Deck The Halls: Mistletoe Ornament

I think hanging up mistletoe is super cute. Excuses for more kisses are never a bad idea in my book! But why is it so hard to find fresh mistletoe? I tried to find some a couple years ago to bring to a Christmas party, and I went to a bunch of Christmas tree stands 'cause I figured they would have it and grocery stores with floral departments, but no one did. Finally, this year I got some at Molbaks, but I think you can probably find it at florist shops as well. Since finding it was so hard, I didn't want to be boring and just hang it right up with the tacky plastic ribbon it came with, so I came up with this: Terrarium Style Clear Glass Ornament with Mistletoe! It's a great project if you're throwing a holiday party this year. Just make sure to serve some spiked punch or eggnog, and things could get really wild.

Materials:

large clear glass ornament*

ribbon

fresh mistletoe

string

*Clear glass ornaments can be found at craft stores in a variety of sizes. You want the extra large size for this project, mine are about 4 or 5 inches. I don't recommend smaller because the opening will be too small to fit your mistletoe without ruining it.

Process:

Remove the metal cap and hook from your clear ornament. This should come out easily. Cut several pieces of mistletoe, of varying lengths but all shorter than your ornament. I like to do one that will almost touch the bottom and a bunch about half that length. It fills the ornament best that way. Tie pieces of string to each stem of mistletoe and carefully insert them one by one into the clear ball. Your mistletoe stems need to be pretty narrow, unfortunately, to get them through the opening without damage. Adjust the strings so it all hangs nicely and tie together as one bundle. Now, tie the strings as closely as possible to the metal cap and replace the cap (squeeze the wires together to get them inside the opening). Add a nice ribbon to hang it from and a pretty bow and you're done! Now find a high traffic place to hang it for maximum smooching opportunities. Pucker up!

holiday party - tacoma style

dress- target, boots - thrifted, fascinator - diy

We went to an extremely fun holiday party in Tacoma, thrown by our lovely friends Brady and Sid. Their apartment was so cute and they put up masses of lights and even had one of those cheesy fireplace videos projected onto their non-functional fireplace. And so much good food and drink! Eggnog, fondue, meatballs, ham, and an adorable cake J brought. We had a white elephant gift exchange, which ended up being a pretty funny mix of things. I think the hot item was a dog shaped cookie jar. I got the cutest little handmade, beaded ornament. Brady pulled out some classic Christmas records to keep the mood festive and it was just a really really fun party.

total shit and the normies

tee - pacsun, cutoffs - diy/thrifted, socks - target, boots - thrifted, bag - thrifted coach, necklaces - talonalia

Guys, is there anything better than gross house parties in the summer? I'm talking about the sort of thing where you can't tell if what's trickling down your back is your sweat or someone else's and you can barely breathe in the house. Add cheap beer and a lot of it, shitty punk bands, and a trashy outfit and things are guaranteed to be great. This particular night I wore my hair down, which was gross because it was so hot, but also really fun. A gay guy got tangled in it and a drunk girl asked me if she could have it. I flirted shamelessly with boys and had the greatest time with my awesome friends. My friend's band, the Normies, played and then my other friends' band, Total Shit, was supposed to play, but there was a noise complaint and the cops showed up. They decided to risk the fine and play a short set anyways and it was brilliant. So much fun. Also, on our way back from the convenience store to get beer, we found a whole wall of Scott Pilgrim posters. Of course we had to take a picture. I'm not entirely sure what is going on with our faces...

dm

If you know me at all or have read this blog much, you've probably realized I'm pretty into Depeche Mode. I may have a bit of an unhealthy obsession. But they really are, in my opinion, one of the greatest bands ever. And Violator is certainly one of the best albums. Seriously, go listen to Enjoy the Silence and Personal Jesus. Right now. Do it.*

Anyways, since Justina and I are both completely in love with the band, and also dorks, we had a party on Friday to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Violator's release. It was kind of small, but everyone dressed Depeche (to the best of their ability) and we decorated with black and purple, lots of tulle, a huge poster, and some red roses. Justina made a cake and we drank Depeche Mode themed cocktails. It was both ridiculous and amazing.

