Behold, the Christmas bush

As I mentally composed this post this morning, I was thinking I would start with yay, its December, thank heavens November is over because November really sucked for the von Trapped family, hopefully December will be much better, and this morning I ran over a railroad spike and got a flat tire and had to walk home from the repair shop so I'm thinking that perhaps the universe is telling me not to get my hopes up about December.

Last Sunday afternoon we went out to get a Christmas tree.  At the first nursery, we were greeted in the parking lot by a numchuk-wielding teenager.  Numchuk Boy followed us around nursery, inches from my elbow the entire time.  The trees looked nice but they were $70 for a 5-foot Douglas fir.  I thought that was insanely expensive, but could not shake Numchuk Boy long enough to whisper to my husband that we should go somewhere else.  Luckily, the Mister said "This is expensive, we should go somewhere else."

At nursery number 2, no one was wielding weapons, but the trees started at $80.  We need a small, skinny tree, and these were enormous.  We left empty-handed out of that one too.

Third try--massive retailer Home Depot.  Not supporting an independent nursery, but Home Depot has a 5 foot Douglas fir for $26.  Huzzah, Christmas is saved!

In our living room this tree appears to be closer to a Christmas Bush--its about as tall as I am--but it seems more sturdy than last year's tree.

I had a pretty skirt around the Christmas tree but packed it back up after the children used it as a tent.

Naomi Stein's amazing house tour

Design Sponge featured Naomi Stein's house today, and oh my heavens, it is delightful.  There are two nooks that are just ahmaaaaazing.

I love how saturated the colors are in this blue office nook.  The cobalt blue wall, paired with the hot pink parsons desk, is just fabulous.  I foresee living in rentals for the next few years, so this beautiful collection of color won't be mine for a while, but when I buy a house I am going to go CRAZY with color and this will be at the top of my inspiration file.  THE TOP, because I love it.

I don't know if I would be so bold as to pair the red stools with the cobalt blue and the hot pink--I don't know if I'd even be brave enough to pair the cobalt blue with the hot pink--but looking at this I am inspired to try.

The other fabulosity is this wall nook in the living room:

Both images via Design Sponge

That wall-paper is so colorful and glamorous, and the mirror just POPS.  Oh, to live in a place where I can put up wallpaper without having to take it down at the end of our lease.

The entire home is gorgeous.  You can see more of it on Design Sponge, or on Naomi's blog Design Manifest.

Ugly Sofa 5: The Opposable Thumb sofa

The opposable thumb sofa is a lovely shade of band-aid, fleshy peach, and bends in both directions like opposable thumbs.  It also helpfully contains a side table in the middle of the sofa, that's one less thing to buy.

As usual, $1000 total budget; $500 or less must purchase a 5x7 rug, one set of curtains and two pillows. 

Rug, curtains and pillows: $489

1. Diva Ikat curtain: $70
2. maze rug: $399 (I REALLY wanted to use this rug, but at $499 it gave me $1 for a pair of curtains and pillows, stupid budget.)  I gotta tell you, using a rug that is more than $300 really strains the $1000 budget.  As you will see by the pillows.
3. pair of turquoise pillows: $20.  Finding two pillows for under $30 is tough. If I had more money in the budget I would have gotten these Kelly Wearstler ones or these Celery Kemble ones.


Accessories: $526
4. leather armchair: $125 on craigslist
5. Jersey shore photo: $145.  At 28x12, this picture is on the small side for a focal point, but hey, its Jersey shore, gotta REPRESENT.  Plus its by an independent artist, I like to support them when possible. (This artist has some great pictures that are reminiscent of that Christian Chaize Praia Piquinia picture that's all over blogland, but way less expensive.)  If you were of a mind to have a massive ocean photo by a mass retailer, this one from Ikea would also look nice in the room and is nearly the same price.
6. lamp: $25
7. Cocoa & Hearts painting: $95
8. set of light blue crocodile boxes: $46
9. snow leopard throw: $90. Everyone needs a leopard throw.  Everyone.

Total: $1015

Glass/gold coffee table: $350.  This is not even remotely in the budget, but lets pretend that a generous relative bought it for me.  

I am grateful

for these little stinkers.  They are the biggest source of joy in my life.

They like to DANCE DANCE DANCE to Dynamite by Taio Cruz.

How about you put your hands up, all you single ladies?

Man, that smile gets me every time.  So stinking cute.

And how cute is Princess's new haircut? (Not the easiest picture to take, she don't hold still for long.)

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

a Thanksgiving meme

Lawyerish put up a Thanksgiving meme, so I will play along.   You should too!


1. Are you celebrating Thanksgiving at home or elsewhere this year?  With whom will you spend Thanksgiving Day?
This year, we are off to the inlaws (about an hour away).  In years past we did both sets of parents in one day (my parents are about two hours away), but that is just an insane amount of driving and eating, so after we had two kids we set a holiday schedule.  For the past few years we have spent Easter at my grandmother's, Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve with my inlaws, and Christmas Day with my family.  Still a fair amount of driving at Christmas, but its the best plan we've come up with.  

2. What do you have for breakfast on Thanksgiving?

Nothing special.  As a kid, we used to have pumpkin pancakes.  However, we eat pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes in my house every weekend, so they are not exactly a special treat.  I made the mistake of adding chocolate chips to the pancakes, and now my children turn up their nose at any other pancake, which is annoying.  Breakfast here tomorrow morning will probably be cheese sticks and waffles and yogurt, just like every other morning.  

