Favorite Things: Stores

It has been a great Thanksgiving! I'll post about our fun-filled trip to San Antonio next time, but first I'm celebrating Black Friday and Shop Small Saturday with a list of my top 5 favorite stores!

1. Barnes and Noble. There is something so comforting about walking into a Barnes and Noble. Great memories of Italian sodas and shortbread and hours and hours of exploring shelves of adventures.

2. Hobby Lobby. The great catalyst for creativity! It's so cool to think about what can be done with the material in that store.

3. Anthropologie. Sure, the clothes are crazy over priced, but this place is just BEAUTIFUL. I go in just to admire the displays. And the home section is fool proof.

4. Primark. One day Primark will come to America and all will be right in the world. H&M clothes at Thrift Store prices... one day.

5. Restoration Hardware. Hard to explain how perfect this place is. You wish they would lock you in at night just so you can pretend you live there. So much lust for their furniture.

Really though, let me live there.

Favorite Things: Books

Last night was the Oprah's Favorite Things show. It was...

I'm no Oprah, but I LOVE giving gifts. This year I am doing all homemade gifts because:
1. I am dirt poor
2. I think it's easier to find the right gift!
I'll have a really neat post after Christmas to show you each one, but for now it'll stay a surprise.

Until then I am in a favorite things kick! For the next month I'll be doing lists of all my favorite things! I'll start with an easy one...

BOOKS!
1. Harry Potter Series. Duh.

2. Ready Player One. I picked this one up at the library because I liked the cover art. Best decision. It's set in the future where the world is in shambles, resources are scarce, the economy is broken, and people live in trailers stacked on top of each other. The only escape is into a virtual reality called OASIS. But even that can cost. The ONLY glimmer of hope is a complicated quest set up by the creator of OASIS, but it's been years since the quest started, and no one has even found the first clue. Haha how dorky to I seem? If you liked Ender's Game I think you'd love this one!

3. Watership Down. This is one of my go to reads, but again, it sounds a little crazy. Think LOTR with rabbits. I realize how strange that sounds. But it's so good!

4. Les Miserables. Classic! If you don't have time for the book, go see the movie! (But you should really read the book too.)

5. Graceling trilogy. This is one of my guilty pleasure reads. If you liked Hunger games, I think you'll like this too. Strong female lead, love story, battles, fight against a overarching evil... can't go wrong!

Let me know if you pick one of these up!

Roadtrip Recap

Breck and I road tripped up to Arkansas this weekend for some family fun! We listened to Harry Potter the whole time, I don't think I can explain how happy I get when Breck laughs appreciatively at the wonderful wit of Ms. Rowling. My heart explodes into thousands of freed house elves. (The sort that like being freed.)

Geeking out.

Alright so Arkansas was a blast. The first night we went to see Wreck it Ralph with Breck's little sister. It filled us with all sorts of "honeyglow"! Seriously, it's adorable and hilarious and the Disney short at the beginning is precious. Go see it or you're a total glitch.

The next morning we were up bright and early for the The Color Run. It's kind of like Hare Krishna, but you have to run 3 miles to get to the party. We "ran" the race with our good friends Karl & Angela who put up with my strange tendency to sprint away like a maniac whenever people started to crowd. (That's what happens when a fun day at your Grandpa's ranch turned into a run of death run when the cows stampeded. Running in crowds tends to make you anxious.)

Later that night, we went to the reception of the girl who bought my wedding dress! It was a beautiful affair and it was really just the greatest thing to see the dress be apart of another special day! Janeen looked stunning and I was so pumped to finally meet her face to face!

Seeing family is so refreshing, and makes me so grateful that we live close enough to have weekend trips!

And, as promised here is a link to check out the shoes I painted this past month. I'm redoing my website, so please excuse the rest of the pages!

THANKSGIVING IS NEXT WEEK!!!

Election Day

So if you hadn't figured it out yet, Breck and I voted for Obama. Calm down. It's okay. I realize 99% of the people I know disagree with me, but you know, welcome to democracy.

