Home sweet home..... holiday recap number 2 Philadelphia and Princeton

We left DC on Wednesday night after an extensive sightseeing tour and headed for Philadelphia, the place where some important American history making had taken place a few hundred years ago.

We didn't get to Philly until late so there wasn't anything on the agenda for Wednesday night, but checking in to our wonderful little B&B and maybe going out for a drink.



Check out the room. Isn't it amazing.

 If you ever plan on visiting Philadelphia and you are looking for a wonderful place to stay, check La Reserve . The little B&B is furnished with antique pieces. Each rooms' interior is unique, their staff is very friendly and the breakfast is amazing. They bake all their own scones, pastries and muffins. Very very yummy and so good I had to give them a mention on my blog.

Thursday was reserved for Philly sightseeing, which again can easily be done in a day. A very tourist friendly place with all sights within walking distance (I am mentioning this a lot as my husband and I hate sitting in cars a lot while trying to discover a place whether it's a city, national park or any other place worth visiting and along our journey we got bitterly disappointed at some point. We do however like using public transport as it isn't as stressful as driving in an unknown place....)

So anyways we went to see Penn's landing, Philadelphia's waterfront area, Independence Hall, Liberty Bell Benjamin Franklin's House (well where it once was....) Carpenter's Hall, Thomas Jefferson's house and many other places.

Some random streets in Philadelphia. The city has a very relaxed feel to it.

Independence Hall, this is where the declaration of independence was signed for those who didn't know...

Liberty bell

Husband posing with cool military ship and submarine. Unfortunately for him we didn't go in/on it due to lack of time but this wasn't the only military/navy piece of history that crossed our path and he got his boy sightseeing tour later on along the journey.

Me in front of a cute paddle boat. This would have made a great background for showing off a new creation but it was another cold day. The sun was doing it's best but the wind just wouldn't let me dress up and be comfortable. But at least I match the boat, right?

I had been to Philadelphia before but this is 10 years ago. I had just finished school in Germany and went over to the States for just over a year to work as an Au Pair. I took the opportunity to revisit some of the places I had been to back then and share my memories with Dave. It was amazing and at some points quite emotional.

After our day in Philly came to an end we headed for Princeton which is just up the road and also the place I stayed at during my time as an Au Pair. Back then the kids I looked after were Courtney (10) and John (13) and I was more of a friend, personal chef and taxi driver for them. I loved my job, host mum, host doggie and the kids and boy they are no kids anymore.

Of course I went to revisit my host family, we went to their place for dinner and stayed over night so I could show Dave the beautiful Princeton campus and the cute town. This really took me back 10 years and the fact that nothing dramatic had changed since then (apart from the kids being adults now making me realise I am NOT a teenager anymore...far from it) gave me a wonderful feeling of comfort.

My wonderful host family Nancy and Paul. They got married just after I left, I wish I could have stayed a little longer to see them getting married.

The beautiful Princeton campus. Go and see A beautiful mind with Russel Crowe. It was filmed there while I was in Princeton. It's one of my favourite movies and I still cry at the end when I watch it.

Me and a Princeton tiger, their mascot.

I only got to meet Courtney again because John is living on the west coast in Santa Barbara now. She is just as cute as I remember her. What a beautiful girl.

After a Friday morning exploring Princeton we left our car there and took the train into Manhattan where we spend the weekend until Monday. More about that next time.....

Home sweet home..... holiday recap number 1 Washington DC

Hey everyone, I am back home in the UK again. I can't believe how quickly 2 1/2 weeks go and boom it's all over like a wonderful dream only that you have pictures to remember and prove that it has all actually happened.
I hope you are all interested in our little adventure and won't get too bored by me sharing some pictures. I promise I will only pick a few and spare you the hours of boredom our friends and families will have to go through.
As the regular followers amongst you readers know, my husband had been on tour in Afghanistan for 6 months from September last year until April this year leaving us separated for an awful long time. It was a long hard time but in the mean time we planed a road trip holiday through the USA for when he returns.

The whole trip started really early on Tuesday May 3rd at about 4am after only a few hours of sleep. We had to take the train to London and the underground to Heathrow which takes forever. The flight wasn't departing until 11ish.

Here we are totally knackered after the first 4 hours of travelling and still in the country.

The flight was fun, I highly recommend Virgin Atlantic for trans Atlantic flights. They look after their passengers!!!

We arrived in DC at about 4pm local time, plenty of day time left to check out the local area. We stayed in Arlington, VA literally just across the brindge from DC and headed out to Georgetown which was lovely. It was so hot in DC, I changed into my first new dress I would like to share with you guys. I used New Look 6675, very easy and straight forward to make. I'll make this again some time I think for a quick summer dress.

paired with little navy cardi

I made view A but made separate spaghetti straps and left them really long so I can tie the straps into little bows or wear the front ones as a halter,tucking the back ones in (I hope this makes sense)

The following day was planned as a sightseeing day, checking out the Washington Mall and everything around it. Of course it rained and was miserable all day. I couldn't believe how much it had changed over night.

Watergate hotel

Lincoln memorial

Korean war memorial

Iwo Jima memorial

Capitol

of course everyone knows that one.... we saw many other memorials, government buildings and sights but as promised I will spare you the picture torture.

