Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Sh*t Girls Say

Have you seen this making its way around the Internet today? Hysterical is really the only way to put it.





I can't resist anything Juliette Lewis because of The Other Sister and this lovely performance in college.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Our Festive Christmas Decor in Photos

Yes, occasionally people fall off the face of the earth, which is what happened to me over the last three weeks apparently. I am having major regret that I wasn't able to celebrate the holiday season to the best of my ability, like I normally do, but such is life. My class is finally over, Kyle has a few upcoming days off and I'm getting into the spirit of this special time of year!

Even though we've been at our new place a month, there's still an entire room to be unpacked (yikes!). This, of course, does not mean my Christmas decorations were relegated to said room. Priorities, people, priorities. Granted, doing a quick house tour before showing off my festive decor would probably make more sense, but we're playing catch up and a house tour looks like it won't be in the cards until 2012.

Thus, a speedy and effective Christmas decoration tour of the house of Sutherland (apologies for the slightly blurry shots. We're still trying to figure out the fancy pants camera we bought a couple months ago):

The tree in all its glory. There were some sans Moe,
but you know I can't resist that little guy.
A mixture of gilded pinecones, framed Christmas artwork, ornaments
and Christmas books from childhood.
The wish tree from our wedding I refuse to toss.
Mini glitter birds to decorate the tini branches.

I got some great use out of these pinecones this year.
I originally spray painted them for a baby shower (I still plan on posting about)
and they came in handy for Thanksgiving and Christmas!
Paired in a crystal bowl next to a Diptyque candle... Heaven.
One of my favorite decorations. It's a frame my grandma put together.
There's a Christmas art project from each of her 5 kids during their childhood
(my mom made the Santa in the middle).
Nothing says Christmas like 3 St. Nicks and some Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris.
My tree is bird themed even though in real life I feel birds are rats of the sky.
One of my favorite ornaments. I bought a couple in Vienna a few years ago.
They're simple and pretty.

I love my Santa garlands. Also a find from Vienna.

I hope you've all been having a lovely holiday season and that you are looking forward to what's to come in 2012.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Reflections on December 1st

First off, I've been thrilled at how many people have posted the video of Zach Wahls on Facebook in the last two days. If you believe in love and you believe in equality, what more is there to say, really? I'm happy I know many people who think this to be true.

Second, December 1st marks World AIDS Day. For the first nine years of my life, I was lucky to have a godfather, Chuck; we always called him our "fairy godfather". He'd send me and Ginny stickers in the mail just for the hell of it and would always call to ask about 'his girls.' I really, really loved him (and still do). He died of AIDS in 1993, and my sister and I talk about it now, how when you're a kid and you think you'll live forever, you can't empathize with your parent when she loses her best friend, which is what happened to my mom. It must have been awful for her.

In the early 90's, a lot of people were dying from this disease, and since huge advances in antiretroviral medication treating HIV have lowered death rates in our country significantly, it doesn't get talked about as much. To me, this day is always a good reminder that there are people throughout the world, men, women, children and babies, who do not have access to proper medical care, and die from it all the time. ALL THE TIME.

Finally, it has been an anxiety riddled week, which has bummed me out slightly because to me, this really is the most wonderful time of the year. December 1st (which is today, if you haven't had a chance to look at a calendar) is typically the day Kyle and I get our Christmas tree. I bake cookies, we listen to Sufjan Stevens' Songs for Christmas and decorate like chipper little elves (I may be the only one who resembles a chipper elf during this process, not gonna lie).

However, we're still only done unpacking half our stuff, and until we clear it out, we have to wait to get our magical tree. And start merrymaking festivities, of course.

So at this point I feel I should mention Kyle's mom, Cyndi. I have to say, I really hit the jackpot when it comes to mother-in-laws. She's a very thoughtful person and could tell how stressed I was, as well as bummed to not be enjoying the holidays in my usual style.

Lo and behold, she turned my frown upside down with a little gift yesterday:

Santa Gift Tags from Rifle Paper Co.
Red and white baker's twine (you can get it here).

Kraft paper

Cyndi surprised me with these goodies because (1) she knows how much I love Rifle Paper Co., (2) she also knows how much I love wrapping my Christmas gifts with kraft paper and beautiful twine and (3) she knew I needed cheering up and went out of her way to do so.

And truthfully, it kind of reminded me that at the core of the holiday season, it's not about decorating or music or elves or gifts...

It's about celebrating with the ones you love.
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