pretty presents

2009 is coming to an end!! How do you feel about that? It seemed to go by so quickly, but it was a happy year... so many changes! I lived in 3 different cities this year, but I think we've finally found the one where we're going to settle down for a while. All is well.

I thought I'd share a few of my favorite gifts that I received for Christmas this year. Don't worry, this'll be the only present post. Gifts this year seemed to be mostly tea-party themed, or "let's help Rebecca stay warm since she doesn't have any winter clothes" themed. Both good causes, I feel.

A little owl! I think this is a cream pitcher.

Gorgeous little hand-bound book! Not sure what I'll put in it.

Cup and saucer!

This exciting set it something Robert's mom found in their backyard years ago. They dug it up!!

I think it's neat!

Jacket from Robert's grandparents - It allows me to look like a turtle, and I'm down with anything turtle-y.

For all of you who received Christmas presents: what was your favorite? I've got to run off now and get busy making things pretty around here -- a couple of friends from Texas are driving up to spend New Year's Eve with us! I probably won't have much time to post here in the next couple of days, so HAPPY NEW YEAR! See you again in 2010!

scenes from christmas

I'm back! We got home Saturday evening, but we've been busy unpacking and settling back in (and playing Plants vs Zombies, which my sister gave Robert for Christmas, and which we both quickly got addicted to). We had a nice Christmas in Memphis! I hope all of you had a good week as well. Here are some pictures from the last few days!

I really like this snow person.

This is Luna. She's a nice dog.

We made snowmen (/robots?) with marshmallows and pretzel sticks and chocolate chips!

This masterpiece is by Justin, by bro-in-law.

That's pretty much all I've got. There are pictures of everyone opening presents in pajamas, but they were taken on a different camera and they'll probably never show up here - so sorry, everyone! There were some really neat gifts that I'll get around to sharing later; right now everything is strewn across the living room floor and I really need to get organized. Happy Monday!

christmas break

Happy Wednesday! Or Friday-Wednesday, as I'm thinking of it. Every day this week feels like a Friday. Tomorrow morning Robert and I will drive to Memphis, where we're spending Christmas! It's going to be my first Christmas with his family, and I'm pretty excited about it.

Fancy wrapping paper selection.

Gingerbread man scissors, which I use year-round.

To be honest and cheesy with you, this time of year reminds me of a couple of Christmases ago, just after Robert had moved to Texas. [Quick note for the uninitiated: I'm from Houston, Robert is from Memphis, and we dated long-distance for a while.] We were getting accustomed to having each other around ALL the time, and then he went back home for Christmas. It was the saddest Christmas EVER. We had an okay time with our families, but we missed each other terribly-- I was "house sitting" his apartment and I would just go there to hang out and read his Daniel Pinkwater books and think about how much I liked him [Robert, that is. But I like Daniel Pinkwater too!]. He was only gone for a few days, but the way we talked on the phone, you would think we would never see each other again. And that is when we knew that we had to marry each other and be together forever-ever. Sounds silly, but we began planning as soon as he got back, and we were married less than half a year later. Now we're on our second Christmas together! It's a good time.

But enough of that! I will be away from here for a few days. I hope everyone has a lovely holiday season (or whatever you want to call it). Tell me if you have any exciting plans!

cookies and such

Happy Monday, everyone! Can you believe that Christmas is this week? I can't, but I'm excited about it anyway. And in just a week and a few days, it will be 2010! It was odd enough entering the 2000s, but we're now going into the 2010s - isn't it crazy? I suppose that's how time works (it just keeps happening), but it still surprises me.

I've been keeping busy with the upcoming holidays, but I have a couple of things to share!


A VERY thoughtful couple ordered a box of cookies for us from Dozen. I've mentioned Dozen before: the bakery that uses local ingredients and sells at our farmer's market. This past Saturday when we walked up to buy some stuff (for other people, of course...) we were handed this box and told that someone called it in for us. Robert and I were completely bewildered. To be honest-- and this will tell you just how dorky we are-- we thought maybe that was a joke. But it was real and when we figured that out we were very happy.

Cookie Party!

YUM!

So: thank you Meaghan and William!! This was a perfect gift for us. And thanks to Claire for being an amazing baker!

