It’s Going to Be a Good Day and other foxy things

It’s Black Friday and even if I wanted to go shopping, I couldn’t, because I am very busy and important.  Luckily, we all live in the age of the internet and you can buy pretty things online.  I am not sure that I will be buying pretty things, but I am sure that I can show you some pretty things I have bought or coveted in the past.  Plus, they are all handmade!  Enjoy, and tell me if you love something or end up buying any of these.  Happy holidays!

(click on any image to see the Etsy store it came from)

Things I bought:

I love this dog collar from The ModDog. This particular style is Duck Season, and we bought it for Daphne about a year ago.  I love the martingale style and the Kandinsky-esque circles.

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I bought this necklace from I Dream I Can Fly for Turtle for Christmas/Solstice, but then she lost her job so I gave it to her early. As she says, it was a “Happy firing present.”  But really it was a “Chin up, there’s hope and also I love you and am awesome” present, and she still wears it a lot.  So pretty.

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I love love love Kristiana Parn.  I love the pictures but the titles are the icing on the cake; the one above is called “It’s Going to be a Good Day,” and I love that.  I bought this for Turtle’s best friend, and I don’t remember why.  Also, the Birds Sunrise is beautiful.

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For our first anniversary, I commissioned a custom portrait of Turtle’s cat Piper, who was the love of her life before I came along.  cdingo was fantastic to work with and did a great job with a cat who has such unique and complex features.  She emailed me “drafts” of the work and I wrote back with “a little more black here” and “add a smudge of orange there,” and it came out looking like Piper, only less annoyed than Piper usually looks in pictures.

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Here are some things that I might someday buy and that I think are really pretty:

 

I love these tiny mismatched earrings from Joannarutter, and I would probably love almost anything else in her store. I mean, who doesn’t need Rainy Day Studs?

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Not sure if you’d picked up on this before, but I do kind of like dogs.  Not sure that I would want this awesome mobile hanging around now, but 10 or 15 or 20 years ago, I would have loved this. Okay, and maybe it would look nice in our study over the desk.  See more (including a derby girl mobile! and a Where the Wild Things Are mobile!)) at SaltyandSweet.

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Continuing with the the dog theme (I know you’re shocked), these magnets are adorable and can show off your awesome dog (or cat or even small human!).  Check them out from Enidtraisman.

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Just in case you were concerned that I didn’t love any of The ModDog‘s  other collars, don’t worry, I do I do I do! I think Daphne would look lovely in pears, though of course we’d need it to be a martingale.  But did I already mention that the seller can do whatever kind of collar you want!? They can, because they’re that amazing.

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Lastly, I bring you some more art; the piece above is by dkim.  Real art from real people is something we always need more of.  This picture also reminds me of the first Ani Difranco song I connected with, when she sings,

two people pulled over on the same night
to look up at the same stars
they both found their wheels were spinning
in a soft shoulder…

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Anyway, happy shopping, happy inspiration, and happy day after Thanksgiving!

Do you buy presents for all your family, or do a specified swap?  Do you buy for your friends? Do they buy for you?  Is your birthday like mine and Turtle’s and right after or before the holidays, and is this worth mourning or celebration?

 

(None of this is a “sponsored” post – these are all just things that I think are really pretty or that I had a good experience buying and owning.)

Wedding Registries: Can I give you a lion cub?

An anonymous wedding question from the world:

Registries – tell us all about them. are people expected to buy from the registry? is it okay to not buy from the registry?
it’s the part of weddings that confuses me the most. for example, let’s say you had a friend who knows you pretty well and has a sense of your taste, though not necessarily your DP/fiancee’s taste, and let’s say this person was going somewhere cool this summer, like, hypothetically, africa, and let’s say this person planned to steal a lion cub for you to raise. would that be a good wedding present? even though it’s not on the registry?

would people prefer cash? if so, how much cash is appropriate? and if there’s something you really like, but it isn’t on the registry, will they hate you for getting it? registries are useful, in that they help you find something that both people like, but what if you find something and really really want to get it but it’s not on the registry?

First of all, I am pretty sure that I would end up suddenly single if I decided a lion cub was joining our family before I have my veterinary degree.  But if it’s a small and hide-able lion cub, I totally want it.  I just can’t let Turtle see that I registered for it, which is why it’s not on my registry.

Okay, but really.  I also think registries are sort of silly.  I think that in general, it’s weird to ask for specific gifts – I think good gifts are personal and don’t come from a list of “I want this” but from a connection the giver and givee have.  That said, I think registries give you a place to say what you need, like a toaster oven or a microwave that actually works.  And some people are bad at gifts that are based on a connection, or don’t know what to give both people, so the registry is a good guide.  It’s great, too, when you can combine the two – for example, one of my friends and her husband-to-be registered for a tent, and I thought that was the coolest thing! So I bought it.  Registry + connection = quality gift giving.

As far as cash goes, I think cash is often appreciated, and for me, I would give however much cash I would have spent on a present.

I guess my answer is to think of a registry as a guideline, but feel free to buy from elsewhere, especially if you have something meaningful.  Meaning trumps stupid registries every time, in my opinion.

What do you all think? What have your gift-giving/-receiving experiences been?  I understand that we’re supposed to register for our bridal shower (and there’s supposed to be a theme? What?)… and somehow that’s different than the wedding?  Someone, please share your answer for Ms. Anonymous’s question up there, and then answer mine. kthx.