The Lady of Portland House

Monday, July 05, 2010

Happy Independence Day!!!

Dear Friends and Readers, I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July. We combined our 4th of July with a party for Aaron’s graduation. Our dear friends, Brand and Angel, kindly hosted and a great time was had by all. We did a 1940’s theme complete with Glenn Miller, BBQ, legal fireworks. Here are the pictures. God Bless!!!!

Here we are, well, part of the gang. Aaron took this from inside. From top Left corner we have… Tim, Baby James, Cheryl, Me, Brad, and Angel.

Angel in her flight suit.

Feeding the munchkin. He loves his veggies ;-)

Hubby and me! I think he looks so dashing in this style.

Dancing to Glenn Miller!

Tara and Christian.

Aaron received a Tooth Key for his 18th century impression. It was a lovely gift from the gang.

Playing with sparklers. I had to put my sweater on, it was the coldest 4th that we have had since we moved here.

Aaron imitating the Statue of Liberty

Angel, Tara, and Me on the roof watching fireworks.

Have a great week everyone! Love Lauren

Thursday, July 01, 2010

That Just About Sums it Up...

1-2-3 Grrrrr

Yup, that's me today. I'm grumpy and tired of dealing with annoying people.

Thank goodness for up coming three day weekends and a massage tonight.

Our New Coach...

We purchased our first vehicle as a married couple and without outside help last night. It was quite the milestone and we are very happy with our new wheels. We are now a two-car family :-D Here is the Lord in front of his new carriage :-D

Monday, June 28, 2010

Laurelhurst Picnic

Dear Friends and Readers,

I hope you all had a lovely Monday and are having a good week so far. Mine has been normal with nothing out of the ordinary. Aaron and I are still preparing to move and we signed the papers for the new house yesterday. Things are finally starting to feel more official.

Sunday afternoon we had an event planned at a local Rose Garden in Portland. Unbeknownst to us, there was a huge festival going on at the same time. So, after a last minute venue switcheroo, we ended up at a lovely park called Laurelhurst. The picnic ended up being perfect, despite the warmth of the afternoon, and a great time was had by all. Here are the pictures labeled with our Le Bon Ton persona names.

Lieutenant Colonel Etienne de Valois

Theodosia de Valois, Captain Edmund Cartwright, and Lady Abigail Cartwright

Kay, Gui, and Lady Elizabeth Devereux

Captain Edmund and Lady Elizabeth Cartwright

Lord Thomas and Lady Elizabeth Sully, Fifth Baron of Portland

A Friendly Game of Petanque

The Whole Group

I love how the costumes continue to improve among our group. Our captain has finally received his uniform and I know have large wigged and hat wearing buddies :-) It’s wonderful!

Well, have a great evening and rest of your week. We are having a Fourth of July party this weekend. So I should have some more costumed pics for you soon. This party, however, is going to be 1940’s Dieselpunk. I’m really looking forward to it. God Bless!

Love Lauren

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Versatile Blogger Award

The amazing American Duchess has so kindly awarded me the Versatile Blogger Award!!!! Thank you, Your Grace.

Okay, here goes…

7 things about me:
1) I have a ridiculous number of food allergies. I’ve learned to substitute almost everything when I’m baking.

2) I simply adore animals. I love being around them and I make friends very easily. Zoos and pets stores are always a fun place for me.

3) I love, love, love the rain. Actually, since moving to Oregon, my love for rain has only grown.

4) As I get older, I’m becoming more content with my looks and shape. I struggled with that for years. Now, I’m learning to love me for me.

5) I lived in Kentucky for a short time when I was a toddler. I had a drawl and when I’m around people from that region it comes back with a vengeance.

6) I want to learn French. This is a goal of mine when I retire. Hopefully starting in January 2011.

7) I’m a computer and techy nerd. Not as much as my hubby, but I do enjoy technology. My dad is the king of computers and I spent much of my childhood watching him work on them and repair them for his clients.

5 blogs to pass this award onto:

1) Romantic History: Sarah has a lovely blog. She not only blogs about her historical clothing from multiple eras, but she gives us a glimpse into her life with her hubby and three boys.

