The Little White Attic

Mexico Cruise

2012-01-05T16:26:00.001-08:00

I am playing catch-up now with all the things I should have posted during the holidays. I usually have a hard time keeping up with my blog in November and December, and this year was more of a whirlwind than ever.

In November, my husband, youngest daughter and I went on a cruise to Mexico with my parents and a bunch of other family members.

We went to Cabo San Lucas, where we had on lovely day on the beach at a resort hotel, and another day shopping in town.

Jon and I in Cabo San Lucas

In Puerto Vallarta Jon and Jordan went on an all day zip line excursion with some of my other family members while I stayed near port and did some more shopping.

Shopping with my sister-in-law in Puerto Vallarta

Here’s a picture from ‘elegant night’. I love my sweetie in a TUX!

And here’s a picture of all the family who went on the cruise.

-Lynnae

Happy Birthday Jane

2011-12-15T20:12:00.001-08:00

Join the Jane Austen Birthday celebration!

Happy Birthday Jane!

-Lynnae

Jane Austen Portrait Unearthed

2011-12-05T16:05:00.001-08:00

….Or is it?

Read Daily Mail article here

Is it Jane?????? On the one hand I think it looks more like her than the drawings we've been presented with over the years. It looks very similar to a picture of her aunt I've seen, Philidelphia Hancock. It also looks a lot like her brothers. I think it probably resembles her a lot but I doubt it's an authentic likeness of her taken during her lifetime. I may be a skeptic but it just seems unlikely that you are writing a biography and your hubby goes to the auction and finds a never before seen drawing of the author you are writing about. Seems fishy. I can't wait to see what the experts say.

-Lynnae

The Hunger Games Costume

2011-11-01T15:11:00.001-07:00

Have you read the series “The Hunger Games”? My daughter wanted to be the heroine, Katniss Everdeen for Halloween. I loved the series and had a great time helping her put the outfit together.

This Halloween was pretty poignant in that my youngest was 14 and not going trick or treating. She did have a few places to wear her costume though. And, one benefit of having an older child, in lieu of the normal hectic Halloween evening rush, she let me take her out to the woods for a photo shoot in her costume.

I love reading books and have always thought it would be fun to do a photo shoot based on the scenes and imagery of a book, so this was a blast. Jordan made a great Katniss and we had a lot of fun. Then I brought the photos into editing software and tweaked them a little bit.

Thanks Jordan, for indulging mom!

-Lynnae

Halloween 2011

2011-10-26T17:30:00.001-07:00

I usually don’t do as much Halloween decorating as some people in my neighborhood, but since it’s sort of the kick off to the holidays I had to do some. Pictured above is my feather wreath. I love it, it’s dark and spooky but still sort of pretty. I’ve had it for a couple years and it holds up pretty well despite the fact that the wind keeps tossing it across the porch. I added a wood trim piece onto a cheap wreath hanger and painted the whole thing black.

This is one of a pair of grape vine wreaths I made last year. I patterned them after the decorations on The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland.

I also made this Happy Halloween sign last year. The banner, which is the only new thing I added this year, is a printable from Moselle that I found on Pinterest, I printed it and cut it out, and then to make it stiff cut cardboard from used cereal boxes in slightly bigger triangles, painted black and glued the letters on. The whole thing says ‘Happy Haunting’. I think it is so cute. Here’s a close-up of the printout.

-Lynnae

Jane Austen Made Me Do It

2011-10-11T13:06:00.001-07:00

What better way to welcome in the chilly days and windswept leaves of fall than with a cozy new bit of reading material?

Today is the release date for

Jane Austen

Made Me Do It

Original Stories Inspired By Literature’s Most Astute Observer of the Human Heart

This is an anthology of short stories edited by Laurel Ann Nattress, editor of the #1 ranked Jane Austen blog, Austenprose.

I was the lucky recipient of a preview copy and therefore have had the book in my hands for over a week now. It’s been a delightful getaway whenever I have a few spare moments. This book is a collection of twenty two short stories and a good sampling of the authors who write Austen sequels and other novels based on Jane Austen and her characters.

The stories are the perfect length for a bubble bath (as I’ve tested out) or a few moments curled up in front of the fireplace while the rain is beating against the window outside. I highly recommend it.

I am all praise for Laurel Ann Nattress who has collected a fine group of writers, and a fine volume of stories showcasing everything from ‘historical to contemporary to young-adult fiction to paranormal’. I am hoping to have a chance to meet her at a book signing in the Seattle later this month. For those readers in the Seattle area, she will be at a book signing on October 22. Here are the details:

Saturday Oct. 22nd, 2-4 pm.

Barnes and Noble Booksellers

19401 Alderwood Mall Parkway

Lynnwood, Washington

And there will be an additional treat thanks to the Puget Sound area members of the Jane Austen Society:

“Put on your dancing slippers and best party frock for a Regency-themed Seattle book launch of Jane Austen Made Me Do It, a new Jane Austen-inspired short story anthology edited by Laurel Ann Nattress, Jane Austen Society of North America – Puget Sound chapter member & Austenprose.com blogger.

After the discussion and signing, enjoy tea and scones, live music and country dancing with English Country dance troupe, Nonesuch, in celebration of all things Austen.

Book Fair: Fundraiser for the Jane Austen Society of North America - Puget Sound Chapter
Use the cope code # 10577344 at checkout, and the Jane Austen Society of North America - Puget Sound Chapter will receive a percentage of the sales.

If you can't attend the event on Oct 22, you can still support JASNA by shopping at Barnes & Noble online:
Visit bn.com/bookfairs to support us online from 10/22/10 to 10/26/10 by entering Bookfair ID# 10577344 at checkout or bring the bookfair code with you to a Barnes & Noble location from 10/22/11 to 10/28/11
Invite your friends & family!”

Well, friends, if there’s dress up and dancing you know how excited I am!

-Lynnae

Living Room Corner

2011-09-07T18:58:00.001-07:00

For a while now I’ve been working on this little corner of my living room. I had this crazy idea to paint an ugly 70’s lamp, so of course I did. My husband HATED it. Oh well. I was sad but more determined to put it front and center. I returned two shades to the store as ‘not quite right’ before my sister and I stumbled upon this one at a local Goodwill. It looks like it was made for my room. Once the lampshade came home everything else started to fall into place.

I did try two or three ‘objects’ to set on the books, moving them from other locations in the house and nothing looked quite right. Then, while eating Thai food and thinking about the neon sign of our local Thai restaurant, with it’s mommy and baby elephant, I got the idea that what I really needed (OK, maybe not NEEDED) was a little ellie of my own. The next thing you know I come across this ceramic elephant on the clearance shelf at Michaels. Happy me.

Our Kana Poster is from our stay in Japan, and the Heywood mirrored bedside cabinet in from Pier One (there’s a similar on the other side of the piano).

How do you like it?

Sharp Dressed Men!

2011-08-10T15:17:00.001-07:00

I have to pass this on to all my fellow Janites and other fans of period dramas.

Quite a few Jane Austen clips in here, and a few other favorites as well. (Movie clips that is)!!!!!

-Lynnae

Snowballs

2011-08-07T21:08:00.001-07:00

I know everything has been about the wedding or New Orleans lately, but I almost forgot to mention Snowballs.

I grew up in Utah where there was a lot of sno-cones or shave-ice available, but a snowball is something special. Our hosts took us to Williams Plum Street snowball, because it’s the best. They make your snowball in a Chinese take-out pail, wrap it in a plastic bag, and put tons of syrup on it.

And the syrup is different. It’s so good. It doesn’t make your throat scratchy the way normal sno-cone syrup does. And the flavors……..YUM! I had praline flavor and it was so good. You can also get praline and cream, which has sweetened condensed milk over the the top.

Next time I get to New Orleans I’m starting with beignets and then heading for a snowball, and throwing in a po-boy for dinner.

-Lynnae

July in New Orleans

2011-08-06T13:54:00.001-07:00

While we were in New Orleans for a second wedding reception for Nicholas and my daughter Hillary we went out and about to show my husband some of the town like I had seen in June, except there was one big difference….The Rain!

It wasn’t pouring on the night of their reception, which was the most important thing. But the rain on the other days did make it tough to see the town. Our host’s Nick’s family brought a big umbrella, though no one bothered to use it except me. I still ended up pretty soaked because water was everywhere, but it did enable me to take some pictures without ruining my camera.

After a very rainy so-far summer in Seattle we were looking forward to sweltering in a Louisiana steam bath for a while. But it rained, we toured, and made the most of it. And I still loved it! I want to go back.

We went to the wax museum, where my husband was determined to get a picture that looked like he was patting a bathing Napoleon Bonaparte on the head as he negotiated the Louisiana Purchase (not pictured).

We had a fun time being shown around by Nicholas’ family while the newlyweds were having time to themselves.

My husband and I and our two younger daughters at Jackson Square in the rain.

Then we decided to dodge the rain and drop into house of blues for lunch. The restaurant was SO cold, and we were soaked, so we decided to eat out on the covered patio. I loved the funky decorating, and the patio was the cutest part. Bring on my Po-Boy!

After the day on the town it was time to head back to our host’s house for family, swimming, and, yes, more food!

Thanks for reading my post.

And, OK, OK, I know you really wanted to see this………

-Lynnae

Statues In An Old New Orleans Cemetery

2011-08-03T21:30:00.001-07:00

While in New Orleans we went to a cemetery so my daughter and I could take some pictures of the gravesites and the beautiful statuary. In New Orleans the water table is so high that they bury people above ground.

Most of these graves are owned by a family and contain the remains of several family members.

This one had some very unique ironwork.

Many graves were built to look almost like a front porch.

Most of all I loved the angels and other statues.

I can’t help but think about when these statues were made and chosen, and the love and sorrow they express.

-Lynnae

The New Orleans Reception

2011-07-30T11:30:00.001-07:00

After My daughter Hillary and Nicholas’ reception we had a few days to prepare for our New Orleans trip. This time my husband and youngest daughter would join us and I was excited to show them the city. But first we had a few days of packing, taking clothes and tuxes to the cleaners and hoping they’d be done on time, shipping photos, and catching up on sleep. I’ve been tripping over boxes hastily packed at our reception venue and eating Jordan Almonds by the handful. Why were there so many left over?

Nick’s family were wonderful hosts and the reception was beautiful. Here are some of my photos from the New Orleans wedding reception.The room was very elegant. We had a Rosemary chicken dinner, and the first course?……..Gumbo. My husband was in heaven.In stead of numbering the tables they were named after famous New Orleans streets.

There was a head table for the bride, groom, and their families.

