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Here are a few of the things that are making me happy right now:

I finally bought myself these wedge sneakers I've been stalking for the last 3 months. I got a really good deal on them, and I absolutely love them. I get tons of compliments every time I wear them. A lady actually chased me down the street yesterday to find out where I got them, which is kind of ironic since I chased down a lady in the airport to find out where she got hers.

This recipe for Nanaimo Bar Cupcakes. If you've never had a Nanaimo bar, stop what you're doing and go visit my grandmother and get one, immediately. They are probably my favourite food, and the greatest things to come out of Canada since... well all the other great things that come out of Canada.

When I saw this recipe online I was so excited I almost burst into patriotic tears of joy. I immediately decided to make a big batch of these for my birthday this month. Just for me though. I don't know what everyone else is having.

Also, this pile of gold sequins for a project I am working on.

 And:

I bought myself flowers, just because.

i heart glitter

We moved into our house almost a year ago, and we did a LOT of work to get it looking the way we wanted. Most of the big stuff is done (except the kitchen cabinets and countertop) but now I'm trying focus on the smaller details that will change it from someone's house to our home.

I've been wanting to find some art work or something to spruce up our bedroom, but I've had a hard time finding the right thing. Then a few weeks ago I attended the Renegade craft fair in SF, and I was struck by inspiration. One of the booths had a garland of tiny gold glitter hearts and twine at a paper card display.

I tried to buy it from her, and it was embarrassing for both of us when she had to explain that it wasn't actually one of the products, just a decoration she had bought to brighten up the table. I was able to find sort of similar ones on Etsy, but they were all very expensive, and not large enough for what I needed, so I decided to make my own.

I already had twine from an old project, so I picked up some gold glitter paper and a heart stencil at Michael's, and set to work.

 

It only took me about 45 minutes to make, and I really like it. The after pictures aren't the best (my new camera should be here today or tomorrow, can't wait!) and I don't know if I'll keep it up forever, but it's really nice to have something up there and it adds a little extra glitter to my day.

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Things that are making me happy right now:

I am obsessively reading Game of Thrones on my Kindle, I'm on the 5th book and I only started them last month. I watched one episode of the show, but the characters didn't match what I had in my head (I've decided Jon Snow is probably really, really, ridiculously good looking) so I've decided not to watch anymore until I'm finished with the books.

This is what Jon Snow looks like in my mind.

This glue pen which allows me to transform even the most mundane of writing tasks into sparkly, glittery wonderment. I have been using it to make my own birthday cards because I find Hallmark (and other brands) of greetings cards to be expensive, cheesy and pointless, and it is not uncommon for me to spend an hour in the card aisle in a cold sweat trying to decide which card best surmises how I feel about my husband's mother's best friends' dog walker's former room mate.

 A Starbucks Mocha on a rainy, cold San Francisco morning. I wish it was an Espresso Truffle, but you can't have everything in life.

My eggnog candle, it smells so good I want to eat it.

DIY

I've always imagined myself to be quite creative, and figured that the reason some of my DIY attempts that would come off perfectly when I imagined them in my head left me with 3rd degree hot glue gun burns on my hands, a tornado of glitter around my house, and nothing to show for it but a twisted heap of gnarled cloth instead of the beautiful avante garde wall piece to complete my living room decor was because I simply lacked the time and patience to properly read directions, or make sure I had all of the correct supplies before launching head first into a project. It is possible I secretly believe that I am something of an creative genius, and that my true inner talent will somehow emerge during the artistic process.

While I do lack patience, it can never be said that I lack enthusiasm, and I often dive right into a project the second the idea strikes me, and worry trivial things like the fact that I don't know how to use power tools, and in fact was promised a B in my wood working class with the singular condition that I never step foot in the shop again, later. I believe my most commonly used phrase during one of these fits of creativity is "I'm sure it will work just as well if I do it like this instead...right?"

There have been a few successes, like the time I made matching tie-dyed shirts for me and That One Guy, but to be fair it is very difficult to mess up tie dye, even if the colours in my final product did verge a little bit closer to brown than I'd have liked.

I'd given up on my little craft projects a bit in recent months, after I spent $60 to make myself a necklace that was A) heavy and unattractive and B) something I could have bought for about $5 at Forever 21. But lately, probably because of a little site called Pinterest, I've been feeling quite crafty. I have hundreds of mason jars left over from my wedding, and tons of ideas. Recently I made this little beauty:

A mason jar vase covered in gold glitter and I am in love with it! I have my wedding bouquet in it, and while it does have a few bare patches, and a long fingernail swipe on the right side, I am so proud of it, and feel quite like Martha Stewart. Of course it was very easy to make, it took me about 15 minutes, and I was drinking wine, eating chocolate and watching Love Actually at the same time, but still.

Inspired by my recent success, I have undertaken the endeavor of making myself a Halloween costume. I fear that my years of dressing up ridiculously will be beyond me before I know it, and soon I will be at home passing out candy, or taking some little monsters of my own out and then stealing their candy, so I decided to go big this year. I've always wanted to dress up as a peacock for Halloween, but in years past I always felt that it was a bit too much (which when you look back at my costumes from years passed, I hardly think any of them were much better) but since my motto lately seems to be, "Screw it I'll do what I want" I decided that this is the year.
 

Once this incredibly important decision was made, I started looking online and found some really cute costumes... for $200. I decided to employ my own creative skills and make myself a costume using a tutu and corset that I already had and:

Hot Glue

Peacock Feathers (I bought them on Ebay, $20 for 100)

Some Ribbon

Some Elastic

Needle and Thread

and some glitter (obviously... although come to think of it, I don't know when I last saw a glittery peacock in the wild)

And here is the top, finished:

I have no idea how sturdy this is going to be, and for all I know all my feathers could be blown off immediately by the first gust of San Francisco wind, but you can't have everything in life.