Bring on Christmas!

Thanksgiving was great and my pies were a big success, if I do say so myself. 

All of the dinner and dessert helped fuel  our black Friday shopping. 

My SIL, our friend Rochelle, and I left the house around 9:30pm on Thanksgiving  to get in line at Target. Wooohoooo! This is a tradition of ours. My SIL and I have been doing this since she started dating my bro. Such good times. 

We went to Target, Best buy, the mall, Tai pan and I went to Costco with my mom. We actually did walk into Walmart about three hours after it had opened and walked back out because it was still crazy. I don't do Walmart the day after. Any way, we were able to get everything we needed. YAY!

This:

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This:

After all was said and done, I finally arrived home by 10:30 am the day after thanksgiving. I had been awake for 24 hrs and shopping for 12. Needless to say, I passed out for quite some time. 

When I finally woke from the dead, I discovered that I had come down with a horrible head cold. :-( That's what I get for pushing myself all week long and working with minimal sleep. BLARG! I was going to get the rest of my Christmas stuff up that day but because of the cold I ended up using the whole weekend to get it up. It definitely took longer than I had planned but the end result was, in my opinion, worth it. :-D  

Its Thanksgiving! Holy smokes, Thanksgiving is already here!!! Time flies when life is bursting with things to do. 

This past month has been full. I was so hoping to get my Christmas stuff up before thanksgiving but alas, that didn't happen. 

I am on my third shift in a row. I hate working three in a row. I know it doesn't sound bad but you just don't feel normal and can't really get anything done.

All week I have been getting up early  to make pies for thanksgiving. 

Yes I am making that many pies. ;-) 

I am trying to cater to the people I love. People with trials that get them down every day. 

My dear SIL with celiacs, that doesn't get to enjoy the rolls and stuffing etc., and my dear dad with diabetes,  that tries really hard to not eat sugar. 

So, I made sure to make a sugar free pie for my dad and gluten free pie for my SIL. Then of course a few pies for the rest of us. 

I have also been working really hard on finishing my hutch. I really want it done before the holidays. Oh AND we got our wood floors in! IT LOOKS AWESOME! Thanks to some amazing family help. 

With all this busy work, the completely torn up house (due to floor instillation) and the lack of sleep, I have been pretty grumpy and definitely a little stressed. Most definitely not very thankful. Sometimes I find myself so caught up in the 'poor me's and 'life's so hard's that I forget to be thankful for the little things. 

So, tonight, while I was pretending to work, I was reading the NieNie Dialogues here. 

That women is AMAZING! 

I was, yet again, truly humbled by her intense amount of faith and perseverance. It made me take a moment to think about all the things I have been blessed with and there couldn't be a more perfect time than today to take a moment and express my gratitude.

I am so very grateful for: 

• Wonderful, patient, family that spends 2, and some change, full days helping us install wood floors. 
• An amazing husband that lets me have as many total meltdowns as I want. 
• When my beautiful dog crawls up right next to me early in the morning and rubs her soft head against my face and cuddles with me for an hour or more. (helps remind me that I really do love her even when she digs up my yard.)
• A job that I love.
• A perfect assessment at my recent neurology appointment. 
• A great mom and SIL that let me call and talk to them all the way to work. 
• Last but most certainly not least.......BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING!!!!!!!!

Here is our gorgeous new floor!

Princess Palooza

Over the weekend I hosted my nieces long awaited princess birthday party. 

Cute Rylie turned 5 years old and I thought it would be fun to host a party for her to introduce her to other little princesses of her same age. I wanted to help her make friends.

We had crafts, games, face painting, and a tea party. SO FUN!

We all dressed up as princesses and had a blast.

I think my favorite part was the tea party. 

 

The little princesses LOVED the face painting. 

We made princess hats and bracelets. The little girls got to search the treasure chest for jewels. 

And of course, Rylie's favorite part was opening all the presents. 

 I LOVED being able to put in an appearance as Snow White and I know my SIL really enjoyed dressing up as Rapunzel.  I really loved this party even though it was a TON of WORK for  Jeff and me. I really appreciate all the help everyone gave me and know that Rylie is going to remember her 5th birthday FOREVER! 

Hey maybe I chose the wrong profession....I should have been an event planner, its pretty fun. :-) 

I hEaRt ShAbBy ChIc

I don't know what it is about this design style but I ADORE it.

