Christmas time...

We just got back from South Carolina and I'm exhausted. I had to work the day after we arrived back home which made coming in at 1100pm and then a 12 hour work day that much more terrible. (up at 530am=me a grouchy bear).

I had a lot of fun with the in-laws and I got the wonderful cold weather I never get to see in Florida. Average tempatures were approx. 50 degrees F compared to Florida's 70-75 degree weather (and yes, I know 50 isn't that cold but compared to FL anything is better!). I even bought 2 coats in SC even though I really should take one back -who needs 2 coats in Florida, really?
(me)

Though they did have colder weather in SC I was none too pleased to have my obnoxious loving family calling me the whole time to keep me abreast of their blizzard situation (14 inches where my sister lived and 6 inches where my mom lived). So that kinda took all the fun outta my 50 degree SC weather. Both my mom and sister got a White Christmas and no love from me that week (I hope it was worth it mom and sis!!! **sticking my tongue out at them***).

Still, we had a grand ol' time in South Carolina and visiting with my in-laws was crazy a blast since we never get to see them. It was so nice of my sister-in-law to invite us into her home and bonus- I didn't have to do a thing (no cooking, no cleaning=heaven to me).

 Here are a few of the pictures I took while there. There are plenty more pics but I just haven't sorted through them all.

The whole clan

Goofing off

just the kids and spouses

Our own personal Claus, my father-in-law

(oh, and since we never got it in SC, I added the snow to the pic for fun-I was just so jealous of my mom and sis!)

sister-in-law and her husband

DH (dear husband) and the munchkin drinking hot cocoa

DH and his sister

The family...wish the snow was real *le sigh*. and what is that face the munchkin is making? (with her lovely cocoa all over her mouth?)

SIL and MIL in the kitchen preparing food (thank you so much!!! I didn't have to)

SIL and her DH (sans fake snow)

I'll try and post more pics as I sort through them.
Until then, I'm running on empty and trying to get through my work week.

Chestnuts roasting...on my sidewalk...

Okay, so that's how the song would have gone had the person lived in Florida. Most certainly jack frost isn't nipping at my nose. As much as I complain about being cold to my co-workers (they tend to keep it a chilly 65 degrees year round in the room!) I do still want the weather outside to be frightful. Right now it's 75 degrees (and, okay, so you couldn't really roast a chestnut on the sidewalk but I'd really appreciate it if you'd follow me in my hyperbole) and tomorrow promises to have highs of 80 degrees so I'm not feeling one inkling of the holidays.
Still, for my daughter's sake, we started putting up the tree yesterday evening. We had nice Christmas music on and I tried to get into the Christmas spirit. Even when I want it to look like this outside:

And, instead I only see this:

Still I tried to make the most of it.   Here are a few pics of the tree:

Detailed shot of ornaments and my butterflies that I got 75% off at Pottery Barn:

And here's my pics having fun with editing:

We'll be finishing up the decorating in the next few days. I'll try and post more pics. I'm hoping it will make me feel more festive with all the decor up.

Poor Blogger...what was I thinking?

I realize now why I never jumped on the blogging band wagon- I just don't have the attention span. It's so difficult to remember to blog and then suddenly-bam!- 2 months have gone by and I've blogged not one little thing.

Perhaps my New Year's Resolution should be to blog at least once a week? Nah. I could never keep that resolution. Alas, I suppose it's good that only my family reads this blog--it certainly hasn't been interesting enough for anyone else to check it out! Hopefully in the coming month I'll change that since we do have all this nice Christmas decorating to do. (Though, to be truthful, I haven't found myself too inclined to do that either!). Please tell me that I'm not the only one who is this lazy? Surely there's a club for people like us (though who of us would bother to join?). We who can't be bothered to blog, hang Christmas decorations or do anything outside of sleep, eat, work...

Anyone else like this?
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Allright. Well, anyone who wants to help me start the club I'm all for it.

FREE filler...

