Holiday Time

Its Christmas time. Its my favorite time of year. Christmas songs, the smell of pine, christmas trees, and beloved ornaments being unwrapped from their worn tissue paper wrapping. Presents and food. Its all wonderful.

I've heard people talk about how busy they are at this time of year and it never really seemed the case for me. Until this year.

I skipped a free nice meal last night to stay at home and make my own dinner. To snuggle in my pjs on the couch with my man and watch a favorite Christmas movie. And while I love the different gatherings and events, its hard to really enjoy the time without getting stressed and think about preparing for the next event or the next thing to cross of the to-do list.

So, today, I'm asking, how do you cope? How do you savor this time of year without being stressed?

Christmas came early

I have the best husband in the whole wide world. I'll be spending the day making cookies and thinking about things I can do with it.

Things to be Happy About:

I've been struggling with a few things lately, so today I'd like to focus on a few things that make me happy:

- Christmas decorations
- delicious soup
- $5 subscriptions to House Beautiful and Real Simple from Amazon
- This little bugger:


- And this one:


- Plans for my birthday, including a very nice restaurant and Starry Nights.

- Bosco's beer

Thanksgiving Recap

As much as I've discussed Thanksgiving recently I thought I at least owed you a Thanksgiving recap post.



We had my husband's family over and had a huge feast! You can read about the turkey here, I'll save you the details, but my first turkey came out a success!









All in all, we had a great Thanksgiving and have much to be thankful for this year.

Anthropologie Ornaments

I have two weaknesses:
1) Bird stuff. This is a recent development, within the last two years. Love anything bird related to decorate (read: clutter) the house. From candle holders, salt and pepper shakers, art work, and now ornaments.

2) Christmas decoration. I've been seriously trying to fend off all Christmas decorating urges until after Thanksgiving. I like to celebrate one holiday at a time. But that doesn't stop me from thinking and planning. Oh no. One day recently I stumbled upon Anthrologie's website and further stumbled into the Holiday Shop like Alice falling down the hole. Big mistake. Do not do it! Just don't. After 15 minutes and $100 damage to the bank account (I really hope Bryan doesn't read this!), I received a box of goodies a few days later. Check it out:













I bought duplicates of two birds. The second and third pictures are the same product, but quite different as you can tell. The listing did say they were unique and I do love each one. But I might find it difficult to give any of them up. So so cute. Its okay to be jealous.

Turkey Ready

After doing my research, I had to do some shopping.

Yesterday I went to Lit, my favorite kitchen supply place in Memphis, and to William Sonoma Outlet. Between the two I was able to get everything I need.



Plaid placemats for the table, big ass pan for the turkey, V-rack for roasting, brine bags for brining.

Next step is to plan the rest of the menu. What are your favorite Thanksgiving dishes?

House-a-versary

It has been one year since we first stepped into our house.



Bryan was the first to find the house as he ran by on a run. He drove me by it the same night and we picked up a flyer. I wasn't so sure, but there was an open house a few days later and we went.

From the first time I walked in, I knew it had to be mine. I called my parents and they drove in to see it. Mom said she knew when she walked in that I was going to love it.

Sigh... can't believe its been a year... I still love it. One of my absolute favorite things is to just sit with the blinds open in the front part of the house. Love it.



So does Bosco.

Thanksgiving Preparation

The Baddass and I are hosting Thanksgiving for his family this year. While half of the family will be out of town, that doesn't mean I'm planning on cutting back on the traditional feast.

My biggest worry is THE TURKEY. Thanksgiving turkey requires the big letters. It just does... don't fight me on it.

I've been researching the best methods of cooking it.

How to Cook Everything and Martha recommend removing bones and splatcooking, oh wait, the technical term is "spatchcocked." But its more like splat cooking because its a flattened bird. Splat.

Rouxbe and all traditional notions recommend the more traditional way. I'm leaning more towards the traditional method. It is my first Thanksgiving and I want it to be perfect. Even if it does mean splatcooking another turkey some other time.

