Where do I begin?

I really can't quite believe I'm actually starting a blog!! Before two years ago, I had no clue what chat boards were, what "posting" was, and what "dh" stood for. (That would be "dear husband.") But then I got pregnant, and every little twinge sent me flying to the computer to search what ailed me. This, we all know, is not a good idea. But since then I have also found the Internet to be a valuable resource for decorating ideas as well. There are sites I have become quite obsessed with that I will share with you along the way.

I have enjoyed home decor in all it's forms for years, and recently followed my dream and became an interior decorator after our son was born. It truly has been a dream come true. Although my clients spend thousands, and that is VERY fun, I have always found it much more fun to accomplish something fantastic on a budget. And even though we could probably afford to spend more than we do on our decor in our home, I find it so much more rewarding to do it on a budget.

So that brings me back to the blog -- I want to share my thrifty ways with all of you. Whether it is doing a project yourself (you really, really can do it, I swear!) or sharing the best places to find great stuff for a steal, I thought this blog would be the perfect way to pass on the information.

I hope you find it helpful, and be patient with me as I start on my latest project...this one does not require power tools...thank the Lord.

I have...

been blogging for almost a year. ;)

I have parasailed.

I have been to the top of the Statue of Liberty, the London Eye, the Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center.

I have gone into labor five times.

I have been in labor for 24 hours.

I have given birth once. :)

I have been married in New York City.

I have snorkeled in Hawaii.

I have been to four New Kid's concerts.

I have sat front row once.

I have met four of the New Kid's in 1994. (And two were jerks, but I still love them.)

I have lived on my own.

I have auditioned for Wheel of Fortune.

I have been married to my husband for 4.5 years, but have known him for 17.

I have had a Pina Colada, on the beach, at 10 a.m.

I have kissed a girl. (Not gross-like, come on!)

I have sang karaoke ONCE.

I have eaten haggis in Scotland.

I have been a little bit pregnant.

I have been on the set of 13 Going on 30.

I have been on a bus trip across the country (both ways).

I have been fired. (From Chili's. In high school. Dang.)

I have been one thesis paper away from a Master's Degree for five years.

I have run a stop sign and hit a cop. (Oh yes. I have.)

I have experienced ESP.

I have driven ten hours straight.

I have been insubordinate.

I have stood five feet from a roaring train just to get my flattened penny.

I have picked the worst guy and the BEST.

I have eaten at Perkins once a week for the past six months.

I have painted a Goodwill coffee table! (And it looks gooood! I'll show you tomorrow!)

What have you done??

My priorities are whacked.

Exhibit A:

My cell phone. It’s broken. I mean, broke. Like hanging on by a wire, broken. If I open it, it dangles on the wire…

Yes I taped it. I’m putting off buying a new one as loooooong as possible.

You see…I want new bamboo shades for the family room.

Exhibit B:

My half of the closet. This is just half of my half. And I wear about one tenth of what is in here. And that one tenth, I wear over and over and over. Most everything here I could toss tomorrow and would never miss it.

I need new clothes – BAD.

But I need to buy some beadboard.

Priorities people.

Exhibit C:
Our fridge. OK, OK…I cleaned it out today. It’s not usually this empty I swear. And yes, my son gets fed.

But if I could, I would never buy more than milk, eggs and Pepsi so I could get more of our Pergo floors to install in the dining room.

Serious.

Tell me I’m not the only one. And if I am the only one, just make me feel better, K?

P.S. I have to add -- my phone used to be cool. But at the time, the Bub was little and it was his favorite toy. And it died from too much Bubba dropping/playing/drooling. This one was cheap and now that he isn't obsessed with them anymore...I'm holding out for an iPhone baby!!

I've been going to a deep, dark place...

It's down here...

It's got floors like this -- EWWW!:

There's usually a lot of this going on:

Hide your eyes...

it's scary...

this is the worst part:

AHHHHHH!!!!! I know!!!

God Bless blogging...but it has created a bloggy butt on this Chick. Seriously...I say I've gained ten pounds in the past year...

But really. It's only been since, maybe October, when I really got into the blogging stuff. That's what, FIVE MONTHS?

