Be My Little Baby Bumblebee

       Be My Little Baby Bumblebee

Bonjour! It's been a whirlwind since Valentine's Day, but this week has been especially crazy. With a major assignment due every day and smaller assignments scattered throughout, it has been all I can do just to stay hygienically acceptable for public while making sure the work gets done.

One particular assignment I had to do was cultural research on my family genealogy. This turned out to be quite the event, involving a parent and grandparent and asking a lot of questions/ sorting through timelines. And what I found out was pretty interesting...

1. My family comes from a wide variety of European backgrounds, including England, Canada, and Ireland (as recently as the 1950s!) on one side and Germany, Switzerland, and Austria on the other (I am actually 4th generation German).
2. Many of my ancestors were teachers, preachers, farmers, or soldiers/captains. I must be following in the teacher trend, but none of the other occupations play out in direct or semi-direct relations.
3. My grandpa helped install the first ATMS in my hometown, and my great-grandma was a riveter (like Rosie the Riveter) during WWII.
4. We may have a Native American (Indian? Native North American?) line due to a possible marriage between a related Canadian trapper and a woman of a Canadian tribe.
5. One ancestor was the captain of a trading vessel who immigrated to Canada in the 1600s. A line would later immigrate from Canada to the U.S. in 1880.

Just having the confirmation that part of me was in Ireland (ok, a distant line of relatives, but still!) makes me want to break out the Celtic Thunder even more. And Irish Tenors. I've got a good excuse now, after all. :)

Isn't it fascinating how you can find out so much about the lives of people who are related to you, but who lived long ago in the past? What are your national roots?

Yellow Plaid Jacket/Dress/Purse/Shoes: Thrifted | Silver Chain Belt/ Silver Hairclip: Gifted | Sunglasses: Old
Wearable Heater: Imaginary. This was right before it snowed a few inches.

xoxo, Sara

Valentine's Day

Bonjour!!!

 Bonjour my lovebirds!

First of all, I must apologize for the terrible quality pictures. The situation called for an indoor setting at best (or none at all), so into my habitation we are now proceeded.

Today is of course the famed national day of love, and for those of us who are too awesome for a normal relationship, Valentine's Day rolls around as the specifically celebrated day of movie-watching, junk-food-consuming, and of course, chocolate-obsessing. Which would be among the pictures above had I not already pigged out and eaten the amount which I have received. Tragic reality of it all.

Having proceeded thus far, you're probably thinking that Valentine's Day is a horribly sad and solitary day of the year for me and fellow sassy singlers. If you yourself are single, you are either sympathizing in our tragic fate or you are thinking to yourself how awesome being free and flirty-herty really is (if the latter, are you being honestly, morally, and devastatingly truthful to yourself? well? are you????). If you are the former, then have no fear, I am here with my special Valentine's Day version of the "Top 7 Reasons Being Single Isn't A Handicap". If you honestly, truthfully, and realistically  think being single is where it's at, then congratulations! You're already a VIP member at this party. Proceed on to see if our reasons converge.


Reason No. 1: 


You have the power to flirt with whomsoever your little heart desires WITHOUT the consequences of a jealous beau finding out.

Convenient? Definitely.





Reason No. 2: 


You get to spend the day the way YOU say, without the hassle of thinking of the other person. Whether it's chillin' with the gal pals or relaxing solo with a movie, you get to call the shots.





Reason No. 3:


Your wallet gets to keep the money other people are using to splurge on their Valentine. The implication? That money can instead go towards the pair of shoes you've been eyeing online. And if that isn't good enough, Valentine's Day sales affirm the legitimacy of this reason. Yay celebratory shopping!



Reason No. 4:

You don't have to deal with high expectations and low deliverance. Every girl is waiting for the perfect Valentine's Day where her boyfriend goes to a lot of trouble, planning, and expense to make her feel special. And more often than not, there is at least a little disappointment that a nice dinner is the only thing you do together. As a sassy singler, this problem is nonexistent. You know what you want to do and you do it. Or, you don't know what to do, but you still find a way to let loose eventually. No high expectations, no disappointment. Satisfaction guaranteed.





