meowy christmas

I should have taken a close-up photo of this dress because the print is so cute! It's covered in little illustrations of cats in Christmas wreaths! Cats and Christmas -- two of my favorite things! :) I can't believe Christmas is only three days away now!! I'm excited about it but I'm also prematurely bummed about taking down my decorations and turning off the Christmas music. I know that part of what makes the lights and tunes feel so magical is the fact that they're only around for a couple months each year, but I still get an urge every December to just leave my tree up for 365 days lol.

And I'm pretty sure that I'll still be listening to Christmas music for at least another month or two. Here's my playlist if you want to listen along with me :) I always start Christmas playlists with Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses... it gets me in a festive mood instantly!



Spotify wouldn't let me include some of my favorites, so here are some links for youtube videos for those instead:

Blue Christmas by Danielle Dax
Joel the Lump of Coal by The Killers
We Three Kings by Blondie
The Cowboy's Christmas Ball by The Killers
Winter Wonderland by Goldfrapp

dress - modcloth | shirt - vintage | shoes - bait footwear | wig - keke wigs

pursuit of happiness

I've had a lot of stress-related health issues this year, and one of the ways I've been trying to help combat the stress is to actively try to be happy. It doesn't really come naturally to me most of the time; I get really caught up in stressful thoughts and it's hard to find my way out of them. So I started making mental notes of the things that cheer me up and I'm cramming them into my day. I go for walks with my dad regularly, I started meditating, and I've been doing little craft projects just for fun. I have a little note on my monitor that says "listen to music and pet Arrietty!" Whenever I'm working in silence or listening to the news, I'll see that note and switch over to my Killers playlist to lighten my mood. And honestly nothing melts away my stress like a good cuddle with my cat, so when stress is starting to weigh me down I spend some time with Arrietty. She's usually by my side all day anyway, but petting her and hugging her helps a lot. 

I've also been trying lately to watch more happy, corny movies. Anyone who knows me well would be shocked (I literally get movie recommendations all the time that go something like "it's depressing, you'll love it!" or "it has a happy ending but I think you'd like it anyway!" haha!) but it's not as bad as I expected lol. Corny movies can be really fun and I'm actually enjoying them way more than I thought I would. My mom had been trying to get me to watch this Netflix Christmas movie, The 12 Dates of Christmas, for the longest time but it just didn't seem like my type of movie. I finally watched it with her last week and it was delightful! And I felt so happy and relaxed the whole time I was watching it. Considering that most of my favorite movies either make me cry or leave me feeling a little despondent, it was quite a change of pace lol!

Trying to be happy isn't a cure-all for stress, but it's helping, and it feels like a worthwhile goal even if eliminating stress is just a byproduct. We should all try to be a little happier. It can't hurt :)

dress - charlotte russe | boots - bait footwear | wig - keke wigs

Ho! Ho! Ho!

If you're still trying to snag a last minute Christmas gift, I'm offering free Priority Mail shipping on any $20+ order in my shop today only with code "QUICKSHIP"

Right now it's snowing outside, I have my Christmas tree lights on, Christmas music is playing (I'll be sharing a little Christmas playlist next week!) and I'm packing up the last few orders that are coming through before the holiday shopping season is over. I know it's kind of silly but I always feel a little bit like Santa (or at least one of his elves!) when I'm getting my holiday orders ready. And on Christmas morning I can't help but think of my prints and pins and whatnots sitting under trees all across the world waiting to be unwrapped. It gives me warm fuzzies! :)

dress - asos | cardigan - amazon | shoes - bait footwear | wig - keke wigs

heirloom ornaments

Last week my brother and I helped my mom decorate the family Christmas tree. She mentioned to him that when he and his girlfriend get married, he'll get some of the ornaments for his own tree. We have a family tradition of passing down ornaments when a kid gets married and starts their own family. All of the vintage ornaments on our tree were passed down from my grandmom to my mom when my parents tied the knot.

As you probably know, I'm perpetually single. Not just that I don't have a steady boyfriend at the moment, I mean I've never dated before. Ever. It used to bother me a lot but over the last year or so I've not only come to terms with it, I've grown pretty attached to the idea of staying single. At this point in my life, I do not plan on getting married or pairing up with anyone. I feel like it's just not in the cards for me and I'm totally okay with that. But it begs the question -- if marriage is the milestone that initiates the handing down of the ornaments, when do I get mine?! lol!

So I asked my mom if she'd let me have my share now. I'm already 31, I have my own Christmas tree, and I love these ornaments SO much. Ever since I was little they were always my favorite ones to put up, and I dreamed about getting to decorate my own tree with them someday. Well luckily, "someday" is now, because I have an incredibly awesome and understanding mom. Not only did she immediately, enthusiastically agree to letting me have a handful of ornaments, she balked at the eight I picked out and insisted that I go back for four more to make it an even dozen.

I'm super lucky to have a very understanding family that is totally okay with my spinsterhood. I've never once been asked when I'd settle down and find a boyfriend, and I've never had to hear any intrusive hints about my biological clock. I know that a lot of single girls aren't so lucky, and it makes me appreciate my family all the more for it. And if you're in a similar situation and you've been eyeing some family ornaments for your tree, try asking! I think a surprising amount of people my age are unattached and we're missing out on some family traditions like this just because we're not following the conventional road path of life, and nobody really knows how to adjust old traditions to new lifestyles. So we need to make up our own rules! :)