Sick, I tell you. So this is how I spend 20 30 35 (!!!) minutes most nights now.

It's time to get my butt back.

Baby Toddler monitor?

Check.

Remote?

Check.

Phone?

Check.

Ipod playing NKOTB?

Check.

Next week, I start on this monster again:

I'm sceeeeered!!!

P.S. Your comments on my last post made ME all weepy. So sweet!!

P.P.S. I met one of my bloggy friends today! I can't wait to tell you about it. I also picked up an Easter/springy craft I will show you this weekend.

Questions for little ‘ol ME??

A few days weeks months ago my new friend Giorgina over at Décor Medley asked me to do an interview. This sweet woman put up with me and waited about three months for me to get back to her…I really hope it was worth it! Check out my interview here to find out more about me!

So you may have noticed if you’ve asked me a question about one of my posts that I suck royally at getting back to you. I mean…ROYALLY. I see the question in the comments and then it’s gone…flitters out of my head like a little butterfly flying into the sunset…

Ahhh…butterflies…sunsets...I need to watch the sunset tomorrow -- it really is beautiful. I wonder if butterflies hibernate or if they just die before winter? What should I make for dinner tomorrow night? I wonder if it’s going to be warm again tomorrow. Should I wear my coat or just a jacket again?

SEE?? It’s GONE I tell you! So I just wanted to let you all know I’ll start answering you in the comments of each post. So if you ask something, go back and check out the comments, look for my face, and you should get your answer. If you don’t, or if you’ve asked me something I haven’t gotten back to you on, please e-mail me (see the left) and I will get back to you that way!
While we are on the topic of questions, I thought I would share a few I’ve gotten that would be good to share with the group:
***

Crystal asked: I have been looking for short rods like in your dining room, but haven't found them yet. Where did you find those?

Me: I actually cut my own, because I couldn't find any either. If you want wood poles, go get a four or six foot drapery pole (at Target, Lowe’s, wherever) and cut it in half (I use my hand saw) and then drill a new hole in the new end so that the finial can go in. Most of the time Lowes or Home Depot will cut them for you. If you have a metal pole, there's a handheld tool you can buy to cut them yourself. I think mine was less than $10 and it's really easy!

***

Amy asked: I've always wanted to put all sorts of moldings in our house but had no idea how to go about it. My house was built in the 80's and all the walls are textured. I'm no design expert but it seems once I paint it all out white, the texture will make it look terrible. Is it a mistake to do moldings/chair rail at all on these walls?

Me: This is a good question. I've never tried it with textured walls. If you are just doing a chair rail or crown molding, it will be fine. It should look great. If you want to do the wainscoting look, with the squares, then yes, I think it will look off. You are right. It will add a bit more work, but what you could do is put pieces of smooth plywood or MDF on the wall first, to give it a smooth texture, then put the squares on that, and the chair rail above it. (That's actually how some of the professionals do it.) It would need to be really thin, and you want to make sure the cuts are done well, so they all go together along the wall seamlessly. It sounds like a lot more work, but it really wouldn't be that bad. The only bad part would be you may have to remove your baseboards, put the wood on the wall, then reinstall your baseboards. If the board is thin enough, you won't need to do that.

***

Andrea asked: I just bought my first set of three apothecary jars. I want them to be more decorative than functional and they will probably be in my kitchen, atop my fridge or on top of my china hutch. What are some ideas to put in them? Help! I'm stuck.

Me: Oh fun!! OK, for the kitchen, try fake lemons, limes, apples, pears or artichokes. For the bathroom, I put in bath salts, soap, cotton balls. For other areas, try decorative balls (like mossy balls, etc.) or rocks, or I thought about just putting moss in some too...In our dining hutch I'm going to put wine corks in some and maybe some fake grapes.
***
Stacy asked: I love all of your molding projects, you have inspired me to take on one of my own...I have columns similar to yours that already have nice molding on the top and bottom, but I want to add some trim work. Do you know if I am supposed to nail in the thin pieces of if I can just use some type of glue? I want to do the tall rectangles on the columns like yours.

