Chilly toes and snuggly kitties, or, "its not winter, is it?"

Today is a lazy kind of day. Its my first actual day off (where I'm not off at some important to-do, such as a wedding, or driving 5 hours to VA to pick up my mom from my aunt's house, etc.). Its a good day to lay around in my favorite stripey knee-socks (nevermind the little hole in the toe) and a hoodie, with my toes nestled all snug under a furry cat-belly.

You may ask yourself, "why is she wearing a sweatshirt? Isn't it July??" Well, the short answer is that I can't seem to find a happy medium with my a/c in my room. Its either too cold, or too hot. The whole situation is very 'Goldilocks', indeed.

Chris is at his first 'real' day at his new job today. I'm so excited for him... I think he really likes this job a lot! Of course, the little one is going to miss him while he's at work...

Well, I guess I really should get up, put on some actual clothes (though the knee socks may stay today), and go out and do something. I'm thinking I hear the Goodwill calling my name....

Presents!

Oh! And I completely forgot to ever put pictures up here of my Christmas gifts!

So, here they are!

Cute little fox and raccoon pillows from Urban Outfitters

The best lamp ever, also from U.O.

Sweet little snowglobe. I can't bare to put it away with the Christmas decorations, even though it plays Jingle Bells..... I just won't play the music until next Christmas. :D

I got bunches of other things, but those are 3 of my most favorites. It was a really wonderful Christmas, especially because my whole family was together (and not sick or in hospitals, like years past...but that's another story), and my Chris, too. ♥

Doesn't he look so cute in his sweater. I told him he's looking more and more like a Professor! ;)

Another enchanted day in the woods...

Well, I've been awful and lazy lately, so instead of being productive with my free time, I go walking in the woods with my favorite boy.

Wild rhodondendron

See the wild canary??

Twins!

It was just such a beautiful day today! We packed a picnic lunch (ok, it was leftover pizza, so?!), and walked on the trails, and took turns taking pictures (only 1 that Chris took turned out because he's used to big, fancy, professional cameras from school, and hasn't ever really used mine, but he really does take good pictures. ;) This is his version of this tree:

And here's my version of the same tree:

I think those 2 very different pictures of the same tree say a lot about both of us - his is very dark, and ethereal, and sort of "big-picture", and mine is super-detailed and bright. (Plus he took photojournalism classes, and I have absolutely no training in photography, so that might have something to do with it also!)

And now, I have some un-fun things to do, such as laundry and room-cleaning. Then I'm back down to Chris' house and maybe to Mr. Ed's Elephant Museum?? We want to do more fun things today... Hmm......

Just like I promised!

Bunches of pictures from my very fruitful thrifting....er, boyfriend-visiting trip to State College this weekend!

Isn't this the most perfect brooch ever?? It was my first yard-sale find on Saturday. Of course, I took out the pictures of other peoples' children, and plan on replacing them with pictures of Chris and I as children. I wore this thing all weekend.

Oh, and it was only $2 *grin*

Ok, I know this is a weird picture, but I haven't hung my beautiful goose-bust yet. This was the best I could do. Don't you just love it? I have been insanely jealous of Miss Emily's goose head forever. How lucky I was to find my own!I instantly thought of The DaVinci Code when I saw this book, so of course I just had to have it!
I bought this weird make-believe animal fabric (tons of it...probably about 5 or 6 yards), plus the pretty flower stuff and other bits of lace and trim from a really nice lady who does seamstress work at home and also at a bridal shop in State College. She was so sweet, and offered her service whenever I need help or have a question about sewing. She also has a website, So Much Sewing. Check it out here.

Oh! And I should mention - the lovely stripey yellow fabric in the background of many of these pictures? That's a beautiful skirt I got at the Goodwill for only $2!

I found this adorable little teacup at the Goodwill on our first trip (yes, we made multiple trips...and found treasures each time!) Right now its housing my new stash of Martha Stewart baker's twine.

Porcelain candleholder. ♥ Ok, now this may very well give me a heart attack. Every time I look at it, my little heart goes all a-flutter. Just look at it. 4 little plates. 1 little teacup, complete with bunny resting on handle. 4 very cute mushroom napkin-rings. This is most definitely my new Favorite Thing EVER.
I spied this little guy peeking out from behind a bunch of junk, high on the top shelf. He's really a napkin holder, but I don't need one of those, so he's helping me keep my mail organized on my desk for now.
Oh, and this may be my other New Favorite Thing!! Its handmade, and signed on the bottom. I am just in love with it. Its just a catch-all, I suppose. But look at the sweet little ladybug, and the beautiful yellow roses! Oh, I'm in love.
Oooh, and my new shoes! I've been searching high and low for a cute, comfortable pair of Mary Janes. At long last, I have found some! Simple, but stylish. And comfortable! And only $3 (and brand new) at the Goodwill. Oh, yes. And, my other new shoes! Hooray for new shoes! I think these are just fabulous. They're about a half-size too big, but I don't care. I got these at Plato's Closet, a consignment shop just up the street from Chris' apartment.

