Because I said sew...Keeping the original hem

One of the more frustrating things about being so short, is the problem of clothing not fitting properly, in particular pants. I do have to say, for being only 4'10" I usually do have pretty good luck finding jeans that fit, but sometimes, I have to do a little leg work (haha, I like my little pun). Typically if I find a really nice fitting pair of jeans that are too long, I pay a seamstress about $20 per pair to have them altered with the original hem of the pant. This can get expensive, but it's worth it to not look ridiculous in a cheap-looking, cheesy, unmatched hem.

I found this pair of jeggings, [why yes, I said jeggings] at JC Penny last year, for about $12.00 in the junior department. I bought them because I figured they would be perfect for tucking into boots. I truly didn't know how much use I'd get out of them, and they have proven to be a great purchase! The only problem was they were 6 inches too long, so I would just roll them about 3 times before putting on my boots. This became annoying because they would gather too tightly around my ankles and it would be uncomfortable. I thought about taking them into the seamstress, but certainly wasn't going to pay more money than the price of the jeans, just to have them fit a little bit better! So this morning I decided to take full advantage of the cold and dreary day, and bust out the sewing machine for a little project. And now that boot season is in full force, I need my jeggings!

I measured my jeans to ankle length, & decided that 5.5" needed to come off.

I divided that measurement in half and pinned my jeans at 2.75" 

(Do not include the original hem of the pants in the measurement)

I tried to find a good matching thread in my box without having to go to the store, and I decided on black. It was far less noticeable than the blue thread. You can use a good quality jean-thread, but I'm too cheap and lazy to head out into the cold for that. So I'll see how this holds up!

This little project required some modifications to my sewing machine...because these jeans were so tight, I had to remove the front cover of the machine in order for the jeans to fit around. Keeping to the right of the hem, sew a line as closely as you can get to the original hem.

Ooooops.

I made a boo-boo. Because these jeans are so damn tight and skinny, I had a rather difficult time moving the fabric through the machine. After I completed the first leg, I realized that my alignment was completely off....Thank goodness for seam rippers! When I started over,  I added more pins to the top of the hem to help keep everything in place, and used the side-ends as a guide.

After I the sewing was complete, I cut off the excess fabric inside the jean.

 I steam ironed the new hem a few times to get a good flat line.

And just like that: new jeans that fit! It's not the best job in the world, but it saved me $20 dollars and these will probably only ever be worn tucked into boots! I'll be less embarrassed of a slightly off-hem when I take off my boots, than a half-foot of bunched up material around my ankles!

 -just me and my thoughts.

blessings&love.

The Most Wonderful Fall Weekend

I'm pretty sure that this last weekend has to go down in the books as the perfect autumn weekend. Ever.  I've made no secrets that Fall is my favorite time of year, so it's pretty easy for me to be in a great mood these days, but it seems like it's been even better during the first official autumn weekend. Where do I begin with how lovely this season is?  I love waking up to the dark, crisp cool mornings, and the ever present smell of pumpkin & cinnamon spice; the beautiful orange and gold aspens that line our spectacular mountain sides and front range; the endless possibilities of warm goodies that hail from my oven; football parties; cuddling up under a blanket with a movie in the background; and lastly, the knowledge that winter is quickly on it's way, so it's a constant reminder to soak up and enjoy these last few days of t-shirts and sandals. And it seems like all of that was compiled into one perfect little weekend :) Lucky Me.

I've been in my typical phase of needing to change up my hair. I go through this about every 2 years where I decide I need to mix it up and put some warm brown highlights in my hair. It usually doesn't last longer than a few weeks before I'm over it, and go buy a bottle of dark hair dye just to cover it back to natural again; but this Friday I decided to go for it and change it up again. I had a lovely afternoon in the salon sitting under the warm lights while the stylist weaved some pretty brown highlights into my dark blob. Later that evening, Alison came over for our "Fall Baking Extravaganza". We made pumpkin cake and two loaves (a healthy version, and a not-so-healthy version) of zucchini bread!

