Over the weekend, I acquired 3, yes 3! new board games…

First off, Friday night I received my Christmas gift from my sister:

I have been wanting this one for some time now. I was actually trying to buy it for myself, when my sister said I wasn’t allowed to…. hmm. She probably could have held out and waited to give it to me on Christmas, but being that brat I am, wanting to buy it to have asap, she handed it over. I’m super stoked to have my own version of the game for game nights at my place. woohoo!

next up:

Finally, my own real size Scrabble. I have the travel size, which I do happen to LOVE, but this is just nicer for playing at home. And I got it for only $9 on sale at Toys R Us! Sometimes, braving the holiday crowds during the last shopping weekend before Christmas is worth it.

and finally:

Emily has the original version of this game, and it’s soooo fun. I’ve played the Adult version once before and it was a riot. I cannot wait to have some homes over and get silly playing this! hehe.

I <3 board games.

Just saw a shortened infomercial for this:

I’m convinced I need it. No really. Sounds super handy. Look it up. turbosnake. The website looks like spam, so I’m afraid to post a link. But, it’s for unclogging drains. Ladies, you know how bad it gets when your hair gets wet and falls out and clogs the drain?! UGHHHH.

This came in the mail the other day!

I had found this postcard set from Mark Ryden’s Tree show on the High Fructose website, when I was going to purchase a back issue. and was so excited to find this. I plan to frame some, since I cannot afford the real stuff.

A few FAVORITES:

I’m so excited! I <3 Mark Ryden

Next:

Snow Yak Show postcards!  They must be a newer addition, because they were not there when I ordered the Tree show set. yippee!

Here are a few rugs, I really enjoy for under the dining table.

hmmmm… I’m trying to keep under a budget though, so realistically, none of these are in the actual running :/

Pottery Barn Wide Border Chocolate Sisal on eBay.

( I remember hauling these rugs down from the stock room in High school. Never thought I’d want one myself so badly. And, of course Pottery Barn does not carry this one anymore)

Cost Plus Wool tufted gold Border rug.

Cost Plus Modern Damask Wool tufted Blue rug.

West Elm Andalusia Rug.

Flor If  There Be Thorns Rug kit.

Urban Outfitters Vibrant Wallpaper print Rug.

This one is actually in the running. I was surprised, myself that Urban had the more budget friendly pick. Even if it is just a low pile cotton throw rug. Now, if only I still had that discount…

Other budget friendly Runners up:

Ikea DRAGÖR rug.

Ikea EGEBY Rug.

Is it creepy that I totally want one of these?

Because, I really do. I found it on Supermarket.

Now, to spend the $30 on a planter? As a person who has NO plants, this could go either way. Should I get it as my first planter and make a real attempt to keep something alive in it. Or, just recognize that it’s cool and carry on with my plant free life?

So, I’ve been making some changes around my apartment and thought is might be nice for an update since I am now okay with showing photos of the place. There are still things here and there I plan to improve on. But that’s kind of the fun of having your own place! Today, I’ll share the new dining area. I bought a cute little Oval shaped vintage dining table that had been painted black, off craiglist. And also found 6 black ikea dining chairs, that I think work great with it!

One without flash, because I love the warmth of no flash photos.

The cabinet in the back has all of my sewing gear stored. Kind of a random spot maybe. But I have nowhere else and part of the reason I bought the table was for sewing/craft reasons.

My desk area, pictured in this post, was not cutting it. And that chair is cute, but it’s on it’s way out at the moment. It’s not comfortable, at all!

I still want to find a rug for underneath the dining table. I think it looks to bare without something there.  I just want something simple. Ideally a jute or sisal, because I’ve always wanted one, and I think a dining area would be a great spot for one. Wish me luck on my hunt. So far, it’s not going well.

