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.

abbey's vip poster should be worshipped thank you very much amy dalley

abbey was the VIP at her school this week and she couldn't be more thrilled and delighted with her posters--


(unless she's her mother, then she's infinitely MORE ecstatic!)





many, MANY thanks to our amy who designed and created them. she is truly gifted at this shit and i'm always grateful for her vision.  there's a reason i've loved that girl since 1988.....

gesundheit! mia shows us how to take care of GEHHHMMMMS.

i loved this self-portrait that mia created at school--she told me it was how she took care of "gehhhms."

i think the likeness is exact:

palm springs bike trip with dannielle's cute mom (who does NOT SPEND THAT MUCH TIME ON FB?)

{l to r: jody, dannielle, micki}

a few weeks ago i had the good fortune to enjoy a lovely 2 days in palm springs with my bike and my bff's.



we geeked up in our bicycle-wear (is there ANY biking clothing that looks cute on a person unless they weigh 115 or less? lame.) & cruised the flat surfaces that the city had to offer us.

and it was good.


my friends even withheld their disapproval at my riding sans clips & shoes: {gasp}

but nobody seemed to really notice my fashion faux-pas--could it have been because of this breathtaking view?:

or perhaps this one:

you can even pluck fruit RIGHT FROM THE TREES! in palm springs, california:

naturally, there was much ingesting of food to be done--we enjoyed dinner (two nights in a row!) at long-standing palm springs tradition las casuelas--


dannielle's delightful mother, andrea, was right in the middle of all the action with us:

the next day i had my first mediterranean food experience with dannielle's brother, matt, and his lovely bride, micki--it was surprisingly good! even though it was kabobz spelled with a z:

we were sad to leave, but took solace in the magnificent rainbow that bid us farewell as we drove out of town:

i am thankful for my tribe of weirdos

here's to you NOT wrestling with the turkey today:






things i am genuinely thankful for:

a husband who makes me an omelette every single morning. just because he knows i love it so--he's a caretaker and there's nobody better at it than him.

a daughter who is a responsible big sister, who gets good grades and tries hard to please her parents.

for another daughter who takes pride in her school work, is a wonderful organizer, and has a soft spot for her catties.

and yet another daughter who keeps her bedroom clean despite living with the littlest sister, who loves to read and also give lots of loves and hugs.

and, finally, for the caboose who holds us all together and keeps us laughing at what she'll say next. we love hers.


for these things, i am truly grateful. happy thanksgiving !

brandon flowers with the biggies

lovedLovedLOVED the brandon flowers concert we saw the other night with kyle & kami--


kami & i must have called each other on the telephone like in 7th grade and coordinated our outfits--gray shirt & black sweater with flower for kami, black shirt & gray sweater with flower for mindi.

great minds think (and dress) alike:

we had a pretty sweet spot over on the front side of the stage where we could lean against the bar and not have to shove people or "box out" for our space. (we might be getting a tad bit old.)


brandon was certainly very happy to see us there--here he is, pointing us out in the crowd:

i was delighted with his cover of bette davis eyes:

we got to see russ's assistant manager and her bff's show their devotion to brother flowers in bedazzled form.

i must say i was a bit envious of their flower power:

for his last song, brandon brought out surprise guest & killers drummer ronnie vannucci for a pretty sweet acoustic version of when you were young:



perfect.

CAT-ASTROPHE.

i made russ buy me this cat box sign the other day--it cost $31.00 plus tax.


he said it was ridiculous. i said it was an INVESTMENT IN MY HAPPINESS.




martin & dave agree: