Peppermint Party

Here are some pictures from the Christmas dessert party I had the other night. It had a peppermint color theme and was inspired by Amy Atlas' dessertscapes.

I made my usual yellow cake with cream cheese icing covered in candy. I bought the huge lollipops on either side of the cake at Target, stuck it in Styrofoam and tucked red cellophane wrap all around it so you couldn't see it through the glass.

These huge tissue fans can be found at partycheap.com

^ Party or not, every year I make homemade gingerbread with royal icing.

To rim these cups filled with eggnog, I lightly dipped the rim of the cup in light corn syrup and then dipped it in a bowl of sugar sprinkles and let dry overnight.

The chain on the table cloth is actually stapled candy canes. Click to see a larger picture.

Peppermint bark!

Overall, it was a very successful party with family and friends - I love when people linger till 1am , it means they're having a good time :)

I wish all of you a very happy Christmas, I am leaving town tomorrow to visit family but will resume blogging again on Sunday. here is my final Christmas playlist of the season:

.1. The Winter Solstice – Sufjan Stevens
2. Snow Angel – Tori Amos
3. Winter Wonderland – Kate Havnevik
4. The Blizzard of ’96 – The Walkmen
5. I Celebrate the Day – Relient K
6. The Heartache Can Wait – Brandi Carlile
7. Wish You Well – A Fine Frenzy
8. White Christmas – Bing Crosby
9. Interlude – Joshua James
10. Let It Snow – Diana Krall

Come On Santa!

More Christmasy songs and items:

1. Christmas is Coming Soon - Blitzen Trapper



2. Joy To The World – Sufjan Stevens


3. Come On Santa – The Raveonettes



4. We’re Goin’ to the Country! – Sufjan Stevens


5. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) – Mariah Carey



6. Winter – The Dodos


7. Holly Jolly Christmas – The Format



8. When The Leaves – Ingrid Michaelson


9. Winter White – A Fine Frenzy



10. Icicles – Let’s Go Sailing


Where to buy:
#1: cupcake toppers, Layer Cake Shop
#2-8: fredflare.com
#9: Fendi
#10: CD, itunes and amazon.com

Kiddie Kit

As imperfect and juvenile this may look, my best friends and I made this gingerbread house last Christmas using one of those kits. I feel that as I get older and older the spirit and excitement of Christmas is becoming less and less. As a kid I was carefree, had no gifts to buy and believed in Santa. Now around the holidays I am taking finals, shopping for gifts and working at the bakery. So i try and do things like this to put a little joy and nostalgia into the season, like how its supposed to be :) I wish this time of year lasted longer than a month so I could actually relax and enjoy it - oh well, must make the best of it!
I must say the ice skaters are a nice touch ;)

When I Was A Young Girl

I have been meaning to do this tag forever - its 10 Things About Me As A Kid - if you read this consider yourself tagged!

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1. As you can see in my picture, I had a cabbage patch kid - I loved them. For my 8th birthday I even had a cabbage patch themed party. I also loved the Spice Girls and wrote them a letter asking them to perform at my birthday party (high expectations, no?). My mom told be before the party that there would be a surprise guest. I got excited thinking it would be the Spice Girls, but I also added - "it better not be a clown!" And it was. A clown pretending to be a Cabbage Patch Doll. I was not happy.

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2. I was into fairies, leprechauns, ghosts, aliens - all that supernatural stuff. I say that has a lot to do with me watching So Weird and Allen Strange (remember those shows?). My friends and I spend all our time outside looking for these beings and even had a secret club. I especially loved fairies and make houses and food for them.

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3. On that note, when I was 8 I asked for an alien for Christmas. yes, in my letter to Santa I asked for a martian. So I could be like Robbie from the nick show Allen Strange and have an alien living in my attic. All my dad said was "Lauren, what if a alien asked for a human for Christmas?" Can't you see already what an odd child I was? haha

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4. When I was a kid I owned several businesses and restaurants: 1997 Cafe (our dinner table, the menu what was whatever we were having that night), New News I created a magazine that featured crafts and interviews with family members...and I made them pay for it), Lauren's Daisies (my bath and body works company, basically I mixed water and lotion in bottles and sold them to my grandmother) and many more. I was a mini- mogul!

