O.O.T.D: Marigold Dots, Gold and Blue

I know you were all just dying to see how I'd style my Marigold Dots dress from eShakti, hehe! Naturally, I ordered the dress about 3 weeks ago when it was still rather unseasonably warm out, and now it's a bit too cold for the deep V neckline of this frock, so I cozied (and covered) up with this blue and gold scarf! I love how the orange tones of the dress look with both the blue and the gold, so I have the feeling these may be worn together again.  I was also sporting a cropped acid wash denim jacket, but I ditched it for walking around the One of a Kind Christmas Craft Show, where these photos were taken.  

I was so happy with how light and swishy the dress felt on, and how nicely the silk falls.  Oh yeah, you thought you could only get polyester dresses from eShakti? Let me make your day.  This dress is a 100% silk outer shell, and it feels wonderful.  They also stock lots of cotton garments (including a cotton poplin that looks quite nice!), so don't think you have to settle when it comes to the fabric.  Never!

There was awkward vogueing.

The Deets:

Scarf: Garage Sale Find 

Marigold Dots Dress: C/O eShakti (style sadly no longer available!)

Belt: Church Sale

Tights: HUE

Cutout Brogues: Jeffrey Campbell

Glasses: Vintage, Kingpin's Hideaway

I finally got around to getting my prescription put into these sweet frames this past weekend! I bought the frames at Kingpin's Hideaway (that's in the basement of Cabaret, my favourite vintage shop in Toronto) during Toronto's Vintage Crawl a few weeks back.  The vintage crawl was great! Stores open late, special discounts, cocktails, and I just happened to be in town that night for an appointment the next day.  Perfection. Plus, these glasses are really great for boring into your soul.  Don't believe me?

--Erin

PS. Don't forget, eShakti is offering 25% off everything in store until December 7th, if you're looking for a new frock for your holiday parties!

*** Dress Provided by eShakti for review.  All words and opinions are my own, and are completely honest. It's nice to be able to share a cool thing once in a while!***  

Measure for Measure: An eShakti Review

I was super excited when eShakti contacted me last month about doing a review! If you're unfamiliar with the name, eShakti is a women's clothing manufacturer and retailer based out of India.  The manufacturer part is important, because eShakti specializes in made to measure clothing! In addition to standard sized options, eShakti offers custom tailored garments for a (very) modest fee, as well as some other opportunities to customize the clothes to suit your taste.

Want a shorter hemline than the pictured dress? You got it.

Longer sleeves? Sure thing.

Lose the embroidery? No problem!

So, people of the internet, you want to know how I found my eShakti shopping experience? Well, let's get down to it!

The Store

I found eShakti's webstore to be very easy to use.  I loved all the chances you had to make little changes to really suit your style.  I did not opt for a specially tailored garment, as I fit comfortably into a standard size.  Regarledd of whether you choose to submit your measurements (and eShakti provides a guide to help you record your measurememnts accurately), you must provide your height so that the hem lengths are made appropriate for your body.  SO HELPFUL for a girl on the taller side who's tired of every dress fitting firmly in the "mini" category.  Some of us like to be fully covered when we sit down, you guys!

Shipping

As a Canadian, shipping from other countries is a hassle and a half that I prefer to avoid.  Because of this, I have never bought clothes online before, and generally keep my online shopping limited to a couple books off Amazon every once in a while (well, Amazon.ca, to avoid duty charges!). I was provided a tracking number for my parcel, and outside of a delay heading through customs, I was pleased with how promptly my package arrived.  If you are ordering from a country that is less insane about international shipping, you should be in great shape! I have seen it noted in other reviews that it can take garments longer than noted on the website to be packed and shipped out, and I did find that it took 3 business days longer than the quoted estimation.  This combined with shipping from India could result in a delay, so if you're purchasing a piece for an event, be sure to order as early as possible to ensure minimal stress.  

