fathoms below

i've been collecting things on polyvore for the summer, things i think are beautiful and ocean-flavored and sunny.  if i could, i would get every single one of these beauties, but alas, i'm pretty sure they wouldn't accept monopoly money as legal tender.  also, most of these are sold out, oops!  (sorry if you see something you like, but the inspiration is good, yes?)  so, i gather them here like seashells, to display and dream of the seaside life that could be.  are you ready to bask?  here we go!

behold these luscious goodies i have discovered under the sea in a hidden grotto:

if i had to choose, i'd say i'm particularly partial to the little triangle earrings and clear seafoam necklace baubles in the first set, the coral cardigan and seaglass bag in the second, and the mermaid nightlight and coral cabinet knobs in the last set. 

anything catch your fancy?

a little after-dinner entertainment

thursday was such a nice day that mark and i took a little walk after dinner.  (it might have been a little grudgingly on my part.  i said i'd go if he took some pictures of me.. haha.)  so off we went, sauntering down the street, stopping to take photos of the scenery and such.  we live across the street from a public golf course which is a really great thing to do - i highly recommend it.  not only is it pretty, but you don't have to bother with across-the-street neighbors.  i also like it because it's not some fancy country club course, it's a course for the people!  the only downside it is that sometimes balls get hit in your direction, so you kind of have to be on the lookout as you walk so you don't get whacked in the head.

 

one of our windows was broken by a ball, and i'm pretty sure several windshield cracks have started because of poor skills on the golfers' parts.  we often find balls in our yard, and even just today as i drove down the street i nearly ran over a ball skipping across to someone else's yard.  but i guess possible concussion or death is a small price to pay for a nice little walk, eh?

just a flock of geese taking over the course.  "don't mind us... nothing to see here... move along!"

such a rebel.

 

mark just loved taking photos of me out on the street.
i had to resort to selfies.

View from in front of our house.

my dog, lucy, used to love to sniff up and down the street on the grass next to the fence.  i'm sure she would have loved to make that a full-time job.  every once in awhile she'd try to crawl under the fence post for a quick game, but i don't think they let dogs play on this particular course.  still, it's a good dog-spotting strip.. lots of people walking and enjoying the day.  i used to live in a house where nothing much happened outside, so it's nice to be where there's life going on around you, even if you're not partaking in it's pleasantries at the moment.

anyone out there have any hazards in their neighborhood?  gaping sinkholes... alligators... roving packs of wild dogs? 

come on this is my adventure

so what did everyone do on friday night to start off their weekend right?  date night with the girls or significant other?  get your dance on at the club?  mosh pit at a rock concert?  gala opening at an art gallery?  most fridays i sit at home alone painting my toenails and imagining everyone else is getting their crunk on and living it up.  well not this friday, and you know why?

because i make my own fun. 

friday night was the world netflix premiere of...

now while this might *seem* like a children's show and not worthy of your time or interest, well, you're probably right.. haha.  however, if you're read my summerfest post, you know i enjoy a nice gentle pre-teen show, perfect for laid-back summer evenings.  mermaids + gorgeous scenery + australian accents = ok by me.  this new show is a "sequel" to the original H20, and if i'd have been remiss if i missed out.  

in typical christine fashion, i made a celebration out of the mundane.  and when i say celebration i mean "food."  there might have also been some dressing for the occasion and nail-painting.  take a look at my polyvore set for the deets, and then photos of the big event!

i called up outback steakhouse as i left work on friday for some curbside takeaway.  because mermaids eat surf and turf, duh.  and the restaurant is australian (themed - they're not fooling anyone over here, right?)  i thought about hitting up a sonic for some amazing ocean water (which is on my summerfest 2013 to-do list), but it's just too far from outback.  so i got the fixings at lunchtime to make my own.  i thought about getting something with sea-salt caramel in it for desert, but a highly respected authority on mermaids (answers.com) said mermaids would eat anything with *mer*engue in it.  it's a good thing i love lemon merengue.  set up on some of my favorite ocean-y plates, and i was set!

work clothes off, mermaid shirt on.

ready for the world premiere.

i'm not excited or anything.

looking at this is making me hungry again.

homemade ocean water recipe:
ice, sprite, 1 drop blue food dye, splash of coconut extract (to taste), and LOVE

lemon merengue pie recipe:
go to freezer section in local grocery, purchase product.

my night was fabulous and i wasn't jealous of anyone out there who might have been partaking of more conventional entertainment.  i mean honestly you see why, right?  good food, several episodes of a delightfully light and fluffy show, and some pampering a la bath and nails.  and i didn't even have to put on a bra.  here's to more nights like this!

