Gorgeous Nutcracker Pictures

Courtesy of Rachel Papo. The photos speak for themselves, so I'll just let you take a look.






via {frolic!}

Christmas Christmas Christmas

Oh my goodness.

So. Lots of fun Christmas-ey things have ensued the last couple of days. Christmas began for me on Sunday, in Cairo, with Pete and many members of his family. We began the weekend with a whirlwind of wrapping gifts, baking, cooking, cleaning, shopping...all KINDS of good stuff! Cairo is cute when it's dressed up for Christmas, lots of old-fashioned candles and Christmas trees that hang from street lights and little gaudy board cut-outs of snowmen and reindeer in the park. A big lit-up Christmas tree on one of the main streets. I love old-fashioned stuff.

Not only did Pete's family completely bestow loads of gifts upon me (The Office, Audrey Hepburn movies, beautiful books), Bridgett gave me some SCREENS for my GOCCO!!! (Thanks, Bridgett. I've been meaning to get your number from Pete but I keep forgetting.)

Then, due to unforeseen circumstances, me, mom, dad, Emme, and Pete had our annual Christmas celebration, with a new member! I think Pete enjoyed it. And the biggest surprise of all was that dad bought us (the familly) a Wii. Um, it's awesome. Just in case you weren't sure. Insanely awesome.

As of now I have no pictures to show you, but when I do, I will post them. Next up is heading to Chicago (well, the suburbs) tomorrow for a few days, then back down to Cairo for awhile . THEN, come January 1, me and Pete are vegans. For real. And I LOVE cheese. So we'll see how that goes. I will be sure to keep you updated on that.

Oh, PS: This is me and Pete's first Christmas together! I'm pretty excited about it. It will be nice being with each other in person, instead of periodically talking on the phone, on Christmas day. Le sigh.

Goodbye, Mrs. Korte

We will all miss you beyond words.

MILK

You gotta go see it. The story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay politician ever elected to office (where else, but in San Francisco? One more reason why I LOVE THAT CITY).

Me and Pete saw it opening weekend, and it was just...awe-inspiring. I wish that I had been alive at this time. And the thing is, I talked to my parents about it afterwards (this isn't really a spoiler, but Harvey Milk was assassinated in office in 1978, a couple years after he had been politically active), and they had NO REMEMBRANCE of this happening. They don't remember a gay politician, they don't remember an assassination, they don't remember Proposition 6, which was all about firing openly gay teachers, and the people that support them...

And the thing that I found so odd about this was that my parents are extremely open. I mean, we live in SOULARD. I love Soulard, with my whole heart. I loved growing up around lots of gay men and lesbians, because this is one of the big reasons why I am so open towards all types of people. I was exposed to all types of people as a kid, and from a young age, I have HATED hearing anyone say "that's gay" or "ooooh you're so gay". I HATE it. I correct the kids at Wilson who say it (which happens so much. It breaks my heart.) I correct my friends.

I remember one time, my friend Katrina was over at my house. We had a list of emergency phone numbers by our phone in the playroom, because I was probably in like 6th grade. We still had babysitters sometimes, but if mom and dad were just going to be next door, me and Emme would just stay home by ourselves. The "emergency" list consisted of phone numbers of our neighbors, doctors, family members, etc...and John and Steve were at the top of the list (which makes sense, because they live next door). So Katrina is reading the list, and she reads "John and Steve", and says, "Hey, Kaylen. Where's the lady in that one?" And it was at this time that I realized, hey. Most kids my age have NO clue whatsoever. They think that "gay" is demeaning, and vulgar, and gross. They think it's a joke.

And unfortunately, I still believe that most people my age (and really, lots of people EVERYWHERE) don't understand being gay. They don't understand that it isn't a choice. They don't understand that when two people love each other, they should have ALL RIGHTS POSSIBLE. So many married couples that I have known haven't had kids. So many straight couples I've known have gotten divorced. There are so many families that I have seen torn apart, because of divorce, because of cheating, because of problems...and I know many, many more long-term happy gay couples than long-term straight couples.

In short, this is a topic that I am extremely passionate about. I'm not the type of person to shove thoughts and ideas down another's throat...but this is something I just DON'T UNDERSTAND. I hate that people so strongly oppose gay people's unions. Like I said, what about the straight couples that get married and don't have kids? It's the exact same thing. And no one says that you can't get married unless you plan to procreate.

Anita Bryant said (this is in real life, in the 1970s) "If homosexuals are allowed their civil rights, then so would prostitutes, or thieves, or anyone else." They showed archive footage of this interview in the movie, and I think that the whole theatre just sort of gasped. I was amazed that this woman thought this at all! And then I realized, well, if she thinks that...then lots of people must think that.

