christmas wishlist 2013

I know my family means business when my Christmas list is requested weeks before Thanksgiving. For ease of reference (and figuring out how to link everything together) I am posting my little wishlist out to the big world. Happy Early Merry Joyful Bursting-At-The-Seams-With-Glee Christmas.

All of the items listed below should be used ONLY as guidelines for actual items for purchase with exception to the Lilly Pulitzer and Clinique items. Found a vintage replica of one of these fabulous items at a second hand store? Snatch it up and call it a day!

1. Headbands to be worn Gatsby style... 1, 2, 3
2. Headphones to stay motivated while sweatin my booty (literally) off!
3. Lilly Pulitzer for Chi Omega Bag or Scarf
4. Arizona is Home Shirt
5. ASU swag... 1, 2, 3 or pick something up from a Victoria's Secret Pink Store (ASU apparel not sold online)
6. Nike t-shirts in any color
7. Standby mascara in brown
8. Ridiculous Betsy Johnson Owl Necklace
9. Really fancy Shampoo and Conditioner
10. The only kitchen utensil I forgot to register for
11. ... and this one too!
12. Would love a heating pad
13. Junky Trunk coveted items... 1 and  2

Our home decor is mid century modern.
I can always find a top on the sale rack at the Gap.
My owls have their own sanctuary now. Feel free to add to the nest.

Out of ideas??? Take a look at my Christmas Pin Board for more current updates and wishful thinking.

happy gifting.

Elusinian 2013

One of my favorite spring time events has come and gone and I cannot believe it has been seven years! At the beginning of the month I attended Psi Epsilon's Elusinian Brunch to Celebrate Chi Omega's 118th Birthday. Happy Birthday Sisters!

This year I was even more excited than usual, I had been scheming and creating for over a month on the outfit I wore to the event. It was my second attempt at a maxi skirt and my first time working with silk (I learned ALOT) and editing a pattern. After all my hard work I decided to debut the skirt on Easter and show it off again at this dressy occasion.

Like I have done every year, I posed with my sister in front of the beautiful backdrop. After the obligatory "Hawaii" photos had been snapped I enjoyed brunch to the sound of a successful and inspiring keynote speaker as well as other Chi Omega traditions.

Feeling accomplished for my second showing of the stellar skirt and lovely morning in good company I headed out to the parking lot. And that, is where things literally started unraveling rather quickly. My sandal caught the bottom of my skirt and I looked down just in time to see the binding falling off the bottom. After almost tripping over my skirt, now in two pieces I hiked the sucker up and speedily made my way to the car.

The timing couldn't have been better. I am just thankful I was walking out of the resort instead of into it! All my hard work, frustration, and tears was now undoing itself. Apparently the fabric was so fine that it started shredding, causing the binding (bottom of the skirt serving as a hem) to fall off. Luckily, I had worn a different dress to church earlier that morning and was able to change before heading to another sorority event.

I have to be honest, I am not as upset as I expect myself to be. When I consider the following reasons I feel better:

1. (as previously stated) I have never worked with the fabric, as a result I will never forget to surge silk before sewing it to anything.
2. I blatantly disregarded several steps in the pattern and altered it from it's original design.
3. I wore it twice before it fell off of my body.

All in all, it was a success. The thing I'm most disappointed about is how our pictures turned out this year. We usually take pictures after brunch, but do to a scheduling conflict we had to take them before. Lesson learned I will never do this again!

 

My skirt in one piece.

I can't get over that she graduates in December!!!

 

I LOVE Haleigh's dress! 

On another note, I will steer clear of bright pink lipstick until I am ready to purposefully emulate my great grandmother.

always carry an extra outfit when wearing handmade clothing!

she only needed a spinkle, not the whole shower

This weekend was full of family, which is exactly what the doctor ordered. My cousin Kim, her husband, and her three year old little boy welcomed their little girl into the world just a couple of weeks ago. On Saturday we celebrated the arrival of little miss Lucie with presents, cornhole, and (with all Williams' family events) lots of alcohol.

