Closet wish list

This is a short week for me. I have tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday off from work for New Year's. And I plan to make the most of it. Tomorrow I plan to spend a good chunck of the day in my closet, playing dress up, trying stuff on, listening to good music, and purging. I used to be afraid to get rid of anything in my closet because I worried that the minute I would get rid of something would be the minute I desperately wanted to wear it. And so far, that has never happened. Besides, by getting rid of things, I am making room. And that means I get to go shopping. I'm on a mission to create a working closet -- one that is filled with fewer, quality, coordinating basics. And a few special surprises too. That way I can jump in there every morning and easily pick out an outfit without spending too much time or stressing out over it. The closet revamp begins now. And here are some things that I will be filling my closet with in the near future:

I have been wishing for these boots forever. But I can cross them off my list now because guess what is headed to my house this very afternoon? Happy Birthday to me.

I am having a moment with Piperlime. And partly because of this shirt. Would be so cute with a pair of cropped black pants or skinny jeans (both of which I already own) and booties.



Is there ever a time when I'm not thinking about J.Crew? It is my absolute fave and I want these wool minnie pants and grey matchstick cords from them so badly. And they're both on sale. Yes please.

I have been lusting over these cute heels from Urban Outfitters for a while now. I can't decide if I want them in the tomato red or the mustard yellow. I think yellow.

And finally, I am in desperate need of new black pumps (I still haven't replaced the ones I complained about in this post). And new booties. I need new lace up booties. I think these will do nicely.

My love letter to Thriftbooks

Spend Less, Read More.

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I've mentioned Thriftbooks.com many times (here, here, here and here) but I just can't say enough good things about them. Started in a storage unit in 2003, they buy used books and sell them online for amazingly low prices. They are the nation's largest online seller of used book. And they are starting to grow internationally. The headquarters in Washington carries five million used books in stock at any given time and processes an additional 100,000 books each day. And they've teamed up with smaller used book stores around the country to offer an even larger inventory. So not only can you find almost any book you're looking for at a ridiculously low price, but they also provide free shipping to anywhere in the U.S. They even sent me a discount coupon for my birthday. And as if that wasn't enough, they are doing great things to help save the planet. By selling used, they recycled 52 million books in 2010. That's 52 million books worth of paper saved from landfills.

I love Thriftbooks. I only buy used books now and almost exclusively from them (we have one local bookstore but it has nowhere near the inventory or prices). If you haven't checked them out yet, you definitely should.

Just call me Vincent

Kristin came over for some crafting and catching up this afternoon. We watched Love Actually, ate baked potatoes, and video chatted with Lauren & Han Joo. She made earrings and I painted Van Gogh's "Sunflowers". If you squint hard enough, it almost looks like the real thing.

And now I am spending the evening baking Christmas goodies and listening to the (500)Days of Summer soundtrack that I got at the Order's Christmas party last night.

Happy Day before the day before Christmas!


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Suite Francaise

Even though I'm still working this week (just for a few hours more!) I decided to go ahead and commence with the reading of the new books I got a few weeks ago. I thought I was saving them to read during my time off but I was wrong. I was saving them for right now.

I am currently reading a book called Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky. So far, it's fantastic. I had started reading it once before, a few years ago, but since I had borrowed it from the library, I had to return it before I could finish. But now I own it and can read it as slowly as I'd like and no one can stop me from finishing.

From Amazon.com:

Beginning in Paris on the eve of the Nazi occupation in 1940, Suite Française tells the remarkable story of men and women thrown together in circumstances beyond their control. As Parisians flee the city, human folly surfaces in every imaginable way: a wealthy mother searches for sweets in a town without food; a couple is terrified at the thought of losing their jobs, even as their world begins to fall apart. Moving on to a provincial village now occupied by German soldiers, the locals must learn to coexist with the enemy—in their town, their homes, even in their hearts.

I think it's no secret that I love books about Europe during WWII. And I think it is so incredibly interesting when books that have been undiscovered are suddenly found years later and published after the author has died. So it's only natural that I would love this book. The author, Irene Nemirovsky, was a Russian Jew living in France in the 1940s. She was captured and taken to Auschwitz where she died in 1942. But her children escaped with her manuscripts and kept them hidden until they were finally published in 2004. That's sixty two years, people. And that is amazing.

Almost Christmas

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The office is dead. No one is here. There's nothing to do. And time is passing so slowly. I've never been more ready to go home.

I've been trying to convince Andrew to let me open my Christmas presents early. Every day I come home and there's more. And they are huge. We're talking too big to fit under our tree huge. And I can't even remember what I asked for that could possibly be that big. And that's got me excited because presents that I didn't think to ask for are usually my fave.

I'm thinking I may have a half day tomorrow. Or maybe not go in at all. Still debating. I've still got cookies to bake. And blankets to snuggle up in.

Today is my dad's birthday! Happy Birthday Diddy! Before I head home for his bash, check out my favorite names of towns in Arkansas (found during during work this morning):

1. Bald Knob
2. Blue Ball
3. Delight
4. Friendship
5. Jerusalem
6. Locust Bayou
7. Macedonia
8. Pencil Sims Bluff
9. Smackover
10. Stamps
11. Sweet Home
12. Swan Lake

P.S. Kristin is back! 3/4 Order Christmas party tomorrow night!

More Elle Fanning

As mentioned in this post, we are big fans of Elle Fanning. And while eagerly awaiting Somewhere to appear at our local theater, I stumbled upon this interview with her in Interview Magazine. Not only is she insanely gorgeous, but she is incredibly cool. And she's only 12. I can guarantee that I was nowhere near her level when I was 12.

Here it is

As promised, pictures of the hair: