Candy cane dress

This dress was seriously, like half a year in the making. It is the same pattern (Simplicity 1803) as my Purple Princess Dress, just a different version. I bought and prewashed the fabric back in April right after making the purple dress, and it has been sitting on my desk along with the pattern pieces since then, begging to be sewn. Brendon has been giving me crap about it for ages, so I finally knocked it out since Halloween got me back into my sewing game. And I'm so glad I did because this dress fits like a glove and I love it! It's rare that I don't have to make any sizing adjustments at the end, but this baby just came together and fit perfectly. Too bad it's fall now and I just made a sundress...

It's a candy cane dress, just in time for the holidays! Even though I bought the fabric in the spring... I had been eyeballing this fabric for months before I bought it, I just needed an excuse to use it. It's a super soft cotton blend with a little stretch to it. It's fairly sturdy and not see through at all, yay no lining! It was a dream to sew on and this baby came together so easily, I knocked it out in an afternoon.

Even though it's a sundress, I shall be sporting this all winter with sweaters. And I mean it is Texas, so maybe without a sweater too. Today ironically was one of the chillest days so far this fall. I was a little cold taking these photos, hence the clenched fists.

I miss sewing (dresses, as I sew drapes weekly!) and need to get back into it. Not only does it keep me entertained and challenged, but the finished product is a new outfit. Win-win situation here.

52 weeks of baking: 45 - apple slab pie

HOLY COW. This pie. It is a winner. Favorite apple pie ever. It's a Smitten Kitchen recipe, and homegirl knows her pies.

Rolling out that gigantic crust was interesting, but not impossible at all. Also, this pie is baked in a seriously shallow baking dish! It's like a cookie sheet!

A slice of heaven. Seriously. It is very very very good and I've had two pieces tonight. I love pies for their crust and this pie has an excellent crust to filling ratio. Deb's pie crust recipe is unbeatable and in NEEDS to be in your baking arsenal, stat. Also, this pie is totally sturdy enough to hold in your hand. PIE ON THE GO! Such a winner.

And because I could go on for hours about this pie, I'm just going to highly suggest that you make it as soon as possible (it would be excellent at a Thanksgiving feast) and leave you with this blurry shot of Brendon thoroughly enjoying a slice of this baked masterpiece.

Wurstfest 2013

Yesterday we donned our German gear and went a Wurstin'. Gosh I love Wurstfest! Polka music, abundant greasy food, and people watching galore. Yes please! We went with my mom and my sister and had a blast. Unfortunately there was no 2013 dirndl this year, although I had all kinds of plans for one. Time went by too quickly and as I was finishing up my Halloween costume the night before, there was zero time for a new dirndl. Sad! I sported my 2011 dirndl and my sister rocked my 2012. Yes, they are dated now.

An all lady polka band, rocking out. Respect!

More polka respect, this chica at the end played like, no joke, at least five instruments. Also the guy playing the accordion could yodel like no ones business and the sax player was killing it on some solos.

We finally got Brendon a real German hat! He's wanted one since he was a kid, and it's about time he finally got one. It will hold up a lot better than that cheesy, but cute, "Wurstfest" hat and we can do as the German Texans do and add pins to it every year. We got a cute little 2013 one for this year. 

Here comes the food. We had a funnel cake (heaven!), a sauerkraut pita pocket (two actually), kolache style danishes (good, but they've got nothing on West, TX), and not pictured was the potato pancake (worth the line everytime) that we inhaled. This was my first Wurstfest as a vegetarian and I did just fine. Didn't have a bite of meat. I sure did want some damn sausage though. Brendon may or may not have given in and had a couple bites. Fun fact, my mom worked the funnel cake booth when I was in high school! Band mom duties. Best mom ever!

And for your viewing pleasure, these were Brendon's stockings:

Clearly they are mine, but he rocked the hell out of them. One day you'll have real German socks. And real leather lederhosen. One day.

I had a blast and can't wait until next year to go again! Although I would much rather have gone on a weekday, the weekends get so dang crowded! This was just the first weekend, so if you're around New Braunfels in the next week, go go go! Eat another potato pancake for me.