On Black Friday at about 2am, Stephanie and Mario convinced me to attempt to get cheap TV’s. I had been wanting one. So, I ventured out into the Freeezing cold, half asleep and slumped into the car. (Thank you Steph and Mario for driving to Sunnyvale. I wouldn’t have gone otherwise, for fear of falling asleep at the wheel. I was that tired) The cold woke me right up! And we had quick bite at Denny’s and went to scout out Both Sunnyvale and Mountain View Targets, and the Mt. View Walmart. Well, the NEW Sunnyvale Target had the shortest line, so, we decided to get in that one. It’s bigger, and newer. So, my thought was more merchandise. Maybe? eh. Well, we got in and, no one walked away with a new TV, because they went fast, and we didn’t have the maps telling us where they were (not in Electronics).  BUT, I did get a $3 Crockpot, and $3 Coffeemaker. So, I still win.

After going to bed at 7am, and waking up at about 2pm. I decided to put my tree up! I wasted no time. Really, I was tempted to put it up the night before Thanksgiving. Anyhow, I got it up, minus a section towards the bottom. Yeah, I had to leave out about 2 feet. I should have measured my ceilings before assuming a 9ft tree would fit. Oh well. Fortunately Jeremy got off work just as I was struggling with and helped me get it together.

Just as I had finished getting it up Laura, John, and Ryan came over after their busy day of shopping and Donating. A special treat, since it meant that I had a helper for decorating my still huge tree! Ryan and I spent most of their visit placing Ornaments on my tree. And it looks Awesome, if I do say so myself.

<3

Going to buy this tonight:

It’s 9 feet tall.

So stoked.

I have never done a fake tree before. When living with my parents, we always cut them down. When living with my sister, we’ve always either gone to cut one down or bought one at the lot (or Target!) Last year, we didn’t even get one, it was horribly depressing. The year before that we lived on the third floor, and had this great living room with high ceilings and wanted to take advantage. We went to chop a big sucker down. Well, putting it up in the stand was NOT fun. It was gorgeous once we got it straight. Taking it down, was a headache, to say the least. The pine needles were everywhere places, the tree never even passed through! Well, I ended up breaking my perfectly good vacuum that year.

I LOVE the smell of Christmas trees! and I have definitely knocked faux tress in the past… but, until I have good man around to do the dirty work. I’m going fakey. Hey if it goes well, I may stay fake forever!  I found this 9 foot  pre lit kirkland signature one used, so it was cheaper! I can have the BIG tree I want, with less clean up.

And, I bought a  pine scented reed diffuser that I plan to hide behind or inside the tree somewhere… hehe. tricky….

I could barely enjoy my grilled cheese lunch today thanks to needing 3 anesthesia shots from the dentist this afternoon.   I’m currently working on getting my teeth issues taken care of before the end of the year. and it kind of  has my stomach in knots… But, it’s my own fault. Should have taken better care of these things from the start.

I LOVE my dentist! I never thought I’d say that. My previous dentist was a douche bag. See, I get really freaked at the dentist. I don’t like sharp object in my mouth, I HATE the sounds the drills make, and I worry A) the dentist will slip while some sharp object is in my mouth and stab, or B) go crazy and purposely stab me. I know it’s irrational. I don’t know where it came from. Well, my previous dentist would get pissed when I tensed up. No sympathy. My current dentist is an angel for putting up with my nonsense, raising my hand every 5 seconds because I’m nervous that I might  be stabbed with one of their torture devices that’s having a party in my mouth.

TODAY, I went in for a filling, I need 5 :/ please, please, try hard not to judge. Well, when she finished she said surprise! and had done 2! <333

So, I’m brainstorming and would love suggestions and ideas. What is a nice Thank You/Holiday gift I can send to my dentist office? You know, on top of the $$$ I’m paying her…

Side notes: – This week is going by too slow. – I am in LOVE with weather! the sky is BLUE, the sun is shining, and it’s a crispy 60 degrees. I love my scarves and jackets but I love the sun and hate the rain. So, this is my ideal weather.

Jimmy Choo.

