Dress Me Up Dollie

On Suday, I arrived in Eugene safe and sound!  I'm so glad to be home, though my internet connection is significantly slower (read: stolen) and food is harder to come by!  A trade-off for sleeping in my own bed and making money, I suppose.

Speaking of making money, on Monday I participated in a (paid) psychology experiment.  I had an EEG done (my brainwaves were measured) while I performed simple learning tasks on a computer.  The process was decidedly unglamorous.  Luckily, as seen above, my outfit was. Before I left, I thought about wearing this cloche hat I picked up at Target a few months ago.  Luckily I decided not to because part of the process was wetting my head with salt water.  THAT would have put a crimp in my hat style (and a terribly unflattering wave in my hair.)

Jumper, Target; white t-shirt, Old Navy; jacket, Gap; tights, Old Navy; boots, Colin Stuart for Victoria's Secret.

On Saturday night through to Sunday morning, I couldn't sleep, so after 4 hours of lying in bed restlessly, I got up and made sticky buns.  I thought they were really delicious, but my little brothers disagreed--there's granola in them and they hate anything that could resemble health food!  Try it out yourself:

DOUGH:

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs

TOPPING:

• 1/2 cup chopped fresh orange
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/8 cup orange juice
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup granola

FILLING:

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granola
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh orane
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons melted butter

DIRECTIONS

1. In a mixing bowl, combine 2 cups flour and yeast. In a saucepan, heat sugar, butter, salt and milk to 120 degrees F-130 degrees F. Add to dry ingredients; beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Add eggs; beat on high for 3 minutes. Beat in remaining flour. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
2. In a saucepan, combine all topping ingredients except for granola; cook and stir over low heat until brown sugar is dissolved and butter is melted. Stir in granola. Spread into two greased 9-in. square baking pans; set aside.
3. Punch dough down; divide in half. Roll each portion into an 18-in. x 6-in. rectangle; brush with butter. Combine filling ingredients; sprinkle over dough to within 1/2 in. of edges. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seam to seal. Cut each roll into nine slices; place cut side down over topping and flatten slightly. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
4. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F; bake 15 minutes longer or until golden brown. Immediately invert onto serving plates.

Image from What's For Lunch, Honey?

Currently, I'm:

• Living For: The Arctic Thaw of 2008.  Portland's local news stations have been calling the uncharacteristic snowfall "Arctic Blast 2008"!  God, I hate local news.  I'm waiting for the thaw because I want to know for sure that I'll be able to go home on Sunday!
• Loving: Paris Hilton's Heiress perfume.  I didn't think I could ever like anything Paris did, but for Christmas, my aunt gave me a sampler of her 4 perfumes and they're all really lovely!  Heiress is light and floral, just the way I like my perfume!
• Listening To: My "Soft Music" playlist.  It's quiet and good for going to sleep to.  Find a sample below.
• Lusting After: This Milly cardigan.  Soft cashmere and a beaded neckline...it fulfills all of my winter needs!

Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my tripod to Portland (rather, I left it in the trunk of Heidi's car when she dropped me off at the train station) and thus haven't been doing outfit posts since getting here.  I have, however, been collecting an absurd number of items in my 'inspiration' folder, so I thought I'd share an outfit I put together from that.

Admittedly, I can't afford a Sonia Rykiel sweater or Jimmy Choo flats...that's why it's in inspiration folder.  If Forever 21 came out with a knockoff of that sweater, I'd be all over it!

I realize it's been a while since I posted on here.  I guess the pre-Christmas ramp-up got to me.  To make up for it, I have the work of Bay Area artist Jen Wang to show you!  I first found her through StumbleUpon and fell in love with her cartoony, rough yet soft illustrations.  Later, I read her bio and found out that she's lived in Portland.  No wonder I like her work so much!  I think Portlanders are drawn to each other on some kind of subconscious level.

Aren't they just gorgeous?  There's something slightly meloncholy about the work that I just love.