The Garment

I was so excited when my package from eShakti arrived I couldn't wait to tear the box open! The garment was folded neatly and then sealed in a tight fitting plastic sleeve.  A quick pass over with the iron took care of the creases once I was ready to wear my dress (pictures to come!).  I was very impressed with the construction of the piece.  It was at least on par with stores in a similar price range, featuring neat stitching, tidy finished edges, properly bound cuffs and a well inlaid hidden side zipper.  I was pleased with the feel of the fabric, and I think the weight of it should make it appropriate to wear most of the year round!  The dress has a deep V neckline that was a bit too chilly for the winter, but will be very comfortable come June!  The only part of the dress that I was concerned with is the embroidery.  The polka dots on the dress were a big selling point, but as I was given the option to omit the dots, it became clear that the embroidery is done in-house and the fabric itself is not manufactured with dots.  Because the dots are too small to make efficient use of stay-stitching, and to tie off the start and end of each dot would take an absolute eternity (and thus become very costly for labour), I found that some of the dots had started to unravel.  I have clipped the threads as close as possible to avoid them catching on anything, but I think in future I will skip the embroidery (the dress is really lovely on its own), unless the design is large enough for the threads to secure properly.  

All that being said, I am totally thrilled about my experience, and I look forward to styling the dress differently for different seasons! The silhouette is perfect for me, and I was super happy when Ephraim's Mother thought the dress was vintage.  It always feels good to add a piece to your closet that looks and feels great! Another big thank you to eShakti, for the gorgeous dress and for offering a service that allows us to shop for cute clothes online and know that it will fit when mail day comes! Plus, now through December 7th, they're offering 25% off! Score!

--Erin

PS. Check back tomorrow to see how I styled the Marigold Dots dress pictured above!

Super Brunch Sunday: Buttermilk Pancakes with Warm Apple Cinnamon Topping

Last weekend's brunch was sooooo good.  The perfectly cooked buttermilk pancakes (thanks to Ephraim!), topped generously (I may have added more after these photos, that stack got messy) with warm, gooey, cinnamon loaded apples.  It was like pie filling, but better, because it obviously used to be something that's good for you.  Used to be.  But that time had long since passed.  YUM.

Buttermilk Pancakes (modified from Fannie Farmer's 1945 recipe) Serves 2

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, slightly beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk (or more)
3 tablespoons melted butter (or vegetable oil)

Method

1. Mix together the dry ingredients. 
2. Add the beaten egg and melted butter and stir vigorously, adding more milk, if necessary, to make the batter just thin enough to pour. 
3. Drop by spoonfuls or pour from pitcher onto heated and greased griddle or frying pan using medium heat. 
4. When full of bubbles and the underside is browned, turn and brown the other side. 
5. Serve with maple syrup and additional butter (and apple topping.  Come one now.)

Cinnamon Apple Topping (modified from This Homemade Life)

Ingredients

 2-3 apples, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 heaped teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup of water

Method

1. In a skillet, on medium heat, melt the butter.  
2. Pour in the apples, and saute until just tender.  
3. Add in the sugar, cinnamon and water.  
4. Continue cooking (and stirring) until it reaches a syrup-like consistency.

If you like the plate, I won't tell anyone.  I was pretty tempted with this one! And I am happy to report that the leftovers were SUPERB brought in to work to eat at my desk a few days later.  You'll want to double the pancake recipe though!

What are you making for brunch this weekend?

--Erin

Month in an Apron: My Restaurant-less(ish) November in Review

Howdy folks!

The week is ever so slowly coming to a close and I for one am SO excited for the weekend! I'm headed into Toronto for a weekend full of errands and fun (and more fun!).  Can't wait!! This weekend also marks the start of December, so I wanted to take a moment and write about how my attempt at a month without restaurants went.

This time last month I was looking at my credit card statement wondering how I could possibly spend SO MUCH money on food.  I mean, I love food and all, but I don't eat a large amount, nor do I eat out every day, so what's the deal? The fact is, I live in a tourist town, and as such, food (and groceries, and clothes, and everything) are ridiculously expensive.  And while groceries may cost me more here than they would in Toronto, I knew I could make a significant dent in my budget by cooking exclusively, and not falling into the trap of buying a lunch at work (even if the company cafeteria has the most vegetarian options and is the most reasonably priced place to eat in the town.  And now that I've said that I can hear Ephraim saying "ahem, the stagecoach, ahem!". Second cheapest.  There).

