Happy post-Holidays everyone! Today, Alex and I just lazed around the apartment and watched tv, played video games and started to put away our lovely gifts. We also went out to the Aster Cafe for our normal date night. We went for lunch as an excuse to get out of the house mid-day, actually, but it was nice to keep that part of our Monday since we both have off work.

on Alex
flannel: vintage, thrifted
down vest: vintage Eddie Bauer, thrifted
jeans: Banana Republic
boots: DSW

on me
sweater dress: Elie Tahari, thrifted
peacoat: Express, free shelf
tights: Hansel from Basel
shoes: originally Target, thrifted from fake Target

SURPRISE! ANOTHER GLITTER POST! Well, sorta. Yesterday, my lovely and most best-est friend Emma and her man-friend Bryan threw what I would have to call the most amazing Sparkle-themed Holiday Party. And while we all decked ourselves (and Emma's apartment) out with glitter and glitz, it was a dessert that ended up being my favorite part of the night. Behold, this cake that I made. Yes, that is gold leaf on top. And yes, yes you can eat gold leaf. AND IT IS DELICIOUS MY FRIENDS. 

Delicious gold sparkle on a delicious indulgent blackberry cocoa buttercream encrusted dark chocolate cake (with oreooooos!). I found the recipe here and knew immediately that I would have to make it and that I would have to make it for Emma. It was actually pretty simple to make! I cheated and bought buttercream frosting, and then folded in a cocoa and blackberry puree to make it the correct flavor and color. (A select few of you might remember the last time I tried to make buttercream frosting, and how it was a complete and utter flaming ball of disaster.) Try it at home for your next celebratory event, and you will not regret it! I got so many compliments on it!  For good measure, I've added a bunch of other party pics as well, some of them are not mine.

(I know I'm sorry Sarah! I had to add it, everyone looked so lovely! I hope you dont hate me... I for one, think you look hott.)

Okay, so I know that I just posted a glitter project. And now I am about to show you a manicure project (can you do me a favor and ignore the fact that this one also contains glitter so that I dont seem like a total cray? kay.) But, I have been meaning to try out a ton of great manicure ideas lately (seriously you guys, my pinterest runneth over). So I'll keep it short and show you just a coupla pics of how my first endeavor turned out! I super duper love it. It's flashy and festive, but also not too much in to the colorful category (which I always have a problem with). PLUS, its a pretty easy touch-up to cover any chipped polish you had on underneath. (In my case, I just had this sparkly mint green color on already, and put the black over it!)

How is everyone? Getting your Holiday Shopping and errands done? Not me, I got zip.

In keeping with the holiday festive-ness of my recent blog posts, and in preparation for a Sparkle themed birthmachristavus (aka Holiday Party) this weekend, I finally got around to doing a glitter DIY that I have been meaning to do ever since these puppies popped up on the internets and broke my little heart. Why is it, that even when I find an amazing pair of shoes that I HAVE TO HAVE and they are a measly $22 at Forever 21, I still have to hemm and haw over whether or not to buy them!? Well no more people, because as affordable as that pair was, this remake that I whipped up, cost me even less! And now I have both the shoes of my dreams and the pride to say that I did it myself!

Now, I wont go too far into the details, since there are so so many how-tos for this kind of thing out there. BUT. I just have to say that it was so so easy. I took some pointers from this lovely lady and her tutorial, but did it a bit differently as well. The two big differences were that I 1) bought a pair of shoes from Savers that were covered in a suede-like material on the wedge sole part. I did a little reading and it seemed like glittering suede was not such a good idea, so I had to exacto-knife that crap off. Not too bad, no cut fingers or anything!

