Happy Holidays!

It's three days after Christmas, my champagne headache is finally gone, and I'm still psyched as hell over my gifts.  And we're not even done yet (we'll exchange with our parents and my brother and SIL next week)!

I took this week off - unfortunately not to do fun things like watch TV or go shopping.  I'm taking care of some stuff that desperately needed to be done.  Cleaning out my closet, cleaning the oven, and getting started on painting the trim in most of the house.  I'm about halfway done with our LR/DR after two days.  And I've still got the stairwell, upstairs hallway (6 DOORS in there), and two bedrooms upstairs to go.  Blargh.

But there's plenty to be happy about too.

Like presents!  My husband loved the gift card to The Art of Shaving, and I can't wait to see what he picked.  And he seems to like everything from his stocking, even if I have already stolen about half of his Fruit Stripe gum.  Yep, our Christmas Day involved temporary zebra tattoos.  Yours?

I got a really cute cobalt and black houndstooth sweater from my aunt, along with several pairs of really cute tights, and cash from my grandparents.  And all the gifts we picked out seemed to be a big hit, which is always a great feeling!

But Brett really outdid himself in picking my gifts.  I wasn't expecting much because I'm getting my tattoo soon.  But he got me Mindy Kaling's new book (which I finished in two days, so hilarious!), and a really adorable pin I've had my eye on.  It's kind of out there, but I absolutely love it.  It's from ban.do, and they're offering 30% off the whole site until Friday night with the code Heygirrrl!

But best of all, he got me a vintage molecule modeling set.  It's so gorgeous - I love the colors and the detail.  I came up with an arrangement I like and have it sitting on the mantel.  But when I figure out what the orange ones are supposed to be, I'm going to make sure it's an actual molecule.  Right now it's just a carbon chain.

I believe he got it on Etsy.  He's looking for a vintage periodic table to have framed to go with it, but he couldn't get it in time for Christmas.  I'm feeling spoiled rotten.

I haven't hit any after Christmas sales yet.  I cleaned out our closet last Thursday, and ended up taking 8 garbage bags (smallish ones though), a couple of boxes, and a huge shopping bag to Goodwill.  So I know I have plenty of great clothes that I kept, and I'm not really in need of anything.  The only thing that I'm thinking about is getting a new handbag with my Christmas cash.  I've been looking at Bluefly, ebay, and a couple of other places.  But if I take the plunge, I think I'm going with something from the Kate Spade sale section.  I may save my cash for Brett's birthday present.  But I do love some of these.

The Essex Scout

This first one is pretty small.  When I expressed my concern over that, my husband said "Not everyone needs to carry a suitcase everywhere they go."  Point taken.

Cobble Hill Penny

Cobble Hill Leslie

Grove Court Blaine

Flicker Melinda

All of these are on sale for roughly $200-250.  I'm looking for a bag in a fun color, and probably smaller than what I'm used to carrying.  If I can't fill it up with things that weigh thirty pounds, that's a bonus.

I hope you guys are getting some great after Christmas sale action!  I would love to grab some shoes, but I was kind of chastened when I pulled all my shoes (minus boots) out of the closet while I was clearing it out, and they pretty much covered our entire bed.

I got rid of like 13 pairs I swear

Yes that's 5 rows of shoes.  Almost 50 pair.  I think this means the J. Crew shoe of the month club is out of the question, even if the price tag wasn't too steep ($1800.  Which I guess is a good value but come on).

We don't have big NYE plans, just to hang out at my brother's house.  But I might wear sequins or glitter anyway.  2011 was an amazing year for us and I think 2012 is going to be even better.

I'll leave you with this, my OOTD.  I guess I threw away my winter painting clothes, so I grabbed an old hoodie and some leggings that are too see through for public consumption.  And promptly got paint all over myself.

Hot.

That's not an actual tattoo on my foot.  I drew it in Sharpie to get used to it and MAKE SURE I want one there

Hoodie - Old Navy men's (I think), leggings - Gap, flip flops, Old Navy.  At least I didn't get enamel paint in my hair, which is a great success.

Happy New Year everybody!