Christmas Eve Morning

Merry Christmas Eve!!!

Carlton and I woke up at about 6:45, showered, dressed, filled up gas tank, and hit the highway by 7:30 on Christmas Eve morning.  It was a very early morning for us, mostly because of the late night beforehand, but we managed to get on the road within a reasonable amount of time.

The highways were FANTASTIC!!!  At any time we could look around us on the road and only see about 3-4 other cars.  The most traffic we were ever around was in north Georgia near Kennesaw, and that was at about 11:00am, about the time we guessed everyone was traveling "over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house" for Christmas Eve lunch.

We drove straight to Carlton's parents' house.  Carlton's brother Saunders, his wife Katie, and their daughter Katie Anne were also there.  KA and I had a lot of fun checking out all the Christmas ornaments on the tree before lunch.  For a Christmas Eve lunch, Vicki made a delicious spinach lasagna, garlic bread, and a chocolatey-raspberry-bread pudding for dessert.  After lunch, we all headed into the sun room where we opened Christmas gifts.

Brothers Saunders and Carlton checking out all the loot before opening began:

I had my eye on a flat yellow envelope labeled with my name on it (okay, Carlton was written on it too), and was from Katie Anne.  My heart was filled with hope for what might actually be in that envelope, and I saved it for last.  We all enjoyed opening our gifts.  Everyone was very generous and incredibly thoughtful in their gift shopping.  It was so much fun to watch Katie Anne open each gift, examine it, play with it, love it, and prepare for the next gift.

(As a side note, which could have easily ended up being its very own blog entry, I had WAYYYY too much fun shopping for Katie Anne this year.  I mean, WAYYYY too much fun.  You see, she's into playing dress-up.  And, well, I just really think dress-up is pretty much the best game ever.  Playing dress-up, playing house, playing school, playing kitchen, playing ANYTHING involves an extensive imaginary wardrobe.  And that imaginary wardrobe is usually made up of Mommy's old high heels, some plastic jewelry, some ring-pops from the candy aisle, some fancy hair barrettes, and a few other random items found around the house.  But why can't an indulgent aunt buy a bit of a dress-up wardrobe to fit her little neice's playful imagination?  So, let's just leave it at this: I did.  I tried my best to accommodate as many dress-up moods this child might have as I possibly could.  Is Katie Anne in the mood to be a bug?  Or, a Super Hero?  Or, maybe have a Tea Party?  How about cooking up a new recipe?  This imagination-filled toddler is now totally prepared.)

Carlton and I got just what we had hoped for: lots and lots of new clothes for work!  I needed sweaters, cardigans, and shoes.  Carlton needed office shirts, and something warm to keep the chill off in the cool office.  We are both sooooo well prepared now, thanks everybody!  I watched with anticipation as Katie Anne opened a box we had filled with an assortment of dress-up items.  This two-year-old holds my heart in her tiny little hands.  She'll either melt my heart with happiness, or crush it by tossing all these terrific imagination gifts aside for another paper-ripping second of fun.  Oh, Saunders is crazy about the sunglasses Carlton picked out for him?  Good.  Katie loves the collection of Pandora beads for her bracelet?  Great.  Katie Anne pulls out a pair of fancy, hot pink teatime gloves with neon orange flowers.  "Put them on me, Daddy!"  My heart melts.  She discovers a pair of optical sunglasses that create a "bug's eye view" when you put them on.  "Let me try them on, Mommy!"  My heart is dripping to the floor now.  The fancy pearl necklace that coordinates with the teatime gloves gets put aside (I'm okay with that, I'll recover) as Katie Anne reaches for the Super Hero Costume, complete with forearm cuffs, cape, and disguising black face mask.  "I can be disappeared and you won't even know me, Daddy!  And I'll fly really, really fast in the air like a bird!"  I think someone had to scoop my melted heart off the floor at this point.  She. LOVED! It.  And I could tell that she did.  My life... is complete.

But wait.