Everyone likes freebies, right? Well, I'm no different.
The other day while my husband and I were trimming the palm trees in our front yard we cut down this:

I was intrigued by these little hard seedlings while my husband was completely creeped out. He said they looked like alien baby eggs or some such nonsense. lol

They were hard like a nut and came off easily enough so I decided to pick them off and use as a filler. A nice pop of green color much like I use cranberries, nuts, etc. for fillers. When I googled them I found that the palm is considered a Canary Island Date Palm and the little seeds are actually dates similar to what is sold in stores but smaller.

Here's what they looked like after I took them off the vine:

look at all those little alien baby seeds. :)

I just put them in a large trashcan lid and sprayed them well with the water hose. I wanted to make sure I washed off all the dirt, grime and any little insects that might have used these as a house. Then I transfered them to a couple of strainers and sprayed them more and set them in the sink. I wanted to make sure they were thoroughly clean.

And then I just used them as fillers :

It adds a nice natural pop of color to my lanterns. And -even better- it was free.

My new dresser!

For my birthday my husband was nice enough to purchase me yet another dresser (he always says I go for dressers on craigslist...he says that we're chock full of dressers so he doesn't understand why I need another.) Anyhow. I love DIY dressers.

This one was beautiful when I saw it in the thrift store and was in great condition. Originally they wanted 100.00 but I got them down to 75.00 for it. It is a great solid piece.

I even love the hardware:

It's a little scuffed up and I was originally considering painting it. But now I'm thinking of just restaining it.

It's such a lovely piece.

What do you think? Restain or paint? If I painted I'd probably go with a black to match the other pieces in the room.

I can't wait to tackle this piece. I'll show you afters when I'm done.

Pottery Barn Knock-off...

I love finding bargains that are similar in look (but not price) of one of my favorite stores: Pottery Barn. I love the look of a lot of things in Pottery Barn and I am continuously looking at their catalogs and website for inspiration.
Anyhow.

I ran across this cute little fall dish at the thrift shop the other day and it was mine for only 1.00:

A day or so later, much to my surprise, I saw this at Pottery Barn:

At 8.00 a dish I certainly wouldn't have picked it up. But my budget can handle 1.00 no problem. I was so delighted that I had found mine at a thrift store--even before I'd seen the PB one and fallen in love.

I *heart* good deals.

Whew...I'm exhausted...

This blogging thing really is fun but wow...information overload.
I started looking around for pretty blog backgrounds and 3 hours later I found one that I like and that works when I copy/paste it (I swear I'm fairly adept at computers but really--this made me feel like an imbecile!).

It's just amazing all the different backgrounds there are out there. There are too many to choose from! I love a lot of the looks for different times/feelings. I tell people that I'm a walking contradiction- I am a Libra after all- and I am always changing my mind (don't even try to talk to me about big issues...I can always see both sides). So, some days I feel dainty and pretty (like sunshine and roses) and other days I want something dark, moody and edgy. Being as how there are tons of backgrounds I want to change mine every day based on my mood. lol.

I settled on this vintage Halloween looking background because it was just way too cool. I love the header especially. Then in another month I'll be on the hunt for something for Thanksgiving.
I think I'm really enjoying this blogging thing.

What do you think of my background?

I'm a GLEEk...

I don't know if you've seen it but I'm completely enthralled with the new show on FOX called Glee. It is 100% up my alley and completely lol-tastic. I fell in love with this show within the first 5 minutes of watching it.

The one-hour series follows an optimistic high school teacher as he tries to transform the school's Glee Club and inspire a group of ragtag performers to make it to the biggest competition of them all: Nationals.
It isn't easy considering it's a misfit of teens and they've all got their particular dramas to worry about. This is the quintessential show for all things outcast and they've never made being a nerd look so cool as they do in Glee.

 It's very tongue-in-cheek funny (think Bring It On for show choir). Perhaps it's because I was in show choir, and also a complete music nerd, but I just pink puffy heart this show.
It's light and fun but has those touching moments as well. Plus, they have great music selections. I haven't been disappointed yet. I've tried to get my husband involved in this show but he's only half-heartedly watched it with me.
Oh well, all the more Glee for Mee.

Here's a sneak peek at next weeks show to give you an idea of what it's all about.
Glee airs on Wed at 9pm EST on Fox

I'm dreaming of a chilly fall day...