depeche mode shirt - vintage, jeans - thrifted/diy, lace tights - urban outfitters, shoes - thrifted, depeche mode necklace - christmas gift from a coworker

*Sorry I can't embed these, but here's links to the videos for Enjoy the Silence and Personal Jesus.

alone at a party = awkward evening

cardigan - thrifted, belt - thrifted, tank - gap, skirt - jack by bb dakota, tights - dkny, shoes - target, necklace - thrifted, earrings - claire's, watch - vintage

Tonight I went to blogmeetblog at BoConcept. It was really fun! Kind of awkward at first, since I went alone, but I met a really nice couple i hung out with for the evening and bunch of interesting people. I actually didn't take any pictures while I was there...not sure why. But it was a really fun event and everyone looked amazing. It was hosted by Needle+Thread and The Clothes Horse and they did an amazing job putting it all together.

Anyways, I just got this skirt last week when I was shopping with Justina. I found it on sale for $10, down from $50 at Macy's. I also got a sweet sweater and a pair of jeans from the Gap, which I love. I obviously love plaid, so this skirt makes me really stoked. And the belt is just so freaking pretty. I picked it up at Value Village on the way to that Deftones party a couple months ago and it's one of my favorite thrift store purchases.

happy birthday shane!

tee - vintage depeche mode, skirt - thrifted, tights - target, bag - thrifted dooney & burke, shoes - target, watch - step grandpa's

I went into Seattle today for a little surprise birthday party for my friend Shane. A group of us met outside his apartment and then rang the doorbell and shouted "surprise!" We had pie and played jenga and mario tennis.

The Depeche Mode tee is a requirement on the 10th of every month since it is the anniversary of seeing them live. Justina was disappointed I didn't wear the shirt I got at the concert, but it was dirty. I picked up this skirt at Value Village a couple days ago. I'm a little worried it makes me look short, but I really like it. It's hard to go wrong with a nice pleated wool skirt. I don't know how I survived without black flats for so long. Well, I guess I just wore sneakers with everything, which was frustrating. I feel like the weakest part of my outfits are usually my shoes, but shoes are damn expensive! Nice ones at least. I have the feeling these flats will be worn to death and that their death will come quickly considering how often I wear them. I also got this bag when I got the skirt. I really like the navy with tan trim. And usually I really hate Dooney & Burke bags, but this one actually looks nice. It was priced way too high but I did a little sneaky switching of price tags (bad, I know) and got it for $4.

I burn that gift to doll and let it shine before

Yesterday was the 14th anniversary of the release of Deftones' first album, Adrenaline (which was recorded in Seattle). To celebrate such an important date in history, Michael, Spike, Justina, and me all went over to Michael's mom's house to watch Deftones videos, eat cake, and drink in the middle of the day. Justina's brother has a Deftones live in Hawaii DVD, and last weekend we went to Neptune Music and Michael found a Deftones VHS. Justina also made a Deftones themed cake and brought a picture of Chino she drew back in 8th grade, and Michael and Spike picked drinks they thought Chino would like (we ended up with a Heineken mini-keg, Corona, and mimosas). After getting thoroughly drunk in the early afternoon, Justina and I went over to the hippies' house with my dad to sober up before driving home.

shirt - thrifted, belt - thrifted, leggings - silence & noise, flats - target, watch - step-dad's dad's

I felt like latex leggings were pretty appropriate for a Deftones party. Amanda gave these to me for my birthday, since I'd been joking about getting some shiney leggings, but I actually rather like them. They make me feel kind of like a robot with synthetic rubberized skin. I wore them with this men's XL flannel shirt I got at the thriftstore awhile back. The belt was also from the thriftstore, but I picked it up on the way to Seattle because I couldn't find any of my black belts. This one is rather wonderful, I love the little gold tone buckle. It was definitely a lucky find, as I was expecting to just pick up a plain, servicable, black belt. I also, after talking about my lack of black flats, picked up a pair at Target. They were cheap and surprisingly comfortable for Target shoes, so I'm pretty happy. Now all I need is a decent pair of black heels.

