Friday, November 16, 2007

Tour of Homes



I have decided to submit our home to "BooMama's" Christmas Tour of Homes. BooMama is a fellow blogger who apparently has a Christmas Tour of Homes every year. It is open to anyone who wants to show off their Christmas decor. There is no prize- just hundreds of houses linked on her blog that you can "tour" and steal ideas from! : ) Mark your calenders for December 17th, and have a few hours available to peek around in some very trendy homes! I can't wait!

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Faux Gifts

I plan on decorating for Christmas this Saturday, and having everything in place by Tuesday. When looking at my dining room table, I decided the hydrangeas would simply not do for the holidays. Tonight, after David and I went out to dinner and made some stops, we ducked into Hobby Lobby. I bought some trim for the Christmas stockings I am having made, some letters to paint for a girl who emailed me and placed an order for them as Christmas gifts, and three canvases. I have decided to paint the canvases to look like pretty Christmas presents, display them on wrought-iron stands, and stagger them on the dining room table. I hope it creates a little "whimsy" in there! I am always looking for some "new" idea, and maybe these will turn out cute. I got one done tonight, and plan on finishing the other two later on in the week.











Wednesday, November 14, 2007

7 Random Facts

Kelly tagged me with this. I'm supposed to list 7 random things about myself.


Here's the rules:
Link to the person that tagged you.
Share 7 random or weird facts about yourself.
Tag 7 people with their links at the end of the post then scout them out and let them know they've been tagged (I may or may not do this step - so if you reading this and I tagged you - surprise!)

Here goes:

1. I HATE Ranch dressing. I have actually never even tried it because I can't get past the smell and the look of it. David knows when he eats it that he will receive no goodnight kiss from me! I believe I am only one of three people worldwide who don't eat Ranch.

2. I learned to speak English and German at the same time because we lived in Germany until I was halway thorugh 2nd grade, and I went to a German-American school. My dad was an intelligence officer in the Army until "we" retired as a family when I was halfway through 7th grade. We lived in some pretty interesting places, and my dad carried intillegence during those years. We moved constantly and I loved it. I still have nomadic blood to this day. Being anywhere for very long makes me antsy.

3. When we lived in Germany, we actually lived for three years in Nuremberg in Adolf Hitler's soldiers' barracks. The U.S. Army took over the camp after the war, and the very apartments his soldiers slept in, we slept in. From my bedroom window as a little girl, I could easily see his gas chambers and main headquarters.

4. When I was in 6th grade, I only saw my dad twice. He was stationed in Seoul, Korea, while mom and I opted to stay in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. As a family, choosing to do it that way meant my dad could come home in a year. If we all went as a family, we would have had to live in Korea for two years. Oddly enough, 6th grade was my favorite year in school. I think I blocked a lot of that year out. He sent a lot of Dooney and Burke handbags to us from off the black market, which was fun. Thus, my shopping fetish for expensive bags started at 12.


5. I don't listen to current music. I stay stuck in my little warp of the 1980's and that is the way I prefer it. I drive around with my 80's collection in the car- Foreigner, The Police, Toto, Men at Work, Huey Lewis and the News, Tina Turner, Pet Shop Boys, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, the list goes on and on yall... If it has a synthesizer, keyboard, and requires men to sing in high pitched tones, I'm on it!!

6. I secretly want to live in an apartment. David and I bought a house at 19, a few months before our wedding, and so, as a married couple, we have never lived in an apartment or duplex. I know this is a luxury and a blessing, but a part of me has always longed to have a little apartment together. The neighbors upstairs, the parking, the gossip I could hear through the paper thin walls... Oh, the drama! I feel like we missed out!!

7. I have two incurable skin diseases. Not to gross you out, because they are not contagious or unsightly. In fact, if I didn't tell you, you would probably never know. One is Rosacea, which causes my face to stay a rosy shade of pink no matter what. I never need blush, and when I get embarrassed, I am red for HOURS!! When I drink wine, I am red for HOURS!! When I get too hot or cold, I look like I have been in a tanning bed under bulbs all day. I also have Keratosis Pilaris. It is a skin disease that you are born with and it affects the backs of your arms. I was diagnosed a few years into our marriage, but I have had it all my life. It is a cell defect in which my skin cells don't flake on the back of my arms quickly enough, therefore every pore becomes red. Every hair follicle acts like a tiny clogged pore. Basically, I have red cheeks and red arms all the time. It could be worse, I know, but it's still something I have manage for the rest of my life.

I tag Amy H., Brandy F., Brittney H., Meredith E., and Ashley D. to tell me 7 random facts!!

Dinner with an Old Friend

Last night, I had dinner with a very old friend. Very old meaning that her and I go way back. Not old as in age- she is actually a year younger than me, but I was old for my grade and she was young, so we both ended up in the same grade together. The first year I ever, in my life, attended public school, I was in the 7th grade. Kim and I went to school together 7th-11th, and then she moved to Oklahoma. She is married with two kids, and we try to meet up together once or twice a year whenever she comes into town. She brought her youngest son, Dagan, with her, and we had dinner at my house and spent hours looking at old photo albums. It is so nice to actually have a friend who remembers your old boyfriends, the ditsy comments, the embarrassing fashion declarations, and the heartaches of Jr. High school. We laughed at old inside jokes, and she even remembered the wording to a "friendship" contract I typed up on the computer and made everybody sign. Oh Lordy... I actually have kept in contact with most of my old girlfriends and have been so glad. Kim knows me inside and out; I can totally be myself with her! What a blessing it is to keep old friendships!




Monday, November 12, 2007

Glitter Glue

This weekend, I did a lot of Christmas decor shopping. My granny and I went to Kmart, Hobby Lobby, and Hancock Fabrics in Fayetteville. I love K-Mart and wish we had one closer. I am a big fan of Martha Stewart, and her Christmas line is so much fun! Between the various locations, I bought some wide ribbon, grapevine wreaths to decorate myself, fabric to make stockings, a stocking pattern (high heeled boot with pointed toe!!), garland to do the stair banister, a box of 50 ornaments on sale for $9.99, and some glitter glue. Last night I decorated a few of the ornaments using the glitter glue. What a fun creation that glitter glue is! The ornaments had indentions in them, so using the glue in the seams was a perfect solution to jazzing them up. I plan on using them throughout the house. My tree is done in a monochromatic gold theme, so I will use these in some pretty containers on counter tops, and in some arrangements, on the banister, etc. Being on a budget requires some creativity! : )











Sunday, November 11, 2007

An Underwater Baby's Room

A friend from church is expecting her first baby. She has decided to do the nursery in an underwater theme. Her and her husband both lived on the coast for a time, and the water is such a big part of who they are. I found this stinkin' cute fish and thought it would look dead swanky in their little boy's room! The colors are so perky and bright. Ahhhh.... I love good finds!