Tonight's going to be a good night

The countdown is on! Time to celebrate with friends, laugh and have a good time.

Thank you for sharing this video, Rising Moon Video!



Grace Studios Holiday Spectacular from Rising Moon Video on Vimeo.

Happy New Year!!

Sparkle

Such a sparkling connection between wedding blitz, blissful snowfall and holiday happenings.

Sparkles today!

A little pirate treasure and Christmas spirt

This past weekend was a bit crazy! Went to lots of parties to celebrate the Christmas season with great friends, did some last minute wrapping, etc. And, Dustin and I started celebrating Christmas a little early on Sunday. He had this running story that began mid-last week that included our pirate alter egos and supposed heritage stemming from Greenbeard. Well, Greenbeard scattered clues that would lead to his precious "Christmas spirits and treasure" all thorugh MN and it was prophesized (so the story goes) that Lovebug (my pet name) would be the one to recover it someday.

So Sunday morning I began my adventure to search for my descended treasure by a "treasure map" that led to a starting destination to receive another clue (another piece of a burnt/worn road map) that led to yet another clue, and so on and so on.

The pirate heritage is spread all throughout the Twin Cities, and it turned out that all Dustin's and my closest friends are descendents of Greenbeard as well. Who knew?

Two-and-a-half hours later I found myself wandering the woods of Sucker Park, following a green trail left by Greenbeard (designed by Dustin) which led to an X in the snow. Laughing, and digging with my frozen, bare hands I found the Pirat box (from Pirat rum) gifted to Dustin last year which beheld the Christmas spirits (champaign & two glasses) and a tiny box holding Greenbeard's dearest treaure -- MY RING!

The Captain popped out of the cattails in time to get on a knee before his hysterical Pirate Queen to propose and say many lovely things that were filmed by his brother still hidden.

There are many more details to my adventure that would exhaust too many here, but if you're close I'd like to sip over some bubbly and share more about the exciting tale!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Tempting children

So cute! A friend of mine shared this video with me last week and I just think it's great. Hope you do too!


Oh, The Temptation from Steve V on Vimeo.

It's Friday and time to party!

Thank heavens my finals are over, and I had my last classes for the semester this week. This weekend is packed with Christmas parties and get togethers!

Tonight: my boyfriend and I are the entertainment for some family friends, we are to dress up as Tiger and Elin. A little risky...we'll see how it goes.

Tomorrow: going to a Christmas party where we have to dress up like a Christmas carol. Not sure what i'm going to be yet, but I’m thinking of being Rudolph or Cindy Lou.

And, the last half of the evening we are skipping on over to another Christmas party...an ugly sweater Christmas party!

busy busy busy time of year -- but wonderful!

Christmas shopping, check!

I finished my Christmas shopping this past weekend! Like most girls, I love shopping, especially for others. I feel a lot less guilty about spending money when it’s not on me. Some of my presents are creative, others are not. Also, I’m trying to think about each person and their interests/wants/needs before buying them a gift. It’s my goal to buy as few gift cards as possible this year. And so far, I'm pretty successful.

Late on the Christmas shopping this year? All done?

And are you a fan of creative gifts vs. convenient gifts?

Play, an analogy of dogs and humans

 playful pups:

*like tug-o-war, frisbee, catch, or other games

*run to the door when you arrive

*whine when you leave

*beg when you are eating

*demand your attention when you're working

*run around the yard to chase squirrels

*say hello to other dogs

playful people:

*play games, sports, competitions, etc.

*give hugs/kisses at the door

*laugh with you

*cry with you

*serve and be served food/drinks/conversation

*ask how you're doing, or if you need any help

*go out of their way for others

*greet others, including strangers

Life's a party

Finals are done! I have a couple more classes next week and then seven weeks of Christmas Va-cay! Hoorah!

I'm going Christmas shopping this Friday to try and buy some good finds for the fam. Not sure yet where to go...but if I were shopping for myself I would definitely head to H&M. Haven't been there in forever, and love the new hip, European look.

There's a function on the website to create your own Style Guide Party look.

My top five finds:

Blouse: $24.95

Jeans: $39.95

Shoes: $34.95

Bracelet: $5.95

Scarf: $12.95

Total: under $120

Final season

I'm so busy working on final projects, papers and presentations, but making sure to take some R&R once in a while with my favorite cold season drink: spiced, spiked apple cider. Mmmm...

-mulled cider mix
-spiced rum
-cinnamon stix
-apple cider

Spark a little creativity with weird

It’s difficult to put into words what creativity means to me. As I’ve read, my right brain is more creative than my left, so putting meaning into words can be difficult to express what my eyes see, what my ears hear and what my heart feels. Creativity is triggered extrinsically for me, but reacts internally. All meaning behind what is creative to me is in response to what’s inside me. This creativity is therefore subjective, but beautiful and unique. For me creativity requires reflection and time, and some risk. Learning to be more creative has definitely been about learning to see and think differently, and to try new things in order to get different results.

Just as my boyfriend and I are learning into our already three-hour long game of Lord of the Rings Risk, you don’t succeed by being passive and defensive. It’s necessary that you think strategically and act in order to win and produce results.

It's necessary that you go into the weird a little bit. Write to Done writes just about this:  Why weird stuff makes you creative.

"When is your creativity is at its peak? What circumstances are optimal? Because if you  know that, then you can try to replicate the circumstances of maximum creativity."

Make 2010 resolution and break immediately

Recently bought this wonderful 2010 wall calendar from Little Brown Pen on Etsy via a recommendation from Holly @ Decor8. They are downloadable and only $5! Spunky and spoofy, I look forward to people reading them at my abode!

"Keep Calm and Carry On" Printable 2010 Calendar