Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Tips for staying upbeat on a gloomy day.

1. Turn on the Christmas tree lights even though it is only noon.

2. Avoid online window shopping as much as possible.

3. india.arie

4. It helps if there is a good-mood toddler around to say things like "Mommy-- giants knock on the door!" (Murphy is currently OBSESSED with giants thank to a huge movable one that lives at our local children's museum. He tells me that there are giants in the kitchen and on the phone like 20 times a day...awesome!)

5. Walk around the block and splash in the tiny puddles on the sidewalk.


fin.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Answering the call

I felt a slight breeze and heard a whisper that seemed to come from far away and from inside myself simultaneously. You vintage junkies know what I'm talking about the CALL OF THE THRIFT. It always pays off to heed the call, even if I am actually insane. This time it even told me which thrift store would grant me three wishes. And three wishes I was granted.

One and Two:


The book on the right is a classic picture dictionary that includes such gems as "My handkerchief has my name written on it" and "These are my long pants. I feel grown-up now." It was also illustrated by my boyfriend, Richard Scarry, although it is a very different style from the busy world we know and love.

The book on the left is pretty pbbfflliitt content wise, but has a wonderful twist. The whole thing is based on an old ad campaign for Health-tex, so all the illustrations feature the raddest health-tex clothes you ever did see. Like, yessssssss:


Three:

I saw it peaking out from between a bunch of boring Carter's onesies from several feet away. I knew, even before I saw the applique, that I was in for a treat. Boo- freakin- ya. Unfortunately I do not currently have any babbies this size. (No tags, the thrift store's estimate was 6-9 months). If anyone out there is itching for this one, drop me a line, we'll talk Paypal. This is the kind of find that makes me rethink that idea about opening an etsy vintage shop, whatcha think?

Thank you thrift muses. What rewards have you reaped by answering the creepy, zealous call of the thrift?

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Episode in which I vlog a tired meme

Well it was bound to happen eventually. I love the gleamin' stink face I'm making in the preview still. Classic.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

bird in a skirt

Today I am living in a fantasy world where I imagine that I buy a wardrobe of adorable dresses and live in them. I wear dresses now a lot more than I used to, but I feel that I would do so even more if I had these beauties. I mean, just look at them! It's quite the sickness, I'm even imagining which shoes, cardigans, and jewelry in my closet to wear with them. Easy there, self!

On a related note, the biggest obstacle I have to wearing dresses is that most of the year is cold around here and, try as I might, I just do NOT find tights to be comfortable. I feel I am constantly hiking up the waistband that just wants to roll down. Advice?

Also, if anyone knows of Mod Cloth gift certificate giveaways, send that info my way. A girl can dream, can't she?

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Pity party!

What would have been fun to do tonight:

Mexican food and margaritas at Salena's with friends, then coming home and reading a novel or magazine while listening to music and intermittently chatting with my husband. Cozy.


What I am actually doing:

Putting my cranky toddler to bed early. Laundry. Eating the three leftover ravioli from Tuesday night. Walking around the apartment listlessly while waiting for husband to get out of work and not starting a million projects that need starting. Sticking my nose into a really old jar of Nutella and deciding not to risk it even though it smells...ok.

Things I plan to do this month

- Bake a pumpkin pie from a genu-INE pumpkin. We already did pumpkin muffins using the recipe over at Post Punk Kitchen and they were awesome, but we still have a huge jar of pumpkin puree from our CSA pie pumpkin.

- Eat delicious vegan gravy. There is a yummy sounding recipe that involves stout beer that I tore out of a slingshot planner several years ago and have still never tried. This is criminal.

- Make christmasy pom-pom garlands. I'm not ready to jump into x-mas mode, but if I'm going to craft my decorations, I figure I'd better start now.

- Put together a HUGE bag for the thrift store (I need to get some of this stuff out of my life!) Speaking of which, let me know if you are interested in my old zines or a handful of vintage things I was too lazy to create a shop in which to sell.

- Related to the last item, I think I am going to give another go to Project 333 or a similar plan. Somehow my closet always fills up with stuff I never wear. It's time to get it under control, yo!

- Make sure Murphy gets as much playground and outside-with-friends time as humanly possible before THE DREADED WINTER. I mean, the kid has snow pants, but yuck.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Anything can happen on Halloween

So, I promised pictures of my little man in his Han Solo costume, didn't I? Thing is, I didn't really get any good pictures of him in his costume. He's on the move like nobody's business. "Oh, you want to take a picture, Mom? I'll just shout 'CHEEEESE!' while I'm running away. That counts, right?"

Also a frightening portion of our day was this:



I know I shouldn't have had EXPECTATIONS for Halloween, but I never seem to be able to stop myself from the "Oh, he's going to love this" mentality. I should have known that the crowds and loud music at the children's museum Halloween dance would freak him out. Should have. But instead we tried to get him into it ("Come on, buddy, let's dance!" "Say trick-or-treat to Dorothy and Toto!")... and he retaliated by having a 100% melt down after his nap (yes, after!).

He was screaming and crying for at least 45 minutes and flailing around-- not wanting to be held but clinging to me at the same time. Parents, you probably know the kind of tantrum I'm talking about. Lots of feelings.

In the end, the only thing that calmed him down, was dropping his head onto my shoulder while I sang "Everything's Alright" from Jesus Christ Superstar* to him. We sat in the rocking chair and I sang and sang. Occasionally he would pop up to point out that his stuffed monkey has eyes or somesuch, and then he'd put his head back down and say "please", asking me to keep singing. It ended up being a better moment than any Monster Mash dance party could have been.

Okay, riding the carousel with his Chewbacca was a pretty fabulous moment, too.





*Just the first verse before Judas comes into it, not the WHOLE song. That would be sort of weird.