My Husband and my younger daughters

Me and Hillary

My husband and I pose for a picture on the balcony

Hillary dancing with her new sister-in-law. Darling!

The single girls assemble around the bride for the cake pulls.

Cake pulls are a southern tradition. Before the frosting is completed silver charms are put into a cake attached to ribbons. each young lady takes a ribbon and they all pull at the same time.

Hillary with her younger sisters. Jordan got the Four Leaf Clover (Luck) and Arianne got the Fleur de Lis (Prosperity & Love).

The bouquet toss

Nicholas and Hillary

-Lynnae

More Wedding Goodies

2011-07-28T19:19:00.001-07:00

In previous pictures you may have noticed these darling ribbon rose headbands and headpieces my two younger daughters were wearing for the reception. My sister Krisi made them. She wasn’t able to travel up here for the wedding and wanted to do something nice. I just loved these and we got a lot of compliments on them.

My daughters shown here with the groom’s two sisters.

I tried to post this next bit with the last post but wasn’t able to embed the video. But now that I’ve had a little tech support from my hubby, I give you the Electric Slide……

-Lynnae

P.S. That dancing was just the start of the party! Once things were going smoothly I was ready to have some fun with the ladies!

Me, my niece, and three of my sisters getting’ down!

Our Wedding Reception

2011-07-28T10:14:00.001-07:00

We had a wedding reception for Hillary and Nicholas at Tibbet’s Creek Manor in Issaquah.Now you will see where all the hard work from my helpers came in. I am so glad I had family and friends there to help me set up, because we only had a couple hours and My mind was in a bit of a fog. I’m also glad I had written up plans for each display area or decoration. We had to go back to the house and were running late, and my family was already setting things up for me.

Remember all the sewing my sisters and I did? Well the majority of it was for the tent curtains, which looked fabulous inside and out.

And even better at night!

Hillary really wanted a chocolate fountain, and it was a big hit.

The cake was lovely too.

Before the reception began.

One of the neat things we did was have a table of old wedding pictures from Hillary and Nick’s parents, grandparents, and great-grand parents. Hillary has a love of family history and I thought this idea would be a cool way to show that. I’ve never seen it done before. In the rush I didn’t get a clear picture of it, but this picture taken during set up will give you an idea until we get the professional pictures back.

Three of my sisters and I during the set-up. So many people worked so hard. I am full of gratitude. It was a very fun night.

-Lynnae

My Daughter is Married

2011-07-25T20:54:00.001-07:00

I guess the word is poignant.

When she and her new husband walked out of those doors husband and wife I was overflowing with joy. My oldest daughter was married, married to a great young man I admire, with a family I’ve grown to adore. She married in the Holy Temple in a beautiful ceremony with her loved ones around her, a lovely, worthy, Daughter of God. As a mother I could not be more pleased. As the days pass I miss her a little bit, even though she’s spent most of her time at college the past few years I begin to feel a little wistful. My first little girl. It’s sad, but as I sometimes say, it’s a good sad.

I hope my younger daughters follow her example someday, but at the moment I just want to hold them tight.

Being enormously busy planning a wedding and reception did help to shield me from the emotions that start welling up now. But I just keep acknowledging that it is a ‘good sad’ and I’ll see her again soon.

-Lynnae

Hillary’s Bridal Photographs

2011-07-25T20:53:00.001-07:00

Here are a few of my favorite photos from my daughter’s bridal shoot.

Our photographer Joshua from Joshua Gene Photography did an excellent job. He was fun to work with and his results are beautiful. He is based in the Seattle are but also works in Portland and other places. I would give him the highest recommendation, so if you are looking for a bridal or wedding photographer please consider him.

-Lynnae

Hillary’s Bridals

2011-07-17T01:25:00.001-07:00

Hi Friends. I'm still somewhat busy and trying to recuperate from the big day. I’ll post more of my daughter’s bridals and wedding pictures but for now please jump on over to Joshua Gene.com, our photographer’s website and have a look.

-Lynnae

Five Days until the Wedding !!!!

2011-07-10T10:46:00.001-07:00

…..And my head is a bit of a blur. I keep thinking of one more thing to check on, one more thing to do……

I did have a couple little work parties with some of my sisters and my sister-in-law and daughter. Last week was sewing…..

And yesterday was all about sewing, ribbons, and flowers.

And a little sisterly craziness

Sorry AJ, even sister-in-laws have to participate….Thanks to Shannon assisting her with her laurel headpiece.

And a soft focus picture for one sister who commented that having three sons she’s never been surrounded by so much pink.

Thanks girls! I love my family! What would I ever do without you.

On another note, I’m so excited to post my daughter’s bridal pictures, but not allowed to do so until the wedding. SOOOOoooo, I’m going to try and create the post that will publish right after the wedding on Friday morning. Then, while I’m in the middle of my daughter’s busy and wonderful day, it will be like you are there with us. So check in on Friday.

-Lynnae

My Sister’s Bad Day

2011-06-30T00:14:00.001-07:00

Please share some love with my little sis, who had a heartbreaking craft room catastrophe the other day. Read her post and then go digitize your old pictures!

-Lynnae

Jealous of Colin Firth

2011-06-29T23:42:00.001-07:00

One day on facebook my friend said she’d had a rough day and just wanted to settle down with some chocolate and Colin Firth. From there we started wishing you could buy a box of chocolate Darcys- something I think would be a big hit.

Then my husband disappeared into the den for a while and after a bit showed my this picture he’d made……. I think somebody is feeling a little jealous!

Don’t worry dear. I love you and all your awesomeness and NOT Colin Firth. Now if there was a real Mr. Darcy, then you might have a problem.

Or if there was a real box of chocolate Darcys.

-Lynnae

More New Orleans Pictures

2011-06-21T21:41:00.001-07:00

Inside the Cathedral

Anyone interested in a fixer-upper?

After a full day of sight seeing My daughter’s fiance’s family threw a big dinner and shower for the couple.

Aren’t they adorable?

We met a lot of family and got kissed a lot too! It was a whirlwind trip and I think I stayed up till 2 AM every night we were there. That’s tough on my system. I’ve been home for a week now, getting over a cold, and finally feel like I’m recovering, but I had a wonderful time.

I can’t wait to have his family up here and show them a bit of Seattle. Especially the lovely mountains out here where I live.

-Lynnae

P.S. I have seen a sample of my daughter’s bridal pictures. OH MY Goodness they are gorgeous. I am so excited. I wish I could show you right now, but I am under orders to keep pictures of her gown off the internet until her wedding. I can’t wait to show everyone!!!

New Orleans Day One

2011-06-21T21:19:00.001-07:00

We stumbled off the airplane not long before midnight, but technically it was Saturday, so I’m, including it with our first day.

My daughter’s fiancé is a great young man, so I was eager to meet his parents. They were very nice and we had a great time. After checking in to our hotel we headed down to Cafe Du Monde to get acquainted over beignets. My daughter’s future in-laws.

Posing with my two older daughters. Yes, there are beignets under all that powdered sugar!

My daughter was very excited to be with her fiancé again after not seeing him for over a month.

My second daughter also came a long on the trip. Here we are stopping for a photo break.

My new friend buying us a blackened catfish po-boy sandwich to split. The food was HEAVEN! Our new family friends threw a couple great bridal showers for my daughter while we were there. Between their excellent Italian cooking and the New Orleans flavors all around it was a foodie dream come true. ( I know, calories! But I figured I compensated by walking in the heat for hours. I earned every bite).

And then………. according to my children I proceeded to take enough pictures of New Orleans to furnish Google maps with their street view feature. But I couldn’t resist all the lovely architecture and overflowing balconies.

On a side note, I did have to come home and buy some flower boxes for my porch. It seemed a little bare after seeing these beauties!

-Lynnae

Wedding Plans: Bridals

2011-06-08T17:34:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a big day in the wedding preparations world, which is pretty much the world I exist in right now. We met with the woman making the wedding cake, and she also brought some yummy cake with her.

Library at University of Washington

It was also the day for my daughter’s bridal photos. So her hair was done and the trip to Seattle was planned despite it raining cats and dogs. I bought a huge umbrella and prayed for a sun break. It cleared up in time for her late afternoon photo shoot. I took a few photos for the scrapbook of her and the photographer. Joshua from Joshua Gene Photography was great and really fun to work with. Unfortunately for you, all photos of the bride in the dress are under wraps until the wedding day. But I did snap a few pictures of the lovely locations we visited.

Lovely garden that will remain nameless for the time being because upon leaving we saw a sign that said no commercial photography was allowed. Whoops!

As enchanting as all this looked, it involved rushing around all day, eating nothing except cake samples, and neglecting my other daughters. I’m grateful to my second daughter who stepped in when daughter number 3 was having a bit of a meltdown about her 8th grade project being more lame than anyone else's. That’s life in the real world. We got home from the bridal shoot at 10 pm, I ate more cake, and then stayed up until 1 am cutting new holes in the album filler sheets for said project because I bought the wrong type of pages and my hole punch was lost.

It’s good that there’s always a little something to keep me grounded.

Tomorrow my good friend down the street is hosting a bridal shower for my daughter, and then the next day we’re off to more showers and parties in ..…….

New Orleans!

Stay tuned,

-Lynnae

P.S. The 8th grade project turned out more awesome than anyone else’s.

Intricate and Beautiful

2011-06-03T12:38:00.001-07:00

Look at the lovely screen I picked up on my last trip to Hobby Lobby. I fell in love with it the first time I saw it when we were on a trip to Utah. We came home and I dreamed about it for the next two months. When I went back to bring home my college girl I made a trip to Hobby Lobby in Orem with my sister. I picked up a few iron easels for the wedding reception. I also saw ‘my’ screen again, and it was on sale. It’s a lovely green color that looks fabulous in my house, and looks great against white walls too.

Since bringing it home I have tried out several locations. I love this area in my living room, and it’s stayed here the longest, but I really would like it in my family room just so I could stare at it more.

What do you think?

-Lynnae

Vanity Project.

2011-05-30T20:11:00.001-07:00

I was looking for a new vanity dresser for my bedroom. I couldn’t face another summer of getting ready for church at my sink in a busy, humid bathroom. But I was hoping to go the cheap route, with either an inexpensive new vanity dresser, (under $150ish) or a thrift store desk that I could fix up cute and add a mirror to.

But low and behold, one day at the thrift store I found a darling vintage vanity. It wasn’t a cheap desk to fix up, but it fell within my loose budget for a vanity. I was hoping for something with character that I could paint a charming white, or a sassy black, and it would look so good in my bedroom. I debated for a few minutes, and then, assisted b the encouragement of a gray haired lady who was also shopping there, I bought it.

