hello hot stuff

Oh you're sexy, you're just too good looking for your own good.

Glossy black countertops are on my future kitchen wish list.

well kiss my grits 2

Okay BHG are you like inside my brain? I'm going to rip this idea off on my entry table. Wouldn't it look cute? I don't even have to put anything inside of some of them, just wrap a few big boxes.

And this mantle is so fresh and so festive.

 

Christmas is the best.

well kiss my grits

Have I told you guys how much I love Better Homes and Gardens? Their home stuff is beautiful and their recipes are delicious. But this spread with a family's citrus green and yellow CHRISTMAS color decorations was just too close to home for me to ignore.

It seems like a big trend lately to decorate for Christmas within your own color scheme instead of imposing the traditional red and green into your home. Of course, the fun of Christmas is to decorate with colors you don't have year round so maybe I will stick to tradition but this family's house almost has me convinced.

Observe their beautiful happy dining area in yellow and green.

The table set simply but lovely.

Their living room, still has that Christmas vibe, but in their scheme.

 Even the presents are wrapped to coordinate with their aesthetic.

 

And this image makes me want to copy it exactly. White stockings with little gifts and tied to the staircase with yellow ribbon.

Lots of yellow ribbon is on my shopping list now.

okay it did die

The daisy is dead.

See the flower to the left? It's dead. See the flower to the right? It sprung up and blossomed like that in a week and was a very pleasant surprise. It convinced me that I was not a killer of plants.

Before the daisy died the center puffed up and gave me this as a gift:

Seeds.

Life ends, life begins.

four white chairs walk into a house

Plans for this area now that it has four new beautiful chairs.

Move the games on the table into the living room sideboard (the trollsta) and then move that little side table all to the kitchen. Hang the lettered canvas print over the record player and make it pretty. I think there's too much there with the little side table.

adieu fall

That's it. It's over. Fall is done.

I am very excited to begin the Christmas decor around here, but I am a bit sad to say goodbye to pumpkins and leaves.

this kind of stuff makes me happy

I have been organizing around the house. All the cotton stuff is together, makes my anal heart dance.

I have been working on the kitchen A LOT. I've purchased some stuff for it that needed to be accommodated and that caused a shift in the way things are laid out in there. I'll post about the changes later.

so spoiled..

I often accuse Matt of being the world's most spoiled husband. I've let him purchase TWO additional video game systems and whatever games and accessories he wants for them and whatever books & movies he wants. He's actually been really good about being thrifty 'cause he uses our Amazon reward money to get stuff he wants.

Yes, that is four white stacking chairs from Target. SPOILED WIFE.

Here they are in action under my beautiful family. Especially my hubs making a face.

And that was dinner (cacio e pepe pasta- basically pepper and cheese) and frozen garlic toast from the freezer section of the grocery store. DELISH.

 

 See? This is why I needed four chairs.

The End.

the host and the cook: how did that happen?

I'm not saying its easy constantly being the host. I'm not saying its difficult either. It's one of those roles in life you will either take up happily or ignore completely. I like watching my friends take on the hosting duties because I feel their pain and admire their creativity. Like Michelle biting the bullet and hosting her 1 year old's birthday party with a ladybug theme.

The host always cuts the cake. You ever notice that? My mom was the designated cake cutter in our family so when Ab handed me the spatula this year to cut his birthday cake it took me aback and made me smile. Am I the grown up now?

So, the cooking. I dunno how or why but I've earned a reputation of being a good cook. A few years ago all I could make were enchiladas and my mom's rice. Now, thanks to the barefoot alias my muse, my inspiration, I can make cakes from scratch and fantastic meals everyone loves. So I don't think of myself as good of a cook as a person that can read instructions and repeat them and put food together.

Funny though, I love making it and sharing it. My resident test subject, el esposo, was at one point of his life a picky eater. Just ask his mommy. Now he eats everything I make, even when it has onions. And it's not just Matt living under the illusion that I know what I'm doing. I get asked for recipes. Just now my cousin in Mexico asked for a recipe she heard about from my mom! My mother gushed about the red potatoes and now I am sharing the love with my family far away. And Jill told Emily and Jason about it (and they're even picker than Matt) and they loved it too. Those potatoes are a ho. Or is it me?

Then, the location. The reason that I was extra happy about having this big house for awhile was all the entertaining we could do here. Our family's not made of money and its nice to have a big, beautiful location we can defer to that's always available and willing to get dirty in the name of whatever we are celebrating. Be it the first time Ab & Gaudy's family meet or the various birthdays we have for the large family we are a part of.

