Don't forget the tree

Christmas is FAST approaching (yeesh), and Design Sponge posted a sweet ass tutorial on how to make this awesome balsa wood tree.

No home should be without one this holiday season. I love the little deer as well :)

~Kirsten



"Tis the season for...

Vagina sweaters???

This past weekend I had probably the funnest fun I've had for a long time.  By this time I am sure you are all plenty familiar with the old Ugly Christmas Sweater party, and while the name alone seems like it should be descriptive enough, in fact, it is not.  I have been to quite a few of these, each one decidedly different from the last.  Some involve obnoxious drunkards, while others involve a whole lot of me standing awkwardly next to the wall with my arms crossed simultaneously hoping that someone/no one will come and talk to me. Urgh! The most recent of these seasonal fetes was at the home of a friend of mine who's hostessing skill I had not yet had the pleasure of enjoying.

 Now, initially almost all social invites strike fear deep into my soul.  As a former agoraphobe I begin first by imagining all or the terrible tragedies that could befall me should I decide to attend.  However, despite my charming insanity the beau and I spent last Saturday combing the local thrift stores for an ugly Christmas sweater (which is infinitely more difficult to obtain once you are knee deep in the month of December). 

So we went.  We went to the party.  He in his skin tight ladies' red pop collared sweater, and I in my snowman sweater, which had somehow developed a vagina throughout the laundering process.

It was weird, yes, but it was so much fun! There was awesome food, hilariously creepy table dancing, and plenty of friendly belligerence.  All in all a pleasurable evening, spent in the company of friends (new and old) and one fabulous extra large vagina sweater.

Happy Holidays!

Hot like cakes, All Day, errday

Girl Talk, the musical mashup master has released his new album and it's FREE, FREE, FREE! I'm halfway through and it's definitely the new hotness.  Now, I may not be qualified to call anything hot, since I'm about as cool as your grandmother, but whatever, I'm dancing in my desk chair and looking like a fool, which is my second favorite thing to do at work. If you wish you were doing the same, download the whole album right here: http://www.mediafire.com/?vy057v6rld16oee, it definitely beats a few rounds of solitaire.


Enjoy!

Spring forward, Fall back...into my bad habits

Well, that lovely feeling of well-restedness that came along with that extra hour of sleep last Sunday morning has finally worn off.  I'm back to falling asleep at my desk. Halp!

Oh no no no, I meant everyone EXCEPT you.

Permit me a moment to vent if you would. Currently at work the Recreational Committee, of which I am a card carrying member, is in the early stages of Holiday party planning.  As a part of the initial stages I sent out a mass e-mail yesterday for the purposes of polling the office on how they would prefer to celebrate.  This e-mail included several gently worded but explicit instructions that I foolishly believed would be simple to follow.

Jesus Wept!

I had no idea how many people believe that they alone are the exception to the rule. 

When I said "Please do not hit 'reply to all' as the 54 people who received this e-mail do not care where you would prefer to eat", I did not mean "Please do not hit 'reply to all' unless you are Sal, the super awesomest person alive because EVERYBODY wants to know where Sal wants to eat.

Additionally, when I said "Please select only one of the following options." I did not mean "unless you are Andrea who should feel free to rank all of the options in her order of preference so that we can all be sure to vote accordingly".

Finally, when I ended the e-mail with the statement "The results will be announced Friday morning." This was not a free invitation for every one of you assholes to walk down to my office every five minutes to ask me how the results are looking. IF YOU ARE NOT ON THE REC COMMITTEE IT IS NONE OF YOUR FREAKING CONCERN! Unless of course you plan on offering me cash or other valuables in an effort to sway the votes in your direction. 

That being said, I do not accept credit cards or personal checks, but money orders are acceptable, and, as always, my best friends call me Cash.

Dreams really DO come true!!!

As a direct result of my internet pleading for a lovely embroidered purse, my super awesome friend Debbie, office manager extraordinaire and all around ray of sunshine, came through with this delicious pretty little pink bag.  I didn't even realize how beautifully it matched my nails until I saw this pic!  Thank you so much Debs!

Love,

Kirsten

B is for Butt

I've been eating too much crap.  This bear has my butt.

A new lust!

It's been several years since my last visit to a retirement community or a moth-ball laden cedar chest.  That being said, it's not surprising that I completely forgot about the existence of beautiful needleworked purses and bags.  Thanks once again to etsy, I have rediscovered a lost love.  Scope some of these lovelies for both inspiration, and Christmas gift ideas (for me).

This one would be lovely in Spring time.

This one too!

Perfect  for Autumn, or for any time you are feeling super mod.

So pretty for a little girl!

Chunky and very pretty.

This one is my favorite favorite.  It's so pretty it makes me want to puke.

