Do you see what I see?

You are looking around the room, people watching. Your eyes dart from person to person, making an assessment of each one in turn, imagining what they are thinking, who they are looking at, and what their secret dreams are. All is going well until somebody's eyes turn suddenly, and they look back at you.

Your eyes meet for one millisecond, and then you blink hard. When your eyes open again, they are neatly focused on something else in the room and you have carefully kept your expression exactly the same. They didn't even notice that I was looking their way, you think, trying to believe that you've just been awfully sly and clever. But all along you know that the one millisecond gave you away. You were just caught red-handed.

The more you think about it, the more you wish that you had not looked away. You wish you had simply smiled, in acknowledgement that you were both just caught staring at each other. Everyone looks around and spies on observes other people on occasion. There should be no shame in it. So why couldn't you have just smiled? Or winked? Or nodded a neat "hello, you've caught me looking at you, and isn't this amusing?"

But you didn't and now it's too late.

You feel a little embarrassed by your lack of honesty. And you go right on pretending that you never looked at them in the first place.

It happens to everyone.

-Amanda

Image: ASOS

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Things that made December nice...

Did you all have a merry Christmas and a happy start of the new year? I hope so. :) This 2010-2011 transition hasn't been quite what I expected, but even when things come up or don't go as planned, there are so many beautiful moments to be discovered and held onto. I have learned that those little moments are the things that make life beautiful, exciting and special. 

Here's some of the things I've loved about the past month...

RED.
I love the colors of Christmas; on decorations, displays, food, wrapping paper... and to wear! A comfy scoop-neck, long-sleeve tee and beret in red are perfect in the winter weather. The latter brings out my inner Français. :)

Christmas trees.

Last year, we got our first small tree, which was put up on a table and loved to death. This year, we got our first skinny tree, which fit perfectly in the corner and we also loved to death (the poor thing is looking pretty sorry now).

I've always had a thing for angel tree-toppers. Seriously, every time I walk into a store and see a dozen of the lovely ladies lined up on a display, I am tempted to take them all home. (Who knows what my house might look like some day. :P) And I love to think of the splendor of angels, singing Glory to God in the highest.

Narnia.

Two and a half years ago I threw a party for the opening night of Prince Caspian, and with the release of the newest film, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, we just had to do it again. It was a fabulous time, with wardrobe doors and lamp posts recycled from the previous festivities.

I made a gazzillion tea cakes for the party and they came out pretty delicious, imho. My cooking and baking forays have been more successful this past month than in November. I made a killer lemon sponge pudding for our Flynn family gathering... ;)

Of course we all dressed up and went to see the midnight showing of the aforementioned movie. The film left me with mixed feelings (I'm not a purist, but when the laws of good filmmaking are also abused it's kind of hard to swallow), but the experience was fabulous. There's nothing like a late night with great friends.

Classic movies.
And puzzles, of course. Especially when possibly the best Christmas movie of all time is involved. It's A Wonderful Life is pure legend. If you haven't seen it, it would be better if you hadn't been born. (Pun intended. ;)

Snow.
There was enough snow on the ground to have a legit White Christmas (New England does it almost every time ;), and the next day a gorgeous blizzard came and left us with a foot and a half. The sledding wasn't bad at all. We loved it.

Breakfast on Christmas morning.

It's tradition for Dad to cook it himself *gasp*, and there's waffles, whipped cream, crushed strawberries and bacon. It makes me sick every year, and I just love it. Perfection. ;)

_____________________

So, tell me about your holidays! 

I've got a very interesting and uncertain couple of months ahead of me, but will try to blog some bits and pieces when I can. Obviously, I've changed the blog layout and will continue to fine tune and tweak the look, widgets and everything over time (so thanks for being patient with the mess!). It's super basic, but I think it will make me more inclined to blog. ;)

Thanks so much for stopping by. God bless your new year...

-Amanda

P.S. I've got a few more Narnia and Christmas photos over on my TwitPic page, if you'd care to have a look.

