and to all a good night

i can't believe Christmas is already over! gah! it always comes so fast, which for some reason i never expect it to, but it does....every year......you'd think i'd have learned by now. nope.

anyhow, my family's not big on pictures, so there are none to share (this year i wish there were, mainly to document my mom's adventure with the wii "just dance" game...though i don't have much room to talk, i'm sure i looked just as graceful), so i thought i'd just breeze past Christmas and look to new years.

primarly look to what i'm going to wear for new years.

if you've ever had the joy (read: excruciating pain) of trying to help me choose an outfit, especially when i'm trying to look special or cute or hip or whatever look i'm going for but just can't quite achieve it no matter what i wear or how many suggestions you throw out (read: what happens to Carolyn. every time. sorry Carolyn.), then you are probably shaking your head and saying to yourself "well, good thing you're giving yourself a week head start. good luck deciding by friday."

you may also be asking yourself why i can't seem to help writing ridiculously long run-on sentences.

but, i digress. moving on....we're going out on the town this year, a first for me and new years (!) dinner, fancy drinks, hotel, beautiful city, the works. so, obviously, i have to look the part (or they'll never let me in to said dinner, fancy drinks, hotel. well, they probably would, but i would just complain about how out of place i looked all night, another by product of me never being satisfied with how i look. again with the digressing!). I've already got the shoes:

bam! except mine are gold.

I've been browsing dresses online for a few days now. i seem to be going for more fashion-forward dresses, ones that i love to look at, but that i would normally shy away from because i don't feel cute/sexy/trendy/hip/anything enough to pull them off.

like these guys, which i can't have because i waited too long and they won't get here in time:

modcloth



modcloth

*sigh* oh well. i'll probably just wear one of the five black dresses already in my closet.

ok. this post went entirely too long. that's what happens when you work nights and can't sleep, but everyone else in the house is still normal.

merry Christmas to all!

saturday

looking forward to spending some time with old friends today :)

happy saturday!

mustachio

ignoring the fact that is has almost been a solid month since my last post, i can't help but share some more etsy finds..as i've said before, one of my favorite modes of procrastination.

mustaches are funny. mustaches are even more funny when found in, on around and in unusual places and impossible to resist stuff. my etsy favorites list is full of some of these quirky items, enjoy!

what a dapper young bot. adorable robot plates

toe-stache baby booties

mustache gift tags

draw your own stache with these crayons

little girls can have mustaches too with this tee

not a little girl? don't worry, mustache on a stick's got you covered

shoooooooes!

i love a good deal. i especially love a good deal when it involves some adorable suede pumps at a ri-dic-u-lous price!

I snagged these bad boys from DSW today for $14. yep, you heard me, originally $110 i paid only $14 bucks! take that fancy designer BCBG shoes! (not that I'm one to knock fancy designer shoes...i would be a bold faced liar if i said that, and i have the shoe closet to back it up....i just love a good deal!)

where the heart is

i am in love with this necklace from etsy shop BowieandFrancesca

what a perfect christmas gift ;)

trés adorable

how cute are these cloud mobiles from the etsy shop The Butter Flying?!

bling!

so cute!

new do

i have been putting off getting a much needed haircut for several months now....but today is the day. i'm thinking about a change. nothing too drastic (partly because i don't have enough hair to do something drastic, and partly because i can never make up my mind), but something just a little different. i've really wanted to get full on bangs for a while, a la katie holmes, but i can never convince myself that i can pull them off. 

but, i'm going for it today. 

wish me luck!

saving time

yay for daylight savings time! yay for an extra hour of sleep (however restless it may have been with a certain fur ball laying on my face)! in the theme of time this morning, just thought i'd share a few of my favorite clocks from around the web...enjoy!

via etsy

je t'aime le paris!

via pavel sidorenko

perfect for oregon

via etsy

i'd like to think this would help me stay on track...but I would probably just end up doodling all over it!

thankful for: grandparents

my grandparents are amazing people. period. end of story. they are sort of like the rock that keeps me going sometimes. they have always been there for me to support me however i may need it, whether it be motivation to get through a tough time, free meals, or being my co-signer to make really big important purchases (like a brand new car!) possible. i love them to pieces, and today, they are what i'm thankful for.