My favorite gift of all was yet to come.  And, it was at the bottom of her pile.  AT THE BOTTOM OF HER PILE, PEOPLE.  (How much patience is a 25-year-old expected to have on Christmas Eve?)

I waited patiently as Katie Anne opened a few more gifts.  Carlton got a fancy reversible blue pullover?  Nice.  Vicki got a beautifully framed photo of Katie Anne?  Precious.  Now, everyone SHHHH!!!  Katie Anne has arrived at the box.  (Actually, everyone keeps about their gift-opening business as I silently and secretly-with-my-own-blown-out-of-proportion-excitement hone in on Katie Anne.)

The paper comes off.  The box pops open.  Her eyes... they just... lit up!  She pulls out the present, "Mommy, open this!"  "What is this, Katie Anne?  What do you think this is?"  "Stwarberry Shor-cake?"  Katie Anne looks at me, "Stwarberry Shor-cake?"  "Well," I told her, "sort of...."

The pieces are pulled from their cardboard packaging and Katie Anne assesses the goods.  "Katie Anne, it looks like a chef's outfit with an oven mit and a potholder and an apron and a chef's hat."  Her eyes lit up again.  "Put it on me, Mommy!"

 It's even more perfect that I caught her spinning:

My heart skipped melting and pretty much just evaporated.  I was happy.  I was satisfied.  Christmas, as I considered it, was a success.

"Look at me!"  Katie Anne exclaimed 5 minutes later, with the outfit still on.

Grandmama and Vicki open their twin gifts, handmade artistic birdhouses from Carlton and me.  I open some beautiful monogrammed guest-bathroom soaps, and then some gorgeous monogrammed towels from Grandmama.

"Look at me!"  Katie Anne exclaimed again.

It seemed she would be drawn back into the ripping and tearing of Christmas wrapping paper, the cheers and smiles of a shared good time, and then suddenly remember again what she was wearing:

"Look at me!"

And finally, I opened the yellow envelope that I had saved for last.  Now my heart was full.  Katie Anne had drawn a picture for me (err, us).  A sweet little picture of Carlton, me, and Vespa, complete with a sunshine and Vespa's food.

Just... absolutely, by far, a perfect Christmas Eve afternoon.

The Eve of Christmas Eve

Carlton and I both worked on December 23rd.  Actually, I worked all day like any other normal day at the shop. Carlton was at his office until about 12:30, at which time he drove himself on home to take a long winter's nap with the pup for the rest of the afternoon.  :)  But the time spent up until 12:30 at his office was just critical office work time, I might add: the exchanging of gifts, lunch, desserts, more gifts, and blissful Christmas spirit had to be crammed into that tiny time frame of 8:30-12:30... and what a job that was!  He did come home with some glorious and very gracious gifts (including a great duffel-style insulated cooler, Omaha Steaks, some gigantic summer sausages, gift cards, candies, and more), so I can't really complain too much about the work he did that morning.  :)
After I got home at 6:00-ish, we had some dinner and wrapped the last few gifts that were to be packed up and driven to Cartersville the next morning.  After the wrapping was finished, Carlton and I went ahead and picked one gift to open that night, for our very own first Christmas in our very own first home.  Carlton's choice was pretty much a given, since it was so big it only fit into the MINI because the back seats were down and it definitely wouldn't even come close to fitting into the Nissan (which was what we had planned to drive to Cartersville).  I had known for a couple weeks what gift I wanted to open first, but waited patiently for Carlton to open his gift first.

He had tried for weeks to figure out what I'd gotten him, failing time and time again to guess correctly.  Once the paper came off, he was so surprised that he had never guessed what was inside the giant box: a new high-def home theater system!

Next it was my turn.  I shook my box, listened really well, shook it some more, and ripped the paper open.

More paper!

Finally, I got all the paper off and discovered 10 tiny black boxes.  Tiny boxes are always a good thing!  Inside the boxes were 5 pairs of earrings and 5 necklaces, making 5 matching sets of semi-precious stone/sterling silver jewelry for me to wear with just about any unsuspecting outfit! 