Harvey Milk said, "All men are created equal. No matter how hard you try, you can NEVER erase those words!"

No words have been truer. To Harvey Milk, thank you. Thank you for putting yourself out there. I wish I could have met you. I think we would have had a lot of fun together.

Now, please, everyone watch this. I cannot think of a more inspirational movie that I have seen. Everyone is brilliant. And please, please, PLEASE...go see it.



Also, if you are so interested, here's an article that was published on Thanksgiving of this year. This was the 30th anniversary of Harvey being assassinated. Reading this made me cry, so be forewarned. The movie and this article have lots of parallel thoughts and ideas, so it's nice to supplement.

This is the epitome of everything I love.

I know, I post a LOT of commercials on here. And I am sorry about that.

BUT. BUT. BUT. This one is PERFECTION! I have wanted Miss Dior Cherie for quite some time now (I smelled it in a magazine and was, like, drunk with happiness). This commercial is wonderful because:
1. It was directed by Sofia Coppola. So, not only is it full of light (one of her trademarks), but it's really reminiscent of Marie Antoinette, which I LOVE
2. There are balloons
3. There are pink dresses
4. They are in Paris
5. There are sweets, in a patisserie!
6. There are cute boys
7. There are smiles and happiness

Yeah. Perfection. Not sure? Check it out for yourself:

Well, they pegged us.

Looking through the thousands upon thousands of pictures on my computer, I came across this:

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. Will definitely be getting/making these in the future.

FUN FACT: This is the first item I ever saw/looked at on etsy, over a year ago. Awww. Why? No clue.

Cool Runnings

I love when my old favorite movies are on TV.



Read more about Cool Runnings here!

Gift Guide

There are SO many gift guides that pop up on beautiful, fun, exciting blogs. And while I would love to create one, I think I will just share a couple of items that I really enjoy.

Oh, and they're all from ModCloth, because I just finished browsing that website, and yeah. I pretty much want all of it!


For the person that needs a shot of energy in the morning


For the little cuddly animal lover


For the art student on a budget


For your favorite four-eyed friend


For a brand new, or soon-to-be, mommy


For an elegant lady in your life


For the traveler


For the lady who channels Lauren Bacall (just for the record, I ADORE this dress)


This dress is called "Cocktails at Lunch". BEAUTIFUL.

And here's some other pretties, in general:

gloves


tan shoes


grey cardigan


bow cardigan

So, I've decided that I can never have enough of:
+gloves
+scarves
+tights
+cardigans

Ooh la la!

This coat took my breath away. I love my new winter jacket, but man oh man...wish I would have seen this first.

Etsy purchases

Oh man. It's that time of year. Christmas, that is. I've started Christmas shopping, and I decided to share the couple of gifts that I bought for family/friends so far, simply because I'm pretty sure neither of them read this blog. So I feel okay about it.

For Marcy, one of my roommates:
Make Your Own Baby Yeti Kit

If you knew Marcy, you would think this is the coolest thing EVER for her (at least I hope so).

For Momma:
Driftwood Picture Frame

My mom loves and collects driftwood. I love this seller's pieces!

Shall update as time goes by...have begun to shop for Pete, but cannot post here, as he actually reads this!

A giant ampersand?

YES PLEASE!!!!



This website, House Industries, has all kinds of cool wall stuff - different letters, different fonts. It would be cool to get all the letters needed to spell out your last name, or a something eye-catching, like POP or PRETTY or...something cool.

They also have numbers, so if your mailman/woman has a hard time seeing what your address is, I have a feeling these may help remedy your situation.

Rainy days are no fun.

Especially when I have class.

I've been sick now the PAST TWO WEEKS. Although today I am feeling much better. I haven't had to blow my nose yet today, which is nice, since my entire upper lip is numb, chapped...and gross in general.

I am so ready for Thanksgiving break. Just another two weeks and I'm going to have a break! Yay!

But first, I am hosting a cupcake party on Saturday at my lovely apartment, with my lovely roommates. I'm pretty stoked about it.

Wheee! Class just ended! Gotta run!

Yes, we DID.

Lovey Dovey

I'm feeling pretty lovey-dovey today, mostly towards the boy. Probably because he took such good care of me yesterday - picking up saltines, chicken noodle soup, eggs, toast, etc. And then he let me watch almost the complete 2nd season of Arrested Development...not that that's any skin off of his back.

This poem made me smile today.

