LIFE // feels like a party to me

Happy belated Father's Day to my dear dad. I was in charge of wrapping and decoration and pie... and I'd just gotten some new Japanese washi tape from PrettyTape in the mail... so...

yeah, that's a drawing of a cat with diamonds shooting lasers for eyes.

love you, dad.

And on Friday we were visited for the night by my two cousins. And they're adorable.

So I made them cupcakes, because everybody loves cupcakes. They're from Amy Sedaris's cookbook and though I think she's hilarious, they tasted more like cornbread. Still okay though.

pea ess: I officially want to move to Byron Bay, Australia. Come on, guys; surfing, artsy photographer/videographer people, and the Spell sisters. What more do I need?

OH YES:
Here is my hair, straightened.

Eep. Haircut needed. (And yes that is as straight as it gets. My hair + straight are not friends.)

'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.

Christmas Cards

It's traditional to send out a holiday card with photos of your family. But my family has kind of slacked off in that area for many years... so this year, I decided to remedy that.

It was sent around by email and I had lots of fun with it. I crowded my family, two cats (who are indoor cats and thus were very unhappy with this arrangement) and one of our ten hens onto our porch and used my good old friend self-timer to take our portrait. Then I went back inside, petted my quaking kitties, and got to work on this card.

The photo was originally wayyyyy overexposed, but I think it fixed up pretty well.

How about you? What did your family card look like? Link up, link up! If you designed it and it's pretty you could be featured.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

(Sorry, I just *had* to name this post with that horribly cliché title.)

My family got our tree yesterday (yes, just yesterday, we're a little behind) and I pressed my parents to decorate it that same night.

Our tree is full of eclectic and random ornaments. Some are from my parents' childhoods; others were accumulated through their and my lives. Our tree isn't sculpted or perfect; it's kind of Charlie Brown. Trees like this, bedecked in epic ornaments, have personality. More than that, they have stories.

Here's some photos. You'll notice another one in the brand-new header. I know, I know — bad Olivia switched up the look again. But I love Christmas too much to let it go by undecorated on HorseFeathers.

my awesome broken ballerina... she's so melancholy and epic

this actually *does* relate to Christmas... see here for epicness

our handmade cresh (most of our ornaments are handmade too)

amazing bokeh...

Below is my entry for my dear friend Hannah's photography contest... speaking of contests, I've extended the deadline for "Words for Snow" because I've gotten a vast — wait for it — 15 entries. Come on, guys! $50 is worth more than just 15 tries!