Way to go, Carlton!  I was very impressed and surprised.  Your bases are now officially covered.  (Actually, Carlton's theory was to cover his bases this year on the basic "color wheel" so that from now on he can select "specialty" pieces.  Who can argue with an entire collection of necklaces and earrings, or his theory?  Not this happy wife!)

After opening our gifts, Carlton and I showered, packed our clothes for the long weekend, and loaded up all the gifts into the car for the long haul up to Cartersville!  We got to bed at about midnight, set the alarm for 6:30, and just hoped and prayed that our little eyes could pop open for the holiday drive.

FYI

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and post-Christmas posts are awaiting photo download and will be published as soon as internet allows. Move along!

I'm ba-aaaaaaack!

So I guess it goes without saying that I have been missing from blog-land for quite a while. Aside from my little (and loud!) blurp about my sister's engagement and another about a beautiful stocking, I've been away for too long.  We have celebrated two major holidays with family and friends, and there has been not so much as a peep from me in blogland.  Sorry, I think I had gotten burned out and just needed a break.  I even took pictures here and there with intentions of writing something about them, but just couldn't make myself do it in the end. (I actually have four "drafts" awaiting publication to my blog, but they're all unfinished, and there are no pictures or anything in them.) But hey, I'm back! I have a recipe or two to share, stories about furniture shopping for the new house, family and friend get-togethers, and more.  It's good to be back, and fresher (yes, fresher) than ever.

Big news!!!

Forgive my absence, but let's set that aside for a moment. Like I said, this is big news!

MY SISTER IS A FIANCEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's right, guys, Kristen's boyfriend, Scott, popped the question on Wednesday night as they rode through the maze of bright Christmas lights at Petit Creek Farm. At first she was annoyed that he was driving so slowly, but once he asked the question and got out the ring, she understood why 1 mph was necessary.  ;)

Scott talked with me on Monday afternoon through text messaging, asking if Carlton and I would be able to make it into town for "a special dinner" that Wednesday night.  Umm, while eating out in the middle of the week might have sounded nice, an 8 hour round trip surely didn't.  I thanked him, confused at the "special" part of the question, and asked what the occasion was.  As it turned out, Scott had to tell me that he wanted us in town that night for dinner because he was planning to propose to Kristen and then meet his family and my family for dinner to share the great news, and to let Kristen show off her new engagement ring.  Well of course, once he explained everything, I made plans to work a half-day on Wednesday so that I could be in Cartersville by 7:30!  There's no way I was going to miss dinner with my sister and her fiance on the night they got engaged!  Carlton couldn't make it because of busy work on Wednesday and Thursday, but I was really glad my work schedule could move around like it did.  I met everyone at The Cellar in Cartersville for dinner.  When I came in, Kristen was so surprised she held out her arms and said, "YOU CAME!!!!!!! You came????!!!!???"  And then I said, "I came! You're engaged?!????!!!!???"  I'm glad I made the drive.  It was great to share the celebration with the newly engaged couple and our families. 

Congratulations to the happy couple!

Peekaboo...

I'm still here! Just suffering from a case of the blogging lazies, in conjunction with holiday crazies, and lots and lots and lots of knitting. 

Tomorrow I'm off work and will be cleaning (knitting) and running errands (Christmas shopping).  I'll make more time to blog then.  For now, I'm starting one'a these:

Ruffles for Christmas

Have you started thinking about and/or working on the gifts you're giving this Christmas? I have been brainstorming for weeks, have ordered some materials (guess what my material of choice is!), and I started the first gift late last night. Thanks to an hour of America's Funniest Home Videos followed by an hour of Project Runway (part 1 of 2 of the season finale!), I've gotten quite a bit of work done on it tonight. Ruffles, anybody?