3. Do you go to a Thanksgiving parade or watch one on TV?

No.  

4. Do you serve appetizers, lunch, or snacks during the day (i.e., for the men to eat while they lounge around and watch football)?

Not really.  The first course at my inlaws' is an antipasti, so there's not much served while we are waiting. 

5. What do you wear on Thanksgiving?

Mah Eatin' Pants.  Just kidding.  I save those for the Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve (now THAT is a ridiculously huge meal).  I usually just wear jeans and a nice sweater.   

6. What's your Thanksgiving table like -- do you use special plates/silver/glasses, etc?  Do you have a centerpiece?  A color scheme?  Candles?

I just show up and set the table with whatever plates happen to be available.  There are usually 11 of us attending, so we tend to go through all of the holiday plates plus the regular plates plus the dessert plates and all the silverware, since there are so many courses.  

7.  Do you serve buffet-style or family-style?  What do you have to drink?

At my grandmother's house the meal is served buffet style, although everyone sits at multiple long tables.  My father is the oldest of 11; there are 40+ people in the immediate family.  There is a turkey, and everyone brings a side.  

I grew up eating a Thanksgiving meal of turkey, mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy (omg my grandmother's mashed potatoes and my uncle's gravy YUM YUM YUM--I can't eat most dairy anymore, so that cuts off both items for me, waaaah), ham, lots of bread and butter, and green beans with eggs and breadcrumbs. Year after year.  

My inlaws have a more traditionally Italian meal which happens to have a turkey in it; the meal is pretty big (not as much food as Christmas Eve, but still substantial) and is served in courses at the table.  There may be the occasional crudite while waiting, but since the first course is an antipasti course, we usually don't have have snacks while waiting. We start with four or five small vegetable sides plus the finest cured meats and cheeses in the land, then a meat course (turkey and stuffing in this instance), frequently a pasta course (everyone eats lasagna for Thanksgiving, don't they?), a salad course, then dessert.  Yes, the salad is served last. I love salad, so I have learned to pace myself so that I have room at the end. 


I cannot discuss Thanksgiving at my inlaws' without noting that my mother in law makes a stuffing that is UNBELIEVABLE and constitutes the majority of my meal.  Yes, I just eat plate after plate of the stuff because it is DELICIOUS.  Thank goodness its only made once a year because its probably a thousand calories a spoonful.  It is fresh sausage, mushrooms, onions, rice, a gallon of olive oil and 47 tubs of fresh parmesan.  To die for, I tell you.   


There is wine aplenty at both families. I don't drink anymore (yet another food group denied to me by my stomach issues), so I usually have water or Pellegrino if I'm feeling fancy.  


8.  Once you're at the table, do you say grace or a toast or does everyone go around and say what they're thankful for?
Not at my inlaws, but I think its a tradition we should start now that the kids are old enough to participate. At my grandmother's we said grace and would go around the table and say what we were grateful for.   


9.  Do you have dessert right after the main meal or later on?
Holiday meals at my inlaws tend to be a few hours long, with a small break between courses.  So we have dessert right after dinner, but dinner has been slowly creeping along for about three hours.  I am bringing a lemon cake and a French apple pie this year.   


10.  What do you do with your leftovers?
Since I rarely host, I don't usually have the problem of what to do with the leftovers.  We get sent home with a large tupperware container; with any luck it is 90% stuffing, which is generally gone by the time I go to bed.  


11. I'm adding a question here--what's your favorite food item at Thanksgiving?  
Mine is clearly the stuffing, followed closely by leftover turkey sandwiches.  

inexpensive chiang mai dragon pillows, other tidbits

Today I was reading Aesthetic Oiseau, which is a fabulous design blog (you are already reading it, right?), and she is partnering with the Etsy shop Aurelia for 20% off items in her shop. This is massively awesome because Aurelia has a number of designer pillows, including a PAIR of chiang mai dragon pillows for $80 after the discount.

Eighty dollars, peeps!  That is an insane deal for TWO chiang mai pillows---look elsewhere on etsy, I have been pricing these pillows for my bedroom and I have yet to find them for under $200.  I feel obligated to share this awesomeness with you all.

Check out Aesthetic Oiseau's blog and Aurelia's shop for details.

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I did not send out change of address announcements when we moved to this house a few months ago.  It occurs to me that this is probably going to significantly impact the amount of Christmas cards we get this year.

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The rabid squirrel remains at large, despite the all-points APB put out on him. 

decorative cell phone skins

I have wanted an iPhone forever.  Not because I actually want an iPhone--I just want a pretty case cover for my phone, and the covers are only available for iPhones and Blackberries.  I have even contacted the sellers, and they say they are "looking into" making cases for other brands, but they just aren't available.

But!! Super exciting news!  I have found an alternative for us non-iPhone/Blackberry-using consumers!

Instead of a hard case, these rubbery plastic skins are available for Android users, give the same look (and cost less too):

Or these chevron cases:

Peeps, there is so much design goodness here, I can't even decide what to get.  Maybe I should order five two and switch them depending on my mood, like having lots of pretty purses to match your outfits.  I carry the same purse, day in and day out, usually for about four or five years, but I feel that I could be persuaded to be the kind of girl who switches the skin cover on her cell phone two or three times a day.

Which five one should I get?