Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Acoustic Bandits


As I've mentioned before, Rx Bandits is my favorite band. When they announced they would be doing an acoustic show in Long Beach I bought my tickets the minute they went on sale.

It was such a great show, especially because the venue was actually a movie theater so it had a much more intimate feel that complimented the acoustic vibe. And then there was the wonderful news that they are officially getting back together and are writing a new album!! They also said that they'll be doing acoustic shows in Long Beach once a year, as a tribute to their home base. So much good news all at once!

I was talking to my friend before the show started and I realized I've seen Rx B live more than any other band. I'm pretty sure this past show was the seventh time I've seen them play, and honestly every single show has been an amazing experience. I have so much love and respect for them, and I can't wait to hear the new album.

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Lost Voices and Whispering Friends


I have a habit of ignoring my body's needs when I get sick. For example, that one time I got sick my freshman year of college and went to class with a fever. (I probably don't need to tell you not to do that, but just in case: don't go to class with a fever. It's no fun.)

Estrella and I had been trying to work out a time to see each other that would work for both of our schedules for literal MONTHS when the universe finally aligned for us the first weekend in December. You can imagine my unhappiness when I woke up the Wednesday before my trip with a sore throat and a low fever. I took a day off work to rest, but as soon as I wasn't feverish I went back to work and tried to convince myself I was fine. The morning I left for Santa Barbara I actually did feel fine--but I had lost my voice.

This is probably where a rational person would have realized that they should stay home and heal properly, but that is not what I did. I went to Santa Barbara anyway.

No regrets!! It was a much-needed trip; I hadn't seen Estrella since JULY! So we whispered to each other all day, and her mom made me soup and lots of lemony tea. The only downside was that my immune system was tired of me ignoring its needs and I woke up the next morning feeling much worse. I ended up going home after just 24 hours but I'm still glad I went.

Forever thankful for someone who will whisper with me all day <3



Sunday, December 22, 2013

Deck the Halls! Part 5: Bonus Round

I mentioned wanting to have some Christmas decorations in my room, and as much as I wanted a real mini Christmas tree, I had to admit that my mom was right and it probably wouldn't fit in my room. In the end I decided on this mini fake tree that I snagged at Target. I was hoping for a white one, but this gold one has done the job well.

I decorated it with some paper ornaments that I folded following the directions on this pin, as well as the 2 ornaments I had posted about earlier.

The topper on this guy is a little bow I made out of the pages of a magazine I had lying around.

I hope you guys are having a pleasant holiday season!
<3

Friday, December 13, 2013

FUN in LA: Whimsic Alley

Whimsic Alley
A few weeks ago one of my friends took me to the most magical place in LA.

Not Disneyland. Whimsic Alley.

It's a store designed to look like Diagon Alley! So you walk in, and the different sections of the store look like little store fronts of their own. They even have a Great Hall that you can rent out for parties!! It was so awesome it was overwhelming. They have so much Harry Potter merch, but also Doctor Who , Hunger Games, and Game of Thrones stuff.

Whimsic Alley
Whimsic Alley
Whimsic Alley
It was so much to take in all at once, I couldn't decide on what to get. I ended up getting a Ravenclaw prefect pin, a button with a dark mark, and a button with the Ravenclaw crest to put on my work apron, and a time turner necklace that I have not taken off since I bought it.

Whimsic Alley
I think I'm going to go back after the holidays to get myself a Ravenclaw Quidditch jumper, but mainly just to be immersed in the awesome-ness again. I wish I had found out about this place sooner, because they also do events like a Yule Ball!

Whimsic Alley
It's my new favorite place, and another spot I think you NEED to see if you're visiting LA.

<3

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Deck the Halls: Part 4! The finished product

Christmas Tree
I've never felt an emotional connection to a Christmas tree before. The tree is always just there, and it looks pretty but that's where my Christmas tree thoughts end.

Not this year. Seriously every time I walk past the tree I think about how much I love it, and I frequently find myself just staring at it adoringly.

Christmas Tree
So let's talk about this gorgeous thing!

I've already told you about the ornaments and the tree skirt; it's kind of frustrating but mostly hilarious that the glittered stars are the showstoppers on the tree. Hours I spent fringing the other stars and they don't look nearly as pretty as the ones that took 5 minutes. The other ornaments are the ones we had already. We have some colored ones but we decided to go for a silver, gold, and blue theme this year.

Christmas Tree
Christmas Tree
Christmas Tree
Christmas Tree
The top is what I am most proud of. Me and my mom were in Macy's in September (not an exaggeration, it was literally September) and they had Christmas trees up already. In all the trees they had flowers or feathers bunched up at the top and we really liked the look of it, so when we went to Michaels on our Christmas craft excursion we got a few bunches of fake flowers to try to recreate the look. It turned out to be incredibly easy and I love the way it makes the tree look. We just cut the flowers off the main stem with a wire cutter and stuck them in! That's all it took, and the tree instantly looked more posh.

Christmas Tree
Christmas Tree
The tree topper is the first real tree topper we've ever had, we bought it at Target this year. Usually we use this paper angel that I colored in the 3rd grade, but I thought it was time for an upgrade.

Honestly, this tree gives me so much happiness that I'm starting to understand people who leave their trees up all year. Although I'm probably not going to do that. Probably. No promises.

Christmas Tree

Monday, December 9, 2013

Sunrise, Sunset

A few weeks ago we had a bit of rain, and the sunset reflecting off the dark clouds made the sky look like it was on fire and bathed my driveway in pink light. It was the kind of sunset that required admiration.
11.22.13
11.22.13
11.22.13
The pictures don't do it justice.
<3

Monday, December 2, 2013

Deck the Halls! Part 3

Christmas Tree
Our old tree skirt was really lacking in pizazz. It was just plain white felt that was starting to look pretty shabby, and it was way larger than it needed to be. I saw these pins a while back and decided to combine the two concepts to make an embroidered constellation tree skirt.

Though I used the above pins as my inspiration, I followed Rachel's tutorial. I started out with a yard of blue felt that I ordered on etsy to use as the night sky background, and some white embroidery floss I picked up at Michael's. I followed Rachel's instructions for cutting out a circle, and then I made a little paper mock up of what my constellations would look like. I was just sketching it out tentatively, but I stuck really close to my model.

tree skirt
tree skirt
tree skirt
When it came time to embroider, I watched a youtube video to teach me how to made a french knot and basically just plunged in. It was really easy to work with the felt; it's stiff enough that I didn't need to use an embroidery hoop which made the whole process a lot faster.


I'm so happy with the result! Seeing it under the tree makes me wonder why we needed such a giant tree skirt before.
Catch up on the earlier deck the halls posts: 1/2