And, not that you'll get this at all if you're not a knitter, but I totally pulled the loose tail from inside this skein. On the first try. *Rock Star.*

Hooked on Houses, bad photos, and pets on furniture

I've mentioned in my blog here before that I am a bit of a freakish follower of many, many blogs. I don't follow any particular blog to the extent of stalker status, I just follow a. lot. of. blogs. All a blog author has to do is write one entry or post one picture that grabs my attention and I'm hooked! A lot of the blogs I follow, I have discovered by clicking the links from blogs I was already following. One blogger I love to follow, Julia at Hooked on Houses, posts a lot of really interesting articles and stories about the houses of celebrities and the houses you may see in movies. (I think I found her by stalking through the blogs that my BFF Chelsea follows. See? Stalker.) Julia writes about renovations done on celebrities' houses or houses in movies, and even finds interesting facts about the house that may have driven producers there for filming in the first place. What's also really fun is seeing the MLS listing photos of celebrities' multi-million dollar mansions. Anyway, it's always really cool to read what she's got to write. So, I guess I'll share her with you if you promise to appreciate her. Promise? Okay.

One of my favorite "Gotta-Look-For-Her-Next-Entry-On-This-Topic" topics is her collection of Bad MLS Photos. Just do yourself a favor and click through a few of these blog entries. You will cringe, laugh hysterically, and shake your head in pure disbelief. Check out this picture from one of her entries she titled "Furniture Stand-Off." I love that she asked readers to caption the photo, and my favorite was comment was Eileen's which read, "Red Rover, Red Rover, we call the couch over!"


My new favorite link that Julia has shared really is stalker-worthy... I promise! A blog she follows (remember, that's how I find blogs to follow!) posts photos each Monday of Pets on Furniture. My favorite from today's post was Otis the Dachshund. For some unknown reason I have this little place in my heart that is head-over-heels crazy about dachshunds (especially the long haired ones) and I hope to someday have one in my own little family.


...And Otis, well, he just helped me make a 100% "YES!" decision in about 0.005 seconds that Vespa needs a hand-knitted sweater for this winter.

I guess I've now made my point that a) I'm a blog stalker and b) I love reading Julie's blog. What's one of your favorite blogs to read? I'd love a link to it!!! ;)

Nom, nom, nom....

What can 6 whole pounds of pup chew on for ever and ever?

Carlton did a little picking up around the house tonight after dinner and found a few burried treasures! Needless to say, Vespa was both disappointed that her treasures had been discovered AND very happy to cuddle up with all her favorite chewies.

Saturday, November 7th, 2009 - The Wedding

After our morning beach excursion we all headed back to the house for showers and lunch. After lunch, we all got dressed and headed out of the house at about 1:30 on our way to the wedding.


The ceremony was outta-this-world beautiful, under the over-300-year-old Spanish moss drenched oak tree on the lawn of a grand antebellum plantation house. It was the epitome of a southern wedding. I mean, the tree alone was enough to bring you to tears! The bride was incredibly stunning. The groom was handsome, calm, and proud. The wedding party (9 bridesmaids, one junior bridesmaid, 9 groomsmen, a cross bearer, ring bearer, and flower girl... whew!) was classy and traditional. For a better, more in-depth description of the wedding, you can visit Katie's blog. I was more into the bride's gown, the trees, the property, and the precious little two-year-old who insisted I walk the grounds with her after the ceremony finished. So, enjoy the pictures I snapped like a crazy woman! (I loaded them all in "small" mode so that they would load quicker, simply because there are so many. You can click on any image to enlarge it and see details of the afternoon.)

The oak tree was magnificent! Spanish moss everywhere! Brian, the groom, awaiting his bride:

Bridal party processional across the lawn: The flower girl was breathtaking! Here comes the bride:

Exchanging vows: You may now kiss your bride! The recessional:

Katie Anne drew tons of gushing compliments with her sweet face and pretty dress, and I couldn't stop taking her picture:

Saturday, November 7, 2009 - AM

Saturday was a very, very, very good day! We woke up early and hung out in the house for breakfast before gearing up and heading down to the beach at about 8:00 or 8:30. We hung out on the beach for about 3 hours, and we all really enjoyed the November weather there! There was a warm-ish air with a breeze that was just cool enough to keep the sun fresh on our shoulders. We were never chilly and never hot--I would love to go back next year around this time!