2) Wearing History: Yet another fellow Lauren who is a costumer. This gal makes amazing vintage reproductions and patterns. Her blog is a treasure trove of vintage style with sprinklings of her life.

3) Mme du Jards Atelier: Mme du Jard is an amazing costumer. Her creations are fabulous and she creates clothing from multiple eras.

4)Stayin’ Alive 18th Century: Abby has a lovely blog full of 18th century goodies and tidbits from her real life.

5) A Day in 1862: Amy’s blog is so sweet and lovely. She blogs about her costumes and her life with her hubby and baby girl. Her blog is just a delight to read.

Well, folks, I must be off. We have a busy day ahead of us today :-) God Bless!

Love Lauren

1940’s Play Suit

Here is a peak at my new play suit, aka me being goofy in the living room ;-) . I plan to wear it for our Fourth of July Party next weekend. Of course, I will have victory rolls and the whole nine yards. But for quick picks, slightly messy hair and red lipstick will do. God Bless!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Portland House and a Sewing Hiatus

Dear Friends and Readers,

I hope you all are having a wonderful summer so far. We have a lot of changes coming down the road for us. We have been so blessed with the opportunity to rent an amazing 1932 Portland Bungalow. It has been updated and is much, much larger than the space we are currently living in. Plus, it has a large backyard, yeah! So, we are in the process of packing, packing, packing. We have a whole month to get settled, which is a huge blessing. Last time we moved, we packed out lives into a truck and drove for three days. This time, we have a little more time to pack and move and get our current house ready to return to our landlords. The most exciting thing for me is that I'm finally going to be living in an older home. Also, it's has the 1930's English Cottage style, complete with dark wood molding, plastered walls, hardwood floors, and leaded glass windows. I promise to post lots of pictures once we get settled and I get everything decorated.

As for sewing... Well, I finished my 1920's dress and have officially decided that I do not look good in 1920's styles. I kind of look like a stuffed sausage in a bag. So, we won't be showing pictures of my 20's dress. I can't decide if I want to keep it in case we have a 20's event or sell it. So, I'm back to the 1940's and loving it. I'm currently working on a 1940's play suit and I can't wait to wear it. It's super, duper cute and very flattering, according to hubby. As he says, "I need to show off my curves" and the 1920's does not do that for me. Anyway, we are having an Independence Day/ Happy Graduation party on the 4th and I'm going to wear it then. So you will just have to wait a little while for pictures.

This will be my last sewing project until we move and get settled. Also, I might not be posting as often for the next few weeks. I do plan to post as much as I can, especially since reenacting season is kicking into high gear. Have a wonderful day, everyone. Here's a pic of the house from Google Maps. Again, I'll post real pictures as soon as we get settled. God Bless!!!

Love Lauren

The New Portland House, 2.0

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Dr. Aaron F. Marks

Here he is, ladies and gentlemen, the Doctor :-)

Aaron with his mentor, Dr. Taylor.

Hubby and Me (I wore my 40’s dress for the occasion and loved it!)

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Aaron’s Grad Party….

Last night was the much anticipated Graduation Party for Aaron’s class. It was held at the Portland Art Museum and was quite the evening. I think the best thing was our attire. You see, Aaron’s classmates love the fact that we reenact and were asking, well kind of begging, Aaron to go 18th century for the party. Well, never wanting to disappoint, we happily obliged. It was a blast. Here are a few pics!

Here we are… (BTW the evening also gave me a chance to take my new stays for a spin. I LOVE THEM!!!!)

Some of the guys!

All in all it was a great evening. Aaron was runner up for the best kept hair due to his sideburns :-D

Have a great weekend everyone! God Bless!

Love Lauren

Thursday, June 10, 2010

He Passed!!!!

Dear Friends and Readers,

I just received word that hubby passed his board examinations. He can now finish his license application and start working as soon as his license arrives. I am so grateful to God for His provisions and seeing us through these past four years.

