24 December 2010

'Twas the Night Before Christmas...

And all through the house
Not a creature was stirring
Not even a mouse.

Ehh... not so much. Everyone's running around like chickens with their heads cut off over here. Wrapping presents, delivering Christmas cookies to the neighbors, baking, cleaning... eep! The mice might not be stirring, but that's only because they're too freaked out by the activity of all the chores we crazy humans are doing.

wrapping gifts
I love wrapping presents. I mean, the way you wrap a present tells a lot about your relation to the person. If you stick it in a gift bag with a premade tag, does that say you really care? No, that says that you know how to go shopping at WalMart. So I always spend way more time wrapping gifts than I ought to.
By the way, our wrapping paper is pretty much all from IKEA. They have the best papers ever. The gnome bags (see cookies section) are also IKEA... so Scandinavian, so epic.
My presents to my parents... proud of my wrapping job. :)
My mom is ninja when it comes to wrapping.

christmas cookies
My mom and I spent all day yesterday baking cookies to give to neighbors and friends... and to eat ourselves, of course. ;)
We made sugar cookies, cardamom balls, and homemade toffee. Mmmm.

gingerbread house
I am proud to say that this year I was the one to bake and decorate our gingerbread house. My mom helped a little — she liked putting in the little green bushes and trees — but overall this is my holiday claim to fame.
And yes, that is the Kraken attacking a sinking sailboat over in the left. It was my dad's idea. I said, "How can I make this gingerbread house awesome? I know! A Scandinavian monster. Dad, what's a Scandinavian monster?" And my dad suggested the Kraken. So there you go.
Have you noticed that my family's Christmas is generally a pretty Scandinavian occurrence? No idea why. It just happens. Every year.
Recipe and house shape by Martha Stewart.

What, your gingerbread house doesn't feature lederhosen-wearing Scandinavian sheep farmers with Kraken in their backyards? What a pity. Next year, you know what to make. ;)


i {♥} space versus speed
Guess what I'm listening to right now? Not Ke$ha or Rihanna or Owl City or even the radio. Nope. I'm listening to my daddy.
My dad's been in more bands than I can count, since before I was born. One of them was so successful they toured cross-country, and guess who showed up to one of their concerts? Sandra Bullock. We have a photo of her holding me as a baby. An album for another one, a very heavy-metal band, contains a good deal of lyrics written by my six-year-old self. Including something about a prince on a pegasus. Don't even ask.
His latest is also getting pretty popular. It's called Space Versus Speed and it's by far my favorite of all his bands (well, maybe tied with one called Lincolnville). It's actually really awesome; kind of pop-rock. Epic.
You can listen to their latest album here. In my opinion the best is "Set It Off". And yes, their leading song is called "Tea and Cocaine". Sigh. When I play this for my friends they always make some smart-aleck comment about that song and what it says about my family. For the record, my dad thinks it should have been called "Honey and Bourbon" instead, that's the other part of the chorus.
If you like it you can buy their album on iTunes. Or, if you live in an area with Bull Moose Music, it's coming out there soon.
I know this wasn't exactly Christmas-y, but I'm listening to it as I type and it makes me happy.
That's my dad on the far right. On bass. Just like me. Love ya, daddio.

oh christmas tree
Loving macro photos of ornaments right now... *sighs with happiness*
1: Venezuelan Virgin Mary my dad and I got for my mom when we lived in the Caribbean
2: Yet ANOTHER Scandinavian part of Christmas
3. Epic disco star
4. Self-portrait. And yes, I'm wearing my dad's sweater and a pom-pom hat.
More Scandinavian stuff. A stacking doll I always called "Babushka". Is that correct or not?
Awesome old Polaroid. This is my mom sixteen years ago today telling her friends that my dad had just proposed to her. Awww!

israel
Part 1 of 2 for my mom's Christmas gift from me comes from an Etsy seller in Israel. (Mom, if you're reading this, you must desist, as I'm about to reveal your gift.) It's a ring made from an antique Israeli coin. I haven't opened the envelope yet, and I just wrapped around it because it's so epic! I think I will need to hang it on my wall.

little black dress (one more time)
I found one more way to wear my LBD. Lacy tights with short retro heels and lots of jewelry. Plus a hair-flower-thingy from Forever 21.

candlelight service
We're going to the Candlelight Service at our sweet, itty-bitty little church tonight. It's awesome and full of songs.
{via}

guys, it's christmas eve.
I can't believe it. December has gone by so fast. When I was little this month - week - day dragged on forever. Now? I blink and it's gone. Wow.

18 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh - you have had an amazing life! Dad in a band, life on the Carribean... Wow! :)

    And wow again, that wrapping paper is amazing :)

    P.S. I used your toggle menu tutorial and am really happy with how it looks. Thanks again.

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  2. TODAY is my Christmas! We celebrate Finnish Christmas!

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  3. I'm in love with the wrapping paper!
    What a cool, cool gift for your mom! :D
    Merry Christmas!

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  4. YAY!!!! Awesome post lovely, and I love the gingerbread house. I particularly enjoyed eating the trees off the house of a couple years ago ;)

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  5. Wow, your an amazing wrapper (lol, that makes it sound like I'm calling you candy)! *Freaks out over gingerbread house*
    I hope you have an awesome Christmas!

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  6. Love your gingerbread house! Oh, and the picture of your mom after your dad's proposal. :) So sweet!

    merry Christmas!!!!!!

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  7. Eeeek! I can't believe it's Christmas Eve! You are so right about when you're little it's like it takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r for Christmas to get here; but when you're older it's like, "Whoa, it's already Christmas?!"

    Wishing you a very Merry Christmas from NC! ^_^

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  8. Merry Christmas Olivia (and everyone else who's reading this)!
    I love your wrapping paper. Usually I just get cheap beautiful paper. It can be just as good as pricey paper. I love to decorate my presents with fancy bows (sometimes I make them) and cute tags, etc.

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  9. Merry Christmas o<:) << that's Santa
    Those dolls are called maytroshka.

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  10. Brooke: IKEA paper is actually quite cheap. It's as low as 99¢ per roll. Here's the link: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/search/?query=wrapping+paper

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  11. Wow! You're a fantastic wrapper. So is your mom. :D I always thought Babushka was Russian. Maybe I was wrong! :D Hope you have a very merry Christmas, everyone!

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  12. Haha :) Babushka actually means grandmother in Russian.

    :D Merry Christmas Eve

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  13. My mom got into a fight with Matha Stewart once. Not a fistfight, but she started yelling at her about how no one needs gold-rimmed toilets. Also, I think Babushka is Russian for grandmother. I could be mistaken, though.

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  14. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas! :)

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  15. I'm pretty sure Babushka means old lady - in Polish, that's pretty much what it means except it is spelled Babuszka. The eastern/central European languages like Czech, Russian, Polish, etc, all sound quite similar so I'm pretty sure about that. Merry Christmas, everyone :)

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  16. I love your Gingerbread house! I've never built one before. :( *sadness* Actually, my friends and I are going to build one on either New Years Eve or New Years Day this year - and I'm pretty excited about it. :)
    Just one little question... what is that thing in the little pond? I can't figure it out. :)
    Happy New Year!
    ~ Heather Joy

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  17. Belated Merry Christmas!! Looks like your family really knows how to celebrate. :) I'm listening to your dad's music and I like Set It Off best too. :)

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