madeleine's barbie house 'o dreams

the photo above is my niece, madeleine, when the blindfold was removed and she saw her new barbie dream house that my sister, megan, created for her.


wouldn't you have the same reaction if you saw this bad boy?:

i was really impressed with megan's thriftiness & ingenuity--she was given the "house", which was actually a bookshelf in it's former life, and she put a bit (or a ton) of elbow grease into making it a palace befit for barbie herself.

what killed me is the fact that she didn't buy one single barbie, piece of furniture, or accessory for the house--she furnished it with items from her own little collection of barbie nostalgia.

my mom had sewn many of the outfits and bedding back in the day--she was a visionary, that woman.....



i loved what was going on (!!!) in one of the bedrooms:

as well as questioned what was going on (!!???) in the nursery:

the party apparently was also in full swing in the other bedroom:

which contained my favorite accessory to the dollhouse:

bridal barbie was chillaxing in the formal living room complete with hipster wicker living room combo:

& the game room looked like it would be an instant hit with the party crowd:

finally, the kitchen was the designated hang-out spot for my favorite doll, rio de janeiro carnival barbie:

& madeleine lived happily ever after:

SHAKA LAKA LIP BALM

shaka laka maui mint lip balm.


i suspect it might have an addictive substance in the ingredients--perhaps crack?

all i know is that i just can't get enough. it's that good.


PLUS, i can buy it at high-class establishments like maverik. WIN/WIN.

palm springs new year

{view from our balcony. LAME.}

our after-christmas-vacay to palm springs was lovely--we spent it with some of our best friends & family.



and how could it have been otherwise, when we walked outside and had to suffer through THIS kind of crap?:

we built some very excellent sandcastles:

& good some good quality sunbathing time--(some without shirts, some dressed for winter storm watch)

we enjoyed the adventure that was palm springs aerial tramway:

we ventured up to true "cold country" when we braved the -8 windchill at the top of the mountain--HARDCORE!!!

we spent new year's eve people watching beneath the ginormous christmas tree at our hotel--

& perfected our flippin' sweet dance moves to the sounds of the band playing all evening long:

BECAUSE of the spectacular dance moves that were going to be on display, there may or may not have been a quick glam-makeover & some "slipping into something a little more NYE-appropriate" from two little women.

allegedly:

we rang in the new year like rockstars: (a time zone or two AHEAD of ours. allegedly.)

and did 2011 right with a kiss at (pseudo) midnight:

we dined the first day of january 2011 at our favorite mexican restaurant
whilst also busting a move to their house band--

and we recommend HIGHLY the tamales & the pomegranate guacamole!

and they lived happily ever after.....


all because THESE suckers funded the whole shebang:

christmas eve dinner at our house or neal marchant is a not-so-secret thespian.

this is what happens when you declare that the christmas eve festivities shall be a "jammies only" party.



there is a bit of posing.

as well as soft-embracing of o tannenbaum:

along with an example of a hair-DON'T:

but then you get this as well:

who would have guessed we had a family of "theme-dressers"?

hope your holidays were ever so lovely. i'll be playing catch-up a bit this week--there's nothing like listing STOP PROCRASTINATING as my new year's resolution and then immediately breaking it.


AIM LOW.