Christmas at my new house

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I think everybody is busy this time of year. Here's a quick recap of what I've been up to the past few weeks, and some pictures of my new house all decorated for Christmas. : )

The first event I got to host at my new house was December's Girl's Night.  This was December 12th, and less than a month after I got my keys. Since I didn't have a table for eight, I decided to do tapas and a champagne bar.  It worked out really well, I picked a few recipes I had found on Pinterest (my Girl's Night Idea Board) and the phillo dough wrapped asparagus & baked zucchini fries with sweet onion sauce were a hit... the pineapple jalapeno sauce for the shrimp, not so much.  I had just enough chairs and tables in my living room to make everything work with my Christmas tree, and we had a really good time.

I feel like there was a lot of running around between the 12th and the 24th.  There was a trip to Clemson for the Backstreets Christmas Party, Cookie Day at a friends house, a gifted rug, friends in from out of town, and enough other stuff going on that I don't think I had more than 2 nights with nothing on the agenda.

I also got my first Christmas present between Cookie Day and Christmas Eve.  The friend who introduced me to Chattanooga Auction House (read about my first trip) went completely over the top and got me a much needed dining room table!!  The picture does not do it justice, and it expands out to 7 feet.  It is adorable in my kitchen, and I just love it.

I've started collecting milk glass.  These pieces are from Grandmother

Christmas Eve was at my house this year, and turned out really well.  Our family tradition is to celebrate Christmas Eve with my dad's family at my grandmother's house.  As she has gotten older this tradition evolved to dinner out, followed by desert and presents at her house.  This year (even though I offered to make use of my brand new table) we did dinner out, and then dessert and presents at my house! Grandmother enjoyed spending time in the house she grew up in again, to the extent she didn't want to leave.  I think it was 11:30 before we were all back at my parent's house, and opening our Christmas PJ's - way past Grandmother's usual bed time.

Christmas was at my parents house.  The funniest part was that my sister confessed to thinking, until college, that everybody had steaks for Christmas dinner. My dad's birthday is December 25th, so we have Christmas morning, and then birthday dinner - typically steaks.  My sister didn't realize that other families typically served turkey or ham, and was a little jealous that people got two Thanksgiving style meals in the fall.  Gotta love her.

I'm going to close out this ever growing post with a few more pictures of my kitchen.   I think it's turning out pretty well, and although I really need to find batteries for my camera, these pictures give you a good idea of where I'm at so far.

I'm not in love with the color of the raw silk curtains around the sideboard, but for $8 a panel,  they are great insulators.   For Christmas I put out my red dishes on the sideboard, and hung cinnamon scented pine cones from the other window.

I do love my snowman fridge, and he will probably be up after the rest of my decorations are taken down.  I also love having my directors chairs (or any seating) next to my front door, bridging the cap between my kitchen and dining room.  I think it's important to have good places for people to sit when you are in the kitchen getting everything ready for a party or just dinner.  The rug in the bottom right picture was made by my Great-Great Aunt Marie, and part of my Great Aunt Inez's estate.  My mom inherited it recently, but it looks much better in my house than hers!

     

That's it for now, I hope everybody has a safe and happy new year!!

favorite things

One of my favorite things right now is the $4 flower bin at Bi-Lo.  Having fresh flowers in the house is a luxury for sure, but the $4 bunches make it a little more within reach (especially when my garden is nonexistent, as it is at my new house...in December).  If you remember to change the water, and cut the stems every few days, these bunches can last 2 weeks or more.  I hosted my first Stella & Dot truck show this Tuesday (you can still shop online, and select me as your hostess at checkout if you'd like) and I splurged on not one, but two $4 bunches for my party.  What can I say, I'm a sucker for roses.

More tree pictures

I've started decorating my ginormous tree. I love that it's from my brand new yard, and I love that I have made all of my own ornaments.  I didn't think I'd have enough, but I think it's cute...in an oversize Charlie Brown Christmas tree sort of way.

You can never have too many blurry Christmas Tree pictures...ok yes you can.  And I promise to get new batteries for my real camera soon!