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Things that inspire me on a Monday morning...

Making your backyard swing-set shake violently like it hasn't in ten years (at least, ours always did), while hanging upside down for a change of scenery. And maybe letting go in mid-air just so that you can get a taste of what it feels like to fly.

And if you're wearing a Louis Vuitton dress and designer heels... all the better.

More than just one solid color on the walls. Make the ordinary... unforgettable.

This dress from the Carolina Herrera Pre-Fall 2011 collection. I love the look of different fabrics merged together into one piece... This would be a holiday show stopper.

Furniture that is so creative and just amazing that is makes me look twice. I would have these "Stump Stools" in my home. :)

Looks inspired by the seaside and the navy, including stripes and dark blue, wide-leg jeans. The latter are so vintage-inspired and glamorous. And you can make your own.

More stripes... especially when they've got the Eiffel Tower for a background.

Hard boiled eggs for breakfast. Am I a fantastic cook, or what? ;)

What inspires you today?



P.S. I hosted a Narnia party on Thursday evening to celebrate the opening of "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," complete with costumes, themed food and a trip to the theater for the first (midnight) showing of the film. I don't have a ton of pictures from the evening, but I'll try to get some up later this week. :)

Images: Dustjacket Attic / Head Over Heels / The Style Files / A Glamorous Little Side Project /  Simple Nourished Living

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A Touchstone Jewelry Party - Online!

I've always thought that parties are a lot of fun, especially when they include some shopping and yummy treats. If it were possible, I'd invite all of my readers over to my house for an evening of festivities. We'd talk and laugh, and maybe play dress-up. And I'd serve up some of my ill-fated Lemon Cranberry Bars, made properly this time, with French Vanilla Ice Cream. ;)

Since logistically I can't have you all here, I'm doing the next best thing; an online jewelry party! Yay! :)

My aunt recently became a consultant for Touchstone Crystal (which is a brand new, pretty rad  company) and has been sharing all the pretty, fashion-y goodness with me over the past couple of weeks. She's even lent me a bunch of the jewelry for  some of my recent "What I'm Wearing" shoots (like on Thanksgiving day) and suggested the neat idea of "hosting" a jewelry party online for my readers!

One of the things I love about this jewelry company is the blend of simplicity and classic designs, with pieces that are more funky and modern. And there's a lot of vintage-inspired lovelies... some of them look really Art Deco, which I'm crazy about. Also, the company uses Swarovski pearls and gems, which are gorgeous, high quality and you've most probably heard of them before. I've used Swarozski crystals in jewelry projects in the past and they are beautiful.

Anyway, let me share with you some of my favorite pieces... that I've been lucky enough to wear over the past weeks...

1. Be still my heart. The South Beach Necklace is so sweet. I've got a bit of a love affair with Cape Cod and this sparkly starfish is at once whimsical and elegant. It puts me in the mood for a Cape Cod Christmas. I've never had one, but it sounds dreamy. ;)
2. The Smoke and Mirrors Earrings feature pearls, which have always been favorites with me. They're a simple, classy addition to any look.
3. I love Art Deco. And this Show and Tell Bracelet captures the mood of the era beautifully. The blend of the circles, squares and diamond shapes are stunning, and this piece has a really nice weight when worn on my wrist.

Here's what I wore in my Thanksgiving ensemble:

1. One of my favorite instrumental pieces from the World War II era of music is A Sleepy Lagoon  and the Blue Lagoon Necklace brings it to mind. It's also got a simple, Art Deco-ish feel to it. And you know how I love blue...
2. These Icy Violet Earrings can be worn with or without the detachable purple gems. I wore them plain on Thanksgiving to match the necklace. It's fun to have pieces that go with anything!
3. Of course, I already admitted my great love for this Blue Diamond Ring, and it's the piece I'm planning to get for my very own. When I first saw it's turquoise/teal glitter, I fell under its spell. 

Join in the party!