I think it's because it is so soft and romantic. 

It reminds me of my days playing dress-up in vintage hats, dresses and jewelry donated to me by my great aunt and grandma.

I love that it's something you can easily do to your own vintage hand me downs.

love that with this style you can have pieces in your home that have history. 

Here are some of my favorite Shabby Chic pieces I found while surfing Etsy. 

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Now, I know that when looking at shabby chic things the price tag can just about choke you...but, you can do what I do and scrounge through grandma's old furniture, the DI or KSL. 

Some man's trash could be your treasure!

If you use old things you already have or something you find at a yard sale, Shabby Chic furniture can be super affordable.....Assuming you are willing to put a little elbow grease into the project. 

That being said, here is my next project.

I just bought this hutch off of KSL. I haven't actually picked it up yet but the deal is done. I got this piece for below asking price! Which is, might I add, A STEAL! Its big and its old, but its in good condition and has curves. (Stole the picture from the KSL ad....and I'm not really sure whats under the bubble wrap but I'm sure I'll find out on Saturday.)

So I am thinking of doing it in an antique white with some distressing. Definitely French cottage inspired.Here is my inspiration for the re-do.

Yay! I'm excited!

I'm sure this project will take me a while but I will post pictures when Im done.

Of course...I still have 4 antique chairs I blogged about ages ago that are in the works.

Almost done.

It's a good thing my husband is patient and loving and likes the work I do on old furniture...because our basement has turned into my workshop and I have a lot more ideas brewing. 

 

Chandelier Re-do

I have been wanting a chandelier for a long time. One to hang over my dining table. The previous owners had had a lighting fixture hanging there but took it with them. So we have had this empty space on our ceiling for 1 1/2 years. 

The problem with chandeliers is they are pretty pricey. It hasn't been in our budget. 

Well, the other day my mom offered her old brass chandelier. She told me I had free rein to do with it as I pleased. Apparently she saw a show on TV where they took an old chandelier and spiffed it up. 

Well, I thought that that was something I could easily do. 

Here is the chandelier before:

It was obviously dated and needed new candle covers. It also was short one glass hurricane thanks to me dropping it... woopsie. Good thing I had other plans for this chandelier. 

I went ahead and spray painted it a hammered black. I then went online and bought some bling. 

Naturally I wanted a "FaNcY" chandelier.

I found, through searching the web, an affordable site, cristalier, that sold crystal/glass prisms and attachments for chandeliers.

Here is my after: 

So, there you have it. An old chandelier, in a new style. What do you think?

Harry Potter a Wedding and 100 Mosquito Bites

Thursday July 14 was the first day of a very enjoyable weekend. In an attempt to stick with tradition, Jeff and I came up with our HP t-shirts. 

Every year since HP started my friends and I get together and make funny  t-shirts and then go to the midnight showing. This year was no different.

This was so much fun but definitely a bitter sweet event. It was a blast to get together at midnight with close friends and see an amazing movie but it is so sad that this was the end of HP. I am definitely bummed that HP is over. The movie was EPIC and everything I hoped it would be. I am so glad that they ended with a bang. 

On Friday July 15, after very little sleep, my bestie Amelia got married! I am so glad that I can add her to my married friend group! I love her so much and Leland (the husband) is great. We are so happy for them!

Amelia looked amazing and her wedding was a blast!

The reception was at the beautiful Hidden Falls at thanksgiving point. It was the perfect background for such a wonderful day.

The rest of the weekend was spent resting (recovering from all the sleep deprivation) and treating all my mosquito bites. 

Slight down side of the Hidden Falls was all the mosquitoes attacking me. I counted 79 bites on my legs alone. Good times.

All in all, we had a very enjoyable weekend spending time with some of our favorite people.

And the Rockets Red Glare

We had a fabulous 4th of July BBQ. The kids played, the puppy played, and the adults ate a whole bunch of yummy food and talked. 

Jeff made us amazing dutch oven cobbler. Mmmmmm Yummy!

We also had a pinata....lightning McQueen of course...and bubbles, and....

I had to sneak in a puppy picture....;-)

Oh and I almost forgot....our tan-off results. Well, I must say my dear SIL totally won. I don't even look that tan in the pictures...but in my defense, everyone at work has been commenting on my amazing tan. ;-) 

Don't you think my SIL looks a smidge on the ethnic side? Yeah she is totally Jersey Shore Tan!