Story Wednesday: Britney

In college, I loved being sneaky and playing tricks on other people, and this love became even stronger when I met Megan, who would often join me for my shenanigans. One particularly ridiculous trick that we played went like this:

One day I spotted a life-sized Brittany Spears cardboard cutout in the window of an apartment on our college campus. I was horrified. I do not know why I found this to be so horrifying, but I did.

Given my horror, I was sure that the next logical step was to play a practical joke to teach those Britney-loving boys a lesson. I decided that someday when the boys with the Britney Spears cardboard cutout were home, I’d duct tape them in to their own apartment. I envisioned that if I used enough duct tape, they’d find that they were not able to open the door from the inside and would have to call security.

It seemed like a perfect plan. I recruited Megan to join me on the job, and she obliged, because, as a good roommate, she was very supportive of my ideas...even when they didn't make a whole lot of sense. She didn’t even question whether or not having a Britney Spears cardboard cutout should deserve punishment…she just agreed that duct taping was a good response.

I purchased the duct tape. Then one day we went to the Britney-apartment and saw lights and people moving around, so we figured that it was a perfect time. We began cutting strips of duct tape, and applying them to secure the door shut.

We had probably put on about 6 strips of tape when a parent-aged couple approached us. “Hello,” they said, “Can we get in here?” They asked, laughing and pointing at the door that we were taping.

“Eek!” Megan and I screeched and ran away.

As soon as we left, the couple (one of the boys’ parents) easily took down our duct tape strips and entered the apartment.

A failed trick. What made it worse was that somehow from the parents' descriptions, the boys knew that I was behind the trick. Even worse, when I informed the boys that we were duct taping them into their apartment because they had a Britney Spears cardboard cutout, they told me that didn’t make any sense. How could they not understand that owning a Britney Spears cardboard cutout was a terrible offense, deserving of the most severe punishment...that of being trapped in their own apartment?

Inspiration: Blair Waldorf

Okay, I'll tell the truth. I am an adult...and I watch Gossip Girl. You can judge all you want, but it's pretty fabulous...mostly due to the fashion...okay, and the drama. As related to fashion, the most fabulous of all is Blair Waldorf. When the show started, she was all colored-tights and headbands (which were pretty great at the time). Now that she's grown, she's got a very classic, beautiful look, lots of structured tailoring, plenty of peplums, and gorgeous jackets.

In looking for photos, there were so many amazing looks, but I chose just a few...okay, more than a few, to share:

Blair has lots of amazing jackets, and this is just one. I love that it's pretty classic, and then has an unexpected color to it.

I am not showing the bottom of this dress, because it was hideous (bubble skirt), but I wanted to share the fun neck detail combined with the hair embellishment, and the hair. This is not all that Blair Waldorf...it looks far more LA than NY, but it's still beautiful! This picture made me *almost* wish that I had chosen something similar for my wedding hair.

I love this little dress. I think I kind of like for clothes to play the line between this-is-a-normal-outfit and this-is-a-costume.

Look at how professional and yet some how glamorous this combo is!
Fact: I love capelets. I own 3 of my own, but none are quite as impressive as this tweed one worn by Blair!

I saved the best for last. This little number was featured in one of the first seasons of the show. I fell in love with it, and have pined for something similar for years, as it is the best thing I've ever seen Blair wear. It's hard to tell in the picture, but the dress has an open back that goes below the belt that Blair is wearing. I love it because the dress looks classic but not really all that special from the front, and then the back is dramatic and unexpected. The belt that actually covers skin on the back adds to that unexpected look.

So, here's to Blair Waldorf, and to the hope that someday something I make will be as beautiful as anything in her closet!

XOXO, Becky

Story Wednesday: The Time Ada Joined our Family

Today Ada is 2-years-old! What a big girl she is! I felt that I should therefore recall the day that she joined our family, as it is a story to be remembered:

When I first learned of Ada, she was living in Pahrump, Nevada, and I was in LA (if you can count the Valley as being part of LA, which is debatable in my snotty opinion). Given this distance, I had the opportunity to claim her prior to meeting her. I wanted a female Weimaraner with no white spots, which if I recall, left me with 3 to choose from. The breeder kept track of the pups by dame’s name and number, so I had my choice of three numbers. The breeder told me that Rikka #5 had been following her everywhere, and seemed like a delight. So, I agreed that Rikka #5 would be mine. A few days after reserving Rikka #5, I spoke again with the breeder, who told me that she had changed her mind, and thought another pup would be a better choice. Well, too late, Rikka #5 was already mine in my heart, so I was sticking with her.

