i'm back!

I hope everyone had a great holiday! T and I spent the last 5 days in NC with his family. Miss Abby Normal got to see snow for the first time and his family was excited about my growing belly. We didn't have any new snow on Christmas, but there was snow on the ground the entire time we were there. So I kind of had a white Christmas.

This week I'm taking off to try and finish unpacking the house and getting things together and organized. Also, we'll be having some mini Christmases with my dad & Jane, and my mom & Charlie. So another busy week before new years. I can't believe it's almost 2010!

Happiest of Holidays!

happy weekend!

1 week until Christmas!! I hope everyone enjoys the weekend and gets everything done they need to before the big holiday.

This weekend:

-make these for my co-workers to take in on Monday

-visit with E

-wrap Christmas gifts

-some good friends from FL are coming in Sat night (so playing Mario Bros Wii is on the agenda)

-apply for the commission corps

-make another Chocolate Eclair cake for our Branch party Monday

Stay warm! and Happy Weekend!!

happy weekend!!!

[[via land-rich]]

I can't believe Christmas is two weeks from today! Where did the time go? I still have some Christmas shopping to do...I've never been a timely shopper. I still haven't gotten my Christmas cards out yet! The past two years, I've always done "second Christmas" with T's family (usually sometime in January or February), which buys me a couple more weeks after Christmas to finish my shopping. But this year, we're leaving on the 23rd to go the NC and all our shopping must be done by then. So we're getting to chrunch time! Luckily I don't have too much more to do - T's parents, Grannies, and a friend or two.

So this weekend:

-unpack kitchen

-make Christmas cards

-go to Bed Bath & Beyond and Barnes & Noble
-go to Paper-Source

-make a Chocolate Eclair Cake

-Christmas Party

-Thanksgiving/Christmas gathering with Dad and Jane on Sunday
-hopefully sneaking in an IKEA visit
-decorate Christmas tree

I hope all of you have a fun-filled productive weekend!!
Happy Friday!!

i won something! i actually won!

Today we had our company's annual Christmas lunch. They had a camp chair or duffel bag for everyone, but then they gave away 5 bigger gifts - visa gift card, nikon cool pix camera and an xbox 360.

and I won the xbox 360! Needless to say, T was happy to hear the news. and I say it was all because of Baby S. He was my good luck!

[[via here]]

ready, set, go!

The past couple of nights I've been trying to get a handle on Christmas shopping via the world wide web. Scouting out the best prices and trying to keep it under $20 per person is a challenge!

Amazon and Etsy have been my friends. and speaking of Etsy, everyone should go check out this store. Free U.S. shipping until Christmas and great great great jewelry. Some pieces that I'm crushing on at the moment include:

1. this wishbone necklace

2. these lotus flower and freshwater pearl earrings

3. and this bangle bracelet with a lotus flower charm

[[all via over the moon jewel]]

Still much more shopping to do, but a girl's allowed to find things for herself right?

so tired...

Oh man am I tired! After the Turkey Day festivities, T and I have been super busy packing and moving. Luckily our dads helped us with the move, but next time I think we're going to hire people. and I am very ready for it to be over. We have a lot of unpacking to do, organizing, and coming up with some crafty ways to create a little more space in the kitchen.

happy thanksgiving!

{click image to enlarge}

Wishing everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving filled with family, friends, good food, and great times.

fabric flower garland

[[photo by our labor of love]]

Remember these beautiful fabric flower garlands from the FREE wedding? Well Ashley of Dolci Odille was kind enough to share a tutorial on Once Wed. So now you can make your very own miniature version. I'm so excited!! I've been eager to learn how to make these beauties for a long time.

**MINIATURE FABRIC FLOWER GARLAND TUTORIAL**

[[via ashley of dolci odille]]

Now get to crafting!

paper lanterns

[[via the creative place]]

I'd love to make a bunch of these to string around our house for the holidays. I think it would be fun to string them on a strand of christmas tree lights, or have garlands of them strung around the room. It's a perfect accessory to spruce up any party.

Instructions found here.

hot chocolate on a stick!

[[via the giver's log]]

This holiday season, I'm going to try and make these. Homemade hot chocolate just sounds so delicious. and such a cute idea for a holiday party, or gifts, or for just because occasions.

.The how-to.
Happy melting!

happy weekend!

[[via ffffound via design crush]]

Tonight is the first Friday in a long long time that T hasn't had to work. So we're going to have a date night! Yay! The question is, where to go to eat?

and we signed the lease on the new house to rent, so we'll be moving December 1st! We have A LOT of packing to do, but I can't wait to move. I really feel like the nesting phase has hit me, hard. The little room is just calling my name to decorate for our little bud. and by the time we move, I'll only have 7 days until we find out the sex of baby!

This weekend:
-watch Away We Go
-pack pack pack

Enjoy the weekend! I can't believe next week is Thanksgiving!

if you like nine west footwear...

then go to 6pm.com. NOW.

ALL (ALL!!!) nine west footwear is $14.95. Not sure for how long, but it's crazy good deals. There are shoes that are normally marked at $79 dollars for $14.95!

Happy Shopping!!!

moving?

Yesterday the hubs and I went to view a house we're interested in renting. It's soo cute! and the backyard is huge! with a fence and stone patio. It has 3 fairly small bedrooms and 2 baths. There is one room that I can totally envision as our baby room. It has an adorable built in wardrobe. I can imagine all the cute little baby cloths hanging inside. I've been a good little girl and haven't bought anything baby yet, but this new house has me itching to buy things. I'm trying to hold out until we find out the sex of our baby. Not because we want gender specific items, but because I feel like it will be more of a personal purchase once I know the sex of our wee one (maybe I'm just crazy).

The kitchen still doesn't have as much cabinet space as I'd like, so we need to come up with something creative. T has been browsing the ikea hack website, so hopefully we can build something that will provide extra cabinet space and counter space.

We'll be deciding in the next week, so send us good vibes!

happy veteran's day!

Thank you to all the men and women who serve our country (or have served our country). We're so thankful for your services!

and of course the day off from work is a nice added bonus :)

miss abby normal

We had our little pup spayed this past Friday so she's has had to wear the 'cone of shame'. and she has not liked it one bit! Even worse, she was scared of the velcro noise even more so taking it off was more torturous to her than wearing it. Well today her little incision site looks all better, so I have freed her of the cone. and she's one happy puppy!