pills and thrills and daffodills will kill

tank - gap, pants - gap, sweater - secondhand, shoes - vans, purse - vintage coach, sunglasses - thrifted humphrey's

These are my new pants (and a new tanktop) I got for work. I really like them, they fit awesome and are super comfortable. I had the sweater for work later on, since obviously I can't just wear a tanktop. But it was really hot yesterday, like summer again. Justina and Amanda met me when I got off work at nine and we went into Seattle to hang out with our friend Shane. We ended up going to a midnight showing of Purple Rain at the Egyptian (Amanda and Shane had never seen it before) and sneaking in a bottle of whiskey. It was kind of the most awesome thing ever. Some people we vaguely knew, friends of a friend, were at the movie as well and we started chatting with them while we were waiting for the bus back to the U District. We all caught the same bus and they invited us back to their place for some homebrew beers. It was a pretty great night.

popsicles and croquet

So we had a little party on Saturday to celebrate mine and Amanda's birthdays. Played croquet, ate homemade popsicles and carrot cupcakes (with cream cheese frosting, of course), and just hung out. I wore my mom's prom dress, which means it would have been from about '81 or so. I think. I've always loved the dress, but it's really really small on me now. My mom was so thin! There used to be a purple ribbon at the waist, but I misplaced it, and there's also a little vest of the white and purple material that I didn't wear.




dress - vintage

Justina also wore a very cute dress. It's from Romy and her shoes are from Target. I'm not sure where her headband is from, but she wore it at our prom Senior year.

fo sho if i tell you how do my dancin'

pants - urban outfitters, shirt - urban outfitters, tanktop - old navy

I got both these pants and this shirt when I was hanging out with my dad awhile ago. Well, actually he bought them for me. The shirt is really cozy, more like a sweatshirt, really. Super comfortable. I wore this outfit (plus some shoes - converse) on Thursday (just got around to posting it) to a party/bonfire. It was fun, but I did some stupid stuff that night, which led to some drama on Saturday. Oh well, most of the people there were strangers, so while I do feel bad, I don't feel THAT bad. By the way, it is DEATHLY hot here right now, so I have been dressing really boring/inappropriately. Currently wearing: underwear and a tanktop.

wild summer nights

I went swimming today with my cousin Riley. Isn't she pretty? We went to the river and was really crowded. The water was freezing and the sun was hot. Basically, it was a perfect summer afternoon.



Yesterday I also went swimming, up at the lake with some friends. Afterwards, some other friends invited us up to the rock quarry for a party. I got a lot drunker than I ought to have and did some kind of stupid things and caused some drama between friends. The party was still really fun, I didn't end up coming home until about 9:30 in the morning.


shorts - diy cutoffs, sweater - mom's, shoes - random gladiator's, purse - mom's (vintage coach)

I absolutely love this old hippy sweater. It used to be my mom's when she lived in California and it's stained and ripped but still my favorite. The shorts I've been wearing pretty much every day. Even out in the woods at the party, and I got a bunch of bug bites.

you know the place to stop, on novelty hill

A couple weeks ago I went to a party in Seattle with some of my friends. JAR met Michael and his friend Brady in Seattle, and their friends Spike and Harley (all of these guys were at the party in Bellingham a while back too) met us all there too. We went to this place in Georgetown called the FBK House and saw a couple bands play.

The FBK House was kinda crazy (they have a sign asking people shooting up in the bathroom to use the provided sharps container) but fun, and the bands were rocking. At least that's what I remember, I got pretty twisted that night and moshed pretty hardcore. There was also some cuteness between Amanda and Harley and some ridiculousness on my part.

Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures as I was drinking to0 much, but here's one of me and J where you can't see my outfit, like, at all.



