top: ruche, pants: gap, necklace: gift, boots: gift from avery

.....

avery is quite possibly the world's best 2 year old shopper.  he gets me the most awesomest of prezzies.  these booties were my christmas present this year.  adorable and comfortable.  the only 'downside'??  they're worst to lace up than skates!  

you should've seen me this morning trying to figure them out... it took me probably 3 minutes to get one laced up. at which point i had to text melissa and say "oh my god you should see me trying to lace these boots up"... to which she replies "oh trust me, i know"... (she also got them as a christmas prezzie)...

but once the hard work of lacing them up is done, they are so much fun to wear.

also, these jeggings?? worth the $80? so yes.  they are incredibly comfortable.  like a second skin.  mind you i got them with a 60% off coupon, so i didn't pay the $80.  but i so would have.

happy end of december!!

i actually have plans tonight and tomorrow (amazing, i know)... so i'll be back on sunday to post about my NYE. 

see you all in 2012!

:)

j.

i left my brain behind...

dress, cardi, earrings, necklace, belt: ruche, tights: american apparel, boots: shelly's boots (from karmaloop... cheaper boots and cheaper shipping!)

.....

ya gotta love a three day work week.  especially when it starts out on a serious lack of sleep the night before.  followed by spilling orange juice on your dress almost as soon as you sit at your desk.  then, when you're notified that the server is going to be down for maintenance, and you think 'no problem, i have work that i can do without my computer', so you spend 10 minutes grabbing those files, sorting them, getting the labels ready to label each item... and you realize... nope, i need my excel sheet to know which label goes on what.  finally, it's lunch. oh, but after lunch, the finance department meeting. in which it seems your brain just isn't functioning.  the worst part? it seems to be spreading. no one's brain is functioning. everyone is giddy and funny...

the good part?? everyone is giddy and funny, and no one is cranky.

thankfully it's hump day.

i couldn't survive 4 more work days after this one.

:)

j.

baby its... warm outside...

dress, belt, knee socks, earrings, floral pins: ruche, scarf: ae, tights: american apparel, boots: urbanog

.....

christmas is over. back to work tomorrow.  how does it go by so quickly?  weeks of preparing, and in a blink of the eye, it's over for another year.  so sad. 

i'm hoping santa was very good to everyone! he definitely found my house. apparently i was on the extreme nice list this year.  i was spoiled by my parents and my bestie, friends, family, and coworkers. i really have the most amazing people in my life.  and for that, i'm truly thankful.

today was a whopping +1 degree celsius. that's very warm for this time of year.  mind you i was a tad chilly when i was taking these pics sans coat, it's a definite welcome from the -20s we had last week.  mind you it's reasons like this that i probably end up catching colds...

so, a few more days till we ring in 2012.  what are your new years wishes? plans? resolutions?

i'm still working on mine, but i'll definitely share come the new year.

:)

j.

oh christmas tree(s)...

 i'm a tad bit obsessed with christmas. have you noticed?

my official christmas season starts on november 12th. early right? wrong.

i have four trees to decorate. four.

plus the one at work.

this is my mom's tree... and her railing... and a few little decorations.

her colour scheme is brown, amber, bronze, gold and cream, with a smidgen of lime... 

 

 then there's my tree...

vintage inspired with lots of gold, cream, light blues and mints...

  

 i found it a little bland, so i added some red!

 

did i mention i have two trees? but not enough room for both... so i brought it to the cottage.

a black tree, with white mesh, pewter, cream/white, silver, and blue ornaments.

:)

 then there's the 'family' tree.  the real tree, with a hodge podge assortment of ornaments we've been collecting since i was a baby.

also, christmas eve, we all add an ornament with our name and birth year on it.

very days of our lives...

 

 outside... we can't forget that!

white lights, garland and trees, with red mesh, x 2 doors. and white lights on the front of the house.

 

  

 baking!

butter tarts, with a french style pastry.

yummm..

  

 my treat tins are a hot commodity around here.

a select few close friends and family, and coworkers gets to enjoy these treats.

martha stewart: beware!

:)

j.

green eyed girl...

i've always liked trying to play up my googley green eyes.  lately, melissa's constant sharing of new eye makeup tips has me motivated to try some new stuff too.  i was very dependant on my regular MAC eye regime: phloof! in the inner corners, jest on the lid, and handwritten as a subtle liner.

enter too faced.  melissa loaned it to me to test try some new shades. instant love. 

but pretty similar to my daily shadows...

 then i was introduced to urban decay's naked.  and i thought, 'now there's an idea.  get some more light neutrals, but a few darker, sparklier, riskier shades!'

so i ordered it from sephora.

 

a nice palette, wouldn't you say?? lots of warm neutrals, with a splash of pinks and taupes, and some blue tones.

surprise surprise, my faves are:

 

thinking outside the box clearly isn't my strong point.

so in the past month, my eye obsession got a little out of hand, with my eyelash extensions, naked shadows, bioelements eye makeup remover (good for the extensions, and doubles as an all over makeup remover... bang for the buck!), eyelash extension mascara for the times i want some extra oumpf, and the Urban Decay eye primer that came with my naked palette.  

who knew primer helped keep eyeshadow in place so much longer??

 

  

i also may have splurged on two lip butters with my sephora purchase...

because who doesn't pretty lips that feel oh so smooth??

clinique colour surge butter shine lipstick in:

apple brandy & adore u

 

so pretty.

so smooth.

i love being a girl.

:)

j.

an ornament swap!

back in november, i found an ornament swap that micaela (of dolce vita) was hosting!  such a great idea! i love christmas! i love sharing spirit! so why not??

my ornament swapper was holly, from running in stilettos.  

the plan:

find an ornement for $10, pack it with lots of fluff and stuff so it doesn't break, include a card stating why you chose the ornament you did, mail it out... then wait for your ornament to arrive.

and arrive it did, last thursday.

a gorgeous glass bulb with feathers inside, and a colourful card filled with warm wishes from holly.

thank you holly for the lovely surprise!

and thank you micaela for hosting this swap.

:)

merry christmas week!!

christmas luncheon...

hendrix likes to get in on the blog pics.

our first ever family photo

cardi, top, belt, skirt, shoes, earrings: ruche, bow: redvelvet, vintage cameo necklace: birthday gift from melissa

.....

it's christmas week!!!  

(this is what i've been running around squealing to everyone for the past 2 days)

yesterday we had our staff christmas luncheon, where we all bring in a gender neutral prezzie, and draw names.  it's a chinese gift exchange (i think), where you can either take a wrapped present, or steal someone else's.  it's a hoot.  i scored an awesome Second Cup gift basket full of hot drinks and chocolates.  which is the gift i wanted.  it'll keep me nice and warm over the upcoming cold weather months.

have i mentioned i'm totally smittin' with this bow in my hair?? i could wear it everyday.  i have a feeling i'll be ordering it in other colours.  had some difficulties getting it to stay in place when i first tried it out, but with a bit of practice (and back-combing), i've got it now!  you can look forward to seeing it appear in this weeks upcoming christmas week posts. :)

ps. it's hump day. we've made it past the first half of the week that leads to my favourite day of the year: christmas eve! whoop!!

j.

plaid & bows!

hendrix's collar/bowtie: neck candy collars
coat, dress: ruche, scarf: roots, hair bow: red velvet, boots: aldo marrs boots, tights: american apparel

.....

we took our christmas photos today!

aren't we just the corniest??

i love it.

:)