Then, 2) Kaylah recommends that you use a matte modge podge medium, but I used glossy. I dont know about you, but glitter just screams SHINY to me, and I didnt want to do anything that would cut back on the SHINY factor, you know what I mean?

ingredients:
1 Pair of Shoes (I got mine at Savers for $5, originally from American Eagle, and removed the suede)
1 tube of Modge Podge (I used Glossy)
1 container of Martha Stewart glitter in gold (I got the huge size because, why not?)
some sponge brushes
2 plastic containers to mix/keep the mixture in
newspaper to cover your work surface

Total cost of supplies for this project? $17 BUCKS!

et voila! GLITTER SHOES!

And because I was excited about my ability to glitter things, and the excess amount of glitter I had on my hands, I was all like, "so what else can I glitter in this joint?!?" I actually ended up glittering a plastic back cover for my iPhone as well! Glitter everywhere!! (more photos on my Flickr, as always)

Last night, Alex and I finally put up the Christmas tree! I never got to use that tinsel stuff when I was younger, because my parents hated it, BUT THIS YEAR I decided to get a whole bunch and completely drench the tree in it! Havent quite figured out how we'll get it all off of the tree after the holidays, but we can cross that bridge when we come to it. I think it looks fancy. All we did was add my favorite vintage tree topper (an heirloom), some gold bird ornaments, and a few red bird ornaments.

Some how goes nicely with my new print (of tree branches) on the wall next to it, huh?

I am so looking forward to all of the holiday parties and festivities coming up! Though I havent even started my Christmas gift shopping yet (blarggg), I do know mostly what I need to get, and I even look forward to wrapping them (yes, I enjoy that stuff). Then there's all of the delicious foods and beverages to be had at all of these parties. I plan to make this recipe, and another SUPER SECRET dessert recipe, which will be revealed in due time... PLUS, my best friend Katie gets into town for a nice long holiday visit on Monday!!! I miss you, Katie. Prepare yourself for the beers, the Vegas Lounge, and some serious catching up!

I think I'm maybe getting the hang of it? Although I admit, it's tough to put together a layered outfit that's not too overwhelmed with stuff, especially this time of year. (It's uncanny how I mention the weather every post without meaning to. I'll shut up about it already. No really, I swear.)

I wore this out to drinks with the lovely blogger ladies the other day, and I had a great time! Have an amazing month-long Holiday break, Maria!

scarf: vintage, antique store

necklace: vintage, Rewind Vintage

jacket: vintage, thrifted

sweater underneath: J.Crew, thrifted

leather belt: vintage, thrifted

maxi dress: American Apparel

suede booties: Jessica Simpson, from DSW

I constantly struggle with how to look put together (I sound like my mom when I say that) once its gets to be 20 degrees outside and snowing. Plus, I am always freezing! So I tend to just layer on as many scarves and winter accessories over my warmest sleeping bag coat. But today, I got up, brushed my teeth, and promptly sat down to peruse my "outfit inspiration" board on pinterest to get a little insight into today's outfit for a little vintage shopping with my lady Emma. We had some delicious goodies and coffee at A Baker's Wife (yum!), stopped by Mighty Swell on the hunt to find the perfect vintage cocktail dresses, and ended by chatting with Megan and Nora at the Two Birds Boutique sale. Those two had some great things to peruse this time around, including a great black statement necklace that I picked up. I cant wait to try it out!

Anyways, thanks to pinterest and of course the lovely Liz, of Olive My Love (pictured above), found via CaliVintage, I was inspired to style an outfit similar to this one! I have a coat from H&M that fit the bill, and some great tan suede booties, by Jessica Simpson. 

What do you think? I wish I could have worn one of my (many!) striped shirts underneath like the inspiration photo, but in order to stay warm enough, I opted for a flannel that I could layer with a tee underneath that.

coat: H&M
plaid shirt underneath: AA
scarf: vintage, antique store
jeans: H&M?
suede booties: Jessica Simpson, from DSW
leather satchel: vintage, thrifted
leather tote: vintage, just purchased at Mighty Swell (among other things!)

PS: This photo was taken with an iPhone instead of my usual digital camera, so I decided to do a little messing around with it. INSTAGRAM STYLE!

