I had big plans for today. Big plans. It's New Year's Day…….the day I like to take down the xmas decorations. But, I love having the house decorated for xmas. Love it. Love the lights througout my house. It feels festive. So, I didn't take anything down. Stayed in my jammies all day. Watched football. Puttered around. Cooked a bit. Spent time with my fam. It was all good. Decided to make some new pillows for my couch. New pillows for the New Year. Sure, sounds like a plan. :) I was wandering the ailes of Tar-jay the other night….not looking for anything in particular. Just looking. Waiting for something to catch my eye. Checked out the place mats…..and what do you know? They caught my eye. A few of them:
I loved the colors. Threw 4 of them into my cart. Took a trip down the christmas sale aisle. Saw this:
Glimmer snow? 75% off? Like a buck a bag? Bought 5 bags, to stuff 4 place mats to use as decorative pillows. Brilliant, right? I didn't really pay attention to the word "Glimmer" on the package. This is what my floor looked like after stuffing 1/2 of a pillow:
Glimmer everywhere! Nice! Oh well, carry on, right!?!?!?
Finished pillow:
Lub it! A new look for the New Year! I finished two, and will finish the other two tomorrow. More pics then! In the meantime…..Happy New Year! Wishing you all the best for a happy, healthy, and productive 2011!
And I can't possibly believe it. Where has the time gone? I remember it, as it was just yesterday (no, seriously……it was) the day he was born. It was a Sunday. I had just gone through 36 hours (YES! 36 HOURS!) of labor. It wasn't pretty. I screamed. I yelled. I cried. And yes….I swore. "Only I didn't say 'fudge'. I said THE word; the queen mother of all dirty words — the F-dash-dash-dash word!" (Ralphie via A Christmas Story), but it's true, I said it. I think to my Mom…or my Dad…..but either one, they forgave me, cause they love me! Parents are great that way! ;) It was New Year's Eve, but since I had been in labor for like forever, and it was a Sunday…..I couldn't figure out why NO ONE was answering their phone, to share our goods news. I mean really, it was a Sunday night….the LAST night in 1989…the LAST night of the 80's (hair bands, the breakfast club, leg warmers and flashdance) where could everyone be? Totally didn't "get" that it was New Year's Eve. Oh well.
Anyway – back to my boy. He's been a joy. Loves his Mom and Dad. And his sister (more than she even knows), and his relatives. Will do anything for the fam. Loves football. Loves school (sorta). Likes to be sarcastic (always). Thinks he's pretty cool (he is). Makes us laugh (at him as much as with him!). Is happy. And he is 21. Where did the time go? Bittersweet. Happy, yet sad. Excited, yet apprehensive. Wishing my boy, Tyson…..all the best. Happy 21st Birthday to you! You make us proud! We love you, oh so much! Celebrate! Be smart! Hugs!
I'm sorry. I couldn't help it. It's what goes on at my house. Someone doesn't know their gender….or species for that matter! Merry Christmas y'all! 😉
So, I cooked my very first turkey on Sunday. My very first. I'm thirty forty some odd years old, and I have NEVER cooked a turkey before. Kinda crazy, huh? We always go to my mom's house for Thanksgiving, and she is superwoman, and cooks every year. She always cooks a fabulous spread and does it all herself. Hard to live up to that!
Carl got a turkey Christmas bonus this year, and with college boy home for the holidays on Friday night, I decided to have my whole family up for dinner on Sunday and cook my very first turkey. What? Invite the fam over for my first try at a turkey? Yup, crazy. BUT, it was fine. Really easier than I expected. I'm not sure how it tasted, but hey…..I cooked it right?!?!?!? And with all the drama of the flood and the house being torn up…..it was a nice diversion. I think I may cook one again soon…..well, maybe next year when Carl gets his turkey bonus ;)
A few days ago, we experienced a very lovely situation here at the Moll house. A fabulous master bathroom flood, that happened sometime during the night (while we were sleeping), that we didn't find out about until morning. Not only was the carpet in our bedroom soaked, the carpet was soaked downstairs in our family room. Fabulous, right? Oh, and did I mention that my laptop was on the coffee table directly below the master bath? It's toast too. Merry Christmas!