Now, off to buy my turkey cooking tools.

Mystery Solved

The Case of the Mystery Suitcase Placement has been solved.

When I arrived home from work on Thursday evening all cars were away. It wasn't until I saw the suitcase without the car sitting next to it, that I realized, maybe they were just trying to get rid of the suitcase and just had it placed in such a way that it looked like they might want to pack it into the trunk of their own car.

Friday morning, our trash day, they had the suitcase positioned differently right next to a stroller they had left in the yard for 3 days, making it more obvious of their giveaway intentions.

I don't know if anyone ever claimed it or the trash man took it. Either way, no more suitcase.

Mystery Bag

A few days ago I noticed a hard suitcase outside our neighbors house. On the curb next to their car parked on the street to be precise. Bryan and I thought it was odd, but didn't have time to move it or let them know. The next day, it was still out there. BUT, I saw our neighbor our strolling her son. So I know she had to see it, if not move it out of her way. Four days later its still out there, now in the rain.

Other peculiar behavior is that they seem to have not gone anywhere during this time. The cars haven't moved, which means no one has been going to work or school or day care. And they left a stroller out in the yard, which is unusual for them.

What does all this mean?

Fall

Fall is definately here. Bryan turned on the heat the other day. I had forgotten how much I love our radiant heat. Toasty.

Several of our neighbors have decorated for Halloween/Fall, and Bryan was itching to join them. I was too, honestly, but in a classy way. Ooops, I hope my neighbors don't read this blog and become offended.

I'm not really into Halloween, but fall, I love.

For the outside I have a couple of slightly dying mums from when we hosted an engagement party a few weeks ago. I added two pumpkins, one white and one orange.



At a holiday shopping event a few weeks ago I purchased a few iron pieces that turn a pumpkin or gourd into an adorable turkey. I had Bryan stab the innocent little pumpkin to turn it into the most adorable thing I'd seen all week.



Adorable, right?

Inside, I decided to decorate the dinning room mantle. I had purchased one small white pumpkin on our Ohio trip and Mom had given me one of the Tiger Pumpkins. I bought several different ones at the farmers market on Saturday and got the gourd from the pumpkin stand we got the outside pumpkins.



Finally, its virtually impossible for me to go to the downtown farmer's market without getting a fresh bouquet of flowers.



Happy fall, ya'll!

Fall

For weeks now I've been craving fall. We had a few tempting days of cooler weather, before it heated back up again. And stores are beginning to get mums. I'm convinced I must get several mums for my front porch. I'm not sure what brought on this craving, I don't think I've ever owned a mum in my life. But it just seems like the fall thing to do.

We are currently in Ohio for a wedding and hometown-visiting. Yesterday we rode with some locals to a local produce stand. They had tons of pumpkins and mums and decorating corn. I had Bryan restrain me and remind me that we have a 10 hour ride in someone else's car and could not import fall to the South this early.

Last year, I suffered a minor case of fall-itis and purchased a pumpkin at the very beginning of October. They rotted before Halloween. Oh well. We still enjoyed our pumpkins for several weeks.

I did purchase, for a whopping 30 cents, a small white pumpkin. Its adorable. So adorable I want to name it.

Can't wait to get it home and have it as my little reminder that fall is on the way!

King Kong

Yes, we've got a new animal in the house, King Kong. Except its not really a real animal. Its a massage chair. Take a look:



We hide it behind the door.



Here Bryan tests it out.



In full relaxation mode.

This is how we feel about it:

Pillows

Mom ordered me some pillows from one of her companies. I had picked out the fabric months ago. I'm so glad to have pillows for our comfy couch.



I call this side my Spring/Summer side because I like the lighter color.



The other side is a burnt orange. Its my fall/winter side.

Bryan likes them on opposing sides, I like them on the same. We shall see.

Sewing Table

We've been a fan of sewing tables since early in our marriage. Bryan likes to point them out to me.

