Signature Scent

Currently this is mine... Filles des Iles - Floral Sensual. LeTrainBleu describes it as Islandy and Summery, but I disagree.... I am not much of a Summer person (I prefer the Fall/Winter) and this perfume transitions nicely through every season. What is yours? Read More.. Read More..

Notes to Self

1. This look is total perfection in my book. Long hair, quirky bags, loose menswear shirt, and LOVE those beads! I think I need to hit up the bead store to try to recreate this necklace. (Side Note: I am in the market for a light red lip stain - Have a good recommendation??)


2. Geeky-chic done right... Although, I must say, plaid pants are a bit hard to pull...

(pics via Copenhagen Street Style, Style Sightings) Read More.. Read More..

Quick canning apple sauce

When I asked for ideas to help bring on labor, I was gratified with many responses. I did a little of my own research and asked my midwife and found that there are some "proven" methods, but they only work if the woman's body is already ready to labor and deliver. So much for the hot fudge sunday! Since my contractions have been strong and painful (on and off) for nearly 2 weeks, I figure anything should help, right? Or exhaust me like after the bumpy tractor ride, long walks, washing the car and canning 50 pounds of apples.

I blogged about my sweet new gizmo for making sauce here. Quite a few people have excitedly asked me about the sauce maker after I posted on Facebook that I canned 15 pounds of apples in 1 hour from start to finish. It's a true story and I did another few canner loads and took pictures so you can see for yourself that yes, it really is this easy. Find the sauce maker on Amazon here. There are several options on Amazon and cost anywhere from $42 and up. Different strainer attachments are available for other fruits and vegetables, but the one I purchased came with one for tomatoes and apples/pears. If you are new to canning, it really isn't hard. I would start out helping a friend or family member who already has the know-how and equipment to see if you like it before you invest in the other things you will need: canner, jars, lids, rings, and lots and lots of fresh produce.

I am surrounded by lots of organic fruit trees, ie no one has sprayed them for pests in the last 50 years. City folks pay a lot of money for organic, but in these parts every farm house has at least one fruit tree in the yard brimming with fruit that has never been sprayed for worms or other bugs. Most of the plentiful fruit in our yard goes over the fence to the cows. Organic fruit is usually smaller and can be annoying with parts that have to be cut out. I used 3 different kinds of apples for my sauce and I think it adds to the depth of flavor.

First, I batted my pudgy eyelashes (everything is pudgy on my body at this point) at my wonderful husband and he brought be 2 big buckets full of homegrown, organic apples. I roughly chopped the apples in about 6 pieces, peals, seeds, and a few leaves and all and filled all my available pots on the stove.

Adding just a bit of water to the bottom of the pot keeps the apples from burning until they soften enough on their own to release their juices. My biggest pots took about 30 minutes to get soft. I brought them up to a boil and stirred the pots every 5-10 minutes or so. The smell was intoxicating -- Glade has nothing on the smell of freshly cooked apples. I did 2 batches of 4 big stock pots and that made enough for 2 canner loads (8 quarts each), plus 2 quarts. I was inspired to do more, but then I collapsed on the couch, never to move again.

In 30 minutes the apples turn to mush... it isn't pretty, but that's okay because skipping the pealing and coring just saved me about 3 hours.

I batted my pudgy eyelashes again at my wonderful husband and he ran the sauce maker. I am quite certain all my alluring qualities vanished awhile ago, so his willingness to help must just mean he is wonderful. It could also have something to do with what I heard him muttering under his breath about his very pregnant and occasionally irritable wife, "Just keep her happy, just keep her happy...".

Men like new tools and my husband was impressed with this one. He commented that it needed a bigger hopper to hold more fruit and a motor on it instead of a hand crank, but thankfully he was done so quickly that Tim the Tool Man didn't have time to ramp the simple sauce maker up. I enjoyed canning with my man!

Out one end came piping hot organic apple sauce and the other end delivered the skins and seeds.

I simply spooned the hot sauce into the jars and processed in the boiling water canner for 20 minutes. The result was 18 quarts of apple sauce all completed while the girls took naps on Sunday afternoon. So fast! If this baby doesn't come soon, you may find me canning some more because I really do think it is fun. Then again, napping is fun too. And meeting my new son would be ever more fun. Until next time....

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Fall Wish List, Pt.1

So, this year for my Fall Wish List I tried to keep things semi-realistic (i.e. pieces I might actually be able to afford)... This year I am all about the classics - Denim, Stripes, Moc Booties... Outdoorsy meets Preppy.



APC Boatneck ($80), Gap Always Skinny ($69.50), Minnetonka Booties ($49.50), APC Denim Dress ($230), Fjallraven Mini - Thinking about the Mustard ($60). Read More.. Read More..