The month has not been completely restaurant free.  Let's get that out on the table first.  In the last 30-odd days, I have purchased food from outside sources 4 times.  A couple weeks ago in NOTL we had "Fabulicious", a terrible portmanteau that is the name of an event where the priciest restaurants in the area (and there are lots of those, this is wine country!) do special prix fixe menus, making them more accessible.  So, I had a special dinner out with some friends from work.  That was cheat meal number one.  

Later that same weekend, I had two little slip ups, one of which I'm not sure really counts since it wasn't a full meal per se, but I went out to try poutine for the first time and to celebrate the return of a friend who had been out of the country for a couple weeks.  Actually, I ordered chili cheese fries (also a first) and tried someone else's poutine, but it was still a magical affair, and there was beer, and I don't feel bad about it.  So there.  Then the next day I was ravenous to the point of extreme irritability after an extended trip to IKEA (y'all know what I'm talking about.  And I wasn't about to cave and buy some IKEA food.  Standards!) so we went out for felafel.  Still, I don't feel badly about that, because Ephraim's life was on the line (EXTREME irritability).  So, up to this point we're at 3 slip ups, 0 of which I regret.

I bought lunch at work one day this whole month, and it's the only time I felt that I had really dropped the ball on my goal.  I didn't take the time to cook something large enough the night before that I would have leftovers to bring with me.  I made sure to swing by the grocery store on my way home from work, cooked an extra large meal, and woke up with plenty of time the next morning to pack a substantial healthy lunch for myself. I learned from the one incident this month that I felt could have been prevented, and was worth working to avoid.  And I feel really good about that.

All in all, this experiment has been really worth while.  It has saved me money (which incidentally I will be spending on a reward for my efforts :P), it has pushed me to try to cook things that I would normally just go out for (burger night was a 2 time success.  Whoop whoop!), it resulted in much less food waste due to better meal planning, and a substantial shift in the ratio of perishable to non perishable food items I bought over the month, as I was shopping for produce twice or even three times a week, instead of only once.  I feel good about the changes I made, and I feel confident that I can carry over the habits I have formed into the coming months, while granting myself some leniency, because let's be honest, life without the Guru's Dhal Makhani is not worth living.  Gimme my curry, please!

With holiday shopping well underway, have you made any changes to your budget to accommodate for the extra spending this time of year brings?

--Erin

Four Simple Goals Update: Success in Failure

This past week I took a moment to try and rededicate myself to my four simple goals before 2013.  I think I set myself up for a bit of disaster, by making my goals less simple, and larger than the original intention of this motivator is.  Oh well, I wrote out 4 things, and now I have to hold myself to them (I did share it with the internet, after all!).

I decided to use my Singer 29K leather patcher in a project I was working on, and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to knock a goal off the list, and finally acquaint myself with this beautiful albeit daunting machine.  Well, I tried, and tried, and no such luck.  I sat down at the machine for a good hour, and failed to get more than about 3 stitches in.  There is something very wrong with the tension, but I can't seem to find the source! Added to that, the hand wheel was mounted on the front instead of the side for transport, and it just isn't a natural spot to use it in, and naturally the only screwdriver I have to try to remove it is that for my domestic sewing machine...so uh, totally not happening! I'm hoping that the next time my dad comes out here with his tool box he can move the handwheel (and have a look at my beloved toaster oven!),and then we should be in business.  But that won't be till the new year, so what do I say about my goal?

After some deliberation, I've decided to make this count as a win.  The intention of the goal was not to make anything with the machine, but to use it.  I took the time to try to familiarize myself with the machine, and do some trouble shooting, and I think that's worth something.  And until I get her in happy working order, the machine (named Doris) looks damn pretty in my home studio!  So, that's one more off the short list, folks.

 How are your 4 simple goals going?

--Erin