thank you for being a friend

Today is my birthday! When I was little my dad used to celebrate his "29th" birthday every single year, even though he was already 33 when I was born. I think he kept it going way into his forties, and I always thought it was just a weird funny dad thing. But now that I'm turning 32 I kinda want to just celebrate my 29th birthday every year instead, lol!

31 was a really weird and rough year for me, health wise and just life wise, but strangely I feel a lot more comfortable with my shortcomings all of a sudden. Instead of feeling like I'm a failure at love or money or art I just feel like those shortcomings are a part of who I am. I've worked hard to overcome my health issues and I've become a much more disciplined person than I ever was before. I have a set daily schedule, I exercise, I eat healthy, I make time for reading each night and I don't skip washing my face *ever* which is a weird thing to be proud of at my age but I was pretty darn lazy about that for the last three decades.

So there are some things about my life that haven't gone according to plan -- it's fine. I'm feeling healthy, I'm taking care of myself, and I'm only 29 so I still have a long time to figure things out ;)

sweater - c/o Joanie | dress worn as a skirt - asos

belt - h&m (old) | shoes - aldo

happy birthday, moron

My little brother, Kyle, is 20 years old today. WHAT. It's weird being just that much older than your sibling that you're able to vividly remember their entire life. It seems like just yesterday that he was sitting in a high chair with food all over his face, so it's just super weird that he's 20 already. Still with food all over his face.

We've ended up being ridiculously opposite in almost every way imaginable but somehow we're still really close. He's like my honorary big brother, he's always looking out for me and trying to protect me whenever he can. Despite the arguments that ensue over what music to play in the car, we're great road trip buddies and just in the last year we've been to almost every state on the east coast (and Canada!) I say it all the time, but I am SO lucky to be so close to my family, and Kyle is no exception. Even though he can annoy the heck out of me and has obsessions with things I can't wrap my head around (I'll NEVER understand his fascination with freight trains. ever.) I am super lucky to have him for a brother and even luckier to have him for a friend.

photo an hour on my birthday!

Last year I took a photo an hour on my birthday (and then lost the photos, oops!!) so I decided to do it again this year (and then quickly post them so I don't repeat last year's mishap!) The day started out kind of slow... none of my family was ready to do anything with me so I just worked and hung around my apartment until about 2pm. After that we had a lot of fun, though!

9am: waking up with this furry baby snuggled up next to me!



10am: getting ready to put on my birthday dress! I bought it from Fancy That Vintage on etsy and it's by far my favorite vintage purchase ever. It fits like a glove, it's SO pretty (the sleeves!! the bow!!) and the shipping was like practically overnight. So happy!!



11am: working. blah.



12pm: listening to records while I work, starting with the Doctor Zhivago soundtrack



1pm: trimming my bangs and then chopping off more hair on a whim. I keep forgetting to bring over my hair brush from home so I've been using my novelty dinglehopper (see: little mermaid) brush from Disney World in the mean time



2pm: FINALLY on the way out to celebrate my birthday!



3pm: I haven't changed my address for shipping yet so I stopped home to pick up my mail. I had some beautiful greeting cards and basically every purchase I've made in the last couple of weeks arrived on my birthday. yay!



4pm: Parking. It was already dark out at 4:30, what?!?!



5pm: Dinner at Zorba's. If you live in Princeton or nearby they have THE best pita bread and hummus, and their fries are out of this world.



6pm-7pm: shopping at Princeton Record Exchange. Every year on my birthday I plop myself down at the start of the $1 bins on the floor and work my way through all of them. Nobody who shops with me would ever let me spend that much time perusing records on any day other than my birthday lol ;)



8pm: looking through the used books at the Princeton library. I ended up buying the 'Famous Men of the Middle Ages' book in the middle of the photo. I also read the blurb for Wanderer, Sterling Hayden's autobiography, and it sounds SO interesting! It was more money than I wanted to spend yesterday but it's definitely going on my wishlist.



9pm: I had a little birthday money burning a hole in my pocket, so we stopped at Target to pick up some Christmas decorations! Jenny and Danielle posted these on instagram recently and I was dying to have them.. I may have purchased all of the deer on the shelf. oops!



10pm: Home for cake and presents! My mom bought all of the wall paint for my apartment as a birthday present, so on my actual birthday she wrapped up the paint chips with corresponding little gifts (like a pink ice cream scoop, blue washcloths, etc.) that matched each paint color. It was so cute!



11pm: Back at my apartment for the night



12pm: Reading one of my favorite books in bed before watching an episode of the office and hitting the hay. It turned out to be a very nice birthday after all.

I think if someone had told me on my 26th birthday that within a year I'd have gone to Disney World two more times, met Steve Carell, got my own apartment, seen Niagara Falls, got a brand new car and started driving again I would have thought they were off their rocker. Who knows what my 27th year holds!

a scathingly brilliant birthday giveaway! [closed]

Today is my birthday, so to celebrate I'm having my second annual birthday giveaway! I love putting together giveaways like this where I assemble a bunch of fun things into one sweet little package. Details on how to enter are below! :)



What you'll win: One person will win an assortment of some of my favorite things, all packaged neatly in a pink plastic basket (pictured below):

A pack of neapolitan astronaut ice cream, dinosaur cookie cutters, unicorn corn on the cob holders, cat vs. human book, pink lip gloss in a cat-shaped container, mint green nail polish, a mini dwight schrute bobblehead doll, hello kitty cupcake candies, mint green heart sunglasses, the trouble with angels dvd ("scathingly brilliant" is from this movie!) and a pink plastic basket

How to enter: simply leave a comment letting me know that you're entering, and some way to contact you (email, twitter, blog, whatever floats your boat!) You must be a follower to enter (and, please, none of this follow-and-leave as soon as the giveaway is over jazz.. that's super rude!) This giveaway is open to everyone on planet earth.

