holiday

[christmess morning at our house.  nothing says the holidays like a life size gremlin]

the holiday has come and gone, and i hope it was wonderful to you all.  if you don't celebrate, i hope that you had an amazing weekend!

ours was busy like normal, but still seemed to be a little more laid back.  for us it all starts on christmess eve. we go to my cousins house who has the entire family over.  but this year before we went we stopped by my biological mum's house to try her homemade mulled wine(amazing!), and to share our gifts with them.  

[her tree!]

[ornament that jeremi made last year]

christmess morning was sweet and quiet for us at our home.  cosette was excited for her stocking and the treats that were inside, and jeremi was pretty excited with his things.  me, you can't go wrong with a black nintendo 3DS complete with bust-a-move in 3D!    after coffee and showers, we headed down to my parents house who live about 30minutes away for traditional christmess morning brunch and coffee with all of the immediate family.  always so much fun!

 [decorations at mums]

[their tree christmess morning]

[my parents house christmess night]

[i love christmess lights]

[their tree]

[grinch ornament made my jeremi, poe-ho-ho ornament made by me]

[we have a peppermint pig every year]

[the star wreath on my parents house]

[my old street with the best street light]

our christmess ended with being back at my parents house for our spaghetti dinner, present and ornament exchange.  as we were leaving i decided that i need to photo our street light.  the town has 5 different designs and it's rare that our street gets the snowflake(the best one!).

i hope everyone is ready to wish 2011 goodbye, and ready to say hello to 2012.  it's going to be a weird year, i can already tell.  not a bad weird though, or at least i hope not!

christmess peek

i hope you all had an amazing holiday!  i've got plenty more to share!

my style

[12.13.2011]

[12.13.2011]

[12.13.2011]

[11.16.2011]

it's been awhile since i've shared photos of myself.  i'd like to get more full body photos of outfits and the like, but i always get so awkward when people are taking photos of me that aren't really candid.  it makes me wonder how i ever did any of the modeling that i have in the past..sheesh!


lately i've been totally taking advantage of being able to find proper, and solid colour over the knee socks.  it's nice to have that extra layer, especially with the confused weather that has been happening here in virginia lately.  


and i'm so very excited for next wednesday!  here's hoping that i can start to cut my hair into the shape i want.  siouxsie-a-la-peekaboo-with less fringe?  we'll see!

catching up on december

[12.12.2011 what my morning looked like.  just a few more to go!]

[same morning.  red is orly's "mon cherie", and glitter sandwiched is claire's "bedazzled"]

[making christmas making christmas]

[i have random festive picks throughout my home]

[our wreath this year!  i keep it inside though because i don't trust someone to not mess it up]

[a peek into our tree]

[ earlier this month at my parents]

[i have an excellent family]

so!  here is what my decemeber has looked like so far!  it's really hard to believe that we're already so close to christmas.  i'd love to have a job where things slow down and you get a "break", but i'm in no field to allow that to ever happen!  the time i do get though, i appreciate and  i know it could be worse!  

etsy

i finally opened my etsy shop.  now to get some of those rings in there too!

a peek at my december

[12.6.2011 our tree on a rainy morning]

fishkeeping

[my renovated tank ready to go]

[12.01.2011 my very first angelfish]

just to share something else that i'm quite passionate about:  fish.  when i was growing up, my dad had several tanks, and they'd come and go, be set up for awhile, and then get torn down.  it wasn't until i came back to virginia and started my job that i'm still at to this day, that i started to want to try my hand at fishkeeping again.. namely a real tank.


what i have for a main set up is a 20gal high.  your pretty basic tank, and it was first set up in 2008.  i started out with a pair of xray belly tetras, an emerald green corydora, and a glass cat.  fish have come and gone(not many though!  my fish deaths from my tanks have been very low), and just this august i lost my pair of xray belly tetras that i originally started out with.  


the tank sat empty still running, gathering algae and i had decided to tear it down.  that is until the boylove happened to spy a pair of angelfish and started asking questions about them.  this got me really excited because i had found a fish that seemed to truly  interest him too, which makes it more fun when the excitement is shared.  that alone was enough to make me want to keep the tank set up and get it ready for fish again.  it's been a month long process to clean it, treat it, "aquascape" it, and start it cycling.  last nite we introduced our first angelfish and still so far, so good!


keep your fingers crossed for us!