When I caught wind of the party I decided to give a homemade gift. After 30 minutes of looking at patterns and another hour and a half of perusing the flannel aisle (which isn't very large, mind you) I finally settled on making two receiving blankets and a pair of booties. The monkey blanket was inspired by Lucie's nickname in the womb. My cousin decided to not identify the sex of the baby before she was born, so her brother had given her the nickname "Monkey". Unbeknownst to me the nursery had been decorated in monkeys.

Kim was so excited!

The desperately-hoping-to-be anthropolgie booties.

I am so happy for my cousin and her little family. Watching them this weekend made me both exhausted (just trying to keep up with the three year old was a feat) and excited for the (far away) future. I was completely in awe at the sweet face and tiny features of this breathtaking little girl. And that smell! The new baby smell was intoxicating.

Thanks Kim for sharing your babies with our family, I am so lucky to get watch them grow!

family is always first.

the little things

I am having one of those trying days. The one where you want to scream and kick and shout and cry and tell the world at the top of your lungs "no, that is NOT okay". Instead you swallow a few times and shrug, it will be fine.

I could rant about all of the terrible, horrible things happening to me. As an alternative I am choosing to highlight other things in my life that I am grateful for.

 

"Make your own pizza nite" at Dad's house with as many toppings allowed as you can image. 

 

 A hand-me-down coupon book from my best friend Sara as a going away present.

It happens to have coupons for all kinds of wonderful inside.

 

Snow in Phoenix (okay, technically Mesa) in the middle of a February day.

Squint hard, I promise it's there!

No these things are not profound and amazing, but they are what keeps a smile creeping across my face this week.

my glass is half full.

perks of living in the Willo

Growing up I had always heard urban legends about people who lived in small towns and knew their neighbors by name. Or the family who had the block party and invited all the neighbors to barbecue and play games. I had never actually known these people who not only knew the names of the individuals living next door, but actually liked them.

You guys, I have become the urban legend! Clayton and I met our new next door neighbors and they have proved to be nothing short of awesome. We cook dinners for each other, grab drinks together, and talk about our other grumpy neighbors/living in really old and *charming* homes.

One morning I even awoke to find this on our doorstep!

 

 

 

The rice krispies did not last long at all, and once you moved past the burned bottoms the muffins were equally delicious!

Since we have also found "hand-me-down-smut" aka last week's People magazine and varied fruits and vegetables on our doorstep. I am so happy to know that in trying times when it feels like the amount of people you can trust in this world is dwindling, there are still thoughtful and lovely people all around in the most unexpected of places!

won't you be my neighbor?

front yard facelift

 Last weekend our neighborhood held one of the two annual community yard sales. Basically it is awesome because they pay for all the advertising and signage and all I had to do was lug my junk out onto the carport at the crack of dawn (okay, more like 7:30am). I combined my unwanted items with some of my aunt's things. My mom and sister Emily came by with some of their stuff too.

 It was by no means the snazziest sale I've been to, but it made me enough to take my husband out for a night on the town! But more importantly, my neighbor traded me some jars for her old wheelbarrow!! At first Clayton was giving me his skeptical look mixed in with his "humor her" eyes. After a quick trip to Home Depot I transformed the old wheelbarrow into a lovely front yard addition.

I drilled/hammered a few holes in that sucker and planted an assortment of pansies and petnunias. I fell for the little white pansies with the sweet purple faces, which turned out to be a great color contrast for the new (old) green planter.

What was that? You noticed something in our carport in the background of one of these photos? It's another project we are working on, also purchased on the same day as the Willo yard sale!

so excited to share my next project!

things i feel compelled to take photos of

 

Lusting after Halloween costume supplies at SAS.

Delicious dinner idea before.

 The not-so-fabulous execution.

View from where I park my bike at work. 

Cruising around Tempe. 

i get to work too early.