Me: YES you can use glue on the molding, in fact, before I got a nail gun, I used glue for all of my skinny molding like that on the columns. Make sure you have a level...and some painters tape. If you get good glue, you shouldn't need it but I always taped them just in case after I hung them. I got the big caulk gun and the glue that fits in those. Be sure to put a VERY thin line of glue on the molding or it will squish out. I have many spots where you can see glue in our dining room. :)

And there you go – a few questions answered!

So to continue this, I thought we’d mix it up a little bit…since I’m in the middle of about 31 projects right now, I thought for this weekend, you could ask me something…anything!

Welllll, just about anything! Let’s be real here folks. So if you have a (fairly quick) question for me – whether it be decorating-related or personal -- leave it in the comments. I’ll answer them next week. Fun, yes?

P.S. If you have paid for a consultation, and I have not gotten back to you yet, PLEASE e-mail me again! Gmail has eaten a few e-mails and I want to make sure I get back to everyone!

Ahhh...butterflies…

I'm baaaaack!!

Well hellooooo there! First of all, thanks for your sweet thoughts about my son! He's doing GREAT -- actually improved quite a bit within 24 hours. So I felt OK leaving town with my stepdaughter, more on that later. And I am overwhelmed by your comments on the pantry. Glad I wasn't the only one who was gaga over it!

Before I tell you about our trip...I have to give you a rundown of my VERY VERY BAD week last week.

Saturday night, on a date with my husband, our car was broken into while we had dinner. Window smashed, bags taken, police report, all the fun stuff. Felt so relieved and blessed when an hour later, they found our bags tossed just around the corner and all that was taken was my husband's iPod.

Took three days to get my window fixed because of two mess ups with the window replacement companies.

Found our our son had pneumonia, as you know, right before both my husband and I were leaving town to separate places and leaving him with family. NOT fun. He's never done breathing treatments and was a champ, but I was a bit of a mess at the thought of leaving him.

He was doing much better the next day, I was feeling better about leaving town. Then we realized a STUPID financial mistake that cost us $1,000 -- and I felt like it was MY fault. My sweet husband argues that but I felt completely responsible. I cried. A lot. (A lot a lot.)

I had to leave by 3 a.m. Friday morning to get us to the airport, and ended up getting NO sleep that night because of my mind racing. None. Zilch.

I pulled out of the garage at 3 a.m. and proceeded to back (slam.) right into my sister's car. Hard. Cussed a bit, pulled up into our garage to get around her, and then ran over my son's not-cheap stroller. RAN OVER IT. Needless to say, it's a goner.

So, you can tell by now, I really, really, REALLY needed a weekend away. That came in the form of a school trip with my stepdaughter to New York City. Some of you already know my love for this city. We love it so much, we got married there. So it was just what I needed. I had to share some of my love with you all:

I took advantage of our free time that first day by walking around and getting my NYC mojo back -- it's been a couple years since I've been there. I stumbled upon this:

Any of you that are Sex in the City fans know this little bakery -- I never really watched the show, but have heard about this place for awhile now. I knew I must. have. a cupcake. I wish I had the nerve to take pics inside...but I will only go so far. I'm a tourist through and through. But these were REAL New Yorkers in line...I couldn't do it! It was just beautiful...old fashioned tin lights, tile floors. Beadboard everywhere. Aqua subway tiles. Carrera marble countertops. GORG!!

I got a pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese icing. Oh. my. Goodness:

Stop with the goofy eyes, my girlfriend said. So she tried again...

Now, stop with the freaky eyes. Tried again:

There we go. I wasn't processing well -- I had been up for 24+ hours straight and that cupcake was blowing my mind!!

Times Square is ALIVE. No other way to put it:

People don't think of NYC as a family vacation but you SHOULD!! There are so many fun places for children! You could spend days just in FAO Schwartz, Toys R Us, Central Park, the Hershey's store, the M&M store -- it's endless.

There is a massive ferris wheel inside Toys R Us:

There are so many fun things to look at in the store -- a life-size Barbie house, massive Lego buildings, the coolest Thomas train table I've ever seen (my son would DIE!), and more fun stuff, like this guy, who moves around and gives you the stink eye:

Told you:

Look at the all of the M&M colors to pick from at the M&M store! Three floors of this stuff!:

If you go, you must see a show. One of our favorites is Wicked:

This time we saw Billy Elliot and it was A-mazing. I can't even tell you how amazing. It will take your breath away:

Kids would LOVE Lion King, or Little Mermaid. This time we saw Shrek, which wasn't one of the best I've seen, but young kids would have a blast!

