Monthly Archives: December 2011

Holiday Cards *The RAD ones* and a surprise too!

Hello There,

I’m sure holiday cards are flooding your mailbox *wow, doesn’t snail mail feels so foreign?* I absolutely loved our card this year. It was difficult to top past year’s awesomeness

2008 Pre-Olivia
2009 Preggers with Olivia
2010 Olivia’s 1st Christmas
2011 She’s a pro now!

This is one AWESOME card drawn by the talented Story & Chris
This card wins at everything! From Warren & Kim
Incredibly creepy and wonderful, YAY!!

I’m going to attempt to keep this brief since I must get ready for the yard sale *of pretty things* in a minute. Yesterday Antz finished the re-organization project in our laundry nook. We bought this wire holder from the Container Store to hold our card/foam board we use for our chalkboard signs *since Liv tries to draw on them. We thought we could hook it under the shelf and slide them in and out easy, peasy. Well it didn’t turn out as we imagined so Antz went to the hardware store and came back in MacGuyver mode. He built a special shelf that holds all our paper/boards and other things that were homeless. Dude! I am always blown away by his resourcefulness, he takes $10 and does the impossible. So now our shelf went from this

2008, not that bad
2009, at it’s worst, we lost the curtains due to a paint accident
Last weekend

Now look!  We got rid of so much junk and organized. I can’t tell you how overwhelmed it felt before. I would go to Target and bring stuff home with nowhere to put it. We also had to spend 10 minutes going though everything to find something. It was a Hoarders situation.
Yesterday, See my handy dandy new shelf for oversized paper and cardboard. Of course Antz is painting it white but it’s pretty
My Real Simple mags now have a cozy new home
We used the wire for my binders and other supplies, our orchid is being rehabilitated so it’s hanging out on the shelf far from Livzilla’s wrath.
We will be curtain shopping after Christmas

 LOOK WHAT I WOKE UP TO FIND!!!!

Antz painted the pantry door in chalkboard paint. I’ve been wanting to do that for a year…Happy Happy!

Holy SHIZBALLS!! I LOVE IT
Even have a cute bucket to hold chalk.

Now I must run to the sale…I’m keeping my fingers crossed I find something SPECTACULAR!

Garage Sale (not the kind you’re thinking of)

I really dislike garage sales. They usually have crappy stuff, tons of dated clothes that look like someone died wearing them and the rare pieces of furniture I do find, I am never very good at negotiating a fair price. The one time I did score at an estate sale in Sherman Oaks *this is a great spot cause the folks are rich, no longer working soap opera actors* I got a storage bench for $10. It was painted bright yellow and had hinges that looked like they were from the Victorian age *not in a chic way* and some kid had decided to unleash their inner artist by putting 43 stickers on it in a very random pattern. We took it to my Mom’s house, spent hours stripping the stickers, added new hinges and painted it a chocolate brown. It now lives in my living room and stores my wedding dress and all our wedding memorabilia *which I always ask Antz, if there was a fire, how would I save all that stuff?*

So I found out about this FABulous garage sale around the corner of my house. Well, it turns out that the lovely lady who is having the sale is the founder of BAN.DO!!! I am hoping there will be this rad gold sequin fanny pack that I’ve been wanting forever.

Super cute! If they don’t have it, I will stock up on hair accessories and some lovely things for the house.

Yesterday I had my date with Aimee. Holy Cow, we had so much fun even though a torrential rain storm almost spoiled our day. I got my Christmas present and I’m dying! We went to Tiffanys and I almost died and went to heaven.

Aimee’s future engagement ring
I need this bracelet for Olivia

 We were totally pointing and oohing and ahhing over everything. So many gorgeous sparkly things.

J’adore

We went to Numero Uno for lunch and out of nowhere it started pouring rain, thunder and lightening. We hung out talking and stuffing our faces until it stopped.

Do you like Liv’s hipster ‘do created by Aimee?
PIZZA!!! Nom nom!

CRAY-CRAY!
We went to Monkeyhouse Toys so I could pick up a gift for Antz *although he knows what it is* 

I could live in that place. Too much adorable-ness.

I also picked up a mystery gift for my Antzy but I can’t elaborate on that. Last week I mentioned in my gift guide that my Mom gave me $100 for the holidays so I bought my Tiffany & Co necklace to accompany Antz gift to me…my photo charm from Planet Jill.