Aren't they too too loverly?  It's almost retarded how awesome they are. Sigh. I wonder, if I were to carry one, would I be overwhelmingly tempted to keep ribbon candies and starlight mints in it? Would I begin tipping with quarters and wearing knee garters?  Who knows?  Sure would be funny though.

Yeowch!

Went to the dentist to have my teeth cleaned today.  The hygienist assured me that they were lovely and healthy.  THEN WHY DO THEY HURT SO BAD? I suppose it was the flossing.  My gums just aren't used to that, they feel like a giant bruise.  I want to rip all of my teeth out with my bare hands.

Which reminds me.  I watched this movie on Netflix the other day:

It's a horror movie about a girl with vagina dentata.  I am sure you can pretty much guess where that goes.



The beach is ours again!

Well, it's Neptune Festival time again.  That's right, every September my town hosts a grand event in celebration of the mass exodus of tourists who have been littering our beaches all summer.  Now, don't get me wrong, I understand that tourism is a major part of the local economy, but it does become quite frustrating to lose your town for 3 to 4 months every year to people who have filled their bags with swim trunks and flip flops, but somehow forgot to pack their common courtesy.  If I had a nickel for every time I almost got hit by an oversized SUV with New York tags while trying to cross the street in the summer, I'd have like... five bucks.  Which is a lot when you consider each nickel to be a brush with death.  Regardless, of how I feel about it, I can't be alone, because this whole town has a big party for three days once the season ends.  There's a marathon, a parade, tons of bands and outdoor concerts, food stands, and art show and about a billion other activities for us locals to enjoy.  Aside from the funnel cakes, my favorite part of the Neptune Festival is the "North American Sandsculpting Championship".  It's kind of a big deal.  People come from all over the world to showcase their sandsculpting abilities.  Seriously, like Russia, the Netherlands, Finland, France...pretty much all over.  My fact checker is currently on vacation, but I am 99% sure that this is the largest sandsculpting competition in the world.  I'm not making this stuff up.  It's real, and it's pretty awesome.  I mean, you don't see stuff like this very often.

That is all made out of sand.  SAND PEOPLE!  Look at the details, the lacework, it's incredible!

There is no adhesive, no skeleton or internal structure, just pure, unadulterrated sand.  It's pretty awesome really.  I'm almost sorry the tourists have to miss it.

Not really though.

Oodles of Googles

Google is always coming up with some new and fun way to represent their logo.  I guess when you have created a corporate identity that is so completely recognizable all over the world, you can do what you want to it.  After seeing this morning's fun logo, which is composed of different colored balls that are repelled by the cursor, I decided to do a little research.  Turns out google has a website with a complete collection of all of the google logos ever created!  You may think you have seen them all, but google is worldwide bitches!Sometimes there are logos that only show up in their applicable countries, so there is a wealth of google logos out there that you may have never seen!  It is certainly worth checking out for a couple of minutes or so.  Pretty amazing how different artists interpret the logo and how far they are sometimes able to stretch it.  Enjoy!

You're cute!

Ooooo mama

My mama's so handy.  Look at this beautiful coffee table she refinished for me!

This was one of those super lucky finds that just pop up out of nowhere.  Over the course of the last year (or two) my mom has been working on having a house built. One day as we were putzing around the half-built skeleton of what would be her beautiful beach house, we stubbed our toes on this lovely table covered in dust and paint can rings and yuck.  I guess the builders had brought it in to stand on and to place various and sundry destructive items on top of.  Thanks to the vision of my brilliant mama, and her request for a palm sander as a Christmas gift, this is what became of that once dilapidated mess of a table.  Sooo pretty and modern.  I loves it!

Wouldn't it suck if...

Check out this webcomic by Jess Fink.  It pretty much slays me.

finkenstein

Oops, I did it again

Every time I go to Trader Joe's I buy hummus.  I can't explain it, I don't know how it happens.  I think that I keep thinking that I will eventually hit upon a flavor that I simply cannot live without.  Instead I inevitably end up with another tub of gritty paste wasting away in my fridge until it passes the sell by date (sometimes much longer).  I'm not sure if it is an urge to snack more healthily, or if I simply get caught up in the moment.  Every time I tell myself that I just don't like hummus, there is nothing wrong with not liking hummus, I just need to not buy it again.  Where this lesson goes between my last trip to TJ's and my next trip to TJ's I will never know.  So here I am, sitting at my desk, trying to choke down just enough to feel that I have allowed the chickpeas to fulfill their destiny.  I am such an idiot.

Hot Coffee!!!

So, we got a new coffee setup here at office.  It's really high.

All you need is...

So, I generally try my best to not be mushy in any possible way.  It tends to negatively affect the tough exterior I have been cultivating as a shield for my gushy insides these many years.  Something happened this weekend however that gave me pause, and I discovered that my hard outer shell of awesomeness is not quite as impregnable as I had once thought.