For additional entries: (leave a separate comment for each entry)

1. Tweet this "I just entered to win a super fun assortment of goodies on @kategabrielle's blog! http://www.scathingly-brilliant.blogspot.com" (Only counts if you use this exact tweet. Entries from twitter accounts used solely to enter giveaways will not be counted.)
2. Pin one of my blog posts on pinterest -- DIY, outfit post, recipe, whatever!

3. Follow me on facebook
4. Follow me on bloglovin

Giveaway ends on November 26th at 12:01AM EST. Giveaway has ended.

Winner:

happy birthday daddie

Today is my dad's 60th birthday! I don't want to get too mushy*, but my dad really means the world to me and not a day goes by that I don't think to myself how lucky I am to have hit the parent jackpot. We talk constantly and conversations with my dad are never boring. I usually drop by his office to complain about how much I have to do and how I'm never going to get it all done, and then end up hanging around for two hours talking about hypothetical solutions to world issues or the possible consequences of traveling back in time.

This is a man who sat me down in front of the tv when I was barely three years old to watch Nelson Mandela's release from prison, and explained to me the significance of the event. In the car on the way home from elementary school he would use stop lights as an opportunity to demonstrate, with pieces of fruit, the way the solar system worked. Growing up he constantly encouraged me to be intellectually curious, aware of current events, and conscious of history, and to this day I think our conversations are what keep me on my toes. He challenges my opinions even when he agrees with them, not just to play devils advocate but to spark more debate about the topic at hand.

He is thoughtful, kind, generous, big-hearted, incredibly smart, and he has fantastic taste in music, movies and books. He's dealt with some hardship and failures over the years but he remains remarkably optimistic and idealistic. He is a hard worker and, despite major bumps along the road, has managed to own his own business for over 30 years. He never fails to cheer me up when I'm blue, and -- possibly aware of my fragile ego or maybe just blinded by fatherly pride -- I can't remember one instance in which he ever did anything less than gush over anything I painted or drew. And when my world shattered in February when Hypatia passed away, he sat with me night after night helping me to work through my grief. He's the most patient, level-headed and decent person I know, and no matter what happens in my life, one constant will always be having an incredibly amazing father.

Obviously -- if you couldn't tell-- I think my dad is pretty awesome. I am SO thankful that we are such good friends and that he's given me so many amazing memories over the years. Here's to many more :)



*well, that worked well. oops ;p

birthday frock

This is what I wore for my birthday yesterday! My dress from modcloth did end up coming in the mail in time, and I love it, but I ended up going with something a teensy bit less dressy. We're going out for a birthday dinner with my grandmom when I get back from my vacation, and I think that will be the perfect occasion to wear the dress! :)

I have this post scheduled.. I'm writing it at 12am and I have to wake up to catch a plane at 5am! Yikes!! By the time this goes up I will be in the air!! It's my first time flying, and I am SUPER nervous (probably why I'm still up at 12am when I should have been sleeping a long time ago, lol) I'm incredibly excited about my trip, but at this very moment the combination of anxiety over flying and heartbreak at leaving Hypatia with my dad for nine days is really overwhelming. I wish there was a way to take vacations with my cats, using teleportation to get to my destination. Someday...

dress and purse - modcloth | coat - ebay | shoes - urban outfitters | belt - asos

tights - target (if anyone ever sees these, let me know? I would kill for another pair

but I can't find them in stores or online anymore :(

ps. I just realized it looks like part of my finger is missing in the last picture, lol!! Rest assured, my fingers are all intact, I just had it folded in the photo ;p

A Scathingly Brilliant birthday giveaway! [closed]

As much as I love getting presents, I really like giving them SO much more. So for my birthday, I thought it would be fun to do a little giveaway! I've been gathering up goodies for a few months now, and I just put them altogether into one huge group! If you win, you'll get everything shown in the photo above!! :D



What you'll win: A tan scalloped handbag, a strawberry purse, pink lip balm, Hello Kitty candy, dinosaur cookie cutters, heart stud earrings, a cat ring, sweet erasers, two notebooks, a set of cupcake pencils and teal nail polish!

How to enter: simply leave a comment letting me know that you're entering, and some way to contact you (email, twitter, blog, whatever floats your boat!) You must be a follower to enter (and, please, none of this follow-and-leave as soon as the giveaway is over jazz.. that's super rude!) This giveaway is open to everyone on planet earth.

For additional entries: (leave a separate comment for each entry)

1. Tweet this "I just entered to win a super fun assortment of goodies on @kategabrielle's blog! http://www.scathingly-brilliant.blogspot.com" (Only counts if you use this exact tweet. Entries from twitter accounts used solely to enter giveaways will not be counted.)

2. Follow me on facebook
3. Follow me on bloglovin

Giveaway ends on November 26th at 12:01AM EST. Giveaway has ended.

Winner:

Happy Birthday, Chloe!

A very happy birthday to my little Chloe! I can't believe it's been nine whole years since we adopted her! I can remember going to meet her on a chilly, rainy night. She still had bandages on her paws from being frostbitten, and the hospital staff had nicknamed her "Frosty." She was so teeny tiny and undernourished, and just so helpless. So it warms my heart to see what an incredibly content (and incredibly chubby!) cat she's become! She's definitely the queen of the house, and I can't help but smile whenever I'm around her!

ps. you can read her adoption story here.