Carlton and Saunders played a friendly game of beach football toss while Katie, Vicki, Katie Anne, and I chatted, dipped our toes in the sand, and enjoyed the morning in the sun with each other.

Vespa even went with us to the beach. This was her first time ever near the ocean and in the sand, and she absolutely LOVED it!!! As soon as she hopped from the dune steps into the sand, she was racing around and around and around in circles as fast as her little legs could move her. She raced around Carlton, around me, around Vicki, and into the water break. She dug holes, greeted other beach walkers, watched sea gulls, tasted a little ocean water, helped Katie Anne dig up the sand toys that Katie Anne had buried, and then she laid in the sun for some rest until we headed back to the house for showers and lunch.

I wonder what Vespa was digging for in this video...?

Friday, November 6, 2009

Carlton and I spent this weekend in Florida with Saunders, Katie, Katie Anne, and Vicki (his brother and his family, and his mom). Carlton's cousin Brian was getting married, and the Joneses made it a short vacation weekend!

Friday started out as a regular Friday for Carlton and me. He drove off to work while I walked Vespa around the house for about 15 minutes, came inside, and started laundry, cleaned up the kitchen, and checked my email/read up on blog updates. Pretty soon after, I started packing up the suitcase and getting ready for the weekend ahead.

Once Carlton got off work at noon, he came home and propped his feet up while I finished packing up the suitcase (laundry, including his khakis and shirt he planned to wear to the wedding were in the dryer when he got home). By 1:00 we were on the road to Florida, and by 4:30 we had arrived. After a bit of settling into the house, we all got dressed and headed out to the wedding rehearsal dinner--a low country boil!

Of course, dinner, dessert, and the toasts were all excellent! There were lots and lots of toasts delivered in honor of the bride and groom, and everyone enjoyed listening as Katie, Katie Anne, and I played our little games quietly in the gigantic windowsill near the back door.

After toasts were finished, the party started winding down and we headed out before long. Once we got back to the house, Katie Anne went straight to bed while we "big kids" stayed up playing lots of Wii games--mostly bowling for the 4 of us, tennis for Vicki and Carlton, and baseball for Carlton and Saunders.

While I did bring my camera with me, I didn't take any pictures at all until the next morning at the beach. But Katie took lots and lots of pictures, and she will have more linked from her blog.

One is the loneliest... sock?

This year I blogged about a new endeavor... another new challenge for myself. I participated in the worldwide knitalong project called Socktoberfest! The rules are simple: knit socks during the month of October and share what you've made with the other participants!

While I wasn't able to complete my overly-ambitious goal of knitting a pair of socks for Carlton and a pair of ballet-style slippers for myself, I did get 50% finished with Carlton's socks! That means, Carlton now has one completely hand knitted sock to wear on his happy toes! I got to use a skein of the yarn I purchased on our cruise this past summer, on a shore excursion in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Cool, I know! I've got the second sock on the needles now and am very excited about our drive down to Florida tomorrow afternoon: I'll be knitter-knitter-knitting the whole way!

Vespa even loves the lonesome sock.

November 4th

Yesterday on November 4th, I technically blogged because I posted something. But actually, I don't think it counted because there wasn't anything really shared... no information, just a few words to make my guilt go away.

Yesterday was a good day at work. I got to post a blog for my boss's blog as well as start a Twitter account for her. She's finally coming around to understanding how Facebook, Twitter, and a blog can work as free advertising for her company. Yippee!!! She hired me with all intentions of me being a merchandiser and to work on her social networking. Because of the schedule of events in the shop, I've really only gotten to be somewhat of a merchandiser and mostly a shop girl... cutting fabric, folding fabric, mailing fabric across the world, straightening fabric, etc, etc, etc. Lots of fabric. Now, don't get me wrong, it's all beautiful, but being a shop girl isn't exactly stimulating or exciting for me.

