HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Today is my sister's birthday and even though I can't be there with her to celebrate I know that I can send her Happy Birthday wishes from afar in a way that only she can appreciate:

See, I know she'll appreciate this because she's old enough to get the joke got a great sense of humor and who doesn't love The Hoff? Really, that was no crack on her age. After all, I can't very well make fun of her age without it being blaringly obvious that I'm not far behind in age (but I am still behind her thankfully!)

So, I'm sorry I can't be there with her to show her a night on the town, probably doing our favorite thing:

No, our favorite thing isn't torturing small animals.

It's karaoke, and I do miss going to karaoke with my seeeester!!!

Oh well. I suppose I'll have to settle for saying Happy Birthday and sending her a card (which will be late if you know anything about me!).

So, Happy Birthday!!!! I won't embarrass her and quote her age (even though my DH and mom are  probably the only 2 who read my blog and they know her age).

I hope you have a great birthday sister and you live it up as best you can in an age appropriate way today.

;)

Memory Wall: Which one?

I have tons and tons of pictures--and frames-- but I never seem to put them up anywhere in my house. Finally, after many debates with myself over the stupidity of buying countless pictures frames that I like, and taking many a picture, I told myself that I should display them somewhere (what a novel idea).

I wish I had a picture of this hallway (to come) but I made this really crude diagram:

Anyhow.

I am trying to decide what arrangement would look best. Again, here's a crude idea of what I'm thinking-working with the frames/sizes I have:

Option 1)

Or

Option 2)

So, which do you like? I know, I know, it's a little difficult to tell what with the shoddy mock up.

Any spaces you see will likely IRL (in real life) not be there. Or, if it looks like they aren't spaced enough, they will be IRL. But overall, which frame layout do you prefer? Which lets your eyes wander in a relaxing manner from one frame to the other? Which seems more balanced?

Thrift Store finds---I love them!

I could browse thrift stores like, all.the.time. But of course, I don't have the time. Still, when I get the chance, I try and pop into my local thrift store as often as possible (and, bonus for me annoyance for DH, a huge Goodwill opened up just miles from our house!!!). I love to go up and down the aisles, looking for nothing in particular, until I find that perfect something that makes me say "Oh, this would be perfect for [fill in the blank]...!"

My DH doesn't understand it but, bless him, he tolerates me bringing home crap hidden treasures to make them beautiful again. And, though he can't visualize it, he doesn't doubt that what I've brought home will look good when I'm done with it.

Enter this piece:

Yes, that's an ugly, yellow, sun-stripped end table. I couldn't quite figure out if it was stained, painted, white-washed or what? But it was ugly. Still, it had great bones. And my favorite part---it was only 5.00.

Awesome.

I sanded it down and painted some funky stripes on it and voila!

I also added some slight distress just to make the stripes not look so harsh. More subtle than anything.

What I love even more about this was that it only cost me the 5.00. All the paint I had leftover from other projects.

YAY!

  I plan on using it for a tv stand in our loft upstairs (our daughter's play room). I'll post pics when I get it in there.
Until then Happy thrift store treasure hunting!

What is Love?

Chances are, if you immediately started singing Haddaway, and bobbing your head, you don't really think about Valentine's Day the way most people do. For me, Valentine's stopped being fun when highschool was over. Don't get me wrong--I love my husband dearly--but I don't need a day to remind me of that fact. And neither does my husband. Now before you go thinking I am anti-Valentine's let me tell you that we still do celebrate it--just not with the gusto and anticipation that I believe so many do. It's just that my husband does many caring things that make me realize he loves me. every.single.day. And while we do something nice for Valentine's (usually a card and perhaps a small gift) we don't go gaga for it. Really, for me, it's just an excuse to eat chocolate with guiltless abandon and choke down a box of those chalk-like hearts with sayings on them (which have really gone off the deep end IMO with the whole Twilight sayings like, "Bite Me" and "Dazzle" and "I <3 EC". I like Twilight and all but really?

What happened to the ever-so-sweet "Hug Me" and "Be Mine"?) But I digress.

In honor of Valentine's Day I'd like to name just a few of the sweet things DH (Dear Husband) does for me on any given day of the year. I just want to appreciate every day and try not to put so much pressure on one day that really means very little in the long run.

1) When we think of Valentine's Day we typically think of chocolate candy boxes. Sweets for the sweet, etc.

But, on any given day, my husband is nice enough to go out and get me an ice cream sundae I'm really jonesing for, or that weird craving I suddenly have for apple pie. I'm a huge fan of anything dessert so it behooves me that I have such an accommodating husband. He will usually make a quick run to the corner store to get me any number of sweets I might have a hankering for. And, while my hips may be cursing him, my lips will always sing his praises because he does this tiny errand (even if it would be better if I didn't have that chocolate shake or those glazed donuts).

2. He lets me warm up my cold hands and feet on his body. We also think of snuggling with our loved one for V-day. I'm cold all the time and my husband is gracious enough to let me steal his heat (Heck, he's got plenty of it!). So, even though it's probably slightly uncomfortable for him he lets me slide my hands under his shirt and put them on his warm stomach. GAH! I wouldn't be able to stand it but he lets me do it and for that I'm eternally grateful.

3. He cooks dinner. Most guys might cook a special Valentine's dinner but my guy cooks all the time. At least 6 days out of the 7 he's the one doing the cooking (and on the 7th we're probably eating out!). I appreciate it more than you can know because, I'm not the best cook, and I know it can be tiresome when you add in the next special thing he does on a regular basis:

4. He cleans the dishes. Wow. I can not tell you how much I appreciate this. I hate the dishes. I would rather take out the trash, clean the toilet, and the kitty litter, than do the dishes. I just. don't. like. doing it. And my husband does the dishes all the time as well. I know it can be frustrating when you're cooking a meal and cleaning the mess afterward. But, bless him, he does it.

5.  He goes shopping with me. This is a small thing but I really like it when he goes shopping with me. Oh, and here's the key because I know most women say, "my DH does that too" but...he doesn't complain about it. He tags along, holds my bags, and gives imput when necessary because he knows I want him to. And he doesn't  utter one word of exasperation (even if sometimes I know he feels it). He will happily (okay, maybe not happily) go with me from store to store until I find exactly what I'm looking for and he just counts it as time we've spent together. Because he loves me. And that's one way he shows it.

6. He gives me foot/back massages. What more can I say? My DH is always giving and it is wonderful when I come home from a long day at work and he gives me a massage. I can't say anything more than the fact that it is awesome! 

I could go on and on but there wouldn't be enough time! These are just a few of the wonderful things I love my husband for.

This year I'm at work for the "big day" but on Thursday my husband is doing another wonderful thing- he's taking me to see Wicked. He knows I've been wanting to see Wicked for a while now and it just happened to be showing in the month of February so it became my "Valentine's present". To be honest though, he would have surprised me with these tickets at any time just because that's how thoughtful and loving he is.

I'm glad that he's like this all the time and not just 1-2 days a year when Hallmark tells him to.

But however you celebrate (or don't) Valentine's Day I hope you have a good February 14th.

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.