figure it out, and until the end of August to do the sewing.

And looking ahead...Zoe, the mastermind behind Me-Made-May, has already begun organizing Self-Stitched-September.  It'll be fun to see how everyone's styles change with the seasons (although really, our weather here in Atlanta in September probably won't be much different from what we had in May).

With all these fun and creative events in the pipeline, I'm hoping to keep the handmade happiness going!

Weekend Countdown: Benefits of Me-Made-May

This weekend finds us at the mid-way point of Me-Made-May, so it seemed like a good time to take stock of what I've gained from participating in this project so far.

5. Getting better at documenting my me-made outfits.  Over the years, I've made lots of things that I've never even photographed, and when I have, it's usually been on my dress form.  I'm enjoying capturing my creations "in action" (with the help of my trusty photographer, Adverb).

4. I've realized that I'm in a bit of a rut, creatively speaking.  Going into MMM, I already knew I had some favorite patterns I've used over and over again (McCall's 3341, 4783, and 4922--I'm talking to you, here), but listing the details of my outfits each day has made me realize just how dependent my sewing has been on these standby patterns. It's great to have tried-and-true designs to fall back on, but now I'm more motivated to experiment with some different things.  Which leads me to...

3. ...discovering patterns I'm excited about trying.  As I look through the MMM Flickr group each day, I've been making note of people's outfits I particularly love and jotting down corresponding patterns I want to make.  A recent Simplicity sale helped--watch for Simplicity 2403 & 2416 to make appearances in my wardrobe in the (hopefully) not-too-distant future.  This should help me...

2. ...fill in gaps I've discovered in my wardrobe.  I appreciate all the compliments I've been getting from fellow Me-Made-Mayers on my many blouses, but this has pointed out to me how few pullover, non-buttoned tops I've made.  Also, I've noticed that even though I buy a lot of dress patterns, I only have one me-made dress I can wear in warm weather.  What's up with that?

1. Connecting with fellow sewists.  Before MMM, I was putting infrequent sewing-related posts on my blog, reading a few other people's sewing blogs, and offering occasional comments on them.  Since MMM began, I've "met" lots of new creative people around the world and we've been able to offer plenty of feedback on each other's projects.  Very inspiring and fun!  I especially want to give a shout-out to Zoe, for masterminding Me-Made-May!

Weekend countdown: Eye candy

First of all, if you've newly found your way to my blog because of Me-Made-May, WELCOME!  M-M-M outfit photos will be forthcoming.  But in the meantime, please enjoy a little regular feature here at Stacyverb called Weekend Countdown.  This week's list highlights images I just can't stop looking at.

5. Marco Grob's photo of Lady Gaga for Time's 100 Most Influential People list.  I love how stylized this portrait is.  Her pose, the colors...she looks like a living piece of sculpture.  (Plus, duh, a bra that shoots fireworks is just plain awesome.)  In her write-up about Gaga for Time, Cyndi Lauper wrote, "Being around her, I felt like the dust was shaken off of me."  I love that quote.  Don't we all need more things that make us feel that way?

4. Smitten Kitchen's Cabbage and Lime Salad with Roasted Peanuts.  With the warming weather, I've been craving fresh, crunchy veggies.  These photos from Smitten Kitchen had me salivating this week.  Following Deb's links, I found a passage on her blog in which she neatly describes her relationship with coleslaw: "I’ve never been a fan of coleslaw, as nearly every one I had ever tried was god-awful. I thought it was because I didn’t like cabbage, but this has turned out not to be the case. Then I thought it was because I didn’t like mayonnaise, but this, too, turned out to be a farce.[...].As it turned out, it was coleslaw, the way it is typically prepared (read: scooped from bucket of mysterious origin and packing date), that I loathed."  I feel exactly the same way!  It's like we're slaw twins.

3. This dress by Seth Aaron Henderson for the season finale of Project Runway.  When I saw this dress come down the runway, I literally gasped.  I think I also might have yelled, "Stop it!  You're killing me!"  He took gingham (gingham, of all things!) and made it look edgy.  I would love to find a way to make something for myself inspired by this dress.  It's chic, fun, sexy, and doesn't look a bit like a tablecloth. 

2. Images of the "deadliest place in the solar system."  Go here to see more images sent back to earth from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.  They're jaw-droppingly scary and undeniably gorgeous.  Make sure you watch the video for some hot solar prominence action!

1. Amy Polcyn's Marigold Sweater from the Summer 2010 issue of Interweave Knits.  As soon as I turned the page and saw this, I knew I was in trouble.  Helloooo, this whole outfit is screaming my name, right?  The shape of the sweater, the shirtdress, the headband, the colors...I'm a goner.  Time to rearrange the project queue yet again.  Sweater?  Yes.  Shirtdress?  Yup.  Oh, and sometime soon I need to tell you about the first time I ever made a shirtdress.  It's an epic tale involving Grace Kelly, Chattanooga, and hot dogs.  Stay tuned!