The Bookshelf

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! I did - and I got some great gifts for my apartment! Hopefully I'll get to all of them, but I'm going to start with the present from my dad and stepmom, since it's been consuming most of my night.

I have been coveting a particular bookshelf at Pier 1 for months, and now that it's sitting in my living room I'm so happy. Thanks Dad and Nicole!

Okay, let's preface the story with this. Me, little 5-foot-tall Meghan, dragged this box....

....up these stairs....

....all by myself. For a little context, that box was a good 4 inches taller than me. Luckily, I remembered to lift with my back, with a jerking, twisting motion.

I've never put a real piece of furniture together before, so I was little nervous. But I was so excited about the bookshelf that I decided to go for it anyway.

I wasn't sure what any of these were for, so I just threw them away.

It was pretty easy and straight forward up until this point. When I had to put the other side on is where I ran into trouble.

Both of those triangular shelves had three little dowels on each side that had to fit into the sides of the bookshelf. It took me about 45 minutes to get them all in. Either one fit in and the other five didn't, or five fit in and one didn't. But I eventually figured it out.

Voilà!

And then the best part - putting stuff all over it! The style is called "bookseller" because those triangular shelves are obviously meant to hold books. I think it's really unique and pretty, but I need to get some more books now that I have two bookshelves to fill!

So far I'm really happy with it. I think it looks so nice and really goes well with the rest of my furniture. I felt like my living room was missing just one more piece, this makes it feels complete.

Now, who the hell is going to clean up this mess??

Tão Ciumento!

That's how you say "so jealous" in Portuguese. I am so jealous of my mother because in August, she moved to the Azores. For those of you not in the know, the Azores is an archipelago of 9 islands about 900 miles off the coast of Portugal.

My mom lives on the island Terciera. She has a villa right near the beach, is enjoying 60-degree weather in December, and has been doing all sorts of fun things like going to bull runs.

While she still needs to send me some pictures of her fabulous villa furnished (since I took most of her furniture....), here are some pictures she sent of me of her new place and the neighborhood. Needless to say, I'm already planning my vacay.

And here's our dog Topaz, being very pouty at the airport. Poor Toto, I'm sure the 5-hour flight was not fun for her. But I hear she's having a blast and making lots of new friends in her new island paradise home!

Fa La La La La

Day....

and night.

I am really happy with the way my icicle lights look on my balcony. I decided not to do a tree this year, so it's nice to have a little something luminescent. Though I do have those nice big living room windows, so if I decide to do a tree next year, I'm sure it will look really pretty.

With my lights finally up, I'm starting feel a little more in the Christmas spirit. So I thought I would share my holiday/winter playlist. I think it's rockin this year!

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" Bebo Norman

"Mushaboom" Feist

"Changes" Seu Jorge

"Amazing Grace" Sufjan Stevens

"It Was a Strange Time in My Life" Jens Lekman

"It Really Is (A Wonderful Life)" Mindy Smith

"You Really Got a Hold on Me" She & Him

"Love Came Down at Christmas" Jars of Clay

"You, Me, and the Bourgeoisie" The Submarines

"Carol of the Bells" The Bird and The Bee

"That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!" Sufjan Stevens

"Winter Song" Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson

"King of Carrot Flowers Part 2 & 3" Neutral Milk Hotel

"Winter '05" Ra Ra Riot

"You Could Be Happy" Snow Patrol

"Tidal Wave" The Killers

"No Christmas While I'm Talking" The Walkmen

I have two songs from Sufjan Steven's 2006 Christmas album (Sufjan Stevens: Songs for Christmas) in there. Buy it - it's gorgeous.