Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thankful for Football.

If you know me at all, you'll know that Thanksgiving has never been a big deal holiday for me. I feel like it's turned into being all about the turkey and the Black Friday hype. I've been a vegetarian since 1999, and would maybe rather get the plague (ok, not really, but definitely the flu!) than stand outside a store with a bunch of anxious people waiting for a deal on a flatscreen tv.

BUT. Just when you're about to pinpoint me as the Thanksgiving Day Scrooge (really, I kinda am, you should have seen me cursing at the television this morning - I was so psyched to look at the floats at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, and all they were showing were people doing Broadway musical performances! I don't care about musicals, sorry!), I can at least get on board and excited about the football part of the holiday. I am a HUGE football fan. My dad raised me going to local high school football games, and our Sundays every fall and winter were always spent watching NFL games. Anytime I get the chance, I'll go watch the local high school kids play, and today, Thanksgiving, my best friend and I went and saw Portland High School vs. Deering High School, longtime rivals. This is a special Thanksgiving game (that doesn't actually mean anything), but it's been a tradition for 100 years

warmin' up!

The weather was freezing, so we bundled up. I brought two blankets just like I always do - one to sit on and one to cuddle up in. We also got hot cocoa, which is another part of the tradition, of course! There was still ice on the bleachers from the mini storm the day before, and we saw multiple people with wet butts.

My best friend Panda and me

Despite the cold, it was a beautiful day for a football game.


I was really alarmed at how many Ugg boots I saw. I'm never around teenagers (especially that many at one time!) and I can't believe that they are still SO in style with that generation. I had no idea there were so many different options, either! Sparkly red, sparkly gold, eggplant, slate blue, maroon, black, gray, dark brown, light brown, tan, quilted. I really wish our culture could get over these horrible things already. Panda and I talked about it a bunch, and she did say in their defense that they're like sticking your feet into a bunch of pillows, but still! Let's figure something else out that can be equally as comfortable and not so terribly expensive and truly hideous!


L.L. Bean boots get us girls through many Maine winters!

We stayed until the end of the 3rd quarter, and then bailed because it was a blowout. The Portland boys were half the size of the Deering kids - they didn't stand a chance!

We tried to get a photo of us with the loud cheering fans behind us, and I love this photo. Foolish!

Check out that sweet cane! Hahaha!

I dropped Panda off at her house, went home, ran seven and half miles, and then made myself a poor man's Thanksgiving dinner.

Special shout out to my english muffin taking the place of a biscuit! Hahaha!

Not a bad holiday at all.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

xo,
mandy

PS- Check out the new goodies in my shop. More coming this week!

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Sneak Peek, 11/13/11.

Here's some photos from the shoot I did this morning! Right after I finished getting set up, I lost the sun (buuuuuummer!) so the photos are kinda grainy. I apologize. Still, I'm really excited about all of these upcoming items for the shop! Grainy or not, you can tell how slammin' they are! Email me at shopgrandmajune@gmail.com to call dibs!

Black leather & suede boots!
1960s high-waisted black pencil skirt!
 Rayon floral beige skirt!
Purple and gray striped winter jacket!


Caramel brown western booties!


Gorgeous winter cardigan!
xo,
mandy

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Yessuh

A successful morning of thrifting.


Monday, November 7, 2011

Making Healthy Banana Cookies

... and I never cook! Ever!

I woke up this morning, and saw my four bananas sitting on their little banana holder on top of the fridge. They were all super ripe, and I knew that if I didn't eat them all today, they'd go bad. I knew eating four bananas for breakfast wasn't my idea of a good time, so I decided to look up an easy banana recipe online. 

I found this:


It's important that you know that I never cook/bake ever.... EVER. But this seemed like something I could handle. I modified the recipe a bit, because I didn't have dates, vegetable oil, or vanilla extract. 

Here were my ingredients:

  • 4 ripe bananas
  • 1 apple
  • 2 1/2 cup rolled oats (I put half a cup more oats in to compensate for my additional banana and apple)
  • 1 1/2 cup dried cranberries (I bet just 1 cup would have been enough, but I am having a serious love affair with cranberries right now, and wanted more!)
  • 1/3 cup apple honey butter (I used this instead of the vegetable oil, but I also read you could just use plain applesauce, too. I didn't have any applesauce which is why I used this.)
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

I was gonna use honey, too, but it was kinda hard and old so I tossed it.

First, I peeled the apple, and then cut it up into teeny tiny pieces.

(Yes, that is a cutting board in the shape of Maine. I'm a little overly proud of my state.)

Then I combined the apple and the bananas. It said to mash the bananas, and since I didn't really have a good masher other than a spoon, I just used my hands. This was kind of fun, and kind of nauseating at the same time. 


That's my laptop to the right. I know, I know, I could have spilled on it, but I didn't. I was listening to this, which really made everything much more enjoyable. I also kept glancing at the directions.

So then I combined all that other shit together...

The apple butter looks gross, I know.

....and mixed it all up.


Uh-huh!


I let the mixture sit for 15 minutes, and I preheated the over to 325 degrees - the original recipe says 350, but my oven is kinda effed up, so 325 worked better for me. I put tinfoil over my baking pan because my baking pan was old and nasty, and I sprayed a little bit of canola oil on the tinfoil so the cookies wouldn't stick. I baked them for 20 minutes (the original recipe says 15, but I did 20 because, again, my oven is sorta broken and a piece of crap).

Just out of the oven!

Hooray! 

They're not crunchy at all, very soft and kinda squishy... but in a good way!

And then I did this.

(Excuse my slightly disheveled state. I just woke up!)

Yum.
(The end.)

xo,
mandy

PS: This is most definitely not going to turn into a food blog. I love fashion and clothes WAY more than food. Look for some new Etsy listings today!

PPS: Did you see these AWESOME vintage ombre glasses I just posted yesterday in my shop? A serious LOLZ at my modeling, too! I get foolish when I have to model stuff on my face.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Apple Picking With Mom

A day of apple picking with my beautiful mother in Auburn, Maine.

xo,
mandy


photo.



A ladybug on my apple!

What a waste!



Riding on the tractor!

Momma! (I made that scarf for her last winter.)

lolz!



Auburn, Maine.


video.





Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Brooklyn Tweed's Newest Lookbook

I was lucky enough to work with the amazing yarn company, Brooklyn Tweed, for their latest lookbook. Here's a few of my favorites from the shoot, but you can view all of the photos here!

(Doesn't it make you want to learn how to knit?! Ugh!)






So perfectly fall.

I did most of the styling for this shoot, and the wardrobe is all my own. Lots of the pieces in the photos are clothes of mine that were passed down from Grandma June! Anytime I wear something of hers in a shoot, it becomes much more special and personal to me.

xo, mandy