Shoes

Inevitably we trip over a huge pile of shoes as we walk in to the house. There is a wooden box of shoes on the back porch in the garage and then there is my handy-dandy shelf inside the back door packed with shoes. The problem? All of a sudden everyone in the family is having a shoe crisis. My husband wore through the sole on his work shoes -- does lovely things to socks. Mandy has one pair of shoes that fits. Jeff asked me Sunday morning what shoes I wanted Mandy to wear and we tried on about 5 pairs from sandals to boots and only 1 pair fits, size 7 already! And Emma has worn through her shoes so that she looks like a refugee from a manure farm. And then there is me; I am happy throwing my pudgy, swollen feet into my Chaco sandals, but winter is coming. My stock of shoes have been purchased on the cheap and I almost get blisters looking at the fine selection.

We have all these shoes cluttering up our lives and we can't wear most of them. I'm coming around to "quality over quantity" thinking and wish to get rid of the piles of nasty shoes and have good shoes that will last and not give blisters or wear through the soles after 3 months.

Kids are hard because their growth spirts are unpredictable. Emma has grown 4 inches since early spring! But her feet have grown pretty slowly over the years. For Emma we purchased some good quality Roper boots. Try to wear through the soles on these babies! They even have a steal toe. We purchased them a little big, so hopefully she can wear them for awhile and then Mandy can wear them. So far, Emma has worn then every day this week with shorts, skirts, and her currently high-water jeans (on to the next problem).

We haven't decided what to get for Mandy and she will continue to wear her one pair of shoes that fits out in public until I have a moment to think about it. At home she can be barefoot -- the sad life of a second born. She tried on some killer cute boots too, but they were too hard to get off and on. Mandy is a hard one to keep up with. On her last birthday she was wearing a size 3 shoe. 4 sizes in a year makes me less inclined to spend "real" money on shoes for her.

Then there is me. I am so very tired of my blisteringly cute shoe collection. I have one pair of tennies that I wear for walks and the rest are painful. Painful, I tell you. I decided last spring to buy some good shoes and my requirements are that the shoes should go on and off easily, be comfortable, and look good with jeans, jeans, and um, jeans and my multitude of neutral colored shirts and sweaters. I'm a wild one and wear both black and brown, so I imagined a shoe that is bold. Hold on to your seats:

I really like these shoes from Keen in "Matter Brown." But what color are they, really? On all the sites I've looked at they vary from red to pink. But the description is brown. I would do burgundy/red, but not pink. Hmm. My birthday money is already simmering a hole in my online shopping pocket.

I need to find something for the hard-working man in the family too. The flapping sole doesn't look too quality. It should be pretty easy to replace his shoes, but I just need to get to the store.

I think shoe issues are a common problem for families. And today I am going to go through our stash and eliminate the nasty and give away the salvageable. Next time you see us, our feet will be singing and the fear of accidents caused by back-door-entry-shoe-pile-tripping should be completely gone.

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Delivering a baby boy...

A friend sent me this picture (I removed it because it was freaking me out as I scrolled through my own blog) in an email of a 19lb. baby recently born in Indonesia. You can read the whole story here. It sure inspires me for my own labor and delivery. Thanks April.

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The Facts

Sometimes you just have to opt for the cheaper (much cheaper in this case) version...


What can I say... It's true!

APC ($230), Old Navy ($25). Read More.. Read More..

Seriously Though

Strongly considering the purchase of a Fjällräven Mini Backpack ($60 at JCrew)... Thoughts?



Question for the Portlanders... am I at all right in feeling that fancy leather bags seem out of place here? I have been strictly canvas-bagging-it since I got here (minus my leather mini cross-body bag, of course). Read More.. Read More..

Post-pregnancy fashion

We are going to Mexico for my cousin's wedding in late November. I am super excited since our vacations usually have "road trip" or "third world country/mission trip" in the description. Jeff and I and a baby, presumably, will be at a swanky resort and I am quite certain that nothing I have in my present wardrobe will be appropriate. With this in mind, I set about to do some summer clothes shopping for the trip and encountered these obstacles:

• I AM 9 MONTHS PREGNANT and have no idea what size I will be in 3 months
• I AM 9 MONTHS PREGNANT and can't try anything on that isn't the size of a tent
• I will be about 6 weeks post-partum and will be breast feeding a newborn
• I don't want things in my wardrobe that I know I will never wear outside of Mexico since there are other ways I would like to spend my clothing budget

The summer clearance sales are underway and I found some good deals with all things considered. Here is what I found:

This dress is from TJ Maxx and was $7. A good bargain makes my day and I found some fantastic ones at that store. It was originally over $50. It is pretty stretchy, has a built in bra, and is still fancy enough to work for the rehearsal dinner or other wedding events where the dress code is "beach chic." The necklace is from Target. I love that place.

