Beets & Bangs

It's time to fess up...

I did something rash, and outrageous...involving scissors...

JANUARY FOOLS!

The real issue around here is that I never know what time it is!

But back to when I faked you out into thinking I had bangs - are those some killer look-alikes or what?!

 

It's actually just the ends of my hair (which are about 500 shades lighter than my current follicle hue so everyone thought I had cut AND bleached it!) with a headband and bun to complete the disguise.

 

I quite like it actually!  This means you can have bangs one day and none the next - no hassle!

 

For those of you at home wanting to try this for yourselves, the instructions are quite simple:

1.) gather hair into a nice top-of-your-head-bun, wrapping it around the center, making sure to leave out some of the ends for the "bangs"

2.) Sweep the ends of your hair down over your forehead as if they are your bangs.
3.) With your "bang" extras in place, pin the bun in to your head, and put a headband across the "bang-line" to complete the illusion.
4.) Rock your sweet new temporary 'do!

And on the subject of words starting with the letter B I've got beets to share!

These beauties where made from our summer beet harvest this past summer.  Originally they were these lovely pink and white striped rings, but they seem to have simply all blended together into one fabulous fuchsia-esque concoction.  I've never made pickles before, so it was a bit of a daunting process initially.  The overall taste test was positive!

I'm not very into sweet pickles or those candy-tasting pickled beets, so I used a more dill-oriented recipe to give them a nice sour kick.

Look at that!  I would probably just line up the jars and use them as stained glass if it wouldn't make them totally inedible!

Here's my artistic question:

Which makes for a better photograph?  The textured background, or the sun-blinded plain white background?

Here are your choices:

(you can click on each of them for a larger image)

I'm torn - some thoughts from the peanut gallery perhaps?

Under Wide Open Skies

Q: what do you get when you pour rain on a hot, dry plain?

A: a high temp of 92 with a max humidity of 94%

(summer dresses are required.)

On my way back from ballroom lessons, the sky was absolutely fantastic! That's fantastic to the point that the neighbors saw a girl wizzing down the street on a bicycle shouting out things like

"wowahweewah!" and "now that's what I call a sky!"

Behold the sky à la 9:15pm!

My dad said it looked like two dogs kissing...

What do YOU see?

Luckily I remembered to turn the ISO waaaaaay down.  I don't really know anything about photography, but I'm glad I remembered that, because it makes such a difference! (above)

There's really nothing like a sweeping mid-western summer sky to make you want to kick off your shoes and dance!

I'm Dreaming of...

But will we get one back in good ol' ioway?

After a bit of encouragement, the weather decided to give us a real run for our money last weekend.  10+ glorious inches (as I have previously boasted) of white, fluffy, sparkle-encrusted snow.

It's lasted, but has been severely diminished by a stream of constant rain today..

HOWEVER,

Right after the mini-blizzard, we went out with cameras as any self-respecting citizen would do in attempt to capture the beauty of what lay before us.  (Also attempting not to freeze our shutter-button fingers off).  The lighting was absolutely perfect, and I took way too many pictures of the bridge.  Now I'm stuck with about seven pictures, and no clue which ones I should keep, or deem the 'top of the crop'

So dear internet viewers, I would like to extend this invitation to help me choose which bridge pic to put the gold star upon.  

I also might add to the credit of natural sunlight + snow that these photos are 100% unedited in any way possible.  Way to go sunlight, you rock!

 

Like I said...too many pictures.

Got any suggestions?  Any home remedies for lack of snow?  Any witchcraft for lack of snow?  Any songs for lack of snow?  Any snow?

Autumn's palette

The arrival of fall and october have ushered in an absolutely stunning color palette of autumnal goodness, that I can hardly manage to take in all at once.  Luckily, everyday seems to have a gradual new foliage development, so one can take it as it comes.

Naturally, I also enjoy attempting to capture some autumn-y goodness in my wardrobe!

   

and incase you're suspicious - there was NO MESSING with the saturation of these photos.

incase you're wondering, all these leaves came from THE SAME tree!

(amazing stuff no?)

Now do you see why I'm looking up in all these pictures?

Throughout the Seasons

Some changes throughout my first year in the college land via picture evolution.

Salut Printemps!

Today's post is based off of one of my favorite choral pieces by the wonderful Claude Debussy.

For you of you who do not speak français - the translation is quite literally: hello spring!

click video below, then read entry for the full joyous effect!

My outfit today was inspired by a multitude of wonderful spring features around me:

the return of warm colors

the movement of blustery spring breezes ~

bright blue skies

taken on my cell phone, so the sky looks rather purple, but trust me - it was deliciously AQUA!

and of course, the return of spring flowers and sweet smelling petals!

A waterfall braid for bubbling creeks and streams

Alors - salut printemps! Je t'embrasse très fort!