So, if you want to do a bit of Christmas shopping for your mom, sister, friend, or just pick up something special for yourself, go to Touchstone Crystal and visit the Online Shop. There you can browse the separate collections or view pieces by category (earrings, bracelets, et cetera). You can simply add whatever you like to your cart.

Important: Once you've completed shopping, before you complete your transaction, click on the shopping bag link and enter my name (Amanda Flynn) into the brown bar you'll see just above your order. When my name shows up as a hostess, make sure you click on it and see the confirmation that your order is attached my party. Otherwise, I'll lose any credit from your order, which would be a little sad. :( (Oh, and btw, that Chelmsford town listing is a lie, so don't bother stalking me. I don't really live there. ;) If you have any questions, feel free to contact me: amandabethboutique{at}gmail.com . You can also send your order to me through email and I'll get it all set, if that's what you prefer. :)

Your order will be shipped directly to your address, in time for Christmas. How easy is that??

The jewelry party will be open through this Saturday, December 11th. I hope you'll consider shopping through my online jewelry party. And that you're having the most wonderful time of the year!!

 

Friday night we went out to see a local production of A Christmas Carol and had a great evening. I decided to take my re-fashioned denim skirt into winter with the addition of boots and leggings. I know it's already made two appearances on the blog, but it's pretty much my favorite piece right now. :)

I hope you're having a great time getting ready for Christmas. We're decorated our tree today! Love it.



P.S. Just for the record, I am not being paid or reimbursed for writing this post. If you decide to join my jewelry party and pick up a few things, I'll get some credit towards a piece or two of my own (blue diamond ring *hint hint* ;), which would be lovely, but that's it. :)

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Thanksgiving Fashions and Failures

Did you have a wonderful, delicious Thanksgiving? Ours was a peaceful, small gathering this year, and I really like it that way. I think I even fell asleep on the couch after dinner. Something about turkey makes people lethargic....

For my outfit, I was thrilled to pull out this new ruffled cami that I picked up at Kohl's a few weeks ago. A lot of you probably know I have a serious weakness for blue and teal, so the mix of shades in this sheer, ruffle-y top was just too good to pass up. I paired it with some good old standards; a shrug and high heels from Bekah's wedding, stripe-y tights, and a black eyelet skirt that Lydia picked up at Saver's and recently bequeathed to me. The jewelry (necklace, earrings and ring) were lent to me by my aunt. (More on those later. :)

So the fashion part went fine for me that day. No crisis or indecision about what to put together. Unfortunately, the food didn't treat me so well...

I have come into a lovely state of affection with baking over the past six months. I've made a nice handful of recipes from Joy of Baking with great success and sung my own praises from the rooftop. Unfortunately, Martha Stewart gave me no such luck.

The Cranberry Lemon Squares went together like a dream. But the stupid berries refused to absorb all the water, and I didn't think to strain some of it out before adding it to the first layer in the pan. So... the 2nd layer was a big lemon-cranberry goop.

I screamed and threw up my hands in horror at the result, but we served it in tiny cups with ice cream on top and everyone said it was delicious. I had to agree that it could have been worse.

Like the Stuffed Mushrooms...

So what if I substituted crushed red pepper for red pepper flakes? I only used half of the called-for amount! The mushrooms came out looking like a magazine. I tried one. My mouth was set on fire.

That was a hard pill mushroom to swallow. But my family made the best of this disaster as well. Lydia declared them the best stuffed mushrooms she'd ever tasted (although she claims to usually hate stuffed mushrooms :P) and my brother-in-law said they were addicting and had a cleansing effect. He and Rebekah ate a lot of them.

None the less, my pride was crushed. Especially since I'd talked myself into believing that I was good at cooking and baking and wouldn't Julia Childs be jealous someday? Ouch. So much for that....

