My Favorite Model

I recently purchased a new camera: a Nikon L120 and I love it!

 As usual, Jack Bauer is my favorite model. 

Christmas Exploded All Over Our House

that's the text message my dear husband got last week while I was decorating for Christmas. I had tupperware containers everywhere with all kinds of ornaments, garland, wrapping paper and odds & ends. I guess I went a little wild at the after Christmas sales last year-- remind me that I don't need to buy anything when the sales roll around in January, okay? ;-) I tried to go a little bit more modern and fun this year. I packed away all of my gold and went with more of a red & white candy theme.

I'll start with the entryway:

The candy dish is from Kirkland's and the little Christmas sign is from a local craft fair:

 I believe I got the "ho ho ho" letters at Pier One last year. The tin tray was a Hobby Lobby find last week and the candle is from B&BW. Mike picked out the scent this weekend-- Homemade Cookies. Heavenly!!

The mantel-- the wreath is from Pier One. I put the garland together with greenery from Wal~Mart, & mesh ribbon, decorative picks, and ribbon from Hobby Lobby. The stockings are also from Hobby Lobby-- can you tell it's my favorite place?! 

 

 I always add ribbon and a decorative pick to my lamps-- I went with a completely different color scheme this year-- red & white:

  

 The tree! 

I plan on making a proper Christmas tree skirt but the temporary fix is just a big piece of red burlap.

 I made my tree topper this year-- I used styrofoam disks, red felt, wooden dowel rods and cellophane to make "candy". I really like the way it turned out.

   

 The chargers are from Target, the glasses are from Pottery Barn, and I've had the Santa teapot for years. You can't see them but I have some adorable jingle bell napkin rings that I got at Pier One last year. I can't wait to set the table and use everything for Christmas dinner this year! 

Last Minute Thanksgiving

Before I head off to the grocery to fight off last minute shoppers I wanted to blog my Thanksgiving decorating pics and a fun little survey I saw on another blog. 

1. Well normally I cook standard Thanksgiving stuff--all vegan-ized of course: green bean casserole, mashed potatoes & gravy, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, stuffing and instead of turkey, a Field Roast Celebration Roast. This year however, we're totally changing it up and having Thai food with my family! I am so excited to do something completely different.

2. We usually alternate between my family and Mike's family. If it's a year with my family, they drive to Arkansas and celebrate here with us. If it's a year with Mike's family we head to Chapel Hill, NC.

3. The one tradition I have is to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade while I cook.

4. I look forward to dessert! Last year I made a caramel apple pie, a pumpkin cheesecake, and a pumpkin pie. This year I'm making chocolate peanut butter cups (sinfully delicious!), pumpkin pie and a caramel apple pie.

5. It will be a small celebration this year, just four of us-- me, Mike & my mom and dad.

6. I usually decorate on Black Friday but this year I changed it up and started on Monday. The entire house is almost finished!

7. I always Black Friday shop-- but we only get up at an insane hour if there's something specific we're looking for. This year I plan on sleeping in and hitting up the stores with my mom in the afternoon.

8. Something comfy! Usually jeans or leggings and a top.

9. Negative.

10. I've cooked Thanksgiving dinner on my own since I got married. Very proud of that! ;-)

A few Thanksgiving decor pics:

can you see the creepy cat in this pic? Scary!

Hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving!

odds & ends

we went to Tulsa a few weeks go for Trek Expo (oh yes, super nerdy) and got the typical pics-- people in their costumes, actors from various sci-fi movies/tv shows and a few shots of us together.

Here I am with the Ghostbuster's car. The dress I'm wearing is new and I love it--- 50% off at Belk!

I've got a cut and color scheduled next week and I'm really leaning toward this cut & color... eeek, it's quite a change!

and really, no post is complete without Jack Bauer! :-)

out of my comfort zone!

I am absolutely loving the warm weather that we've been having. I'm ready to put away the jeans and bring out the warm weather clothes! I recently purchased both of these outfits & I'm loving them:

I'm usually not a leggings kinda girl, but I've stepped out of my comfort zone and I'm giving them a try! I figure as long as my butt is covered, I'm okay! :-)

The Big Reveal

After a few annoying teaser posts, here it is-- Our new master bedroom!