And you have to go to the top of something. On my first trip to NYC, we were able to go to the top of the Statue of Liberty, but you can't do that anymore. We've also been to the Empire State Building, and this time went to the "Top of the Rock" -- Rockefeller Center. Best view I've seen yet. This is facing north, toward Central Park:

Looking down at the city:

And south, toward the Statue and the Empire State Building. The twin towers stood all the way down at the end, slightly to the right. You can see how bare the sky looks there now. Still hard to see it that way:

Sigh. I love this city. I just adore it. I can't really explain it, but I love it like a person. Weird, I know...it just makes you feel alive.

Boy, did I need it this week!! Now, I'm recovering from 18 hours of sleep in four days. I'm off to take a nap. :)

42,000 hits. A Diny. And more.

First of all, y'all who make their beds every day...seriously. You make all us slackers look soooo bad!! (50 percent of you said you make your bed every day on my poll. Gag.) I only make fun because I am seriously jealous. I tried to do this for about three days straight...and was way too lazy to keep it going. I love how I feel when I walk in our bedroom and the bed is made though. You may have inspired me. (Not really, just saying that.)


Also, I have to give out a big Whoot Whoot to all you who have checked out my blog in the past month. I went from 2,000 hits to 44 thousand plus hits in just the month of October. I know, hits don't really tell you much about how many visits you really have, blah blah blah, but I'm happy, OK? I love hits and I love comments!! Yay!! I have to give a shout out to all my friends who got me to 2,000 -- Jenny, AnNicole, Cheryl, the BC girls, the Rocks ladies, and all my girlfriends who supported me from the start. Love you.


Beware if you see this tonight:



It's a ferocious Diny -- a Triceratops to be exact. Thing is, this Diny doesn't like to wear his head, which is the best part of the costume. Really. But we trick-or-treated around Daddy's school today and he at least wore most of it. And he won't take a nap today, which is going to make for a real fun night. Roar.



OK, my next poll is about the music thingys people put on their blogs. I have a love/hate relationship with these. Love them because I love to hear what music people listen to. Hate them because I'll forget to turn my sound down and will wake sleeping Hubby or scare the beejeebies out of the cats. You tell me if you want it on here. I don't care either way. Just so you know, I swear, promise, cross my heart, assure you that I won't play all NKOTB music on mine. (I'm totally lying.)

OH, and

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Have fun with your goblins!!

P.S. It's ON tomorrow ladies...get to the Christmasy crafting!!

P.S.S.S.S. I got my necklace from Glitter and Bliss yesterday and it is GORG! Go check her out!

An announcement and a few things

Well, I am completely humbled by all your sweet comments on my laundry room. You all know how to make a girl feel good about herself, really. :) I am SO thrilled when I hear that I have inspired you. That is what I'm here for and why I started this blog!!

Also, so glad you like the new background. Dunce that I am, I finally figured out how to change it! And the little ghosts and bat (aren't they freakin' cauuuute??) are from http://www.pyzam.com/. It's super easy to install them. (Thanks Jen!!) My son loves them too and is on my lap begging for them right now!! :)

I must say I am humbled by the poll I posted as well -- almost 60 percent of you said you would spend a lot less on the holidays this year. I guess I was expecting it, with the times we are in, but it was a good reminder. So I will do my best to try to include some thrifty gift ideas as well as decorating ideas for the season, of course!

Quick question -- anyone know why my pictures won't enlarge when they are clicked? I love being able to enlarge pics on blogs and haven't figured out how to do that on mine. Any suggestions are appreciated!!

Finally, I am thrilled to announce that I have been asked to contribute to the Blissfully Domestic Web site, under the Creative Bliss section. I am SO excited and honored to be involved with this great site. It's funny how things come full circle -- I have my bachelor's and (research paper short of) my master's in journalism/public relations. I've always been a writer at heart. So between this new gig and this blog, I am so happy I get to combine my two loves -- decorating and writing. I will let you know when I post my first article. (Should be sometime this week.)