:)

thankful for: things that keep me going

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday, so this will be a two-for-thursday post. Yesterday was kind of a rough day for me. First day coming off of night shift, and while I made it through the whole shift (3am is a crazy time to be awake), the next morning was rougher than I expected. I wasn't really planning on the whole sleep pattern thing, I just assumed I would sleep until my alarm! Oh, how I was wrong. My body, which I'm sure had good intentions, thought that I needed to wake up at 6 still....and 7, and 8:30, and 9, until finally I gave up at 10:30 and just got up. and then had to take a nap after my shower. and another one right before I left at 1. I made it (almost) all the way through my shift at work, but only through the miracle of caffeine. yesterday, I was very thankful for caffeine, in the multiple forms that I love it in...

beautiful coffee

and delicious diet pepsi.

I don't know what I would do without these guys on days when I don't get enough sleep....which brings me to what I'm thankful for today.

SLEEP!

Leaving work just two hours early last night made a world of difference in how I feel today. I slept almost until my alarm (I only woke up twice before--improvement!) I feel much more rested, and ready for work...that is, after I have my coffee.

and that is what i'm thankful for.

thankful for:

I have to work on thanksgiving this year, and its really been bumming me out. no turkey, no mashed potatoes, no stuffing (my absolute favorite part), no sweet potatoes, no pie. I'd be willing to bet that if you've talked to me for more than fifteen minutes in the past few days, I've brought up my no thanksgiving at least once--like I said, I've been a bit down. but hopefully that will all stop today.

today is my first day on night shift at my job. I'm a little scared, sad for the things I'll miss out on during the week (like climbing, my favorite shows, making dinner.......ok, this is supposed to be positive!), and probably more than a little nervous. but as I'm getting ready for work today, it crosses my mind that I should be happy I have a job in the first place, regardless of the hours. 

I've realized that I have a lot to be thankful for, and even though I won't get to gorge myself on way too many carbs to show my appreciation for them, there's no reason why I can't still celebrate. so, in an attempt to become more positive (a huge feat, some would say), I'm going to reflect on something I'm thankful for each day this month. 

today I'm thankful to have a job. one that will allow me to create some financial stability for myself, to hopefully work towards more goals in the future. that is what I'm thankful for.

inspired

I could totally see Emma wearing this sweater from Ruche

love it. 

gleek fashion

 If there is one tv character who's closet I would raid, it would be Emma Pillsbury from Glee. I'm sure there are many others who would also make the list, but right now Emma is at the top. Part of my love for her is  fueled by my envy that I will probably never be able to pull off her adorable cardigan-pencil skirt combos, and I'm ok with that. Her outfits are just too darn cute. 

Yellow + yellow + yellow on me would make me look like a crayon left in the sun that had melted and then re-hardened causing weird spots. But on her, perfect!

bumblebee sweater clip?! love.

I am generally opposed to large bows/ruffles like this. But I just can't say no. I can't, and I won't. 

I love it all

old news

If there's anything I've learned from having a blog...its that I'm really terrible at having a blog. I think about posts I want to make, I look at things online that I would like to blog about, but for some reason I never seem to get around to actually writing these posts. My bad. I'd say I promise to get better, but I'd hate to have to explain myself when I fall off the wagon again. So, I promise to try. 

