The last of the vacation photos!

The other little side trip we made while we were in Germany was to Bad Reichenhall.  For that one, we got to ride a train!  Although only for about 20 minutes.  (I love riding trains!)  We rode through some really lovely countryside to get there:

So lush and green!  I wish that were my farm . . .

We rode right past this mountain.  I was surprised
that the mountains are kind of spaced a little apart
from each other.

My aunt lived in Bad Reichenhall for a while several years ago, so she took us all around.  And as she did, it got cloudier and cloudier.

I think it's clear I'm a big fan of mountains.

Bad Reichenhall is a spa town, where people would go to "take the cure" - and I guess maybe they still do.  

"Cure Street" 

The Old Cure House 

The water is saline; in the structure at the back, there is a
huge wall of twigs packed in horizontally, with the saline
water flowing down it.  This is supposed to make the air
restorative.

A very fancy hotel.

There's a lengthy pedestrian main street, lined with shops and cafes.  We stopped for cake and coffee in the most famous of these, Reber.  We'd just finished our snack when it got very dark and started pouring!

The main street.

Cafe Reber

Yikes!  This was at 4:30 in the afternoon!

We tried to wait it out, but it just wouldn't stop!  We ended up having to walk about a mile back to the train station in that rain.  Quite an adventure!

In other news, I did manage to do a fair amount of knitting while I was there.  I had taken along yarn to make my second Adrift, and managed to get it about 2/3 done! Here it is, back at home:

I really loved having all my knitting
stashed neatly away in my lemon bag.

And I tried the Sally Hansen Polish Strips for the first time!  I had bought some specially for the trip because I didn't want to mess with carrying bottles of polish.  (I blame Karen D!)  So many of the reviews of these have said there's a pretty steep learning curve, but I found them really easy to use.  They claim to last ten days, and I bet they do.  But I got bored and took them off after four.  The only downside is that they aren't that easy to remove.

This is after a few days' wear.  Sorry about
 the dry cuticles - this is the day we were
out and about in Salzburg.

I'll definitely be taking these along on future trips!

So there you have it!  And trust me - that was the abbreviated version!  I took over 500 photos in 10 days.  Aren't digital cameras wonderful things?

My skirt so far:

Yesterday I got the fabric cut out, but decided not to start sewing.  I knew that I was almost tired, and that I'd be more likely to make mistakes.  So I spent some time knitting instead.  I'm close to being finished with the back of my new cardigan!

Today I got started on the sewing, in between loads of laundry.  I've gotten about 2/3 done, I'd say.  All that's left is the zipper, waistband, buttonhole and hem.

The pockets on this one are a fair amount of work, and they took me even longer because I decided to use my machine's triple stitch for all the topstitching.  It takes three times as long - but I think I benefited by having to go slower.

I really like the jeans styling on this pattern.  Here's a shot of the side seam; the seam allowance is pressed toward the back and topstitched down.

I used a medium blue chambray for the pocket lining.  The heavier stitching is the topstitching in triple stitch, and the finer one is understitching the seam allowance to the pocket lining.  I have a hard time with understitching.  I'm not sure why it's so hard for me, but this is the best understitching I've ever done, so I'm happy about that.

For those who wonder:  polish is China Glaze Lemon Fizz,
with some Sally Hansen Glass Slipper on top.

One of the things I like about PDF patterns is that I can load the instructions on my iPad rather than print them out.  So another reason I knew it was time to stop for today is that the iPad ran out of juice!

I love the enormous pockets, and I keep thinking about all the things I can keep in there!

Anybody else going to make up this pattern?

Gilt-y Pleasures

Good:

Sally Hansen Set the Stage

Better:

CND Sheer 24K Sparkle

Best:

Rococo Nail Apparel
Gold Leaf Lacquer

Over the last several months, every time I got a gold glitter or gold effect top coat, I liked it, but wished it was more like the gold leaf lacquer.  So I finally decided to just get the darned thing.  I blame Karen D.

Look:  even the packaging is sensational:

Pure, 24K gold leaf suspended in a quick dry top coat, beautifully boxed and presented.  What could be better?

How about some Tiffany Blue?

China Glaze For Audrey
with Rococo Gold Leaf Lacquer

If that doesn't spell luxury, I just don't know what does.

Purchased

Two yards of gorgeous silk twill:

I swear I just went in to Vogue to get some buttons for my Violet blouse.  But I figured I may as well check the silks while I was there, since I do want to make a silk Sencha.  I really wasn't expecting to see anything I liked, and indeed, all the bolts at the top of the pile were not to my taste.  But with a little digging, I came up with this lovely.  And at $5.99 a yard, I didn't feel like I could walk out without it.  I'm sure you agree it was the right thing to do.

The pattern is mid-sized, I'd say.  Here's a picture with my hand for size comparison:

Mmmmmm , , , silky

In all honesty, I didn't really believe it was silk - I mean, $5.99 a yard?  And it's so heavy!  And it sounded kind of like . . .  acetate.  But I liked it enough that I bought it anyway.  I have a skirt just that shade of powder blue, and another skirt and a pair of pants in the olive green, so it fits nicely in my wardrobe.  And remember these shoes?  Perfect!

When I got it home, I pulled a couple threads and did a burn test.  And guess what? It really is silk!  Unbelievable!

And by the way - here's a closer look at my nails:

Two coats of China Glaze Cheers to You and one coat of Sally Hansen Ice Queen.  I was pretty disappointed in Ice Queen - the bottle is jam packed full of glitter, but none of it wanted to come out and go on my nails, no matter how much I tried to load the brush!  I think it's going in the swap box.

My niece made me do it.

Yesterday we had a dinner date with some friends.  On the way there, my niece got hungry - too hungry to wait another hour to hour and a half for the dinner to be served.  So I took her to Walgreens, and as soon as we stepped inside, we were greeted by  this:

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Set the Stage

This polish was in my mind because Twisted Knitter just posted about it the other day, and is doing a giveaway.  I had been planning on buying Sephora OPI Only Gold for Me, but when I saw this one, I felt it was a good substitute at one fifth the price.  And Niecey-poo fell in love with it.  So into our cart it went!

After she downed a bag of pistachios, she was ready to resume shopping for nail polish (!), so we also came away with this one:

Sally Hansen Hard as Nails in Ice Queen

This morning we were looking at some nail blogs, and I think she got inspired by Emerald Sparkled's black and gold nails post today, because she asked me to paint her toenails black and then put on the gold glitter.  Here are her toes:

They look pretty good, considering it was hard to get her to sit still long enough for them to dry!

Here are my nails from yesterday and today:

Orly Pure Porcelain

Earlier in the week we stopped by Ulta and I found this polish I'd been looking for. I'm so glad I got it; it' different from the other white polishes I own.  This one leans pink, whereas SpaRitual Driftwood leans yellow and Nubar White Peony leans grey. I love this type of color, so I'm glad I have them all.  And of the three, this one has the best formula.  This is only my third Orly polish, and except for Space Cadet, I'm really impressed with the formula and the brush.  If I found their range of colors more inspiring, I'd probably buy more of this brand.

So that was my manicure for our friends' anniversary dinner last night, and today I jazzed it up with my new gold glitter:

I'm taking a little time today and adding a new page to the blog of polishes that are available to swap.  I'm not sure if I'll be able to finish it today, though, so if you are interested, keep checking the Swap page!