As I said previously fall is my favorite season. And since I'm feeling particulary fall-ish (is that a word?) I figured I'd day dream about all things fall.

Here are some of the things that really invoke that fall feeling in my mind:

Of course, the leaves:

The smell of a crisp autumn morning:

Over abundance of apples in season:

and the beautiful, colorful mums:

I love snuggling with a book and a drink on cool nights:

and you can't forget the pumpkins.. they are so versatile and pretty:

*sigh* I really can't wait to start decorating more for fall.

Is fall here? I didn't notice...

Living in Florida it's difficult to tell when fall arrives. Usually for us, it's in mid-February of the next year. Since fall is my favorite season it can be a bit disappointing when everyone else around the country is talking about the leaves changing, the crisp autumn smell in the air, and chilly afternoon walks. Here in Florida it's 90 degrees outside and my daughter is swimming almost every day.

If anyone has some cool weather they'd like to share I'd be happy to take some off your hands...
Still, I try to make the most of the fall and I started decorating the house in hopes that it would bring about cooler weather.

Oh and check out the wreath I got last year --90% off brought it to only 3.00 at Bealls:

I had forgotten about it until I unpacked my fall things and there it was! I was so excited to be able to hang it this year.

Have a Happy Autumn and think of me when you are drinking apple cider on a cold day.

Craigslist Makeover...on the cheap

I've really gotten involved in the whole Craiglist craze and love going through tons and tons of posts to find that one gem that will be perfect for me. Since I'm so cheap thrifty I always try and keep my finds on the very low side.

I had been looking for a round table to go in our breakfast area for about a year. Everything I found was either not the look I wanted or out of my price range. Then, because of my faithful endeavors, I ran across this:

It was listed on CL for only 25.00 for the table AND 4 chairs! Yippee! Exactly what I was looking for.

After sanding, painting and poly it now has a happy home in my breakfast area:

What's even better? The paint I used was free from Glidden. I painted the table a light icy blue called Polished Pewter and the chairs just a basic white but you can't really tell the difference in the two because it's so subtle. Overall, I am definitely happy with it.

What I spent:
Table and chairs: 25.00
Glidden paint: FREE
Spray paint for chairs: 10.00
______________________
Total for makeover: 35.00

Something Old...Something New...

If you're like us you've been handed down furniture since your college years. And there's really no reason to turn good furniture down even if it is ugly as hell isn't so pretty. My motto: never turn down free....anything. So, of course, my house has become a hodge podge of peices that work functionally but really aren't asthetically pleasing to my eye.

Recently I redid a table given to me by my mother-in-law. The table was in great condition but I have a major aversion to the honey oak color that it was (everything, and I mean everything, in my house seems to start out this color) . So, I painted it.

Here's the before:

Not so pretty huh? After some sanding, a few coats of ultra white glossy and it's much better:

Better? I thought so.

You can buy my love...at a reasonable cost.

I fell in love with this lamp when I went to Ikea with my husband a few weeks ago.

Of course, cheap frugal as I am, I said no thank you to the love affair I envisioned for it and my home when I saw the price tag of 59.99.
But my dreams came to fruition when I went back in yesterday and saw it in the AS IS section marked down to....wait for it... 9.99.
Score. Not a dent on it, and in perfect working order.
I *heart* good deals.

Like a Virgin...

...blogging for the very first time! I'm always at least 5 years behind on everything so it makes sense that I've only just begun to blog.  Call me a voyeur, but I love reading people's blogs - it never crossed my mind to make my own. But, with all the DIY projects I've been handling, I figured I should put pen to pad (or fingers to keyboard, in this case) to document my projects for posterity.

Now, without further adieu: on with the show.
...
...
...

Okay, so, the beginning is a bit anti-climatic. (Similar to the ending of Harry Potter the Half Blood Prince, right?) Come on, you know you agree with me. I was totally waiting for something that just made me say zomg.that.was.awesome.
I'm still waiting (and cue 10 million Harry Potter fans blacklisting my blog right now.) okay, I'll be honest, 10 million people are not reading my blog right now. 1 person (probably my mom) is reading this blog. Hey mom. love you.

In any event, I'll try and keep my posts interesting.