Thanksgiving Weekend

After hosting Thanksgiving, we took the train down to San Diego for a couple of days with our good friends Gian, Sandra, and their son for some R & R.

**The Shop should be open sometime this week. I'll be offering free shipping to anywhere in the world :)

Keep Feeling Procrastination *

Above: Image from "More Last Minute Gifts" by Joelle Hoverson.

Above: Chanel. Image via the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute.

Above: Both Balenciaga. Images via the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute.

Above: Chanel.
Below: Frances Denney.
Images via the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute.

* with apologies to Joanna ;)

OK-- the Thanksgiving Holiday is almost upon us, and the title of this post is a slight exaggeration, (but not really). I did brave Food Hole - whoops- I mean Whole Foods yesterday to pick up the 20+ plus pound bird that we will attempt to cook tomorrow for 12 adults and several kids, and entertain house guests the past couple of days, and enter data into Big Cartel for the shop, etc. etc.

BUT- I am also addicted to procrastinating from all the cooking and cleaning that must happen by posting images from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute to my Tumblr (above are some Christmas-y/ Holiday images from the Met I decided to post here), and making these little bracelets also pictured above (which may make their way into a couple of ERMIE orders as surprise gifts) based on the Seed Stitch Bracelet project from More Last Minute Knitted Gifts.

I wanted to tell you, too, if you are in the Los Angeles area about this Holiday Sale going on Sunday featuring the work of Katie and Julie from the Slow Season. I may not be able to make it- but maybe you can!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Light

Textile Designs © Jennifer Parry Dodge & Tomory Dodge 2010

Good light the last day or so. Soaking it in.

Thank-you Ursula and Natasha for the lovely Lookbook Preview mentions on your blogs!

ERMIE Lookbook Preview

All Photographs by Jeana Sohn

Model: Carlee Fernandez

Textile Designs © Jennifer Parry Dodge & Tomory Dodge 2010

In my post yesterday, I said that Jeana was professional to work with, fun, takes amazing photographs...add efficient to that list! Within a few hours of completing our shoot yesterday, she edited and sent me these images to post here to give you all a little peek of the ERMIE lookbook.

...add thoughtful to the list, too :)

Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

Newness*

*thanks to HBT :)

Love my new Wiksten Tova Pattern dress that I made yesterday. Working on this kept my mind off of worrying about the photoshoot that took place earlier today for ERMIE.
I'm glad I got a dress out of it --but I really didn't need to worry. Jeana was utterly professional, fun, and took amazing photographs (let me stress that the above snapshots are not hers, but cruddy cell phone photos I took...what's up with me forgetting my camera all of the time?) and Carlee looked great!
So exciting!

...Oh, yes, and love my new red/orange Rachel Comey Shoes, too! They are so comfy. We also used them in the photoshoot! Can shoes count as a business expense/ tax write off ;) ?

Above: Working on my Wiksten Tova Dress. Sometimes I need a break from my own stuff.
I love Jenny's patterns. The fabric I'm using is the most beautiful Liberty print from their current stunning F/W collection.

Renegade carrots harvested from our yard yesterday.

Above- Photo Credit: Whitney Reeder.

Assortment of photos from today and yesterday.

Whitney has some beautiful photographs of the Magic Marker Scarf she won (and beautiful photographs in general) on her blog.

Congratulations to Patti Smith who was awarded the National Book Award for her memoir "Just Kids." Readers of this blog know of my admiration for both Smith and Mapplethorpe, (my posts on PS are by far my most visited daily). I cannot stress how pivotal this book was for me this year. It gave me the courage to quit a job which was not right for me and pursue my art.

Tomorrow I have a photo shoot scheduled for the collection with Jeana and Carlee. Feeling excited, nervous- but overall blessed to work with these very talented women whom I admire.

Comfort

Above - Textile Design © Jennifer Parry Dodge 2010

Tomory and I needed some major comfort food last week, so after hearing about this recipe on NPR, I decided to give it a whirl. So easy! Just a little planning ahead is involved.

Earlier in the day I gutted the pumpkins, prepared the stuffing (I used Gruyere, bacon, chives, day-old baguette, salt, pepper- and later heavy cream with plenty of freshly grated nutmeg), and roasted the seeds (why waste them?).

So satisfying- but one 1 lb pumpkin could have easily fed us both- especially with the sauteed greens tossed with pomegranate seeds (from our yard!) that I made as a side.

Thank goodness we started biking- we rode around the Rose Bowl the day I made this- a light meal this is not. But I love food. Comfort will pretty much always win out over worrying about calories with me!

Monster Drawing Rally!

Getting back into town after being in Denver for a few days we had (have!!) so much to do! One thing on our list yesterday was to stop by The Outpost For Contemporary Art's annual Monster Drawing Rally. Multiple artists create drawings in shifts, which can then be purchased by Rally patrons. Many of our friends were participating- it's always a fun event. This year it was held in the Eagle Rock Center for the Arts - a beautiful old building.
Here are some photos I snapped.

The last couple shots are "outfit inspiration/ future ERMIE collection inspiration." A beautiful pair of beat up lace-less Oxfords spotted on one of the artists, and a polka dot (vintage?) blouse that appeared to have been customized with studs on one shoulder, also worn by another artist.
Shameful (creepy?), and a tad shallow- I know. Keeping it real though...I do look to the talented ladies of Los Angeles for inspiration.

Above and below: Hadley Holliday and her drawing supplies.








Maybe the most beautiful shoes I've ever seen. Reminds me of this and this.



Love the stud detail on the shoulder.