A PERFECT HEART, by Ted Kooser
To make a perfect heart you take a sheet
of red construction paper of the type
that's rough as a cat's tongue, fold it once,
and crease it really hard, so it feels
as if your thumb might light up like a match,

then choose your scissors from the box. I like
those safety scissors with the sticky blades
and the rubber grips that pinch a little skin
as you snip along. They make you careful,
just as you should be, cutting out a heart

for someone you love. Don't worry that your curve
won't make a valentine; it will. Rely
on chewing on your lip and symmetry
to guide your hand along with special art.
And there it is at last: a heart, a heart!
via quaint:handmade

Oh heeey a new blog

So I'll make this short and sweet (mostly because I have the stomach flu right now and can't really look at a computer screen for too long).

ME AND PETE STARTED A NEW BLOG TOGETHER! You should totally check it out, right now:

Geeks & Crafts

It took a long time for us to decide on a name together...but it was fun. I'm not sure how well I'll be able to keep up two blogs, but I'm pretty excited about this one!

PS: Us at Eckert's this past weekend. Yay pumpkins!

Obama-rama

I'm not a very political person, and I know that I've said that before, so I'll make this short and sweet.

I do like Obama. I think he's fantastic. I will be voting for him in a WEEK (yay! The election will finally be over!) And here are some pictures of him on the campaign trail. I love behind-the-scenes stuff.





When you are on the website, which you should click on right now, at the bottom of each string of pictures, click "show more images" for even MORE Obama love.

I need some color in my life.

via here

I don't know what else to do! I've been so busy with school and work and observations, I spend a lot of my free time either sleeping, surfing the internets, or doing homework.

But as much fun as it is to find all kinds of fun and pretty things on the WWW, I'm needing to do something new and exciting. I'm just sort of at a loss, I guess.

SO. I did some research (mostly though the things stocked and saved on my computer), and I found THIS.

Keri Smith is a fantastical illustrator/artist/inspirational lovely whose ideas make my heart smile. This pdf lists 95 things to do in conjunction with a journal. You cut all the squares up, put them in an envelope, then randomly pull one - and complete the task on it.

So. I begin tomorrow. And I shall chronicle the journey here, on this blog. Wish me luck!

Oh, and play along, if you want to ;)

via here

Polaroid Camera

I think I just fail at taking polaroid pictures. And that's okay. It's something I am still feeling out. The thing is, there is no zoom. No zoom and no automatic focusing (or even manual focus). You just have to take the picture. And when the flash goes off...it looks HORRIBLE. Gross. And I hate flash as it is. It makes photographs look so completely unnatural. But that's just my style.

I HAVE found that polas work best in natural lighting. After a brief flickr search, I've found that what I ultimately want to achieve with my polaroid camera is something along these lines:

via here

It's soft and pretty and colorful. And natural.

Anyone have good tips on how to achieve such pretties?

Pink table = perfection

I want this. Now.

via here

When Pete has a song stuck in his head

This is pretty much how it is. FOR THREE DAYS STRAIGHT.

Family Guy BIRD IS THE WORD! - For more funny videos, click here

Poor Lou-Bear!

So my parents were taking Louie for a walk on Sunday evening, and the three of them were attacked by two dogs that seemed to come out of nowhere. A woman was standing on her porch and kept calling the two dogs back, but neither she or the dogs budged. After about five minutes of attackage, my dad finally got the dogs off of Louie. My poor little puppy! He has bite marks all over his neck and a HUGE wound on his side (okay, it's the size of a quarter but that's big to me).

Apparently the man that owns these two crazy dogs has some crazy issues. My parents are friends with a woman who lives a couple houses down, and she informed my mom that the man is a drunk mean guy. He used to own a reptile shop that was shut down because of animal mistreatment. Our neighbor suspects that all the snakes and lizards and frogs that were previously in the shop are now in his house, along with multiple dogs and cats and other animals. She said that the backyard has high fences all around and the gate is nailed. There is trash and poop and overgrown weeds all over. And apparently the guy is NOT nice at all. Very unfriendly and rude. And Sue, our neighbor, said that she's heard the house is full of feces. Siiiick.

So mom went down to city hall and now THREE different city officials are going to be at this icky man's house in the next week - forestation, animal control, and environmental. Pretty insane.

Why are people so horrible?

My day today:

1. Craigslisting for Pez dispensers, globes, typewriters, and dictionaries. In that order.
2. Sleeping in
3. Eating the best sorbet in the WORLD (not that I've tried all of them, but I think I've made a dent)
4. Giving in and buying the newest issue of Real Simple
5. Seeing my poor puppy
6. Midterming it up
7. Watching Arrested Development

I'm feeling better today. And I found this, and that made me even happier.