All the way home I went back and forth between white and black paint. But you know what? The more I looked back in the rear view mirror, the more the sunlight caught that wood grain, the more I knew I couldn’t paint it- yet. There’s no rush. It’s great as it is. And I’m a sucker for a glorious wood grain. And, just like the white or black paint, the wood grain would look awesome in my bedroom. (That’s the beauty of having a turquois bedroom!)

So, for the time being the vanity will keep it’s grain. The wood is in great condition, except for the table top area, which I can cover until I choose to fix it. The furniture is sturdy, strong, clean and well made. I am so excited to ‘girly it up’, like a cross between Elizabeth Taylor’s vanity in “Whose afraid of Virginia Wolf”, and Molly Ringwald’s cheery dresser in “Pretty in Pink”.

This………

plus this……..

will someday soon be mine!

Other things on my agenda:

My Army Man husband has been gone for a month for training. It’s good to have him home!

Also, my daughter’s bridal’s are coming up, and wedding plans, wedding plans, wedding plans!

-Lynnae

Lovely Finds

2011-05-14T16:26:00.001-07:00

I was at the local Ben Franklin store to get a few items for my daughters costume for the school play and ran across these lovely, old carved wood print blocks. They were in a bin in the back, dirty and well used and absolutely beautiful. I had to get a couple to display around the house.

They had a lot of other great things there too. I feel lucky to live close to a Ben Franklin store, and just need to get there more often!

Aren’t they gorgeous?

-Lynnae

Defending Jane

2011-04-20T12:44:00.001-07:00

The following is my response to a Dartmouth Press article which attempts to guess why people like Jane Austen.

Austen’s Power By Peter Blair

Did the author ever READ a Jane Austen Novel? There were many other novelists at the same time whose writings exhibited the similar cultural aspects. Austen stands out now for the same reason she did then, for those clever enough to read her properly. She is funny, hilarious even, but in ways that sneak up on you. Her insight into human nature is shrewd, sometimes painfully shrewd. Her writings show me that despite a vastly different code of conduct in society, human nature does not change at all. As you get to know the characters in an Austen book you recognize them as people you know and understand.
Jane herself said she did not write for 'dull elves'. In humor she is a forerunner to Oscar Wilde more than anyone. Her imagery is delightful, her symbolism is clever, and her sense of irony rewards the reader at every turn. For example, I find it fascinating that Mrs. Norris, arguably the most evil person in Austen's literary world, has many of the juiciest, most ironic lines aimed at her. It's as if Fanny is defenseless but Jane is not, and jabs that mean Aunt with a pen now and then.
So when some see bonnets and costumes and romance, I see that and more. I see a wonderful balance between an incisive humor and a morality deeper than the social customs that define it outwardly.

-Lynnae

Engagement Pictures

2011-04-08T23:46:00.001-07:00

My daughter got her engagement photos done!

I am so excited. They turned out adorable.

I will share a few with you.

The photos were taken by my talented niece, Michelle Sutterfield.

My husband read that a couple should have pictures taken at a place of significance. They took pictures at some wonderful places, although we commented that their ‘place of significance’ should be the doors to the Emergency Room there at the hospital in Provo, since they have been there a lot due to illness and/or injury. But I’m sure these turned out much prettier.

Getting ready for a wedding is overwhelming sometimes, but seeing these darling kids and their happiness captured forever is definitely one of the payoffs.

-Lynnae

Stand a Little Taller

2011-03-31T14:50:00.001-07:00

I saw this cute sign while I was out shopping the other day. I don’t know what I like more, the cottage style, the Empire State Building, or the cheery message.

“Stand a Little Taller- Make Each Day a Little Better Than the One Before”.

That’s just what I need to see when I come down on a groggy school day morning.

I bought the sign at Cost Plus World Market. They had a lot of merchandise out for spring and I couldn’t resist a photo of these brightly colored decorations.

It’s good to have your camera with you.

Last week I also got a little tired of the shelves in my family room. So they went from this……

To this…… I need to switch out some accessories I think, But I only can seem to get a little done at a time, so it’s a start. To some people (like my sweet husband) it may seem like I randomly pulled out some paint and started painting something, but this shelf has been bugging me, and I’ve been thinking about painting it for a long time.

Not that there’s anything wrong with randomly painting something……

-Lynnae

Ceremony Magazine

2011-03-16T15:26:00.001-07:00

Since we’ve been planning my daughter’s wedding I have fallen in LOVE with Ceremony magazine. Page after page of gorgeous wedding decor, flowers, photography examples- Ahhhhh.

When you open most bridal magazines you see a lot of white. And I’m not talking about the dresses. There is just a lot of empty space and boring words. Fifteen pages of rings and another fifteen of dresses, a few bland cakes thrown into the mix.

The first time I flipped through Ceremony at the Barnes and Noble newsstand I was in awe. I may have bought it even if I wasn’t planning a wedding, because the colors and ideas are just lovely. And each page is packed. It’s a beautiful barrage of real southern California weddings, flowers, cakes, and locations in every style. I don’t live in California, and even if I did I couldn’t afford the expense of one of these weddings, but oh, the inspiration!

Affiliated with California Wedding Wave, there are San Diego, Los Angeles, and Orange county versions, and for each place the magazine is out for the whole year (but the cover changes with the seasons, so don’t get tricked into buying one you already own).

If you love weddings, flowers, photography, even throwing parties, I’m sure there is something in this thick, beautiful magazine for you.

-Lynnae

No Time to Craft

2011-03-12T13:40:00.001-08:00

My head is full of plans for my daughters wedding so I haven’t had time to craft or paint (or blog much for that matter) lately. I’ve been feeling like I’m constantly behind when it comes to housework, and when I do have free time I feel too exhausted to even get out supplies.

I did put up a couple of things around the house. Do you want a peek inside?

One is the lovely tray I got at Pier One. It has a rose and a dragonfly. I won’t say I collect dragonflies, but my name ‘Lynnae’ is part of the scientific name for dragonflies, so if I see something cute with one on it I feel like it’s meant for me. This is in my kitchen over the door that goes into the dining room.

I bought these plate holders over a year ago at TaiPan Trading and they’ve just been sitting in a box. So I finally got some nails and put those up too, in the breakfast nook. The two smaller plates are also from Taipan. I do use these plates from time to time, but I like the display and will just take them down and wash and use them if I need too.

Finally, I’ve got my Fiesta ware, which I’ve wanted for years. It was a gift from my SWEET husband for Valentines Day. I had a blast picking out the colors, and they were on sale, too!

Now I need glass front cabinets, wouldn’t you say so?

I am doing the decorating for my daughters reception. I will enlist the help of some friends and family, but I am so excited to make it a beautiful sight to add to her special day. My head is spinning with white and shades of pink, pictures I’ve seen, flowers, and centerpieces. I have tons of ideas that I will then scale back into what’s ‘do-able’. Other things are coming together. We have the dress, the location, the photographer……but there’s still much to do.

-Lynnae

I Capture the Castle

2011-03-03T11:14:00.001-08:00

I just finished reading a very sweet book called “I Capture the Castle” by Dodie Smith.

My sister recommended this book. She had read it recently and was probably attracted to it’s English setting (she’s moving to England soon herself) and the eccentric lives of the girls in the book. Having grown up in a creative and somewhat eccentric family ourselves, it’s a fun thing to read about because it reminds you of funny childhood memories.

The Narrative voice of the story, Cassandra, throws in lots of references to writers, especially Jane Austen- also a good way to win me over.

Her family is destitute and living in a ruin of a castle for which they are behind on the rent. The father was once a novelist and the stepmother was once a model. The story shares their adventures as the girls grow into adulthood.

One of the things that surprised me was how current the book seemed. It was written 1948 by the author best known for ‘The Hundred and One Dalmatians’, but so much of it reads like a tour through my favorite blogs…..

Girls talking to their dress form, and imagining what she would say back…..

Photo from Giannetti Home

Dying clothes to give them new life…..

Photo from Free People Vintage

Wildflowers growing up through an old iron bedstead….. Photo from Opening the Door, Walking Outside

And people trying to live a life with joy and art and creativity and writing.

Recently a movie adaptation was made, though I believe it is Rated R due to nudity (there’s a little sun worshipping and communing with nature going on in the book). The novel, however, is great for readers of all ages- and those like me with a high ‘blush factor’.

Another thing gained for me was that now I have christened my dress form ‘Miss Blossom’ after Rose and Cassandra’s confidant in the book. I have tried to think of other names for her, especially a name drawn from Austen, but could never find one that fit. I should have known she was more of a motherly counselor than a heroine herself.

-Lynnae

Yes To The Dress

2011-02-24T13:26:00.001-08:00

My daughter chose a wedding dress! I am so excited! It is beautiful too. It was obvious in her face each time she had her dress on that it was the one.

Dress shopping was one of the purposes of our trip to Utah this past week, but we weren’t sure if that would be enough time to find the right dress. The picture above is my daughter at one of the stores we went to in the morning. When we found ‘The Dress’ it was at later in the day at Abella Bridal in Provo. We had an entourage of me, my mom, the Bride to Be and my two other daughters, and the soon-to-be sister-in-law. We got some great pictures together and lovely shots of my daughter trying on the dress, but they are all TOP SECRET for now. Her fiancé is very sweet and supportive but does not want any hint of the wedding dress until the big day.

This is one of those moments in a mothers life that is just beyond description. I thought I might cry….(my mom certainly wiped away a few tears) but I was actually just giddy with excitement. To see the happiness on my daughter’s face, and the oooh’s and ahhh’s from her little sisters, was just priceless.

Once the dress was chosen my brain left me completely and I started doing things like leaving my purse in the restroom, thinking my credit card expired on Jan 14 rather January of 2014, and coming to a full stop at yellow lights. I know it was my daughter’s moment, but I think I was as joyful as she was.

I love my girls so much. I look forward to having these special experiences with all of them and I am so honored to be their mother. The Lord has blessed me greatly.

-Lynnae

Into February

2011-02-07T13:58:00.001-08:00

2011 is in full swing now. It usually takes me most of January to recover from the holidays. That’s why I never make New Years Resolutions. With me it’s more like a yearly ‘End of January assessment’. Once the routine gets back to normal I am able to think more clearly about how life is functioning and what would make it better. High on the the list is ‘Try to Get Enough Sleep’, and along with that, ‘More Art’. So we’ll see how it goes.

