christmas present ideas

So this year on my side of the family, we're not doing presents; we're just doing stockings. We're all ridiculously excited about this, I must admit. But that's neither here nor there. Here are some of the ideas I've had lately.

• If you check out the dollar spot at Target, they currently have those fun metal "mindbender" puzzles where you have to figure out how to separate the interlocking pieces. I picked some up today, figuring they would work well as an amusement on Christmas afternoon.
  
• Photo Posters. I uploaded a couple of images to the Wal-mart website and I had my posters back within a week (!). The color looks fabulous, too. Definitely a relatively inexpensive choice.
  

That's all I have so far--I'm not terribly close to done with the shopping.

plans for the weekend, sort of

Le husband is gone this weekend, hunting with his dad and brothers. So I'm having a girly weekend with le sisters, and planning on enjoying every minute. We kicked it off last night with viewing We Are Marshall. Movie featuring Matthew McConahey = total eyecandy, right? Um, not so much. Now we know why MM does not do serious movies: it just doesn't work. We spent the whole movie asking questions like: Why is he walking like a hunchback? Why is he talking out of the side of his mouth? Why is he waving his arms around like that?
That reminds me: we saw Dan in Real Life last weekend, and it was lovely. I'm currently compltely obsessed with the song that plays during the bar scene: Nasty Girl by Inaya Day. I'm trying not to listen to closely to the words, but the beat is fabulous.
Oh! The whole reason I started typing in the first place: five steps to becoming a better networker. Good stuff, and we all have to network sometimes, to it's good to have this sort of thing handy.
Ok, I'm off.

excuses, excuses

So lately I've been trying to get my new site up and running, with the result of not doing much blogging, reading, magazine flipping, or anything not site-related. Now that it's up, hopefully I'll be back to slightly more normal posting efforts. (Side note: I seriously think this whole paragraph was just an excuse to show off the site; I'm NOT a codegeek at all, and so I'm ridiculously proud of myself for putting that thing together. Not the least because I figured out how to get it all up on a server. Yes, I know it's simple for some of you. Not me.)

Anyway, here is a bunch of stuff gleaned from my very neglected feedreader that I enjoyed muchly, and decided to pass on to you.

• If you're not already reading GalaDarling, you're missing out. So here's a good place to start: with ways to have a lovely week.
  
• she made a hat out of a Christmas decoration and tulle, and it looks stunning. I am inspired. (But don't tell the husband; he's a little terrified of my hat obsession.)
• awesomest. shoes. ever. (scroll down to the bottom of the post.) Now I totally want to do that to a pair of mine with colored sharpies.
• it's an apron-making contest!
• side note: went and saw Dan in Real Life over the weekend, and it was lovely. It's the family everyone wishes they had: just wacky enough to be fun and funny, without being flatout crazy. (Ruthie Pig Face Draper anyone?) One of the few movies that I would say was worth the ticket price. 
• spicing up a skirt with buttons.

Ok, that's it. My fingers are too cold to type any more.

the devil wore *almost* prada

So I don't own any actual prada, and I had to wear this to work, so if I DID have some, it probably wouldn't be getting splattered with coffee and whipped cream. I compromised with lots of black.
Please excuse the picture; I look strangely grumpy. (I'm not really--I just don't like the fact that cool weather has finally arrived.)
vintage dress: thrifted
belt: borrowed from sister (she got it at Target)
boots: aldo
horns: target
I did not wear the tail that came with the horns; it looked like a large, red-sequined, sparkling...male member. No way was that hanging off my bum all day!

the glove obsession

I'm loving gloves right now: the long, dramatic, peel-them-off-your-fingers kind. This is what they looked like at the fall Narcisco Rodriguez show:


Lovely, no? I can only imagine the price on a pair of those. And I've been seeing lovely pairs for not so lovely prices, so I've gone looking for other options.


These are only $145 at Nordstroms, and that's not a bad price. However, I think what I'm going to do is knit myself a pair of these:


In gorgeous golden cashmere yarn, won't they be delectable?
From the Winter 2007 issue of Knit.1.

on my list of things to knit

Cozy, sleek sweaters.

I want to do the one on the right a cushy, brilliant jewel tone. Wouldn't it be completely eighties fab??? Both from the Winter 2007 issue of Knit.1.

why we love blueprint magazine

Because they have lovely wrapping ideas like this:

And they give us free printable wrapping paper like this, besides generally featuring gorgeous photography and a fantasy world that most wouldn't mind living in. (This is the magazine that I most want to subscribe to once we stop moving and have a permanent address.)