done. done. done, done, done!

You know how some people listen to songs on repeat? This has been my relationship with Target's Done commercial this year. I can't stop watching it. It makes me so happy!

I made my friends watch it a few times last night. They thought I was pretty much crazy until the second glass of wine, at which point I promise I caught a few of them bouncing their knees along with me.

The check lists! The girl dancing in front of the tree! Oh man it gets me in the spirit!

confessions of a [non]DIYer

I like to think of myself as crafty. I don't, however, like to think of myself as someone who is in denial, and unfortunately, you can't have one without the other. Crafty I am not.

The real issue is that I have minimal patience for crafts. I'm interested in most projects for approximately 12.5 seconds, at which point I begin slopping it together so I can call it complete. It is one of the many, many traits I received from my mom and can be seen most clearly through the cabinet we repainted.

That being said, yesterday I made a Christmas ornament and was very [probably too] proud of the finished work.
We decoupaged styrofoam balls with cut up books, then added ribbon and a pearl pin (wha?).

Did I get panicked mid-project when my hands were covered in mod podge, which was also in my hair, and I realized the entire table was a mess? Absolutely. Did I attempt to pour the glue onto the styrofoam ball in order to speed up the process? Of course. And did I do a second one when everyone else did? Definitely not. But who needs a pair of ornaments when you have one happy little guy to hang on your tree?

I named the finished work Penelope and hung her on an aloe plant at work...
Now I can stare at her all day long, while I dream of aloe-ish months. Straight bliss, my friends!

empire state of mind

Last week I mentioned having a hard time remembering it's almost Christmas. Wellp! Problem officially solved. 


This weekend I went to New York to visit my friend Austin and am now 110 percent in the holiday spirit. The city is in such close quarters and every inch of it is decorated with Christmassyness.

Katie and I coordinated our travel plans, so we arrived from Chicago and Atlanta simultaneously Friday night. And although we weren't staying together, it felt very happy being there at the same time. We shared a cab into the city and I think the driver might have thought we were a little obnoxious and hyper, but I'm not even sorry about it because I just love being with her.
From the moment our planes landed, the weekend was a whirlwind. On Friday, Austin and I went out with Katie and Blake and some of his friends.

On Saturday, we went to brunch in SoHo, then to Chelsea Market and the High Line. Last time I was in New York, I decided Rockefeller Center was my favorite part, and this time around, it did not disappoint. The tree is ginormous! You could actually fit a million presents under it.
After that, we went to Traffic, which is an IU bar, to watch the game. It was so much fun being with a lot of familiar faces, especially since we won. Being in Atlanta, I sometimes forget that my friends in Chicago, NYC and Indy have the ability to see each other so regularly. I was loving it.

Finally, Saturday night, we went to dinner at the Breslin with Katie and Blake, Emily and Steven, and a few other friends.

On our walk home from dinner, I got to see the Shake Shack, which has been my obsession ever since I saw a documentary on it this spring. Although we didn't actually eat there, I felt pretty fulfilled just having seen it. Especially because the lights on it, although I think permanent, seemed holidayish. It was literally Christmas loving everywhere you looked.
My only regret is that I somehow forgot gloves and warm shoesies so my fingers and toes were slightly numb throughout the whole weekend. However, other than that minor misstep on my part, the trip was just perfect. Austin kept telling me it was "actually pretty warm" and I'm not sure which one of us is confused, here, but I'd say we can meet in the middle on the fact that it was warmer than Chicago, but colder than Atlanta. Here's to hoping for actual pretty warmness in Indiana later this week. And sun! Di!

Thanks, Austin, for a great weekend! I hope your weekend was wonderful, too! Less than one week!