While I was in Vegas, my mom took advantage of my electric blanket being at her house. Unfortunately my blanket is a few years old and has started to wear out—I get a lot of use out of my electric blanket! So she took it upon herself to upgrade my heat source. Ethan has been appreciating the blanket too!

When in Vegas, I also wanted to take some little memories home. I typically have about five minutes in between events to actually go shopping so I took some time Friday morning before my flight to take a gander in the gift shops at the Hilton. I came across this wee little scooter. Adorable! I had to have it. It evens out the VW bug on the chotchke shelf.

Another adorable keepsake is this Kimmidoll. Say hello to Sachi! Sachi, representing joy, delivers this message: “My spirit enriches and uplifts. By embracing my spirit and approaching everything in life with passion and enthusiasm, you can make even the simple and ordinary, memorable and enjoyable.” I have to admit, after looking at the website and how many different choices there are in the line, I’m glad that the store only had a handful. I would NOT have been able to choose just one!

If the theme of this blog didn’t make it obvious, I love cherry blossom designs. When I saw this business card holder not only in the cherry blossom design but with dragonflies to boot, I had to have it. It comes with a leather carrying case as well, to prevent the metal from scratching (which is what happened to my first business card holder).

Next stop? The airport at a little shop called Wild Gekko. Featuring a variety of Native American gifts, I came across this pair of dreamcatcher earrings. I had a pair before that got tinged when I tried to clean it—I most likely used the wrong cleaner. I couldn’t pass this pair up. They’re actually smaller than my original pair and will match a necklace and bracelet to match.

Wild Gekko also had smudging sage! Recently I tried to smudge with lavender, which worked OK, but wasn’t quite right. So I was especially excited to come across the smudging sage already ready. Sage is said to be the most purifying and traditional of smudging herbs to cast away bad omens and spirits from the home and yourself. I look forward to smudging my apartment this weekend.

For my last stop, I passed by a store with the signs “Everything is $10.” Why, yes, I’d like to look. I came across these pashmina scarves that look pretty decent AND don’t smell—sometimes they smell. I bought a white one for myself and a burgundy one for a friend. And did I mention it was $10! Score!

You wouldn’t think an aloe plant would cause such disarray in a home, but this little plant has become quite the problem child. It’s long fleshy leaves have spread out so much that the shelf in the kitchen can no longer house it. I have tried a number of other places for it, but nowhere seemed suitable. I finally concluded that it should make it’s home next to the Jenn plant in the living room. But I didn’t like it sitting on the ground because Ethan likes to dig in the dirt of plants and nothing I had in the house seemed to work.

I swung over to Home Goods and found this perfect little stand. It sits about four inches off the ground and I got it for $8! It was by luck I found it at all since it was stashed away in the clearance section and nothing else came close.

Look how cute it is!

I rearranged my chotchke shelf after I put all of the Christmas decorations away. I end up doing this every year since I have to clear this shelf completely to accommodate the holiday decor. This shelf features a number of mementos from my travels, as well as various gifts from friends and family. (You can click on the photo to see a larger version on Flickr, as well as the notes.)

From left to right:

Elephant. This elephant used to belong to my Grandma Dusty. I inherited it after she died and I think of her whenever I look at it.

Surfer. During my trip to Maui, I picked up a couple of mementos to remember this chance-of-a-lifetime vacation. This is a little metal surfer carrying a colorful surfboard that says Maui on it.

Origami sphere. When my mom and I visited my Uncle and Aunt in Florida back in 2007, we went to Epcot. I found this in the Japan pavillion: It features an origami woman hanging in the middle of thread sphere suspended from a double arch.

Seagull/wharf. Behind the origami sphere. I have visiting California more times than anywhere else, yet I only have this to show for it. It’s a little wharf section with seagulls perched upon in.

Japanese change purse. This is a silk and finely embroidered change purse I got as a gift a long time ago.

Meditation balls. Underneath the change purse sits a pair of meditation balls. I don’t use them often, but they’re pretty.

Lucky cat. My visit to Chicago’s Chinatown, which has only been once despite my close proximity, led me to inherit a lucky cat. Lucky cats are just that: bring you luck. The color will determine the kind of luck you’ll have. Pink represents romance. (Gold is for money, white is all over lucky. The list goes on.) I can’t say I’ve been particularly lucky, but I guess I haven’t been particularly unlucky, so that’s saying something.