Dr. Aaron Marks DMD (well in one more week anyway)

Saturday, June 05, 2010

Progress…

Dear Friends and Readers,

I hope you all had a wonderful and blessed week. Aaron finished his board exams last weekend and is finally in the last phase of school. We now wait for his board exams, his graduation, and his transcripts so he can get his license and start working. We’re praying that he can start mid-July, but we’re thinking it’s probably going to be the first of August before all of the paper-work is finalized.

I finally had some good, quiet pattern drafting time this week. I scaled up the Patterns of Fashion 1921 pattern, made a muslin and decided I don’t like the bodice of the original pattern on my body. So, as usual, I redrafted it. I’m making the bodice more of a sheath. I am also adding a curved sash to mount the bodice and the skirt to, thus eliminating the triangles. They just looked to fussy on my frame. Anyway, here is the mock-up. The fashion fabric should has a much better drape than muslin, but you at least get the idea. I hope to start cutting my fashion fabric today and get this thing finished soon :-)

Have a great weekend!!!

Love Lauren

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Of Stays, the 1920’s, and Pattern Drafting…

Hello All,

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend so far. Aaron has been taking his Western Regional Boards this weekend. It’s one of the last hoops he has to jump through to be a dentist. He’ll find out in 4-6 weeks if he passed and if he can then get a license. It’s pretty exciting.

All’s well and sporadic on the sewing front. I finally have my stays completed to a point where I can wear them. I plan to try them out for at least one event before I finish them. I want to make sure there aren’t any adjustments needed before I bind them and put the lining in. I also still haven’t decided if I am going to add straps or leave them strapless. So, I’m going to try them both ways. I’ll let you know what I decide. As they are now, they are very comfortable and I love the shape they give me. We’ll see how they feel after hours of wearing them. Anyway, here is what is done thus far.

Oh, and as you can see, I decided to go white with a blue binding.

Ok, on to the ‘20’s. We are having a Diesel Punk party on the 4th of July for Aaron’s graduation. Now, Diesel Punk spans from WWI to WWII. So, I decided I needed to make a 1920’s dress. I also fell in love with the 1921 Vionnet dress in Patterns of Fashion II. I’ve seen a reproduction of the gown, by Katherine, and it is just gorgeous. Anyway, I started enlarging and drafting the pattern last night. So far it’s proving to be a bit frustrating scaling it up from the original size. I tried my scaled up version in muslin and it was waaaay too big. So, I’m going to try a muslin of the original size and then drape it to my dress form. Hopefully that will work better. It’s very strange working with such a loose pattern design. I’m used to fitting everything very tightly around stays. This time things are meant to be billowy and loose. Anyway, here are the pictures of the concept.

The dress… I just love the petal skirt.

The pattern. It’s not too complicated once you figure out how the pieces fit together. The hard part is scaling the triangular points.

The fabric… It’s a blue cotton voile that I’ve had in my stash for over a year. I hope I have enough to make it. Luckily, it’s still a good fabric so I can get more if I need to.

Here is the original dress. It is the orange gown on the left.

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your weekend. God Bless!

Love Lauren

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Great News!!!!

So, hubby has completed his competencies and will graduate on time!!!! He has 3 weeks left of Dental School. I'm so proud of him and his accomplishments. Thank you God for getting us through and guiding us through these past four years. I'm excited to see what the next phase of life holds.

Dr. Aaron Marks, well in three weeks he will be :-)

Thursday, May 20, 2010

5 Years…

Today Aaron and I have been married for five years. So much has happened in our life together. We have been very blessed and God has carried us through so many things. Through it all, we have gown closure to each other and closer to God. I pray that our future years together will be just as wonderful.

Babe, I love you and I’m so happy that I married you…

Monday, May 17, 2010

Another Lovely Event…

We were quite fortunate to have two events this weekend. Our first was the one in the previous post and our second was a combined event between Le Bon Ton and the Oregon Regency society. We had a wonderful stroll through the Portland Japanese Gardens. What a lovely, serene, and fun walk that was. The gardens are beautifully manicured and there are so many little treasures hidden throughout the place. We also made quite the spectacle of ourselves. There were numerous professional photographers wandering around and many of them took lots of pictures of us. We kind of felt like celebrities for the day. It was a blast. Without further adieu, here are the pictures….