BRAG BRAG GRAB BAG

This post has been sitting in Draft Hell for a few days... sorry. I tried to correct the tense, but in case I missed one. That's why it's not entirely accurate.

Last night The other night I finally took some time to take pictures of some things that I have acquired over the past few months, including things that my nearest & dearest gave me for my birthday. My Flickr stream currently looks used to look like a bragging grab bag exploded. Sorry. No, wait. I'm not. I'm proud to be loved by 10's of thousands of people!

I need to re-assemble my goody bag that I got from Miss Bliss. It had so much fun inside that I couldn't wait. I started wearing my princess ring right away and I have had my nose inside the delicious orange flavored scented candle ever since I opened it. And the stickers -- you just have to experience those for yourselves! TOO FUNNY FOR WORDS! [Ed. Note: still haven't done this. I should be fired.]

Shannon & Randy & Molly & Max sent me a new purse (which is the PERFECT size) and barrettes that demonstrate how much they know me inside and out. Skullies?! AND Shan says that she was thinking ahead to how cool the fabric will look in a blacklight. I'm telling you -- she GETS me. That's part of why I love her so. And the barrettes? OMG. I almost fainted. They are vintage Peter Pan fabric, featuring just the Tinks, covering buttons and hand-placed onto clippy barrettes. I haven't worn them yet, because I need to create a hairstyle that puts them front and center so that no one can accidentally overlook their awesome.



Then, my darling Adam (the first name in first names!) busted out with this necklace charm. Only, back it up. It's not JUST a necklace charm. It's a cassette. Retro goodness. But WAIT! There's more! It's a mixed tape. Because, had I known Adam when cassettes were still en vogue I would have made him eleventy billion mixed tapes. Mostly New Kids and Madonna, but he'd know that I meant well! And seriously, look at the detail on this! SOOOO gorgeous. Even sweeter, Adam went shopping with my my two favorite redheads to find this. In between critically acclaimed shows, they went to the mall - the MALL - and browsed and shopped (boys! shopping! for me!!) and came away with this lovely treasure. I love love love it.



And then when I was silently sobbing in the corner about the sweet hearts of Katie and Patrick and Adam, Kate had to completely devastate me with this. When I came out of my coma several hours later, I almost fainted again. It it a hand-crafted purse that she made with her own hands that is chock-a-block with Haunted Mansion goodness. Hang on... I'm swooning again...

Ok, now that I have rested on my fainting couch, let me walk you through the fantastic-ness of this purse. It's hand made. It has a ginchy little bamboo handle! There are laces and velvets and taffeta ribbons. There are baubles and sparkles. And beads!! And then comes the HM stuff. {deep breath} The playing cards glow in the dark. And they're attached with gold photo corners. There is an eensy weensy metal charm of Ezra, one of the hitchhiking ghosts from the Haunted Mansion. There is also a bitty Haunted Mansion, made into a dangling charm!! The inside of the purse is hand-papered with custom papers that are so beautiful. It is simply the most beautiful Haunted Mansion accessory that anyone could ever have.

And after much poking and prodding, another has been made (the second best one ever) and is available in Kate's etsy shop.




Also, Ryan decorated my office with Devil Girl party favors, including this kick-ass banner. He made us all wear party hats to the R.R.R.E.D. show on Sunday that had the same angry redhead on them and they were festooned with pictures of her squatting. GRRRRR!

Plus, he painted me a picture of Monkey that I need to get a good picture of and also put some of Monkey's fur into a tiny photo frame on a necklace. I bought the necklace for this purpose but hadn't done it yet, so he made a tiny little O of orange fur. I love it.

My family gave me a whopper of a gift that is the best thing ever: a gift certificates for a house cleaner! WOOOOOO! My house is "company clean" which means that all my miscellaneous crap is stashed in the closet or behind the closed door of the office, the way you would tidy up 5 minutes before company comes. I haven't had the motivation to really clean anything in a long, long time... so now I get to have someone else do all the really dirty work (until then, ignore the dustbunnies behind the toilet). YAY.

My birthday good times just kept going and going... my work peoples brought me cupcakes and other people bought me lunch. I got cards and e-cards and voicemails and text messages. It was an all-around love fest, lemme tell ya. But I love YOU the most. xoxoxo