Elizabethan Fashion

Fashion is made to become unfashionable. 

-Coco Chanel

This look may not work in our
modern society...

So I am watching the movie 'Elizabeth', (great movie by the way!) and the fashion is just FABULOUS! It almost makes me wish that we were in the golden age where flouncy skirts, corsets, elaborate embroidery and rich colors were the norm. Not that I am complaining, I mean I couldn't live without the LBD! But maybe there is a way to mesh the two? I was perusing Dolce and Gabbana's Fall RTW line and I think they may just have done it! You can view the entire collection here  but i'm including some of my fave looks! So enjoy! And maybe mix a bit of Elizabethan drama into your wardrobe! 

This is my favorite look from the collection
So Chic!

A mix of modern and old world era.
Texture, gold,  mock-corset...beautiful

This one looks a little to 'bo peep' for me but still cute!

Don't let her disapproving look fool you,
she loves these dresses...

~Fireflies~

You would not believe your eyes if ten million fireflies lit up the world as I fell asleep... 

(Owl City)

The specks of light are either fireflies or dust...I haven't cleaned the camera lens in a bit.

Jumping to catch them...

Last night we were treated to the most wonderful nature show on earth. In our backyard we have a small grouping of trees next to a beautiful lake and Saturday night they were FILLED with fireflies (lest you thought the owl city song was completely random). It was like an outdoor theatre or a festival of lights. There were about two hundred plus fireflies blinking throughout the trees (not quite ten million but I'll take it!) We laid a blanket out and enjoyed the show. The kids chased fireflies and Jon and i enjoyed the moment. I do have to side note that the kids 'capturing' of these little insects cause quite a few to sadly loos their lives by the hands of an over eager five year old, but massacre aside, it was a grand night. Here's some photos of the magical experience! (note: Caleb had given in to sleep a few minutes before the show started so he is absent from the pictures) 

Patiently waiting...

Christian watching the show

I'm not so sure this firefly they caught made it out alive...

Once they realized i had a camera
 it was all downhill...

Getting a lil crazy

What an adventure!

Cupcakes! (Are you in any way surprised?)

So... I've decided to go gluten free. It's been a long time coming but last night I ate a biscuit with dinner and, after my stomach was done screaming at me, I decided the time had come. Do you know what has gluten in it? EVERYTHING THAT I LOVE! Pasta, bread, cookies, basically all the good stuff. But this is not a post about what I cant eat, or what a huge loss I am currently feeling about the lack of pasta in my life. This is a post about the new adventure I am now on. More specifically it is about the most delicious cupcakes I just made that are completely gluten free. No flour is NOT the end of the world (I hope). So these amazing cupcakes may lack flour, but they do not lack flavor. You can find the recipe here and indulge in its delightfulness.  So now for the pictures (the best part of any blog in my mind).

They may not look like much but frosting has a magic way
of making not-so-impressive- baked goods look FABULOUS!

Pure beauty

The frosting was a chocolate buttercream concoction that I found in a recipe book I have had forever. I actually highly recommend the book to all fellow chocolate lovers, its called Chocolate on the Brain and its choc full of delicious chocolate recipes. But enough about that. These cupcakes turned out to be MUCH better than expected, and you can trust my opinion because I am quite the cupcake connoisseur. They were rich and moist and perfectly chocolatey. Now that i know that cupcakes are not off the 'do-not-eat' list I am a bit less upset about that whole 'no-pasta' thing. But who knows, i found this wonderful recipe, there may be a gluten free pasta (that's worth eating) out there in the world. Wouldn't that be nice? So off i head on a new adventure that will (hopefully) bring me less stomach aches, more recipes and many more cupcakes! The adventure starts NOW!

This is the definition of yum-tastic.