Deck The Halls

Well, to get in the holiday spirit, I did a little decorating, crafting, gift wrapping, herb harvesting, and pecan picking. My neighbor has a HUGE pecan tree. It can be a little high maintenance with all the leaf raking and limb maintaining. So, since there is a plethora of pecans that fall into my yard every other year, it is only fitting that I help myself right? Well, I think so anyway. From my garden, I also harvested a bit of Rosemary, Dusty Miller, and Daisy's to put in vases in my house for a sweet little decoration.

In the herb/flower arranging process, I found a friend!

Apparently he likes to eat flowers because about 24 hours later, there were holes all in this pretty little yellow daisy and that squirmy little thing was no where to be found!

So, while I was outside picking up pecans from the ground, I met a neighbor I have never met before. He was walking his dog and I am sure was wondering that that crazy lady was doing digging around in the leaves. But, after I explained what I was doing, pecan scavenging, we had a nice conversation over my neighbor directly across the street digging up his yard and putting in astro turf. Yes, astro turf! This baffled us both but it looks so real and the yard will be green year round! Jeff is very jealous because they don't have to mow their yard anymore.

The neighbor that I met is a retired police officer and his wife is a potter! She has her own home pottery studio fully equipped with firing kilns! She also teaches classes. So, it was meant to be that I was out there crazily picking up pecans out of the dirt. I think I may have to go ring their bell and take a class or 2! He told me what house they lived in. It is the sweetest house up the street with the most fabulous herb garden out front that I have always admired. I think I really like them already!

Ok, so...I can't believe that I actually have a few gifts wrapped and under the tree! I am getting a handle on things early this year. Come to think of it I do not have a whole lot of shopping left to do but I have major craft time to put in! All this wedding planning put me behind in the Christmas crafting area. Anyone want to join me for a crafting day? Maybe a glass of wine, appetizers, a Christmas movie; ie: "The Holiday", and some fun time crafting by the tree?? It will be too much fun! But for some reason, I feel this holiday season flying by so much quicker than in the past. I wish I could stop time just for a little while.

I am taking a new approach on decorating this year. Yes I am using the same decorations but, I am trying to change things up a bit. I have also decided that I am decorating the kitchen with a retro Christmas theme. I purchased some vintage ornaments from ebay that are heading my direction soon. I have a 2 foot silver tree that I put on top of the fridge. Once those Vintage ornaments come in I am going to hang them in the kitchen from the window I think. I also picked up these cute little vintage elves at an estate sale with my sister when she was visiting...

She has the 3rd one with the little deer. I also scooped up this great hand made tree skirt! Can you find Cedella? She loves creeping in my pictures just when I hit the button!





It goes so well with my handmade tree theme. I am working on making some cookie cutter ornaments for the tree that I saw the the recent Martha Stewart mag. I picked up a 40 pack of cookie cutters on sale at Joann's the Saturday after Thanksgiving for only 6 bucks!

It is going to get chilly tonight! A cold front is blowing in. You can already feel it and I can't wait. I love this cold weather! Fa la la la la la la la la! (O.K. that was a bit too much)

Cheers!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving! I woke up bright and early this morning to the enchanting sound of the on-call pager (do you sense my sarcasm?). But, during a full morning of problem solving, I was also able to juggle in a little biscuit making. I stumbled across this recipe a few months ago and have been wanting to make it ever since! They just looked so darn delicious!

Oh, and they were so darn delicious too if I do say so myself. I actually altered it just a bit. I used maple sausage links and extra sharp cheddar cheese. They were surprisingly very easy to make, even when highly distracted! I am planning to make them again for Christmas and, since I will not be on call for Christmas think I may pair it with a little holiday mimosa. :-)

Happy Turkey Day. Gobble Gobble!

Cheers!

Seasons of Color

Fall is my favorite season. There are so many beautiful colors! I enjoy looking out the windows of my house because every angle is full of fall colors, so many colors!

This past weekend I worked on the usual house cleaning but also on getting ahead in my Christmas shopping. I refuse this year to be stuck in traffic trying to shop! I live in a highly populated area. Soon, the access road to the major highway next to my house will be barricaded off because there will be too much traffic. I love the area I live in because it is close to everything but I despise living in this area this time of year. Several years ago, when I was in high school, I had an immature moment and went shopping at the mall on Christmas Eve and got stuck in parking lot traffic for an hour, never again! So this year, in my older...more mature 30 year old state, I am getting a handle on this shopping stuff early. Yes...there is a possibility this may be all talk because there is a part of me that likes shopping when all the decorations are up and the Christmas music is playing but...we will see. I think online shopping is going to be my best friend this season! Amazon.com here I come!

Crafting is also back in action! I have picked up the sticks again and am also going to get out the wheel, Christmas crafting here I come! Oh, and there will be more blog entries for sure. I have neglected my poor little blog recently because, you know, I have had wedding magazines to look at. But, since I have looked at about every wedding magazine there is this season, I can now be preoccupied with blogging and crafting once again!


Cheers!

I Hope Everyone Had A Happy Halloween Weekend!

This past Halloween weekend flew by! For me it was very busy. On Halloween morning we met up with Jeff's mother, brother, aunt, second cousin, and my mother for brunch at Joe T. Garcia's. It is a local hot spot here in Fort Worth. It was Jeff's mother's idea to have our wedding rehearsal at Joe T.'s and a mighty fine idea at that if I do say so myself. So, we went to test out the food and secure the deposit. Oh, the food was fantastic. I completely forgot to bring my camera, otherwise I would have taken a picture of it!

The outside patio of the restaurant is absolutely beautiful! There is a pool/fountain and it is completely lavish with flowers and vines. We are going to have the rehearsal dinner in the "Villa". So, after a nice brunch we went home and hung out with Jeff's brother and then some friends came over for a little Halloween evening excitement.

Ok, I am not a fan of scary movies and refuse to subject myself to complete and total terror, not my idea of a bang up good time so, the boy's went to see Paranormal Activity and the girls hung back at the house and made dinner. We had a total of 3 trick or treaters!! Now, you see my exclamation? This is actually an increase from our one that we got last year. This neighborhood I live in is full of kids but they all go to Elizabeth Blvd. All the kids in town know that is where you go trick or treating. You need 2 trick or treat bags to hold all the loot you get over there! This is bit of a disappointment for me because I love trick or treaters! But, none the less, it was still a good time and the kids that came to my house hit the mother load. Oh, and there was a bit of extra candy left over for me!

Then on Sunday my sister, niece and brother-in-law came into town! I have been looking forward to their visit for a while! I always have so much fun when they come into town. Violet said that she was a tiger for Halloween. I am sure she made the cutest tiger ever! Jeff and I got her the Fancy Nancy Halloween book and shipped it to her before Halloween so she could enjoy it. My sister said that Violet liked the book so much she called herself a "fancy tiger."

You know, the best gifts are handmade gifts...especially hand made gifts from your favorite little niece! Violet made me a pumpkin house with a chimney and smoke! What a creative mind the little one has! She made it out of a paper bag. She stuffed the bag and then twisted it at the top to make the stem. She painted it with orange paint and glitter and drew a little house on the front with the marker. She said that the stem was a chimney and it needed "smoke" so, she glued cotton to the top of it!!

I hope all the little witches, wizards, and goblins had fun this weekend!

Cheers!