Thanks again ladies! I'll be back soon with another drapery redo! Stay tuned!

More about me and nap time for you.

OK, so I guess one of these wasn't really an award, I was tagged. I was still super excited though, so I'm going to say it was an award. Alrighty? OK.

So Suzi over at Pink Vanilla Cupcakes tagged me and this is what I have to do:

Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules in your post.
Share 7 random/weird facts about yourself.
Tag 7 random people at the end of your blog and link to their blogs.
Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment in their blog.

Here we go -- this was hard for me to come up with!!

1. My ears stick out BIG time. I was thrown an occasional "Dumbo" in elementary school even. (I'm over it now though! Kinda.) So for all of my 33 years, or at least as long as I can remember, I have been trying to get my hair to cover them. Every. single. time. I go to the salon, I say, can we do a lot of layers to hide these?? I've had long hair all my life until about six months ago when I got it cut fairly short, and it's stayed like that cause it gives my lifeless hair some body and covers the ears.

2. I'm a political junky. Love this time of year!! (Said in a sing song voice.) My family has always been into politics and it's trickled down to me. Election night is a freakin' event in our home, I'm kinda sick with it. I am very passionate about my beliefs, but what's most important to me is that people really learn about the candidates. And I would NEVER bash anyone for their choice. As much as I lean to one side, I would vote for the other side in a heartbeat if I thought the person was capable.

3. I think I'm a very odd, atypical woman. We didn't have a big wedding, in fact, we took three close family members to New York City and got married there. And we planned it that way for months. I had no desire to have a big wedding, or to spend money on a wedding. I'm a freak!! Also, I didn't get married till I was 29 -- and we were together for a LONG time before that. There were many times I wanted to just do it, but now I'm glad we waited. Finally, I do all the painting, woodworking, repairs, etc. in our home. I get it from my Dad and Grandfathers. There is nothing more fun to me than working on our home with my hands and seeing the result.

4. I have SIX siblings, but I was an only child for almost ten years. My parents had my sister right before they divorced, and I have two additional half sisters, a half brother, a stepsister and stepbrother. My Dad loves kids. ;) I love that I've had both -- being an only and now having so many siblings. But on the flip side, Hubby and I will probably not have any more children. Not because we can't, we are just so content with our family as it is right now.

5. I check to see if my curling iron is off and unplugged about ten times before I leave for the day. EVERY time I use it. I used to be a lot worse at this -- I would have to check it more than that. Now I have to look at it, say out loud to myself -- "Sarah, it's off!" and then remember where the plug is laying so I can remind myself of that later on. I have turned around in the car and ran up the stairs many a time to check. Freak, I tell you!! I don't do this with anything else and I swear I'm not OCD!!

6. I've mentioned this here, but I'm a total New Kids on the Block fan. I was originally about, oh....18 years ago or so. And I mean, we were fans. Like -- I'm at a concert in the 350th row, but I know you see me Jonathan, I know you're looking right into my eyes and you're falling in love and you're going to send someone out here to the 350th row to bring me backstage and we're going to fall in love and have 15 kids -- kind of fans. So now that they've reemerged it's been so fun for all of us to reminisce. Shout out to all my fellow NKOTB lovas!!!

7. Geez, this is HARD!! Ummm...well, I have to sleep with about 15 pillows to sleep. (A bit of an exaggeration, yes.) I used to only need two. Then pregnancy happened and I needed about 20. So I'm down from that number. I used to always tell Hubby, don't worry, you'll have room in the bed again after the Bub is born. Nope, sorry 'bout ya Love. Still loving all my pillows.

OK, are you asleep yet?? WAKE UP!! There's MORE!! Yaaaeeeeeee!!

Lynette over at Lynette's L.A.M. Blog was so sweet to give me this:

I have to list six things I value and six I don't:

1. Of course, my sweet husband, my patootie Bub, my stepdaughter, my family and friends. (Like how I snuck about 16 in there?)