My Lovely Daughter, Olivia Lily

Aimee and Antz got one too.
His charm is on the right.
 Believe it or not the necklace from Tiffanys was under $100 so I used the remainder to buy my rad Anthology subscription. I will get issue #6 in January but I found issue #5 at Anthropologie.

Last night I wrapped some of Liv’s presents. Still waiting for Amazon to deliver the rest today.

Story & Chris bought us this awesome ornament in Hawaii 3 years ago

My Grandmom’s musical Christmas tree. I will pass it down to Olivia, it’s 64 years old and still works!!

Antz and I made cookies for his company Holiday party this afternoon. Look how cute the wrapping is for his Secret Santa gift.
Well, that pretty much sums up how my Christmas is going. We are taking a trip to Legoland during Antz week off. Last time we went was the day it opened, on my birthday in 1999. I have a huge New Year’s surprise but I’m trying to zip my lips until the 31st.

Golden Globe Nominations *Or Ricky Gervais Hollywood Roast*

Young “New Wave” Ricky

I can’t believe he got hired again. I guess Hollywood is glutton for punishment because last year Ricky ripped everyone a new one and I loved it! I hope he hosts every year because the Golden Globes is the ghetto-est of Hollywood award show *not including those People Choice awards cause they don’t count* Every celeb gets drunk off their ass and the most random people present awards. So the noms were announced and I am perplexed at some of the choices. It’s weird to me how some films get to be included even though they haven’t even come out yet. Well, here we go…italics are my own picks, bold is the projected winner *cause I’m only right 50% of the time*

BEST ACTRESS, TV DRAMA
Claire Danes, Homeland
Mireille Enos, The Killing
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife *only cause she wins everything*
Madeline Stowe, Revenge
Callie Thorne, Necessary Roughness

I don’t know any of these hoes except Claire Danes. I’m not sure how to feel about her. I used to like her on My So-Called Life *but I also simultaneously hated her* then I liked her again when she was in Romeo + Juliet. I guess I’ll cheer for her since she cracked me up in Temple Grandin

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Hello Hello,” Gnomeo and Juliet
“The Keeper,” Machine Gun Preacher
“Lay Your Head Down,” Albert Nobbs
“The Living Proof,” The Help
“Masterpiece,” W.E.

Sheesh, they aren’t making it easy this year, there’s no lame Randy Newman or U2…I can’t believe it! I’m eeny-miny-moeing this one

BEST ACTRESS, TV COMEDY
Laura Dern, Enlightened
Zooey Deschanel, New Girl
Tina Fey, 30 Rock  *bring it home for the win, Fey-Fey*
Laura Linney, The Big C
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

Here’s where the selections go awry. I like Zooey, who wouldn’t? she’s adorable, yet I doubt she is bringing a Golden Globe performance on that awful show *I’m speculating cause I’ve never watched it but I’ve seen enough commercials to judge*

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE PICTURE
The Flowers of War
In the Land of Blood and Honey
The Kid With a Bike
A Separation
The Skin I Live In

Angelooney and war…nuff said

BEST SCREENPLAY
Midnight in Paris
The Ides of March
The Descendants  *Alexander Panye is in the Hollywood mafia*
Moneyball

This is a tricky one, I haven’t seen any of these but I want to see them all.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story *cause she is phenomenal at playing a bat shit crazy lady*
Kelly MacDonald, Boardwalk Empire
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family *she didn’t win last year*
Evan Rachel Wood, Mildred Pierce

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Paul Giamatti, Too Big To Fail
Guy Pearce, Mildred Pierce
Tim Robbins, Cinema Verite  *just cause I like him*
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

Egads, who watches mini-series? They are sooo boring and poorly produced. 

BEST ACTOR, TV COMEDY
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock  *BOW DOWN BITCHES*
David Duchovny, Californication
Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory
Thomas Jane, Hung
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
The Artist
W.E.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo *It’s Trent Reznor and it’s nice to know he now takes showers*
Hugo
War Horse

What the hell is up with this War Horse movie? I love the horsies but I don’t understand the idea of this movie and why it is being taken seriously.

BEST MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Mildred Pierce *Yay, Kate!*
Too Big To Fail
Cinema Verite
Downton Abbey
The Hour

Stupid mini series

BEST TV SERIES, COMEDY
Enlightened
Episodes
Glee
Modern Family
New Girl

I am happy to say I have never watched any of these programs. Does the Hollywood Foreign Press know there is a fantastic comedy called Louie or Always Sunny? All these shows seem like chick shows.