As you may or may not know, my mom has recently (eh, the last year or so) moved to a beautiful house near the ocean.  Through a series of events at her workplace, she acquired an inside scoop involving where to find an abundance of sea glass.  Throughout the course of the week her mind blossomed with ideas of what she could do in her beautiful seaside home with buckets and buckets of sea glass.  By the time the weekend arrived a wild hair had sprouted and we were all signed on (my mother, my granny and I) for an impromptu drive up the Eastern Shore of Virginia to hunt our quarry of sea glass.

Aside from the beautiful drive across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, the trip started off a bit disappointing.  I mean, the company was wonderful, the beach lunch was delicious, but the sea glass was just nowhere to be found.  We spent about two hours combing the shore (and getting severely burned in the process) with nearly nothing to show for it.  We rejoiced in digging up even the smallest of shards, none of us willing to admit the steep decline in morale.  Then something magical happened. Just as I was about to throw my hands up in frustration (not really, it was still a pretty fun day) something caught my eye just beneath the surface of the water.  It was half buried in sand, and in all actuality, it just looked like another piece of flotsam, but something made me reach down and pick it up.  What I saw when I rolled it over in my hand was amazing (to me, but I am easily amazed).

This rock.  What was it doing there?  Who had made it?  Had they lost it, or thrown it into the sea on purpose for someone like me to find?  My mind reeled with the possibilities.  What was it's story?  In the end I decided it didn't matter.  It was there for me to find, and I found it.  The chances seemed pretty far out.  I mean, it's the whole ocean.  We were at a beach an hour from my home to which I have never even been before.  It's a ROCK.  Why would I pick up a rock?  Who knows?  But I guess it's probably best not to ask those kinds of questions.  I just put it in my pocket and walked on.

Eventually we came across a woman who was wearing a Cape Charles baseball hat.  My mom asked her where the best place was to find seaglass and she pointed us down the road a bit to the other side of a jetty.  There we found a pretty decent amount of pretty pices of tumbled glass.  It wasn't the bucket loads we had hoped for, but it was good and we drove home happy.

Something's fishy

So, living with a dog has been quite an adjustment.  For the most part she has been very little trouble at all, but the one thing I just feel like I can't quite get used to?  Doggies have no snooze button.  If they've gotta go out at 5 a.m., you damn well better take them, or you'll be making a lot more work for yourself in the long run.  So, the getting up at 5:00 thing is really not so horrible, if I could only find a way to get myself to bed before 11:00.  It is around this time that my second wind is usually peaking, and therein lies the primary issue.  Buuuuutttt, I'm sure I'll get used to it, just like every other major life adjustment that comes along.

For those of you who are not quite ready to make the commitment to a wet nose at 5 a.m., there are other options.  My suggestion?

Get a fish. 

http://store.heliotropehome.com/ficobbyum.html

Annie are you okay?

Well, she's finally home!  It took over two months to work everything out, but my pretty new girl finally moved in on Monday.  I really couldn't ask for a sweeter more well behaved dog.  She is so quiet and peaceful and chill...just like me!  Except for the quiet part.  And maybe the peaceful part.  But damn I'm chill, so we're a great match.  I really can't thank NGAP.org enough for everything they have done, both for me and for Annie.  We both look forward to being awesome together!

Mmmmm, Fast Food Mafia

I found this awesome depiction of the Fast Food Mafia (we all know they run this town) via http://epicwinftw.com/.  So hilarious. For more information on each character's persona and the inspiration for their illustrations check out the silent sketcher's deviantart page.

Pretty paper planters

I have been a self-professed bibliophile for most of my life.  I've been reading for as long as I can remember.  I do it every night, every weekend, and pretty much whenever I get a spare minute.  Consequently, I generally end up with quite a few books just lying around the house.  Having served their primary purpose, I  typically just donate most of my books to the library.  Now, I'm not saying that I don't  like donating the books to the library, I do, but sometimes I feel like the could serve some other purpose.  So what to do with all those pretty pages?  Re-nest found a great solution!

Icy spoons

Okay, I don't know what my thing is with different weird ice cube trays, especially considering the fact that don't even keep ice in my freezer aside from a single lonely tray, but for some reason I always seem to stumble across the most brilliant ice ideas!  The best part about this one?  It's only a freaking dollar! At graveyardmall.com.

Raindrop Melody Maker

This thing is lots 'o  fun!  Make pretty music whenever you get bored....and have a computer around.

Via How About Orange

New Roomie!

