{ Best pre-Christmas Christmas present ever }

Erin did it again... she successfully gave me the coolest pre-Christmas present I have ever received. I think she is amazing. Made of grocery bags ironed flat (and double up), the grocery shopping bag she made me is incredible. Not only does it say "I'm Earth friendly" to my fellow shoppers at the grocery market, but also "I have the coolest friend who makes me rad presents." The bag is sturdy and completed with a homemade tag that reads "Virginia Paige: Protegeant la planete Depus 2007 (Protecting the planet since 2007)" I love it. Her method: Doubling up plastic grocery bags then ironing them between sheets of wax paper to produce strong plastic sheets that she then sewed together with a zigzag stitch to form a useful, attractive, reusable grocery bag.

She gave me the bag within two minutes of getting back from Thanksgiving at her parent's house in Arizona. She couldn't wait she was so excited, and I am glad.

{ I love my brother and holidays at his house }

I spent the Thanksgiving holiday (i love that word -- holiday; it just carries a little something more than the words break or vacation) in Seattle with my brother Andy, my sister-in-law Chele, and my ADORABLE (all caps necessary) niece Anza. I never realized I could love a little person so much. Even when she was crying or upset, I still loved my little niece to pieces. I KNOW! Impossible you'd think, but it's true. The three-day festivity included walks to the store and little hikes/uphill strolls through forrested parks that led to lookouts over the Puget Sound. We made our way to the Pike Place Fish Market after I got in on Wednesday morning, and we had breakfast in a restaurant overlooking the Puget Sound; so relaxing and enjoyable. I am a fan of Seattle -- it has the big city feel, but it also houses an organic air of earth friendliness and general respect for all things.


Here's Andy, Anza and I in a park overlooking the Puget Sound. It's right next to Pike Place Fish Market -- we stopped to take a pic before we went in for breakfast.


My breakfast: a delicious breakfast quesadilla. Totally worth the $10.95 -- thanks Andy.


Anza Rhe -- named after a desert in California. I love her little gloves.


Andy, Anza and me running down a trail leading to Snoqualmie Falls (the black blobby blur ahead of me is my brother holding Anza). Andy thought running past all the people on the trail to get ahead was a good idea. I agreed.


Snoqualmie Falls from view of the rocks beyond the obsevation deck.




Happy photos from Thanksgiving dinner.

{ Come Come Ye Kates! }

Miss Katy Broughton came into town the week before Thanksgiving just for a little visit. Activities included shopping at the gateway (while waiting for Katy's sister's lost luggage to be recovered at the airport -- we got it safe and sound after approximately 2 hours), D.I. shopping, apple-cinnamon pancake making (complete with fresh whipped cream and raspberries), a picnic lunch up the Provo Canyon, and general enjoyment of the company. I like it when Kates comes to visit. In fact, I love it. Here are some photos of the general splendor.


The hat series at the gateway -- furry hats from American Eagle, knit hats from Anthropologie and men's plaid hats from Jcrew.


We found these little jems at Jcrew. Leave it to them to make men's long underwear irresistablely silly. We didn't buy, but you better believe we couldn't stop ourselves from trying on and taking photos.

{ Yellow Wedding }

I went to my friend Kara's wedding the other day, and I'm pretty sure I hadn't seen her in at least 5 years, possibly six. She looked lovely, and her reception (yellow-themed and held at the old courthouse in downtown Provo) was classy and beautiful. Complete with live jazz band and coned trees made of marangue puffs, it was simply delightful; sort of like a big, yellow hug. I carried my yellow clutch at the reception (to match my yellow bracelets), and was thanked more than once for matching the wedding colors :)

{ Mixed on the reSPECTOR: 55/45 }

I went to a Regina Spektor concert in the Venue when she came to Salt Lake last month, and I don't think I've ever been so mixed feeling-ed at a show before. Musicality: AMAZING. Voice: BEAUTIFUL. Piano: BRILLIANT ans FLAWLESS. Stage Presence: COMPLETELY CAPTIVATING. Content of songs: At times, WONDERFUL...at others, just plain shoddy. It was weird to listen to some of her lyrics and subject matter and think "Ya -- this woman's got it together. I totally agree," then at other times think "How crude and needlessly juvenile." Not that I'm better or anything, but it was just interesting in and of itself to be so torn regarding one person's music. Overall I would say I liked it 55%.

{ Jicama gone wrong. }

OK. Perhaps you have never heard of jicama (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jicama or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jicama), but it happens to be a tasty, white vegetable that I enjoy on salads and sometimes just dipped in dressing. I've recently learned that it doesn't stay good for months at a time in a storage drawer in the fridge. I found this tasty little treat on Sunday. Thank goodness it was in a ziplock freezer back. Have you ever seen red mold before?

{ Making a dress #1 }

I have an incredible roommate named Erin who thinks it's easy to make and modify dress patterns based on dresses I already own. She executed these talents by making a super cute pattern based on one of my favorite, vintage dresses in my closet (it's the red, polka dottish one for anyone who may be really familiar with my wardrobe). And, for roomate bonding time earlier this month, we made dresses! It's my very first sewing project based on a pattern, and really it's the first piece of clothing I've ever made. It makes me feel less guilty for owning a sewing maching now that I have confidence that I can actually make things. Up until now I've just been a clothes mender. Erin and I decided that if we start a dress shop in some quaint, boutique-lined street, we're going to call it "Virginia Paige" -- it's a conglomorate of our two middle names (compliments of Erin and her naming brilliance).



Erin ironing her emerald/tinker-bell green fabric for her dress. I went with a brown, textured suiting fabric (as you can see below)



The finished product. I think I get more pleased with it as time goes on. The night I finished, I was like "Ehhh...not a huge fan." The day I wore it, I was like "Ahhh...it's OK." And now I'm to the "It's not too bad" stage.