Happy Thanksgibing back.

Today is the first predicted snow day of the season. I'm working from home before the holiday, sipping coffee, soaking bread pudding, and knitting on breaks. This is one of my favorite holidays, so I thought I'd extend my well wishes via a coupon code to the shop. Just use THANKSYALL for 10% an order of $10 or more until Sunday, 11/30!

Went | Philly for #SVDM14

This past weekend was the annual St. Valentine's Day Massacre party in Philly. My friend Shawn Elise has been throwing this shindig for the past three years—it all started in her living room!—and it's since grown into a bigger, open-to-the-public event. Sadly (for us) she was in Australia this year during the party, but the usuals gathered at my friends Nicole and Jay's apartment for the weekend to keep the tradition going. Unfortunately, the party coincided with Cyndi and Zander's romantic weekend getaway to Boston, but at least they got to use our apartment while we were away.

We've been to Philly more times than we can count, so we laid low, getting familiar with Nicole and Jay's new digs, eating homemade cinnamon rolls, treating ourselves to a Stephen Starr restaurant (Parc, which gave us a little taste of what to expect from Paris in August!), and watching a lot of Breaking Bad/SNL/Olympics. It was the perfect getaway for this hellish winter. I took Tuesday off, and we took our time driving back, stopping off at Phily Diner (why is it spelled that way!) for pancakes and then in Queens to have a quick lunch with Nabila. We hit some awful traffic on the way home from New York, but Cyndi's great note and gift were enough to bring a smile to our faces. Now we just need to plan to actually spend a weekend with Cyndi and Zander!

Happy Valentine's Day from...the Internet.

Have you been to Google today? If you have a few minutes, head over and listen to the little love stories behind each candy heart. I promise, they'll make this day feel a little less commercial/lonely/silly/Hallmark-conspiracy/whatever-it-usually-feels-like-to-you. Trust me, and happy Friday.

Have your own love story to share? I'd love to read them in the comments! Let's take this holiday back, shall we?

Smell my feet

Happy Halloween, y'all! Everyone's in great spirits here because of the big win last night, but I'm giddy at 7 in the morning because it's a day I get to dress up in a ridiculous outfit, plop a huge bowl of candy on my desk, and not disappear into my headphones and email for a day. I hope yours is full of all that Fall has to offer, and that at the very least, someone gives you some candy for free.

See yuh on the flip side.

After today, this blog will be much like my apartment for the next week: quiet and still. Mike and I are headed to Philly for a friend's party and then to the open seas! If you happen to drop by, tell me about your favorite vacation. I'll be needing those stories when I get back next Sunday, for sure. Until then, have a lovely week!

The things I love.

I love this place where I live. It feeds my desire to live in a slower paced area, tucked away like a favorite letter but still close enough to rest of the world. 

And I love this man...

who makes my heart feel like this:

make animated gifs like this at MakeAGif

Two years & counting.

Yesterday, Mike and I celebrated our two-year anniversary. Well, technically we celebrated on Saturday with a late breakfast out at Veggie Galaxy, some thrift store perusing, new coffeeshop scouting, a movie (Django Unchained was all I'd hoped; more to come on this), then homemade sushi. We rushed to the Korean grocer in Union Square after the movie, thinking they closed at 8PM, but they were open until 9PM, giving us more time to wander around. They gave us free scallion pancakes because they were so close to closing, and I discovered a new type of kimchee that I love. We didn't eat dinner until almost 10PM, but it was worth it.

On Sunday, we went to IKEA—the only store anyone willingly spends 3+ hours in. We got some frames for the paintings I made for Mike for Christmas, and I got some new organizational things for the office. We got the shelf and hanging bar up last night, and I'm so excited for the next time I work from home. The space is finally clearing out and uncluttering, making me want to spend more time in there.

We went out for wings with Meg after work yesterday then stopped at Trader Joe's for a few groceries (and a case of three buck Chuck, let's be honest), and when we got home Mike seemed particularly interested in the mail. I sorted through it and found that he'd sent me my anniversary card in the mail. He said, "I haven't sent you a letter in a really long time." I had to wipe my heart up off the floor with a dish towel.