The new blog entry was posted and Suzanne was so happy with my description of the weekend even though I didn't participate or even go to the event I was blogging about. Good for me. Her next project for me is to connect her blog to Twitter, and to connect her Twitter account to her Facebook account. If you check out the link in the previous paragraph, you'll see the blog. Since Suzanne has been here in Georgia for over two years, you'll see how busy she's been... because she hasn't had time to tell anyone about what she's been up to! I started blogging for her with this entry, and have only had a few tiny chances to add to her site's traffic. Hopefully, all of this social networking will help us get more people to the site to shop. Lots of cross references!

Here's hoping I get more chances at work to keep up with this blog, Facebook, and Twitter stuff!

Playing catch up

So, what's today? November 5th? Okay, so you'd think I would have learned my lesson from the previous entry. I outted myself, and what did I get in return? Nagging from two very blogerific ladies! I mean, these girls are dedicated. My excuse for not following through with the NaBloPoMo commitment on November 3rd is nonexistent--I didn't post a blog because I was just simply too lazy to get up, get by booty to the computer, and think of something interesting to type.

But my excuse for not blogging yesterday is a real excuse! Since we moved into our new home, we have had on-and-off internet access. The cable company has been to our house at least 5 times, and nobody knows what the problem seems to be. We have been told we have "excellent signal" coming into the house, but the problem is like a ghost to them! They think water may have gotten into some of the equipment on our street, but nobody will actually tell us anything. This week the cable company's bucket truck has been in our neighborhood everyday, with one guy lifted up high to the power lines up and down the street. They were out this morning until about 10:30am, and by 2:00pm the internet has still been touch-and-go. Right now? Internet! Guess what that means. I'm blogging!

Already slipping.

wow. already missed a day of NaBloPoMo...GET BACK ON IT!! =)



This is what I saw when I logged in to my blog this morning. Jillian is keeping me in shape! I missed yesterday, and I was so tired last night I didn't even care! No excuse, I was just plain tired. This counts as an "I'm sorry" for yesterday, not a post for today. I have a surprise fun dessert planned for tonight, so be prepared to be jealous after dinner!

A good night at Casa de Moultrie

I'm on the computer in the chair while Carlton's stretched out on the sofa with the laptop. Vespa likes to cuddle up on the sofa on the person lying there....

...Or, she likes to do this:

NaBloPoMo

In the spirit of all things useless and unimportant, I'm joining in on the National Blog Posting Month challenge. The challenge is simple: post one blog entry every day of the month. So far, I'm at 2 posts in one day! (Does that extra post count as a rollover in case of emergency?)

Wish me luck as I take the challenge along with Jillian and... anyone else who's joining.

November 1, 1984

Today I turned 25. :) This weekend, I celebrated my birthday with my husband, my sister and her boyfriend, and my best friend and her husband/my good friend. Some birthday cards I was given wished me well, hoped for easy settling into our new home, acknowledged my fear of someone touching my elbow fat, a funny Obama joke about the redistribution of my birthday cake, a touching letter remembering 14 years of best-friendship, and one card even included cute poodle stickers for decorating future paper crafts.

For the simple fact that my birthday guests were driving either 4 hours round trip or 8 hours round trip to be with me on my birthday, I felt that I had no choice but to give in and make it an entire 25th birthday weekend. ;) A weekend trip was the only way to justify all their driving!

The celebrations began on Friday night when Chelsea and Andrew arrived a little before 8:00. They dropped off their bags in the guest bedroom and we all headed out for dinner at a local favorite, Blue Sky Grill, for $1 beers. I ordered some delicious fish while the three others enjoyed burgers and fries. Then, it was back to our house where we watched the movie Just Friends starring the hilarious Ryan Reynolds as a recovered fatty. After a little chatting once the movie ended, we called it a night.

Saturday morning I woke up and came out of the bedroom to walk Vespa to find Chelsea and Andrew watching a TV. After we got dressed, Chelsea and I headed out to shop for lunch food and baking ingredients (cupcake recipe to come!) at WalMart with EVERYONE ELSE IN MOULTRIE. Why did I wait to go grocery shopping at WalMart until Saturday morning? Honestly, I just wanted company! Sorry for stealing your Saturday morning, Chels!