I'm linking this post to a few different Christmas Tree blog parties, so if you are looking for ideas on how to decorate your tree (or just get in the Christmas spirit while killing some time) check out these links!!

christmas movies

One of the best things about Christmas are all the Christmas movies and TV specials. I'm such a big kid when it comes to this kind of stuff, I love it. How the Grinch Stole Christmas was on the other night, and I couldn't help but stop what I was doing and watch.  I had forgotten that it is only 30 minutes, but it was an awesome 30 minutes. (That's a good thing, because the drinking game I remember was pretty brutal!)  I don't watch a lot of TV but I'm going to have to keep an eye out for some of my favorite Christmas Classics.

christmas decorations

Yesterday I showed you my ridiculously large Christmas Tree, and today I wanted to show you my Snowman Fridge.  He's pretty much just awesome.

photo taken from my (older) iPhone

Supplies:

• 1 sheet black construction paper
• 1 sheet orange construction paper
• wrapping paper
• rubber cement (or magnets and adhesive)
• scissors
• 1 solo cup (use the bottom to trace your circles)

go big or go home

This week, while I am unpacking and getting my new house ready for pictures, I'm going to post about all things Christmas.  So check back when you can to see what I'm up to :)

My Christmas tree is ridiculously large.  We're planning on thinning out some of the smaller trees in the front yard to give the larger trees some room, and so you can see the pond better.  It was the fullest evergreen that had been marked to come down, so even with it's funky top, I said lets give it a try. 

I have 10 foot ceilings in the living room.

I haven't decided if I'm going to do some more trimming, or just leave it how it is.  It kinda makes me laugh a little.

ACC Champs!

Saturday's game was just great.  I actually had a Clemson fan to watch the game with, we had power - all of Clemson lost power during the game - AND Clemson played well.

Me too Dabo, me too

It's hard to beat a team twice in one season . To put it gently, Clemson had not been playing up to their potential going in to this game and it looked like Virginia Tech would take the championship once again.  Keven Steele put together a defensive effort that may have saved his job. 

Being a Clemson fan is like riding a roller coaster.  There is a lot of anxiety, and many ups and downs.  Your heart is always racing, and sometimes you don't know whats next.  Twists and turns, climbs and drops, and even the upside down parts.  If you know a Clemson fan, this is how they describe football season.  I hate roller coasters by the way.  I'm just glad Clemson is cruising around on the top.

 

Looks pretty good doesn't it?

Ducks

I WISH I had been able to take a picture of the pond on my way to work Tuesday morning. It had rained for 2 days straight, and there were - no joke - 40 to 50 wild ducks on the pond.  I have never seen this many ducks together.  They weren't there when I got home from work, or the next morning, so I guess they just made a stop on their way further south.  It was quite a sight, and they didn't even fly away as I drove by, about 100 feet from them.  The ones in the water just started swimming to the other side of the pond. 

I can't wait to see what other birds decide to hang out at the pond this winter and this spring :)

moving update - almost done

This has definitely been my most ambitious move of late, and possibly ever.  With some wonderful help, I have painted the walls and the trim in my bedroom, kitchen, and living room.  If you are ever thinking about painting paneled walls,think long and hard.  My kitchen has paneled walls that were already painted, but scuffed and dingy. Even after two coats, I have coverage issues in the cracks.  The best way to have painted would have been to go over each crack with a brush before applying the first coat with a roller.  Since these walls are not insulated and will probably be re-done, I didn't take the time to do it right.  It bothers the OCD side of me, but not the practical, impatient, 'I want to get the project done' side of me. I ordered curtains for the kitchen last week, so it's almost ready for the 'after' photoshoot.

My bedroom is coming together, but the progress has been slower than I expected.  The walls & trim look great, but my curtains have been discontinued, so I'm going to have to find something different for the 4 windows in this room (I had sets for 2 windows).  I haven't moved all of my closet yet, and I still need to sand and paint my dresser, so it's going to be a while before this room is done.

My living room is turning out to be a great surprise though!!  The couch I was given is a great fit, and I even have a nice plasma TV on loan until this spring.  I'm saving the 'design decisions' until January, but I'm loving decorating this room for Christmas : )

I've put a couple of projects on hold, until I get completely out of my apartment, and finish what I've already started.  My bathroom still has faux marble wallpaper, and the spare room is little boy blue.  I'm choosing to ignore the wallpaper for now, and keeping the door to the spare room shut.  It works for now.

My plan for this weekend is to get 100% of my stuff out of my apartment, and get the cleaning started.  My lease is through Monday, so here's hoping that it doesn't go down to the wire!!

Tomorrow

Tomorrow I will blog.  Promise.
 

Just a pretty picture