Birthday Haul 2013

birthday month has come to a close, so i guess that means it's time to stop buying stuff and calling them presents. *shameful grin*  i have a bad habit of not keeping track of monetary gifts and continuing to shop with the impression that i have money in the kitty.  so, i'm cutting myself off now, but not after one last hurrah i went on today. i got the shirts above and some bra/undies sets for my trousseau. some of these things i'm putting away to enjoy in the coming seasons (fall: boots, apple lotion; spring/summer: floral purse, nautical shirt, the pacifica stuff and the other B&BW stuff).  i'm also saving the new travis album for until after their tour comes through my nearest city... the show is in a seated theater (ugh) and since i passed up $45 tickets to sit in the front row of the balcony, that's my decision pretty much made that i'm not going.  unless some anonymous donor sends me some front row tix.  the point is, i'm putting off the listening because i know if i like it i'll get all mopey about not being able to go. 

one thing i finally did with some of my birthday money is open my first savings account.  i'm all growns up!  i always have bills and/or anticipated possible bills so when i'd get a tax return or windfall i'd hold on to the money in my checking account so it'd be available. (i've always had this idea that if you put it in a savings about you can't get to it, and i know that's not true, but it still made me uncomfortable.)  what usually happens is that i buy a little something extra here and there, pay a few bills, and before i know it the money's all gone.  so this time i did the smart thing and put it where i figuratively can't get to it.  i feel good about that and hopefully i can continue putting a bit of cash in here and there.   

and because i know you want to see photos, here is what a new 33-year-old looks like:

i may have worn my disneyland tiara all day.  yup, yup i did.  and i may have been told at bedtime that i looked like frankenstein's bride with my stripe of light hair, and requested a photo of such. and no, no i really don't have much shame.

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!