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5. I had a recurring dream when I was little that little miss piggy was driving up a mountain with black and white dinosaurs chasing after her. Random.

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6. I loved Enya. I would spend an entire day playing dress up and dancing to her music.

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7. I used to write songs when I was little too. I wrote about holidays, family, and love (which I knew nothing about). I performed them for the family too and pretended like I was on tour. ?They're not well written but had good tunes.

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8. I hated buttons - with a passion. I could not stand to wear anything with buttons on it. Sure my mom loved finding clothes with no buttons on them.

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9. I wanted to dress like Clarissa from Clarissa Explains It All and I wanted the Rachel haircut, even though I was too young to watch friends.

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10. After I saw Lindsay Lohan wearing blue nail polish in The Parent Trap, I immediately bought some and wore it all summer.

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Wasn't I a special kid? haha

A Lady's December

Christmas songs and items to go with:

1. Things We Don’t Need Anymore – Jenny Owen Youngs

blazer, Diane Von Furstenburg

2. Snowfall – Ingrid Michaelson


cd labels, fredflare.com

3. December – Norah Jones

cupcake toppers, Layer Cake Shop

4. All I Want For Christmas Is You – Mariah Carey

dress, Rebecca Taylor

5. Red Ribbon Foxes – A Fine Frenzy

CD, itunes and Target

6. Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing – Sufjan Stevens

Dress, Temperly

7. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town – Frank Sinatra

Christmas card, fredflare.com

8. Jingle Bells – Diana Krall

earrings, fredflare.com

9. Lady December – The Concretes

skirt, See by Chloe

10. Christmas Wrapping – The Waitresses

wrapping paper, Martha Stewart Crafts

Confetti System

If you have seen the latest Urban Outfitter's catalogue, you would have probably noticed the fabulous pinatas, streamers and decorations on the cover and scattered throughout. The artist duo behind Confetti System who made avant garde party decorations (like the ones pictured). There is something whimsical and off kilter about their pieces that make it so interesting and aesthetically pleasing. I'm sure I couldn't afford one of these pieces, but they made a special, more affordable line for Urban - check it out! They all look New Years Eve ready!

Hard Candy

My new obsession and current nail polish: Mint Candy Apple by Essie. Trust me, you will gets lots of compliments - its such a neat, efferent color!

All I Want For Christmas

All I want for Christmas is this dress. Its by Temperly London and it is sold on net-a-porter. I find this extremely yummy - the color, the cut, the gilded details. It was love at first sight :)However I don't think I've ever received gifts that would even come close to totalling $1,595. A girl can dream...

Season's Greetings

The day after thanksgiving my Christmas music is on, my decor is up and I am watching Elf. The holidays are here and I couldn't be happier. Whenever I am homesick I listen to Christmas music, so I'm glad I actually have a legitimate excuse to listen to it haha. Like the past few years, for the whole month of December my playlists will be Christmas/winter music - from classics to indies. And if you're like me, the songs will make you feel all warm inside, but most of all remind you of being home for the holidays with family and friends (a rewarding thought during finals!)

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1. Men of Snow – Ingrid Michaelson
2. Baby, It’s Cold Outside - Leon Redbone & Zooey Deschanel
3. Blue Christmas – A Fine Frenzy
4. White As Snow – Jon Foreman
5. Once In Royal David’s City – Sufjan Stevens
6. White Christmas – Dean Martin
7. Season’s Greetings – Robbers on High Street
8. I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm – Frank Sinatra
9. All I Want For Christmas – Matt Costa
10. All My Bells Are Ringing - Lenka
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Above is a picture of the tree in my bedroom at home. Its a huge silver tinsel light up tree with sparkly ornaments on it :)

Cheap Love

Are you looking for fast, fabulous, frugal and fashionable gifts for the upcoming holiday season?Look no further than Heart by Ban.do! I have posted about their regular line of headwear, belts, and couture line before, but Heart is ban.do's new and actually affordable line. The handmade pieces are all under $50, so it will be kind to your bank account (and it will save you time by ordering online!). I can think of so many people to give these too...