Currently, I'm:

• Living for: December 31st.  Not because it's New Year's eve, but because it's payday.  I need payday!
• Loving: My parents' bathroom.  You see, when I lived at home, the bathroom was an ill-lit closet with mold growing like mad on the ceiling, a weird plastic bathtub/shower and cabinets that were falling apart.  They remodeled it this summer and now there's this lovely, spacious tiled shower, two different light fixtures and a fan that works, to boot!
• Listening to: A Certain Romance by the Arctic Monkeys.  It's been that way for a few weeks now.
• Lusting After: This orange Alice + Olivia dress:

If I had my way, I would spend the rest of winter dressed like this:

Bundled up in coats, gloves and boot(ie)s.  For parties, clearly, there's that wicked cute dress that I would dress down with a blazer.  It feels very much like Karla of Karla's Closet to me.  I don't mind that at all!  :)

Black blazer, Rag & Bone; party dress, Forever 21; black tights, Frenchi; button booties, L.A.M.B.; black gloves, Miu Miu; Clubmaster sunglasses, Ray-Ban; blue heels, shoebuy.com; khaki jacket, Miu Miu; rabbit sweater, groove-market.com; wide-leg jeans, J.Crew; red booties, Topshop; socks, Hansel from Bansel; babydoll trench, Miss Selfridge; red beret, Miss Selfridga; plaid top, Miss Selfridge; grey long-sleeved top, Forever 21; grey jeans, Republic; red gloves, Mulberry; blue flats, zozo.jp

Wouldn't that be lovely? All the snow outside (I didn't manage to escape it by driving 150 miles north...) is making me feel like my winter wardrobe is quite insufficient.  Or perhaps it's that I haven't gone shopping in what feels like ages.  In reality, it's only been like 2 months, but that feels like such an eternity to me!

I hope that the title of this post hasn't led you to think that I'm Oprah--I will not be giving away my favorite things, but in the spirit of the holidays, I wanted to share some of my passions:

I have a firm belief that you can never own too many cardigans.  They're figure flattering, fun and warm.  I love to layer and man oh man, do cardigans fuel that passion.

Daisy has a lovely, light floral scent to it.  I'm not one for really strong perfumes, so this makes me feel like a grown up without being self-conscious about how much perfume I'm wearing.

I know, everyone and their mom loves Bret and Jemaine.  I'm not special for this.  But DAMN, the show is just so funny!  Seriously, go watch it!  The season 2 premiere is on Funny or Die right now.  It's just brilliant.  Plus, it gave me my favorite quote of the moment--"You're gonna wake up in a smoothie!"  I tell my roommate that all the time.

Not a mocha for the weak of heart.  It's got 2 extra shots of espresso and is made with chocolate milk.  It makes my heart warm just to think about.  Heidi and I recently discussed what kinds of food we would have love affairs with and coffee won out--even over cheese.

Another very bandwagon-y love of mine.  Can't help it, the show is just too good.  I could (and have) watch it for hours.

This one's 3.1 Phillip Lim--like I coud ever afford that!  I get mine at the gap.  They just make me so happy.  Also see my recentish post about my love affair with plaid.

There is nothing in the world that's better than silk jersey.  When you put it on, you feel like you're slipping through a cloud.  I can't help but feel the fabric all day when I wear it.  That may be part of why I don't own many silk jersey things.  I would love to own this Stella McCartney for Addidas top, though!

I actually don't own a bottle of this right now, but I'm in Portland and my mom does, so I'm using it like a fiend.  The monoi oil locks in moisture and keeps your skin soft and smooth all day.  The scent is very tropical and smells almost like you could eat it (which I don't reccommend).

Now you know a little about me and my favorite things of the moment.  Don't you feel special?  What would make your favorite things list?

I'm on my way to Portland, so you get to read someone else's writing.  Here's the last Links à la Mode of 2008!  It's a good one!