At a recent sale we happened upon this one at an unbelievable price and we had to bring it home. Its settled by my side of the bed for now and we love it and love showing it off.

Cha-Cha-Changes

I know, its been a while. We've made some recent changes around the house and this week I'll be posting a few.

First up, the window treatment in the kitchen.

Mom found these tea towels at Amelia Island, FL and picked out a bunch. She had two of these and thought they would look great in my kitchen. Then she had the idea to make into a window treatment.

Breaking News!

I just purchased the first pair of shoes since I got married! That's over a year! Yikes.

I bought them online... and I'll probably send them back after I try them on and realize again with great agony that I have fat feet. That will send me into a spiral of depression and I won't be shoes again for over another year.

Endless.com is a girls playground!

You know you've grown up when you spend your Saturday morning "playing" with table settings. Oi Vey! What happened to flipping thru InStyle and Vogue?

Things that freak me out:

The sound of a paper cutter. The only thing I can think of when I hear it is "I hope there are no fingers on the other side of that cut" and then I picture fingers and then I get all freaked out and I have to start thinking of Disney World. When I was little and would wake up from a bad dream about snakes (my re-occurring nightmare) my mom would tell me to think about something happy and I would always thinking about Disney World.

Birds

Our house came with a bird house in the back yard. Its on a tall post and its a pretty standard bird house. Nuthin' special. I finally bought some bird seed and filled it yesterday afternoon. This morning there was a baby bird a few feet from the birdhouse on the railing, only a couple of inches off the ground... i.e. Bosco's level. It wouldn't move when Bryan and Bosco walked by in a flurry of feeding time frenzy. So we're pretty sure it can't fly. And I'm pretty sure that poor little bird is dead now if Bosco's had anything to do with it.

Should I feel responsible?

Weekend Flowers

Its been a while since I've bought flowers for myself, I mean, to have in the house. So I splurged and bought a "medium" bouquet at the farmer's market on Saturday.

Music

I love music. Its an integral part of my life.

Growing up I remember riding in the car with my mom, listening to the radio or the Dirty Dancing Soundtrack. I loved the Dirty Dancing soundtracks. Then riding with Dad to school in the mornings listening to FM 100 with Ron and Karen in the mornings.

As I grew older I developed my own tastes. The Dirty Dancing soundtracks were a few of the first CDs I owned. They're still an old fall back I adore. Over the years I've established quite the collection of music and rarely have a quiet time without some kind of music going on.

At work, we listen to the mainstream radio. It drives me absolutely crazy listening to the same popular songs multiple times a day. I've grown to hate them all actually. Listening to my iPod in the car ride home is always a refreshing break.

My current tastes are for alternative, indie music, with some classic rock thrown in for good measure.

But on the weekends, I have a strong only oldies stance. I don't know why. But we only listen to oldies in the car on Saturdays and Sundays. Riding in the car with the car with the windows down, shades on, and singing to the top of our lungs our favorite oldies just makes me smile. Its what weekends are supposed to feel like.

Good Husband

The Baddass is sooooo good to me. Two recent items of proof:

Item A) I couldn't sleep the other night and I woke him up to tell him that I couldn't sleep because I had a country music song stuck in my head. And he lovingly agreed that it was terrible.

Item B) I wasn't feeling well the past day or so and he took me to get ice cream and a sun dress to make me feel better. He sure knows how to perk a girl up!

Leaning

One of the things I loved right away about our house is the back extra room. It was part of an addition later on and is a small room attached to the laundry room and guest bedroom. Its too small to really be a bedroom, but its the perfect size for a large walk in closet or study. The previous owner had a clothing rack in there when we toured it. I claimed the room as my own before we even put an offer on the house.