By 1:00 Chelsea and I made it back to the house where the guys had prepped a new miniature charcoal grill and our burgers hit the heat. Our lunch of burgers, bratwursts, hotdogs, pasta salad, grilled zucchini, chips and dips, and baked beans was outta-this-world delish! Once lunch was finished, it was time to watch some college football. We watched plenty of games, and totally vegged out all afternoon in food comas. Some even took short naps in between quarters! Once it started getting dark, we had a few Trick-or-Treaters come by, and I really enjoyed letting them grab their own helping of candy from the bowl. Vespa loved greeting all the kids with enthusiastic barking and excessive tail wagging.

Carlton had made reservations for the six of us to eat at my favorite restaurant around here, in Thomasville, an Italian restaurant in the town's original train depot called Cafe Marebella. We dined on a delicious salad, fresh bread, pastas, chicken parmesan, and fish. Everyone was so happy with their meal, no one could wait to eat their leftovers! It was absolutely delicious. Once we had all finished eating, Carlton's sneaky little surprise pulled through and the hostess and our waiter presented me with a towering slice of divine chocolate cake. They sang a short chorus of Happy Birthday to You along with everyone at our table while the last couple in the restaurant looked on with smiles and sipped coffee. After we passed the cake around the table and everyone had had their fair share, we headed back to the house again to watch some TV. Carlton and I gave in and went to bed during the 7th inning stretch of the world series baseball game... I just couldn't hold my eyes open anymore after that delicious meal and dessert!

Sunday morning I woke up to walk Vespa and came out to a sleepy house. Kristen awoke soon after Vespa's business was finished, and we slipped out of the house to grab some milk and orange juice. When we got back, everyone was on the back deck soaking in the warm sun and enjoying the crisp fall morning air. Chelsea and Andrew had planned to make me a Birthday Breakfast, and I was pretty much banned from the kitchen except to refill my coffee cup... which I did about 4 times! (!!!!!!!!!!!!!FJDSIAOFWENAADF!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Breakfast was magnificent! Chelsea and Andrew treated us all to cinnamon-swirled French toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon. Everyone ate a little more lightly this morning, simply because that's pretty much all we had done all weekend!

After a bit more hanging out on the deck, Chelsea, Kristen, and I headed into the kitchen to start the baking. This was a bit of a gamble because it was a recipe I had just randomly decided on and pulled from MarthaStewart.com and the gamble really worked in my favor. I chose a Red Velvet Cake recipe with a Cream Cheese Frosting, and we made the batter into cupcakes. It all came out so divine, and I even have enough of the frosting to make a whole second batch of cupcakes! (The girls I work with are going to be so lucky this week.)

After inhaling our cupcakes on the deck so as to not make a sticky, crumby mess in the house, Chelsea and Andrew packed up and headed back home to Macon to get the rest of the day to themselves. Kristen and Scott stayed around and we watched the first half of Stranger Than Fiction starring Will Farrel and Maggie Gyllenhaal, a very cute little movie. After we grabbed a quick and light bite to eat at about 3:00, Kristen and Scott headed back to Cartersville while Carlton and I came back to the house and took a nap.

This was a perfect weekend shared with my most favorite people! Happy Birthday to me!!!

Autumn Table Centerpiece

I'm finally using a "new" piece of china from our recently re-discovered wedding gifts. This large serving bowl measures about 14" in diameter and it's about 3" deep. It would be perfect for serving dinner family-style, like pasta or vegetables. And the felted wool on the table under the dish is leftover from the table linens I sewed for our Little Thanksgiving Dinner for Two last year in Arizona.


Since the felted wool fabric was purchased last year, I'm not gonna include it in my pricing. And, since the dish was a wedding gift, it's also being included as a free fixture. So...
Fabric: $0
Dish: $0
"Zebra" miniature pumpkins: $1 each
Split peas: $0.72 per bag, two bags

I'm at a grand total of $7.44 for the pretty and casual Autumn themed centerpiece. And as a bonus, one of my little white punkins even still has the little curly vine attached!