Two zucchini loaves and pumpkin cake :)

 

 Saturday morning, Jake and I planned to spend the day in the mountains. We took a leisurely drive to Vail for a wonderful day of aspen gazing, lunching, and coffee drinking. We made several loops around the resort village, and stopped to take some pictures. I wanted to stop in Breckenridge on the way home for dinner, but somehow, I was not paying attention and I missed the exit. We ended up going back to Jake's hometown of Lafayette and walked around the lake where we watched the sun set behind the mountains from a park bench. It was too perfect for words. 

such a pretty town.

 

So thrilled that I get to call this spectacular place "home".

Sunday afternoon, Nick, Alison, and I drove back to Lafayette where Jake's parents had a lovely BBQ planned. We lunched, laughed, and had a great time. We decided to walk down to the local thrift store where we happened upon some great finds! Too bad I had left my wallet at the house....haha

Found a mannequin head that looked oddly like Jake...

It was a whirlwind of a weekend, and I enjoyed every single minute of it! 

Ugh. It's Monday night. four.more.days.till.friday. 

Can't wait!

-just me and my thoughts.

blessings&love.

Labor Day Weekend in Portland

Portlandia: Take II

Well, for those of you who know me, you know I've always got this insatiable itch to get away. So I decided to take full advatage of the long holiday weekend, and visit my wonderful friend, Marianne in her fun and quirky city! Portland: where hipsters abound, and young people go to retire.



I flew in late on Thursday night, and was met by Marianne and her boyfriend, Ryan (AKA Ralph :) where we finished the evening catching up over local craft beers, while Ralph sipped his whisky from a coffee cup! Friday morning, I woke up to a fantastic breakfast feast! How wonderful to be able to eat fresh food from your own backyard! We had wonderful home-made roasted-peach scones, and omlet's stuffed with with goat cheese, delicious sweet cherry tomatos, roasted peppers and onions, made mostly with fresh veggies from the garden, and with the freshest eggs right from the hens behind the house! The last time I was in Portland, it was winter, so this was an entirely different experience :)

I think this one's name is Nancy...

The magnificent Blue Moon

After copious amounts of coffee and afternoon pedicures, we loaded up the car and took a little roadtrip to Corvallis to visit Marianne's friend, Pavel. Once there, we made a fantastic mexican dinner and drank local brews by the firepit in the back yard, & witnessed the Blue-Moon. Apparently those are pretty spectacular and equally rare, however it looked just like a regular moon to us! The next morning we were up early for a wonderful drive along the PCH down the Oregon coast.  The Oregon coast is so wonderful with crashing waves against the rocky shore line! There were hundreds of little eddy's where little tadpoles and anemonies could be found! We went to a couple different beaches, and would have had a fantastic picnic on the shore, except someone *AHEM, Pavel!* forgot the food on the kitchen counter (we somehow managed the the cooler with beer though, haha :) We finished the night in Newport, where we watched the sea-lions at sunset and had dinner in the quaint little coastal town. It was such a wonderful day, with wonderful friends, and one that I will remember for a long long time :)

This place was meant for me :)

catching tadpoles :)

My sweet friend

breath-taking!

Bringing a little bit of CO to OR with a Fat Tire

So serene.

I just LOVE this picture!

Just giving Ralph a piggy-back ride :) Don't worry, I got this!

Playing in the sand

Sunday night we got to spend time with some of my other fantastic friends, Alexe and Eric! We met up at an art festival downtown, where we saw the filming of The Real World Portland, and were informed that Alexe and Eric's puppy, Whidbey, will make a cameo appearance on the episode, because he's just so darn cute! We then proceeded into the evening with food and drinks at various places downtown, and made our way to a micro sour-beer brewary! Alexe's brother, Pat met up with us at the end of the night, and we had a fun time laughing at our slight height difference :)

The cast of "The Real World, Portland

The star of the show, Whidbey!

Drinks at stop #2

Cascade Brewery - - Sour Beer!!

Alexe, and Marianne :)

Alexe's brother, Pat. (a little height difference...)

Monday (Labor Day) was spent walking around downtown with Marianne and Ryan, and enjoying my final hours in town. Portland is such a wonderful, quirky city and I just can't wait to go back! It is somewhat similar to Colorado, but vastly different with the greenery and the rolling hills! Some of my favorite people call Portland 'home' now, and  therfore I like to think that I have a little bit of 'home' in Portland!

Food carts EVERYWHERE! You don't see that in Denver!

As always signing off; farewell, Porland! Until next time :)