Inspiration Board

I am finally doing the inspiration board post that little boat tagged me in. This is the bulletin board in my room at home consisting of magazine cutouts, tags I like and other little trinkets. See if you can spot these on my board:

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Eye: I LOVE eyes. I draw them constantly when I'm doodling in class. Kinda creepy, but I just freaking love eyes!

Mask: The invite to my Masquerade themed senior prom.

A baby: I love cute chubby babies. Their roundness just makes me smile.

Keira Knightley: Always one of my favorite actresses and she is my #1 red carpet style icon. No one can compare.

Jenny Lewis: If you have read my blog for a while, you will know that I am obsessed with her and her music. She is a rock goddess.

Cupcakes: Its my job and a love of mine to make and decorate these.

Italy: Reminds me of my memorable, beautiful trip there.

Target Tags: Also, I obsess about Target a lot on Modern Marie, especially their designer collaborations. Tags are usually pretty and are the closest thing I will ever get to designer clothes, so I save them :)

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What is on your inspiration bulletin board?

I Have Been Taken By Trees

I just discovered Taken By Trees, a middle-eastern influenced sounding band led by the former lead singer of The Concretes. They have such a cool, cute and refreshing sound (you may recognize her voice from the girl parts in Peter Bjorn and John's "Young Folks"). The video suits their song, an Animal Collective cover, called "Boys". It will make you want summer, even though Christmas is right around the corner - Happy watching :)

Thanks

Stationery by Rifle Paper Co.

In honor of Thanksgiving, songs about family and friends:
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1. Everybody Eats When They Come to My House – Cab Calloway
2. I Am Part Of A Large Family – Great Lake Swimmers
3. Chosen Family – Leona Naess
4. Sons and Daughters – The Decemberists
5. Oh Sister – Andrew Bird
6. Forever My Friend – Ray LaMontagne
7. Brothers On A Hotel Bed – Death Cab for Cutie
8. Young Friend – Brooke Waggoner
9. Stars and Sons – Broken Social Scene
10. Sister Kate – The Ditty Bops

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HAPPY TURKEY DAY!

Sugar Plum

Current Nail Polish: Plum Seduction by Revlon

Team Jacob

When I entered the midnight showing of NEW MOON, I was an Edward Fan, always had been...but NEW MOON transformed me - into a Jacob Fan. Blasphemy! How could I so carelessly switch sides so fast!?! Easy: Jacob is simply hotter, nicer, less awkward, and more alive than Edward. I never picked this fact up while reading the books, but after seeing the movie, I finally realized why the Team Jacob existed. I was pleasantly surprised with Taylor Lautner's performance and accomplished exactly what the NEW MOON novel wanted: you should want Jacob as much as Edward, if not more. The movie was faaaarrr better than Twilight, although I still say they need to tone down R.Pattz' makeup...its making him less attractive to me. Anywho I cannot wait for eclipse to come out - its supposed to be this summer!

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What did y'all think of NEW MOON?
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Here is my New Moon playlist - songs about moons, werewolves, blood, and twilight:
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1. Full Moon – The Black Ghosts
2. Werewolf - Cocorosie
3. Fresh Blood - Eels
4. Blood Bank – Bon Iver
5. Moon - Sia
6. Twilight – The Raveonettes
7. Moonlight Fantasy – The Golden Filter
8. You’re A Wolf – Sea Wolf
9. Twilight – Vanessa Carlton
10. Exit Music – Vampire Weekend
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**Also check out the OST for the movie, it has some really great new indie music on it

^^^ HOTTT (literally and figuratively haha)!!!