On the art front, the Burton girls are having another fun valentines swap. It’s a nice thing to do as sisters, sister in law’s, moms and daughters. Those who are too busy may bow out, those who really need it right now, like me, are in. The picture above is just a shot of the table while I was grafting. I’ve been in a bit of an art deficit, so I’m going all out with this little beauty, which is why it will probably be late! (Forgiveness- another great benefit of being in a family art swap.)

I will post a picture of the final valentine after I wait a few days for my gals to get theirs in the mail.

My Third Annual Jane Austen Day is on hold for now, because we are going out of town for midwinter break when I have had the party in the past. I will be talking wedding plans with one daughter and taking care of another who is getting her wisdom teeth out. But the Jane Austen party will happen. Our theme will be Sense and Sensibility’s 200th Anniversary. I am also thinking of a fun door prize drawing for those who come in Regency costume.

-Lynnae

Marvel Comic’s Sense and Sensibility

2011-01-26T20:50:00.001-08:00

My sweet husband recently bought me the hardbound edition of Marvel Comic’s Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. It is so fun. I own the Marvel ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and it appears some critics didn’t like the way the Bennet sisters were drawn. I didn’t mind it, but seriously they were some hotties.

But those critics won’t have the same problem with the sweet style of Sense and Sensibility. The drawings have a different style, and it lends a real charm to the book, which despite it’s condensed nature, is pretty accurate to the story line of the book.

This book is on ‘The List’ for the Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge, which I will tell you about soon (but if you can’t wait for me to post about it, click on the gorgeous link button on my sidebar!).

-Lynnae

PS. My husband FINALLY joined me on my weekly trip to the sushi bar today. However, the guy on the other side of him was totally DISSING Jane Austen!!!! Are you kidding me? He was reading Pride and Prejudice for the first time and said the women were ‘overdramatic and catty’. I honestly don’t think he’s really reading it. I mean, sure Mrs. Bennet may be over the top, but that’s her character! That guy almost ended up with his face in the wasabi jar!

PSS. I finally broke down and got reading glasses. Small print was causing me a lot of eye strain lately, especially reading the scriptures. SOOooooo, I got some magnifiers. I figured glasses were better than wrinkles :)

Engaged!

2011-01-25T20:35:00.001-08:00

My oldest daughter is engaged! I am so excited. She is to be married in July, here in Washington, then we will go down to New Orleans to celebrate with her fiancé's family.

I am having typical Mother-of-the-Bride episodes of stressing out and not being able to focus on much else. I want everything to be beautiful and perfect for my daughter, I want things to run smoothly.

My worry is that I am not that great of a planner or organizer. Jon is a big help making a lot of phone calls and scouring the internet for things we need. I am so grateful. And if I do get worried and overwhelmed (and yes, that happens even though it is six months away) I just think of how happy my daughter is and how grateful I am that she has found such a good man.

This was her just yesterday!

Could it really be almost 20 years ago?

And here she is with the lucky man!

Wish me luck everyone!

-Lynnae

Love Stories for Valentines

2011-01-22T00:07:00.001-08:00

Karen Valentine is having a blog party on Valentines day where you can link up and tell your own love stories. Doesn’t that sound sweet and fun?

Go to My Desert Cottage and grab the button for your sidebar to spread the word. Then prepare your own story, and on Valentines day you can link to the blog and tell all about your special someone.

-Lynnae

Picasso Exhibit

2011-01-17T21:36:00.001-08:00

The Seattle Art Museum has had a Picasso exhibit running and on Friday night my husband and I and our youngest daughter went to see it. We could not take photos in the Picasso exhibit, but later we found a place for a picture or two.

I’ve decided the woman in the picture represents ‘Utah’ which is holding my two other daughters.

It is very interesting having only one child at home. Whenever we are going to do something cool I feel guilty for leaving the others out. I have to remind myself that they are having their own new adventures, and they also had many opportunities when this one was too little to go. Still, I think of them when we go, and I suppose I always will.

-Lynnae

Christmas Tag Swap

2011-01-02T23:40:00.001-08:00

This year the several of the women in my family had a Christmas Tag Swap. The theme was ‘The Music of Christmas'”

I was nervous about a swap when everyone is so busy, but at the same time I loved the idea of the Christmas theme, so we dove in. We did have to be forgiving and let the deadline slip a little bit, but that’s the nice thing about swapping with family.

All of my tags were variations on one of these two vintage pictures. The back reads “Merry Christmas Darling”. I was going to go in a different direction but with my husband gone, all I could think about was Christmas couples and being together again. (As I mentioned in a previous post he was at an Army Reserve training and because my blog is public I don’t like to mention when he is gone until he is home again.)

In the swap were several sisters, my daughters, a sister-in-law, nieces and my mom. Almost as fun as getting the tags was decorating with them.

-Lynnae

Echoes of Christmas Past

2010-12-29T18:03:00.001-08:00

The Holiday season this year bore a strong resemblance to our First Christmas as a couple.

Twenty-three years ago when my husband and I got married he was in the Air Force. He had been serving in Japan for a year, and he came home two weeks before our wedding. We were married in Salt Lake City in October, and then traveled to California for the trip back to Japan together.

After a few days spending time together and seeing the sights around San Francisco, it was time to pack up and go to the base for the flight back to Japan. Only there was a problem with the paperwork, and I couldn’t go. And he had to.

Some quick arrangements were made for me to stay nearby with his brother’s family while he went home to get the papers done properly from there.

Thus began a pretty miserable month and half away from my new groom. His family was very accommodating and nice to me. I tried to be helpful but I’m afraid I was brooding and quiet most the time. I cried myself to sleep every night in my nephew’s little bedroom. When Thanksgiving came I was homesick for my family and caught a ride back up to Utah for the week. The return trip was snowy and cold and I got carsick. I missed my sweetie.

December seemed to stretch out forever. I helped my new nephews with Christmas decorations. As the days slipped by, soon I had the word that I was going to Japan.

One long plane ride later, I found myself in a foreign country with Jon, exhausted and very happy.

It was only a few days before Christmas. He brought me in to the house and showed me the tree he had decorated. There were candles and the table was set awaiting our first meal in our new home. Jon set our table and when I got there he made frozen dinners and set out the Martinelli’s sparkling cider.

Those first few days were a blur. I had an extreme case of jetlag and could not get going, and Jon was anxious to show me people and places.

We drove around, visited some friends, and went shopping. He wanted to take me to church to meet people but I couldn’t wake up and get going. By the time we drove past the building it was over and people were leaving. We had a laugh and drove back home.

Our first Christmas was nice. Quiet, compared to the way I grew up- with a house full of hyper little brothers and sisters, and a larger gathering of relatives for a Christmas Eve dinner. But we were making our own traditions now and starting our own family.

This year, after seventeen years out of the service my husband joined the Army Reserve. We had a quiet little anniversary celebration, and for a month and a half he’s been at Ft. Sill Oklahoma for training. This was my first Thanksgiving without him since we were separated as newlyweds so long ago. It was miserable for different reasons. My two college daughters and a boyfriend were traveling home through the snowy weather. I was fearful for their safety and problems did arise that I needed my husbands help for. I enjoyed Thanksgiving with them and our other family that visited, only to be fearful for their trip back home. With computer browser tabs filled with maps, satellite views, and traffic cams, I postponed their return trip for two days, until I thought it was clear, and once they left I could not breathe easy until everyone was safe and sound where they belonged.

For Christmas my girls arrived home from college on plane flights, and I began counting the days until my girls and my husband would be back home with me. I was amazed at how many Christmas songs included separated loved ones longing to be together. My mind kept going back to that first Christmas of ours and how happy we were to just be together.

The greatest gift for me this year……Being together with my beloved family and celebrating the birth of Him who made it possible.

-Lynnae

Happy Birthday Jane Austen

2010-12-16T09:12:00.001-08:00

Hi Friends!

It’s been a bit slow over here I know, so I have to apologize for that. My blog readers don’t know this but my husband recently came home after a month and a half of Army Reserve training. Things have been pretty busy here without him, especially over the Thanksgiving holiday, and with so much to do I just fell behind on my blogging. My house is half decorated and half boxes and bins everywhere, but I would like to get some pictures up for you when I’m done.

In the meantime, today is Jane’s Birthday!!!! Yay!

Here is a great post by Vic over at Jane Austen’s World, along with a list over other blogs celebrating Jane’s birth.

Merry Christmas and Happy Jane Austen Day!

-Lynnae

Leavenworth, Washington

2010-12-14T12:17:00.001-08:00

Last week my daughter’s middle school choir took a trip out to Leavenworth, Washington. It’s a old fashioned Bavarian themed town a few hours away, nestled in an Alp like setting in the Cascade mountains.

I was a chaperone for the activity. We had a couple hours to eat and shop before the choir needed to ‘warm up’ (in sarcastic quotes because they sang outside and it was freezing).

My little one and I trying on hats in the hat shop.

Oh! The Christmas cheer!

Lovely store windows.

Inside The Gingerbread Factory, a cute little house just off the main street.

Plain gingerbread men labeled ‘Skinny Dippers’.

“Your days are numbered, Snowman!”

Once the hypothermia set in things really got silly.

The choir singing at the town square.

And a very special visitor at the end of the day- Saint Nicholas.

After posting a few of these pictures on facebook I was accosted with family asking why we hadn’t taken them to Leavenworth before. It’s a great place, and now I think we’ll have to take more of our visitors out there. Ever since a visit to the Scandanavian town of Solvang when I was very young I’ve loved the idea of themed towns. In fact it would be fun to travel across the US visiting all the quaint and kitchy foreign themed towns along the way.

But back to Leavenworth. It’s lovely in the spring and summer, but this was the first time I’ve gone at Christmastime, and the visit was just the thing to get those Christmas feelings flowing!

-Lynnae

Janeites, Get Out Your Crayons…

2010-11-27T10:37:00.001-08:00

… And click on over to The Graphics Fairy for a page of lovely Regency ladies for your little holiday guests (or you) to color. It might be a fun activity to celebrate Jane Austen’s birthday next month. And nothing beats stress like taking a few minutes to relax and color.

While you are there, browse the categories on the right sidebar. I love using graphics from her blog on craft projects. Now I have a full page of Lady Catherines and Lydias to decorate in holiday colors.

Now where are those colored pencils?????

-Lynnae

One Of The Few

2010-11-22T22:09:00.001-08:00

It’s not very often I get a post that fits in both the Jane Austen category and my conservative politics blog, but my husband, who’s been gone with the Army Reserve, provided me with one today with this message….

One of the few……

...M16s in the world being dismantled and cleaned accompanied by the Mansfield Park soundtrack.

This task, combined with that vibrantly luscious classical music score must have been a beautiful thing.

-Lynnae

You can hear a sample of the beauty here.