And since I fell asleep in my clothes, here's a shot from the next morning where you can see what I'm wearing. I love this shirt and always get comments on it when I wear it. There's way more Depeche Mode fans out there than I would think. Oh, I didn't actually wear my glasses to the party, and my hair started out a lot nicer looking. It was completely pulled up in a neat ponytail, without all those bits hanging in my face.


sweater - thrifted, band shirt - vintage depeche mode, jeans - express, shoes - converse.

And this is what I woke up to that morning. I apparently knocked over my mirror trying to get to bed when I got home, and my clothes were already all strewn about from looking for my sweater the night before and I don't know what else, but my room looked like a tornado had gone through it.



I also woke up with an unexplained swollen lip and a stiff and bruised back. I'm guessing it was from all the moshing; I think I may have fallen down at least once, and I probably bit my lip too.



We also apparently got yelled at by some crazy old lady after she hit a parked car across the street somewhere in between Dick's and Michael's new apartment. I remember this not a bit.

cutoffs and cocktails

I know it's been a long time since I've written. First, I'd like to mention for those of you who've been reading and have heard about my friend Alex, who is in the hospital, that she is doing much better. She is either going into rehab for 50 days or going home in the next week. I visited a few days ago and she has a lot more use of her arms and legs and her spirits are much better. It was really happy.







Anyways, on Friday my friend Aly and her roommates had a party with a required dresscode of cutoff jean shorts. Justina and I went into Seattle earlier in the afternoon because we wanted to catch this band playing at Cafe Vita, but unfortunately we missed them. We met up with Amanda and hung out in the park for hours. The weather was gorgeous.




shirt - thrifted, shorts - diy, shoes - converse, sunglasses - target

Our weather has been beautiful for the past few days. Today I even put on my bathing suit and laid out in the sun for awhile. I also went for a lovely walk with Justina and her mom down by the river and did some gardening. I'm trying to grow more herbs this year. And my mom is growing lots of veggies. Tomatoes, leeks, lettuce, cabbage, and I don't know what else. God, I love gardens. I love in the summer going out right before dinner is ready to pick some lettuce and tomatoes for a quick salad.





The park was great people watching on Friday. I'm not sure what this park is called, but it's the one on Capitol Hill with the fountain. I took some pictures there for Beginning Photo. (Which reminds me, I still haven't picked up my work from last quarter. I'll post that once I get it.) There was a girl teaching a hula hoop class, a group of little kids rolling down the hill, some people flying kites, and a group of hipsters with a boombox getting high. Among others. Those were just the people immediately surrounding us.







Once we got sick of the park (after several hours) we headed to the U District to meet up with Shane. He still didn't have his cutoffs for that night, so we walked to Goodwill and helped him pick out some jeans. (He so doesn't know how to shop in a thrift store. It was really funny to see him slowly going through the rack, not even in his size. I had to take over for him, and we basically picked out the jeans for him. They had a pretty hilarious Aztec looking tag on the waistband.) Then we got some food at Memo's (a Mexican fast food place on the Ave, it's cheap and usually good but don't get the enchiladas) and went back to Shane's dorm to eat and help him make his cutoffs.







After all this, the party itself was less awesome than the rest of the day. It was fun, but there was some drama with some people that weren't supposed to be there that everyone hated, and some guy kicked a hole in the wall. (I've offered to try to patch it for them, since I have some drywall experience.) Everyone's cutoffs were pretty nice. I was impressed with how short most of the guys were willing to go, but then again, there were several gay dudes there. Even Shane didn't wuss out and make them too long. Mine were pretty long, but whatever. I'm glad I didn't make them gross short like so many girls wear them. Totally not me.











These particular shorts I actually made several years ago, on the way to Eastern Washington to go camping with some friends. I think we were somewhere across the mountains when we stopped at a rest stop. I was way too hot, so I chopped off the legs of my jeans in the parking lot. There were actually two others at the party who were pretty much my exact twins. Cutoffs, duh, but also red flannels. One was Aly's roommate Becky, and the other was our friend Gary. Both were quite drunk, ha, while I was not.