• 39thandbroadway.com - What really happens to Project Runway alumni and why we are sick of hearing, “You should go on Project Runway”!
• A Few Goody GumDrops - A Few Goody Gumdrops gets Bright for the Holidays with her new Orange Louis Vuitton Tote!
• All Chic - Christmas Jewels
• AlysiaMarie - This Month’s Celebrity Hair Trend; Ponytails!
• Being High Maintenance, not Bitchy - How to wear scarves without looking like an emo kid
• Caged Lilies - Pretty and CHEAP gifts for friends. everything under .
• Capitola Girl Jewelry Blog - Chasing the winter blues away by shopping handmade…
• Clutch 22 - Stylish gift giving on a budget - there’s still time to do your holiday shopping!
• Couture Allure Vintage Fashion - Couture Allure shows how to dress up your shoes for a touch of evening glamour.
• Debutante Clothing - A Tribute to Bettie Page: 5 Reasons We Loved Bettie Page
• Decline Designs - Petticoat tutorial - so your vintage skirts can have the look they deserve!
• Dirty Laundry - How-To: Boyfriend Jeans
• dramatis personae - Alternative Uses For Fur
• Dress Me Up Dollie - A little DIY chases the winter doldrums away.
• Fashion Birdcage - Of Cabbages & Kings Spring/Summer 09 Collection
• fashion fille - Fashion Fille spreads the cheer around through boosting fashionistas to enter the weardrobe contest.
• fashion in my eyes - Beauty&The Beast with Drew Barrymore
• Fashion Pulse Daily - Fashion Pulse Daily gives tips on how to get the biker chic look without having to jump on a Harley.
• Fashion Therapist - Where to find the perfect ugly sweaters for all your holiday themed parties:
• Fasshonaburu - A shopping gift guide for the self-proclaimed “hipster” on your list this holiday season!
• Going to Hell in a Handbag - Consumed by Coats
• greystrawberrys - whats in your make up box?
• Hot Beauty Health - The Smurfs enters beauty world with a Smurfette Collection
• In Life and In Fashion - Easy Holiday Dressing Tips
• Independent Fashion Bloggers - We Really Like Your Style
• Iole in fashion - Red (dress) fashion tree
• Iwanttowearit - Manicurist Yuna Park puts fashion in the fingers of the hottest models for the freshest magazines.
• Logical Harmony - How To Find Deals at Thrift Stores : Beyond The Basics
• Mademoiselle Robot - Interview with fashion photographer and club promoter Pavla Kopecna.
• Nico Assatly - Hot Holiday/Silver bells! cute look for the holidays !
• noiretro // style deficit disorder - Limi Yamamoto Spring 2009 collection & DIY Martin Margiela Sandal Booties
• Or False Glitter - Going grunge with Sonic Youth
• PONY RYDER - exclusive interview with TOPMODEL Iris Strubegger!
• Retro Chick - Comfy Christmas Glamour
• Shopping and Info - Shopping and Info loves what Jennifer Aniston wore to the Marley & Me Premiere.
• Style Amor - Alice In Wonderland Fashion + Movie Frenzy for 2010, Johnny Depp and Mad Hatter Fashion. Yes be ready
• Style Discovery - Confession of a jewellery addict and brining an order and clarity to a pile of necklaces.
• Style Symmetry - Eyeliah finds inspiration in the Wardrobe Remix Pool!
• Summershoes - 11 steps to a perfect homemade manicure
• Summershoes - 11 Steps to a perfect homemade manicure
• Sweety P Style Files - The Wardrobe Recession Diaries: Stalkin Clerks in the Mall and a Houndstooth Dress
• The Bare Skinny - The Bare Skinny gives you the scoop on the unmentionables: Undergarments
• THE COVETED - Last-Minute Gifts that Pamper and Relax

I don't know how many, if any, of you read this from out of state, but for your benefit I'm going to do a little local news for a moment.  It's snowing in Oregon.  A lot.  At least, a lot for us.  In Oregon, especially in the metropolitain areas, snow makes everything stop pretty much instantaneously.  A kid sees a snowflake one minute and the next the freeways are at a dead stop, school is cancelled and old ladies are fighting over the last can of creamed corn at the local grocery store.  My roommate and I have essentially been snowed in since Monday.  That is to say that while we can physically get outside, the busses aren't running by our house because we live on a hill and her poor little car can't take the icy roads.  So we can still walk places (like to the local DairyMart) but anything more than about 10 blocks away (which is just about everything around here) is out of the question.  So what's a girl to do?  I've taken to sewing and Heidi has taken to baking (she's making a cake as we speak).  This is my creation:

It's a T-Shirt a kid on my trip to China screenprinted for everyone who came that I brought in and made into a tank top with a braid of black silk I also got in China.  I wish I had some better detail shots, but unfortunately, my camera died when I was getting to them.  How often will I wear this?  Probably not very, but it kept me occupied for a few hours today (I'm a slow crafter).

Now then, my dining room table is a mess, as demonstrated above, and the DIY bug isn't quite out of my system, so I pose this question to you, dear readers:  I have a whole mess of jersey rosettes and bows of various sizes, I was thinking about reworking another shirt.  What would you do with a whole day with nothing to do and a box of fabric scraps?