We also went into the American history museum. Unfortunately not for a very long time because our time in the city was so limited. I however managed to see the First ladies at the Smithsonian exhibition which I thought you might be interested in too. I got to see the first ladies debut dresses which were amazing. Here a few I managed to photograph and get a decent picture of. Enjoy: 

Jaqueline Kennedy

Martha Washington

Marmie Eisenhower

Mamie Eisenhower 1953

Lady Bird Johnson (left) 1965, Pat Nixon (right) 1969, I loved the little cropped jacket. It was beautifully encrusted in beads and crystals. Plus I love!!!! yellow...unfortunately I can't really wear yellow though.

Betty Ford (left) 1975, Rosalyn Carter (right) 1977

Nancy Reagan 1981

Hillary Clinton 1993

Laura Bush 2001

And of course Michelle Obama 2009

Washington is brilliant for sightseeing. Everything in one area, very spread out but walkable which we like. We spend a total of 8 hours walking plus a little 15 min lunch break. I was exhausted but very happy that we made the most of our time in Washington. We were on a very tight time schedule on the east coast to pack as much stuff to do and see into our itinerary so we headed to Philadelphia the same day.

Still here but far far away at the same time

Just a quick message to all you patient readers out there. I am still here, alive and well. My husband and I are currently enjoying the holiday of a lifetime road tripping the USA. So far we have been to Washington DC, Philadelphia, Princeton, New York City, Springfield Vermont and Boston. Today we flew out to the West Coast, to San Francisco. There are so many great pictures and travel stories to tell but I just haven't got enough time to post them as I am still out here. I will catch up and be a much better blogger again very soon. I hope you all understand and hang in there.

Until then I will leave you with a little teaser

Wish you were here...............

Best birthday pressie ever....

I have been a bad bad blogger lately but I guess sometimes it's good to take a break. I have had a busy few weeks and although I am not short on topics to write about I was lacking the inspiration to actually sit down and write. I have been working on a lot of orders and didn't get much sewing for myself done. I enjoyed making every piece though.

Anyways, the greatest thing that happened while I was absent from the blogosphere was the return of my husband. He's finally back home for good. More than 6 months of separation are over and we are back to normal. After such a long time apart I am sure you all understand that writing blog posts was not on top of my list of priorities.

But, here I am back with my first post, sharing my awesome birthday adventure with you guys. My husband bought me the best pressie ever. Obviously spending my birthday with him was already amazing enough but would you turn up your nose at this???????

He got me a Schwinn Starlet beach cruiser in mint green. The cutest thing ever and of course I had to go on a bike ride straight away. Off we went to a nearly village and attraction (Layer Marney/ Layer Marney Tower) for a picnic outside and a pub stop along the way back home.

We had such a great time, the weather has been gorgeous lately so I guess I'll be out with Betty Schwinn (I called my bike Betty....I know how original but Betty Bike sounds cute enough) a lot. The other good thing is that this bike is literally screaming for cute cycling outfits so hopefully I will remember to always dress up appropriately for her and take pictures to share with you guys.

On my birthday I was wearing this dress with a cardigan I found in a charity shop accessorised with a necklace from Primark (yes I am cheap and love finding things there) and a sweater guard from my grandmother in law.

Happy Easter everyone and enjoy the sunshine. I hope you are getting as much as we are down here in Essex.

What I am working on

I have been working on a few customer ordered lately that I thought are worth sharing on the blog. It's been all about evening wear lately. Apart from orders on regular day wear pieces from my shop I had some more elaborate requests for custom made festive dresses.

Number one is a 1960s emerald green satin dress I want to share with you today. My lovely customer Katja has had a wedding dress made by me last year (the wedding isn't until this Summer) and now she has a wedding to go to this year as well. This dress is what she's going to wear for that occasion.

She knew exactly what she wanted and bought a pattern for me to use. I like that because it makes it much easier for me.

The chosen pattern was this one:

view 3 with the ribbon detail of view 1 added and a big bow at the back for extra detail.

This is where I am now:

The dress itself is finished and the band attached. I will add a net petticoat underneath the skirt for extra fullness although the material holds itself up quite well. Plus petticoats are cute and skirts can never be too full.

This is the bow. I haven't attached it yet. It'll be on poppers so Katja can choose to wear it with or without the bow. I will also change the tie ends hanging down into wider pieces so the match the bow rather than the band around the dress.

Finished project coming soon. I thought since I never show many work in progress pictures and projects it's about time.

I won, I won, I won....thanks to all you amazing people who voted

Thank you guys for voting for me to win the Mad Men photo competition. I won the 1960s vintage dress from Juno Says Hello, received it the other day and thought I share a picture with you to say thank you.

I am such a lucky girl. I never won anything in my life ever before (at least I can't remember). Thanks again, you guys are awesome!!!

I'm not really that cool, but I wasn't wearing any make up here, hence the sun glasses.

Cotton candy cuteness

It's time for another dress. I made this one with my upcoming holiday in mind. I wanted a dress that was screaming Spring, Summer, Fun and Fairground and I think I have achieved exactly that.

I frankensteined my trusted shirt waist pattern that I have now made soooo many times I am afraid to show any other versions of it now in case I bore you to death with it. But this one is worth showing as it's different to the original pattern. I turned it into a halter dress.

I used turquoise and white polka dot cotton, some left over broderie anglaise from my Spring Palette blouse, baby pink vintage-y buttons and baby pink bias binding around the edges.

Now, who's going to buy me some cotton candy, a milkshake and a burger and fries at the next fun fair?