For Henry Tilney Fangirls

2010-11-13T01:04:00.001-08:00

The Jane Austen Society AGM opened with a fun, lively panel discussion by ‘Team Tilney’ and the special guest was Henry Tilney himself, played by Joe Homes. He started with a Henry Tilney style parody of the Old Spice commercial. By the time I frantically grabbed my camera I could only catch the ending, but here is the text written by Heather Lawrence:

Hello ladies. Look at your Mister Darcy. Now back to me. Now look at Captain Wentworth. Now back to me. Sadly, those gentlemen are not me. But if they knew enough about muslin to buy their own cravats and were more nice than wise, they could be like me.

Look down. Back up. Where are you? You’re in the Lower Rooms with the gentleman your gentleman could be like. I’m asking you to dance. Unlike some gentlemen who refuse to dance, I love to dance, and you are handsome enough to tempt me.

What’s in your hand? Back at me. I have it. I’m reading that novel you love. I’m reading it to my sister.

Anything is possible when your gentleman is Henry Tilney.

I have a puppy. (Arf!)

[whistle Old Spice theme]

All the details on the creation of this delightful event can be found on this post on Austenblog. Maggie Sullivan conceived of the event, and she and her fellow ‘Team Tilney’ fangirls did an excellent job!

Here are a few more selections……..

I hope you enjoy these. Please read the link on Austenblog where you can learn all about the talented creators of this fun event.

-Lynnae

Living Room Before and After Pictures

2010-11-12T23:42:00.001-08:00

I finally finished painting my living room and moving my furniture back in. Above is the BEFORE picture, and below, the AFTER.

What do you think?

Here are a few more pictures…….

Painting this room was a dream come true. It made such a difference.

Signed….I Love Color!

Painting The Town

2010-11-09T22:53:00.001-08:00

Or at least my living room……………………..

But first a brief note to Mr. Tilney fans from the Jane Austen Society AGM.

I happened to capture some of ‘Mr. Tilney’s’ dialog on video during the Team Tilney presentation. I am hoping to get the video pieced together and uploaded for your enjoyment some time tomorrow, so please check back.

And now for my living room makeover.

Before

I love my living room. It has been a work in progress and still needs some essential furniture pieces to be complete, but for a while now I have had the dream of painting it turquoise, and finally I am making it happen. During…….

As I write this I am in complete and utter exhaustion from bending, reaching, and climbing ladders dozens of times over the last two days.

The final coat is drying now. Tonight I will peel the tape, and tomorrow I will post the ‘AFTER’ shot.

-Lynnae

Having A Ball

2010-10-31T01:08:00.001-07:00

I have many great pictures from the Jane Austen Ball last night. I also took some video, which I will post when I get back home, so stay tuned for that.

Today, before our selected breakout sessions, we heard from Juliet McMaster, who along with her Many other accomplishments, is the founder of Juvenalia press, publishing many of Jane Austen’s minor works along side her own illustrations.

We also slipped away for a trip (pilgrimage) to Powells book store. With floor after floor of new and used books, it was hard not to send the whole day there. This picture is deceptive. It is one corner of a store that includes several (stories pardon my pun) and a whole city block. A shelf of Austen and Austen related books- And another,

And another.

After two more talks it was time to get ready for the ball.

The overall effect was more ‘Lydia’ than ‘Elizabeth Bennett’, but that was OK with me.

I wish I could share all my pictures, but here is a sampling. Remember that in addition to the Jane Austen theme, this was also a Ball Masque, so many participants are in costume.

Even the purse table looked very elegant.

I had a great time and I am especially glad my mom could share this trip with me.

I Love you Mom!

And Happy Anniversary Jon, You’re the best!

-Lynnae

Gothic Mystery of the Hilton Abbey Tower…or, Day Two of Jane Austen Society in Portland.

2010-10-30T02:02:00.001-07:00

Just as Catherine Morland suspected a woman to be languishing trapped in a tower of Northanger Abbey in Jane Austen’s book by the same name, we had a little suspicion about the mysterious 23rd floor of the Hilton……But more on that later………..

Today’s busy schedule included………..

Boehms fudge from Washington and an Anniversary card from my husband, tucked away in my suitcase as a surprise!

And if that’s not romantic enough, a lively morning with Mr. Tilney and his staunch Team Tilney defenders.

Viewing first editions of Jane Austen novels and also novels, conduct books, and satirical cartoons by her contemporaries.

Not far from the library, we made a stop at Button and Ribbon Emporium. Just look at these cards of exquisite beaded lace!

And of course, plenty of buttons.

We went to to the Portland Art Museum to see the Rose Garland Dancers.

I took this on the walk back to the Hilton.

Laurie Viera Rigler signed my ’Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict’ and ‘Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict’ books.

And there were costumes!

Kelly Kirchner from the Jasna Portland Region.

Janet

Ellen

It seemed a very normal first half of the Jane Austen Society gathering………..But things were about to change!

It started when we entered a crowded elevator and pushed the button for the 22nd floor. Another hotel patron exclaimed that he had not thought those upper floors existed, and had not seen them in use.

We assured him we WERE on the 22nd floor, and departed to our room, but soon began to wonder about the mysterious 23rd floor.

Could this be the source of the strange noises at night, and the ghostly figure near the elevator?

Late at night my mother and I decided to go investigate!

The thick stone walls of the tower led us up a narrow passageway, the end of which was blocked by an old iron gate. Terrified we silently made our way up the passage.

Was that a noise? Mom fainted………..

And I ran mad.

Until we decided the safest course of action was to return to our room and resume novel reading.

-Lynnae

Day One, Jane Austen Society of America Annual General Meeting

2010-10-28T23:06:00.001-07:00

Sneak Peek at my ball gown

This morning, after staying up late to put the final touches on my dress, I picked up my Mom at the airport and off we were on our road trip to Portland.

We were able to check in to out room at the Hilton early. We went to registration tables, saw some cute T-shirts, picked up our packets and headed up to out lovely room, where we dumped out our “Jane Austen- The Abbey” tote bags to admire the contents.

With post cards, a book light, and chocolate. You can’t go wrong!

Mom and I in our room.

Mom and I decorate our nametags And take a quick snapshot before unpacking or dresses.

I unpacked a portrait of Dear Jane for our room.

After this we went down to our dance workshop. We practiced four English country dances in an hour and a half. Sometimes it was exasperating, but when the dance came together it was exhilarating! I danced across from my mom, but after the first dance they encouraged us to change partners. A nice looking and friendly woman agreed to be my partner. I saw my mom introduce herself to her new partner, and thought I should do the same, but then upon seeing her nametag I got VERY excited and almost lost it. I was dancing with Laurie Viera Rigler, the author of ‘Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict’ and ‘Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict’! Oh! (I may need a moment)…..Do you know how AWESOME that was???

OK, composure regained.

After dancing and a great dinner, we went to look at ‘Milsom Street’, the emporium full of booths, books, and other items for sale. Here is a sampling of the ‘shops’

Rebecca Morrison Peck of ‘The Thatched Cottage’.

Kay Demlow, Designer, Dressmaker, and Fashion Historian for Lavender’s Green Historic Clothing

There were also some lovely historic dresses on display that I photographed for your enjoyment. But first, here are links to a few more of the vendors:

Vintage Passementerie

Jean Judy- Jane Austen Charm Jewelry

Charlene Ahern- Henry Was a Railroad Man Card Company

After a brief rest in our room we attended Angela Barlow’s “Jane Austen, An Actor’s View”, with observations, readings, and delightful observations about the characters Jane Austen created. That leads us to where we are now, enjoying the view from my window, exhausted.

And now for more DRESSES………….

See you tomorrow,

-Lynnae

Two more days.

2010-10-26T12:23:00.001-07:00

Jon got up to get Jordan off to school, even though it was my day. He is so sweet. I was able to get a good sleep, wake up at a decent time, and sew. I’ve been working not only on my ball dress but Jordan’s Masquerade Ball gown inspired Halloween costume. I hope to have that finished today.

So into my studio again, more fabric everywhere, to sew. I started by logging on to the Dear Lizzie blog for her playlist. I just left it in an open window to play while I sew. Even though I have some of those CD’s I like the mix and it’s cool studio music, quick and easy.

It’s also laundry day, so I have put through a couple loads. Now it’s time for Lunch, then I’m going to Visiting Teaching, and then back for more sewing. My trip is gong to be a real vacation after this busy week!

Later today I hope to post Jordan’s cool Mask were making.

-Lynnae

Sewing Saturday

2010-10-23T22:26:00.001-07:00

I decided to start off my ‘sewing saturday’ by sleeping in until 9:30. I had a blast at the Zumba Party in Pink last night. It was fun and they raised a lot of money for the Susan G Komen Foundation.

My Daughter, Me in the center, and My sister Cami on the right.

So after a quick breakfast I finished work on my under dress, and made several notes on my pattern for the dress I have yet to finish. Here is the completed under dress….On my dress form. You didn’t think I was going to show myself wearing it did you?

It does look a little saggy under the bust line. I don’t know why the pattern turns out that way, but I was glad to see it sag on the perfect dress form too , because I know it’s not just me!

Five more days until my Jane Austen Adventure!

-Lynnae

Busy Me!

2010-10-22T16:53:00.001-07:00

Enter in to my (messy) studio.

It is in full sewing room mode. Yesterday I sewed for an hour only to have to unpick everything I had done. Funny how your mind gets clearer after eating dinner!

I am currently working on a chemise style slip. My pattern is the Simplicity 4055. For the underdress I am making view B except with the lower neckiline of view A. I am also making it sleeveless. If it is too tight to slip over my head then I will put a zipper under one of the arms. But all these changes and calculations are mixing me up and taking time.

The Jane Austen Society is less than a week away. Six days to prepare, not just for the trip, but to leave my daughter with a serviceable Halloween costume and give my husband any help he needs preparing for the festivities.

I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

And, in addition to sewing, life goes on. I’m going to a 2 hour Zumbathon tonight with my sisters and friends.

Tomorrow is Saturday, and I am going to devote the day to sewing.

-Lynnae

Thrift Store Find…..Sewing Box

2010-10-21T16:22:00.001-07:00

A week or two ago I mentioned finding something really cool at the thrift store. I finally took some pictures of it.

I’m pretty sure it’s a sewing box. I love it’s portability and it is made of wood. It is in good condition except for the knobs that are a little worn, but I wouldn’t change it. I am going to use it to hold small craft supplies for solder charms and beads. These are things I often take downstairs to work on with my sisters or Mom when she visits, so it will be handy to have them all together and portable. Plus the box looks cool!

