November 18, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Winners Of The Three Necklaces Giveaway And Cravings Gifts

The winners of the necklaces (picked from random.org) are Jo, Sharon and Lyn. Congratulations! I will get those out to you this week! I hope you like yours as much as I like mine. And thank you to everyone who entered! I will have another giveaway coming up in December!

There are a ton of things on my wishlists, but it is the time of the year where it is about buying for others. That, coupled with the fact that I also have a few clothing related posts I will be publishing later in the week if all goes as planned (including a set of reviews going up tomorrow), means I don’t really feel much like talking about clothes today. Gasp! So, today let’s talk about gifts. Here are a few things I am excited about gifting this year. I cannot post a lot about gifts here, because my family reads this blog, but I will post a few things that they know they are getting or things I can recommend for a generic gift receiver:

I always get my son the Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar. It is a fun way to countdown the time until Christmas. Yes, that is Darth Vader dressed as Santa Claus! I purchased mine at the beginning of November. I cannot believe it, but it is sold out online all ready. Amazon has it for a huge markup through a third party. I think that is ridiculous so I am not linking to it. I would recommend heading directly to your local Target or Walmart (our local Target was out of them as of yesterday) VERY soon to check their stock if you want one for your kiddos (definitely before Black Friday).

This year I was able to get my daughter Benefit’s Advent Calendar from Sephora during their 20% off promotion. It gets mixed reviews, but I think it looks perfect for a teenager. I also recognize that her gift cost double my son’s. I had to seriously question the purchase of this, but she is only living at home for a few more years. I want to spoil her while I can.

I cannot wait to watch both kids get their gifts and countdown the holiday!

I do not burn candles a lot. I cook way too much to do so. I like the smell of food baking and cooking much better than any candle. The candles I do purchase are, surprise!, food based. My newest favorite scent is the Oatmeal Cookie Candle from Anthropologie. I have been on a roasted chicken phase here (I still cook when I am sick. Moms cannot take a day off. I think it is about time we went on strike), so I have not burnt this yet. But it is sitting on my counter waiting for a day when we finally get take out.

I gift and get these duvet slippers every year. They are simply the best. Like pillowy clouds upon your feet. I highly recommend them. I have been purchasing them for years.

As a little girl, one of the best parts about the holidays were the Lindt Truffles my grandmother would leave out in candy dishes throughout her home. They were not as available back then as they are now. It was a big treat. I like to give these chocolates as gifts. Right now Costco has these giant bags filled with about fifty truffles for $6.99 (for a very limited time). I may or may not have purchased four and have two left. Don’t count on these as gifts, folks. Or buy more than I did. The peanut butter truffle?! I swoon. I need to go pick up more!

What is a generic gift that you always give out? I would love more ideas. I also like to buy colorful colanders on clearance at Marshall’s, etc. and fill it with a pretty kitchen towel, and goodies (perhaps some Lindt Truffles if you have more willpower than me). Tie it with a bow around the handles and you can punch a hole through a gift card and attach it to the bow. Phew! That was quite a visual. I will have to make one up and show you a finished colander soon.

November 17, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Pretty Pleats With A Necklace On Top

Way back in the peak of summer I fell in love with The Solana Swing Dress from Anthropologie. I reviewed it here. But I vowed to wait for a good sale price. I very much wanted both colors it came in: grey and pink. I liked the pleats. I liked the swing shape. I knew it was a dress that I could carry into all seasons.

It finally went down to less than $30 during a recent sale. And so I scooped up both colors, and happily awaited their arrival. I even took pictures in one of them while I was extremely sick (still am. I don’t know what to do about this illness) so I could show the dress while it is still available. This dress escorted me to the doctor’s. It is a keeper. Here is the deal, though…

In the reviews, two separate people stated getting any sort of water upon the dress resulted in a permanent loss of the beautiful pleats. I am terrified of even brushing up against the sink in this or going near Ollie, the drool monster. I will try dry cleaning, but I also worry they will want to iron it or steam iron it. Therefore, it may never, ever, ever get washed. That’s not too gross, right?

I ordered both dresses in a size medium, but the pink dress is noticeably longer.

I decided to pair the grey dress with a white long sleeve shirt and wear it more as a jumper with tights.

We took the dogs for a drive and I decided to pose with Murphy.

I initially wore my hair in a new ponytail style, but it was too windy to keep it.

Murphy was being kind of crazy, so I switched to Ollie.

But Murphy looked sad, so I decided to take them both for a walk.

This did not really help, because what they really wanted was my husband. They adore him the best. That is because he adores them the best. Funny how that works.

They finally got what they wanted. My husband is aghast that I took his picture. He doesn’t need to know I then posted it on the internet, too. Let’s just keep that between us. And, yes, I love a bearded man.

And I love a good scarf. I purchased this scarf from Anthropolgie many years ago. It has always been my favorite.

Do you “do” pleats? Do you wear long sleeves under your sleeveless dresses in the winter? What should I do about cleaning the dress? Any suggestions?

*I shared this on The Pleated Poppy and Reasons To Dress.

November 16, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

I Hate Pigeons

The blasted rats with wings.

“Coo. Coo. Coo.

“I hate you.”

It all started back when my daughter was three months old.

Rewind.

It all started when I was pregnant with my daughter and we moved into a rental home.

There was a rustling in the eves. I looked up. And a thousand pigeons stared down at me.

“Oh. Aren’t they cute?” I ignorantly thought.