Reason No. 5: 

There's no worry that your guy forgot what day it was. Now THAT would be a kick in the pants. 






 Reason No. 6: 

Chocolate. Chocolate.  Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate. And it's all yours, no sharing necessary.

Reason No. 7: 

You are independent, looking out for yourself and being free with your time. You have no commitments or obligations to a relationship to hinder you. You could travel the world, hang with friends, start a club, and make other decisions based on your romantic freedom. Then, when you have found the guy you want to date, you won't feel like you never got the chance to do your own thing. You'll have done it and be done with it, ready for a relationship that could be the rest of your life. Oh, and you'll live happily ever after. The end.


The gist of the story? Celebrate your sassy singleness while you've got it. Flaunt it. Enjoy it. Have fun with it. It won't last forever (well, hopefully not, anyway).


Top: Pick Your Plum | Lace-Trimmed Cardi: Old | Skirt/Boots/Hat: Gifted

 xoxo, your sassy singler,
Sara

Cute and Easy Last-Minute Valentines

Bonjour!

What is Valentine's Day without cute or corny valentines? Some other holiday completely. So the annual last-minute-scramble-to-make-valentines-for-Valentine's-Day event commenced, and this year saw good use of my three-year old pink and zebra print streamers, a bottle of silver glitter (of course), and gold, black, and pink Sharpies. I wanted to make valentines that could A. work for either gender and B. had cute sayings but weren't overly corny. A piece of cardstock was all that was needed to make these 6 easy valentines- cut in half width-wise and cut in thirds length-wise.

1. Bee's Knees

 Bee's Knees is a classic phrase that I just couldn't resist, and once the image of a dancing bee popped into my head, it wouldn't buzz off until it was physically expressed on paper. The bee was made using gold and black Sharpie, and the words are pink and black Sharpie with glitter accenting "You are" and "Knees".

2. Good Catch

Using a piece of pink streamers, we can fold it several times and cut out multiple scales at once, repeating as necessary. This adds a cool texture to the fish, and is a good sensory tool for young children just getting the hang of Valentine's Day. The bubbles consist of glitter glue, and the "To/From" box is made with gold and black Sharpie.  The fishing theme is one that can work for boys as well as girls, with different colored scales accordingly.


3. Don't Fly My Coop

Don't Fly My Coop is another boy/girl valentine idea. It doesn't directly address the love theme, which makes it good for valentines-exchange at school from boys to girls or vice versa.  The cage is made of glitter, and the words and accents are written with colored Sharpies.

4. Lovey Dovey

Lovey Dovey is perhaps the most intimate of these six, but it is playful enough to neutralize the emotional aspect  of it. The dove's head and wing are glitter glue, the beak is gold Sharpie, and the words are pink and black Sharpie. The eye is made from the zebra print streamers.

5. I'm Shippin' You

This valentine speaks to the inner fangirl terminology that most of us, whether openly or secretly, possess. As the large majority of us probably already know, "shipping" is the word for "being in love with a relationship between two characters ", whether they be in a tv show, a book, or other media form. The sail is made from the zebra print streamers, the waves from silver glitter, and the words and boat are made from colored Sharpie.


6. Wild About You

This is perhaps my favorite of the bunch. The letters in "wild" form a large beastie (a mix between a zebra and a buffalo, perhaps??) with the W forming the head and the D rounding out the rear. The grass is, of course, silver glitter, and the words and legs are made from colored Sharpie.

I finally found a break in my weekend to do a little crafting (and just in time for Valentine's Day!! squeeee!), so the blog will finally get a little love itself.  Whether you are rocking it free and single or celebrating it with your guy, I hope you have a fabulous Valentine's Day this weekend!

xoxo, Sara