Fun.

I am going to direct you to my mom's blog post for more about what we've been up to! We've been having fun. Looking at Christmas lights, relaxing at home, decorating in my parents' house and other good stuff like that. My husband went back to Florida yesterday. He is going to be lonely but he knows Kavi will have a blast up here with the family(I will too!), so he is willing to be alone.

You can read my mom's blog entry from today

Fashion Inspiration: Festive

1. winter oak, 2. dailywear, 3. Day 361 - 25.January.2009, 4. December 19th

My wish for sweater weather has come true since Friday! Lots of chilly weather, sweaters and jackets. :)

Shopping, and decor inspiration!

I didn't get up early yesterday or try to rush to any stores for early morning deals. I haven't ever done that before. But we did all venture out in the afternoon to Target, Old Navy, Bath and Body Works, and another store or two. No crowds, and still some good deals! I got my $15 jeans and a $15 pretty sweater at Old Navy. Plus some nice deals other places.

So is everyone decorating now? As you know, I did some decorating in my house before coming to Alabama. But in a couple of days we will be decorating here at my parents' house too.

Here are some fun inspiration photos from flickr.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We arrived here late, a little after 2 AM EST, which was after 1 AM here. So tired today! But happy to be here. The food is headed for the oven to be warmed up so that we can eat in an hour or so. (We always do the mid-afternoon big meal on holidays)

This picture is the set up my mom and sister put together for us all to sit at. (I edited it of course. The walls are not as dark yellow as they look in the picture)

It's here!

The day of the trip, it's here!

I am leaving in the afternoon today to head to Alabama. I am very excited!

I have been up to a lot over the past couple of days. First, on Sunday we went to my cousin's house, about 25 minutes away in a different town, for a pretend Thanksgiving! Me and my cousin wanted to have a pre-Thanksgiving with us and our other relatives in the area. We didn't really make anything traditional. There was too much food, as usual, since everyone brought multiple things. We had lasagna, perogies, salad, homemade bread, pumpkin soup, thai veggies, kabobs, two Indian dishes(we brought), pumpkin cookies, pecan pumpkin pie(I bought it at a store hehe). Everything was soooo good. Of course I can't wait for some traditional Thanksgiving food too!

Then I had to do some sewing and then wanted to put up the Christmas tree before leaving! Since I will be gone over 2 weeks, I wanted my tree up before I get back. Our house is nice and festive now.
I felt slightly overwhelmed at getting things done before leaving today. I am sure even as this posts, I will be hurriedly finishing up last minute things. I am a big time procrastinator whenever it comes to things I have to do for myself. Last minute rushing! My clothes are pretty much packed but there are always odds and ends I have to run around grabbing. I makes lists too, but the rush still happens.

A Wish for Sweater Weather

The weather has gotten warmer here which I don't like! The day we are leaving for Alabama, the high here will be around 86. Not festive!! Thankfully in Alabama, after Thanksgiving the weather will get chilly.

I haven't really had a chance to wear a sweater yet, and they can be so cozy feeling. I put together a bunch of different pretty sweaters in a polyvore collage.

A Wish for Sweater Weather by ChristinaD featuring miss selfridge tops

L.K. Bennett McKenzy Breton Striped Top, Pebble
35 GBP - johnlewis.com
L.K. Bennett tops »

Women's Aerie Natural-Spun Mohair Snowflake Sweater (Carbon Grey)
$50 - ae.com
Print tops »

Pearl Trim Cardi
38 GBP - missselfridge.com
Miss selfridge tops »

ELLE 9 Ruffled Sweater Coat
$72 - kohls.com
Coats »

Old Navy Womens Buttoned-Collar Sweater Coats
$35 - oldnavy.gap.com
Old navy coats »

Women's AE Marled Sweater Jacket - American Eagle Outfitters
$50 - ae.com
American Eagle Outfitters »

I love winning giveaways!

I forgot until today that I wanted to mention a giveaway I won recently! Some readers may be familiar with the Etsy shop Brookish, which carries Jane Austen inspired items. I love that shop! I always wanted something from it.

I am a fan of Brookish on facebook and one day she posted a random giveaway. All you had to do was comment with which book was currently on your nightstand. I debated commenting since I didn't have a book on my nightstand and was not even currently reading a book. (I do always read bible scriptures, but I mostly do that online these days! lol Oh what a high tech world.)

But I did comment, saying something like I wasn't reading a book but I loved reading, and maybe I will have more time when I don't have at toddler in the house. The next day they wrote the names down and her little daughter picked a name and I won!! The one not reading a book! I bet the other people who were actually reading books were annoyed. (heehee)

So a few days ago I received my mystery prize in the mail. A multipurpose ceramic tumbler/pencil holder/vase with one of the most romantic Pride and Prejudice quotes on it by Mr. Darcy!

"You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you"

Yay!

Items for sale at Brookish:

Etsy Brookish

Art ideas for the frugal

I have been keeping an eye out for art to put into a new red frame I had gotten for Kavi's bedroom. I had looked on Etsy, looked in stores, etc. There are many I love on Etsy, but I can't justify spending $18 on an art print for his room right now. I do want to support the artists, but the art is more for my enjoyment. Kavi won't really care! So I don't want to spend that much on it right now. I chose some art alternatives, very frugal alternatives, for in his room and in my living room.

