the fatal flaw of the red age

one of the pieces of advice i gave my cousin on her 16th birthday was to always have a project.  dutifully following my own words of post-teenage wisdom, my apartment has been project city for the past few weeks.  

my most recent creation arose when i started noticing scallops popping up here and there on skirts and dresses. i absolutely love it, but more often than not i simply cannot afford the money spending temptations all around me.  i contemplated saving for a few months but decided i should first try my favorite solution - if you can’t buy it learn to make it.

enter my new red scallop skirt.  it really wasn’t all that difficult, just a basic skirt pattern finished with a scallop tutorial i found here, and it only cost $29 to make.

 

 

as an added bonus, the skirt has really come in handy for work. a challenge i’ve encountered as a recent graduate is learning how to integrate my clothing into the working class world. i’ve been keeping it light this summer with skirts or dresses mixed with belts, flats and cardigans.  (did you spot my contest win? love rebecca minkoff.)

being younger than everyone at work by a pretty decent margin means i have to walk a fine line between maintaining a sense of self while still evoking professionalism.  not only that, i’ve got to do business casual in the swamps of south florida.  frankly, the majority of office friendly clothing is hot, expensive and/or boring – it takes some creative searching, and at times the sewing machine gets involved.

purchasing something you love is great, but making it with your own two hands instills an entirely separate sense of pride.  it eliminates the helplessness a lack of money can create, and replaces it with feelings of accomplished ingenuity, gratification and confidence.  

i encourage all of you to pick up a project that has nothing whatsoever to do with work.  sew, swim, knit, write, thrift, bike, paint, read, weld – and if you don’t know how, learn.  summer is a great opportunity to try something new. the independence and pride you will glean from being responsible for a project is part of survival, for we are all in charge of making our own happiness. it’s like i told my cousin,

 

say tomorrow and she'll say come find me on a beach, and there will be no moon.

leftovers can be difficult to get excited about. when it comes to variety, they’re a one note band.  here’s a little inspiration for switching things up and making two distinct and delicious meals with boring old leftovers. recipes below.

a few nights ago, momma, danny and i got together and grilled.  i picked up two pounds of shrimp, which i knew was a little much since the butcher’s rule of thumb is a half a pound per person, but i wanted to have extra to stretch the meal.  

the weather was still sweltering, but a rainy florida afternoon made the balcony bearable enough to endure without having to rush inside every few seconds to come up for air. we had some wine and music to accompany the rich thick scent of bar-b-que, and watched purple thunderheads bursting with heat lightening rolling out over the ocean.

the impromptu recipe turned out great and the company was fabulous.  i recommend ending the night with oreos, milk and 30 rock if you really want to do things right.

the next day i added a few simple ingredients, some heat, and voila! a second meal, no boring leftovers here!   there are so many simple ways to fix up bits and pieces of meals with ingredients from the fridge, it helps keep the idea of eating at home attractive and your wallet safely in tact.

do you have a great recipe that, with a little frankenstein assembly, can transform into a teriffic second meal? we could all use a little creative inspiration in the kitchen from time to time, so please share!  

i just love my new centerpiece. i found it at a little shell shop down the street. the woman even did her own acid etching on the bottle.  a map of florida, and an alligator.  did she know me or what?

there's a great tutorial on wit & whistle i stumbled upon through pinterest. it explains how to create one of these beauties, but i couldn't resist grabbing one with no assembly required.

i often struggle between telling myself not to get something because i know i can create it on my own, and making an honest decision about whether or not i will ever take the time to do so.  for you industrious DIYers out there, grab a power drill and have at it! it creates gorgeous ambiance, and would serve as an excellent gift.

happy cooking, and happy friday!

day one: shrimp kabobs

ingredients

for shrimp

•  2 lbs uncooked deveined tiger shrimp
• vegetable oil
• dried basil
• sage
• thyme
• cracked pepper
• sea salt
• garlic powder
• fresh lemon juice
• fresh lime juice

 wild rice

asparagus

1 tbl salted real butter

skewers

directions 

shell and rinse shrimp.  in a medium bowl create marinade using all ingredients except lemon.  stir in clean dry shrimp until evenly coated.  squeeze in lemon, but not too much, you aren’t making ceviche for goodness sake!  

let mixture sit for around twenty minutes.  in the mean time, soak skewers in water to prevent charring. put rice on to boil and begin sautéing asparagus in butter to desired consistency.

skewer shrimp and grill over medium heat for about 2-3 minutes per side. add more lemon and enjoy!\

day two: shrimp pasta

ingredients

•  leftover shrimp
• pasta
• cherry tomatoes
• extra virgin olive oil
• red pepper flakes
• scotch bonnet peppers 
• sea salt 

this meal is your chance to turn on the creativity!  i used tomatoes because that’s what i had, but you could easily wilt a little spinach, sauté some mushrooms and even add some goat cheese.  i prefer whole-wheat pasta, but hey, you do what you can with what you’ve got right?

for this dish, sauté halved cherry tomatoes in a skillet over medium heat with olive oil, salt and red pepper flakes.  let soften and infuse with the oil, then add shrimp and cover.  once hot toss it in pasta and top with parmesan and sliced scotch bonnet pepper.  easy, light and delicious.  bon appetit! 

