we've got spirit, how about you?

shortly before thanksgiving, my cousins emily and elizabeth, my aunt cindy, and i all talked about and decided on a family tacky sweater party for christmas eve. i've been counting down the days to making a sufficient fool of myself, and my sister and i planned a sweater decorating day for saturday. i don't want to unveil our secret gems to family before christmas eve, but since my sister is the only one in my family who looks at my blog or even remembers the name, i figured this was a safe place to share what's got us so excited! let me apologize in advance for the pictures; i fear i'm getting old, because as you can see, if auto focus is not at my disposal, what looks sharp through the lens ends up looking more like your vision when you've gotten too little sleep and haven't yet wiped all the slime from your eyes.

i tried to keep my big bear out of all the glittered mess, but he insisted, so he ended up with glitter on his nose and head, but he didn't mind. my sweater really isn't all that bad (except i hate the color red), but i knew i could decorate it to make it ugly. and do i spy a pair of pendleton wool pants? yes i do. they're not so big that they fall down, but are big enough to give me about an extra 15 pounds in the thighs as well as what appears to be a little joey in his marsupial pouch.

i can't wait to see what everyone else found or made for the explosion of tackiness, and i'll be sure to take pictures WITH AUTO FOCUS because i have a feeling i'll be laughing at us for a long time.

how has your weekend been? what are your plans for christmas?

my girl fiancée is better than yours.

doesn't that make me sound so rude? well, it's true, my girl fiancée really IS the best! in case you're wondering why i, a married woman, talk about my girl fiancée, it's because i asked her to marry me with a quartz ring. luckily she said yes. anyway, we met up on saturday for lunch and thrifting at our favorite spot downtown. we were excited to find a tag sale in full swing after lunch and we dug through treasures until we couldn't feel our fingers, but it was so worth it because everything was $1! and i should have gotten more! anyway, here is just a little peek at what my sweet micaela gave me for christmas...

she also gave me a pretty caged bird ornament and sweet framed embroidery with a bird, made just for a friend, and the best part is the sweet not she wrote on the back. are the bags great? i do love a good granny bag! i thought she was getting those for herself, but i had NO idea she'd give them to me! i can't WAIT to use them! and the hat, so funny. she and chris planned that one, and she also got one for her husband. it's the year of trappers. i know this is so sappy, but micaela is such a sweet, sweet person and i couldn't imagine not having her as a friend and thrifting buddy (world's best). her friendship is definitely one of the best things to come from blogging!

okay, now here are a few of the things i thrifted:

the lampshade was one of those things i couldn't decide on, but micaela said yes. so i got it. once i got home and put it on an antique glass lamp (from the same store, just a few years earlier), i decided that i loved it and it was $1 very well spent. i also got some large and small antique glass christmas balls for only $2.50 (only half of them are in the picture) that i plan to add to my christmas tree today. the last and best thing is the chair. i have one of those great enamel top antique tables in the breakfast nook area of my kitchen, but i've always thought it looked kind of plain. i found two old chairs (of course, from the same store) a year or so ago that were painted white and chipping for $15 each, but i didn't get them. i've sort of regretted that decision, but now i'm happy i didn't buy them because i love this chair so much! my kitchen is all white and green, so i love that the black kind of breaks that up a little, and i also love that i can see three layers of paint in the chipped areas. maybe the best $5 i've ever spent. in addition to those things, i got a few old frames (just ask micaela, i'm obsessed with frames) and used two of them to rearrange the art wall in my bedroom this morning.

all in all, it was a really fun saturday, but i didn't expect anything less from a thrifting date! oh, and i almost forgot... i woke up to an inch of snow this morning! chris usually leaves about 20 minutes before i get up, so when he was sitting on the sofa in his undies (i'm sure he'll love that) when i got out of bed, i didn't know why...until he told me to look outside. i'm so excited! snow is almost (i said almost) better than new shoes!

gift guide: for your man.

