An American in Leeds

I do quite a bit of sewing. It's one of my obsessions. There's something incredibly satisfying with making my own clothes. I don't do a lot of tailoring, so I can't say it's making something that fits just right. I think it's being able to make something in the color I want, the style I want, and the fabric I want (usually- good fabric can be touch-and-go here in Leeds). I've joined a Sew-a-Long . We're sewing the Lady Grey coat from Colette Patterns. The Sew-a-Long is doing a muslin mock up. I am not bothering with the muslin because a) I am a lazy ass, and never do muslins, and b) I've made this coat before , and it fits beautifully. Anywhoodle, here's my fabric: The charcoal grey is for the shell. The print is for the lining. The buttons help keep the coat closed when wearing it. Because I'm doing this coat as part of a Sew-a-Long, this means that I will be posting updates as I sew it. Lucky you, blog readers! See how I snuck the sewing u...

1. I take pictures of the ground: 2. I wear big, vintage glasses on occasion. 3. I sometimes put product in my hair to texturize it, aka make it look like I haven't washed it in a few days. 4. Then, I pull it up in a bun and muss it up a bit, to make it look like not only I haven't washed it, but that I slept with it in a bun. 5. I get into arguments of New Order vs. Joy Division. For the record, I fight for New Order. 6. I own an iPod touch. I don't actually like it, though- the screen is too sensitive, and I end up yelling at it No! I don't want to listen to THAT! which makes me look extra crazy. 7. I write a blog. Where I post pictures I have taken of the ground. Need I say more?

1. Complaining about the weather. While the temperature has been AWESOME (in the 70s) for my New England blood, the lack of sunlight is being to kill me. I think I got spoiled when I was in Madison, WI. 2. Speaking of Madison, WI, I attended the Int'l DNA Tumor Virus conference there this year. I gave a 12 minute talk which went really well. Phenomenal even, according to my boss. 3. Putting together a sewing project board for a Fall 2010 collection. The palette is red, turquoise, aubergine, gold, greys, and black/white. The beginnings. You can see more detail here . 4. Got my hair cut a little differently. It requires... product. And a hair dryer. *shudders* But, I'm told it looks nice . 5. Made cassoulet! From Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking . I cut the recipe down to 1/3 of the original, and I still ate it for almost every meal for a week. It was very good, but not perfect. I'm going to work on it. I also would like to attempt coq au vin one of the...

Last time on An American In Leeds , Toulouse and Barcelona . Today, Rome! We took a ferry from Barcelona to Rome (or rather, Civitavecchia ). It was an overnight ferry. Best night of sleep in my life. Leaving Barcelona Sailing the Mediterranean. How chic. Rome was hot. And crowded. Unfortunately, I think that disrupted my enjoyment of the city. Maybe I'll go back in the winter, and be in a better mood to explore. Because the Roman forum ruins are AMAZING: We also ventured out to Capri, which was very pretty, if a bit touristy. As usual, more pictures here. I was going to go back and edit my Toulouse entry. But, I have decided instead that I am supremely lazy.

Sorry for disappearing there for, oh what, a whole month. July brought me to Madison, WI, for the Int'l DNA Tumor Virus conference. I gave a talk, so most of my month was eaten up with preparing that. The talk went really well, though, so it was worth the effort. Anywhoodle, Barcelona! Second stop on my Big Fat European Vacation. La Sagrada Familia: A picture of La Sagrada Familia was on the cover of my 9th grade Spanish book. I remember thinking "Why does that building look like it's melting?" Well, now I know that it's supposed to look like that- Gaudí designed it to be very organic, like a living creature. The mindboggling part- La Sagrada Familia has been under construction since 1882, and won't be finished until 2026 (estimated). Scenes from around town: I also took a day trip up Montjuïc as well, to see the castle: The rest of my Barcelona photos can be found here . I'm thinking of going back and editing my Toulouse blog entry, because I think it...

For my 31st birthday, I went to Toulouse, Barcelona, and Rome with a couple friends. It was my first trip to the continent, and my first adventure into places where English wasn't the primary language spoken. Since I'm terribly lazy, English is the only language I speak with any proficiency. Toulouse was our first official stop. Home of the Basilica of Saint Sernin: And the Church of the Jacobins: As well as cassoulet. I do not have a picture of the cassoulet, but I am attempting to make my own this weekend. We also ventured out to some of the Bastide towns in the neighboring area on my birthday. We ended up visiting 8 of them. This towns are characterized by a central market hall, and a church slightly out of the center of town: Cologne market hall and church. Birthday rosé. Loads more pictures here. I'll do separate posts for Barcelona and Rome.

Yesterday, as I was walking through town, I noticed a car sitting at a green light for a full 10 seconds before accelerating and NO ONE honked at him. That, my friends, sums up the differences between England and the US. Or at least England and Massachusetts.