Gap.com and Piperline.com had some good deals as well and I shopped from the convenience of home and imagined myself skinny -- or I should say, skinnier. This skirt is also stretchy and will travel well. I got the sandals to hopefully go with most of my outfits. My world now consists of hiking style Chacos and chipped toe-nail polish. A total transformation will need to happen in the next few months.

This shirt and the next one are to wear with the white skirt. I'm not too sure how nursing will work here, but it was only $5. How could I argue with $5?

I love clearance sales. Really I do! This shirt was from Gap.com as well and was $9.99. I can actually see wearing this next summer, so the "splurge" is okay.

This is my favorite dress and I couldn't leave it at the store even though it was SO over budget. Can you believe $14.99? I am such a cheap-skate. I think I can make this work for the winter with a brown sweater or jacket, right?

I also bought another $7 dress, a $5 pair of white capris (that is as much as I am willing to pay for white pants of any kind), a rather vibrant pink top for $3.97, and new swim suit that should hide the post-pregnancy jiggles -- I have come to the point in my life where a skirt on a swim suit is good idea. Over-all I am pretty happy with my expandable/breast feeding friendly clothing selection for the trip. I hope that it will work if I lose 7 pounds or 20 pounds or none at all since I will be throwing desserts in my mouth as fast as possible including brownies, chocolate chip cookie dough, pie of any kind, and Blizzards of any flavor.

Jeff's fabulous vacation wardrobe is easy: Dockers and polo shirts, shorts and t-shirts, and a new pair of flip-flops.

The deals on baby clothes in size 0-3 months at this time of year are amazing. For the baby, I got a few cute short sets and a little white sun hat. I think he needs to be "beach chic" too, so we are all set. Except for the baby not actually being born yet and having no birth certificate or passport for the little one. But who is worried?

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Alter-Ego Only

I think my alter-ego would sport these shoes without fear of looking ridiculous or breaking their ankle.... I'm just saying...



Acne wedge via Oak NYC, Castaner wedge via Anthropologie

I am off for the rest of the day - Back tomorrow! xo, Roberta Jane Read More.. Read More..

Hello Fall

On the first day of my FAVORITE season, Fall, I am feeling particularly inspired by these lovely Autumnal photos from Lisa and The Sunroom.

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Incase You Missed It

Just incase you missed it, here is the Ask Camp Comfort post that I featured on Unruly-Things a couple weeks ago...

Recently Camp Comfort reader, Sarah, wrote in looking for some style suggestions for her long distance plane ride to Australia. Looking great while also feeling comfortable for a long flight can be a challenge – Here’s my foolproof outfit for flying in style.


A cute knit dress, leggings, soft-soled tennies, a large scarf to double as a blanket and a big tote to carry all the necessary plane-ride entertainment and accessories. And P.S. don’t forget to pack a pair of cute socks in your carry-on, planes are ALWAYS cold!

Uniqlo Dress ($19.50), F21 Leggings ($4.50), Gap Plaid Scarf ($16.99), LL Bean Boat & Tote ($49), TOM’S Shoes ($54). Read More.. Read More..

Pullover

Because sometimes you just want to stay cozy in a sweatshirt... Read More.. Read More..

Fall Roundup: Denim & Chambray Shirts

Today we are featuring another great staple for today's Fall Roundup. Denim and Chambray shirts ooze a casual cool-girl vibe when paired with dark denim, black mini-skirts or corduroys.

Looking for tips on how to wear denim shirts? Check out previous Camp Comfort posts: Dress Me Up In Denim, Denim Perfection, and A Touch Of Denim.





Forever21 ($19.90), byCorpus ($68), Anthropologie ($68), Topshop ($55), AE ($44.50), JCrew ($98), Mirror/Dash ($58), Current & Elliott ($129). Read More.. Read More..

Where I Blog From

Hello Monday!

Dying to know where I blog from? Head over to Ill Seen, Ill Said for a little peak into my world.


And thanks to Jane for asking me to participate!

xo,
Roberta Jane

P.S. I am having internet issues this morning - More Monday goodies coming soon! Read More.. Read More..

My daughters as American Gladiators

Gone unchecked, my children are headed straight for American Gladiators, season 492. The show has been around forever, but in case you've missed it the premiss has super strength, muscle-bound athletes with an attitude engaged in events against everyday, working folks. They do challenges like crossing ice water on high-flying rings, crossing a rolling bridge while obstacles are thrown in the path, and javelin matches where everyone is padded. The real life heros, who are always very fit and strong, are no match for the highly trained and angry gladiators.

My two little beauties would be Defiance and Manipulator. I know, I'm scared. Both nasty character traits are dangerous, but must be handled differently. I take this verse very seriously with my children, "Train up a child in the way she should go and when she is old, she will not depart from it." Prov. 22:6. And training has its challenges, especially when confronted with Defiance and Manipulator. I'm doing my best to keep my girls from being perfect candidates for American Gladiators.