The day we closed on the house we bought two cheap garment racks at Bed, Bath and Beyond. And my mom gave us another to make three. Her's was the metal, study kind, but didn't have a shelf on top. The two we purchased were mostly plastic with metal rods. We ran into problems right away. One of them leaned and the other fell over a day after we put it up. One held only shirts, so we lowered that and haven't had any problems since. The other held dresses and an organizer, so we just let it lean. The leaning got progressively worse. So we broke down and purchased a replacement, this time springing for the more expensive variety.

Check it out:


Leaning


Tigger approved stable clothing rack.

This change also prompted some cleaning, straightening, and giving away, furthuring sprucing up my closet space.

I need to decide what to do with the walls. They seem a bit blank over the racks. Maybe I will frame my Chanel calendar after all this time. Any thoughts?

A morning with Bosco

Since the Baddass and I both work full time, we usually leave Bosco outside while we're gone. On Saturday, I was off but the husband was working. So Bosco and I chilled at the house in the morning.

Bosco has developed a fascination with the bathroom. She knows how to open the door if we close it. She is constantly pulling things out of the trash can. I've found a couple of her toys in the shower.

But Saturday she had the worst bathroom obsession yet. I was in the kitchen reading and she wondered off for a few minutes. I call for her to stop whatever she's gotten into and she runs out with the husband's tooth brush in her mouth. Since it wasn't mine, I was amused.

Later she pulled the entire roll of the toilet paper off.



Even though she can get into mischief pretty easily, you can't look at her face without loving her.

Shower Curtain

Our shower is a bit funky. It requires basically a shower curtain and a half. The previous owner had one custom made and then left it for us. I am very grateful to have it while I figure out what I want to replace the last remaining evidence of purple in my house. I've narrowed it down to a few options (but that doesn't mean that I'm not still open to more choices)



What do you think?

Summer is here!!!

Its officially summer in my books. Weather is almost oppressive. I'm starting to sweat more than I am comfortable with. Dresses and skirts are worn in favor of my beloved jeans. Flip flops are necessary with ALL outfits. And I fixed this meal:



Grilled corn, fresh corn on the cob, fresh peas, salad, bread, beer. There's absolutely nothing better.

Things that make me happy

A bill being $20 less than normal. Put that savings directly into additional principal on the mortgage.

I love little surprises like that.

Zoo Brew, too

Here are a couple of pictures from the other nice... sorry there aren't any with the beer... we were so concentrated on the beer that taking pictures completely slipped our mind until we sat down for a breather.


Chad and Julie


The Baddass and myself

We had a great time and can't wait for the next time!

Heaven is a place on Earth

Zoo Brew... or as some may like to call it Zoo Broo. Its got to be one of the few things that are like heaven on earth. All you can drink beer and all you can eat movie-style popcorn, plus good friends for company. Nice!

Estate Sales

A few years ago my mom started going to estate sales fairly regularly on the weekends. Not being interested in stuff for a home or decorating, I rarely went. (Although I did find some cool vintage necklaces the few times I went.) But since getting married, I have taken to going almost every weekend. Its become quite the addiction. I won't even need anything, but still feel the urge to go, just because you never know what you might stumble upon. (And sometimes its fun just to go in different homes!)

The Baddass doesn't usually like going to estate sales, so I usually go with my mom, sister-in-law, or by myself. In fact, the first time I took him to a sale, he claimed he was creeped out.

He's a pretty good sport about my coming home with random things from my shopping ventures. But he's never picked anything out himself... until this past weekend.

We had gone to a sale on Saturday, but didn't find anything. Sunday we met my parents and grandparents to give them something at the same sale. We were wondering around pointing out things that were too expensive to purchase. Then the Baddass wonders in and says he's seen something. It was quite adorable and I urged him to ask what the price was. Since it was reasonable, we went ahead and purchased it.

Now my sweet hubby, is an estate sale shopper too. I'm not sure that he'll want to go along with me most of the time or even ever pick something out again. But it made my little heart jump for a brief second (or going on three days now).

