[ click for a larger view. ]

Sailor Husband has the day off (hurrah!), so I’m taking a bit of a break from blogging today so we can do spend some time together! I also wanted to show you a sneak peek at the 1940s sequined blouse I mentioned last week. It still needs snaps for the side placket closure (somehow I managed to completely run out of snaps in my stash!), but it’s 95% complete. Hopefully more on that in a couple days…

Have a lovely Monday, friends!

[ click for a larger view. ]

January-February

I don’t have a lot of photos from the beginning of the year; between my computer melting down for two months (thank you, geeks, at Best Buy for reviving it!), and suffering from some severe depression and ill health problems, I pretty much didn’t feel up for snapping photos of life. I was also trying to get used to being in a new-to-me state and married life. Good things that happened during this time: we adopted an adorable (and bad!) bunny, and I got my hair cut so I could start doing real 40s curl sets!

March

The month started out on a fantastic note: my mom came to visit! We spent a week thrifting, going to afternoon tea (for which I made the 50s style dress above), and lots of chatting! It was a lovely time and little ray of sunshine. Sadly, by the end of the month, Sailor Husband and I found ourselves traveling to New York for his grandfather’s funeral.

April

In April we celebrated Sailor Husband’s 24th birthday (I made him a pineapple upside down cake–one of his favorites!). I also found out that one of my blog friends, Rhiannon would be visiting Florida, and we were able to arrange a little meet up! It was loads of fun to be able to meet her, although I still think I came off as rather shy. lol. (In the above photo, we were getting silly!)

May

I turned 24 at the beginning of the month, and celebrated by dressing up and baking cupcakes! We also took a trip to the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, which was loads of fun. The weather was starting to feel like August in Virginia–I knew I was in for my first Florida summer!

June

June started out with my wrangling with a sewing project: a pair of high waisted shorts. I managed to get the pattern mostly perfect (since then, I’ve decided I need to make a few tweaks), and wore them to a beach party we went to. This was also the month my sister came to visit for 10 days, and the beginning of our hilarious John and Paul photos!

July

Another month, another sewing project (um… this seems to be a theme here!), and a trip to the Magic Kingdom! I was also featured in a British sewing magazine, which was one of those exciting, once-in-a-lifetime happenings!

August

August was a slow month; all I really remember was how intensely hot and humid it was every day! All I wanted to do was stay inside in the a/c. So I worked on projects, like this hat, and a tutorial for making a vintage-style camisole top.

September

September was a busy month: our wedding was featured on the Martha Stewart Weddings blog, I started getting the knitting bug, we went to a Beatles Rockband party (which prompted the making of an 11th hour dress), and work was begun in earnest on the ballgown I needed for the Navy Ball.

October

The month started out so glamorously–it kind of made everything else the rest of October pale in comparison! Sailor Husband and I attended the annual Navy Ball, and spent the evening dressed to the nines with other Navy people. It was so much fun! We also bought a new camera that month, which led to taking some photos on a particularly chilly weekend. To end the month, we went to Disney’s Animal Kingdom on Halloween!

November

Such a wonderful, bittersweet month! I basically locked myself in my sewing room most of the month, trying to make some new clothes before we left on a trip to Virginia. Everything is kind of a blur up to that point! lol. We spent Thanksgiving with our family, and lots of time visiting friends and taking trips around the Washington, DC area, visiting our old hometown. We also celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary!

December

We journeyed back to FL early in the month, which prompted the general mood to be a bit down around here for a few days. But not for long! Christmas was just around the corner, and being the favored holiday around here, meant that the apartment began to look like an elf’s workshop! I got the hairbrained idea not only to make most of my Christmas decorations, and bake dozens of cookie, but also make myself a gingerbread house. Obviously, someone around here had visions of sugerplums dancing in her head, and also severely underestimated the time she’d have. No matter, despite the self-induced stress, I still had fun!

So that’s my year in a nutshell (along with fetching visuals to reduce the boredom factor!). Do tell me: how was 2009? What are your hopes for 2010? I’ll post some of mine after the New Year…

[ one of my favorite pictures from the wedding. I always smile because we were laughing at the fact that I can't dance and our families had finally dragged me onto the little dance floor. I was more than a little embarrassed! hehe! photo by Kate Headley. ]

One year ago I said “I do” to the man who had won my heart before all our close friends and family. I remember how I had been treating it like any other Saturday, and had kept composed up until right before the ceremony: when my dad and I were standing outside the church sanctuary before I walked down the aisle. When we walked in, I couldn’t believe how sharp Sailor Husband looked in his Navy dress blues (or “Cracker Jacks” as their also known). How cold it was that day! I don’t think it got much above 34° that day as we scurried around with our photographer and tried not to freeze. The shyness I felt when our family convinced us to do just one dance together at the reception–I am an awful dancer with two left feet. hehe!

The admiration for my Sailor Husband I felt that day has not waxed or waned–it’s gotten stronger, as has our love for each other. It’s amazing how much can happen in one year; I look back and sometimes feel like a totally different person. Marriage has not only been sweet, but it’s had it’s harder parts too: the things that build character and force two people to become closer. It’s been an adventure and a wild ride, but I wouldn’t trade him for the world!

Yes, it’s true: we’re going to be busy, busy over the Thanksgiving holiday, spending time with our friends and family. Yes, the impending travel is what prompted my recent sewing frenzy! hehe! I decided I just had to have a few, “new” and exciting things to pack. (I’m sure you know how it goes…) I unfortunately won’t be able to answer emails as much as I’d like to (or keep up with my blogroll…), but I have a whole slew of posts already scheduled and ready to go! Things hopefully won’t get too boring around here! hehe!

TTFN, dear friends!

[ cold snap. the weather called for layers and close toe shoes! ]

Our weekend was lovely–most of all the weather cooperated and turned out to be a delicious peek at proper fall weather! I spent Sunday afternoon roaming about with my camera in hand, taking snapshots of things I saw. I’ve been trying to document day-to-day life in photographs. Other bloggers who are perpetual shutterbugs inspire me to no end, and I would love nothing more than to make picking up the camera throughout the day–even to capture the little moments–a habit.

[ fire alarm. I love things that are bright red! ]

[ Spanish Moss grows in the trees all over. it looks so spooky blowing in the breeze. ]

[ gigantic leaves grow and fall right outside our building. each is about 1' across! ]

[ stump texture. I couldn't resist taking a shot of a tree stump that was covered with a green mold-like plant matter. ]

Speaking of some of blog reading, these are a few that I’ve been reading and enjoying quite a bit lately (in no particular order):