Also, if anyone can tell the difference, I got a haircut this weekend! Kept the length, but got more layers. I'm actually happy with it, though it looked questionable and slightly frightening right after being cut: hair stylists have a way of making my hair very big. I don't think they know how to deal with it. But it's all good as far as maintenance on my end, though I do look like someone from an 80s glam metal music video when I wake up in the morning.

Hope everyone is having a nice week so far!

some facts and things

Thank you all for the sweet comments on the pictures from my last post! Everyone seems to be smitten with Zazie the hedgehog. She's cute, but she's also a grumpy little thing - I just enjoy taking pictures of her and rubbing her stomach when she's not curled up in a spiny ball. Hedgehogs can be found at exotic pet stores: my sister bought Zazie at S&S Exotic Animals in Houston. [They also sell two-toed sloths .. for $2000! Eep. Oh, wouldn't it be great to wake up December 25th to find a baby sloth climbing around on your Christmas tree? Hint hint.]

Hanging around. I hope you enjoy those shadows to the left!

How does everyone like December so far? I think it's spectacular! We put up our tiny, fake Christmas tree yesterday and I wrapped the first present... I'm excited about this month.

On another fun note, Emma Wallace from Emma's Music passed this Beautiful Blogger Award on to me. Thank you so much, Emma! For anyone who hasn't visited her blog, Emma is a musician with a fantastic voice. Her blog is full of good stuff, and each week she puts up a new song sketch. Check it out!

Here are the rules that came with the award:

1) Thank the person who nominated me for this award.
2) Copy the award & place it on my blog.
3) Link to the person who nominated me for this award.
4) Tell us 7 interesting things about yourself.
5) Nominate 7 bloggers.
6) Post links to the 7 blogs I nominate.

So, 7 interesting things about myself? Hmm. Many of you probably know more about me than you should, so I will stay off any previously-discussed topics and just go with whatever pops into my head first.

1. Yesterday Robert and I watched The Straight Story: a G-rated Disney movie directed by David Lynch (?!) about an old man driving his tractor across Iowa. Then we worked on a jigsaw puzzle and listened to Beatles records. We almost died from wholesomeness.

2. A couple of weeks ago I said I was going to get a haircut, but I never got around to it! That's pretty boring, actually.

3. I have lost the motivation / inspiration needed to update my Etsy shop. :( Has that happened to anyone else? I was going to take pictures of some stuff yesterday, but I just dread the entire process, and have been dreading it for months now. I think I'm bored with it, and I really need to come to terms with that + figure out what I want to do next.

4. I'm also coming to terms with the fact that I dress myself like a 5-year old, and that's funny. I can't make myself care about fashion. Boring! I have not shopped for clothes in a few months, and I'm okay with that. This may be related to the previous fact - even vintage isn't exciting me right now.

5. Did I just blow your mind with those last 2 facts? I hope not! I've had some blogging issues as well lately: I'm just not sure what to put here and who is in my audience and what is entertaining anymore. I often feel that I yammer on about insignificant things, and I do not enjoy the finished product when I do that! If I had more self-control, this would be a pictures only blog, but I feel the need to narrate.

6. Sticking to this candid trend, I can't seem to figure out what to do with my life right now. It's not a bad thing, it's just a weird spot to be in. I'm done with school (and not interested in going back), I have no job (but can't decide if I want one), and I'm just unsure about what comes next! I also feel this is a good thing - obviously if my circumstances were different I'd be forced to find a job and stick with it. So this is an exploratory phase! I'm just not sure where it's going...

7. It's hard to follow those last 3! I will just say that it feels nice to get all of that out there. I'm usually quite reserved on this blog, trying to keep everything upbeat and neutral, but I'm not really like that most of the time.

Well, that was enlightening! Now, onto the 7 bloggers I want to pass the award to. Some of these are newer finds for me, while others are blogs I've been reading for some time now (and have probably awarded before.. but they're just that good).

Oranges and Apples

dailee dose

Ambiguous Alliterative Abomination

our.city.lights

Much Love

(Into) the Fray

*Felinofelice

All of these blogs are written by multi-talented people who are just lovely! (Feel free to take the award and pass it along, or ignore it if you don't feel like digging up 7 interesting facts.. haha).

This afternoon I'm planning to make Christmas stockings! I'm going to use this template. They'll be small but that's okay because a) we have nowhere to hang them and b) who likes to put a lot of stuff in stockings? Not I. I just want to make some pretty badly. I'll let you know if they come out well! If not, we shall pretend I never mentioned them.