BEST ANIMATED FILM
The Adventures of Tintin  *Edgar Wright, duh!*
Arthur Christmas
Cars 2
Puss in Boots
Rango

I suppose Puss? We are seeing Tin Tin on the 22nd.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
William Hurt, Too Big To Fail
Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey
Idris Elba, Luther
Bill Nighy, Page Eight
Dominic West, Appropriate Adult

BEST ACTOR, TV DRAMA
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad  *I call a tie. this fool is AH-Mazing on this show, I can’t believe he used to be Malcolm’s Daddy*
Kelsey Grammer, Boss
Jeremy Irons, The Borgias  *I LOVE me some Jeremy Irons*
Damian Lewis, Homeland

BEST TV SERIES, DRAMA
American Horror Story
Boardwalk Empire *Michael Pitt is fun to look at*
Boss
Game of Thrones
Homeland *only reason I say this will win cause it’s the only I haven’t seen, therefor it will win*

BEST ACTOR, MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Brendan Gleeson, The Guard *Brendan Gleeson is a fantastic actor*
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50
Ryan Gosling, Crazy, Stupid, Love *yum, but not realistic*
Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Janet Mcteer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help *I am rooting for her*
Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

BEST ACTOR, DRAMA
George Clooney, The Descendants
Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar  *come on, this dude is Golden, why does Leo look like he was born in the 50s*
Michael Fassbender, Shame *I have a new crush on this guy, not only was he fabulous in Inglorious Basterds and Fish Tank, see it*
Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March
Brad Pitt, Moneyball

BEST MOTION PICTURE, MUSICAL OR COMEDY
50/50
The Artist
Bridesmaids  *it would be a dream, Melissa McCarthy is AWESOME*
Midnight in Paris
My Week With Marilyn *really?* I like Michelle Williams but she was not the right one for this role

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Romolai Garai, The Hour
Diane Lane, Cinema Verite
Elizabeth McGovern, Downton Abbey
Emily Watson, Appropriate Adult
Kate Winslet, Mildred Pierce

If Kate doesn’t win, I don’t care anymore.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Albert Brooks, Drive  *It was great seeing him play something other than a goody-goody*
Jonah Hill, Moneyball  *I love Jonah, but I dispise baseball*
Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method
Christopher Plummer, Beginners

BEST DIRECTOR
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris  *I really want to see this sooo bad*
George Clooney, The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo

BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady  *Meryl doesn’t lose*
Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin  *This is a no-brainer for me, Tilda is one of the top 5 actresses of our time. She is weird in such an intriguing way

BEST ACTRESS, MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Jodie Foster, Carnage  *Another movie I want to see*
Charlize Theron, Young Adult *I hear she was really good in this movie*
Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids
Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Kate Winslet, Carnage

BEST MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA
The Descendants  *just cause I don’t care if anything else wins and this is George’s Golden Globes*
Moneyball
The Help
Hugo
The Ides of March
War Horse

The GG’s will be airing on January 15, 2012. I may or may not play Paparazzi at the after-parties.

My Favorite Things

It is cold in Los Angeles.

really cold…

Like our heater has been on all-day, everyday *don’t want to even think of our electric bill*. Wearing long sleeves/pants pajamas and I won’t go anywhere in the house without my electric blanket *not limited to the bathroom* Last Sunday I got a reality check when we went shopping for our Winter clean-up. I was so hot from the cleaning and lifting furniture, when I got dressed I put on my chambray skirt, a short sleeve tee, my orange hoodie and my ballet flats. This is my regular outfit for running errands, but as we were looking for parking it dawned on me, it’s fucking freezing outside! Every single person was wearing pants, boots and a heavy coat. I looked like an alien walking around with my bare legs and ballet shoes. Even ladies in skirts had on tights and boots. Sooooo…long story short *too late*

http://image.spreadshirt.com/image-server/image/composition/4410483/view/1/producttypecolor/351/type/png/width/280/height/280/cankles-are-amazing_design.png

This broad needs to invest in a winter wardrobe. I am so used to 5 days out of 4 months of cold weather so I skate by with sweaters and my Ugg boots. Well, last night we went to Dave’s birthday party and I was wishing I had a nice pair of tall flat boots. I wore my standard outfit

how much to you love the lighting? I kinda love how my legs have disappeared.

