the most wonderful time OF THE YEAR!!

Christmas time is here....la la la la.

yes my friends, it is that glorious time of year when poor only children whose stipends have run out come home and are showered with gifts from their parents. It's christmas time!! ok not showerd but i usually get one really good thing. Most families do the whole christmas morning wrapped presents tradition. My mom at some point in her attempt to "simplify" her life decided she wasn't going to wrap presents or ask for any gifts. But she still wnated to buy other people stuff so she decided that instead of buying them things they might not like she'd set aside time ot take people she cared, namely my father, me and my cousin jenny, to the mall. Shopping at the mall with my mom is always a good time. Our christmas tradition as of a few years back consists of us driving out to the south coast plaza, walking around to all the different stores, picking things that we like and then waiting for my mom to say "i will sponsor (fill in a certain percentage) of that (fill in bag, shoe, jeans, whatever)." This year was no exception as i finally got what i have been covetting since my time abroad in italy. yes, my friends, I HAVE FINALLY MADE IT!! I am the proud owner of a gucci purse! gahhhhh i love it! it's so pretty! guys guys, you can take the girl out of the materialistic enviornment and stick her in the midwest, but you can't take the materialism out of the girl....or something. Basically, what i'm saying is, i'm a materialistic whore. judge me!

so i know it's not christmas yet but here are my gifts.

gift 1: from my papi
my dad got my grandma's ruby ring reset. It had fallen out of it's setting a few years ago and we just never got around to doing it. It's the only real thing of value that my grandma had so i actually really love it for sentimental reasons even though it's kind of big and borders a bit on gaudy.

gift 2: from myself and my mom
a jade necklace that was 65% off at macy's. 65%!!! It's a square and has some kind of stone in the center and i think it's cool

gift 3: to myself
Headbands...i've decided i'm getting back into them. i used to wear headbands all the time when i was younger but i think i associate them with catholic school uniforms so i never wear them anymore. well i'm bringing back the headband to my life! HEADBANDS!
PS also on sale at jcrew
gift 4: to myself
a burberry scarf to replace the one i lost. uughh i still can't believe that scarf got lost somewhere in my move. Anyways i got the original print only a little modernized. I had to get it because my dad gave me the old one and he doesn't know that i lost it so my mom and i thought we should make a quick switcheroo

gift 5: from mom
and now for the big guns, the big gift of the year. Last year it was a watch (much appreciated). this year it's "the bag. " in honor of the biggness of "the bag" and the fact that i never get to open up gifts i decided to have the ladies at gucci wrap "the bag" up and i'd document opening it up for you all.
the bag. gucci wraps this shit up so nice!!

the box
in the bag
the tissue paper
in the box
in the bag

ISN'T THIS FUN!!!!!! I'M HAVING SO MUCH FUN!!!

the protective bag
in the tissue paper
in the box
in the bag

and finally without further ado

THE BAG!!!
CLOSE UP!!
Ivan, did you just die? Cathy, are you judging me? Bobby, are you clapping and yelling "gay!!!" Orges, are you thrwoing things and screaming at the disgustingness of capitolism???

My dad was liek "what are you doing??" and i was like...taking pictures of my excess. he took the camera and started taking of action shots.

EXCESS in motion
SEXY EXCESS

and now, at the behest of my papi I include his own personal christmas miracle. My father came to this country 38 years ago with nothing but a pair of corduroy, a white hanes t shirt, and converse all stars. He has made a name for himself in rough world of roach coaches, he has travelled the world, but all he has ever wanted is to buy a rolex. When we got DSL 2 years ago he would come home everyday, go on ebay or wahtever and look at rolexes to pick out the exact one he wanted. But there was always an excuse. "oh it's too gold." "oh it's too sporty." "what would i do with a rolex?" etc. Finally about a year ago he went into a jewler ready to buy it, tried the one he wanted on, took out his hard earned money, and as he was about to pay he realized it was not the watch he wanted but the idea of the watch. The idea of that watch had motivated him all these years and he realized he didn't really want the watch. The watch was just an excuse, something to remind him what he was working for. In the end he opted against purchasing it. Ever since then my mom and i have had to suffer through his pros and con lists for why he should or shouldn't buy the watch. Everytime we'd go into a mall we'd have to go to every watch store, watch him try it on, and then say "no no nevermind. i don't want it." Finally a month ago we both told him, that we would not go into any more jewlery stores wtih him unless he was going to buy the damn thing.

Well recently my dad sold his old lunch truck. Something about that sale made him feel nostalgic. His old truck had been with him for 36 years. It had put me through college, paid for all of our good times. he wanted to commemorate that truck wiht something tangible. he wanted something that everytime he looked at it he would remember all the hard work he had done. my mom and i were liek "rolex!! rolex!! rolex!!" So last saturday my father became the proud owner of a rolex. not too sporty, not too fancy. Like goldylocks, it was juuuuust right. And so i present to you our family of swiss watches. my papi's rolex, my mom's omega, and my movado. Before you go and judge, just remember that each watch represents something for my dad. A goal achieved, 70 hour work weeks, etc etc. They were given with love and we know it and appreciate it, and never let him forget how much we appreciate him and all that he does for us. Cheers to my family and to my dad! May all of your famlies be blessed in ways that go beyond just the material...but the material is always nice. And as a wisewoman once said "we are living in a material world, and i am a material girl."