2. Our health.

3. Fountain drinks. Ahhhhh...I love me a good, crisp fountain Coke. LOVE 'em!!

4. My time with my son. I am so fortunate that my husband was so willing for me to leave the 9 to 5 world so I could follow my dream of being a decorator. And along with that dream comes a dream work schedule -- I only "work" about 20 hours a week. And I say "work" cause I don't feel like it's work, and the days I work are rarely full. I don't take this lightly -- I feel so completely blessed and fortunate for this life and I thank God every day.

5. This country. I've been lucky enough to travel overseas to some amazing places, but they make me even more thankful for home. I know there are plenty of issues we need to deal with, but this country is great and I feel lucky to be able to live in the USA.

6. Our home. It's not about material things -- but I do love them because they make this house a home. I love everything in our home. (Well, almost!!) But what I love most is the way we feel when we walk in the door. And it's makes my heart smile when a friend tells me how comfy and at home they feel here too.

Things I don't value:

1. People who crinkle in the movie theater, musical, play, whatever. QUIT IT!!! And don't drag it out for five minutes! Just tear the wrapper off the candy and EAT IT!

2. Judgemental people. I learned a long time ago -- as soon as you judge, karma comes around and bites you in the butt!! I have experienced enough in my life to know that you never know what you're going to do until the day you have to do it.

3. People who wave for you to go ahead at a four way stop when you SO OBVIOUSLY STOPPED WAY BEFORE THEM. This drives me nuts. And what's more annoying is that I slow down on purpose to avoid this and people still do it ALL the time. Argh!! (Dangit, why do they have to be so NICE??)

4. The kids who wear their jeans down to their knees. Ew. I just want to go yank them down.

5. Spiders. All I'm going to say about that.

6. Solicitors. Except the cute little Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts!

I have to add one because of the time of year:

7. Kids who are, ohh, I dunno, like 18 who trick or treat?! Or kids who are 18 and trick or treat and don't dress up?!

OK, you can get up from your nap now...I'm done. Did you enjoy your five minute snooze? I've got your back, I know it's been a long day and you needed that. I'm all about YOU!!

So I have to pass this onto some ladies don't I? Here we go:

1. Bella over at Bella Casa.

2. Erin at Shades of Color.

3. Kara at Inspired Kara.

4. Jen at Time Out For Me.

5. Lorie at Be Different...Act Normal.

6. Angie at The Happy Homebody.

All of these ladies have amazing, creative sites that you must check out! I know I was supposed to pick some for each award (OK, I know one was just a tag!!) but it's late and I'm whooped. I'll let these ladies know tomorrow, but if you get a chance, stop by to see them! And thanks Lynette and Suzi! I'm honored!

Happy Birthday to me!

First off, I must preface this post by saying, I think your birthday should be a YOU day. I strongly believe in this, especially the older I get and now that I have a child. It's the only day of the year you can do what YOU want to do without feeling the mommy guilt, wife guilt, just plain GUILT. I always take the day off and do what I want to do. Cause it's my birthday.

I present to you, my birthday:

6 a.m. Kiss goodbye from Hubby. Loving! Now back to sleep...

8 a.m. Phone rings. It's my Dad calling to wish me Happy Birthday. Now, this is the one call I wait for every year on this day, but it's 8 a.m. On my birthday. And my present from my Bub was that he slept in till nine...so I stuffed the phone under the pillow and went back to sleep.

8:45 a.m. Another call from Dad, on his way to work. Cursed, stuffed the phone under the covers, under a pillow...went back to sleep.

9 a.m. The Boy stirs so I get my lazy butt out of bed. Call my Dad back. (Love you!!) Lazy around with the Bub till around 10:30 when I take him to the sitter.

11 a.m. Trip to:

Ahhh, nothing better than a slow walk around this place, with $50 from Grandma burning a whole in my pocket. (Shout out to Grandma!)

12:30 p.m. Lunch downtown, paid for by my sweet, much younger sister. She has a real job now so this is expected. I eat a fried tenderloin sandwich and waffle fries. Cause it's my birthday.

2 p.m. This:

Now, if you haven't had a massage, I beg of you...go DO IT. It is the best hour you'll have all day, week, month. I started getting them monthly when I was pregnant. Now I'm down to a few a year and they are FAB. The first few minutes are kinda uncomfortable, but by the time you're done, you will swear you'll melt right into the table. Go, get one. Tomorrow.