But it was raining and I was lucky I only had to run from the car to the theater. So I’ve been searching for the perfect pair of boots. Not such an easy task for me since I suffer from cankles and extremely large calves. I also am looking for a comfortable flat heeled boot. The only candidate I’ve found so far is this fancy lady

Betsey Johnson 'Rallly' Boot

Betsey Johnson ‘Rallly’ Boot

I am so completely in love with these prairie style boots. The length, the laces, the ruffles…oh Betsey!! The saddest part is Nordstrom is sold out of my size *as are Zappos and Amazon, I checked* So now I must wait until they email me and hope they get more sizes in stock. Such is my life…waiting, waiting, impatiently waiting!

I took advantage of Gap’s 35% off winter sale and bought some needed warmies. I am aware I am wearing out stripes but I do love this dress!! I know it’s similar to my red striped dress but I got a speck of bleach on it, so its now become a house dress.

Striped ponte dress
Striped buttoned boatneck T
Pointelle ballet-neck sweater
I also stocked up on boy short undies and socks for me, jammies for Liv 
Girl in Paris footed One piece

I couldn’t resist this coat this adorable guy to replace the adorable red wool peacoat she’s on the verge of not fitting.

Ruffled Trench Coat

I have my eye on this trench for myself and I just realized now it’s quite matchy-matchy with Liv. I almost bought it yesterday when Gap had a 60% off outerwear sale. Sadly this guy was not on sale and I don’t want to pay $98 for it.

Mac Jacket

It comes in camel but I have always had an aversion to buying a beige trench coat for myself. It just feels to 1940’s detective to me. I promise to try not to wear them simultaneously!

Dave’s party was rad. The theater was very posh. We hung out at the bar and had cocktails and hor d’oeuvres. It was pricey but awesome. The Muppets was non-surprisingly cheesy however I thought the Toy Story short they showed before the movie was cute.

Cocktail Hour, I had 2 Lemon Drops
The birthday boy & Nadia

My sweet potatoe fries were delish
Our very own theater, very cozy
Antz ordered flatbread
The chairs were crazy. I pushed the button and this guy comes and brings you food, drinks even a blanket *which I needed with my inappropriate attire*
The best part, Sprinkles cupcakes
Happy Happy Birthday Dave!

 I’m singing in the rain!
And Thanks to Debra for bebesitting!!

Jelly Bean Extraganza

If you are not a fan of Jelly Beans, you will not enjoy this post. My personal favorite is buttered popcorn *how the heck do they make that flavor??* I read about this video on youtube and I’ll let you see it for yourself

Pretty genius right? Oh man, they must have bought $1,000,000 worth of Jelly Beans! I was wondering myself how they made this sweet vid….well here’s the secrets behind the beans scenes!

Kina Grannis is pretty adorable. But oh, I have adorable for you.

May I present….RODY

Pink Rody pictured
Rodytoy

I asked around and it seems this inflatable pony is toddler-proof. My biggest problem now is choosing a color. Antz votes for green but Turquoise is pretty rad. There are as many colors as there are jelly beans.  Alright, I’ve got to stop buying Liv Christmas presents….after I find the Yo Gabba Gabba! boombox. It’s sold out everywhere except Amazon.

Yo Gabba Gabba - Playsets - Yo Gabba Gabba Music Box
Amazon

I’ll let you figure it out

Since the photo I’m going to show you is NSFW, here’s my ball of sunshine on a rainy Monday.

Noone’s looking right?  Now, tell me this isn’t majorly awesome!!

6. Hippie Vagina Dude
via Buzzfeed

Tonight we are going to our friend Dave’s birthday party. We are going to a movie theater that serves food and beer *not just popcorn and nachos* and we have the whole place to ourselves. We’ll be seeing The Muppets.

This song was introduced to me by my Beauty School BFF Jessica. I always think of her and our outrageous antics during those 2 long years at CCBC!!

It’s about to get real Nerdy in here

I am pretty much guilty of the following offenses.

I mostly misspell alot, A LOT!! I do apologize, I want to improve.

Brought to you by theoatmeal

 

10 words you need to stop misspelling
Lose
Weird

I’ll admit, this was a lazy post. Antz and I have spent ALL freaking day cleaning and organizing our tiny house. We didn’t even finish 50% on our To Do list but at least we took 2 huge bags to Goodwill and this is now the state of our storage in the kitchen.

