The Britannias

Tonight is the Britannia Awards, a big award show put on by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles that honors excellence in television and film.  You may remember we went last year and I was all stressed out about what to wear.

This year, I was able to prepare a bit better and I found a stunning vintage 1950's dress at a shop in west LA called Polkadots and Moonbeams.  The dress has seen a lot of wear, clearly somebody loved it very much.  So I had to replace all the bows and cover up some of the exposed seams, but I think it turned out just great.  I'll be sure to post pictures of me actually in it next week.  

Now my concern is what the heck to do with my hair!  I know I want to do some kind of updo, but I'd like it to be a tad fancier than my usual signature bun.  Here are some images from the web and blogs that are inspiring me at the moment.  

from A Beautiful Mess

from Tulle

UPDATE! 

I thought I might share my hair-do for the evening.  I did it this morning as I won't have much time to get ready after work.  Let me know what you think!

Sorry for the crumminess of the photo!  But you get the idea, right?

First Trip to Monument Valley

The third stop on our anniversary road trip was the Majestic Monument Valley.  We didn't have a lot of time, as we had to drive all the way from Flagstaff and back before sundown.  But we saw some beautiful countryside on the way and the sight of those incredible rock formations was definitely worth the trip.

I think the most amazing thing about Monument Valley was how silent it was, and how bright the color of the red dirt looks, and how the monuments appeared so perfectly crafted, like they had been sculpted by a brilliant artist.  It was an incredible sight to see.

Of course we did almost destroy our rental car while trying to drive the dirt road around the monuments...Not the best place to drive a mustang convertible!  However we did get stopped by some French tourists wanting to take a picture of our car in front of the monuments - Classic America!  I kinda wish I could get a copy.

I Made this Monday: Christmas Yarn Trees

Want to create your own magical Yarn Tree Forest?  No?  Well you should, and that's precisely what I did.  I promise it's fun!

I saw a picture of one of these trees online and I thought the project looked so lovely and simple I just had to try it for myself.  I am happy to report that it was just as easy and fun to make as I anticipated.  And I was thrilled with the finished results of my first set of trees.  So much so that I decided to make 3 more sets of 3 to give to my family on Thanksgiving....Kind of like a thank you to my mom and her sisters for never actually making me cook!

You will need - Yarn (in a color and in white, the fatter the thread the better)

                          Foam Trees

                          Sewing pins

                          Assorted sizes and colors of gem and pearl scrapbook embellishments

                          Glue gun

                          Pretty ribbon for a bow

                          White felt

Take your basic foam tree forms (aka cones) which you can find at most craft stores.  I got two different sizes from Michael's.

Then simply pin the end of your color yarn to the bottom of the cone and start wrapping, vertically first to cover the top of the tree then start winding horizontally from bottom to top and back again.  Wrap it completely so none of the form shows through.  Secure on the bottom with another pin and cut the yarn. 

Do the same with your white yarn, but only wrap horizontally and don't wrap as tight...This is supposed to look like snow on the boughs of your trees.

Next attach your gems and embellishments to the tree in a random pattern.  Be sure to arrange the colors and shapes in various ways to add some diversity and sparkle.  I just decorated one side of the tree.  Some embellishments will stick just with the glue included, but you may want to glue them down with your glue gun for extra staying power.

Then tie your ribbon in a pretty boy and use a similar colored pin to stick the bow on top of your tallest tree.  Trim the tails to your liking. 

Finally, trace the bottom of your trees onto your white felt.  Cut out the circles and glue to the bottom of your trees with your glue  gun.  This not only finishes off the tree and hides the bottom of the foam form, it also conceals all the pins. 

To display, I placed my trees on a piece of sparkly white foam paper which I cut in a scalloped circle to look like freshly fallen snow.  Magical. 

Happy Turkey Day!

Did you know that there is a turkey pardoned by the president each year that cannot be eaten for a Thanksgiving feast?  The bird then gets to spend the year living at Disneyland.  Pretty sweet deal if you ask me.

So I plan to try my best to stay away from the internets this long weekend....I definitely need to unplug for a few days.  But just to keep y'all from getting too curious, here's what I plan to do over the next 3 days....

READ!  As you know from this post, I need to majorly get my reading on.  My plan is to curl up with some hot apple cider and get lost in some books this weekend.

EAT!  Well, I can't really avoid this one.  It's Thanksgiving law.  But I never go overboard with the eating, not really.  Truth be told I tend to do more drinking than eating!

DANCE!  I need to work on my Sugar Plum Fairy Variation as I am going to have to dance it in just a few weeks and I am waaaaayyy out of shape!  Eeek!

PLAN GIFTS!  I won't be braving the black friday crowds, but I definitely want to do some present planning for all my family and friends.   

DECORATE! I'd say it's safe to pull out the Christmas decor!  

I'm also going to have brunch with a very dear friend that I haven't seen in years.  I'm definitely looking forward to all these activities and getting a chance to hang out with my family.  I certainly have a lot to be thankful for and I hope you have a wonderful holiday too! 