Speaking of Chris, what did he enjoy most this weekend?

He definitely enjoyed a few of these:

Which led to a bit of this:Which led to a lot of this!Crab legs at the Chinese buffet are definitely his favorite!

♥ ♥


My favorite part of the Chinese buffet?

Another lazy day, and I don't wanna go to work!

Oh, bleh. What a horribly bleh-ish day. There's nothing really wrong with today, but.... still, I feel like laying around in my fuzzy blue robe, procrastinating getting ready for work just a little while longer. Work... hm.... I think maybe that's why I feel so out of sorts today. I hate working the late shift! I'm used to going in at 6:00 in the morning, and being done by 3-ish, and having the rest of my day to myself. Not these days! Work from 4-11 pm is just awful. Having that hanging over my head all day makes me feel so un-productive and anxious, like I can't possibly do anything that I wanted to do today because I have to go to work later. Silly, I know, but true just the same.

The only scrap of productivity that I have to show for the day is my 100th heart on Etsy. That does make one feel a bit loved, doesn't it? (Of course, it may have something to do with the fact that I offered a little promotion of 10% off, plus free shipping and extra goodies for my 100th heart, should they place an order)....but I'd like to think that I'm really loved. ;)

Maybe I'll get something exciting in the mail today.... like one of these, perhaps?

I'm just so excited to get my little strawberry!

Well, its 1:30....I really should start at least thinking about stopping my procrastination.... in a little while....... ;)

I hope you all have very lovely Wednesdays!

♥

Oh! And one more thing - I'm going to be out of town, visiting this handsome fella, until Saturday, so I should wish you all happy weekends, too!

My favorite place in the whole world

These were all taken at Caledonia State Park, Chris and I's favorite place to go walking.

This looked very Pan's-Labyrinth-y to me :)

With a slush-puppy from Twin Kiss, and a big stick at hand

He's such a little boy at heart. ♥

I'm baaaaack!

Ok, everything is officially back to "normal". Chris went back to State College on Sunday; and Philipp left this afternoon for Austria. Now, I'm all alone. :(

But I can get back to my routine of blogging incessantly. Yay.

As promised, I can finally share some pictures of the past week or two with you! Let's see....

This is me yelling at one of the machines at Charlestown Races & Slots. Chris and I went there last week and lost some money. Always a fun time.

That's Chris sunning himself at Fuller Lake, where we went on this past Thursday. I caught about 50 tadpoles (there were MILLIONS) and put them in my 5-gallon fishtank, but they all seem to have disappeared.... I haven't figured out if they are just hiding in the gravel, or if they turned into little frogs and hopped right out (highly unlikely!). I absolutely refuse to believe that my tiny little guppies ate the tadpoles, which were almost their size.....

Finally, some pictures of my new little baby, Porkchop! Yes, I know, Porkchop is kind of a strange name for a kitten. I didn't name him. His mommy, Lauren, did. And he learned his name (along with brothers Bacon and Sausage, and sister Tofu) at a very young age, and so, I hesitate to call him anything but! My family insists on calling him O'Malley, but I think that's an even more terrible name than Porkchop (or the inevitable "Porky")! I suggested the name Louie, as it really seems to suit him, but I was met with great consternation. *Hmph*

And this afternoon, I took many, many pictures of our garden. I even found some tiny little inhabitants!

I stayed pretty busy today... I helped my mom tear up the carpet from our stairway. It was so old and gross! The staircase looks really nice now, without carpet! I also turned a $10 Forever21 dress into a cute top (but it still needs a little work...maybe a belt or something...); and I shortened a white eyelet-lace tube-top-tunic thing that my sister gave me a loooong time ago. It was just too long, and looked stupid on me, so I cut the bottom off, and now its absolutely adorable. *happy* I'll have to get some pictures of that later on.

Also this past week: Lauren got married (but my camera died after 1 picture, which didn't even turn out. I'm going to get pictures from my friends a.s.a.p. !), and I attended a graduation party for my good friend Bobby, who graduated from West Point this week. I'm so proud of him! Again, no pictures of the party, but my friends had cameras so pics will be up soon! (I'm an idiot when it comes to taking my camera with me when I might actually need it. Really.)