[a ring that i made thanksgiving day]

i have been very bad with updating this, and i apologize.  with the holidays so close, and now one past, things have been busy in my worklife.  very!  

i am alive and i have been documenting, and now i have a lot to share!  which is a good thing!

and i have to say hello because i see some new faces:  thank you :)

dia de los muertos

[11.1.2011]

[11.2.2011 our altar]

[11.2.2011 - grandaddy owen, and mrs. comer]

[11.2.2011 lil warren and sandra]

[11.2.2011]

[11.2.2011 a smile for them]

we celebrate day of the dead, or dia de los muertos.  last year was the hardest yet.  it's never to easy to place a new photo or belonging for a loved one lost, but when you have to double it...  this year was much easier than last.  i did not cry when i set up the altar.  when i placed the food, i did not cry.  jem saw it when i was done setting everything up, and he smiled.

remember and show love to who you have and who you have lost.  smile and wish them well.  remember what they left you with and appreciate it because they are never fully gone from you.

halloween weekend 2011 - part two - home

[pre surgery]

[taking a break from serious pumpkin carving - meg, my little sister]

[meg]

[our pumpkins actually got carved this year!]

halloween day was spent being lazy and staying close to home, visiting grandma and a sick mum, feasting, carving pumpkins, sipping spiked cider, and watching movies.

not a bad halloween weekend.  though, i will say that it made me realize that i slacked a lot this year with preparation.  next year it will be different!  watch out!

halloween weekend 2011 - part one - charlottesville

[clip from monster squad explaining wolfman's nards]

[shawn's creation]

[my nard was showing]

our weekend included spending some much needed time with some of the most amazing people we know, seeing Monster Squad for the first time(for me anyway), having "wolfman's nards" while watching Monster Squad: "my nards are showing"  "top 'em off!"!  

wolfman's nards:

1 1/2oz vodka(we started off with svedka, and then went with pinnacle's whipped cream vodka..amazing)

1oz kahlua 

3/4 oz cream

lindt chocolate truffles dropped in

my wolfman apparently had a cryptorchid....heh.  

[10.30.2011 before leaving]

[get it.. brighter fires..]

[broken glass cupcakes - red velvet cake with cream cheese, and broken candy glass shards]

[the pumpkin carving skills there were amazing]

on sunday we made it back over the mountain to go see the first show by Brighter Fires, two amazing and talented people(see also Andy Deane of Bella Morte).  they did wonderful for it being 36degrees outside, and their first live run through!  i'm glad that we were able to make it to support.

halloween skull face

[when all else failed, skull face 10.30.2011]

the end of october

[10.29.2011]

[after the storm cleared out]

[10.29.2011]

i am usually the person who is so up to date with the weather goings-on that it's annoying, but this storm i hadn't even heard of until the day before.  our weather all through this month has been very confusing.  warm, cold, warmer, colder.  and then snow.  snow that stuck.  snow that made so many trees around my apartments, and around my entire little city break in half from the weight of it.  

it was beautiful and we ended up with a few good inches, but later in the day it started to leave.  at least i was able to get out and about to snap a few photos to show the rarity of it!  my mum said it hadn't snowed like this here before halloween since 1979.  

i guess when you look outside and you know it's october because the leaves and tress are still in full colour, it still leaves you confused as to whether or not you should be carving pumpkins or putting up the christmas tree!  

last week of october?

[10.2009]

[10.2009]

[disney's vinylmation jack from a favourite dear heart]

work work work.  i've been doing a lot of it.  in some weird way, both jobs seem to balance each other out.  a good thing?  it's also so hard to believe that we're in entering the last week of october!?  it's flown by, but i knew that it would.  my only heartache really is not knowing how to dress for halloween.  well, that, and not knowing what we're even going to be getting into?  maybe not all bad.  it's been quite awhile since i've had a laid back halloween, and maybe that's in order for this year.  i guess we'll see what happens!




i also want to say hello to my new watchers :)  i've enjoyed what you share also, and thank you <3