Snow (half)Day!

Pretty winter porches.

I really want some red tights. And layering them with polka dot tights is too adorable.

Charlie Brown Christmas set to Belle and Sebastian :)

Pretty lights that I could (and will) actually make.

Tonight and Saturday: Staying in, hot chocolate, decorating sugar cookies.

here's an idea...

Design*Sponge

Sparkle!

Here is my cheesy "Christmas Tree Post". It had to be done, it's just too pretty. Tonight I was cleaning up my bedroom and spotted my vintage bird ornaments that I bought a few weeks ago. I had nearly forgotten about them. They are perfect and I feel the tree is complete now. I almost felt inspired to listen to Christmas music while I decorated---almost.

And on a side note, how creepy are some Christmas songs? "Santa Baby" especially. Who thinks of Santa in that way? And "The Christmas Shoes" is sadly creepy. It came on the other day on my grandmother's radio and I nearly knocked people over to run to turn it off. I have a cd of a few Christmas songs I can tolerate to let my students listen to. Jackson 5's "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" is always the crowd favorite.

I had to throw in some cat/tree exploration photos as well...

The Twirl Test

I know that I have a dress obsession. Half of my closet consists of dresses. This summer I wore a dress (or skirt) nearly every day. Dresses have always been more comfortable than pants to me. Plus I like feeling more ladylike when I wear dresses.

First day of kindergarten I believe...

When I was little that is all I would ever want to wear. When my mom would take me shopping and I would try on a dress it had to pass the twirl test. This test consisted of me twirling around the dressing room with my arms outstretched and catching my glimpse in the mirror to see if my dress would twirl out.

probably trying to twirl...

On my 4th birthday I had a pool party at my grandparents. I can remember my grandmother asking me what I wanted to wear to get ready for the party and I insisted on wearing my fanciest (and really good twirling) dress. Everyone else was in shorts and swimsuits, I had on my party dress by the pool.

And if I wasn't wearing a dress, I then had to wear really fancy shoes. Patent leather was my favorite.

Wow, no wonder I turned out this way.

So today when I got back home from Raleigh and shopping with my friends Amy and Heather, I decided to count up my dresses when I was hanging the new one up. 34 were hanging up and I think I counted up 5 sweater dresses folded up in my bedroom. But in my defense I have worn every single one of those dresses in the past year!!! Well, with the exception of the bridesmaid dress from Amy's wedding. I've thought about giving up pants all together. Except that I really like when we have jean Fridays at work. And sometimes pants are easier but dresses are much more fun.

Oh, and my new dress. We were shopping/looking for holiday dresses. I knew that I already had a few options in my closet but then we went in Anthopologie and it was all over. I'd seen this Tracy Reese dress online but it is so much more lovely in person. And it was on sale. I halfway just tried it on for fun but then when all the girls working in the dress room said that no one else had been able to pull it off I knew that it was meant to be. I feel like I need to be attending the Draper's holiday party wearing it (Mad Men reference). Amy and Heather insisted on it too. Heather said that if I ever felt like I needed an occasion to wear it just to call them both up and we'd get dressed up to go out. Such good friends!!!

Oh, and it was on a runway?!?!?!? Not sure if I'll be pairing it with the knee highs though.

Gift Finder

I always love Holiday Gift Finders on websites. It's sorta like a fun Christmas survey. However, I've never actually bought anything recommended by them since I've never had one be that accurate.

Anthropologie's gift finder may be the most fun ever.

My friend's and I have a "Secret Santa" party every year (since 10th grade) and I filled it out with my Secret Santa in mind. Keep in mind that I've already bought half of my Secret Santa's gift from before-mentioned store. And after filling out the fun little questionaire, it actually recommended my gift! Pretty exciting I thought.

So if you have a Anthropologie loving friend on your gift list (me!) or if you want to do it for yourself, which is also very fun, try it out!

Here are my own gift recommendations:

Sally Gloves-$68 Bird in Hand Rolling Pin-$24 (Ahem...I really love this!)

Rainbow Drops Necklace-$48 Wisps and Wings Barrette-$18

The Littlest Coin Purse-$16 Domino: The Book of Decorating-$32 (yes, please)

love this photo

"Elevator — Miami Beach, 1955" from The Americans. Collection by Robert Frank

Expensive (good) taste

My mom and I have a joke that we can be thrown in a room full of clothes and told to pick out anything we want and unknowingly we will pick out the most expensive item. We can't help it! We have expensive taste!

Here is a good example:

The inspiration:

Steve Madden Intyce boots in Cognac- $129

The Much Cheaper Options:

Urban Horseriding Boots $41

Kady Boots-$29 (in cognac, grey, and black!) at Target

The Target boots really seem like a great steal. I might end up getting these in the grey. The Ruche boots are cute too but I'm still really leaning towards the Steve Maddens. I'll put them on my Christmas list, my mom will understand.