2012 and 2011 Wurstfest adventures.

52 weeks of baking: 44 - lemon gingerbread muffins

Pumpkin month is over! On to the next holiday season! I found this recipe over the summer on Sally's Baking Addiction and was like omg these sound heavenly, I must make them. So on the first day that it was officially kind of okay to bake something gingerbready, Novemeber 1st, I made them. Specifically because I was holding a holiday meeting at my store and needed a "holiday" treat for a snack. I thought these would be perfect!

I was a tad disappointed in these muffins. This will be the first recipe of Sally's that I raise my eyebrow at. I'm not sure if I screwed something up or what, but these babies are dry. The flavor is great, the lemon and gingerbread combo is phenomenal, but these were extra dry. Maybe they cooked too long? They're very pretty and smell heavenly, but when you bite into it, it's just not what you want in a muffin. Maybe the cook time/temperature just needs a little tweaking on my end. Although something must be said for how high they rose. Sally has this trick where you bake them at high heat (450) for five minutes to get them to rise and then you lower the heat (375) and bake them for the rest of the time. Worked like a charm.

I think they'd be wicked dunked in tea. Chai tea for you spice loving folks or plain black tea like English breakfast for the simpler folks like me. It sounds divine. Anyway, big shout out to my staff for eating them up like champs. I think it was out of politeness, but whatever, I'll take it. ;)

Halloween 2013

Did you all have a spooktacular Halloween? Mine was pretty good! We started the festivities a couple nights before with a door decorating and pumpkin carving party. Our apartment complex was having a "decorate your door contest" so of course we participated. Although we didn't win, I think our door is pretty fantastic.

I carved my pumpkin into a snarky vampire and Brendon carved his into a Cyberman. Kudos to you if you get that reference! Carving pumpkins is so fun, we ended up skipping it last year because I was in Dallas for a week, so I was very ready to get my carve on this year!

And now, dun dun dun... the costumes!

Brendon was Hugh Hefner. This was definitely a last minute thing. I was supposed to make him a different costume, but I ran out of time. Although I did make that smoking jacket. For our company Christmas card we take crazy photos every year, and this year we all dressed in smoking jackets. And of course I made mine. That jacket he's wearing was made for me, it is an extra small! Yet it is HUGE! I used a bathrobe pattern and just shortened it to smoking jacket length. Brendon added the hat and walked around school all day with a stuffed bunny. Classy.

I was Glinda the Good Witch for Halloween! This costume was a challenge for sure. I had a decent pattern to start with, but I changed quite a bit. I completely re-did the sleeves and ended up drafting my own pattern for the pale pink undersleeve. Their sleeves didn't stick out quite enough and Glinda rocks some killer sleeves. I shortened the whole dress, lowered the neckline (always), and instead of sewing the bodice with facings, I fully lined the whole thing and altered the collar as well.

I hand sewed all those star sequins on the collar, and then said eff that and glued the rest on. There are sequins on the collar, sleeves, and skirt. And I hand placed every single one. Because I'm insane.

The hat was the crucial piece. The hat is what makes this Glinda and not just some princess dress. It was fun to make, although the mylar I used for it was hard to track down. Luckily detective Brendon found some at a blueprinting company downtown. (Shout out to Miller Blueprint! You guys are the nicest!) I got wild with glitter glue and sequins and am very happy with how it turned out! And it actually stayed on my head all day (I wore this ridiculous getup all day at work).

I am pretty satisfied with how the whole thing turned out. There is a lot more I wanted to do (never enough sparkles!) but unfortunately Halloween snuck up on me this year and I ran out of time. It also doesn't fit me as well as I'd like. The bodice could use taking in a few inches, but since I'm crazy and fully lined it, it is not a simple fix so I just rolled with it. It was comfy anyway!

And for your viewing pleasure, here's a couple Halloween Hogan's.

It was a very good Halloween. And because we're nutzo, I think we've already got our costumes planned for next year. Maybe if I start now, I'll get Brendon's done in time. He was supposed to be the Wizard of Oz this year. OH WELL!