Here is how it looks all opened up.

-Lynnae

From Aprons To Austen to Ruby Slippers

2010-10-17T20:30:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I taught an apron class for our Super Saturday at church. I’ve been so stressed about this class. Sometimes even if Something is not a lot of work I still will get stressed out about it, it’s just my way. And in the end things went OK, but I do have to say that making your own pattern and instructions is pretty hard work.

I made my daughters ruffled aprons in 2008 after making up a pattern and modifying it a little for each girl. Yesterday I was teaching one of those aprons but I had to make actual paper patterns, which I never had when I made mine.

So that has been occupying my thoughts and what free time I have.

I did take apart one of the old clocks I bought at Bad Girls Antiques going out of business sale (sad!)

And my daughter and I put up some Halloween decorations.

One cool thing about last week….I got the tags back from Karla Nathan’s Dorothy Tag Swap.

This was such a fun project. Thanks again to Karla for all her work. And it was a LOT of work.

Here are six tags from the swap plus one of mine and the one Karla Nathan made for everyone.

Being in a tag swap is wonderful. It’s like an art project and a birthday surprise all in one! I’ve done a couple swaps from blogs, and convinced the ladies in my family to do a Valentines Day swap last year. I would love to host my own internet tag swap, but I’m afraid I’m not that organized yet.

And now for Austentime………. 11 more days until my Jane Austen weekend with my Mom. I am so excited- but there is so much to do. I will keep you posted!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Lynnae

Who I Am

2010-09-30T13:40:00.001-07:00

I saw this blog Link-Up party for Funky Junk over on my sister’s page and had to join in.

Who I Am

I am a mother, wife, and creative spirit from a creative family heritage. I am a passionate Christian, a conservative, a hard core Janeite, love music and choir, and even other Mormons think I’m ‘churchy’ (and I suppose their right), but I have a fun side as well, and maybe even a (secret) wicked streak, as one of my favorite things is to watch the local news and mock it. I love to smile at my husband’s jokes.

My world revolves around my children.

I love skirts, dresses, Barbie dolls, and cute, girly stuff!

Where I live

I live in a mountain town outside of Seattle. The natural beauty just envelopes me……whenever the clouds part long enough to see it! This is my neighborhood in the Fall.

This is the view from my bedroom window, in the early spring.

What I love about my home

Before building this house, the longest our family had been in a home was three years. We’ve been here for ten. This is our house.

This is our house in the framing stages. I traced the girls hands near the front door and we signed our names before the drywall went up. Oh! This little one is all grown up and at college now!

I love filling up my house with a big crowd of family.

My favorite room

My favorite room is my bedroom. It’s not the fanciest room in the house, or even the cleanest and most organized. But it is my retreat and sanctuary. When I don’t feel well it comforts me. The curtains need to be replaced, but they are gauzy and airy and romantic. The headboard doesn’t fit our new king sized bed, but nothing in a store makes me smile like those shiny black dragons. The dark aqua paint treatment took me DAYS! But I wish my whole house was as colorful and romantic and rich.

What I like to DIY

Journaling, scrapbooking and family history

Decorating and painting

Throwing a yearly Jane Austen party

Designing and sewing an occasional Jane Austen dress.

Oil Painting

And other little crafts.

I wish I knew how to

sew better (and like it)

play the guitar or piano (as long as I’m wishing)

take the time to be a REAL artist, not just an occasional dabbler

be relaxed and organized (again, as long as I’m wishing)

Why I love to blog

(back to the journaling and history….)

I love the record it creates….a colorful, visual record that words in a journal alone can’t describe. I love that it lets me put my accomplishments out there, and put my best self forward, and keep all the parts that are dorky, sloppy, and complete failures to myself.

Unless I choose to share, and then there is a chorus of friendly, supporting voices of family, friends, mothers, fellow crafters, artists and literary fans, and other kind people there to offer support and sympathy.

Thanks friends!

-Lynnae

P.S. Since I wrote this post this morning, my college daughters have linked up too! FUN!

Please visit Paisley Muffin: My Life, My Blog and An Inventory of Shiny, Adorable, and Colorful Things.

Signed, Proud Mom.

Dorothy Tag Swap

2010-09-29T15:58:00.001-07:00

I recently made some Dorothy and ‘Wizard of Oz’ inspired tags for Karla Nathan’s Dorothy tag swap. You’ve seen the button on the side of my blog. Now normally I would keep my tags a surprise, but since Karla has asked us to post pictures on Flickr I thought I could go ahead and share them with you also.

This is the tag back.

I had to scan these because the computer wasn't reading the memory card.....

My inspiration was Professor Marvel/The Wizard of Oz. The sepia toned back represents the beginning of the movie, and the front of the card represents the colorful land of Oz.

Don’t we all at some point wish we could get away, as Dorothy says, ‘behind the moon, beyond the rain’….to a place where there isn’t any trouble?

-Lynnae

Sisters Be!

2010-09-23T10:31:00.001-07:00

My sister Julianna made this collage with all nine of us sisters.

I am on the top, center, if you couldn’t tell. I come from a large family, and looking at my sisters…we are all so alike, and all so different. I hope my three daughters grow up with the same kind of a bond and love for their family.

I have three brothers also, and I love them dearly. My own daughters were brought up in a home without any brothers. We were pretty much a girl house with girl things and a pink Barbie room, and my husband has always been greatly outnumbered. There is a church song that we often sing at family night that has the line “We must brothers be….” and somewhere along the line my daughters started shouting “SISTERS BE” after the is line. I’m surprised none of them actually said it at church.

There’s something wonderful about sisters.

-Lynnae

More Thrift Store Finds

2010-09-21T16:46:00.001-07:00

Today I was out shopping the thrift stores looking for a dress for my daughter’s Halloween costume. Once I had a good dress in hand, I had to do a little searching for myself.

I found two small Battenberg style tablecloths, perfect for my next Jane Austen party, $3.99 each. And then…..and then I saw this lovely beaded scarf, excellent embroidery, excellent color, oh…… from the moment I saw it a regency ball gown developed in my head with this beadwork gracefully flowing down.

Not like anything I had planned to make for this year, so whether I can make it into something in time for this year’s ball I don’t know, but it will be made at some point. The scarf is long, about 8 feet, and a lovely ecru color.

The cost for this piece of loveliness? $4.99. Score!

The Joy of Journaling

2010-09-16T19:28:00.001-07:00

In addition to blogging and the Journal Project I’ve done with my Grandmother, I also keep a pretty regular written journal myself. It’s always a big day when I get to start a new journal, and today I started journal #8 with a crisp new title page to write the start date on, and attempt some flourish at writing my name.

I haven’t always been a habitual Journal keeper. I started when I was 12 years old, and though I often wrote daily, there are gaps here and there of a month, and occasionally a year. The early journals have fun details like crazy day,

A description of my mom’s Corelle dishes from Thanksgiving,

My bedroom floorplan and my sister’s costume for a school play.

An addition from a few years ago was the crossed out college shopping list from my oldest daughter’s trip to BYU.

One book from the early 90’s included this sketch of Santa.

Sometimes I stick things in there that are just plain odd, like this score sheet from a game Jordan and I played. Her score became the king, and mine was the queen. The game was played on March 15 and across the bottom it reads “Beware the ides of March”

Do I write this for posterity? Oh, I hope not. I don’t know. It is so full of my fears, inadequacies and complaints. But it also contains my faith, my testimony, and many musings on my gratitude to God. Often I get out my journal and write just to ‘process my thoughts’ and get things out of my system.

On the other hand, how wonderful it would be to have a hand written record of the day to day life of one of my great grandmothers.

I don’t know what will become of it. I am not a real writer. But I do feel that journal writing is very important for everyone. Everyone will benefit from keeping a journal, and it’s never too late to start.

I hope I will fill many more books to come!

-Lynnae

Crazy Candle

2010-09-16T18:45:00.001-07:00

After my last post I curled up in front of my fireplace for an antihistamine induced nap. Little did I know this was going on right behind me. Good thing it was a short nap!

The candle I was burning had a ‘breakout’ and dripped down onto the mantle. Not pictured here are my car keys, which were also covered in wax. I broke them out and let them cool and the wax chipped right off.

I set my car keys by a burning candle so I don’t accidently leave the house while a candle is burning. It’s my own little system I’ve made up (one of many) to keep me from being an airhead and it works pretty good (until now).

-Lynnae

Cake Stands

2010-09-10T15:28:00.001-07:00

Last month when my mom came to visit, she brought me a gift of a lovely white cake stand. Thank You Mom!

A few days later we went on a little treasure hunt at Goodwill, and mom had gathered up a bunch of candlesticks and dessert plates. She said she was going to epoxy them together to make mini cake stands. So of course I had to get in on the action and find some things too.

Here’s my loot from Goodwill

Today I finally put them together. I used a regular epoxy that my husband had around for the tall white stand, but it was gray, and I realized I needed a clear glue for the glass plate. Once I found something I got them all together. I hadn’t really thought about how the glass plate would look with the glue. You can see it pressed against the plate in the center.

But I like it so much I don’t care. When I use it for a little party a pretty doily will cover that up nicely.

Once I assembled the cake stands all there was left to do was make some cupcakes (one can’t really photograph naked cake stands now, can we?).

For these treats I used Krusteaz brand Fat Free Cranberry Orange muffin mix, then I added orange zest and Neufchatel cheese* to white frosting that I had on hand. YUM!

I don’t like the cupcake papers, but I was trying to used what I had on hand. I thought of peeling them all, but then I wouldn’t be able to give them away, and would have to eat them all. Even I won’t go quite that far for a blog post.

Speaking of blog post…. I’ve had a weird allergy all day today, and finally took some medicine, so this post has been a race against time. So I will hit ‘publish’, sign off, and hopefully nothing is amiss.

Tomorrow, among other things, I’ll be in Tacoma for a two hour Zumba class. The ‘Party in Pink’ is raising money for Susan G. Komen foundation. I also have a great Goodwill find from yesterday that I need to show you.

* I use Neufchatel cheese in place of regular cream cheese for everything. It is lower in fat than reg. cream cheese but tastes wonderful.

P&P- The Play

2010-09-07T20:16:00.001-07:00

I am back home from my travels and ready to settle in for the fall.

One of the fun things that I did while away was to see the play “Pride and Prejudice” at the Utah Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City, Utah. My thirteen year old daughter came to the play with me. We had a great time. The play was very well done. We enjoyed laughing at Mr. Collins especially, although Mr. Darcy had some pretty comic moments himself. It was fun to have Jordan as a play partner. She was thrilled to be seated on the front row of the balcony (The thought of which made my stomach drop several times during the show).