Commenced "Operation Mermaid Tips" on Sunday.  I'm liking the blonde, but we must keep our eyes on the prize, people.  Will report again after my victory.

workin it for tupperware

so tomorrow i'm attending my first tupperware party. actually, it's my first anything sales-related party. i'm a sales-party virgin! in almost 33 years i've managed to not have attend any social functions where stuff was shoved at you and payment requested. my co-worker who's throwing the party though is very chill and she's not too concerned with whether people buy anything. apparently there's going to be an opportunity to win stuff via an auction and we can earn points by doing stuff, like by bringing a piece of your own tupperware? well sirs, this is my lucky day because i happen to own a piece of your fine goods. it might have been my grandmothers and it might be the only piece of plastic storage i own that did not come with "disposable" on the label. it's that ugly 70s orange color and it's bulky and i love it.  and tomorrow it's going to get me 500 points biotches and then we'll see who leaves with the most tupperware!  (hint: me.)

via

since tomorrow is going to be eaten up by a) sleeping, b) lunch with mark, c) tupperware, and d) driving home from bfe where tupperware lives, i should be a productive beaver tonight doing all the things i won't get a chance to tomorrow. things like cleaning and laundry and mending. instead i'm rewatching "new girl" episodes and painting my toenails and straightening my hair. because i gots to look good for the lady partay! apparently. why are we women the way we are? why can't i roll up straight out of bed and throw on a tshirt like a man i ask you? and also deciding what to wear is the worst. that's why i'll probably throw this "outfit" on that i took photos of a gazillion days ago and never posted. i say "outfit" because as i might have mentioned i don't fashion things and i don't style them. i throw things on and off until the majority of my bedroom floor is covered in clothes and that is when i know my "outfit" is ready. but look at my cute floral shirt you guys!  i'm in love with it, as well as these shoes.  i wish i had bought another pair because they are flimsy and suede-y and they can only last but so long.

i'm a Rock 'N' Roll star...

princess mombi chose this librarian's head for me that day.

 

top:  bisou bisou  |  jeans: old navy  |  shoes:  mossimo supply co. ring: j.c. penney (sold out online) similar

i'm working on working it. it's kind of hard when your photographer is an iphone propped on a stick-branch. it's also pretty cool how i edited all those photos to be different sizes, huh? i'll have to get checked, but i think i might be some sort of post-editing savant.  who can confirm this for me?  i'll be out tomorrow and sunday, but you can get me after work on monday.

say "NO" to the muskrat way!

my gentleman friend has his birthday tomorrow, and according to the polyvore set i made, this is what i'm getting him:


(by the way, that's just some good advice i threw in, courtesy of a birthday card mark once got me.  i say "no" to the muskrat way at least once a week (the muskrat way being mainly defined as just "bad stuff" because where else would you go with that - muskrats not celebrating birthdays is their way=bad=anything bad is the muskrat way).  it's a very useful term with which to convey your emotions when something you don't like goes down at the office.  i also say "you're killing me, larry!" - mostly to my computer - but that's a tale for another time.)

if you know me at all, and since we are probably strangers and i haven't done too many posts yet you don't, but if you did know me, you'd know i like pink floyd and house of love.  so picking from mark's amazon list wasn't too complicated because i just got him stuff i want to gank from him later on.  isn't that convenient?

the PF are books and the HOL are albums (he likes a tangible album with cover art, what can i say?  half of his cd/vinyl purchases are things he already owns digitally.  that boy...) mark turned me on to both of these bands and i must say they have put out some fine, fine music.  i never really liked pink floyd as a youth - i bought into the druggie band stereotype and never gave them a chance (i was so mad when "the wall" beat out "abbey road" in a top 100 classic album contest on the radio station back home, but it turns out they *weren't* a druggie band (aside from poor syd barrett who fried his brain and had to leave the band early on), and their music is amazing.  house of love is late 80s/early 90s dreamy brit pop and they have many moments of brilliance in their well-crafted tunes.

the monkey is a mini glass figurine from pier 1 and it cost two dollars.  mark and i don't, and actually have never (except if one of us needs the other in a public situation), called each other by our first names.  we exclusively use nicknames (mostly anything that pops into our heads at the moment) and monkey is just one habitual names i call him.  (they didn't have a poodle, but that would have been sweet.)

we're meeting for lunch tomorrow at panera, and i'll give him the monkey then.  (that sounded sexual!)  like a man, he didn't give me his list until yesterday, so we have to wait 80 gagillion days for them to ship.  no presents for you!  and, since we are high-rollers and love to really get out there on the town and throw caution to the wind, we'll probably get chipotle takeout, come home, and watch "kitchen nightmares" or "man vs. wild."  we'll top the night off with some early 90s "wings" and that, my friend, is the making of an epic, epic birthday.  honestly kids, don't even try to replicate this at home because you might injure yourself if you aren't cool enough, ok?  i'm only thinking of your safety.

happy birthday, spatula-head!

coming out

so...

happy out of the closet to me.  blog-related.  i had been slowly (sloooowly) building a backlog of posts before i went public so if anyone actually came to this here blog they would have more than like, 5 things to look at.  however, kelsi over at brighter sides offered up some fancy free ad space to lucky first responders on her twitter and i mean, that was just too good to pass up.  (thanks, kelsi!)

so here i am, world.  warts and all.  i had wanted to spruce up before anyone came over, maybe (definitely) do a little (a lot of) blog refreshing.  but i am learning and growing and someday soon i hope things will settle down in here.  i mean, it would be nice to have more than one tab up there.

also, and just so you know, my spirit animal is the sloth, so what i just said may never actually happen.  it's the thought that counts, amirite?

what i am *really* saying is that it is kelsi's fault that my unpolished blog is already public. ;)  (sloths also don't take responsibility for their actions, did you know?)  i take no responsibility for my actions!

........

in other news, and because honestly this is what blogs are for (no one wants to hear what you ate for dinner, is what i am learning) i have a handy tip for you.  omg i'm so crafty and resourceful, you guys!

so the other day i got into my car to go to wendy's for some luncheon (that's it about the food part, i promise), and it was all hot and groggy out.  what to do with my hair?  put it up, of course.  so i scrounge and scrounge and come up with nary a hair clip or band.  you guys, i couldn't even find a pen to do that twisty stick thing, and honestly, when an adult woman person doesn't even have a pen in her purse for pen needs, that woman has done a fail.  (and by the way, where are all my hair restrainers?  i buy them, i use them, they disappear, and then i have to buy more.  what *is* that?  is it just me?  are they escaping from me?)  so, back to the car and my hair.  a-ha! i spy a cylinder of glow stick necklaces on the passenger seat floor.  (these are the types of things i have in my car that i don't even notice anymore until my day of need).  i think i can maybe fashion something out of one, and i do.  behold:

use it like you would use a pen for pen hair, and then bend it into a circle, securing it with one of the necklace holders.  (if you don't know pen hair:  take one stick of necklace, pull your hair into a pony, wrap your hair once or twice around the necklace starting at the base of your pony, twist the necklace until your hair gets into a tight messy ball, jab one of the points into your scalp hair (or both points if it's still loose), and then bend it into a circle, etc.)

my car is kind of turning into a hoopty, so i will call this the Hoopty-Do.  awww, whaaaaat?

and... i have just given you my first style post.  and now that you understand what i have going on here and what the future most likely holds for this space...

you are welcome.