Homegrown Apples

I'm supposed to be packing for my weekend trip to Wintergreen VA, but as I was thinking about my upcoming cousins weekend I realized that to me mountains and cool end of summers mean apple picking... The popular orchards aren't quite ripe yet, but I'm incredibly lucky to have a dad that planted his very own fruit orchard. Our trees ripen a bit earlier that the mountain top ones, so this past weekend my dad made a batch of cider out of some of our homegrown apples. As I was helping him I realized how photogenic our slightly rustic (out of an Amish catalogue, I believe) but very effective cider press looks while in use and wanted to share what my past Saturday afternoon looked like. 

First you pick the apples and throw them in the cider press (while someone spins the black wheel) to get ground up...sometimes apples get stuck

After the apples go through the press they look like this: 

Once the basket is full, you smush it down until the juice all comes out. 

And then you enjoy, and trust me it's super tasty! By the end of the whole process, a glass of juice always sounds great. 

Right after making the cider, my family headed off to a wedding reception for my close friend's mom. I didn't get many pictures (not enough to write a whole post) but it was a gorgeous party in the headquarters of the Virginia Garden Club, with an absolutely beautiful (and tasty!) cake that I had to share a pic of...the toppers were vintage from a shop in Carytown! 

ouch

Another appearance update: I already have my ears pierced and an upper cartilage piercing, but I decided I wanted to get a second holes in each earlobe... I happened to have sterile needles at home from having horses, so I took out a sharpie to mark where the holes went and then grabbed the needle. It hurt but not so badly that I couldn't pierce straight through comfortably (high pain tolerance perhaps?) but unfortunately one ear bled way more than expected. No biggie, as it stopped quickly. I popped in some earrings and was super pleased with the result. Now I'm waiting to make sure nothing gets infected, but I ink with continued care all will remain well. 

(Yet another super grainy image, my apologies! The little pearl is the newly pierced hole. )

hair update

Sadly, my favorite-color-blue disappeared from my hair after the first wash and I woke up yesterday to a very green-y turquoise due to my blonde underneath, I think. Last night, knowing I had a wedding to attend today, I decided to adjust the color a bit. I only used the lavender dye (from a brand called ion I believe) and then hopped in the shower. I woke up this morning to a nice blended turquoise to indigo to purple color, which I likes much better. I'm going to let the colors fade and see how long it take for it to completely wash out, and if it's nothing too drastic perhaps I'll dye my whole head...if not, I'm enjoying dying the tips...

The colors are a bit more vibrant in person/sunlight, but this is the best I can share for now...

experiment no. 1 follow up pics

Round one...barely noticeable purple. 

Round two...closer to what I want! More blue + vibrance :)

experiment no. 1

I promise I'll get more creative with my post titles, but for now I hope you're having a lovely day.

I've always been a visual person, and really really really enjoy color (blue is my favorite). In addition, I like experimenting with color and in some cases my hair. In seventh grade I dyed a streak bright blue (pixie stix candy is a surprisingly potent dye) just for fun. Of course, it faded to a horrid green and I eventually had to dye the streak back to my natural blonde. However, blue hair has always interested me... About a month ago I saw a picture online of gorgeous silvery-pastel-blue hair and it's been on my mind ever since. A friend of a friend also had dyed her hair an incredible rich bluey purple color and added to my inspiration.

I couldn't make the full head leap permanently, but I knew I had to at least play with a little color. I ran out to a hair supply store and picked up ski permanent dye in lavender and aqua colors, then spent the rest of my morning pretending to be an artist... I decided to only dye the tips of my hair, so that I could cut off any mess in the case of an utter disaster. Granted, I had very little idea what I was doing so the initial result was very subtle...

After having the muted purple for a day, I decided I wanted a brighter, and slightly bluer color. To achieve this I dyed my hair a very light blonde last night (I'm super scared when it comes to bleach...maybe one day) and then tried the colors again this morning. End results on the next post...I'm super happy with the ombré type dip dye but of course I'm going to keep playing with it, because that's where half the fun is. And of course I'll post updates as it progresses!