We called our insurance company and they were awesome. They were at our house within in a hour and had issued us a check for the repairs. Weird how fast it all works now. They sent a crew out to pull up carpet, rip out drywall and get huge dryers and de-humidifiers set up in our family room, master bedroom, and master bath. This was yesterday morning. So, for 24 hours now, our house has sounded like an airport. It's crazy noisy. Our family room is taped off from the rest of the house and everything from that room was moved to the dining area. It was making me crazy so I sort of moved everything around so I could at least function. It's Christmas for heaven's sake! I worked hard on decorating this year, and I wasn't going to let it all go to waste! :) Here is the lovely family room:
Pretty fabulous, huh?
Here's the view from the other side of the plastic curtain:
Charming, isn't it. Now imagine the sound that goes along with it! All those fans going.
While I was taking pics, I decided to just go ahead and document how the house looks this year, for Christmas.
The outside:
at night:
Come on in!
Notice the plastic…..it's totally the new xmas decor! Also, notice the kid's xmas tree that is usually in the family room, is now in the dining area! Love it!
The living room – with a hodge podge of furniture from the family room thrown in! Ha!
Thanks for taking a moment to peek inside my crazy house this holiday season! :) Have a great Saturday!
It's no secret….I LOVE getting Christmas cards! I've always struggled with the perfect way to display them though. Last year I found the perfect solution (for me!) I purchased this photo holder/card display from my friend (and Willow House Design Consultant) Linda Burt. And it has worked out perfectly! Here is last year's card display (the cards have S L O W L Y been trickling in this year – what the french toast?)
How do you display your cards? And is your Christmas card in the mail, on it's way to me? I know my card won't be going out until next Monday (cutting it a tad close, you say?)…..Tyson doesn't arrive home from college until late Friday night, so we will be taking a family picture on Saturday! Yikes! Enjoy your day!
After sewing all my pillows on Sunday night, and doing tons of small diy projects around the house….Carl and I went to sleep with sugar plums (sewing machines and miter saws) dancing in our heads, only to wake up the next morning with a small bathroom flood on our hands. The master bath toilet had flooded in the night and we slept right through it (What, really?). Water had leaked out into the master bedroom carpet, and dripped downstairs into the family room. The only major casualty (my pillows were DRY!) was the laptop. It was soaking wet. Ugh. So, that resulted in no post yesterday. And this post is coming to you live from work shhhhhhhhh don't tell!
Hopefully, my hubby can get the laptop up and running soon! I've got some pics to share and I wanted to participate in the Nester'sChristmas Tour of Homes 2010. Wish us luck with the computer!
Christmas came early for me! Carl picked up the exact sewing machine that I wanted (which he saw on my blog!) for me today! I have been making some pillow covers for the pillows on our couch, and I was using hem tape….which worked, but wasn't fabulous! So after he picked up my sewing maching (BOO-YA!), I went to work and covered 5 large pillows, made 2 placemat pillows and make a long oblong pillow. The photos are crap (per usual) and don't really show was a difference the pillows make. BUT, I'm giddy to have those F U G L Y pillows covered!
Before:
After:
Not too exciting but soooooo much better!
I also painted my dining room chandy…..Carl installed dimmers and some more lighting! Busy and productive day for sure!
I was in heaven today. Pure heaven. It was my office Christmas party this afternoon….in heaven! Actually, I spent the day here @ Akasha Spa & Salon
having this done:
and eating a catered lunch from Normandy Cafe! YUM! And some good wine! It was soooo nice and relaxing! I love it! Especially, after taking a tumble down the stairs a few nights ago….and being sore. I feel so much better! Now off to take a quick nap, before attending another Christmas party tonight! Hope you enjoyed your Saturday, as much as I enjoyed mine!