Camp Chippawa

In the shower last night I started singing the song "Happy Happy Turkey Day" from the film Addams Family Values.  You know the one, they sing it at the end when they do the Thanksgiving Day play?  Anyway, it made me think of the film (we watched it a lot at my house growing up) and this particular scene -- classic Wednesday Addams.... Consider this a pre-thanksgiving appetizer!  

Burger Quest: 5 Guys

The girl who sits at the cubicle across from mine at work swears that Five Guys have the best burgers ever, hands down....

She is from the east coast and maybe this place is more appealing to folks on the right side of the country.  Frankly I didn't see what all the hub-bub is about.  The burgers are fine, but I didn't really like the taste of the meat or the fact that the patty's are so authentically misshapen.  I know it's to remind the customers that they are fresh and handmade, not processed slabs of meat products (ewww.)  But the meat in my Five Guys burger was literally crumbling apart, and thus scored appallingly low on the stay togetherness rating.  

Also, I hated the joint.  I hated the fact that it is covered in obscure press quotes about how fabulous the burgers are; I found that really tacky.  My tap teacher once told me that "the good ones don't need to draw attention to themselves or talk themselves up, they just need to show up and do the work.  The rest will fall into place."  

Now sure, he was talking about dancers, but I think that can apply to burgers too.  So Five Guys, I don't need to have dozens of local press reporters telling me that you're "the Willy Wonka of Burgers," if your burgers are something special, I should be able to taste that.  You dig?  

This wasn't the worst burger I've tasted, but nor was it even close to being the best.  I found it to be forgettable.  Too harsh?  Well let's leave it to the numbers then.  I give you the scores:

Meatiness: 2
Succulentiousness: 3
Bun: 1
Flavor: 3
Stay-together-ness: 1
Joint: 2

 

I Made this Monday

Hope you had a lovely weekend...Mine was filled with a lot of highs and lows.  But at any rate, I am just so happy that this is a short week and that Thanksgiving is just days away!  Yum!

In the spirit of Turkey Day, I wanted to share an easy tutorial for glittery vintage Thanksgiving postcards that I wrote for the site DIY Dancer.  My intention is to use these as place cards.  Go check it out, and let me know if you end up making them too!  

Current standing on the 29 before 29 List

source

EEE-Ghads!  It's like nearly a month till I turn 29.  TWENTY-NINE!!!! Yuck.  It sounds like a horrible age.  The final year of youth!   But I'm getting away from the point.  With just a month to go I thought I'd give a little check into my 29 Before 29 list to see what I need to accomplish in the next 30 days or so. 

Here's how we're looking:

Number 29 is kinda a joke, and I'm not really sure I can say that I've accomplished this one.  Number 17 is embarassing; no I haven't read 5 books.  I used to read at least 5 a week in college, but nowadays I just can't seem to find the time!  Number 10 is almost done and I can pretty much guarantee that I won't do number 18.  But overall I think I've done pretty well, but I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to finish all the pending items...any suggestions? 

But it's Christmas and Birthday, see?

This time of year I suppose it's natural to think about potential gifts both for myself and other people.  But December is kind of like the big kahuna of gift-getting for me cause it's the month of both Christmas AND my birthday.  Born on the 23rd people.  And I don't mean any disrespect, but Jesus always steals my thunder. 

So anyway, with this most important time of the year fast approaching, a lot of people in my family have been asking what I want for my birthday and Christmas.  So I decided to put together a little Friday wish list.  Enjoy!  

Jo Totes

Home Ec E-course (totally need this!)

multiple colors of tights!

adorable dress from Modcloth

I am currently obsessed with these sunglasses from Tumbleweeds

What do you want this holiday season?

Awards? Yes Please!

I feel so honored that I was given the Liebster Award for this here blog courtesy of Krug the Thinker.  It's such a nice feeling to know that other bloggers are reading your work and enjoying it enough to award you for it.  So sincere thanks go out to Krug the Thinker!

 
Per the award requirements, here are 5 blogs that I am currently loving:

All this Grace & Charm


The Full Monty


Shannon Bear


Please Note

Let's Create One Beautiful Story


Ladies, you are all recipients of the Liebster Blog Award...as decided by me!  Congrats!

Vegas Bambino! (Part Dos)

Picking up on our Vegas adventure... The day after we arrived at Ceasar's Palace, we spent lounging by the pool, walking the other side of the strip, shopping and sipping margaritas from Fat Tuesdays! 

El niño ponders this .. uh .. estatua ....

Compras en el Caesars Palace

Me Gusta el Mirage!

Walking a través de la Wynn

el pool at Caesar's

Vegas rendition of the Trevi Fountain

The boy's favorite Vegas attraction: the spiral escalator!

We saw this burger place in the Mirage...Seemed like it was made for us!

Elbis!  Ole!

Did you know that Las Vegas translates to the meadows?  Yeah!  I looked it up on Wikipedia (aka: the boy!)