I am so happy with the outcome! It's actually a room I want to spend time in now, instead of a room stuffed with odds and ends and hand-me-downs. The only thing I have left to do is to buy new lampshades. 

This was all done on a budget, but I'm really pleased with the end result. Here is the breakdown of where I purchased everything:

Furniture: Target & Walmart

Bedding: Bed Bath & Beyond, Walmart

Mirrors & Art: Kirkland's

Accessories: Dillard's, Hobby Lobby, Kirkland's, Pottery Barn

Painting above the bed: our dear friend & super talented artist Brooke

My next project is already in the works-- the guest room! :-)

my lucky day

I went out today to look for a mirror to go above our new dresser and I hit the jackpot! I was going to head over to Hobby Lobby because their mirrors are 50% off this week, but made the decision to stop off at Kirkland's first. I found out that our Kirkland's is moving next week to a new location (and they're expanding, super happy about that!!) anyway, they're moving so everything is on super clearance. I scored a $150 mirror for $23! I also picked up some new artwork for the recently re-done master bathroom, some artwork for my plate wall and two sconces for the bedroom. I did some major shopping and saved a ton of money! 

When I talked Mike into all new bedroom furniture I assured him I could do it on a small budget. I think I've definitely succeeded! The price breakdown is above. I scored one of the Canopy dressers brand new and still in the box on Craigslist-- so instead of paying the $299 price tag we got it for $175. The other dresser we purchased from WM so we got to use our corporate discount and paid $270 instead of $300. 

I apologize for the iPhone picture, but I have a post planned for tomorrow with pictures of everything-- the new nightstands, new furniture, art etc!

a preview!

Our grown-up bedroom is almost finished! The second dresser arrived yesterday and I had it set up by the time Mike got home from work. That's right, I've put together all eight pieces of furniture that we've purchased in the last month!! I'm proud! I'm on the lookout for a mirror to go above the dresser. I'm leaning towards a round mirror I think...

I was about to list our old bedroom furniture on craigslist yesterday when I decided to do a little research. The furniture was a hand me down when I got my first apartment after college. It's from the Broyhill Brasilia line, and it turns out that it's pretty collectible. So for now it will live in our guest room. I just can't imagine selling it on CL for $50 when it really is neat stuff.

Anyway, as soon as I have the new mirror and put on the finishing touches to the room I'll do a big post.

randomness

I was erasing all my saved pictures from my camera today and found a few to blog about. Yeah, I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel for a blog post!

that's a topiary behind me, I don't have green hair!

Mike is out of town (Boston!! I'm jealous.) which means Jack Bauer can do all kinds of naughty things-- like jump on the couch and pose. Dad would not be happy!

And now some house pics:

I love these little houses on the mantel- they're from Pier One.

and I picked up some more books at the flea market- I love using them around the house.

a real grown-up bedroom. part one

When Mike and I moved in together back in August of 2005 (yes, we lived in sin until we got married in November 2006!) we had such a hodge podge of furniture. Everything was a hand me down, some better than others. Over time we've slowly replaced almost everything-- except the bedroom. Mike received a great yearly bonus last week and with some of it we're getting a privacy fence for the back yard and new bedroom furniture! Here's what we're getting:

We decided on the Canopy line of furniture from Walmart. Now before you have visions of tacky particle board crap, relax-- I did my research! The Canopy stuff is solid hardwood, with a birch veneer. It's really substantial heavy furniture. 

We have new nightstands:

a new tall 5 drawer dresser:

and the long 6 drawer dresser:

check out the resemblance between the Pottery Barn Hudson dresser with the Canopy dresser:

plus the Canopy dresser is only $299 (well, $270 with our discount!) compared to $1599.00 for the PB Hudson.

The long 6 drawer dresser should arrive next week, and I can't wait to share pictures of our totally revamped room! For now, here's a few shots of just part of it:

I think this shows a better shot of the wood tone:

Oh, and did I mention I talked Mike into a new flat screen for the bedroom? LOL What can I say, it's been a good week!!

I can't wait to post the finished room in a week or two!