There are two things I wish everyone would think about as today comes to and end:
1. How will you react if the candidate you voted for doesn't win? I hope you decide not to be bitter and hateful. The biggest tragedy that can happen tonight is if America turns on itself and decides to hate it's other half for the next 4 years. Let's work towards compromise.
2. The candidate who wins, has not really won until they make a difference. So try to refrain from gloating until we see some real results.

Okay that's it. Go America!
Oh and I finished my first round of shoes! Detailed pics later!

Tricks and Treats

So I have spent the last 5 hours doing the my new blog header. I've never done cartoon characters in Adobe Illustrator before, so even though these are pretty lame... I am kind of psyched about it!

Raise you hand if you don't have a cute Halloween costume to post about because you still have no friends in Plano! It is seriously good that Breck and I are best friends because he is the only person I hang out with. One day I will make a friend here! (I am realizing that I sound completely pathetic, so moving on...)

Even though I am not dressing up this year, I have been rooting from the sidelines! Here are my three favorite things about Halloween:

1. Pumpkin flavored everything! My favorite this year is Pumpkin Spice granola from Trader Joe's.

Put a handful of that over Honey Greek yougurt and that is all you need to eat for the rest of your life! I've had it for 8 meals this week.

2. Television is so awesome this time of year. How am I even supposed to keep up with all the shows?? I mean, just look at my 'to watch' list:
1. Revenge
2. The Walking Dead
3. Once Upon a Time (not impressed with this season)
4. Dexter
5. Gossip Girl (guilty pleasure!)
6. Survivor
7. Modern Family
8. Nashville (love!)
9. The Vampire Diaries (not proud of it)
10. ANTM
11. Saturday Night Live
Okay, obviously I have a problem (no friends, remember?) but they are all so good! Sue me.

3. COSTUMES! I love watching all my friends get so crafty! Here are some of my favorites that I've seen so far (sorry for stealing your pictures, friends!):

Sarah as Betty Boop

My second cousin and her friend as Peas in a Pod.

Miss Paisley as a cheerleader.

My niece as Thing 1 (Does this mean a Thing 2 is coming, Steve?)

Kate and her boo as the winners of The Biggest Loser.

This is awesome. Here is Karissa and her husband as a black & white Lucy and Ricky.

And my favorite. Jef Holm next to someone dressed up like Jef Holm.

Happy Halloween!

Peter Pan Syndrome

Today, I realized Sean Connery hasn't been in a movie for almost 10 years! I was raised watching all the old Bond movies, so that little factoid made me feel particularly old. To offset that, I built this awesome fort in my living room.

Breck is still at school... ummm surprise!

A friend contacted me about selling my custom shoes in a store he is opening in SLC! Right now, I'm making 6 display shoes to see how it goes. I finished my first pair earlier this week:

It's R2D2 from Star Wars if you can't tell. For variety, I'm planning on doing:
1. Sports team shoe
2. Super Mario Brothers
3. The Beatles
4. American themed
5. Harry Potter (duh!)
Whadya think? Is that is a good mix? I'm trying to attract a wide range of people in just six shoes, so it you can think of anything else, let me know!

Oh! I finished The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett.

I was told this was a book about building a church, so I was pleasantly surprised! It's an epic tale of saints and sinners that will leave you punching your pillow and then doing little jigs. I'll also say this, this book has one of the top three villains in any book I've ever read. Pretty much every time he is mentioned, you need to skip a few pages.

Last thing, but one that I need the most help with! I am sick of my make up. I feel like I am in a rut! I've been saving up, and my plan is to throw everything out and walk into Sephora/Dillard/Nordstroms/MAC and have one of the pro's just tell me what to do and buy! Here is my question... WHAT BRAND SHOULD I GO TO??? Any suggestion would be very appreciated!

Fun Fact

Today I learned something interesting. You know how old couples often look like brother and sister more than husband and wife?

It’s because they have been together for so long they begin to make the same faces, and the expressions carve similar creases into their skin. Precious!

Here is hoping that in 40 years, I have the good fortune to look a little more like this one!