You don’t need a TARDIS to travel into the past, you just need a few ringlets or an uncommonly-undersized waistcoat.
I made both of these costumes and have sewn others like them. One never knows when a whole wardrobe of Austen might be required to procure enjoyment.
Last week we, once again, attended the Regency Romance Ball in Salt Lake City. This Jane Austen-themed event was, as expected, full of forgotten manners and spirited dances. We were joined this year by four other couples of our acquaintance, making a highly agreeable assemblage.
Our group was well dressed but not well behaved.
A proper lady can’t wear the same ensemble two days or two successive balls in a row. Therefore, despite my lack of lacking appropriate attire, I made a new dress with a matching reticule for this affair. I also added to the Regency wardrobe of my stylish gentleman by stitching him some authentic breeches. I assure you, that measure was self-serving in nature as any work put into Jason’s apparel for this occasion was well rewarded through the very great pleasure afforded by his historical hotness. But, apart from that, our costumes also procured us the prestigious, yet not that prestigious, position of 2nd place in both the women’s and men’s contests and also in the couple’s. How do you win 2nd place three times in one night and not 1st ever? I suppose it takes a particular type of talent to nearly succeed repeatedly while still consistently remaining a loser.
Our men flaunted outdated fashions with grandiosity and absurdity.
We ladies were elegantly attired in gowns that even Miss Woodhouse would have deemed acceptable.
Jason and I delightfully danced the night away while our companions selectively dabbled on the dance floor. Few women, and none of good breeding, would complain about the prospect of being twirled around a ballroom by their very own Pemberley squire. I would certainly not be among them.
Christmas, you instigator of frenzied shopping, frantic wrapping and endless gorging, let us rejoice in your extravagance and overconsumption but let us also delight in your bits that require no buying, no packaging and no heralding like the merriment of family, the wonder of children and the joy of hope.
Jason and I made an assortment of cookies to contribute to the Christmas Eve feast, including gingerbread men of varying sanity. And yes, that is frosting on my chin.
I wish I could say that this Christmas was calmer than most for me and Jason but I wouldn’t want to jeopardize my “nice” status with such lies. Santa’s got enough problems on his hands.
On Christmas Eve Jason and I went to my sister Tonya’s house for dinner and entertainment. She generously provided yummy Café Rio fare and a festive musical program. She also supplied a good laugh in the form of a few rounds of Telestrations, a game as warped as those playing it. It was a pleasant evening full of fillings and feelings.
Madison and Tonya treated us to a Christmas program with music, pictures and verse.
Christmas crackers are a Sabin tradition we’ve introduced my family to.
Miraculously, Jason and I had Christmas morning all to ourselves this year. Despite our late bedtime on Christmas Eve, around 3 AM, Jason woke up bright and early on Christmas. Much like all the 5-year-olds out there, he was too excited to sleep. He settled down for French toast casserole and the exchanging of a few gifts though. That’s what our morning consisted of and, notwithstanding its simplicity, to us it was finer than partying with the jolly man himself. Who doesn’t wish for a little Christmas peace?
Abigail appreciated the abundant cookies and helped herself to about ten of them.
In contrast to our morning, our afternoon was spent hurrying from one family shindig to the next for nonstop food stuffing and present unwrapping. Despite this continual dashing, I believe that crumpled bows and overextended bellies were the only casualties of our insanity.
I crocheted these two scarves and knitted this hat. Although scarves are pretty simple to make, these were for big boys so they took over three skeins of yarn apiece.
Miracles do happen: Jason and I had some time to take it easy on Christmas morning.
Speaking of presents, I know there are many among you that believe gift giving is a lesser form of love expression and should be discouraged at Christmastime but I couldn’t disagree more. A thoughtful gift, whether crafted by doting hands or painstakingly picked out after much reflection, not only speaks of the bearer’s affection but also of their unique personality. I’m a big fan of bestowing gifts; I enjoy finding or creating presents that the receivers didn’t know they always wanted. This year, in addition to the many items I purchased, I crocheted scarves for Jason’s brothers and knitted a hat for my sister-in-law. It’s too bad that Jason’s siblings are such large fellows; their scarves took much longer to weave than they would have for recipients closer to my size. These tasks of love, and cramped fingers, were the reason for our late bed-going on Christmas Eve but I made that sacrifice of sleep happily for I believe in the importance of gifts.
The whole Sabin troupe gathered on Christmas.
Jason received an amusing gift from our sister-in-law Erin. A moustache disguise was among its treasures.
Christmas, you big scoop of extreme consumerism drizzled with some hope of humanity and topped with a sense of brotherhood, long may you inspire kindness and excessive shopping. For, although you may not be perfect, you always provide necessary light amid winter’s months of dreary darkness.
