styling; or how the internet confuses me into a larger closet

the other day, I tweeted & Facebook-ed a simple thought: "sometimes I think about what I want to wear tomorrow and forget that the things I've pinned on Pinterest aren't in my real closet."

Quite a few of my friends responded positively...we've all been there. You look and look through Pinterest at all the pretty clothes and pin outfits and styles, thinking "I like this and I don't like that, oh that would be pretty with that skirt over there, and shoes!" It is a great time killer, while you still feel as though you might still be creative. It gets worse when you add Polyvore to the mix. 

I'm still on the fence with Polyvore. I like Pinterest the way I like tearing photographs out of magazines, as an inspiration for styling myself and my home. I like seeing how the women on the street look, how the stylists make them look, how one adorable skirt looks great in one photo and not so great in another, depending on the cut, the rest of the outfit, and the woman. 

A piece I love by itself I might hate on a woman who is built like me and love on a woman like Christina Hendricks, or maybe Mila Kunis or Karlie Kloss. With Pinterest, a lot of the time it's about the feeling in the photo...so long as we're thinking Pinterest for clothes. It also does a lot of the best and worst looking recipes to be found online, has home decor stuff, and is possibly the widest range of workout motivation/fat shaming quote boxes I've ever seen. 

But regarding clothes, I can be a lot more difficult to see how that blouse you have that looks like that one picture would go with that pair of jeans from another, until you get to Polyvore. It's where every person in front of her computer gets to become the stylist. I've been there a while and admittedly still don't understand the following other people function, because most of those styling boards are on Pinterest anyway. That doesn't stop me from styling away though.

Polyvore seems to bridge the gap between Pinterest's aspirational clothes and what is actually hanging in your closet. You won't find exactly what you already own, unless you're covered by designers who show at the Paris haute couture shows, but you will find lots and lots of things that look remarkably like what is hanging in your closet. It might be an easier way to decide what accessories to pick up to go with a dress you already own. I've played around a bit:

Like I said, I'm still on the fence, and I still tend to spend more time on Pinterest than Polyvore. Still, it is nice to have a site where you are the active participant in creativity instead of the passive consumer of it. 

"Be well. Do good work. Keep in touch." - Garrison Keillor

how the little things derail a day; or how I get needlessly cranky

do you ever go to bed with the absolutely best laid plans to start the morning off right, get up early, be creative, and attend to all the little things for yourself before you do so for the rest of the world? I do every night. But, plans don't always run smoothly & when you own a business and live next door to your parents, with major responsibilities to both, plans never work out.

Sometimes, though, after a bit of b*tching and moaning and idiocy, your morning returns to you, even though you never lost it. It's the little things that put the day back on track pretty well, too. Doodles and breakfast with French press coffee, the last of the summer peaches with some yogurt and homemade granola (which is infinitely easier than you think)...all make the day a bit better and help leave the idiocy behind.

don't you like a mood-board for the day's look?

Yesterday was really a fest of apple peeling and some quick-cooking applesauce. For cranky, half-wild apples that are (shockingly) organically growing in my backyard, they were reduced to a slightly chunky sauce in no time. I've got yesterday's picture of the apples just as they began to cook, but managed to cook off the liquid and have some delicious sauce without actually getting the camera out. whoops.

Similarly, last night's quick & lazy supper of a cheddar and onion omelet and mini bagel had only a crappy cameraphone/Twitter picture to it's name. However, it's the granola and watching The Sing-Off that made the night awesome.

Granola is amazing, but often too sweet for my taste. I prefer a nuttier semblance of wholesomeness. So, I stumbled across a recipe over at Smitten Kitchen for what looked like a yummy and healthy granola. Alas, I didn't want the extra sweetness of the coconut, nor did I have any of it or the pumpkin seeds (though they sound delicious). Also, I wanted a smaller batch for just one woman and her dog - no, no granola for Pepper, though.

Granola, highly personal:
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup canola oil
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Mix well, spread out onto a cookie sheet (solid, absolutely not AirBake. We'll discuss the futility of owning AirBake later), and bake at 375 degrees for 15-30 minutes. Stir occasionally and watch carefully. Your nose will tell you when it's done with a delightful nutty, caramel aroma.

Then pour the oat mixture back into its mixing bowl, into which you have chopped dried fruit of the amount you like. I did about a cup, 1.5 cups of cherries, apricots, and dates for this amount of oat/almond mixture. Mix well and allow to cool.
To store: place in an airtight container and keep in the freezer.

It saved my morning today over some peaches and yogurt.

Finally, after my doodles and coffee, I managed to arrange an outfit that should make the day feel better. It's an odd sort of warm, sort of cool, humid day...rather unlike the past few days and requiring the constant addition and removal of layers. Not much is planned for today but running the store and sorting cooking for the rest of the family...maybe I'll finally delve into the new Vogue that came in the mail a few days ago.

"Be well. Do good work. Keep in touch." - Garrison Keillor