Believe it or not these both are the After photos. Antz beat me to taking a Before shot, most likely because it would have been quite embarassing.
Yep, what you are seeing on top of the washing machine is 4 years of Real Simple issues but don’t fret! We went to The Container Store and picked up more magazine holders. We still need new curtains to hide our my Hoarder-ness.

I promise to soon reveal our bedroom when I procure a few more items *namely a rug, and the famous owl lamp* Antz surprised me Friday night while I was at the Caramel Apple party in a major way. Not diamonds but just as good *wink*

See ya later Alligators!

Elias’ Nightmare Before Christmas Birthday Party

I am so tired so I’m gonna load the photos and add captions later. We had so much fun we have to take a nap now. Happy 1st Birthday Elias!

Antz made this amazing Mayor hat for me

Of course we began the day with a screening of NBC for Liv, she really liked it
I made this “Sally” dress on Thursday night. Thank goodness it was supposed to have a ragged look

Antz kept it simple with his Jack mask

The park was a hidden gem in Glendale. It was awesome weather.

Liv and the Birthday boy

Leslie is the Queen of pinatas!! She ordered this Zero, but it turned out wonky, she did a fantastic job.

Swag bags!

The food was delish, I was expecting yummy from the chef parents.

How incredible is this cake? I’m sure my wedding cake was smaller. They had it made at Cake Sentsations. I need to pay them a visit.

Okay, new favorite photo….courtesy of Moi!!

This was an interesting game. You break the box, the kids grab a balloon. You pop the balloon and find a number. Then the number is the order you win a prize.

Liv was #2, YAY!!
Jack Skellington mug, Whoo-hoo!

Olivia got a Barrel doll in her swag bag

CAKE!

Love his cake face!!!

Thanks Roxy, Alan & Elias for a rad party!!

Here’s her post nap shot with Barrel. She was heavy into a game of Angry Birds

Caramel Apple Par-tay!!

Holy Caramel, Batman!!!

When you first think of caramel, your like Uh, sticky, too sweet and makes my teeth hurt. But Mia bought some caramel from the Gods and boy was it tasty!! I’m talking buttery, pretty much what you imagine a Butterbeer from Harry Potter would taste like. So we were all caramel apple virgins but Mia’s roomie Nick seemed to be the dip master. She had all kinds of delicious goodies to put on the apples *like Pinkberry* and 3 girls, Kaia Bug, Bianca and Liv, provided the chefs entertainment. I say this everytime I go over there, her house is amazing!!

I love her chalkboard wall. Antz drew this portrait last summer!!

The girl’s had their own party

I used a hammer to put in the sticks. I only hit my thumb once

Liv pretty much jacked this Yo Gabba Gabba boombox from Kaia. It’s awesome, I’m getting her one this weekend.

Adam’s pyramid apple
Paris’s came out perfect
So yummy!

oreo, butterfinger, mashmellows, raisinettes, peppermint, coconut and almonds
My little apple

I forgot my Nikon at home so I used the Canon, sorry these turned out so blurry

I had a wonderful time. I think I’ll have a Crafty Ladies party some time in January. Now I must get some shut eye. Liv has a birthday party tomorrow morning. I can’t wait to show you her outfit. The theme is Nightmare Before Christmas!!

A Lizzie Guide to Gift Giving

First let me say, you will be tempted to give someone *maybe your crazy cat owning Aunt* a giftcard. I have been guilty of the last minute giftcard to Barnes & Noble and I’m not proud of it. It’s impersonal, lazy and shows how much you think of that person. Unless you are dropping 100 bills at the recipient’s fave store *ahem, Anthropologie* then NO! I have gotten so many $25 giftcards to stores I would never shop at, and if I did, I’m spending at least $50 so Thanks jerk, now I have to come out of my pocket for my own thoughtless gift.

Hold on…Liv is being too quiet.

Okay, turns out she was pulling out my tulips to “sniff” So here’s a few rad gift ideas so you don’t get the fake “I love this” smile on Christmas. Added bonus, have your presents wrapped professionally. Most of the time places offer free wrapping with purchase. Nothing says CLASSY like a nicely wrapped gift.

Cash!! 

Mister Franklin is always welcome under my tree!!

Hear me out… my Mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas this year. I know this is a trap. If I tell her I had my eye on a pair of boots or a cute sweater I will end up with the fuglyiest snowman sweater or a pair of Fugg boots in brown *because my sweet Mom refuses to buy name brand* So I opted for cash. This gives her the warm fuzzy feeling of knowing I got something I really like *I’ll show you what I bought next week* and I am allowing her to stick to her own budget. WIN-WIN! Unless you get cash from your 85 year old Grandmother, cause cash to them always means a check and their bank closed back during the Reagan era. Also, her budget is gonna be under $10…she’ll tell you not to spend it all in one place.

