Grand Canyon

After our stopping in Albuquerque, we headed west to the Grand Canyon. If you ever get the chance, the stretch of I-40 between Albuquerque and Flagstaff (and then on to Vegas) is breathtaking. It's a long drive, but it is beautiful. And it follows historic Route 66! Makes me think of Cars.

This was our second time together at the Grand Canyon, and we'd both been as kids as well. The buildings around the rim have changed slightly, but not much else has! Except maybe the entrance fees. Those went up. ;)

We drove along Desert View Drive (which is like 25 miles long! And provides the best views of the river, if you're into seeing it.) when we first got there, stopping at view points and checking out the scenery. The Grand Canyon is huge you guys. The National Park covers 1.6 million acres and within the park I think there's like 40 miles or something along the canyon's South Rim. The park is huge and the canyon is huge!

I think that is my favorite picture. The Grand Canyon is wild and massive, but there are also so many people crawling everywhere. It's awe inspiring nature surrounded by loud tourists and their selfie sticks. Damn whoever invented the selfie stick. But the place is so big, everyone seems tiny in comparison. Little ants.

The original game plan was to camp, but those plans were thwarted by life and we ended up staying at a hotel. Which was expensive, but it was a hotel right on the edge of the Grand Canyon... so that was cool!! And really convenient. This was the view outside our hotel:

That's our hotel! We stayed at the El Tovar Lodge. It's nice, but it's old (like built in 1905) and pricey. Still, pretty cool place. Probably haunted. We had dinner at the Arizona Room in the neighboring lodge and breakfast in the El Tovar Dining Room. Both were very good, but the dinner at the Arizona room was off the charts yummy. And very veggie friendly!

The next day we got in a little hiking before heading to Las Vegas. We hiked around the canyon rim from our hotel, I think we made it about 5 miles before we jumped on the tram to finish the rest. Hiking at the Grand Canyon is hard! You're at a pretty high elevation, so the air is super thin. Every time we went up a hill or stairs I was gasping for breath! But I recommend it, because the trails are right on the edge of the canyon, so you always have an epic constantly changing view!

View of our hotel as we hiked around the rim! And my husband, the explorer:

We forgot sunscreen. And hats. So we bought a little bottle of sunscreen for 1 million dollars at a gift shop, I used my hair to cover my neck (girl powers), and Brendon got a bandanna! It's actually a really cool bandanna, it's a map of the Grand Canyon. Plus I think he looks adorbz in it. So, win win.

The Grand Canyon is insane. These pictures don't do it justice. If you have never been, goooo. Its enormity and age makes you feel very small. In a good way. :) I'd love to go in the winter sometime. A snow covered Grand Canyon just sounds perfect. Plus less people!

Next up, we're in two places at once at the Hoover Dam! It was also 115 degrees and we almost melted.

Albuquerque, NM and Sandia Peak

HELLO! I am alive. And finally posting some of our vacation. It's been weird over here. Not necessarily bad, but weird. Life is weird. But also so good? Anyway, a couple weeks ago we went on our annual summer road trip! The end game was Las Vegas, NV, by way of Albuquerque, NM and the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Brendon and I did this same route when we were 18 (!!!) on our first road trip together ever, except we continued on to California after Vegas back in 2006. This year Vegas was our terminus. It's amazing how much you remember, even though that was almost a decade ago.

So first up, our little stop in Albuquerque. We were only there for the night, but we got in at like 3pm (thank you time change!) so we had most of the afternoon to play. I had read online that there was a tram you could take to the top of one of the nearby mountains, and a tram seems like a pretty quick way to shimmy on up a mountain. So up we went! It's pretty cool, I highly recommend it if you are in Albuquerque for any amount of time.

The Sandia Peak Tramway runs year round, during the summer it's great for good views, hiking, and biking, and in the winter, you can ski! The side of the mountain opposite the tram is a ski area. So you can get to the top of the mountain to ski from either side, which is pretty neat!

Here comes the nerdy part... This thing goes 2.7 miles up the mountain and up 4000 feet, and it only has two towers between the bases. Which means most of the time you're just dangling! There are only two tram cars, and they travel up and down at the same speed to counter balance each other. Isn't that super neat?? The trip up/down takes about fifteen minutes, and the whole time you're surrounded by insane views. Also, the mountains are called the Sandia Mountains because when the Spanish Conquistadors arrived they thought the granite on the mountains made the peaks look like watermelons, and Sandia is watermelon in Spanish! How cute is that?

The view from the top isn't bad either! You can see for MILES and miles. Even though it was a sunny clear day, it was so hazy we couldn't see the horizon. So we saw pretty far, but on a clear winter morning you can see forever!

The have these cool little view finder things that tell you exactly what you're looking at. I had a major freak out when I saw that you could see Taos and Wheeler Peak. Well, you could, on a clear day. It was too hazy for us to see. BUT STILL, TAOS!! My home away from home!