Check out the purchase in our bedroom:


I have been looking for weeks for something to put on the ground by the fireplace. The colors are perfect for the room and its a unique object. I had shied away from the usual items readily available at many of the decorating stores, simply because I hate having something that is in millions of other homes. (One of the many reasons I like shopping at estate sales to begin with.)

So good job, Baby!

Monkey Bread

Last week the Pioneer Woman posted a monkey bread recipe on her website. Being a child of the South, its not the first time I'd seen monkey bread, but I figured my yankee-born husband probably hadn't had it and he would probably love it. So I bought the ingredients and got up early-ish on Saturday morning to bake for my sweet hubby.

I followed the directions and anxiously awaited a delicious treat.

Apparently my bundt pan is slightly thicker and requires a longer baking time or something because when I flipped it to put in a plate, it looked like this:



It was indeed quiet delicious, but I was disappointed in the presentation. Oh well, it was just for us, so no sweat.

Cookbook Roulette

I love food. I love good food. My favorite thing to do is eat a good meal. I love eating out at delicious, local restaurants.

We can't afford to eat out all the time, so we eat at home a good amount of the time. Which means that someone's gotta do the cooking. And since the Baddass works later than me, that leaves me or Bosco to do the cookin'.

My Google Reader is overflowing with food blogs and recipes. But sometimes I still get bored and have absolutely no inertia to decide what will be for dinner. So I devised a new game, if you will, to decide. I call it, cookbook roulette.

The Baddass chooses a number at random and then we cook something on or near that page. Tuesday night we had mixed vegetable salad with peanut sauce. Last night we had burritos.

Its fun to make something different and not feel the pressure of deciding. Plus, it is forcing me to make things that I normally wouldn't have thought of.

16 weeks

Bosco turned 16 weeks Monday.

She's starting to learn to "sit" and is not pestering the cat as much.

The biting has gotten a bit better and she's giving more kisses.

She loves to cuddle and be close or on you while she's chewing her bone.

But she still needs to stop jumping on people.

We love our baby girl and are having so much fun watching her grow.

The Guest Room

Here is the guest room... so far. Please don't judge, its still a work in progress.







Things I'd like to do:
- Get a new duvet. Too much yellow.
- Pillow shams that match something.
- Lamp, I'm thinking a dark green.
- Shades
- hang art work.

Any ideas of what else we should do?

Score

We finally got the guest bedroom looking more like a guest bedroom and less like a paint supply/storage closet. But there are a few final touches needed. Like throw pillows, pillow shams, beside lamp, bedside table. And there a few more things like to do, like getting some outdoor storage to put the bikes and lawn mower up. I haven't seen too many guest rooms with lawn mowers.

So I went to the nearby T.J. Maxx to see if I could find anything for the guest room. But I found something else instead.

We were fortunate enough to be able to get a king size bed from family members. Its an awesome mattress and super comfy, not to mention tons of room if we feel like sprawling out. But its extra deep. Every night one or both of our corners pops off. I've been looking sporadically for extra deep sheets, but they are super expensive.

But today I totally scored. Extra deep king sheets with a high thread count of Egyptian cotton. All for the low low price of $29.95. Whooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!! So happy... now I just need to get an extra deep mattress pad.

Margaritas

The Baddass and I have this thing that helps us get through the week. Its called Margarita Mondays. That's right, every Monday we partake in Margaritas. It is much needed most Mondays.

We've sampled margaritas at many of the local Mexican restaurants. My favorite by far is Molly's half and half margarita. Not only is it delicious, but the Baddass and I can share when one more is just too much. (Normally he likes his frozen and I like my margarita on the rocks.)

We've also tried many of the mixes to make at home. Nothing, let me reiterate, NOTHING compares to this though:



That's right, Fat Mama's Knock You Naked. Its not just a sweet name, its the best damn margarita mix, ever. Its not overly strong, but I think it gets its name because its so delicious that you keep drinking and keep drinking and then low behold, you're naked!

You can purchase it on their website.... please buy me some too... or buy it and make it and then invite me over!