After Ab's party, as we said goodbye to the last of the guests I said, well our house is your house and now you know where it is 'cause we'll probably Gaudy's bridal shower here. She nodded like she knew it was true. And we'll probably have my sister's baby shower here. And I'll be hosting in some way every dang one of those things and more.

And I'll love it.

suicidal daisy

What's a girl gotta do to keep a flower alive in this place? This daisy here that Matt got me, had a sibling but that one wilted so bad the stem broke so I had to axe it, keeps dying on me!

It's crazy how much freaking water it sucks up! I have to literally take it into the bathroom and water it so much that the water leaks out the bottom (and then toss the leftover) and then do it every other day or the sucker wilts. I'd written him off already since the petals were limping but this morning he surprised me with a full recovery.

Of course I aided it in its recovery, see the pencil and ribbon holding it up?

What am I doing wrong? Is it too much greenery that's sucking all the water and not leaving enough for the flower? Should I get a bigger pot? HELP!

it's begining to look a lot like target: part 5 (the outcome)

As planned, I went to Target and purchased the wreath and the towel for the downstairs bathroom, unfortunately I didn't take Matt with me since he was at work.

Which resulted in this: a black and white snowflake table runner

Luckily when you flip it over to the other side, it's a nice plain black. If this quality had not been a part of the runner, I would not have purchased it. No, it's not on display yet, it's way too early to be decking the halls.

 

Unplanned but forgivable were the two ornaments purchased at $1.99 each. I snagged a lil' reindeer dude and a 2009 frame where I will commemorate the year of the dog and place a picture of Lebowski in it.

 

Also not on the list but it was unavoidable: black, white, and silver reindeer Christmas cards. I have a moderately elaborate Christmas card picture idea to go with the cards.

 

Okay, you may now all intervene if the words, "I'm going to Target" come out of my mouth.

okay so here's an idea...

...take the two black chairs from here...

...and move them back the living room to create another seating  area with the smaller black side table like I do for parties (as seen here)...

...and purchase FOUR of these white stacking chairs for the round table instead of the black chairs.

Why? Because I really want that round table to have four chairs (for entertaining purposes) AND they're freaking on sale at Target for the BARGAIN BASEMENT rate of $55 for TWO! That's like (opens calculator, 55 divided by two) $27.50 PER CHAIR, you can't find those kinds of prices anywhere my friends. NO WAY.

Who wants to help me BEG my husband?

it's begining to look a lot like target: part 4 (me me me me me)

Dearest Target, why do you do this to me? Why must you sell items that are so me, it's almost impossible to resist them?

For example, sparkly trees...

 

..and a black and white snowflake runner...

 

...and black and white christmas cards...

 

...wrapping paper...

 

..and gift bags...

 

...with trees...

 

 ..and even some plates i could use for my christmas party...

..but even the colorful stuff tempts me now...

and target you know if i had to do it over again, i would have bought a white tree

 

tomorrow, you will see what actually came home with me.

it's begining to look a lot like target: part 3

I have not returned to Target, this is just from that one trip. Stop judging me!

That rustic collection was all over the place, here's some adorable snowflake trays and snowflake storage...

With the frightful weather, here's some delightful flannel sheets:

I bought some brown and blue snowflake ones last year that are great, these are equally cute, maybe cuter:

 

Of course, if you want to go a little more fun, these are a good option:

 

Or if you want to go the opposite and just have PLAIN flannel sheets, these are good too. I bet Matt wishes we had these instead of the snowflake ones:

 

Ornaments at Target are possibly my favorite thing. They're so inexpensive and you just want one more, one more, one more:

I am very into silver ornaments:

 

See?

 

I got my annual ornament from this aisle, so cheap I bought two of them:

 

I like to have Christmas trees in every room of the house in various incarnations. I could almost buy them all for different rooms in the house: pink in the office, purple in the guest bath, silver in the downstairs bathroom, blue in the bedroom, red in the living room, green in the guest room...

 

They hadn't quite put up all the ornaments in this collection yet and I am looking forward to seeing what other colorful decorations are to come:

Hmm.. stocking holders for the dog and cats. Too much.

And finally, the Christmas trees.

 

 

We actually have two. One small one and a 6' tree that Ali inherited us which is our main tree. Would it be too much to have a second tree on the second floor?