I told Brendon to get a picture of me with the mountains in the background... nice door! ;) And pretty much every picture I take of Brendon he makes this face:

I swear, I did not drag him here. He was having a good time! Really!

That's pretty much all we did in Albuquerque. But for me it was perfect, going to the top of a mountain? Yes please! After we got down to the bottom we found our hotel, checked in, and then mentally checked out. We just vegged out in front of the TV. The next morning we were greeted by a ton of hot air balloons in the sky! New Mexico loves its hot air balloons! We see some almost every time we come! (Which is twice a year? We have a problem...)

OH and if you are driving through Albuquerque, PLEASE stop at Owl Cafe. I am so glad we stumbled upon it, it truly was a random strike of luck. Owl Cafe is an amazing, owl themed, Route 66 diner with all sorts of charm. It also happens to be delicious. Get a milkshake and a bowl of beans. Seriously. They brought a little sample bowl of beans to the table when we sat down and I was like, wow that's weird, but then I tried them and I was like oh, okay! These are gold! Gimme more please!

Next up, Arizona and the Grand Canyon!

Austin to Temple

Quick update on life. It's been messy! And busy! But also really good. We are in Temple and have been for two weeks tomorrow. Our apartment is a dream, cheaper than our apartment in Austin, yet bigger and nicer and quieter. We're surrounded by new housing developments on two sides, an old neighborhood on one, and a field of wildflowers on the other. We face the wildflowers (my allergies!). We're on the outskirts of Temple, on the way to Belton. So we kind of get the best of both worlds. Temple is nice and actually pretty big, but I think Belton might be my favorite. It's smaller and cuter and they have a river and a lake. I'm partial to living near water. But the two towns are basically smashed into one another, so lucky us. I was honestly terrified that I would hate it here after Austin, but I don't. I adore the lack of traffic and the slower pace. We haven't had much time for exploring, but from what we've seen, we like it here! The cats do too.

It's been a nice two weeks of a whole lot of nothing. Well, that's a lie. For the first week Brendon studied his butt off for the NAPLEX (Which he passed! One more test in July and he'll be a licensed pharmacist! What a process this is!) and he's been working part time at a CVS here in Temple. And I've been just chillin' like a villain (insert sunglasses emoji) and working once a week at my sewing job in Austin. It's been a nice change of scenery and breath of culture (and a chance to satisfy any cravings for Austin goodies), and enough of a taste of Austin and it's traffic to make my commute home a happy and relieved one. But mostly we've been relaxing when we can. Watching lots of movies. Lots of cuddling. Lots of sleeping in. It's been good for us, because the last four years of our lives have been go go go GO and now we've had a much welcomed moment to breathe. And we've had visitors! My momma-in-law and little bro-in-law came to stay for the first weekend we were here and my mom was here yesterday! I love visitors. This is an open invitation to anyone who wants to trek to Temple and hang out. I am an expert at relaxation at this point, come chill with me.

Just as we get settled in, we leave for our little summer vacation next week. A real one, where we go somewhere, because I've definitely been on vacation for two weeks already. And then Brendon starts his residency when we get back! Which is a bummer, but hopefully means our lives will settle in to some sort of routine. Don't get me wrong, I like this hanging out in limbo we've been doing, it's been a nice change of pace, but I am not-so-secretly a huge nerd who needs a little structure in her life to thrive. Only a little though.

Pocahontas

Serious face for one of the more serious Disney Princesses. Pocahontas! The first American Disney Princess! Although she is an official Disney Princess she's not technically a "princess". But she is the daughter of the chief, and that's close enough. My sister was a big fan of this movie when we were kids (she even had a cat named Meeko!), but it wasn't really one of my favorites. I'm certain I was still obsessed with Belle. Although I just watched it for this project and the art is really beautiful, the movie is growing on me! Also Christian Bale is in it, WHAT? But real talk, Pocahontas is a pretty badass chick. She canoes off waterfalls, jumps off cliffs, has a slew of wild animal friends, speaks to trees, stops wars, you know, usual badass chick stuff.

Here's something random but Pocahontas related; when running I sing "Just Around the Riverbend" to myself, a lot. Like it's one of my go-to motivation songs. I don't know if it's because we're usually running around the river or what, but that song is always on repeat it my head! I'm weird.

Honestly, I was kind of dreading making this dress. I was like ehhh a brown/tan dress? Not my color. Plus asymmetrical dresses are just not my thing either (I feel that they tend to make boobs look lopsided, no?). But after we watched the movie again I realized her dress is more of a corn silk yellow, so I took that and ran with it. Because really, brown is not my color. At all. So I found a pretty pale yellow linen with matching ivory linen for the trim.

For the pattern I used a highly altered combination of Butterick 4343 (bodice) and Simplicity 1353 (skirt). But I do mean highly altered. I changed the neckline and added a little collar thingy. A flap of fabric around the neckline with added ruffles. I also changed the hem to mimic Pocahontas's "V" shaped skirt. And I added more ruffles. I went with ruffles versus fringe as a trim because, well, fringe is very costumey. And I feel that ruffles are easier for me to pull off. Plus fabric fringe would have been some sort of nightmare to make and not have unravel, ruffles on the other hand are very easy to make. I also think they compliment the linen well. It's kind of like a rustic country dress. Which is more cowgirl than Pocahontas I guess, but hey, I'm Texan. Oh the irony.