Since its been, say a month or so (wow, really? I really am bad at this), I feel like there's a lot that's happened that could be potentially blog-worthy. Not having the time or resources (aka, pictures) to write about all of them, I'll share some highlights. Then again, the alternative to this post is working on my HST 425 progress report, and we all know how much I love doing homework......

fall is finally fully here, which means.....

more pumpkins than I know what to do with

scarves, boots, sweaters, hats, and more than a few jackets that I have my eye on. Top of the list? This guy:

j crew

new kicks! (and they're waterproof to boot!)

sperry

plenty of crafting (unfortunately, photos of said crafts have been less than plentiful, but here's a subpar picture of a frame I made for my desk at work)

new tools to fuel my craft obsession

purple cows

(I'm more than excited to use the perforation blade on this bad boy)

and it wouldn't be fall in the northwest without the rain. i'm not the biggest fan of being out in the rain, but I am a fan of cute rain inspired accessories (no matter how un-oregonian it may make me)

modcloth

oh, fall. maybe the drizzle with inspire me to become a more frequent blogger  

:)

Etsy Love: Vintage

One of my favorite procrastination pastimes is browsing through Etsy shops making mental wish-lists. Today I happened across this adorable shop focusing on vintage apparel and accessories: dear golden. I love just about everything in this shop--I wish I was cute enough to pull them all off! For now I'll just keep filling up my wish list, and share a few of my favorites with you...

I love hats!!

This suit just screams Jackie O.

Martha Monday

Today was spent in the kitchen baking, baking...then baking some more! Sometimes I get on these kicks where I go a bit overboard with whatever it is that I'm interested in...and today was one of those days.  Lets go back a couple days to Saturday when I visited the Albany Antique Mall. I love just about all things antique or vintage, but I limited myself to picking one thing (with the rule that it couldn't be another Mason jar...don't get me started on how many of those I have!). After a good two hours of exploring, I settled on this guy

In all honesty I picked this up within the first 20 minutes of browsing and was 99% sure I was going to get it, but I couldn't pass up the rest of the shop! I've wanted a three tier stand for a while, and this one was so unique I couldn't pass it up. The bottom has a date stamp of 1956, from Mirimar, CA, and the leaf shaped trays are ceramic. I love it!

Now, onto today. I had this beautiful new tray, and I needed something to fill it up! I saw these spooky cookies on Martha Stewart's website not too long ago, and thought what better way to display my new tray and make some delicious treats!

I couldn't decide on just one or two though, oh no, I had to pick 5 different kinds of cookies to make. Five! I don't know what goes through my mind sometimes. Anyhow, a FULL day of baking later, here are my goods!

Up top, chocolate glazed madeleines with marshmallow skulls

Level two holds sprinkle coated brownie balls and candy corn sugar cookies

And bottom floor holds chocolate whoopie pies with pumpkin cream cheese filling (and more sugar cookies!)

These wouldn't even fit on the tray! Blondie squares with Reese's Pieces 

What a spread!

shoe obsession: Seychelles

I may have found a competitor for the navy blue shoes I've been drooling over at Miss Meers. I had seen these teal Seychelles heels before, but hadn't ever tried them on...which was probably the safest thing I could have done because these shoes had me at first step!

Not only are they an adorable shade of teal--bright enough to make a statement but simple enough to wear with just about anything--but they were comfortable! Like, really, really comfortable!  The sole had the perfect amount of padding to make them easy to stand and walk in, but not so much that it made the shoe feel bulky. I'm in love :)

diy decor: pumpkins

Fall is officially here, and I am officially ready to start doing some fall-related crafts. This first one I decided to try out is super easy, super cheap (always a plus) and super, super adorable....

Toilet paper pumpkins!  That's right, toilet paper. I can't take credit for this idea though, I saw a tutorial for these on one of my favorite blogs, Crazy Domestic (the original post is from The Sweet Life, another of the regular stops on my blog list.) Let me just show you how easy these puppies are. 

Supplies: 

Step one: 

Step two: 

Step three:

And voila! Adorable pumpkins to kick off my fall decor. 

I really like that you could choose any fabric you want to go along with existing decorations. I chose four different plaid patterns in warmer colors, so they still felt fall-ish, but weren't over the top (though these would probably also be cute with halloween themed fabric!).  I also made some pumpkins larger than others, by taking off layers of TP or adding more newspaper (or the extra TP taken off the smaller ones.) These are just the first of many pumpkin crafts I have planned, yay fall!