The set was minimal and it was interesting to see how they utilized it for the various locations. The play was very fast paced, which caught me off guard at first. At one moment Jane gets and invitation to Netherfield, and then almost as she reads it the Netherfield cast is assembling around her. It was a very interesting device to get so much story into a play on a minimal stage.

The acting was all first rate, the costumes were lovely, and everyone could be heard clearly, so for me it was a night well spent!

-Lynnae

P.S. Are any of my readers attending the Jane Austen Society of North America AGM in Portland next month? I would be interested in knowing. Also, I started an event page on facebook for the AGM because there wasn’t one yet.

Dorothy Tag Swap

2010-08-19T20:06:00.001-07:00

I am at a hotel in a college town 800 miles from my home. Tomorrow morning I say goodbye to my second baby and we will just start driving. After all we’ve been through this year it’s hard to believe I will hug her in a parking lot and voluntarily just drive away. It’s so much harder now that I know what it will be like, how contracted our family circle will seem when we get home, how much quieter our afternoons and evenings will be.

This means I did a good job. This means we have successfully raised a capable child (and believe me this one is more than capable). This means a lot of GOOD things. It just doesn’t feel good.

Last year when I was feeling down about being in my boot cast and grounded from running and my aerobics class I joined a fat-book swap. It was a lot of fun and gave me a project to perk me up a little. So when I ran across Karla Nathan’s Dorothy Tag Swap I thought it would be just the thing to help pass the next month.

It’s only six tags, and with a Wizard of Oz theme the possibilities are endless! As far as I know the swap is still open. Click on the button in my sidebar if you are interested.

Well, wish me luck tomorrow.

-Lynnae

Window Project

2010-08-04T14:19:00.001-07:00

This is a project I made yesterday to fill an awkward little area in the powder room. A friend gave me the salvaged window a while back.

The art that used to be here had been there forever, so I decided to repurpose the frame somewhere else in the house (as in- I stole it for my studio).

When my family noticed it was gone my husband ripped a page out of the Pottery Barn catalog to fill the void.

That prompted me to get in gear and finish the window project.

The knobs across the bottom are from Anthropologie. The majority of labels and pictures are free graphics from The Graphics Fairy, and the photos I’ve acquired from junk sales and antique stores. I can add more to it over time. The cottage feel goes well with the pictures on the opposite wall.

-Lynnae

Jane Austen Fight Club

2010-07-25T08:18:00.001-07:00

And now for a bit of silliness……………………

Enjoy!

-Lynnae

Bloom Where You Are Planted…I Beg You!

2010-07-13T20:01:00.001-07:00

I am not a very good gardener. I wish I were. I want that kind of lovely yard that is earned by love and toil, but it seems I just don’t have the discipline to make it that way.

Well, I take that back. I have discipline that I exercise in many areas of my life. I guess my garden is just lower on the list of priorities. Laundry, food, cleaning and general nurturing of my family are up near the top, and taking time to run and exercise is a high priority and a large part of my day. And then there’s my computer time, hopefully a little art time, journal and scripture study…You get the drift.

When the rain finally lets up…(say, June some time…) and my allergies ease off, then my yard battles consist of 1-Weeding enough to keep the HOA off my back, and 2- Trying to keep the neighborhood cats from using my flowerbed as a litter box.

But the dream still lives. And last year part of that dream was to plant three bare root, hardy Hibiscus plants in the flowerbed. They took hold, each grew a couple leaves, and then dried up.

Over the winter I wondered if that was it.

All spring I looked for signs of life.

And now, this week, when I was lamenting the weeds and giving the flowers up for gone, a saw a slightly different leaf.

And sure enough, in the center of a little stone circle was one of my plants. And it looked like a second one might be making a valiant effort.

Today I weeded the area. Thank heavens I had put the little stones around the plants or I might have missed them altogether.

As I weeded I saw even the third little guy struggling to reach the sun.

Maybe our Seattle springs come too late for these guys after all. But for now they are getting my full attention.

You Can Do It!!!!!

Four Days of Pure Jane Austen

2010-07-09T15:06:00.001-07:00

Mom and I just registered for the Jane Austen society of North America’s annual general meeting in Portland this October.

Dancing at the JASNA AGM Ball in Vancouver, 2007

Four days of pure Austen… classes, lectures, a banquet and ball, actors performances, we even signed up for an English Country Dance workshop. I’m so excited. I’ve gone once before, and this time I get to share it all with Mom, so it will be even more fun.

Authentic Jane Austen Era gowns on display in one of the breakout sessions in 2007 (click to enlarge)

I will give you details of my preparations along the way, and a few posts and lots of pictures from the AGM.

Stay tuned!

Blessings For Grandma

2010-07-05T20:44:00.001-07:00

My dear grandma who I’ve written about many times has been very sick and in the hospital. I’m in another state and have been relying on the updates from Mom and siblings.

Here is my sister’s sweet post about what happened one evening to help Grandma feel better:

Better Than We Deserve

Please wander over and check it out.

-Lynnae

That’s One Romantic Gypsy

2010-07-05T20:19:00.001-07:00

Have you seen the August Issue of Romantic Homes? I dream over this magazine, and in this issue my favorite was the lovely Airstream trailer owned by Robin Brown, the owner of Magnolia Pearl, and her husband.

I know all you artsy ladies dream of setting your gypsy soul free by traveling around in this fashion. Seriously though, I am too much of a homebody to live like that. But I LOVE the bohemian, artsy romance of the decorating. Can you believe that painting Robin created on the outside? And the way they fitted up the inside is fantastic. Here’s a peek as I read this but seriously, go buy the issue because there’s more good stuff!

Click to visit Magnolia Pearl, and thanks again Romantic Homes for another dreamy issue of your magazine!

My Studio

2010-06-19T02:37:00.001-07:00

Please come on into my studio. I’ve been up late trying to get it just right for the Where Bloggers Create blog party. Join in and visit MANY wonderful studios and art corners created by fellow bloggers. If this is your first time visiting me at The Little White Attic, then WELCOME. This room used to be my daughter’s bedroom before she went to college. For almost a year now it has been my creative space and a room for goofing off, trial and error, and a lot of messes. Luckily I can just close the door!

This room also still serves as our guest room, but I have to clear out some of my things. Now for grand tour of my room……..

On the easel is one of the paintings I did last fall that was inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Now that my children are getting older I am trying to devote more time to painting, but it is very easy to let other things take priority. I wanted this room to inspire me, and also to be a place where I could experiment artistically. I think to come up with good ideas you have to be free to play around. You may have some silly ideas, and some that are just no good at all, but from all that creative time comes a few good ideas now and then. Everything doesn’t have to be a masterpiece.

This mural in progress is based on a painting of London’s Vauxhall Gardens circa 1815.

Some people say that items that appeal to you will go together in your house. This room puts that to the ultimate test. I am still pretty new at having a studio, and things are not organized AT ALL. I have boxes slid under the bed and a little space in the closet, but as I’ve gathered art supplies from around my house for each project, I would rather play than organize. but one of these days it will have to be done.

Here you can see a corner of my dollhouse. Here’s a closer look.

This is the dollhouse I have sat at to play from the time I was six years old. After being passed from younger sisters to nieces it found it’s way back to me. My original decorating that I did with my mom was long gone, so I’ve been stripping it down and reworking it.

Another shot of the mural I’m painting, and my fancy bell collection.

My scarves have migrated from the bedroom closet onto the back of the door in my art studio.

My dress form is all dolled up for the occasion…..

And above the closet door, my chorus line of beloved

Raggedy-Anns

And here’s the shelf that holds almost all of my Jane Austen books

More Jane Austen books…….including my trusty compilation which is falling apart. I’m currently re-reading Sense and Sensibility and I can hardly hold it with the cover dangling. Time for a new book.

Here’s the view from my window in the daytime. It may be to cloudy to see the lovely mountains today, but you can see all out Washington state greenery, including a Christmas Tree lot behind our house.

And a few more random photos of the room………….

I love color!

Necklace from Beth Quinn Designs I won in a blog giveaway. Yay!

This room used to be my college daughter’s bedroom. You can see her creative space at Paisley Muffin, if you haven’t been there yet. If you are going alphabetically then you’ve already seen it.

Now that the blog party is completed, my next task is to sew my regency dress for the Jane Austen Annual General Meeting in October. I need a new dress for the banquet and ball. I can’t wait to learn more dances. My mom and I are going to Portland for the AGM together and then….THREE days of nothing but all-Jane-all-the-time. I can’t wait! So follow along, especially if you love Jane like I do.

After that it will be the holidays, and then time to think about my third annual Jane Austen Tea Party in February for some of my friends and family here in the Seattle area.

Thanks for visiting The Little White Attic!

-Lynnae

I would love your comments!

New Area Rug

2010-06-17T16:36:00.001-07:00

Today I picked up a new area rug that I ordered for my living room. I am so excited and I love how it looks.

I didn’t put down a carpet pad because we have wall to wall carpet there. But I really felt an area rug would pull the space together more and when I saw this one I was in love…and at a good price at Walmart.com.

I love my modern, bright red sofa. I also love my old, traditional piano. One great thing about the area rug is that the style goes well with both and unifies the room.

I am still on the look out for a coffee table (despite my husband’s protests) that I can fix up with a little paint, but I want to keep it under $30. And truth be told I’ve let one or two good ones slip by after talking myself out of it and then later I regret not buying them.

I also have Magnificent slipper chairs waiting to be redone….I know I capitalized that. But they are awesome and just need some love. Only now…..well, it’s beginning to occur to me that there are no arms on the slipper chairs or the sofa, so maybe a club type chair would be better for the room. The slipper chairs will find a home somewhere….and the husband would prefer to get them out of the garage.

Well, there is little more boring than reading about decorating without any more pictures, so I’ll quit. I mostly just wanted to show the new rug. Yay!

3 more days until Where Bloggers Create, and my room still looks like a tornado hit. Agh!

-Lynnae

A Little Note

2010-06-14T17:04:00.001-07:00

….for the Pride and Prejudice fans.

After my two daughters were discussing which Bennet girl they would be, they decided our Cavachon dog, Missy, would be Mary Bennet. That led to my daughter making the following picture and caption…….

"You have delighted us long enough. Let the other young ladies have time to exhibit."

But seriously folks……

I have been busy with my daughters graduation, and now I am trying to make my studio look pulled together for the “Where Bloggers Create” blog party (see button on sidebar) So I am busy busy busy.

FIVE more days until the blog party!!!!!!!!!

Dear Lynnae 10 years ago…….