Overall I'm very happy with the dress. I expected to not be crazy about it, but it's actually awesome! It fits well, it's made out of comfortable fabric that I can wear on the regular, and I think it's cute! And it doesn't scream Disney Princess. (Or does it? I'm too Disney-fied to tell.) It's a perfect summer dress! As long as it's not pouring rain. Which it almost always is these days.

This is my "EEEE I AM GETTING EATEN ALIVE BY MOSQUITOES" face. Seriously, we were out there for maybe a minute and I look down and there were at least four mosquitoes going to town on my leg. I have yet to discover all the bites, but they just keep appearing. I'm thankful for all the rain, but dang, it's going to be a long summer full of bites.

Speaking of rain, today it was sunny! Which is the reason this post happened. It has rained everyday for as long as I can remember, but today has been lovely! I think it's supposed to start up again tomorrow. This might be the end of our yeaaaars long drought! We are getting some serious rain here in Texas. And there doesn't seem to be any end in sight.

Unfortunately there will be a little break in Disney Princess dress making as we are moving on the first of June, thus my sewing stuff has been all packed up! So now sewing for at least a week or so. I'm already twitching. But I am taking the month of June off to relax and rejuvenate (and sleep), so I'm sure there will be lots of sewing happening once we get settled in. :) I'm pretty stoked about the next Princess, it will be a challenge to make her dress NOT look like a costume. And I like challenges! So until next time folks, wish us luck on moving!

Check out the other Disney Princess Dresses here!

Jasmine

Whoa guys, sorry 'bout the month gaps between Princesses here. I have been a busy bee! (Have you heard? Boy wonder is about to graduate and start his residency, and we are moving 75 miles north to Temple, TX in a couple weeks! Screaming on the inside, so much to do, so little time.) So sewing only happens on rare occasions. PLUS, Jasmine has been done for over a week, but the freakin' rain would not quit, so taking photos was on hold. But today the sun came out! And I was like, lets do this. Because there's nothing but rain on the forecast as far as I can see. (Austin is Seattle now, you didn't know?)

Jasmine! She's the first Princess to not be the main character of a the film. She has to share the limelight with Aladdin and the Genie. Genie steals the show, duh. Aladdin came out when I was four or five and obv, I loved it. Those songs!! I was definitely Jasmine for Halloween, I think more than once. I remember the costumes being incredibly itchy. Why is that? Why do costumes have to be made out of the most awful fabric, especially for kids?! I'm pretty sure there's a photo of me in a Jasmine costume, with a turtleneck underneath. Because it was that scratchy. And I'm a baby with sensitive skin. Sidetracked... so yes, Jasmine! She's a very legit Princess, like she brings the royalty to the relationship table. She's a pretty plucky chick, she has ridiculously voluminous hair, and she has a pet tiger. Oh my gosh, did I want a pet tiger when I was a kid. Jasmine runs away from home, jumps across buildings, and even seduces Jafar to save Aladdin. Pretty racy, Disney. Also, holla at the first Disney Princess not of European decent! Aladdin is a middle eastern tale, which is very cool! Jasmine kind of set the stage for the rest of the Disney ladies to culturally branch out over the next decade or so.

About the dress! Although I did do the two piece thing for Ariel, I didn't want to do it again. Because although I've worn Ariel's skirt multiple times, I've never worn the top. I'm not much of stomach showing girl; I wanted to make something I'd actually wear. So I picked the Kim Dress from By Hand London, and went for the sweetheart neckline and wrap skirt. I feel like the neckline mimics Jasmine's little top and the wrap kind of looks like pants? Yes that is a stretch, but roll with it. Luckily, mint green was a very in color this spring, so this kinda shiny polyester fabric was super easy to find. I think it's the perfect color! This was my second Kim Dress, the first I made out of sateen bed sheets with the straight neckline and full skirt, and it is one of the most comfortable things I've ever made. This pattern is lovely to follow and it sews up like a dream. Plus the packaging is adorable. I'm a sucker for good packaging.

My only issues with this dress are that the straps are too long (and from what I've read online, this is a common issue) and that the wrap skirt is near impossible to walk in without showing your goodies to the world. I think I might tack the two layers together farther down, to prevent any flashing. Other wise I'm very happy with it! Perfect for spring/summer! If it would quit raining.

So there you have it! The palest Jasmine ever. Vampire Jasmine. Seriously this dress has been sitting on my ironing board for over a week, glad I can finally share it with the world. Hopefully the next princess graces the internet with her presence sooner! Her dress is already half done, keeping my fingers crossed that the weather cooperates this time. ;)

See all the other Disney Ladies here!