John & Jill's Great Pumpkin Adventure

I had Fall Break last Thursday and Friday, so of course I went to spend time with future husband, look for jobs, meet my potential roommate (!) and just generally relax. I love carving pumpkins, so I was very excited when John told me he was planning for us to go to the pumpkin patch after he was done teaching on Friday.

It was adorable...

And so are we. :)

There were lots of pumpkins...

...but I had my partner in crime around to make sure we picked out the most perfect ones...

... and to wrangle the wheelbarrow...

...and to get the bigs ones out of the middle...

... and to make it the most wonderful afternoon of the break.

We picked out the most perfect three pumpkins...

...and made sure they were safe on our way home...

...and then we carved them, while watching Lord of the Rings. 

This is love, folks. 

Glorious love.

Happy Halloween!

peace&love,

Jill

I Made It: Modern Librarian Dress

I fell in love with this dress the first moment I saw it. Here's what it started like:

And here's how it looked when I was done:

I added a longer in front and back hemline and some neckline/sleeve fixes, as well as once again nixing those pesky shoulder pads. I cut the button off the top of the neckline and sewed the tab under on each side so is wouldn't look like someone was missing if I didn't button it. 

Hemline in progress:

I also edited the sleeves a bit. No more flutter sleeves, just a little bit of puff.

And there you go! 

I'm a fan.

peace&love,

Jill

I Made It: A Polka Dot Dress

This dress started it's life as a super unattractive, shoulder padded, white tie collared monstrosity.

Now it looks like this. 

So here's the before picture.

So I took out the shoulder pads, cut of the weird white ties, and chopped it off quite a bit shorter.

And voila! That was all it took. One of the easier reconstructions I have undertaken.

I think it's just about perfect with some nude heels, red and blue elastic belt, vintage color block purse and some pretty red lipstick. That was my most recent beauty purchase--always good for pretending you're grown up.

Looks pretty good, right?

peace&love,

Jill

Just Call Me Cozy

It's definitely fall. I woke up unable to feel my fingers and so we broke down and turned the heat on. It was time.

Today is about the craziest day I'll ever have because I have a big test to study for, and lovely weekend in Tulsa to pack for, meetings, and our first real off book rehearsal tonight. I've only got about half of the lines in the whole 2 hour show, so no biggie (if you're not an actor you should know: I'm being factious. It's killer.)

This sweater was ALMOST tossed this summer, but I saved it from my own rash judgement at the last second. It's actually pretty awesome. And warm. So no complaints here. 

How are you staying warm? Everybody getting ready for Halloween? I can't believe it's almost here!

Happy Fall Break!

peace&love,

Jill

You Know You Want Some

When my family came down a couple weeks ago I made this to win the favor of my two brothers and it worked. They love me even more now. And a few weeks before that I made this for my fiance, rolled the cookie dough into balls and dipped them in chocolate. Cookie dough truffles!

This recipe is from Willow Bird Baking, and the link includes recipes for sugar cookie and cake batter dough too!

Safe-to-Eat Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Recipe by: Adapted from Family Fun Magazine

Yields: about 1 1/2-2 cups cookie dough

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

4 to 6 tablespoons water

Directions:

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Stir in the flour, salt, vanilla and chocolate chips. Add the water one tablespoon at a time stirring between each, until the dough reaches cookie dough consistency.

Omg, Let's Get Some Shoes

All thrift store finds. All less than $3.00 apiece. 

My hobbies are fun AND cheap.

peace&love,

Jill

This is What You Call A Find

This, my friends, is a vintage Dooney and Burke handbag, from the late 1980s as far as I can tell. It was  a new arrival at the thrift store last time I went in. I asked the price on a whim, just because, and then I had to have it.

The lady said, "I'm sorry, but it's $5.00."

Like she was apologizing.

Like she thought it was too much. 

Small towns are not without their charm, I'll say that for sure.

So happy.

peace&love,

Jill