2010-06-05T14:56:00.001-07:00

A friend put up a nice little comment on facebook today that really got me thinking. It was this….

“If you could go back ten years ago and tell yourself some things, what would you say?”

Dear Me…….. The day is coming up with the truck on the freeway and the skidding and the guardrail…..And even though you’ll walk away and be very thankful, still be able to function and look normal to everyone, and despite several rounds of physical therapy, your neck will basically be painfully nagging you for the rest of your life. Please take the back road that day.

And Dear Me……check into some custom shoe inserts now before those foot problems set in. Once the kids are in school you will have more time to exercise, and guess what? You ARE going to lose weight and be active despite your setbacks, but it takes a toll on your feet, so let’s try to avoid the shots, braces, casts, and pain, OK?

Love every moment with Jon and especially the girls, they grow up so fast. But you already know that. There will be challenges, but trust me, come 2010 you wouldn’t go back for the world.

Just thinking about what it would be like to not have a sore neck and not have a sore foot brought me to tears. Think of what I could have done then……….

But on the other hand, I’ve been led on a path, and learned so much about myself, maybe my successes were because of those challenges, not in spite of them. And ten years ago if you would have told my I would lose that weight- I would have been jumping for joy.

I think I’ll jump for joy today!

OK, so what would YOU tell yourself if you could go back ten years? You sat through my rant, now lets hear yours.

Fiddler On The Roof

2010-06-04T14:57:00.001-07:00

Last week my sister offered me her extra ticket to Fiddler on the Roof at the Paramount in Seattle. We had a lot of fun.

Kids in my family grew up on Fiddler on the Roof because my parents loved soundtracks to musicals. We knew how to thread the reel to reel stereo, and then blast the music as we danced around singing the songs. Several of my sisters and I even once performed ‘Matchmaker, Matchmaker’ in a church talent show. So it was fun to go with Shannon and laugh and cry together (I was totally wiping tears on my scarf!)

Tevya always reminds us of Dad, cooking for us and stomping around the kitchen, waving his arms around singing ‘If I Were a Rich Man…"’

That was a lot of fun. Thanks Shannon!

-Lynnae

Jasna In Utah

2010-05-22T13:48:00.001-07:00

My mom recently told me that a Jane Austen Society group is being formed in Utah. Since I have a few readers in Utah I thought I’d pass along the Facebook link to the Utah chapter.

Jane Austen Society of North America: Utah Region

and here is an e-mail contact:

austenfans411(at)gmail(dot)com

-Lynnae

Senior Prom

2010-05-21T15:48:00.001-07:00

I had to adjust the length on my daughter Arianne’s prom dress. It was a bubble type skirt, which added some complications, but at the same time the finished seam would not be showing, so that was great!

I spent an hour curling her hair, and she put on the jewelry we had picked out together.

Then she indulged me with a photo session until her date arrived…..…….

And then we had another round of photos.

Before long they set off to their Senior Prom at the Space Needle.

This was taken in the park after dinner. While she was there a little girl thought she was a princess and wanted a picture with her.

This was a picture Arianne took at the top of the Space Needle.

Throughout this whole experience I was very thankful to the Lord that she was healed of her illness from March, which turned out to be viral meningitis. I’m so thankful that she is healthy and able to enjoy prom and graduation. I’ve been having a pretty sentimental day today.

This morning I dreamt I opened a door and saw my little girls bedroom just as they would have left it any morning 16 years ago when my older girls were two and four. Seeing the sheets and dolls and jammies was so realistic that I woke up and cried a little. It was only yesterday they were that small. Some days I just wish I could bring it back.

-Lynnae

Sneaky Peeky

2010-05-12T16:48:00.001-07:00

Just a little sneak peek today at something I’ve been playing around with in my studio. Remember, the Where Bloggers Create blog party is June 19. It is really inspiring me to get my studio ready for the big show (and it’s going to be BIG!!!!). But here is one little snippet for you until then!

Dinner Bell, Dinner Bell Ring!

2010-05-11T17:24:00.001-07:00

This post started as a comment to my sister’s blog, Better Than We Deserve, but not wanting to take up a ton of space I turned my reply into a post of my own.

I believe it is my nurturing duty as a mom to make dinner for my family. But I don’t really LOVE cooking. I don’t see recipes and get excited (unless they include massive amounts of chocolate).

A few years ago at a church activity we made these nifty dinner calendars. you just think of 50 meals you regularly prepare (four of mine said EAT OUT). We printed them in squares and laminated it. Then you could plan out your whole month, and the extra squares stuck on the back with velcro.

The scripture above the calendar squares says “Love bears, believes, hopes and endures all things…….

Getting sick of that idea and having more recipes I thought I’d add into the circulation, a year and a half ago I planned out a years worth of meals from all the cookbooks I wanted to try and all the regular favorites. So I go to that every week, sometimes shuffling things around or changing things for convenience. I'm still pretty flexible but I like not having to think about it much.

Jon likes to cook but he is conveniently not home at that time.....LOL-he's still at work until 6:30 or 7, selfish man.....
But maybe when he's retired I'll make him do it. I would rather be on clean up.
Everyone on shows who enjoy cooking also drink wine, so maybe that's my problem- I don’t drink. Sometimes I will try to 'make it fun' by having a diet coke, which isn't really that fun. On Cinco de Mayo I tried to make it fun by eating chips and salsa while cooking the food. Then I was stuffed by dinner. But it was fun.

Who does the meal planning and prep in your house? Do you love it or hate it? Do you have a method to your madness?

Mother’s Day 2010

2010-05-09T17:23:00.001-07:00

Today I’m thinking about my Mother and Grandmothers and what their legacy and heredity has given me. To mention a few…..

My maternal grandmother’s mother, Ingeborg, was Swedish. She was a great seamstress. During the depression she would sew lovely dresses for others, then out of the leftover fabric make beautiful dresses for her daughter. She was talented but also suffered with anxieties and worries that her husband would try to soothe.

Great-grandma pedaling her sewing machine outside while she watches her little one play

Her daughter Linnea is my Grandma, and I’ve told you a lot about her. My home is adorned with things she has made, especially at Christmas time. And yet she said to me recently that she didn’t see herself as creative. I said ‘but what about all the lovely things you’ve made for everyone over the years?’ “Well, sure if you count using a pattern.” It has me chuckling, and yet as I have spoken to her about her life I see many feelings of inadequacy and just generally her being hard on herself. So much of her personality and behavior as a youth was similar to mine….being shy, not wanting to try things or meet new people…..and yet she is hard on herself, where I have learned to laugh and say ‘Yep, that’s me, that’s just how I was.’ I’m a lot more forgiving of myself now. Where did I learn that?

My mother is insightful, religious and incredibly creative. She loves children. She raised twelve of her own and when the youngest entered first grade Mom went back to school for her teaching degree. She is currently a 1st grade teacher, but she brings an extra dose of art and music, often at her own time and expense.

It was common for our house to be in a turmoil with a creative project, and as children there was an endless supply of art materials, fabric scraps, books and costumes, and we could be up to something crazy, messy, and creative and there never was much more than a raised eyebrow. Creative expression was valued highly in our home.

While all the women in my family bring a strong spiritual heritage, including visions and dreams that would come to pass, my paternal grandmother’s mother had an exceptional trial in this way. She was forewarned of the death of her husband and sons in a series of tragedies. The household that once earned money through singing and a family band that would play at dances several times a week, and could brag of a winning baseball team comprised of the brothers, became contracted within a few short years.

Her daughter Mabel was my grandmother on my dad’s side. After the passing of her brothers she would sing church hymns at the piano with her sister. As a grandmother she loved to tell stories to her grandchildren, from recounting the family history to fantastic tales of Chocolate Town. She also showed her love through food. As a young adult I was visiting, and she asked what I would like for breakfast. I told her not to worry, I just would have a little cereal. In the morning I woke to oatmeal, bacon, pancakes, juice and fruit. “Grandma, I said I just wanted cereal.” I tried to say nicely. “Oh, yes, there’s cereal over there too.” You couldn’t argue with the dear woman. Rationalizing that it was only a few days I smiled and ate the food. Grandma always spoke to us about the gospel, the Savior, and going to the temple. She wanted all of her descendants to have the gospel in their lives.

Thank you lovely ladies for making me who I am today. It is an honor being your daughter and granddaughter.

-Lynnae

On Into May

2010-05-07T16:00:00.001-07:00

The arrival of May for me has been like waking up from a fog. Here is a brief sampling of what I’ve been up to.

I bought fabric for a Jane Austen dress for the AGM in Portland. My Mom is going too and it is going to be FUN! One fun fact about this cloth….I had the same fabric in an empire waist long dress I had when I was a kid. My mom made all the girls matching dresses for Christmas one year. I wonder if any of those dresses are still kicking around? They would be great for a little niece to wear to my next Austen party!

My second Daughter is overcoming her health problems. As I write she’s taking an AP History test (You go girl!) And a month ago I was wondering how she would even make it to graduation. I am so grateful to the Lord for her recovery. Here is a sneak peak at her prom dress.

My oldest Daughter brought her boyfriend up to our place to visit Washington and meet us over spring break. We liked him, I hope he liked us, and I think we had a lot of fun and ate a lot of sushi.

I am exercising again. To say my foot is better is not accurate really, but I couldn’t take it any longer. Besides, gaining back weight I fought so hard to lose is not going to help the foot either. But that’s another story.

I’m trying to get ready for the ‘Where Bloggers Create’ party I mentioned in the last post. Since writing that I acquired the summer issue of ‘Where Women Create’. <SIGH> It’s so beautiful. I have already been through the ‘first perusal’, and the ‘reading-every-word-cover-to-cover’, now I will go through and dog-ear the pages that I really REALLY love….

As for my studio space, There’s a few things I need to finish up, but with the blog party being days after daughter’s graduation, I have to be realistic about what I can get done. I am committed to participating though, ready or not!

Where Bloggers Create- 2

2010-04-27T22:22:00.001-07:00

The Links are up for ‘Where Bloggers Create 2” This was wonderful last year. Please link up and show off your creative space in June!

Last year this made my summer! This year I intend to join in the fun!

-Lynnae

2010-04-23T11:58:00.001-07:00

Pride and Prejudice on the Stage this Summer

2010-04-23T11:39:00.001-07:00

Photo by Karl Hugh

I just learned that The Utah Shakespearean Festival will be putting on the play “Pride And Prejudice” during the time I will be there taking my daughter to school. Yay! I am so excited!

Here is a link to the information, and here is a link to the director, Kathleen F. Conlin, talking about some interesting aspects of staging Pride and Prejudice.