I had a dream last night

via here

that I was getting married (funny, everyone around me is!). But like, as in, me and this random guy (not Pete) decided to get hitched. I remember being a church basement. I remember wearing a grey dress with yellow ribbon (I DO love that color combination...hmmm?), and a weird priest I had never seen before giving me and mystery boy a long introduction. Then, after the ceremony (with attendants that were SOLELY old bald men), we went to a country club for the reception. And none of my college friends were there. And none of my family, either. It was all high school girls. No dates. Just girls. Maybe Pete talks too much about Rosati (just kidding, darling!) And the music was HORRIBLE. HORRID. Like, Panic at the Disco! and Electric Slide horrible.

So basically it was my worst nightmare. Literally. Because then, within my dream, I woke up from the weird wedding - it had been a dream! And I was in my room in Marchetti, with Sarah (real roommate), and I proceeded to tell her, "Sarah I had a HORRIBLE dream about getting married..." yada yada yada.

It was a trippy one. I've had dreams within dreams before. Apparently they're rare (I used to be all into decoding my dreams and I had a dream dictionary).

Aaand that's all I've got.

Lately...

via here

I've been in a funk lately. Not feeling very inspired, not feeling very uppity...generally not feeling very happy notiony at all. That could be because of midterms, and the EIGHT projects I had/have due over the period of the last two weeks. The fact that Kathleen is gone makes things hard. We had weekly vent sessions about EVERYTHING, and since she's in Italy, we've only talked once on the phone.

Also, I started weight training today. My whole body is SCREAMING with every step I take. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?" it yells. "Walking up the stairs and becoming out of breath is TOTALLY fine!" it continues. And you know how when babies are upset or uncomfortable, or hungry or whiny, they just cry? That's how my day has been.

Even Clone High isn't really helping. I think sleep will, though. So I'm off.

Also, I would NOT suggest searching "sad" on flickr, because that definitely didn't help. Although it did lead me to that cute cookie up there.

Oh, and I've had "Everybody Hurts" in my head all day too, courtesy of The Office. Fan-freaking-tastic.

Goat Cheese Veggie Quesadillas

I made them tonight. And they were delicious.

From a book called Real Girls Eat (which is true, by the way). Delicious.

I don't have the book in front of me right now, but it's really, really easy and there's room to improvise (we did!)

First, you get some veggies. The recipe called for celery, red and yellow bell peppers, zucchini, onion, squash and eggplant. Cut it all up into bite size pieces, add chili pepper flakes, salt, pepper, olive oil, and cumin. Set aside

Then, you heat a skillet, with an olive oil coating. After the skillet is warm, dump all the veggies in until they have been roasted a little bit. After they're done being roasty toasty, put all the veggies in a medium mixing bowl and let them cool.

Once they're cool, crumble a TON of goat cheese (recipe calls for 11 oz, I used 7) on top, and then mix it all up.

Reheat the skillet, putting one tortilla in, dumping a ton of the veggie mix on top, and folding the other half over (so it looks like a half moon). Cook for a few minutes on each side and ENJOY.

Seriously. Delicious.

Balloon Glow

Last weekend, there was the Balloon Glow. It's this big thing that St. Louis does every year in Forest Park, our version of Central Park (except it's better because, well, it's not in NYC. And I love NYC, don't get me wrong, buuuut I like that St. Louis is smaller). On Friday evening, all the hot air balloons get inflated and they glow, from the fire breathing that makes the balloons into balloons. And then on Saturday they "race" somewhere. I don't know where. I didn't go on Saturday. But I got some sweet shots from Friday.

Energizer bunny. People are in awe because of this but I wasn't all that impressed.


Pretty sunset with balloon silhouettes










I was fascinated. A St. Louis veteran, and I had never been to the Balloon Glow. I'll definitely be going back every year.

Today is a Rainy Day.

I already observed at SLUH this morning and got wet. Already. And it's only 9:38.



I took this picture from my window last year. It was cold that morning. And it had obviously snowed, previously. And there was fog. I looked out the window, felt compelled to take a picture, and promptly fell back into bed and went to sleep.

Wish I could do that right now...but wish me luck, because I'm giving a speech on DIY in my public speaking class! Wheee!

My exciting news.

I'm not having a baby (thank God), getting married (?), or have a brand new fancy job. But this is juuust the type of excitement I need. Little college girl and all, I mean.

Recognize this?


No? Well, how about THIS:


That's RIGHT, I got a Gocco Press. I am super hyped. They normally go for anywhere from $200 - $400 (on eBay or online stores), but I got mine for $25. That's right. I was pretty darn impressed with myself.

Kids Flea Market, at the Magic House. Seriously. I was hoping to get something like Pez Dispensers for my collection, or some cute little art supplies or something. Nope. Got this. Was going to ask for it for Christmas.

The kit does NOT include bulbs and there is only one screen, so I need to order some more supplies online. Then I will get going. I'll keep you updated. When I make my first invite or napkin or whatever, it'll be on here.