(We had to pose this one, can you tell that I'm not really feeling threatened?)

Defiance is easy to spot in any tantrumming toddler. My eldest child can have a fit that will last and last. Her will is thankfully stronger than her brawn, but even in her younger days she was hard to control. You hear "no" a lot from Defiance and she can't stand help for the simplest tasks. These type of children fight to the finish and are a challenge physically and mentally as they wear down a parent's ability to see the goal. A defiant child also resists discipline with the "I don't care," method. I believe I heard it from Dobson that a defiant child doesn't really like the punishment and to keep on delivering it until you see submission. It can take a very, very long time to see submission. I'm talking hours here and sometimes years for the attitude to completely change. Defiance will wear you down if you aren't equipt. 

There is good news though. The job is so important because the alternative to Defiance is honoring to God. Defiance's stubborn streak will be a powerful advocate for good when her strong will is aimed in the right direction. I've seen this already and love watching my first born battle evil and allowing God to work in her life.

(Not posed, very common attitude)

I thought Defiance was my greatest challenge until I met the Manipulator. While defiance yells in your face, Manipulator plays to your emotions. She might not seem dangerous until you realize that manipulation equals deceit. The 9th commandments talks about bearing false witness and Manipulator is an expert at this:

• whining to get her way
• "needing" to be held and toted around
• crying and wanting hugs to get out of discipline
• showing mean behavior and then immediately saying "sorry"
• stalling obedience with "simple" requests, think endless bedtime

At first glance, you don't mind Manipulators tactics; at least she's not throwing tantrums in public. But without care and training, this child gets what she wants every time. You'll end up with a child who can turn on the tears and manipulate your feelings until you don't know right from wrong. Defiance has you physically, but Manipulator has your emotions. Guard your heart and jump right in. As a parent, I simply can't allow deceitful behavior and teach Manipulator that tears, whining, and stalling won't work. And Manipultor already shows signs of changing her ways. She has great compassion and love and just needs to be given the tools to help others instead of herself.

You might not see the full-blown traits of Defiance and Manipulator in your child, but each one tests the boundaries in ways that are constantly challenging the parent.Hebrews 12:1-3 is such an encouragement as I often feel defeated by the whole team from American Gladiator in my life's role.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart."

I pray for my children daily, that I will be able to train them in the way they should go. Being in the trenches of parenting is hard work and I guess that I why I thought of the American Gladiators today. I might get pummeled occasionally, but the work I do as a parent is so important and I needed to remind myself of that today.

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Facebook is easier

These days I often update my Facebook status with a link to my blog when I write a new post here. Then my "friends" know they can check out my blog to read something new. 

FB is really for quick, short, usually impersonal updates, not lengthy picture posts like I tend toward. What I have noticed is that my friends jump over to my blog, thanks guys, but then they jump back on FB to leave a comment. No matter to me because I see both, but non-Facebookers don't get to see all the comments not left on the blog.

For instance, here is what was posted to FB after my bringing-on-baby post:

Such a wealthy of advice! Whether on the blog (click on __comments at the bottom of the post to leave a post and include your name if you choose anonymous), or on FB, I appreciate the input. I'm feeling quite exhausted from reading these suggestions and now need a nap. :)

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Happy Weekend

Last night I watched Jean-Luc Godard's Masculin Feminin (1966). Another fantastic and arty film by the 60's French cult movie master - I highly recommend! Chantal Goya sports some very cute looks in the movie!


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The Induction

At this point in my last pregnancy I was a blogging crazy person. I blogged religiously, but then again I only had one child to look after and she was almost 3. There is a big difference this time around in my energy level and my responsibilities. A preschooler and a toddler demand much and I have little to give. Of course the discomfort level is more intense and started earlier on this pregnancy than the last one too. All I can think about it having this baby; today would be a good day.

Friends, family, and random strangers are fantastic at giving advice on how to bring on labor. These are things that have been suggested I try:

• long walks
• jumping on a trampoline (the very idea sends my body reeling in pain)
• ingesting Cod-liver oil, or maybe it was Caster oil, Motor oil?
• tractor rides
• 4 wheeler rides
• mowing the lawn
• hot fudge sunday, I kid you not

I'm sure there are others you can suggest and depending on how dramatic, I might give it a try. And don't worry. My blog audience is on the top of the list of notification as soon as the baby comes -- I won't be Twittering about my labor, but my absence from blogging doesn't actually mean I am dealing with a baby. It just means I am bored and uninspired.

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Winter, Really?

Have you checked out APC's new Winter collection - Perfection as usual... I am particularly excited to try to replicate this denim dress look:



Hello, the boots are so cute! They look a lot like old school Doc Martins (before the soles got all huge and chunky!) Read More.. Read More..