As some of you may or may not know my cat and love of my life for 15 years passed away in November.  Since then it's been pretty lonely around the crib, but I just couldn't see myself "replacing" her with another cat.  Somehow it just felt wrong, like I would be cheating on her or something.  It's weird, I know, but that's how I felt.  Well, about a month ago I was doing some research on other potential pets and stumbled across an adoption program for ex-racing greyhounds.  Bingo!  The more research I did on these animals the more I was convinced that they were just perfect for me and my lifestyle (which is marginally sedentary and boring).  So I was all amped up and ready to take the plunge when something told me to flip through the condo association rules.  NOOOOOOOO! We have a 25 lb pet weight limit. Boooo.  25 lbs!  Seriously?  There is not a dog under 25 lbs that I haven't been tempted to dropkick, at least in passing.  Wellllll, I decided that this just wouldn't do, I had to find a way around this nonsense.  Well, Tuesday I met with the condo association board and presented the case for these awesome animals annnnnnddddd...... I was approved!  That's right!  They will allow me to adopt a greyhound!  It is going to be so awesome I can barely sleep!  In any case, I'm rambling, and not getting to my etsy stuff.  The point of this thesis is really only to inform you that my etsy search this week involved greyhounds.  I didn't expect to find too much but was very pleasantly surprised!  Take a peeksie!

Love this painting from Toadbriar's shop.  Artist Kim Pakhurst has some really great greyhound art and TONS of other pretty stuff as well.

I'm pretty sure I'll be needing this treat jar from Happy Hound somewhere down the road.  I love the idea of a canister especially for your pet

As far as i can tell, greyhound lovers like to wear their greys on their sleeves.  This pretty pin from The Creative Greyhound is a great way to let other's know who your heart belongs too. AND 10% of this shop's net profits are donated to greyhound rescue groups.  How can you beat that?

The Mod Dog has some pretty pretty Martingale collars.  They are sure to have something to fit your pup's personality!

Studio SRV  is home to some of the most beautiful, colorful pet portraits I have ever seen.  So lovely.

Well, that's it for this week.  I guess I was a day late again, but hey, better late than never (I might have to get that tattooed somewhere).

Donna Wilson

Donna Wilson is awesome.  I stumbled across her website today via Sub Studio design blog.  She does not make one single thing that is not ridiculously adorable.  Enjoy.

She get it from her momma!

Momma Earth that is.  It's Earth Day today, and consequently I have been quite reflective concerning the gifts we are given on a daily basis by our mother earth.  Now, if you know me you know that I am certainly not some crunchy granola vegan hairy underarmed hippy...nor do I ever plan to be, but that doesn't exclude me from the ability to be appreciative of how awesome our planet is.  I mean, I still don't plan on carpooling to work, nor do I intend to stop using paper plates, but there are little things that I can do to make sure my little corner of the earth stays pretty. 

In celebration of Earth Day, the items I am featuring today all share the underlying theme of either protecting or appreciating our pretty blue rock.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

First up, this sweet ass "Dirigible Day" necklace by Recycedelic.  It makes me hum Decemberists songs in my head, and best of all, it is made from magazine clippings and a recycled sunglasses lens.  Ingenious!

Okay, this is brilliant.  Packaged to look like delicious chocolates, these Garden Bon Bons are actually a combination of seeds, compost, and clay.  Place each bon bon in a sunny spot and keep it wet until the seeds germinate.  By mid summer you will be enjoying your own home grown fresh herbs!

Speaking of home grown, this cool little pot making kit from Make Scents With Nature makes it easy peasy to make sweet little pots out of old newspapers to start your little seeds in.  They are biodegradable, so when it is time to plant, just did a hole and drop the whole thing in!

I love the simultaneously shabby and structured look of this graphic throw pillow from Brin & Nohl.  It is made from a repurposed coffee sack.  Mmmmm, I wonder if it still smells like coffee.

Okay, these are pretty much the cutest cookie cutters of all time. Can't you just imagine all of your little woodsy cookies all pretty and painted?  A fox, an acorn, a mushroom, a squirrel, a hedgehog and an awesome little gnome to rule them all!  Wee Waldorf's shop actually has all sorts of cute little woodsy items.  Definitely worth a peek.

Last but not leat are these beautiful, earthy AirPlant Pods from Mudpuppy.  Lovely!  They come in a glossy white as well, for a more modern decor.

Heartbreak

Someone did this to my car yesterday (my freaking birthday).  She was just parked in her usual spot, minding her own business, when someone decided she looked too nice I guess.  There was no note or information.  I am crushed. 

I am also incredibly dissappointed in mankind over this.  Who would destroy something someone so clearly loves and then just skip off into the sunset?  It pains me to know these people exist.

Jammy

I'm not quite sure what exactly you use a jam jar for.  I mean, I get that it's for jam...but I'm just not exactly sure when you are hosting the kind of event for which a jam jar would be appropriate.  That being said...I wish I knew, because this one from Plasticland is super adorable AND at $16, quite affordable!