A Belated Christmas Post

Long time no see, el bloggo.  Sometimes, I just get really sick of living online all the time, so during the holidays I maybe spent an hour total online, and I did a lot of reading (reviews to come soon, or I might just do a video review on my you tube site).  I had just simply a lovely Christmas with my family.  And, as a new year starts, I, like many others, like to try new things, or make changes in your life.   I was talking with a friend about this today at lunch: as much as I do like the idea of living on my own, I do still love living at home.  It is very comforting to me and I love spending time with my parents and I like the security it provides me.  Besides, who else would I marathon all those crazy shows I like with?  Anyways, did anyone make any resolutions?  I don't usually because I think its just a meaningless tradition.  However, this year, because I want to to start living healthier I did.  So, I have decided to become a pescatarian.  So far its going well, I've stocked up on fish and peanuts.  I've been trying to limit my intake of sweets which is hard, because I have a very large sweet tooth.  I also have been trying to tame my tongue.  Swear words just tend to fly out whenever I do something I don't like, screw up something, etc.  You get the drift.  And I hate that it has become such an automatic habit for me now.  So, I have been trying to be very conscientious about it, and think about it before words actually come out.  I'm not going to say its been smooth sailing, because believe me, it hasn't.  But it's a start. 

Here is the Christmas outfit that I made.  It really isn't a good representation of what it really looks like.  I found this super adorable dress on fabgabs on etsy but obviously couldn't afford it, so I made my own using the same idea.  I took the pattern from this dress, and made it long sleeves, and made the triangle patterns.  It was quite a process because I am not used to altering patterns that drastically, but I am pretty happy with how it came out. I have a hat (even though I forgot to take a picture with it on) that is the exact red as the dress, so that's why I chose to do the three Christmas colors. Though, as someone pointed out at a Christmas party, it is also the colors of the Italian flag, which he also pointed out, I do come by honestly, so there you go- its my Christmas Italian dress.

This is the elephant I made my mom from this pattern on etsy. I have made 2 bears before, so it came together pretty quickly, it was just time consuming hand sewing everything.  I think Peanut came out super cute. 

Yes, I still love dolls.  And if I had it my way, my 5 American dolls would still be out.  I have collection of Storybook dolls, that I started when I was like 5 or 6.  I love how different each one is. 

Everyone knows I have an unhealthy obsession with Glee and Jesse St. James, right?  Okay, good.

I got my dad a Dalek sweatshirt, even though you can't really tell that that's what it is. My mom also got him (really the whole fam)  the entire collection of Dalek episodes starting with the very first doctor, William Hartnell.  We have slowly been watching them the last few days.  It is so fun and nostalgic.  When my family falls in love with a show, it becomes a part of our life haha.

I got a couple vintage sweaters, but this one is the cutest, and its cashmere!  You can't beat that.

The angle on these last three pictures are really horrid, because my mom was sitting when she took them so I look like a freaking giant and disproportionate.  Anyways, I got this really nice peignoir set. 

My mom found this gorgeous, never worn 1930's dress for a steal.  Isn't it beautiful.  I can't wait to wear it for real.

This 1940's dress is beautiful, but in the picture it looks horribly boring and dull.  It is a rayon fabric, and has an adorable mock sailor collar at the top.


WHAT CAITLIN'S BEEN WASTING HER TIME ON THIS WEEK:
I haven't done this in a while, I realized, so I thought I'd give an update.  In the land of what I've been wasting my time on this week, its been 2 shows: Big Love (HBO) and Sons of Anarchy (FX).

Big Love
My mom and I are currently watching the third season, after watching the first 2 seasons last week.  I am absolutely in love with this show and am surprised at how tame it is for HBO.  I mean, yeah, there is some sex and nudity, but it isn't in every episode, and its always a very short scene.  The swearing amount I think can be counted on one hand.  If you don't know, it is about a fundamentalist latter-day saints community, which is very very different from the Mormons, or latter-day saints.  The main reason the fundamentalist branched off from the Mormons is because they wanted to live the principle which involves living in a polygamous marriage.  If you remember a few years ago when the police and caseworkers flooded Texas at the YFZ ranch, its basically the same idea.  It took me awhile to get used to the idea of polygamy, but once I got past that, I realized what a great and thought provoking show it is. The show focuses on Bill  and his 3 wives, Barb (the original wife, married for 17 years), Nikki (2nd wife, married for 6 years), and Margene (married for 3 years).  It basically focuses on their home life/family life, dealing with the pressures of keeping their life a secret from the outside world.  Bill used to live on the compound but got kicked off when he was 14.  He still has family there though, and Nikki's father is the prophet, so you see a lot of the compound politics as well. Benny and Sarah, the two oldest kids are some of my favorite characters.  I love their dynamics with each other.  I also like all the wives, but Bill really bugs me.  I have always had this fascination with cults and how things work etc., and this show definitely fits the bill.  And can I just say, I want to live to know if they shoot on an actual street somewhere or if they are just house fronts, because everyone of the houses on the Henrickson's street are just darling and adorable, and I want to live in one.  I am going to do a video review soon.   I definitely recommend it.  A+

Sons of Anarchy
This show is not for everyone.  I'm not even sure why I even like it.  I'm not 100% completely in love with it, but I do enjoy it enough to watch each season.  It is kind of in the vain of The Sopranos (which I loved), but I honestly think it might be more brutal in some aspects.  It is about a motorcycle club called Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Original, or SAMCRO.  It focuses on Jax Teller, a hunky man in his early 30s who is the VP of the club.  His father used to be the president, but he died, so now his step father is the president.  There is a lot of tension between the two of them because they have different ideas on the direction they want to club to go in.  Sometime the club does good, like keeping drugs out of Charming (the town they are located in), and looking out for each other (the brotherhood and comradery of the club is untouchable), but then they do horrible stuff as well like murders, vengeance, getting into the porn business etc.  It has very strong female characters, which is nice.  B

And one more random question before you go... has anyone ever died their hair with henna?  How were the results, and is it permanent?  I gave up coloring my hair in may because I want my hair to be natural and soft again, but I want something semipermanent without causing damage.