ho-ho-holi-delay. (that sounded much better in my head.)

ok, officially a horrible poster/blogger and my dear emily (www.frenchieandflea.blogspot.com) has called me out on it. so, in honor of that, i'm going to get my blogging booty in gear and for now, i am going to do a little play-by-play of some of the FANTASTIC christmas presents i received.

sidenote: truly everything i got was amazing. it was a great year. aside from successful gift-giving and gift-recieving, the day was full of great food, amazing family, laughter and love and it was one for the books. love it. (plus cranium -- always a hit.)

my "fun-in-laws" (a.k.a. boyfriend's family) got me some really great things, including this awesome book that i'm pretty much obsessed with. it's essentially a guide to all things passing us by, such as cash, mix tapes and basketball players in short-shorts, and most ironically -- books. totally right up my alley.

they also got me a couple scarves, one that's a really pretty pashmina-esque burnt orange color, and another little banana republic number that's a light khaki cable-knit neck warmer. totally in love. worn it the past two days.

also, not to be outdone, CP's grandma got me law & order: svu on dvd. season 8. brilliant.

my mom gave me this great mixing bowls for the apartment. and yes, they are indeed ladybugs -- with fancy gripping "spots." totally adorable. and this means that we won't have to use our big ceramic crate & barrel mixing bowls when we just need a quick mix.

my adorable little (well, not too little 17-year-old) brother bought me a book on lifting for women. he's a total ripped gym rat, and is trying to encourage me to get "lean and mean in 2010" as he wrote on the gift tag. he also got me a little composition book for me to use as a workout log. so cute. and SO from him. and practical and encouraging!

in the workout category, i also got the hook-up from my dad and my mom, who i'm planning to do a half-marathon with sometime this coming year. after opening an impressive lululemon box, i was greeted with cute, inspiring gear!

(the one i got is heather grey on the outside and a really pretty bright blue on the inside. big hood. love it.)

also, the boyfriend did a fantastical job this year. truly. so proud of him. i got my favoritest kate spade perfume i had requested. (along with the michael kors i needed a refill on...) CP also replaced a raggedy old marc jacobs tote that most certainly needed an upgrade. and once again, he always does a great job with books and other little tokens of love. i'm glad he's all mine.

little sister brought me a great scarf from italy with of course, it amazingly soft and gorgeous and an amazing deep chestnut-y red color. so pretty. one of those things that i'm almost to nervous to wear -- but, i'm sure i'll get over that quickly.

also, leave it up to my super-cool older sister to rock it out with the always desired weird japanese masking tape. i absolutely love this stuff, and i'm so very glad that she hooked it up for me.

my dad got me a really cute brown michael kors leather tote, which i can't wait to use. kind of surprisingly rustic for kors, much more my vibe than his typical stuff.

in addition, i got some new books, a few things here and there. (a stocking full of cleaning supplies for the apartment -- yay grown up life!) some cute little jewelry piece from my daddy. really fun stuff. overall, things that i really wanted (or didn't even know that i wanted!), but would not likely buy them for myself -- which is exactly what a gift should be.

merry christmas!

or merry december 27th. whatevs.

seattle swag.

after a week of vacation and a couple days of re-grouping, i am back and excited to show off some of my great souvenirs from beautiful Seattle. though i didn't return with rain, fresh fish or polar fleeces, i did manage to find some fun stuff.

one of my much-anticipated and most satisfying stops was de medici ming fine papers on 1st ave. the shop owner was there and not only attentive, but very present and proud of her shop. and very excited to share that they have been there 26 years and that all of her business is either in-store or by phone -- the store is computer, e-mail and website-free, which is very commendable in today's retail world. it is truly a store that i am glad has survived and i plan on continuing to support it, even from afar.

among the gorgeous flat papers, from marbled to shiny gift wrap, i found some adorable greeting cards and various bit and pieces that i couldn't live without.

found on elum

i love this thank you card as well. especially for when you're REALLY thankful.

found on two piglet letterpress.

and now off to canada! we spent the day in victoria where i found a little shop appropriately called the papery. it was fantastic and i thoroughly annoying chris with the amount of time i spent in there. 

how adorable is this tissue paper?!

found on gallery19.

these labels caught my eye immediately, only after purchasing them i realized that they are a chronicle books product -- fresh out of san francisco.

found on chronicle books. 

my favorite favorite favorite find of the trip was from the seattle art museum (sam) store. i could have bought about a million of these for everyone i know and love, but of course, i didn't. that would have been too logical.

found on dci gift.

boxtastic.

i found these adorable boxes at borders today. they were shockingly less expensive than the plain brown boxes they had. these bold, flowery boxes will be fantastic for wrapping some much belated birthday presents.

now only if i could find a way to line my drawer with that pattern.

found on paperchase.