wordless wednesday: photo booth.

merry christmas, err happy holidays.

i guess it's not really appropriate to say "merry christmas," now that christmas has passed. sad day. on to the new year. and valentine's day. and easter. and before we know it, it's christmas once more.

anywho, my christmas was just how it should be: time spent with family and friends. too many cookies. not enough sleep. lots o' laughter. cheesy christmas movies. olives, olives and more olives. {for some reason my family eats a boatload of olives around the holidays.} wrapping paper and bows. SANTA LAND. 

{hey look. santa's reindeer.}

{perhaps the creepiest looking elves i have ever seen.}

yes, it's true. i went to santa land. {and dragged my friends with me.} no, it was nothing like gimbels—the department store in that one christmas movie. major disappointment. clearly buddy the elf set the bar too high.

christmas vacation.

it's time for a short christmas blogging break. be back in a week-ish. happy ho-ho-holidays. {oh yes, i went there.}

{this picture was obviously not taken this year. snow, where are you?}

snow globe los angeles.

Snow Globe Los Angeles from All Cut Up Films on Vimeo.

i saw three ships.

actually more like 20-ish. and they were boats. not ships. with lights...christmas lights.

{little blue whale.}

{co ho ho. merrrrry christmas.}

{goodnight moon.}

{it's a parade of boats!}

sunday song of the day: mindy gledhill.

gingerbread girls & boys.

well, really just the heads. because who has the time to decorate a whole gingerbread person. {or the patience, in my case.} these ended up tasting pretty yummy, if i do say so myself. i may just have to make them again. also, i love meringue powder. it's so much fun to work with. plus it makes the most delicious royal icing. why have i never used it before? ...probably because it's kind of hard to find at regular grocery stores.*

{hello, gingerbread friends.}

{hello, gingerbread girl.}

the inspiration: the amazing and lovely bakerella.** i only wish my gingerbread cookies would turn out as perfect as hers seem to always do.


*side note: i want to live in sur la table. that store is so beautiful. all the shiny copper pots & pans. the colorful kitchenaid mixers. and the sprinkles. oh, the sprinkles.


 **i used a very similar recipe to the one posted on bakerella.

wordless wednesday: city lights.

{bright lights, cold nights.}

oh christmas card?

classic sister christmas card photos.

{POOP NUGGET! heard that one about fifty times during this photo sesh.}

{do we look anything alike? methinks we do not.}

oh christmas tree.

{frosty the...tree? no snowmen here.}

{n and the cutest tree ever.}

{it's me and the tree.}

{trees in a row.}

{the cows say, "moo."}

sunday song of the day: *nsync.

a little sunday night 90's throwback.

address is approximate.

Address Is Approximate from The Theory on Vimeo.

exactly one year ago...

...i was riding the train home from college for christmas break. a few days prior, i stood under the space needle, feet sore from ice skating with friends in seattle center. i miss christmas in seattle. yes, i do. but i also love christmas in portland. {especially the not having to study for final exams part.}

{see the christmas tree on top?}

found it on regretsy: wedding gown, anyone?

in case you're not familiar, etsy is an online marketplace where individuals can sell vintage and original handmade items. it's a pretty fabulous way to find unique art, accessories, home decor...the list goes on. {and support small businesses across the globe, at the same time!}

i personally love etsy. i've found lots of fun gifts. for myself. and for others, too. however, i've also run across some interesting hideous finds.

that's where regretsy comes in. regretsy is the self-proclaimed "fail blog of hand crafts." a collection of etsy's worst of the worst. and it's hilarious.

********************

originally posted on regretsy {back to the drawing board}

Oh I’m so glad you’re willing to work with me, because this isn’t quite what I had in mind. I was thinking something more like this:

And the for the rest of the bridal party, maybe something like this?