Is it too soon to be day-dreaming of my Christmas wishlist yet? I am always asking myself this question. Though, my mom asks for lists from all of us in early November so that she can get all of her shopping done by the time December (and the crowds) rolls around! She is super on-top-of-it! So I suppose, its not my own fault...

This year, as with most years now that I am getting a bit older (maturer?), I find myself asking for more sensible items, like winter boots and durable leather luggage. I do of course, have a few frivolous things thrown in there for a bit of fun, but I tend to like asking for gifts that will last me a very long time!



We have a tradition in my family wherein Santa Claus brings us a special bag of gifts on Christmas eve, while we are sitting down to dinner. We dont open any other gifts on Christmas eve, except for this one. It's new jammies! And I love it. The little kids in my family love it too, they are jumping out of their skin during dinner, because they know Santa is coming, and want to be the first to spot the package! I think I'll ask Santa for this classic nightshirt from J.Crew. GUH, THAT CONTRAST PIPING! I am in love!

This year, the most important thing on my list I have asked for: a good pair of black wedge booties. (You may remember Emma's inaugural post awhile back in her "Cold Season" series where she illustrated me with my No. 1 Most-Wanted item for winter and it was this very thing!) I have tall black boots and I have short, brown booties with sky-high heels, but I need something sensible in black to get me through the winter (and still looking fashionable, of course!). The ones I picked are from Urban Outfitters (bottom right), but my dream booties are Chloe, and far far out of my (or any of my family's) reach (top middle). These No.6 Clog booties are also a contender. Ahhhh, well...

Other smaller things: warm tights, wool socks, anything from Hansel from Basel. Especially these  woolrich striped tights in burgundy! You can never stock up on too many of these things during Minnesota winters.

I love these simple Kathryn Bentley Bracelets from Beklina. I'd take them in either gold or silver, because I think they'd be a casual way to add sparkle to any every-day outfit. Plus, I've been meaning to wear more bracelets, I am usually known for wearing silly amounts of cocktail rings, and not much in the way of other kinds of jewelry.

I actually bought this pair of BonLook prescription sunglasses glasses, Cocktail Hour in Black and Tortoise, as a sort of pre-Christmas gift to myself. I cant tell you how long I've been dying to get some, and when these came in the mail the other day, I knew I had chosen the right ones, for sure. Thanks everyone, for voting! (Can it be summer yet?)

Elbow Patches!! I want this six-pair set, so that I can put them on everything I own!! HAHAHAAA!

I am in desperate need of new Toms, this time I think I want red. Grey is what I have now, but I have a feeling that this cherry red color will brighten up my day every day that I wear them.

This mid-century designer pencil set from oneupdesigns on etsy. Kind of a novelty item, but I like them a lot, and plus they're only six bucks?! How could Santa not stuff by stocking full of these? I will use them everyday at work, and look pretentious at art school... It will be awesome.

A mobile from AM Radio on etsy. Aren't they cute?!?! I think they would add the perfect amount of whimsy and edge to our apartment. Plus, its a pretty unique gift. No one else would be getting this little guy.

Are you bored listening to me prattle on about the countless material things that I NEED IN MY LIFE YET? What are you guys wishing for this Holiday? Anything you just HAVE TO HAVE?

Ever since I did a bit of modeling for Blacklist Vintage, I've been wanting to try to wear makeup more often. We did a thick black cat eye (a nod to the 60's inspired runway show), and I couldnt believe how much I loved it on me! I tend to focus more on skin care, and hardly ever think about makeup (except nail polish of course). It's just such a hassle usually, and I love me simplicity. HOWEVER, I recently tried out this classic cat eye tutorial from a beautiful mess, and also tried making my eyebrows a bit darker and more dramatic! This instagram photo is all I have for proof this time, but rest assured I will be trying more in the future! Maybe even for a fancy Sparkle-themed Holiday Party I plan to attend soon...