flashback

I used to collect these in middle school, and totally forgot about all the wonderful flavors and collect-em-all keychain necklacy things. Yesterday I rediscovered the strawberry, classic, and it really is a quality and yum-smelling chapstick, and oh so nostalgic.

I feel like I'm thirteen again, hanging out at the pool.
you should go get some!

labor/love

This has been: a lovely christmas.

I felt overwhelmingly loved this year, it was like a bubble-bath waterfall of subtle tingly warmth. A lot of homemade presents and playing games, and everybody snuggling with my kitty as if he were a real baby in the family.

The most monolithic of my handmade treasures: the scarf that my Bek knitted me for Annual Friend Christmas. I wish it were obvious from the picture how many thousands of tiny stitches she made, slaving to fulfill my willynilly request for: a scarf just like the one SJP wears for 3 seconds in the Sex and the City Movie. (of that entire film, the only thing I really coveted was this scarf...Chanel and $900. sure.) She spent hours and hours and hours, all to give her silly friend a version of that perfect scarf...
thats love, and it feels like bubbles.

the original I fell in love with:

My one-of-a-kind replica, blows chanel out of the water:

sandcastledisco

In 2009 I will:

be a tap dancer.
this is something that: I am serious about.



My new favorite little purchase as of late are these burned-silk flower barettes I found at Bon Bon. A local girl makes them out of shimmery silks that are lightweight enough not to slip around. And the colors are perfect! I got the eggplanty ones for a gift, and the yellowy ones for myself and may have to go back for the minty green. dainty dainty dainty dainty.




clickety-clack-clack here I come.

burberryrose?

The inside of our house is almost completely pink
which is funny, because none of us are exactly the barbie-car type.
It's my fault however, because back in May when we moved in,
the landlord handed me the fan of colors and said,
"I'll paint it anything, just not pink."

And I gagged and assured him I'd never choose pink.
pepto bismo and all. bad.
After seriously contemplating a variety of dusty purples and beach house blues, I landed on Burberry Rose (aka: pink) and picked it, who knows why...impulse shopper, anybody?

The kind man painted it pink anyway (and also left a holiday popcorn tin on our porch earlier this week.)

All this to say, that if I could do it over, I would paint our house
shimmery gold like a gourmet chocolate wrapper,
observe: this wonderful room in Bridge to Terabithia:




but until that day, pink it is!

pitter

much like dads in old tv shows read the morning paper,
I read the craigslist missed connections posts.

one of my faves from recently:
"I missed your smile today at Crown Center. It is the only thing that I look forward too. Everyone at work tells me that I should at the very least talk to you. You have me tongue tied. We both work at the same place but for different companies. You are the one I think of every morning and every night. Your initials are KF. If you are her email me back. I believe that I would write better than talk at this point. You have my heart in a pitter patter. :)) "

What a sweet desperate boy to use the phrase "pitter patter."
I hope she secretly loves him, too.

Bloom

If I was going to be a fashion designer, I know exactly where I'd start. I would look at little girl dresses (especially at christmas time, minus the velvet) and simply create them in a bigger size for grownup girls, such as myself.
Imagine;
- fearless patterns + ribbon sashes
- comfortable A-line shape
- poofy sleeves, which everyone secretly loves
- doily-collar necklines
- patent leather mary janes with elastic straps
- hoods with animal ears
- and my favorite: ruffly bloomers to wear under coordinating dresses. It's functional-- have you ever seen a little girl fear wearing a dress on a windy day? No, and I'll tell you why; she's got ruffly bloomers.

This idea inspired in part by the "bloom bands" my friend makes for her little girl, which look surprisingly like the one I wear whenever I'm having a rough hair day, observe;

I'd wear her whole outfit in a heartbeat, see my point?

whish

My favorite thing is when in old movies,
the girl is doing some spy work in town
and doesn't want to be seen. so she wears;

a headscarf thing,
big tortoiseshell sunglasses,
a long trench,
and dodges around corners and into shops furtively.
That just wouldn't happen these days.
if you wore that stuff, you'd look redic.

hayley mills in That Darn Cat (alltime fave)

audrey in charade.

and my good friend Debbie, minus the shades

Most days I seriously wish I living in the early-to-mid 60s.

We've tried to cope by committing to watch all the classics, some for the first time, some over again, but with all the studious committment of.... well, students. Completed so far: An Affair to Remember, Charade (hence the spy/scarf revelation), Pillow Talk, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Annie Hall and many more are on the list. Including Ben Hur....which that simply may not happen. I think at the end, we might write book report essays so that we don't forget all the cultural signifigance we have absorbed.

grandfather

Sometimes I put makeup on my face kind of like an art project,
sometimes I put nothing at all, a la Island of the Blue Dolphins.
(which I try to avoid, because I look a lot like my grandpa when I have no makeup-not to say that my grandpa is unseemly, I just usually aim to look like a a female in her twenties.)
and most of the time I just put on a little, to get by.