So, Friday night my on-top-of-her-shit Sister, Sarah cakers, told me of her plan to drag her roommate and best friend to the city for the release of the Jimmy Choo for H&M line. she coyly said, you can come if you want… please, I have been drooling over these flats for months, since I started to see previews of the line.

hellllooooo pretties!

I contemplated and decided. Heck! I don’t need to travel to San Fransisco! There is an H&M 20 minutes from my house at a mall that I happen to LOVE. So, I thank her and say I’ll go scope out the other location. I decide about 20 minuted later to call said location to confirm they will have the Jimmy Choo line. The sales woman said only SF will have it. So, I decided to jump on board with Sarah and Steph and make the trek to SF Saturday morning. Sarah decided to look up what time the store was opening. in her research, she discovered that 8, yes 8 US stores were getting the Jimmy Choo line. San Fransisco was the only California store. Madness. Why deprive people of affordable Jimmy Choo. Kind of cruel.

So, I set my alarm for 7am Saturday morning. Met with the Girls in Burlingame, as well as Steph’s awesome and possibly crazy for joining us, boyfriend. I don’t think he had a clue as to what he was in for. And neither did any of us girls for that matter. I knew it would be crazy, but not to the level we experienced. We got to the doors of H&M at about 845am-ish, and followed the line that began to wrap around the corner, and then a 2nd corner and then a 3rd, really we weren’t far from being back at the doors by the time we reached the end of the line. So we secured our spot. The line began moving after 9. The store was to open at 10. I heard something about the store opening at 9am for only the first 100 in line… I’m not sure, but it fit with how things were moving.

At 10am, the line just started moving, and we got right in that door! And I lost sight of everyone! it was insane. So much happened that to blog about it would take all day, and no one would want to read about it. Short synopsis: Girls were fighting, crying, teaming up, trading, buying things off people to then go buy from H&M. Steph was amazing and found hella shit, getting hand out from people who got into the Jimmy Choo area. Which, was sectioned off from the rest of the store, and the first 160 people had wristbands to go in, then after they were done (10 people went in at a time for 10 minutes, there were countdowns and loudspeakers!) The regular late people could line up. We were there at 9am, and this was our crowd. Sarah and I stood in line, while Steph continued to collect items. We cheered and clapped when someone got something they wanted. It was like a game.

In line, looking onto the “area” shelves, getting emptied.

Trying to get a shot of the line behind us. didn’t do too well.

Sarah and I eventually got into the Jimmy Choo Heaven, where there were everything had been ransacked, not much was left. I see the thinner shoe box and make my move! 10 pairs of the exact flats I want in size 9’s! Are you kidding me? Jimmy Choo made extra just for me, I’m convinced. Until that moment, I thought for sure they’d be gone and I’d have waited hours for nothing.

WRONG!

I got my flats! And, quite a few other gems. Here is my current Jimmy Choo for H&M inventory:

Yeah, I got a 2nd pair. I would have doubled up on black, but you were only allowed to purchase 1 of any style.

This belt gives me wet dreams. Sorry, tmi. It’s amazing, though. Really.

I don’t have any really nice purses. I always buy Forever 21, and a few Urban outfitters. Because I tend to enjoy switching it up and having the variety. But, now I have one nice handbag, and it’s really versatile, in my opinion. And very much my taste. As is most of the line.

This top was the most impulsive purchase. I should have left it behind… In the beginning of the whole thing, this was the first item I had. and, I thought it might be the only thing I would have the chance to get. I thought it was kind of fun. At the register I told the girl, I was going to leave it behind. Well, she looked at me like I was crazy. And I fell for it, and took it home. I tried it on quickly that evening and wasn’t stoked on it. I think I need to try it with a full ensemble to appreciate it. But, it may end up on eBay :/

Jimmy Blue, scarf! I love the color. It was a bit of a theme.

I got a few other great, plain old H&M items that I am super stoked about also. But this post is nuts, so I’ll start a new one!

Sarah and i are clearly the crazy ones. We do take after a certain Mrs. Alana Brandt, to be fair.