the city looks the same until you notice smaller changes. it still knows us all by name. it holds us close to its heart.

this weekend the inevitable finally snuck its way into the present.  my best friend heather has been home finishing up some summer classes and now that she’s done, it’s back across the map to her home and husband in san francisco.

in true ratcliff family fashion, we celebrated her last day in florida with drinks on the water. 

the whole lot of us piled into their beautiful boat and cruised over to beer can island, a spot next to the inlet where sand was dredged and a shallow island is exposed with the tides.

before heather’s father, dave, kicked it into high gear he asked the two littlest girls to do a countdown so we could blast off.  it’s wonderful how parents can find small ways to engage children in otherwise very adult-centric settings.

at low tide the water surrounding the glorified sandpile of an island is extremely shallow.  it is an ideal spot to set up some beach chairs, an umbrella and a cooler.  we played music, sipped corona and hard cider, ate tomato, basil and mozzarella sandwiches and soaked up the summer sun.

it was a beautiful way to spend the day with someone i will sorely miss.  

there are certain people who change the chemistry of our composition, that become absorbed by our life’s bloodstream as though they were necessary to normal functionality.  they are the ones who have been there, and will be there to share life with for a long time to come.  

heather is my sister.  i will always think of her when i see stuffed foxes, i will always want to ship her reeces on her birthday, i will always send her pictures when i'm not sure about my outfit, and i will always think our jokes are way funnier than they actually are. 

time apart is little more than a hesitation in the conversation that has seamlessly carried on over the years.  her house has been my home away from home and her family has been my next of kin since the fateful day we met in 9th grade.   after all, there aren’t a lot of people who are comfortable pausing dinner for a dance interlude when journey comes on.

as the people who matter to me spread further away on the map, the world expands and with it, so does my heart.  a little time between us is simply cause for a new city to visit and new things to share.  

the way we intermingle with the lives of others is part of building the endless story we’re all creating.  we cannot predict when key characters will exit and re-enter, but we can certainly make the most of the time when they are around to help us write.  thanks for a great summer h, and i can't wait for our next chapter.

in the aeroplane over the sea.

for all the travel i’ve been doing lately i have certainly spent a lot of time up in the air.  

when i was young my mother worked for a consulting group that shipped her to all parts of the country on weekends.  the most brilliant aspect of her job was that i could almost always accompany her.  as a result, i grew up feeling totally at ease with the concept of air travel.

there are over 7,000 aircraft in the air over the united states at any given time.  that’s more than two million people floating above us every day.*  pilots take off and land over and over and over, until it’s as natural a process as breathing.  i’ve been flying my whole life without the smallest hint of fear, so why is it that i’ve suddenly turned into a nervous wreck with every bump?

i go out of my way to do everything i can to make myself comfortable on a flight.  i wear leggings and carry a jacket.  i always throw on thick warm socks once i get settled in, and i keep moisturizer at the ready to counter the drying effects of recycled air.  instead of sodas i drink tomato or cranberry juice on top of plenty of water, and i always have a knitting project or something to read to pass the time.  

 *                                                                                                       *

all of these steps are powerless against the deep-seated fear that has recently thumped its way to the surface when we hit turbulence.  it’s not that i’ve become the lady you don’t want to sit next to because she’s gripping the armrest and whispering prayers to herself, but i would be lying if i said i didn’t break into a cold, anxious sweat whenever i see the wings strained bending and flexing.  

maybe it’s from watching lost. maybe it’s a control issue.  or maybe it’s that, as we grow, we begin to understand just how ephemeral our lives truly are. how easily we can be snuffed out of existence.

we walk a tight rope between life and death everyday.  it is the nature of our very presence, and it is why the chance we have at life is such a priceless gift.  everyday we are born and everyday we are dying, it’s a truth that i never chose to acknowledge until it was thrust upon me, and now it has settled into parts of my life in unexpected ways.  i don’t want spend my life playing it safe, hiding from shadows in my very own shadow, but at the same time i want to maintain a level of intelligent criticism for situations wrought with mortal consequence.

i spoke to a family friend; he’s retired air force and a current commercial pilot.  he offered a lot of stories about flying, how bumps in the air are just like bumps on the water beneath a boat and how airplane wings can be stretched to almost 90 degrees in stress tests. but the most important thing he said to me was simply that it does not matter if you are up in the air or on the ground, “when it’s your time to go, it’s your time to go.” 

and i think that’s true.  after all, there are millions of people in the air everyday and almost all of them land safely on the ground.  my mother would say, “when you let go of the control you gain the power.” flying isn’t an element of my life that is going away anytime soon, so there isn’t anything left to do but trust that there is a lot more left for me to do with my life.

safe travels to all, and keep yours healthy and long - opt for the pat down.  

he said, "i am but one small instrument." do you remember that?

it's time to announce the winner of the young alumni linen flower pin giveaway via steffy's pros and cons! and the winner is...

cue the confetti, noisemakers and the final countdown!  thank you so much to everyone who participated in the giveaway, it was a lot of fun and i'm so glad to know you enjoy my designs!  ana please contact me at sierrakellydesign@gmail.com with shipping information.