This is the first photo I ever saw of Rikka #5

The day arrived for us to drive the 5 hours to Pahrump to pick up our girl. I really wanted Saign to drive, because 1) his car is more dependable than mine and 2) I hate driving. However, for some reason Saign refused to drive, so we had to take my car. Fine. I drove the 5 hours through desert and more desert until I finally arrived at the home of my girl, Rikka #5.

There she was. So cute and gray and soft. Around her neck it said, “Rikka #5 Rebecca.” That’s right, my name was around the precious girl’s neck. I was in love. I wanted to cuddle her and have her sniff me and love me back. I approached her, and she ran away. I tried to pick her up. She struggled to get back to her brothers and sisters. Rikka #5 was definitely not interested in me. I showed her a ball. She ignored it. Hmm. This was not what I imagined. In fact, many dog experts recommend doing a sort of “temperament test” with a puppy, and not bringing the pup home unless it shows interest in you and in playing. This puppy would have failed a temperament test had I administered one. But, it didn’t matter, because in my heart she was mine: My Ada. I certainly hoped she would decide to love me back someday.

Well, though we had brought my car, there was no way that I was driving it back, now that I had my bundle of joy. Saign took the driver’s seat. And we drove. Miles and miles through desert. He drove approximately 150 miles before noticing, “You’re almost out of gas.”

“What? I’m almost out of gas? Um, no, YOU’RE driving, so YOU’RE almost out of gas,” I said. “Maybe we’ll be able to make it to the next town.” I hoped.

Saign was mad at me that I hadn’t stopped to fill up. I didn’t understand why he thought it was my responsibility to watch the gas tank on a car that I wasn’t driving. Seriously. He drove it 150 miles, but I was supposed to tell him to stop for gas?

The warning light came on. Then, 10 miles out of Baker, CA, we puttered to a stop. There we were, in the hot, hot desert with a new little puppy, a limited water supply, and no gas. Oh, and no cell phone service either.

We couldn’t stay in the car, as it was desert temperatures. Ada’s collar was much too big for her tiny puppy neck and she could easily escape, so I told Saign to take her far away from the road. He, of course, ignored me and set Ada down approximately 3 feet from the road. Ada went darting straight for the asphalt. Thanks for listening, Saign.

I went to the little yellow call box and called for help. The guy on the phone said that he could send someone with gas, but without AAA, it would be over $100. I told them not to bother, we’d figure something out. I went and got a gas can and stood near my vehicle, trying to look pathetic, hoping that one of the many vehicles driving by with dirt bikes would stop (they always carry extra gas).

There I stood. The dirt-bike carrying trucks zoomed on past me. Thanks, guys!

Finally, an elderly couple drove up. A kind, kind elderly couple. They asked if we needed help, and agreed to drive me to town to get gas. As we drove, I hoped Ada would be okay. I hoped Saign would keep her from running in the road. I hoped they didn’t die of heatstroke. I wondered what the breeders would think if they knew that I was such an incompetent pet parent that I couldn’t even get my dog home safely.

The kind couple drove into to Baker, CA, home of the world’s largest thermometer, and I filled my gas can up. After I had gotten the gas, I told the kind couple not to worry, that I’d find a way back to the car. The kind couple refused to leave me, and drove me back towards my car.

As we were getting near my car, a state trooper passed us going the opposite way. Then he turned back around and pulled us over. Oh dang. The kind couple is going to get a speeding ticket when they are only on this road because of my mistake? I felt awful.

The state trooper got to the car and said, “Hey, are you the one who ran out of gas?”

“Yes,” I told him. Eek. Was I in trouble?

“I’m glad you’re okay,” He said. “Your boyfriend said you were wearing a pink shirt, and I saw you in the back of the car, so wanted to check.”

