To Do: 3 Major Art Projects

I made a promise to myself this year: to give or make some aspect of my Christmas gifts.

To Do
Finish handmade Christmas cards (12)
Finish handmade Christmas ornaments (5)
Sew applique onto velvet ribbon for NYE dress (1)
Work on mermaid painting (1)
Finish Thank You card design (1)

I do not know how this is going to work out.

The Holidays at Home

I was lucky enough to get to go home for a couple of days for Christmas. I'll let the pictures do the talking . . .

What I Learned Today . . .

Excellent f-cking revenge on national TV. (CDAN)

Yay!! More info and spoilers about Oncce Upon a Time!!! (EW)

I found a place where I can tackle screen printing on the cheap! Because there ain't no room in my house for it. (ABC No Rio)

This is SO perfect for me. My heart does live in NY and CA. I like to wear my heart on my sleeve! (Wildfox)

I love this mermaid and dolphin candle lantern. (Etsy - Earthsteps)

I equally love this mermaid necklace. (Etsy - ValleyGirlDesigns)

Checked out my current favorite book's author/blog/reading guide. (Sarah Jio)

Lauren took great and fun holiday photos of her and Kyle's home. I especially enjoy the antlers on the KitchenAid. (Chezerbey)

Obsession: Wildfox Bicoastal Gidget Sweatshirt

Whenever I go back home to Encinitas, I have a couple of stores I HAVE to stop by. Luckily, It's a Luv Thing and Hansen's are next door to each other. The day before Christmas I became obsessed with this sweatshirt:

It was made for me. Living and loving life in NYC but will always be a Cali girl at heart.

Alas, it is a little out of my price range at $90 a pop. The sales person made a couple of good points: made in the USA, unbelievably soft and perfect for me.

UPDATE: 1/4/12 Am still obsessed with this sweatshirt. It's retails $108 online. . . I just can't bring myself to do it :(.

Happy Holidays!

Layaway Angels

Last year, almost to the day, I wrote about the random acts of kindness happening during the holiday season. This year, I love the story about the Layaway Angels. People calling or going to into stores and paying off other's layaway items.

Read about the first Layaway Angel.

Way to pay it forward and truly give people a great holiday gift. I LOVE these kinds of stories.

This is What I Read Today . .

This made me really happy. I teared up when I read it. The Navy's first gay homecoming kiss. A GREAT moment in history. (Towleroad)

Interesting read . . . sums up a lot about my work situation. (MSN Careers)

James Franco is officially OFF the Freebie Five. (Celebitchy)

Lainey is right - I would completely want to be Duchess Catherine in that photo, at that time. (Lainey Gossip)

New spoilers for Revenge and Once Upon a Time! Yay! (Wetpaint and Examiner.com)

I downloaded two new samples from two new books thanks to Sarah Jio's guest blog post. (Allison Winn Scotch - Ask Allison)

I'm totally bummed but not surprised. One of my favorite books/series might be an awful movie. This trailer does not give me hope. (YouTube)

Ever wanted to dramatically quit your job but didn't? Live vicariously through this montage! (Vulture)

Love, Love, Love (Like It's Sung at the Beginning of Love, Actually)

I love this dress. I check on it every day at Piperlime. I have a couple of summer weddings to go to next year and I keep thinking it would be such a perfect dress to wear. It reminds of a really classy 4th of July party.

Inspiration: Jessica Swift

Through Door Sixteen, I found an awesome sale site; Fab.com. I was on there yesterday and found inspiring, gorgeous and playful art works from Jessica Swift. She really inspired to get back to my creative roots. This one is a particular favorite of mine:

It's called Fly Me to the Moon - I wish it could!