I assumed anything would have been better than the apartment where we had been living. A girl I went to high school with lived in the same apartment complex. She had woken up the week before when a bullet went through the pillow next to her head. The neighbors upstairs had gotten into a little spat. No biggie.

It happens.

We moved the next week.

Into a different kind of nightmare.

A nightmare occupied and governed by a new beast.

A beast innocently called, “pigeon.”

There is nothing innocent about a pigeon.

Don’t let those children’s books, “Don’t let the pigeon drive the bus!” fool you. There should be a book entitled, “Don’t let the pigeons near us!” or something similar. Maybe a little darker. Maybe involving a certain pigeon and a bus with the kind of happy ending I could get behind. Anyway, I digress…

They were everywhere.

We could not clean up the droppings fast enough.

I gave birth to my daughter and rarely left the house for three months. This led me to conveniently ignore the pigeons. I thought they were an annoying nuissance. Nothing more. Certainly not a death trap.

Okay. Let’s fast forward. My daughter is three months old. It was raining. I went to lay her down in her crib for her nap and I felt a drop of water hit my hand. I looked up and the entire ceiling above her crib was swollen with water. It drooped low and menacingly above our heads.

I quickly ran and placed my daughter safely in her bassinet in our bedroom. Then I moved the crib towards the doorway, away from the bowing ceiling.

I then called my landlord.

“Hello. Yes, this is your tenants. The ceiling in our daughter’s room is completely filled with wa-.”

CRASH!

I ran into the room. The ceiling had caved in. The area where my daughter’s crib had been mere minutes before was now littered with broken plaster and jagged beams.

To say it was scary was an understatement.

It turns out that the ~~delightful pigeons~~ fiends that had roosted there had feces that could melt a roof. And they did. And it was.

And then the roof was fixed.

Here is the kicker: Apparently this was the third time this had happened! And they let me put my baby’s room there. And they never exterminated the house! And we moved two months later.

They do exist!

Now that I am aware of the detriments that these creatures can create, I am always watchful of a single pigeon. I will not let these tenants move in. Not for one day. Not for an hour.

The other day, I heard it. It was the sound from my nightmares.

“Coo!”

“Mom, is that an owl?”

“No, son. That’s a demon.”

I went outside. There it was, resting on my chimney. Taunting me.

Seriously, look at it looking at me.

Why? Why do I spend all of my efforts on my thighs? If the pigeon was closer, I could have used my thigh’s awesome power and clapped it to smitherines. But no such luck. It was not getting near my trap.

Then I thought of it.

I scrambled to the pool area. I grabbed one of my kid’s high power water guns. I filled it with pool water.

And I took aim.

I fired.

It hit the side of the roof.

The pigeon was not phased.

I refilled my gun.

Missed again!

At this point, I was covered in water. I was wearing rain boots (photo shoot for a story). It was eighty degrees and sunny outside. I was screaming at the bird. I was giving the bird the bird. And I am sure my neighbors were cooing in their pants.

Refill. Shoot. Miss. Scream.

Repeat.

Finally the pigeon took pity on me. Or I had turned into a bigger monster than it.

It left.

I hope it did not leave to get back-up.

Oh well. I have a whole pool full of water and many more refills in me.

This war ain’t over.

“Coo! Coo! Coo!

I’ll get you.”

Has a war ever been won with water guns? I am afraid I am about to find out.

*I recognize the pictures are of a Dove and not a Pigeon. In my flurry of uncharacteristically fast movement I forgot to get a picture of THE Pigeon. If you squint, you can just pretend like I do. Of course, I don’t squint. I just drink wine. Cheers.

November 15, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Tinamou Stitched Tunic

I had tried The Tinamou Stitched Tunic (now sold out, but the same designers made this gorgeous top more appropriate for winter) on over the summer. I fell in love with it, but because it was sleeveless, I put it in my wishlist and made myself forget about it.

By the way, did you know “Tinamou” is a type of bird? Each time I look up an unknown Anthroplogie word, it usually means “bird.” I think I have cracked ~~my head~~ the code.

Then one day, many months later, it popped back into stock after being sold out. I scored it for $20. The Mothers Jeans were a different popback at $8. Retail price for those was over $200. I knew I wanted to layer the fun tunic for the fall, so I paired it with a simple long sleeve tee from H&M.

The fun details on this top are so intricate and bright. There are black pompoms on the bottom. It is hard to tell because of my black pants.

I also wore my fringed booties. We took these pictures in a nearby park, because my husband had to get to work. But I wanted a picture of this outfit.

Winning.

These over the top neon hoop earrings are recently from Forever 21. They were less than $5 and they stole my heart. The neon bracelets garnered their own post a few months ago.

I wore this outfit to my son’s junior high school, because it was parents eat lunch with their kids day. I thought he would not want me to go.

I was right.

His exact words were, “Mom, I’m not embarrassed by you. Well, only a little embarrassed. But they play music at lunch. I don’t think you can control yourself.”

He knows me too well.

But I promised I would behave. And by behave, I meant not dance on the lunch table. It was a promise I have avoided making for years. Thankfully my husband did not hear me say it and therefore still does not know that I am capable of such actions.

To the vast relief of my son, we could not hear any music from our lunch table.

Phew.

It was a close one.

Have you scored any deals lately? If you have children, do you embarrass your kids? Do you dance to music in public? Do you keep unknowingly buying clothes named after birds?

Gnome Lover

Stumbling through life while still having fun

Month: November 2014

Winners Of The Three Necklaces Giveaway And Cravings Gifts

Pretty Pleats With A Necklace On Top

I Hate Pigeons

Tinamou Stitched Tunic