oh christmas tree.

we looooove the holiday season!

as soon as i was back in san francisco,

my roommate and i went to pick out our tree.

do not be fooled by these 12-footers; we had to carry out lil guy back to the apt and up 4 flights, so we stuck to a baby.

isn't it lovely? perfect spot by our bay windows.

{ignore the temporary tree skirt please.}

we did all blue/white/silver this year. pretty cute.

the night was complete with egg nog and an itunes full of christmas carols. joy!

things i did in texas, no. 1

took a special VIP tour of NASA {thanks to my literally-a-rocket-scientist aerospace engineer sister} and even got to sit in the shuttle simulator where the astronauts train!

the theme of that part of the tour was pretty much "good lord DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING"...ha.

back from houston.

and already missing this:

happy thanksgiving!

apparently my texas vacation is way too busy/fun/joyous to have blogging time, but just a quick happy thanksgiving to everyone! {also, i am missing my camera cord to upload pics, so obviously i am suffering here.}

enjoy your family, friends, and feasting!

{image here}

pencil me in.

as much as i adore my multiple laptops, blackberry, iphone, etc, i am a person who has to hand write calendars and appointments.

i make a huge master list of shows that will need my attention and dangle it over my desk at work so i can cross things off, highlight things, etc.



everything is color-coded and abbreviated {even if hastily-written}.

all i am looking at right now are those days with the little OFF written on them, aka my thanksgiving week with my fam in houston. i leave tomorrow and cannot WAIT!

lots of posting to come from good ol' texas...

bike basket pies.

this is about to rock your world..and it is soooo san francisco.

there is a girl {natalie} who rides her bike around the city, delivering homemade mini-pies. like a pie fairy. a pied piper {whoa pun}. johnny appleseed of pies.

every day she makes different kinds -- including plum apple, spinach potato cheddar, pear ginger, pumpkin pecan, and a MILLION MORE -- and you can order via twitter.

isn't this genius??

our office orders every few weeks and i can vouch for the fact that they are ridiculously tasty.

and not only is her transportation method green, she uses farmer's market ingredients and can make vegan pies as well. ah-mazing.

more at the bike basket pies website.

feeling like the internet loves me back.

remember when i won a dress from naomi's blog?

well this week i won a silly little twitter riddle from the darling shop lulus. just for answering of their daily questions i got a $50 gift card!

in this city of hills i certainly don't need any more high heels, so i picked out two sweet pairs of flats {uh...yes i like bows}. two pairs of shoes for free - woo!

follow lulu's on twitter here and maybe you'll win next time!

the happiest place on the internet.

i have been so frustrated now that daylight savings is over and the world is pitch dark by the time i get home from work. i used to do almost all of my shooting around 6pm, and i don't have that luxury anymore, which means no cute things for the blog.

while i figure this out, allow me to direct you to the happiest, most creative blog ever : color me katie. this girl is amazing.

ferry ride.

san francisco is gorgeous in fall - usually sunny and warmer than summer. when bobby was here we decided to take the ferry from the city across the sf bay to tiburon. so, so lovely.

{yes, they serve beer and wine on the ferry...woo}

we ate lunch at one of my fave places, sam's, and then headed on back to the city for more fun!

crosswalker.

cody's friend bobby came up to visit this weekend. we looooove "fun bobby" {remember that friends ep?} and have such a ridiculous time every time he graces us with his presence.

on friday night we went to the warriors game, but left early due to the pathetic score in the 3rd quarter. while wandering around the marina it came out that julia has a somewhat hilarious phobia of walking on crosswalks.

bobby and cody were here to help:

that is one embarrassed girl right there. love.

hello world.

whoops...has it been 5 days??

a combo of a packed weekend of friend visits, a cold that had me sidelined, and a busy work week has kept me away from this little blog.

back in action tomorrow with real posting.

guy fawkes.

is it weird that i don't live in london anymore but i still remember that it's guy fawkes night?

for those who don't know, this is celebrated in england and former british colonies {except for the good ol' USA}, and commemorates the downfall of the gunpowder plot to blow up the houses of parliament.

how to they celebrate? by blowing stuff up on the thames river! haha.


{taken by me in 2005, the 400th anniversary!}

it's a fun night of parades and explosions and lots of revelry.
oh how i miss england!

love is the air

my dear sweet sunshine, danelle, is engaged to mr. brent!

guess who gets the maid of honor duties??

{hint : this is my blog}

i am beyond excited for my bestie, who i love so ridiculously much.

we had a joint college graduation party complete with wedding-esque speeches about our adoration for each other...i can't wait to do it again.

bring on the dresses and flowers and cakes and love.

woo!

make your own costume : cleopatra

how was your halloween? tricks and treats and all kinds of good fun?

i love dressing up, but i haaaaate packaged costumes. i do not want to spend $59.99 to buy a cheap, plastic-y outfit that looks generic and will never see the light of day after this one night. so when i decided to dress as cleopatra i wanted to avoid any of this:

i had a very rough game plan in my head, but i knew i had to start with a white dress. i found this super soft, comfy jersey knit maxi dress that i knew i could wear again in the summer:

the next step was the wig. for some weird reason, shorter black wigs with bangs {crucial} were priced at about $29.99, while longer "witch" wigs were way cheaper. i bought this one for $9.99 and just got to pretend i was a hairstylist by chopping off a good 18 inches.

i bought some trimmings at joann's fabrics and made a simple 2-strand headband, attached to elastic:

i also found these coin earrings in my jewelry box that i bought at h&m last summer for $3.

the hardest piece to find was a snake ring {remember, cleo allegedly met her demise by an asp}. i finally found one the night before halloween at a claire's. i didn't love it {wish it had been gold}, but it worked.

the best part of this costume was my neckpiece. this necklace was my grandma's, and she got it years and years ago in egypt. the jade scarabs hanging from it were perfect.

i also bought some inexpensive fabric to make upper arm cuffs, a cape, and belt. i hand stitched the gold cuffs, added some jewels, and attached them to elastic so that they'd be more comfortable. i just tucked the teal fabric around the elastic {i wanted to be able to remove it since it was kind of all over the place when i was trying to sit, walk, etc}. i didn't have time to hem the teal, so i burned the edges lightly so it wouldn't fray.

i wore shoes that i already had in my closet:

the last part was the makeup - some teal shadow, lots of liquid liner, and darkened eyebrows {made me nervous}.

in the end, this wasn't TOO difficult

and i managed to save some moolah.

and i am already thinking about next year!