giving thanks.

thanksgiving is upon us and i thought i'd take the time to list 10 things i'm thankful for this year. here we go!

1. living close enough to my family that i can see them on a regular basis
2. the awesome bf
3. a non defective cat
4. managing to get a raise in this shitty economy
5. keeping in touch with friends even though we live miles apart
6. online shopping
7. hello kitty's face gracing every object known to man
8. gingerbread lattes
9. dvr
10. martha stewart (above picture is courtesy of her site)

what is everyone thankful for this year?

hello, kitty.

a dream come true. an entire exhibit showcasing my greatest and most embarrassing obsession... hello kitty. a friend told me about three apples at royal/t and i just had to go. an hour and half in line later, we finally entered the sanrio pop up shop, where i promptly made 2 rounds around 12x12 store and dropped $50 on things i'm sure i don't need but had to have. in between the store and the art exhibit, we stopped for a snack break. i was a little disappointed to learn that their hello kitty themed food was actually made from the same target appliances i have in my own home. bought a few cupcakes and continued on. the exhibit was amazing and if i had more time, i would've waited another hour to create my own t-shirt.

check out the gallery here!

deck the halls.

there will be no boughs of holly adorning our front door this year.. but what about this pretty little thing? this diy project from the cb2 blog is so simple, yet produces stunning results. they use their own ornaments (of course), but at $3 to $5 a pop, it can get quite pricey. you can get a whole bucket full from target for about $15 to $20. quite a steal considering most pre-made wreaths you'd actually consider putting up cost at least twice that much anyway. this is definitely a project i'll be tackling in the days to come. so pretty, i'll have to hang it inside, lest someone swipe it from our door.

full instructions here.

inside out.

there's something about bringing elements from nature into the home or vice versa that appeals to me. and although i've probably only set foot into a countryside a handful of times, it's definitely something i dream about from time to time. not sure what it is. being able to sit outside and see forests instead of strip malls? actually being able to see stars? sounds pretty good.