Jason and I just held our annual Halloween bash. As always, it was a tremendous undertaking. The planning for this event usually begins sometime in August and escalates as it approaches. Thinking of putting on a Halloween shindig of your own? May our terrifying process convince you that that would only be lunacy. Every year is a little different but here are the 26 steps that were required to produce and recover from our festivities this time:
1. Create and order invites. 2. Buy prizes for the costume contest, bingo and various other games with all ages considered. 3. Order costume contest medals.
Jason and I went steampunk this year.
4. Buy fabric and sew costumes. One sentence doesn’t seem adequate to represent the work involved in this. Good thing I just made it three. 5. Tag and decorate 48 bottles of butterscotch beer as party favors for the adults. 6. Buy a piñata and its fillings. Stuff it. 7. Arrange for food. This year’s sustenance came in the form of catering from Waffle Love. They brought their delicious waffles, and waffle truck, to us.
I don’t even want to acknowledge how long it took me to tag and decorate these 48 party favors.
Silas dressed as a possessed doll and played the part quite creepily.
8. Buy supplies for the kids’ craft table. 9. Build a custom playlist with all those Halloween favorites and some lesser-known creepy beats. 10. Buy kiddie goodie-bags plus an assortment of innards and cram them all in. This year we put together almost 40 of these bags and all but a few were given out. 11. Address and mail invites.
What a darling family.
12. Gussy up costume contest prizes with ribbons, feathers, eyeballs and anything else bumpy in the night. 13. Prep craft table by constructing examples of all the finished products so that the little folk will know what they’re trying to make. 14. Go to a patch and handpick pumpkins. Paint these pumpkins black and white so guests can decorate them with chalk and decals. All this jack-o business took way too long so don’t expect it to happen again next year.
Never underestimate the eeriness the right lighting can add to a scene.
Eden took undead to the animals with her zombie cat costume.
15. Create costume contest ballots. 16. Buy utensils, plates, napkins, drinks and all those other eating niceties. 17. Move couches, rugs, kitchen appliances, pictures, etc. upstairs or into the garage, anywhere they are out of the way.
Drew and Simone came as Dr. Who?
18. Vacuum, dust and straighten the basement. Everything has to be tucked away somewhere to make room for the people explosion that’s about to occur. 19. Decorate, decorate, decorate, decorate, decorate, decorate, decorate, decorate, decorate, decorate, and decorate. I feel like I should say “decorate” a few dozen more times because decorating is a monster of a job. We meticulously arrange creepy cloth, candlesticks, bones, potion bottles, pumpkins, lights, ravens and so forth throughout our yard and two floors of our home. Every year we display our extensive Halloween collection differently and every year gallons of creative juices get consumed in the process.
These serving-dish fingers may be proof of a twisted mind…mine.
This graveyard scene was my design.
20. Arrange studio lights and a background to form a makeshift photo spot. I didn’t have a clue how to work and situate studio lights before this little experiment. It took some messing around and research to figure it out. 21. Rent space heaters so that the backyard can be a toasty hangout location.
Thirty-one feet of ruffles were squished into the back of this skirt.
22. Clean. Everything has to be spick ‘n span before it’s thrown into chaos. It’s a lot like nursing a patient back to health before serving out their death sentence. 23. Throw party!
Waffle Love catered our party via their food truck.
Penny’s no garden-variety gnome.
24. Clean up the raspberries smashed into the sidewalk, the sticky goo left on the kitchen floor, the blob of who-knows-what dripped on the carpet. Cleanup is lengthy and not especially fun. 25. Put relocated furnishings back where they came from. 26. Pack away the dozens of boxes of Halloween décor so that they are ready for the vicious cycle to begin all over again next year. (This step has not yet been completed and will still take us weeks.)
Bart and Brandi cleverly used a bulging belly to their advantage and came as Juno and Bleeker.
Too many steps for you to follow? Not to worry, you can come to the Sabin party and enjoy all the fun and fright without rattling your work bones. So why do we do it? The obvious answer is that we are crazy but, besides that, we love Halloween and conjuring the spooky magic of the season up for the wee ones. We also enjoy reminding adults that costumes aren’t just for kids.
I made sure this jar was crawling with centipedes. The gruesome details are never overlooked by yours truly.
This year we had considerably more help pulling this madness off than we’ve had in the past. Many thanks to Lee and Jacob for lending us a hand with basement prep one evening. Keith, thanks for the pickup service. A big thank you to Drew, Adam, Jacob and Lee for helping the kids bowl and Jenny and Simone for assisting with some of the other games. And muchas gracias to the various people that collected many of the cups and craft fragments scattered throughout our house: Abigail, Simone, Drew, Adam and Jeremy. Since Jason and I are a tiny team, any bit of assistance from others goes a long way. Maybe we aren’t quite mad yet…
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