What I'm Wearing:

Knit Shrug by bravado! - $35 from Amazon
Ruffled Camisole by Energie - $12 from Kohl's
Eyelet Skirt by apostrophe - thrifted
Striped Tights by SimplyVera - from Kohl's
Heels by Madden Girl - $30 from Famous Footwear
Headband - $1.60 from Kohl's
Jewelry - (see below)

So, I want to share with you a tiny bit about this yummy jewelry that I got to borrow for the day. My aunt has been selling pieces like these and many others from a lovely new jewelry company and has got me excited about it, too. You see that amazing turquoise ring? It fits like a dream, sparkles like nobody's business... and it's going to be mine. :)

It could be yours, too, if you want it. 'Cause I'm going to host a jewelry party. I wish I could fit all of you in my house and do it in person, but I know that travel costs would be monstrous, and we don't want any stalkers showing up, do we? So, my aunt and I have schemed a bit, and come up with a way that I can have a party online. How cool is that???

The party will run from December 4th-ish to the 11th-ish and I'll be getting final details to you next week. I hope you'll join me, take a look at all the pretty stuff, and consider doing some of your Christmas shopping through the party. I hope it will be a lot of fun and that you'll find some lovely treasures to add to your own collection.

Stay tuned!

So... how did you celebrate Thanksgiving? What did you wear? Any personal holiday food disasters that you'd like to confess? :)

Thanks for stopping by!

P.S. I just wanted to say "thank you" again to everyone who left a comment on the last, monumental post. I was encouraged and inspired by your response... and this Thanksgiving, I am feeling very grateful for all of your love and support. :) xoxo

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Where in the world has AmandaBeth been?

Some of you may be wondering where I've been for the past few weeks. So sorry for the disappearance! I think that's the first time I've gone MIA from the blog world without a warning. It was kind of exciting. ;)

While family and various work projects have been occupying much of my days, I have also been spending a lot of time thinking about the future of the blog.

Reevaluating something that you've done for a long time is never easy, and for most of this year my mind has been distracted by many questions. What is the purpose of the blog? Am I staying true to that purpose? What does my audience want to read? Do I love what I am writing about? Is the blog worth the time I invest in it? What inspires me? Am I sharing the things that I feel are important?

A few months ago a well known Christian blogger announced that she was done blogging. She said she felt she'd written everything that she was meant to write on the blog. That didn't mean her life was ending, just that she needed to move on into the next chapter. I know exactly what she was talking about.

I've been writing AmandaBeth for over two and a half years and the focus has stayed pretty firmly on fashion. When I started the blog, I had just come off a year of reading loads of fashion, design, style, color, hair, makeup, health and beauty books and my head was crammed full of the things I had learned. I wanted an outlet in which to share those things, encourage other girls and women in the journey of  modesty and style, and carve my own little space on the world wide web.

Now I don't read about fashion all that much. I don't believe I've read a book on the subject in at least a year and a half. To be honest, most of my brain is filled with topics other than fashion these days. Writing, music, home decor, baking, organizing, and finding steady work.

And really, I feel as though I have said pretty much everything I ever wanted to say about fashion on this blog. (Ok, so I never fully got into "color," but that will definitely find a good time and place in the future. :) And over the past year I've been a bit fashion-burned-out (I'm sure some of you have sensed it ;). I feel as though God has blessed the blog and allowed me to make the small impact that I wanted, and now changing the world of fashion is not so much of a pressing focus in my life.

All of this said (and thank you for reading this far), it is not my intention to quit the blog. I've been immensely blessed through the process of writing AmandaBeth and don't want to abandon it after the amount of time and thoughts that have been invested. Besides, I still have more inspiration to share, more ideas to voice, and more to create. The thing is, I don't feel that focusing exclusively on fashion is my purpose anymore.

So, where is the blog going? I'm not 100% decided, and I plan on taking it one simple step at a time. Posting may become more sporadic, but hopefully it will be more inspired. I feel a need to write about everything; the things that make me laugh, the things that matter, the things that make life beautiful to me. This may be a number of topics; writing, baking, sewing, decorating, reading, music, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And fashion will obviously be included, because that's also a part of who I am.