Ritual candle. This is a pretty purple candle with a pendant hanging from it. I’m not sure where I got it from, but I’ve never burnt it because I like it so much.

Eiffel Tower. Again at Epcot, I picked up this miniature Eiffel Tower in the France pavillion.

Native American Tom Tom. When I was young, I was really fascinated by Native American culture. To this day, I would be so blessed to visit a reservation and witness the traditional dances. This is a child’s toy that you roll in between your hands back and forth to make a drumming noise.

Tiger. The tiger is the newest to the shelf. My cousin and his wife sent it to me for Christmas. 2010 is the year of the tiger. It has a little bell inside as well.

Krinkle cat. A few years ago, I fell in love with Krinkles. They’re these ridiculous figurines dressed to the nines. This is a little white cat decked in red.

VW Bug. In the traditional bug model, this car has a surfboard on top that reads Maui.

Bear. Lastly, my dad gave me this bear from a trip to Colorado. I have been to Boulder, but I don’t think I got it while I was there.

I have been coveting the Chrysanthemum Quilt at Target for as long as I can remember (or at least for a year), but it never went on sale. However, I received quite a number of Amazon gift cards this year for my birthday, so I put them to good use and bought the quilt. It looks really nice in front of my makeshift boa/cloud headboard.

Ethan approves of the new bedding.

In honor of my new chair’s debut, and the fact that I had to pack up all of my Christmas decorations, I have been doing a major cleanup of the apartment. A few days ago, I scrubbed down the kitchen (which has stayed fairly clean since). Today, I tackled the living room. I went all out, even cleaning the floors with Murphy soap. This involved a lot of moving around of furniture and started mid-morning, and lasted until after 10. But my hard work paid off and resulted in a really nice looking setup.

This first picture is what you see from the doorway walking in. I wasn’t sure if my red chair would work in its current spot, but I am liking the homey sitting area feel it has created.

This shot is after you’ve walked through the small hallway and toward the bathroom hall. Some of the decor will transition the holidays into winter. I like to keep some things so It isn’t as shocking when I take all the Christmas stuff down. The runner and scented pine cones on the coffee table will remain during the winter season.

The bookcase is still to the left of the chair, across from the sofa. The tchotchke and stuffed animal shelves were rearranged and the Knit Picks snowmen set is still out for winter. I moved a picture of me from the kitchen onto the bottom shelf and the koala the other bookcase is hanging from a 3M hook on the side.

The furniture is the same, but some of the decor has changed around from last year. From a distance, you can see that the other bookcase has a new setup as well. On the stereo, I chose a rectangular vase and filled it with seafoam rocks that match the color palette in this room. In the middle is a red candle/wreath combo. The piggy bank remains in its spot. The other shelves also changed up: Instead of four pictures, I chose a family shot and a picture with my cousin. A snowman and a candle finish off this area.

The infamous Pooh chair has remained the same.

Now we’re on at the other end of the living room, starting to turn toward the doorway. The end table has less on it, as it seems to get cluttered because it’s so big. My “Pocket Change” dish moved from the other end table and the candy dish remains.

Now a full turn has occurred. The red chair looks great from this angle (toward the door). Ignore the pile of stuff in the background. I cleaned up some things that were still in the room.

The piece of furniture in the background got a slight makeover. I added this cloth (which I still have to iron) to go with the transitional holiday color palette.

Close up shot of the chair with a new pillow I got around the holiday.

Each year, I add a few ornaments to my growing collection. I try to be selective because I tend to get them as gifts and because I already have quite a stash. But I just couldn’t help myself. This little santa is from this year’s Crate & Barrel selection.

This Crate & Barrel ball ornament is made of metal with snowflake cutouts. The flash made this shot a little funny but it’s a nice shiny metallic color.

Last in the Crate & Barrel purchases is a gold leaf ornament with acorn dangle.

During my holiday shopping, I came across this sightseeing/traveling deer at HomeGoods (my new favorite store). I toyed with giving this as a gift, but it never left my house!

My last purchase of the year is the Starbucks holiday hot coffee cup ornament. I couldn’t resist! Next year, I may invest in the cold coffee ornament too!

Now for gift ornaments: Mom found this Betty Boop holiday ornament. When I had Betty, my Toyota Camry, she had a Boop theme to her.

Last, but not least, is a little fishy ornament I got from my friend Corinne. It’s hand stitched and crafty looking, which is why she got it for me.

Well that’s it for 2009’s Christmas ornaments.