the hardest people to buy for, at least in my opinion, are men. dads, husbands, brothers, whatever. why can't they enjoy getting new shoes and lip gloss like us women do? it would make things a lot easier! here are some ideas for the man in your life: a free pass on farting, a sex slave, and beer. i kid. well, no, i really don't, but they wouldn't be as fun for a woman to buy or give, so in the spirit of joyful gift-giving, here are a few ideas for your beau...

what: shaving set, debonair tie, record letterpress coaster set, handcrafted guitar pick, moustache briefs, leather woodgrain wallet.

i was also going to include some dirty love coupons, but i have family that reads this blog, okay? i can't have them looking at me differently when i walk in on christmas eve. you can find them though, and i'm sure they'll make you giggle.

gift guide: for the metal lover

i've been doing a lot of searching on the interwebs lately and looking at other gift guides for some sort of inspiration for the hard to buy for people. sad news: i still haven't found anything that works (the gift guides are great, the people are just too damn picky). good news: it's made me want to create my own gift guides! maybe it'll help you shop for someone, or maybe it'll just be nice to look at, but either way, it gives me a reason to window shop! so, first in the series is one that i kind of did based on my own preferences. for the metal lover...

1. bueno bueno key necklace (i got mine today!) $33, 2. vertical leaf pendant light $144, 3. vintage 1960's space age holiday clutch $28, 4. gunmetal orchid earrings $23, 5. vintage glass lamp with metal shade $50, 6. vintage eagle hook $9.

what is on your christmas list this year? or better yet, what do you hope to get with the christmas money or gift cards you'll get? do you have hard to buy for people on your list, and what do you end up getting them (and don't say gift cards!!!)?

i'm ready for snow.

earlier this year we had one of the biggest snow storms i've ever seen in virginia, and while everyone else hated it, i hoped the 2 or more feet of snow would never melt! it's definitely not cold enough for snow yet, although it's no longer warm, but i'm hoping we'll see a repeat of last winter! when it does get cold, whether we have a blizzard or not, i'm ready for it with this super cozy wrap/scarf...

kyla from kove and i did a trade recently, and this wrap is what she made from me. i've looked at cowls before on etsy, but i've always been hesitant to buy one because i never knew if the yarn would be soft and cozy or scratchy and irritating. i'm happy to say that the wool/acrylic blend that kyla uses is so comfortable it'll make you feel like you're wrapped in a cloud. i'd even like an entire bedspread crocheted from this yarn! i wanted to show you a picture of what it looks like on, but i haven't gotten out of my pajamas today, and if i'm being completely honest, i probably won't.

unfortunately i had to work on black friday and miss out on the shopping craziness (which i would never attempt on my own, but love when i go with someone else), and i had to hold off on doing a few other things around the house until saturday. something i couldn't WAIT to do was decorate my "christmas tree." the tree i decorated isn't actually a christmas tree at all, but some sort of indoor evergreen that my grandma gave me recently. i figured since it's in my living room anyway, i should decorate it instead of pulling out my little artificial tree. so, i give you the before (with a glass bird the i keep in it), and the after...

the ornaments i use are a combination of antique glass ornaments that my great grandma gave me when i got married, and some antique glass and glitter ornaments that i got for $2 at a thrift store the other year. have you put your tree up yet? do you have a style or theme when decorating your tree? have any pictures of it?

my new toy...

No, I'm not a teenager. I can assure you I'm an adult (pushing 28), but I can't seem to break myself away from my new Wii! Last year at this time, Mr. Dinosaur Toes and I went to our pastor's house for dinner and a Wii competition and I absolutely fell in love! I didn't ask for one, but my sweet aunt & uncle-in-law surprised us with it! While I suck at golf in real life, I've been whipping up on Mr. Dinosaur Toes in Wii world, and I've decided that my next purchase will the the Tiger Woods PGA Tour game! Silly, huh?

Aside from the Wii, We had a really nice Christmas together (with the exception of Mr. Dinosaur Toes wanting to sleep in on Christmas morning) and a fun day of playing with our new toys! How was your Christmas, and what sorts of goodies did you get?

Beautiful polaroid from futurowoman on flickr.