But if I had to chose ONE thing
to save me from grandfatherly-lookingness,
It would be my tarte cheekstain.

It's expensive so I buy it on ebay,
and I have an unhealthy collect-em-all attitude about them.
But they are just so lovely to hold in your hand,
like a popsicle for your face,
and they smell like it too. And when you wear it,
(on your cheeks, tip of your nose, forehead, whole face?)
you catch whiffs of the loveliness when there's a breeze.
And best of all, it makes you feel rosy even if you have:
foggy eyes,
scrubbly hair,
oatmeal skin,
or an overall unfortunate-looking day.
needless to say, today i was grateful for it.

snow!
This time of year always makes me wish I was in Little Women:

"Butter! Oh isn't butter divinity? Thank God for this breakfast."
- amy

butterfinger

Today:

I have a swelly fingertip, which woke me up in the middle of the night because it hurt so bad, all swelly and hurting. My nurse roommates (useless!) could not diagnose me, so I am using my swollen fingertip (not even drastic enough to keep me from typing, please note) as an excuse to lay in bed like a french queen for a few hours this afternoon. Mosie (kitty) is laying at my feet and we are a very happy family at the moment. until he decides to use my swelly finger as a chew toy (bound to happen).



Did you know that toothpaste cures zits overnight?



I learned this because suddenly my skin decided to start acting like a 7th grader's. I knew it had gotten really bad when my old friend Securityguard Sam looked at my red, shiny bulbous forehead and exclaimed "WHO HIT YOU!?" last night after work. Nobody hit me okay!? embarrassed. PTL I have bangs. But I was thinking, sam thinks every skin abnormality is probably the result of a gang fight- he did time in the seventies for mafia activity.



Also, courtesy of Sam, here is a good craft idea if you ever find yourself in the bighouse:

Weave belts out of mopheads,
and trade them to other prisoners, for cigs.
You're welcome.

I just have to show off my new bagalag really quick:


It's going to be a Christmas present from my grandparents but yes, I'm already using it.

Buttery leather is better than buttery any-kind-of-food.

update: precious kitten has relocated to my tummy. and we are still a happy family even though I can't really see this screen over his fluff.

snowbaby

Last night we went to goodwill, which I was thinking, and it has been months and months and months since I've gone to goodwill, which is a pity because I love to find treasures. Thankfully, we went and thankfully, I found the perfect christmas gift exchange present while we were there: The biggest snowman candle (actually, biggest candle period) that I have EVER seen. thats a lot of wax. I had to push him around in a cart, that thing weighs more than a fat baby.
I'll be sad to give him up.

A hat with pompoms, one can never own too many.

also good for: golfing.

and another useless dress with irresistable petal layers at the hem.

shoulderpads: included.

some things you see and just have to have, you know?

...nineties flower patterns are surely due for a comeback.

Tonight: tacky-christmas-sweater party.

How many tacky-christmas-sweater parties have you been to?

probably a million.

ditto for me. BUT they never cease to be entertaining.

holly jolly christmas

pumpkin

desire.

lately

i started this little blogalogadingdong so that i could put all my frivolousness in one place, like my robin's-egg-blue tin box that was my mom's (where I keep stamps that are too pretty to put on envelopes and pictures of me and my dad catching fish). It's fun to have somewhere to be light and not too thinky. I get so exhausted from the thinking. Planning everything out in advance makes my eyes start to roll backwards into my head. When we wrote "lately", I didn't realize until afterwards how much I really felt that way, lately.

Today I am wearing a sparkle sparkle kappa homes-tour hostess outfit. I love intricate collars, except I'm all black so I hope I still come across as festive.

Also, I stole a piece of gum.

Also, I am wearing my favorite ruby buckle shoes.
They are the busiest looking shoes I have ever owned,
they are busier than me, thats for sure.
my bon bon girls gave me them as a present....


Last night we had a jumprope competition in the living room.
like to think I won;
I can still do the criss-cross better than any kid in the neighborhood, thank you very much.

puff

dont you just love trousers.

guilty

ahoy it's december.
we got in a fight with our neighbors...
seems the weather may be bringing out the pesk in all of us.

Please I want mary kate and ashley olsen's book INFLUENCE.
yup, asked for it for christmas.
I am hopelessly devoted to those crackheads. dont make fun.