But you’re the artist!

monday night concert {recap it up.}

last night started out with these guys. and their hair. i really have no idea who they are.



then we moved on to these guys. they were fabulous! {the accents were a total bonus.}



these guys rounded out the night. i'm not sure what was better: their dance skills or the dance skills of the people around us. {answer: their dance skills. i officially want a tambourine, now.}

the kooks/young the giant.

{crystal ballroom. love that place. especially all the neat-o architecture.}

{the kooks. love 'em.}

{young the giant. love their dancing.}

loved loved loved this night. so much fun with miss steph. too much food, drinks out of plastic cups, horrid dancing, new friends, fist pumping, etc. etc. etc.

time for bed. and work {in t-minus seven hours. ouch.} yay for marvelous mondays.

sunday song of the day: pennies from heaven.

christmas cat.*

{christmas tree.}

{christmas cat.}

{rudolph?}

*i'm really not a crazy cat lady. i just happen to have a crazy cat. {well, two. but only one is technically crazy.}

good morning, portland.

happy december. {what the what?!} p.s. 24 days until christmas.

{love me some december sunshine.}

wordless wednesday: oh so christmas-y.

{those christmas lights. light up the street. ...name those lyrics.}

ninja mode.

{via relatable blog.}

seconds of beauty.

Seconds Of Beauty - 1st round compilation from The Beauty Of A Second on Vimeo.

sunday song of the day: michael bublé.

black friday.

i did it. i went to target at midnight on black friday with my mops & sis. it was a spur of the moment decision. aka we arrived at our local target no more than seven minutes before midnight. ...no camping out in line for these girls. and boy, was it ever crazy. the line to get in the store was insanely long. at least it moved fairly quickly. and we were thoroughly entertained listening to numerous extremely hilarious, not-so-private conversations in our near vicinity. (it's not called eavesdropping if you can't NOT hear someone's conversation, right?} after more than enough high school drama, over-emotional boyfriends, and "he said/she said," we finally made it through the front doors of target. high five! the atmosphere inside the store was actually much less tense & aggressive as i thought it might be. with the exception of a few traffic jams, we had no issue navigating the store. in fact, it was actually kind of fun. nevertheless, we left target less than an hour later, with just a few souvenirs and our wallets intact. all in all, my {first} black friday experience was a positive one.

my favorite part of the entire evening morning: the frazzled looking couple fighting over who was to push their shopping cart, all whilst running down the main aisle of the store. thank you for that.

{a not-so-great pre-shopping snapshot.}

thankful.

happy thanksgiving lovelies!

things i'm thankful for: wonderful family & friends. chocolate. comfy sweats. starbucks. a roof over my head.  food on the table. art. lipstick. good health. traveling. etsy. music. electricity. red wine. a college education. books. clean water. a fantastic internship. pasta. my iphone. laughter. the internet. candles.

also, yum.


The Tipsy Turkey Thanksgiving Cocktail from LEAFtv on Vimeo.

wordless wednesday: abandoned.

Karen O. - Abandoned from David Altobelli on Vimeo.

rule breaker.

i know it's not even thanksgiving yet. i just couldn't help myself. {also, i just found this adorable font here and wanted to try it out.}

the long overdue reveal.

about as finished as it's going to get. {still on the lookout for a fabulous rug.} i am proud to say that this redecoration was a total diy project. ...from painting to decoration. most items now living in my powder room were made/re purposed by yours truly. let's just say i went through a ton of spray paint & glue gun sticks.

things i learned along the way: frog painter's tape leaves super clean, crisp lines. tarnished silver is a pain to clean. glue gun burns hurt. a lot. thrift stores sell really fabulous frames & glassware for dirt cheap prices. i do not have the attention span for embroidery. use lots of thin coats of spray paint to produce the best results.

{about half the room...}

{amazing peacock print found on etsy in this shop.}

{itty bitty shelf.}

{silver & glass.}

{mr. peacock. yes, my shower curtain has a name.}

{fabric & lace bunting.}

{cluster of frames.}

{lost in austen.}

sunday song of the day: sara bareilles.