Christmas recapped

There's a syndrome I see happening on Instagram and on other blogs, and I'm afraid I'm suffering from it, too. I miss Christmas. I miss the lights everywhere, the nightly glow of the Christmas tree, everything covered in glitter. I've been slow to get back to my routine, despite feeling refreshed and ready for this new year, but going through these photos from Mike's and my Christmas morning is helping ease the nostalgia. I got up early to make cinnamon rolls, then we camped out on the living room floor emptying out our huge Dollar Tree stockings. In our first apartment together, we started new traditions and spent a calm holiday together before all the traveling. We're home now, the tree's packed away, and I'm working on my latest plans for the new year. 

Happiest.

And just like that, I'm back at work. This year I was fortunate enough to get almost a week and a half off of work, and somehow it passed much more quickly than I had hoped. I'm taking the day slowly, warming my hands with coffee and jotting down ideas for the new year as they come to me. We came back to a cold Cambridge last night after a two day stay in Saratoga Springs for my friend's family's annual New Year's extravaganza where Mike and I met two years ago. There were cuddle puddles and champagne and fake gold eyelashes and sledding until 4 AM. The seven of us Bostoners couldn't quite part once we were home again, so we spent New Year's night eating sushi and fried noodles in Porter Square, not wanting the holiday to end.

Hello, 2013. Nice to meet you.

Made | DIY Kitchen Towels

You know that show Semihomemade with Sandra Lee? It's on the Food network. She shares recipes that involve some premade aspects and adds her own flare to them. While I love making things from scratch, I also appreciate when I can do only the fun part. Take these towels: finding the fabric and sewing the edges would have been extra work that wouldn't have been as necessary. So I bought flour sack kitchen towels at Target, carved a stamp in a design I knew Meg would like, and stamped away. I used some stencils to put kitchen-appropriate words on them as well. 

Made | Clay earrings.

I think I may have taken this whole handmade holiday thing a little too far. It started with the quilt for my mom and just sort of spiraled into a mess of fleece blankets, zippered bags, and rubber earrings. So when I saw this clay earring DIY at Lovely Indeed, I knew I had to add it to the mix. 

I got some oven bake clay, earring studs, and acrylic paint at JoAnn's for a total of about $6. The amount of gifts you can get from that $6 is pretty amazing. I've had a lot of fun coming up with all kinds of designs for these babies. 

And I made some festive ones for myself...

And while we're talking about earrings, these are the ones Meg gave me for Christmas this morning. 

Made | DIY Mounted Animal Earrings

It's funny to me how much the trend right now is cozy-cabin-with-hunted-animal-heads-and-antlers-without-actually-killing-any-animals. The whole antler craze? My grandpa's been doing that for years before Anthropologie ever displayed a glitterized antler chandelier in its windows. But there's nothing like a little trend that ties back to my southern roots to get me wanting to jump on the bandwagon. I've made quite a few trips to the Artists and Craftsman Supply shop in Central Square the past couple months, and I kept walking by this display of tiny rubber animals. I kept trying to figure out ways to use them other than buying all of them and setting up a little farm on our bookshelf. These earrings were the only other option! They're super easy and would make a cute handmade gift this holiday.

All you need are some earring backs, super glue, scissors, and tiny rubber animals (or really any cute thing that you want to adorn your ears with).

1. Cut those little animals in half. 

2. Super glue each half onto an earring back.

3. Let dry for 24 hours. 

4. Pop those suckers in! Or wrap it up and put it under the tree. 

This year I'm trying to give a majority of handmade gifts. So often I find myself buying gifts just to have something to offer, and I think that giving someone something I made myself offers so much more than just stuff.

Have you made any gifts this year? For another DIY earring idea, check out this post. I'm making these tonight!

Friendsgiving 2012

One of my favorite things about growing up is getting to make my own traditions with my friends. Last year we gathered at Katie and Emily's new condo for a Friendsgiving, and this year we managed an encore! Emily cooked an amazing dinner complete with full-sized turkey (and leftovers), butternut squash, green beans, cauliflower mash, stuffing, homemade cranberry ginger and pear sauce, white gravy, and pumpkin pie flan. It was all very fancy, but mostly just an excuse to get us all together to eat Emily's amazing cooking.

Do you have any traditions you've started with your friends?

Happy Thanksgiving!