a little Christmas recap

The past week has been a whirlwind. A good whirwind filled with family and love and way too many gifts but a whirlwind nonetheless. We started in Georgia at my momma's with my brother and grandparents. What a wonderful 3 days we had! I simply cannot get enough of my family and am so thankful my grandparents were able to make the trip and be with us this year. CSB and I then traveled to Kentucky to be with his family for a few days. It was tough for me to leave my family on Christmas afternoon {but I made it this year with no tears}. We were spoiled once again by CSB's family; our little 4-runner rode a bit heavier on the way back to Nashville yesterday! 

My favorite gift this year? My grandmother knit me an absolutely beautiful burnt orange poncho. I can only imagine the hours she put into it and teared up a little when I opened it Christmas morning. Pictures to come, soon; it will be traveling with me this weekend to Memphis for the bowl game. My brother also gifted me with a perfect Kate Spade tote and my momma got me some gorgeous and simple KS pearls. The hubs got me a new Chi {with his favorite feature: it automatically turns off!} and a new quilted jacket. My momma also got us some new sheets. Seriously, the softest sheets I've ever owned! I am officially on the lookout for Peacock Alley sheets at T.J. Maxx or Tuesday Morning.  

As soon as I upload pictures from the camera to my Mac I will share. :) 

Hope everyone's Christmas was wonderful!

 

 

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree...

Here are a few of my favorite "pinned" projects that I just didn't quite have time to complete this year... Maybe in 2012!

I love the chalkboard and the burlap stockings. I also can't wait until we live in a house with a mantle sans large television as the focal point. 

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I love this idea for a "plaid party". And just decorating with plaid in general. 

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So cute. And simple. I am going to collect fabric scraps this year form my newfound hobby of sewing for this project! 

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I did have the opportunity to try this recipe and it was delicious! I didn't like my batch (I substituted Fresca for for sprite... I don't recommend the substitution!) but my friend bought a batch to a party and it was delicious! I love all things pomegranate and this (when made correctly) did not disappoint. 

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Merry Christmas Eve to all! 

family traditions

Things have changed for my sweet little family over the last few years. I don't want to say that there have been any bad changes, per say, but some have certainly been more positive than others. Through it all my family has become closer and stronger. And we have embraced and welcomed my sweet husband into the family. I simply cannot imagine my life without him and am so thankful my family has welcomed him so sweetly. Ah, getting a little sentimental...

All of this sentimental talk brings me to think about family traditions. My family has always kept Christmas pretty simple. Dinner on Christmas eve, my mom's breakfast casserole on Christmas morning, followed by presents. As children my brother and I started a tradition of opening one present from each other on Christmas eve, a tradition we have upheld into adulthood. We planned to decorate the house together, but that is a story for another post that will most likely never be published. 

I am looking forward to new traditions as the years go by with my husband, too. This year we decided to have our own little "Christmas" the night before we left to travel and exchanged gifts at our house. It was sweet and something I think we will continue to do with at least one gift each year. We have been so hectic the last few months and I feel like I did not put as much thought/effort into planing and decorating and focusing on traditions as I would like to do in the future {though that is certainly not the reason for the season!} and look forward to doing a little more next year. 

What are your newlywed or newly married traditions? 

domestic faux pas

Becoming a wife has certainly had it's ups and downs. Prior to marriage I felt I was pretty domestic. I cooked. I baked. I decorated. However, my new role and balancing all things has brought out some opportunities for laughing. At myself. 

Faux pas numero uno: A few weeks ago I was hurriedly hanging some last minute wreaths inside, one being over the sink. As I took the decor down that usually dons the area, the nail fell out of the wall, plinked around in the sink a few times, and before I could grab it went straight down the disposal. Uh-oh. I gingerly fished my hand around to no avail. I fessed up to the hubs pretty quickly, and not being able to find the nail himself, he just assumed it was small enough to slide down the drain. {Confession... I might have incorrectly categorized the nail as a "finishing" nail. Which I later learned it was about 4 times the size of. Lesson learned} CSB tried the disposal and it turned on for a second and the stopped. Uh-oh, again... Needless to say, CSB and I spent the better part of last Saturday morning on a nice little "home maintenance" project called free-the-nail-from-the-disposal. We rescued the poor little nail after taking the entire disposal apart. I'm so thankful for a handy husband! 

Faux pas numero dos: On Tuesday, while multi-tasking to the extreme, I was wrapping presents, baking a chicken casserole, boiling chicken for a meal I was cooking for another family, and cleaning up before we traveled for the holidays. When the chicken casserole was done, I took it out and set it on top of the stove to cool. Around the same time I turned the chicken back on to boil for my other recipe, as I realized it needed a little more time. I continued cleaning and whatnot, not thinking much of my cooling casserole or boiling chicken. After a couple of minutes I heard something boiling/bubbling, but not the chicken. My casserole was still bubbling. I just assumed it was still hot (as it had been bubbling when I took it out of the oven). After another few minutes I noticed the water in the chicken was still not boiling and that the chicken casserole was bubbling at a higher rate. It was at this point, 10 minutes after my chicken casserole has been boiling on the stovetop that I realized I had turned on the wrong burner. Needless to say, it was not the most moist or delicious chicken casserole I've ever made! 

I'm two days behind on my blogging 'til the baby! I'lll try to make up for it today. :) 

Merry Monday!

Yep, you heard me right, merry Monday! 

Only 3 more days until I am home with my sweet family. 

And. I. Cannot. Wait. 

Because my grandmother makes the best pound cake this side of the Mason Dixon. 

And because I love my momma's house at Christmas. 

And because I can't wait to exchange a gift with my little brother on Christmas eve; a childhood tradition we have officially carried into adulthood. 

Also, because it's CSB and I's first married Christmas. 

Really, though. I would be content just with spending time with my family. I don't need presents or food (definitely not pound cake, this Mrs. had to step on the scale at the doctor today!) or games. They are extra and I cherish the traditions my family share the most.  

 Blogging 'til a baby continues!

P.S. What happens when I run out of space on blogger?? It won't let me upload anymore pictures to my account (hence the repeats). 

Merry Christmas from the Bs!

Wishing You Merry Christmas Card

Custom Christmas cards are always available at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

sunday sewing lessons

The hubs got me a sewing machine for graduation (in May) and I am still yet to darn even a sock with it (wait, I'm pretty sure you don't darn socks with sewing machines)  sew a single stitch with it. I did attempt to use it during a night of wedding craftiness with coworkers but never got past threading the bobbin. Oops. 

So, today is the day. I am officially going to sew my first project: an I Spy pillow. I saw this idea months ago on Pinterest and have wanted to make it ever since for work! I also planned to make one for our junior bridesmaid and ring bearer but it just didn't happen. 

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I've "pinned" about 20 sewing projects I eventually want to undertake. And have already picked out fabric in my head from this amazing store down the street for several projects. 

How cute is this scarf?? My friend I am sewing with today wears scarfs on a daily basis from October to May, so I am hoping to talk her into doing this for our next project! 

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And this bag? The perfect (cute) carry-all for workdays. And of course I love all things with bows...

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Pretty sure the hubs will snub his nose at this project as he already thinks our monogrammed dishtowel collection is too much... I love changing out my dishtowels frequently, however, and these would also make great gifts! 

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J.Crew-esque? Yes, please! 

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Can't wait to share my creations! 

holly, jolly puppy

Look at that sweet face! I tried to get a Christmas picture with Paisley today (yep, I'm that girl) but she, nor my camera, were very cooperative. I wanted to take a comparison picture for last year's and I tried convince her she was perfectly safe sitting in our rotting and worn out patio chair. She was not having it.




  

Needless to say... We moved to a more steady surface to attempt a few more. 

I cannot believe how much she has grown since last year! 

excuse the disaster!

I am currently working to update my blog design. I began last night and accidentally forgot to finish... Oops! Our sweet friends called and invited us to dinner and to see Christmas lights and I forwent blog-repair for a little Christmas cheer. 

blogging 'til the baby

Not our baby, of course! The title of this blog is how rumors get started... My poor blog has been neglected over the last few weeks for this reason or that and I cannot quite figure out how to balance blogging with real-life commitments (which rank far superior, obviously). Well, my sweet, pregnant friend has unknowingly (hope you're ok with this!) inspired me to get back to it. She is currently awaiting baby numero dos, who decided to begin his entrance into the world just a weeeee bit early. And she's stuck in the hospital until he arrives. 

If I was stuck on bed rest in the hospital, I would get bored. Quickly. And one of the go-tos for entertainment would be to stalk my friends (and friends of friends and complete strangers) blogs. So came my idea: blog everyday until baby boy G is here. Not that my life is uber-interesting and my sweet friend N is dying to read about it. But, to give her a little reading/browsing material just in case she's bored. AND to get myself back to blogging. 

Now that I have spent a significant amount of time explaining the contrived method of my return to blogging, I guess I should actually share something share-worthy... I am currently sitting on the couch, already in my pajamas, working on a new blog design and browsing the cable guide for a cheesy Christmas movie. A perfect Friday night? Pretty close. It will only be made better when the hubs makes it home! 

Happy Friday! Have a wonderful weekend.

life goes on

I planned to do a few more "wedding wednesday" posts with more of my favorite pictures from the wedding... However. I'm really over doing wedding posts. (This is where you judge me.)  Don't get me wrong, our wedding day was one of the absolute best days of my life. And I've loved reliving it. But life has gone on since then, and there are a lot of other things I'd love to talk about...

Like life as of lately. CSB turned 30-something and I made his favorite carrot cake. We spent Thanksgiving with both of our families in GA and KY... Lots of driving, but worth it!  

Us and the cake. 

The whole crew for Wednesday before Thanksgiving dinner and CSB's early birthday celebration. 

Like the fact we have the world's most spoiled dog... 

Like the fact I am getting my hair cut and colored by someone new tomorrow. By choice. This is a big, brave, (and hopefully not crazy) thing for me to do. I have been incredibly pleases with the guy who has cut my hair for the last year BUT it is the most un-relaxing 2 hours ever. He talks non-stop and I literally cannot keep up. As soon as I start to answer one question he asks, he almost immediately asks another, in the middle of my first answer. This probably sounds ridiculous... But I always walk out feeling pleased with my hair but like I need a nap. I was very pleased with the lady that did my hair for the wedding so I am going to give her a go for cut/color. Wish me luck! 

Or, the fact it's already December!? Where in the world did fall go?? Sheesh!

After traveling to Atlanta last week for a continuing education certification I am very ready for this weekend to get here... And to relax! I have a sewing night planned Saturday, some crafting penciled in for Saturday morning, and, if it's warm/dry enough, we are planning to tackle our first DIY furniture project this weekend. Also, I have a stack of Christmas cards to address piled on the counter. Not quite as relaxing as I planned, but I"m looking forward to being home after two weekends in a row traveling.

Is it Friday yet??