3:30 p.m. Trip to:

Sweet bliss, another hour to just take. my. time. Love it! Picked up stuff for three different projects. Yahoo!

6:30 p.m. Dinner at my favorite restaurant with three of my favorites in life: my sister, my Boy and my sweet hubby:

Can you tell they could be twins?? Ohhh...my heart melts.

Oh, and one of these...nice to see you again Marg! I've missed you!

I drove home jamming out to this. (OK, confession time, I am a HUGE NKOTB fan. Well, I was when I was 14. Now I am again. Nothing like them coming back to make you feel 14 on your 33rd birthday.)

I'm off to watch my recorded stories and the much anticipated Kath and Kim (I hope it's good!) I'll be back tomorrow with a project!

I am blessed.

I feel like I just got named Homecoming Queen! Sniff!

And I'm riding around on the back of the convertible, flowers in hand...tissue dabbing a tear...(and I was shafted on Homecoming Court THREE YEARS in a ROW so don't think I never had that image in my mind!) But I'm not bitter. I digress...

You all are the BEST and I am so happy to have so many new visitors! I am so completely honored that Kim featured me and feel so fortunate to have you all checking in. I hope you will stick around!

I've been busy eating apples (DANG we got a lot) and finishing up fall around here this weekend. I'll post more tomorrow. But I leave you with a conversation between my husband and I this evening:

He went to the book store and I called him on the way:

Me: Hey honey, when you get there, if you see any fun Christmas magazines, can you grab one for me?

Husband: What?

Me: Magazines -- if you see any Christmas ones, grab one.

Husband: Christmas?? (In his but-it's-only-October-5th-and-it-looks-like-Halloween-threw-up-in-our-house-but-it's-not-even-here-yet-and-Christmas-is-three-months-away but loving tone.)

Me: Yeah! Christmas. (In my what-are-you-crazy-I'm-done-with-fall-and-done-with-Halloween-so-what-am-I-going-to-do-for-the-next-two-months,-learn-how-to-cook? but loving tone.)

Now, to most men, saying "Hey honey, can you pick out a Christmas magazine for me?" would strike fear in their hearts. But my man came through with flying colors. When I came up for bed, there it was waiting for me. And it's a beaut. I can't WAIT to share some of the fun ideas I've already found.

And will he ever be sorry. :)



P.S. While searching for that awesome homecoming picture, I found this. And I think it's real. Which makes it even funnier. I think I'll have a problem with No. 4.

Confessions of a self-made decorator.

OK, I need to come out of the closet with a few of my confessions when it comes to decorating. Flame me all you want -- BRING IT ON!! Nah, just kidding, it's late, I've had some wine, and I'm just talking smack.

Here we go:

1. Silk flowers/plants: Yessssssssss I have silk flowers and plants in my house. Actually, I think the only silk flowers are out on the front door, but really. I'm OK with them.******* (Notice the asterisks...) That is, as long as they look somewhat, close to, kinda REAL. You all know what I'm talking about -- there is surely a difference. (Imagine Dollar Store florals and Pottery Barn florals-- I'm too tired to dig up pictures.) I really am more on board with the faux greenery, but I have cut down on that quite a bit lately. I only buy what I think looks real and use it sparingly.

2. I'm going to lose some friends here...but...I don't think Candice Olson is the Decorator God: Lord knows she does fantabulous work, and she is FAR superior of a decorator than I could EVER been in my WILDEST dreams and is amazing, no question, no doubt...but. I think if each time she decorated a room and stood back at that final minute and removed 20 percent of the stuff in the room, then I'd bow down to her. Hands down. I love what she does!! I just think it could be simplified a bit. (Like Candice Olson gives a .... anyway!) :)

3. I don't think More is More: I work with some amazing women who can pull a gorgeous display together and it looks SO incredible. They have fabrics draping, layers of items, cascading pieces...you just stand there in awe. I envy their talent and try it on my own...and then it just looks wrong in my home. I have realized I am definitely a less is more kind of gal. I tried to force that on myself and finally understood I'm just not that kind of decorator. Heck, maybe it's just that I'm not good at that kind of decorating...very well could be. And that's OK with me!