My alternative ideas:
Printed Tea Towels
Scrapbooking paper
Handmade paper items

I found a cute piece of scrapbooking paper at Michaels that was travel themed. I think it was either .59 or .79 cents. Since Kavi is already a little traveler, I thought it'd be perfect. And the background color of the paper is similar to a color I'd like to paint his room. Since it was a 12"x12" paper, I just trimmed it to fit this 11"x 8" frame. ($1.99 frame from Ikea)
Those who read often may remember a tea towel that I wanted that I got for my birthday from a friend, and I said I wanted to frame it as art. (in my living room) I finally did it!
I got a large frame from Michaels for $7.99(well I also had a 40% off coupon! So it was cheaper than that.) I tucked in the extra fabric, and meant to iron it but still haven't. Then I picked out another piece of scrapbooking paper that matches it to put in a frame I already had(the one on the left).
The next day, I was looking for one more thing to put into the other frame (on the right) that I already had. I remembered how IndieFixx has weekly free printable art by various artists, usually Etsy related. I was so excited as I looked through to find a free print submitted by LeahDuncan, the same artist who made the moose tea towel print design.How perfect to have two pieces next to each other from the same artist! My only problem - no color ink in my printer. But I went ahead and printed it in black and white and then used Kavi's crayons to add some color! The above image is how the piece is supposed to look. When I visit Alabama I can use my mom's printer to print it in color, but for now, this will do. I highly suggest looking through the current available free art prints! They are in pdf format. You might find something you really like. There are others I'd like to print out.

All the scrapbooking papers I got were .99 and under! Here are more cute papers I got. I thought the first would be perfect for cutting into tags.
This would be cute framed in a baby boy's room:
One more thing. If anyone remembers the cute paper banners my mom made for me for my first craft show in October...I hung one up in my crafty area. :) Sorry it's a little blurry. I didn't want to use the flash.

Vintage Thursday: Curvy Cats

Often the cute vintage clothing items on Etsy that catch my eye are sized small or extra small. While they are fun to look at, they seem unrealistic for many people to actually wear!

So I went looking for items that were labeled plus size or XL or up. A pet peeve of mine after searching for them a few times, is items labeled plus size that are absolutely NOT, being modeled on a skinny girl. Another pet peeve is when the item really is a larger size, but is still being modeled on a skinny girl, wearing a belt to make the waist look smaller. I understand the people listing the items might not have someone, who the outfits would actually fit, available to wear the outfit for their Etsy pictures. It's much better though if we can see how the items fit the women in that size.

I came across so many that annoyed me because of that, or lied and said they were plus size when they weren't. But I didn't want to post those since it could be a direct insult to a specific shop or person, which I wouldn't want to do. (I don't even remember which shops they were anyway)

But here are some items I came up with.

The first is a green gingham dress from CurvyCatsVintage, and darn I just looked and the dress already sold! But take a look around their shop. :)

Next is a really cute 60's plaid dress from foreverlovelyvintage XL/XXL $50
it has a free waist that can be taken in by using a belt like in this photo

This one is a simple but pretty yellow sweater shirt $20 from SpanoVintage
From the same shop as the yellow sweater, a 50's navy colored dress. $40

And guess what? I made my first Etsy vintage clothing purchase!!! A shirt was on sale for $9 with free shipping, so how could I not buy it and try it out? It's from the shop brickhousevintage. It's a nautical navy shirt with white tie. I am sure I can tie that into a little bow or something. I hope I get it before next Wednesday so I can try it before going away to Alabama for a couple weeks. :)

Here is a dress from their that shop I like:

A pure silk dress. $34

Gift ideas for little boys

I kept my little boy in mind while making this treasury a couple days ago. He loves trains, cars, animals, and Sesame Street, among other things. Click the image to see the treasury.

Has anyone started their Christmas shopping yet? I have barely begun. I usually have most things bought by mid December. I don't like getting it done too early because I actually like going out in the stores while everything is decorated and in full force holiday mode!

I will probably order some items from Etsy right after Thanksgiving(will be looking out for special sales!). Also I will do some store shopping while visiting Alabama since I will be there until mid December!

Downtown Disney

On Saturday we went to Orlando to "Downtown Disney". It's a shopping area related to Disney World, on the same property, but it's free to walk around. There are a couple different sections to it. We went there in August after not being there for almost six years, to go eat at the Rainforest Cafe, which is on the very family friendly side of the area. We went to eat there again on Saturday. In August we signed up for a discount card from them for $15(that one fee for life, not per year!). They sent us a $10 off coupon in the mail with our membership card and then another for my birthday. So already that's $20 savings for paying $15. Plus, we get 10% off every bill when we eat there. For a place that is not very cheap to eat at, our bill was only $21 Saturday due to the coupon and discount card.

It's so fun to just walk around there! Let's say you go to Orlando and need something cheap to do, go there! You may end up spending money on food, snacks, or how about a delicioussss sundae from the Ghirardelli chocolate shop?

Here are some pictures I took that evening.

Planet Hollywood restaurant(has movie props all over inside)

T-Rex themed restaurant

Huge Disney Store

Rainforest Cafe fish tanks

Inside the "Christmas all year" store, it was very cozy inside!

A paint splattered Mickey! And a cutie. :)
We plan to go back again right after Christmas while my family is visiting here.

For more info about the place, click this link, and a map is below.

(click map for huge image)

Fashion inspiration: layers

1. Green Doors in the City, 2. 20101003 ready for fall, 3. autumn, 4. The Fake Out

Gift ideas: Little girls

Trio kitty ponytail holders $6	Fleece Scarflette for lil' girls $10	Pink rose earrings $4(from my shop!)
Paper dolls book by Emily Martin $13.45	Molly the Owl Plush $15	Cupcake coin purse $5.20
Little girls half apron $12	Gummy bear lip balm $3	Pretend food tea party set $16