Ladies Christmas Coffee

Each year, our church hosts a Ladies Coffee to benefit the Benevolence Fund for the next year. Last year, I did a "Twelve Days of Christmas" themed table and it was adorable.  I tell ya, once you go and see the tables, it really makes you want to step it up a notch!  This year I went with a black/white toile theme, with red and silver accents.  The centerpiece was actually a gold tree found on serious clearance at Pier One, and painted silver, then the red vines were added, also bought at a serious clearance.  My wonderful Mom made the black/white toile runners and napkins, we found the goblets at Old Time Pottery for .99/each (which I will use over and over again, I'm sure) and the rest was stuff that I had!  

The tables were off the charts this year!  Some were so simple, yet extremely beautiful.  I did decide on my theme for next year (that is exactly what I did LAST year and I didn't change my mind) and I can NOT wait! 

Enjoy the slide show -- there are lots of pictures, but WORTH IT!

It's Christmas 'round here!

FINALLY! With everything going on, and seeming like we have SOMETHING every. single. weekend, it was nice to finally relax, have no where to go, put on some pajamas and get some "Christmas" up in this joint! I will start off with Cameron's room -- let me tell you, it was an absolute JOY putting up his tree -- seriously -- I'm not being sarcastic. This is our first year with trees in the kid's rooms as last year, I went to a silk warehouse place and EVERYTHING was 50% off, so I spent about $50 and got a TON of stuff for the kids trees. I kept asking the lady, "Is this 50% off? What about this?" -- "Ma'am -- everything Christmas is 50% off" ... I had to give him a smaller tree because there was just no room for the 6.5" one like Kennedy has. I thought that was going to be a major ordeal! Well, I went to the garage to get more 'stuff' and Cameron had the tree already out of the box (easy when it is a one piece 4 ft pre-lit tree) and everything off of his nightstand. He wanted it RIGHT BESIDE HIS BED! He got so excited about every single ornament and was actually a great help. He would scream, literally with glee, at every ornament we put on the tree. When we were done, I plugged in the tree and when it lit up, he yelled 'AWESOME!!! You my favorite mama, mama!'

Totally worth it and we'll do this every year until he gets tired of it (which will NEVER happen)!

Introducing, Cameron's CANDY TREE:

Tomorrow ~ pictures from our Annual Ladies Coffee .... 

7 years ago today .....

Chad and I were GOIN' TO THE CHAPEL! I would post a picture but we eloped ... in Vegas. We were engaged for a few months and Chad had to do a show at the Stratosphere and asked me if I wanted to go with them out there. I said "Sure - never been to Vegas before, it will be fun!" -- well, then we decided to get married out there and TRY (operative word here, TRY) to keep it a secret from his fellow band members -- considering they would be our only guests/attendants!

We got out there and Chad did his first show. The next morning, he did an interview on the local radio station - they joked "You're not going to get married while you're out here, are you?" and he laughed, couldn't keep a straight face, so the cat got let out of the bag - kinda! So we went on Saturday, and went straight to "La Dolce Vita Wedding Chapel" -- y'all, it was in a hotel that was being DEMOLISHED!! They did NOT show that in the pictures! The only thing left was the wedding chapel -- there were chain link fences all the way around the property and construction signs every where -- I could have DIED! I then said 'Well, at least we'll have our privacy!' -- Chad's tour manager walked me down the aisle and stood as best man, and his fan club President was my maid of honor (SERIOUSLY)! His tour promotors still happened to be in Vegas, so they came too! Needless to say, at 10 yrs, we WILL be having a vow renewal ceremony!

But 7yrs has given us several moves, lots of AMAZING friends, 2 BEAUTIFUL children, deepened our relationship with Christ, but most of all, we still have each other -- sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, but all the same, I couldn't see it any other way!

Easy Christmas Craft

I thought I would post this easy Christmas craft as this is something I saw and thought I could make cheaper -- and yes, I did make it cheaper.

Take 2 candlesticks -- can be anything, as long as it holds a taper candle. THEN get 2 ornaments of your choosing -- I found these last year after Christmas for about $2 -- you can't tell in the picture, but they are about 6" tall, very nice glass.




Glue the ornament onto the candlestick. I put a TON of glue into the candlestick and then held my ornament there for a few minutes b/c these are going on a table for decoration next week. I then added the maribou trim around the base where the ornament and candlestick meet! I think they turned out REALLY CUTE!!  The ones I saw in the store were over $25 each - I made these for about $5/each and they match my decor.  I'm hosting a Christmas coffee next week and my table is going to be black/white toile with silver and red accents - VERY shabby chic!!  