Electronics/Gadgets

Antz first ipod…we still have it, and it works!

Noone in the history of presents has been disappointed with an ipad, a new video game system or a personal “massager” *we all know what she’s gonna use that for* It’s what you give someone you see often so you can mention ever so casually, how’s that Blu Ray player treating you? However, you must purchase electronic gifts on Black Friday since any sale beyond November will be a sale price in disguise. No matter how great 40% may sound, they pushed the regular price up by 40% so you are still spending full price, don’t fall for it. An ipad 2 would be on my list if I already didn’t get one for our anniversary.

If you don’t want to spend a small fortune on someone I love these Gela skins for ipad, iphone, laptops or a kindle. RAD!

Rusty of Unusual Circumstance by Travis Louie

Toys/Collectibles

Not the lame kind for kiddies. This may only apply to a small group of people but 80% of my peeps are artists so toys really blow their skirts up. There is a place in Hollywood called Wacko’s which is our go-to spot for stellar gifts. It’s hard not to find something incredible in any price range. Now if there isn’t a Wacko’s in your area, try My Cereal Art. They have amazing artists and fun, unique pieces that are definite conversation starters.

Too Young to Die ashtray by Yoshitomo Nara

I would die if someone gave me this. Of course I don’t smoke but I adore Yoshitomo Nara. LOVE IT!! NEED IT!!

Accessories

This can be tricky. You need to know the person’s taste really well or have heard them mention an item in passing *oh, I need a new teapot or it’s cold I could use some mittens* I can’t tell you how many good intentioned folks *including my own beloved* have bought me some wacky gift from the Hello Kitty store just because they know I like that place. I do, however, I am quite selective about what I get that is HK. I will totally use a Hello Kitty Checkbook holder and pen. There are occurrences where Hello Kitty can cross the line of tacky and may not work *a giant Hello Kitty plush doll* so think first, is this item functional? then, would I like this as a gift? and last, ALWAYS include a gift receipt!!! Don’t leave someone you care about high and dry with a Hello Kitty chess set that you thought they would love and now it’s hogging up space under their bed covered in dust. The best bet are practical yet cute pieces. Think scarf, cute socks or maybe a bag *like this guy*

ctl00
Bonus: Get it monogrammed, so lovely

I first saw the Cambridge Satchel at J Crew and was thinking Liv could use it for school, but I think I need to have it and maybe she can borrow it when she’s older. I doubt anyone would find this bag less than super charming. Unless you’re a dick!

FOOD or even Booze!!

Some of my most memorable gifts have been edible. Peppermint bark, sea salt caramels…perfectly baked chocolate chip cookies. Totally within anyone’s budget and shows you care *or you don’t care if they are on a diet* So maybe you’re not Wolfgang Puck in the kitchen, fake it…Williams-Sonoma sells delightful yummies that you can bag yourself and bask in your deceitful glory. Tell me you wouldn’t love to get this from your Secret Santa?? Normally I’m not an alcohog but I certainly wouldn’t mind some moonshine that is just expensive enough that I wouldn’t buy it for myself.

Personalized Gingerbread house

It’s personalized so you can really gloat over your mad giftin’ skillz. Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me!

Experiences

This is always an overlooked gift option when you head to the mall to buy $20 gift sets from Bath & Bodyworks *Don’t do it!!!* Honestly, I’m pretty certain I have regifted every soap set I’ve ever received. It’s never a scent I like and it comes in the smallest size known to man. I couldn’t even wash my hands with those things. Think outside the box. Haven’t you said, gee I would love to go to that wine tasting place if I had someone to go with me. This is a 2-fer situation. You give a gift and you get to spend time with someone you like *or even love*. Concert tix, road trip to wine country, cooking classes, dance lessons, skydiving *if you are insane* couple’s massage *ooooh* or even a crafty class like sewing, knitting or even origami.

Sew LA, all that lovely fabric, swoon

I’ve been wanting to take a class here for months. The point is make memories, try something you’ve always wanted to and include a person you think would enjoy it.

Tonight I am going to my friend Mia’s Candy Apple decorating party. It is guaranteed to be Fucking Fantastic!!