Awwwwwww, cool stuff!

When I was in a sorority back in college (I was a Delta Gamma), we used to do all of these crazy chants and songs for recruitment.  And since we sang them SO MANY TIMES, it's one of those things that will stick with you forever. 

There was one that went "Awwwwwww DG!  Awwwwww DG!"  (The awww is a crescendo of sorts to give you an idea).  When I get really excited, I still do it, but instead of "DG", I insert the thing I am excited about at the end.  This might make me lame.  Oh well, no one says you have to follow this blog. ;)

Awwwww, Goodwill!

I snagged this purse for $2.99.  I totally heart it.  I saw a similar one at Target a while back.
 

Most of Goodwill is total junk, but when you find a gem, it's a sweet score.  I love pawing through junk to find awesomeness.  I think it's thrifty and resourceful...so don't think I go in there to buy the toilet seats and bras.  Now that's just nasty.

I also picked up this bathroom basket for our master for 99 cents (I've been using it as hand towel storage):

As for the other items, I found the q-tip mason jar at the Dollar Tree and the little canisters from Michales in the dollar section.  The are mostly for things like floss, nail clippers, Vasaline, etc. that are too small to fit anywhere else well.

I don't know if you can tell in the picture, but I secured them using that wall tacky (that you use to hang posters).  It's been working really well so far :)  I actually like the way this weird towel-rack/shelf/whatever it is works now!   

Awwwww, ebay!

My school is hosting an International Festival in March.  I am in charge of the "Spain" booth.  I knew I wanted to dress up, and I found this amazing, used Flamenco Dancer outfit on ebay for $20.  It is performer quality (I think it was used in shows), so I got it because it knew it would be made well.   It also fits me perfectly!

It's all lace detail.  Pretty, no?

I think it will be cool for the kids to see it up close.  I can dance a (very) little Flamenco, from a few classes I took in Bilbao of all places.  I have a video that better shows it that I will play at the booth ;)

Flamenco dancing is beautiful, and I'm excited to share it but also dispel the myth that all Spanish people are flamenco dancers and love bullfighting.  In fact, Flamenco is mostly an Andalusian dance (Southern Spain) and only a very small piece of the culture... I'm still gathering up my other artifacts out of storage!

Awwwwww, birthday!

This weekend we also hosted a surprise birthday party for my friend Erika.  She turned 30.  It was an afternoon shin-dig at our home.


The birthday girl and I!

 We have been planning this for a few months with her husband.  She was suspicious something was up, but was totally surprised to see all of us at our house!

Ahhh!  A party!  (Our cover story was she was coming over for us to give her a present before going out to lunch)

She was especially happy to see her mom and dad, who flew in from Massachusetts as a huge surprise!  Check out this AMAZING cake her mom made (including hand-making each flower).

There were 23 guests in our home, but somehow we managed to fit everyone in our house and it was comfortable.

I also made this for her:
 

It says "Write a blessing, note, or favorite memory with Erika and leave it in the jar for her birthday!"

It was a happy day.  :)

Tata for now!