Whew. We got back to the car, I thanked the kind couple, put the gas in the car, and Saign drove us to Baker. We filled up and then drove back to the Valley. We showed Ada her new home, and she responded by trembling and hiding.

And that is the story of how Ada joined our family.

I love that you can see how tiny Ada was in this picture.

Story Wednesday: Sand-Aid

Hmm. It looks like being a blogger is a lot of work when working full-time, making time for snowboarding and sewing, and studying for a licensure exam in my career field. Luckily, I went on myspace and found some stories I wrote back when people were on myspace, so I'll just share one of those today:

Today I went to my friend's house and I found him lying in the dark in his underwear.

He tried to ask me a question as I entered the room, "Wanna see my..."

"No!!!" I shouted, averting my eyes.

"infected knee?" He finished his question. Then he laughed, "What did you THINK I was going to try and show you?" He asked.

In an attempt to distract him and avoid answering that question I focused all of my attention on his knee. Bad idea, because it was disgusting. The infected area was about the size of a small apple. It was swollen and red and full of puss. Really gross.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Well, I fell playing volleyball." He told me. "I started to bleed, and it just wouldn't stop bleeding. So I put some sand on it to get it to stop the bleeding. I called it my sand-aid."

"You put sand on your bloody knee to make it stop bleeding?" I asked.

"Yeah, I put a sand-aid on it." He answered. "It worked, and it stopped bleeding, but then it got all infected. I went to the doctor, and I guess that sand-aids aren't a very good idea because I could have gotten blood poisoning and died."

"Well, I'm glad you're still alive." I told him.

"Yeah, but it hurts real bad!" He told me. "My knee is on fire!"

So in conclusion, in case there was any confusion: If faced with the choice of bleeding or using a sand-aid, bleeding is actually the better choice. In case you were thinking of patenting the sand-aid, I don't think that it will be very marketable.

Story Wednesday: The Time I Taught My Dog to Talk

If you didn’t know, stories are very important things. At some point in his elder years, my grandfather decided to start writing down some of the stories of his life. He didn’t get very far, only a few pages, but they are some very, very beloved pages. Why? Because my grandfather was a beloved man, and his stories are meaningful.

Well, I may not be as old or beloved as my grandpa was when he began his story-writing, but maybe someday someone will find my stories to be beloved as well. I decided that I should try to write one story per week and put them here, on my new blog. The feature will be titled, “Story Wednesday,” because, as everyone knows, a story is a great pick-me-up for the middle of the week.

I am a girl who likes rules and boundaries, so it’s difficult for me to write personal stories on a blog that is supposed to be about creativity, frugality, and fashion. BUT…writing and telling stories are a frugal way to be creative, so I’ve decided that it counts.

Here’s my first story.

When I was young…possibly old enough that I should have known that dogs can’t talk, but still young enough that I hoped they might…, I decided to teach my dog Sally to talk. Now, I certainly knew that grown-ups claimed that dogs don’t talk, but grown-ups think a lot of funny things, so I thought it best to ignore the grown-up opinion.

I decided that I should start with something simple and useful, “hi.” It’s one syllable, and yet, it can be used to quickly make anyone feel welcome.

So, I began with my first dog-speaking lesson. It was pretty simple. It went like this:

Me: “Sally, say ‘hi.’”

Sally: ……..

Me: “Sally, say ‘hi.’”

Sally: ……

Me: “Sally, say ‘hi.’”

Sally: (In a surprising high pitch) “aiy!”

What? I couldn’t believe it! I’d taught Sally how to say “hi!”

Just to be sure, I tried again:

Me: “Sally, say ‘hi.’”

Sally: (same high pitch) “aiy!”

Elated, I ran into the house to tell my dad.

Me: “Dad! Dad! I taught Sally how to talk! Come see, come see!”

Dad: (laughing) “Becky, dogs don’t talk.”

Do you see what I’m saying about grown-ups? Even when you’re telling them that you’ve seen something with your own two eyes, they’re convinced that they know better than you!

Me: “No! She really said, ‘hi,’ come look!”

Dad: “Okay, but dogs don’t talk.”

My father followed me outside, and I proudly demonstrated Sally’s new talent:

Me: “Sally, say ‘hi.’”

Sally: “aiy!”

Me: “See dad? See? She knows how to say ‘hi’!”

Dad: “Becky, Sally is sneezing. She’s not saying ‘hi.’ Dogs don't talk”

How disappointing. I guess the grown-ups are right and that dogs don’t talk.

A New Year, A New Budget

Saign and I created and agreed to a new budget for 2012. I suppose that this may sound terribly painful or boring to some people, but I’m really excited about it!

Fact: One of the biggest reasons for disagreements between couples is finances. (At least I vaguely remember that from my couples therapy course. Hopefully it’s somewhat accurate).

Yes, we’re in a recession, and yes, it’s stressful to have to trust another person to make good financial choices. So…creating a budget just makes sense.

Now, I've only had a “budget” once before. In high school, my parents gave me $20 a month for clothes. I guess that it wasn’t technically a budget, since I worked part-time jobs and could supplement it whenever I wanted, but I’m telling you, $20 can get you a lot if you’re properly motivated. I’m pretty sure that I became the talented deals shopper that I am as a result of my $20 budget.

But I digress…

The point is, that neither Saign nor I have ever lived on a budget before. It’s a new challenge for us. But, I can tell you that it feels great to have a plan that will get us to our goals and keep us happy with one another’s spending.

Here’s what we did:

1. We identified some saving goals – We are saving for vacation, a house, and a car

2. We calculated our monthly expenses, and set those approximations as our budget, including specific savings goals for the things listed in #1

3. We created a joint savings account, with separate sections for an emergency fund and the savings goals listed in #1

4. I created an excel spreadsheet with the name of the expense categories along the top, and the days of the month along the left. At the bottom of each column, it totals up what we’ve spent and how much we still have in that category

Now every time we spend money, we add what we’ve spent to the expenses list, and make sure that we don’t spend more than what we have for that category. At the end of the month, some of the expense categories with excess will rollover into the next month. For example, our car insurance category will rollover, since we only pay that twice a year. Other expense categories will not rollover, and instead will be added to one of our savings goal accounts.

We’ve already run into some glitches. For example, I didn’t create a category for health expenses, which I will need to add. Also, Saign and I both bought clothes at the beginning of the month, which sucked most of our individual “fun” accounts dry, so we agreed to add a clothes budget. Perhaps I’ll use the $20 budget from my high school years!

We are still learning and adjusting, but it’s really nice to have a doable plan in place, with specific savings goals each month. We’re excited to have financial peace in 2012!

Beginnings of Beautiful Blue

I chose a fabulous pattern to make my "beautiful blue" suit. Here it is:


It's a vintage pattern from 1960, McCalls 5512. I struggled with whether or not I should use this pattern. The neckline is rather...conservative and uninspiring. I'm also a bit worried about it not having a peplum, as a peplum can really help with recreating a vintage-like hourglass figure without needing to wear restricting undergarments. But, I decided to proceed forward nonetheless, because it really is a beautiful pattern, and it will be a great learning experience for me.

What will I learn from this, you ask?

Well, this will be my first time significantly modifying a pattern for size. This pattern is a vintage size 10, and according to my measurements, I should wear a vintage size 16. This is a 4-inch difference!

I typically like a challenge, so I'm excited to get moving. The first order of business is to trace the pattern. Now typically, I am pretty irreverent when it comes to patterns and do not trace them, and instead cut them out and use them directly on the fabric, but because modifying this pattern is going to include cutting and slashing, tracing is in order.

Now, here's my Becky Homecky frugal tip: Use parchment paper for tracing patterns! I got this idea from one of my favorite sewing blogs, Gertie's Blog for Better Sewing, a long time ago. The idea did not actually come from Gertie, but was a reader response to a post that Gertie wrote about preserving patterns. I thought it was brilliant!

Here's why:
- It's easier to find than dressmaker's tracing paper
- It's more durable than dressmaker's tracing paper
- It's less expensive than dressmaker's tracing paper (as far as I've seen)
- It's multi-functional (I use it for sewing and for baking!)

So there you have it, parchment paper, the dressmakers miracle.


I will keep things updated as I proceed in completing this new (slightly daunting) project.