Fundraising and a "Girls Night Out"

These pictures are out of order, but I'll go ahead and tell you what went 'down' these past few days!  On Friday night, Shawn, her daughter McKenzie and me went to see "Twilight" - McKenzie was reading (or has read about 10x) the entire series and so I picked up the first book and had read the entire series within 2 weeks.  COMPLETELY addicting -- not a masterpiece, but your typical romance book for young adults -- yes, I said young adults!! 

We went to eat at Cheesecake Factory first - my all time FAV-O-RITE place to eat.  It was so yummy.  Then we headed to the movies, walked in, and I actually commented that the line wasn't that bad --- OH YEAH RIGHT --- it was completely wrapped around and we had to wait a good 20 minutes before they let us into the theatre.  BUT it was so worth it.  There was a group of older ladies (I'm talking grannies) sitting next to us -- it was so funny.  I loved it though.  I said to Shawn on the way home "You know, he's cute and all, but I think I'd be scared to date a vampire - with all that comes along with it, ya know" and she said to me "Do you realize you just said that out loud??" -- it was funny!!  

In the movies:

me and Kinz -- my FD (Foster Daughter -- we love her)

Eating at Cheesecake Factory:

Thursday night, Shawn, me and Rebecca went to support our friend Danielle and the Mom's Club of Lithia fundraiser.  It was a BUNCO night and we played to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  I had only played BUNCO one time before and it was a really long time ago -- but I was an old pro by the end of the night!  I LOVED IT!!!

Here we are at the end of the night with all of our raffle winnings:

I won 3/5, Shawn won both of the ones she wanted, and Rebecca won a TRIP TO NC!!!

Shawn about to roll -- she got the lei because she rolled a 'bunco' -- there were 2 leis that went around all night, by the end of the night, whoever had the leis on, went home with a prize!

That's all for now -- Chad and I are going to church tonight to participate in "Feed the Bay" and then off to a friends house for dinner -- should be lots of fun and I'll post pics tomorrow!

I'm BACK!

First of all, the event was AMAZING! I have to say, Shawn and I did it and we went out with a BANG! We have both decided to pass the baton on next year, as this was our 3rd year. Everything, well almost everything, went perfectly! I'll share more of that later ~ but to my friends that read this blog, that were at the event, I will say this:

The dove, IN CHRISTIAN CULTURE, signifies HOPE

Y'all should get a good laugh out of that -- I'm not trying to be funny, but like I said, I'll explain more later!


Well, as promised, my martini party is this Friday! I have been working SO hard getting the house ready. Chad has been out of town and so I've been able to really get at it. I can't wait until he gets home, because he does help out a lot and never complains. He does require some 'nudging' but he gets it done.

Here is my guest bedroom - I wanted to go for a beachy, dreamy feel and I think I got it:

The armoire was a medium wood with dark brown accents -- I painted it cream and then literally rubbed the glaze over it.  I wanted it to look like it had been sitting on a beach for years and years.  I added the appliques' (CHEAP) and the knobs.  There is a glare on the armoire ... it's not lighter.  I also need to add something to that apothecary jar up there -- any ideas?  That mirror used to be with a dresser and I painted and distressed it -- so glad I never got rid of it.   I love grabbing things from other places in the house and re-using them in other rooms.  It really does allow for a 'change' without spending any money!

This is the view from the doorway.  EVERYTHING is stuff I already had.  This is a small room, so I couldn't fit a whole lot in here, but it works for what I need it for.  You can see a bit of the hardwood floors we installed over the summer -- again, everything purchased on clearance and ridiculously cheap!

I'm so happy with the way this room turned out.  I do have fabric for a duvet and dust ruffle that are brown toile, but I have to wait until I see my Mom -- too scared to sew it and ruin the fabric! 

Tomorrow:  PLAY ROOM!

We interrupt this blog ....

This is my final week of preparations - to all my friends that read this blog and haven't heard from me in about 4 mths, well, we've been planning.  Seriously planning.  With the economy the way it is, it has been difficult to get money donated for the event.  We've had no problem getting services and decorations, photographers, etc ~ really that has been incredibly easy.  We've had more auction items donated then we know what to do with - well, we know what we are going to do with them, but that just creates more work for some very tired girls!  

I plan to be back in full swing with regular daily-ish posts ~ so don't give up on me.  

In the meantime, I encourage you all to go vote.  Exercise your rights as Americans - no matter WHO you vote for, just go VOTE!