Surprise Visit

My Dad showed up for a surprise visit today!

Now, you might not think that this is a big deal. Parents visit their kids all the time right? Well....not when their kids are four states away! He was travelling home from a business trip when he called this morning with the news that he had a newly acquired 5 hour layover her in Minneapolis. Since Ian and I are close to the airport, we drove over and had lunch with Dad. Random right?

I love my Dad. Thanks for brightening up my foggy Minneapolis day!

Love,
Miranda

Whistle While You Work

Being home, I am finding how much time I have to clean things. It is fabulous! I never knew that a tidy apartment could bring so much joy and satisfaction.

The thing that I am most proud of is the place I discovered to display my scarves. There was a random towel bar in my closet/office, and for the longest time I could not figure out what to put on it. It looks so beautiful with a selection of my prettiest and most colorful scarves on it! (Now I just need to figure out how to keep Vala away from them!)

The rest of my apartment is becoming more thoughtfully organized. It makes day to day living more enjoyable and leaves more time for doing things that I love to do - hanging out with my loves (Ian, and yes, Vala too), sewing, and of course...blogging! It also makes inviting friends over much less stressful. "You want to come over? Of course I DON'T have to clean up!" Yup. Totally loving have a cleaner apartment!

Love,
Miranda

To Infinity and Beyond - Infinity Scarf Tutorial

Last year I bought this beautiful mustard yellow scarf at Target. I really loved the color, and I still do. Unfortunately, I really didn't love the tassels. They never laid flat when I tried to wrap the scarf - and the scarf was a little too short to wrap twice and hide the tassels. Solution? Make it an infinity scarf! (I included my steps so that if you wanted to try it too, you could.)

All you need: Your scarf, scissors, pins, and a sewing machine. (I suppose you could do it by hand too, but it is much faster with a machine.) 

1. Remove the Tassels with your scissors. I kept the original stitching on the outside of the scarf so that it had a natural finished hem. 

2. Pin the right sides together so that when you sew them together, you flip it right side out and the stitching is on the inside.

3. Sew the two sides together. (I ran over the same spot three times because the yarn was stretchy and didn't hold very well with just one line. I also staggered the lines so that it was a larger area held.)

4. Flip the scarf so that the outside in showing...

...and show off your work! (Disclaimer: I didn't realize that the mirror was smudged before I took the pictures. So, my shirt is not dirt...it just looks that way. Ugh.)

And there you have it! 

I suppose that you could do this with any scarf that you would like as an infinity scarf. You could just skip right to step 2. I have some cute cotton scarves that would look adorable as infinity scarves. 

I would love to hear if you try this. Let me know how it turns out!

Love,

Miranda

Sew Happy

As mentioned before in this blog, I wanted to find a place where I could set up my sewing machine and supplies. Well - I found a place!  Since I am now at home more that I am out and about, I decided that it was time to clean and organize our closets. Once I took a trunk full of junk to good will, I found that our family room closet had just enough room for me to set up a sewing space. Remember our family room? (If you didn't catch that post, you can find it here.) I set up a cute little space, with lots of storage to corral my crafting supplies!

I'm pretty sure my favorite part are the christmas lights. I love the fact that it is simple too...very clean and ready to use. Perfect for those little projects I have lying around. Now, instead of hauling my sewing machine out of the bottom of an over full closet...I just have to turn it on. I love it!

I also received a wonderful present from my Mom this Christmas. See?

It is perfect. I can't wait to use it to make my own clothing...and mend/hem the existing things that I own! Thanks, Mom!

As always, Vala had to steal the spotlight too. I'm pretty sure I had to remove her from every photo that I took. She just loves being photographed! :)

Love,
Miranda

Beautiful Sunshine

I'm BACK!!!

I can't say that I didn't enjoy my blogging break....because I totally did. It was fantastic! And I have so much to share now. I hope it makes up for my absence!

Well, first thing is first. I no longer work at Francesca's Collections. I loved it while it lasted, but it is my time to move on to pursue other things.../so I am now a full time housewife...and am now free to pursue my artistic endeavors! I most certainly will blog more about them at a later time!

Ian and I went to Disney World!!!! It was fantastic! Wonderful food, wonderful sun...and a most wonderful husband! I loved spending time at one of my most beloved places, but most of all...I loved the quality time that I spent with Ian. What is it about vacation that allows you to think new things, dream new dreams, and inspire ideas? I loved sharing every moment with him.

I played a little game with my family (Mom, Dad, and Kasey - who have always gone to Disney with my before). Through out the day I texted them a picture of a small detail, and they had to guess where Ian and I were. I was so surprised at how many correct answers there where - my family is full of Disney geniuses!  It was by far, one of my favorite memories of the trip. Since this was my first time to Disney without them, it was my special way of feeling connected to them while still spending quality time with Ian. He even got in on the fun and pointed out good photo opportunities! I truly can't stress enough what a relaxing time it was for us...to not worry about anything but having a good time. Priceless!

Now that I am home a lot more that I used to be, I hope that blog posts will be more regular. I have so much that I want to share! :)

Love,

Miranda

Blueberry Tea and Pancakes

Last night I got the insatiable urge to make blueberry syrup. I'm so glad I did! The recipe I used consists of all natural ingredients - no artificial sweeteners or blueberry extract. Just blueberries, water, 1 lemon, and sugar. It turned out to be fantastic. I also made a simple syrup with coconut extract (because it really is hard to get coconuts to make a good flavorful syrup) which is wonderful with iced coffee or jasmine tea. You can find the recipe for the blueberry syrup here (found on Simple Bites), and below is my recipe for simple syrup.

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1-2 teaspoons of whatever flavor* you want to add! (depending on how potent you want it to be).

Fill a small saucepan with the water and the sugar, and bring to a simmer. Stir frequently until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add the flavoring, and continue to stir and simmer for another five minutes, to thicken slightly. Use a funnel to fill whatever container (I would recommend pyrex or glass - so the flavor does not taint the container) with the syrup. It will last in your refrigerator for up to six months.

 *Some of my favorite flavors are vanilla, peppermint (or mint), coconut, and cherry. It is optional to add food coloring. (I would recommend adding some food coloring if you have multiple glass containers filled with different flavors...it makes it easier to tell them apart). 

See? It truly is simple! This morning Ian made blueberry pancakes and we topped them with the syrup, and I also made earl gray tea, and added the syrup to it as a sweetener. Delicious. I'm going to have to try blueberry coffee now!

Today is my cleaning day - so I must get to it. After the holidays and being gone for almost a week, my house needs some TLC. At least I have some sweet blueberry tea to reward myself with when I am all done! :)

Love,
Miranda

How do you Measure a Year?

I was fortunate enough to go home for New Years this year and spend much needed time with great friends and family. I was only home for a few days - but that only drove me to truly enjoy every minute! The only down side to this is that the main love of my life, Ian, was not with me. He had to stay home this trip; but the absence between us only made me love him more when I got home!

The main reason that I went home to Washington was to photograph the wedding of Dani and Ryan Martin. Dani has been a long time family friend, and it was an honor to be her wedding photographer! Her wedding was beautiful, and I was overjoyed to be apart of it. I will possibly share pictures later, if she lets me. ;)

The rest of the trip was spent in the company of people that I love. I stayed at my family's house...spent New Years Eve day with my whole family (and celebrated my cousin and uncles birthdays)...celebrated New Years Eve with my closest friends from church, and the ended the trip off with a lovely morning coffee visit and shopping with my Mom.

Truth be told, I wish that my trip could have been much longer. You never know how much you miss those you love until you don't see them for a long time. Here's to more time spent together with those I love in 2012!

Love,
Miranda