Drumroll please....

Dun duh dun dun duh duh dunnnnnnnn! 

Ta-da!

Viola!

As promised, here's a look at the finished product of my Christmas craft of 2010. And just in time for the big day (got a little delayed with production due to all of the holiday festivities. priorities, ya know?)

I absolutely loved, loved, LOVED making this beauty and can't wait to make more next year!

As I was swimming in a sea of pink and green, I couldn't help but think how absolutely fabulous the whole house would look with everything trimmed in kelly green and hot pink! 

Can't imagine it?

No worries.

See below.

bonus: these aren't Christmas decorations, but HELLO! I've found a new office space.

Promises, Promises: Lessons from the Cage

Just a few Christmas tips from the ladies of my new fave Broadway musical, Promises, Promises.

There's just so much to love in this video. All the tips are simply common Christmas courtesy, of course, but we can all use a little friendly reminder, circa 1960.

For Someone Special

Well, what I've been waiting for has finally arrived and I can't get enough of it.

The Tiffany & Co. Holiday Ad Campaign has made it's debut and it is to DIE for! It's the perfect portrayal of the magic of New York during Christmastime; I don't know how Tiffany's does it every year, but they're getting better with age, that's for sure. (I wonder if they reward their marketing/advertising team with little blue boxes instead of greenbacks--I'll leave a comment card suggesting that the next time I'm there.)

oh I mean, c'mon!! Absolute PERFECTION. 

Martha, Dear...

Well, friends, Thanksgiving is in less than 72 hours which means....

Christmas is almost a month away! (Jumping a little ahead, I know.) And what better way to spread Christmas cheer than with a resounding welcome from your front door courtesy of those lovely little limbs of holly and fir tree, i.e., Christmas Wreaths! Since I am now lazily reclining in the comfort of my parents' home for this little holiday vacay, I'm finding things to occupy my time besides eating, so I don't emerge from my house Sunday night and walk onto campus weighing 50 pounds more than I do right now. This year, I'm dedicating my spare time to making a fantastic Christmas wreath (and learning all you could ever want to know about Paris, France in the 1920s thanks to Humanities Course Number 333.) 

And who better to teach you how to make a Christmas wreath than decorator wunderkind, Martha Stewart? That girl really knows what she's doing. 

Oh, and I'll be sure and post my finished product, don't you worry.

this year's wreath is going to look a little something like this.

how fun would it be if there were actually treats inside this packages?! That's what I call my version of the advent calendar. One package per day until Christmas. Or your birthday. Or Easter. Or Labor Day. Or Canada's Thanksgiving. You can never have too many fabulously celebrated holidays.

mistletoe wreath? Oh, absolut--now let's not get carried away here.

isn't this whole little scene enchanting? Tiffany Blue never hurt ANYTHING.

Pretty Packages

Today is one of my friend's birthdays and we're going out tonight to celebrate, which naturally means I've got gift-wrapping on the brain. So I'm sitting here at work googling images of the best gift wrapping ideas out there, and here's a few that I've come up with. 

And you can bet I'll be trying ALL of these out. So if your birthday approaches, or you're one of the lucky ones I buy a Christmas present for, don't compliment me on my amazing gift wrapping ideas.

Just compliment me on my resourcefulness.

Maximilian's Dorm Room

And I thought my side of my dorm room was pretty amazing. Pales in comparison to this guy's : A 21-year-old Drew University senior with no formal design training whose dorm room was featured in New York magazine. (Did I mention he's already officially started his own interior design company and he doesn't even have a degree?)

There's something to put on your resume.

Via Brilliant Asylum

"Well, we can't ALL come and go by bubble!"

I've been searching for tickets online all morning. No such luck as of yet. I'm crossing my fingers that there's a ticket hiding for me somewhere in my parents' house. The crossing of your fingers would be appreciated as well.

Happy Monday

I told you there'd be more. 

It's Monday and fall break is over--to say I'm adjusting well wouldn't be entirely accurate. Since I stayed home for fall break, today I'm dreaming of all the places I wish I could've gone. Now, don't get me wrong; fall break at home was good, it was nice to sleep in my own bed, and sleeping in til 12:30 p.m. the first Saturday was the closest I've been to perfection in a while. 

BUT...there will always be that part of me that allows my mind to wander to 'bigger and better' places. So that's where I'm  stuck today--Chicago, St. Louis, Charleston, Manhattan, Seattle--anywhere I can lose myself in a huge cup of coffee and big city life.

(i have a feeling that eventually, home will be synonymous with 'bigger and better'.)

So, in my search for all things peeptoe and polaroid, I found myself stuck with pictures of must-see places such as these, with shoes to die for.

Enough to Keep You Warm

sweat·er: [swet-er] n.: garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly.

If that's the case, I wouldn't mind my mother feeling a bit chilly more often. 

lookin' good, LC.

love, love, LOVE this next one. And......

BONUS!!! It comes with a hood.

"When the bold branches bid farewell to rainbow leaves--welcome wool sweaters."

-B. Cybil