{fact of the day: this song was the inspiration for the title of my blog.}



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tomorrow is saturday...

...and sunday comes after. wards. {thank you, rebecca black.}

first 40-hour work week successfully completed. highlights included: new friends. rain. police on bikes. police on horses. police in vans. police with pepper spray. thanksgiving potluck. traffic. many cups of tea. too much money spent on parking. not enough sleep. lots of learning. sara bareilles & coldplay. gloves and scarves. fun projects. one entire notebook of notes. one out-of-ink pen.

bring on the weekend!

the unsinkable molly brown.

is anyone else as excited as i am for the theatrical rerelease of titanic?!

i vividly remember when titanic originally came to town. {the film, that is. not the actual ship in 1912, silly.} the year was 1997. i was in second grade. celine dion's famous ballad, 'my heart will go on,' was a staple of music class. i got my first pet: a rat, molly brown...named after the american socialite and survivor of the titanic, "the unsinkable molly brown. {i wasn't an elementary school history buff. we just happened to learn all about the titanic tragedy in my second grade classroom. also, turns out that rat wasn't quite as unsinkable as the real molly brown. and yes, i'm going to completely skip over the fact that my first pet was a rat.}

pet rat aside, i remember being quite upset that my parents wouldn't allow me to see titanic in theaters. obviously it's completely reasonable for an eight year old to see a rated 'R' movie. especially one filled with death by iceberg and steamy love scenes. {do i detect a hint of sarcasm?} instead, my friends and i were granted permission to watch the 1953 film version of titanic. all 98 minutes of black & white and very 'PG' goodness.

april 6, 2012 is my chance for second-grade me to finally see titanic in theaters. all 194 minutes. and maybe even in 3D.

wordless wednesday: i heart hipstamatic.

{easy-peasy home decor: twine, clothespins, lots of hipstamatic prints.}

{some of my favorite people, places, and things.}

tuesday ten.

...actually eight, but who's counting? besides, 'tuesday eight' just doesn't sound as cool.

pear, cranberry & gingersnap crumble. yes please. {via smitten kitchen.}

what's up with the new amazon kindle fire? (via fortune.}

quite possibly one of the fugliest dresses i have ever seen. {via go fug yourself.}

the new twilight? this trailer is all over facebook. {via youtube.}

soar above earth, compliments of nasa. {via the week.}

how cute are these mustache nails? methinks they are sort of adorkable. {via the beauty department.}

etsy find of the day. {via royal buffet.}

is it really time for christmas songs? if so, i pick this one. {via bandcamp.}

waiting for forever.

i really wanted to like this film. it appears to be a quirky indie romance. one that explores life & loss, friendship & love. superb cast. excellent acting by tom sturridge. stellar soundtrack. {seriously people, adored the music.} however, lack of character development and a poorly written screenplay ultimately contributes to the overwhelmingly negative ratings by critics.

well-intended as it may be, i found the plot of waiting for forever a bit hard to swallow. case in point: on paper, everything about one of the main characters screams 'stalker.' unfortunately, the childlike innocence of lovestruck will donner doesn't always translate..which leads to a few semi-creepy exchanges. a seemingly-tangential homicide subplot also discounts the believability of the story.

nonetheless, waiting for forever has its fair share of moments. sweet ones, heartwarming ones, and even a few heartbreaking ones. it's a nice change from the traditional, cookie-cutter hollywood romance film.

sunday song of the day: the mostar diving club.

it's 11.11.11.

{make a wish.}

found here.

i go out of my way to step on extra crunchy leaves.

{jackpot!}

wordless wednesday: girls gone running.

{learning how to be a runner day #1. this is totally unheard of for me, btw.}

broccoli-cheese soup.

{perfect for those cold november nights.}

recipe via the pioneer woman cooks here.

found it on etsy.

8x10 inch print available for purchase here.