I'm still not sure whether I should bring all of these changes to AmandaBeth or leave it as a purely fashion venture and start up this new approach at a different site address. (What do you think?)
I do hope that whatever changes are made will make my writing a more personal endeavor, bring us all together and make things even more fun. :)

Remember, there are 2 1/2 years worth of archives for perusing if you want some fashion-y reading or inspiration, and it will all remain here for you to access. Thank you for your patience in reading the entirety of this post and listening to where my heart is at right now. I didn't want to leave you all in the dark and I hope you understand the way I've been feeling. (Oh yes, and please leave a comment and let me know what you think about all of this.)

Thanks from the bottom of my heart to all you dear, lovely readers who have stuck with me over the years, months, weeks, and days. I am so excited that adventure is continuing, and that I've got all of you with me on the journey. (Stay subscribed so you can get updates! :)

All my love, and have a beautiful and blessed Thanksgiving...


Images: Apartment34 / Ooo... I Like It! / Seen and Said / The Paper Dialogues

P.S. I was a good girl last week and updated the Modest Fashion Bloggers Network for the first time in ages. Check it out! :)

Oh yes, and I've got a fashiony sort of "party"coming up, so check back over the next week for some fun details!

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Oh, that fabulous Gibson Girl!

Long have loved the iconic Gibson Girl, the epitome of early 20th century beauty. There's something sensational, elusive, and maybe just a bit mercenary about this lady, who carries herself proudly and sometimes steps carelessly on a gentleman on her way out the door.

First created in 1890 by the artist Charles Dana Gibson, the Gibson Girl was modeled after a number of ideal beauties, including Gibson's wife, and made a mark on fashion and beauty in the early 1900s. She clearly captured the look that was so highly prized during the era ("S" shaped corsets, pigeon front blouses, sweeping skirts, and hair piled high in a pompadour) and is a big reason why the Edwardian age is one of my favorites. (Also, sometimes she  reminds me of Anne Shirley, who has a very special place in the hearts of girls all over the world, including my own. :)

Charles Dana Gibson featured his "girl" in lots of tongue-in-cheek illustrations, which always make me laugh (albeit guiltily). Of course, it's dreadful for a young lady to treat a gentleman the way she often does, but I can't help chuckling at her "girl power." Charles Dana Gibson was a good observer of people of both genders, and his captions are usually right on target. ;)

1. Stepped On / 2. Accident to a Young Man with a Weak Heart

Of course, the Gibson Girl wasn't always cruel. There's quite a few illustrations where she makes somebody's dream come true. That's usually when we say, "Aww..."

So, are there any Gibson Girls lurking out there? :)

If you'd like to possess a piece of the Gibson glamour for yourself, I've just recently put together these two pretty ladies, and would like to find good homes for them. They've been waiting patiently for me to put together a post for the past few crazy-busy weeks, and now they are all set to go!

Both of these Gibson Girl pendants are strung with glass pearl beads. The 1st necklace has ivory and pale blue pearls, a silver plated chain and clasp and measures 17" long. The 2nd necklace is strung with pink, brown and mini ivory pearls and measures 16" long. The Gibson Girl pendants hang at 2" and are 1" wide. 

 

Here's a quick shot of me modeling the blue necklace so you can get some perspective of how it looks "live." The pink necklace is just slightly shorter. I know that Halloween is over, but these would be so fun with a costume-y ensemble... at any time of the year!

The two pendants were the last in the store, so these ladies are the only ones of their kind, unless I stumble upon something this unusual again. I'm selling them for $20 each (with free shipping in the US) and first-come first-serve, so if you'd like to grab one for your very own, or as a gift for a fellow Gibson Girl, please drop me an email with your paypal email address so I can send you a a payment invoice. And don't forget to say which lovely lady you'd like! :) You can reach me at amandabethboutique{at}gmail.com

I hope you all had a fun, safe weekend. I meant to post with some "creepy" seasonal fashion, but time ran away from me. You can't check out last year's post if you want a scare... ;)

God bless you all. Thanks for reading!


Images: Flickr, LIFE, Wikipedia

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