Christmas 2013

Day In.

Hello! Here are some things that we did this year for the holidays...

(p.s. most of these are from my Instagram account. If you follow me, sorry...)

Ok this was our "early" Thanksgiving weekend with my side of the family. So technically not Christmas,
but one of my all time favorite pictures! It's a framer, no?

This year, I bought a printable online for $5. It was exactly what I was looking for...Bible verse, chalkboard background, etc. I shared it with my sister and my mom, so we all have one now!

I took my file to FedEx Kinkos, and they printed it on the plotter (it was super cheap because it was black and white).
Then I spray adhesive to a foam board.....

....and Voila! (bad glare)

For wrapping, this year I did not use the brown paper I have in the past. I went for color and patterns!

 

I also downloaded FREE Christmas tags. I have to say, they were a hit! Especially this quote from Christmas Vacation...

Tags can be found here and here.

This was my first Christmas at my new job! I made blackened seasoning for some of my co-workers (mainly men). It was a hit. (Also, my sister had this adorable stamp made for me!)

Here's our tree! I still used the burlap I found at Michael's as garland. The skirt is actually a burlap table runner (shh).

I decided to put garland up in the doorway to the dining room. Next year....it will be real garland!

My inspiration....

I got this really cool silver deer head (fake) that I proudly hung. I've always wanted antlers!

Merry Christmas, to me!

And last, but certainly not least, Stuart gave me this amazing painting by Laura Hathaway. She actually goes to our church, and I saw this piece at an art show there once. I fell in love with it and said it had to be mine :)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with your families. 

Day Out.

AC

Two Year Anniversary

Day In.

Stuart and I recently celebrated our 2nd anniversary! Two years?? It goes by so fast!

We wanted to do something fun for dinner so we tried Moroccan food. Yum!

I found a Groupon (this place is expensive!) for the restaurant, Imperial Fez. We had a five course meal, belly-dancing included. 

Upon arriving, you take your shoes off. (I did not like this part...mainly because I have a foot thing and because I forgot socks.)

Note: I apologize for the terrible photos. It was dark inside and let's face it, I was sitting on the floor.

No shoes, please.

The decor was fascinating! Reminded me of Aladdin...

Course 1 (red lentil soup that you drink from the bowl) and
Course 2 (salad that you eat with your hands).
Everything was delicious!

Also, it is tradition to wear your napkin (ok, really a towel) over your left shoulder to wipe your hands on.
Here I am "cleansing my palette" between courses with a carrot and raisin dish.

Course 3 (B'stella). This might have been my favorite dish! Phyllo dough stuffed with Cornish hen, raisins, almonds and curried egg, topped with cinnamon and powder sugar.

Happy Anniversary! 

Course 4 (I ordered Cornish hen with artichokes, olives, carrots and lemon)

(side note: at this point, I had moved to sit on the floor to be even more authentic. Stuart chose to stay on the couch...thus the awkward angle of the photo)

Course 5 (Probably my least favorite course. But the mint tea was to die for!)

And here's a little belly dancing to leave you with....

Lastly, my favorite part of the evening was when I made Stu give the belly dancer a tip. Of course, he was embarrassed :) So she comes over to the table, and Stuart is supposed to tuck the money in her "belt". Right as he is about to tuck the money in, she scoots away from him....twice. hehe 


And as I'm writing this, Clemson is playing horribly, and Stuart is audibly expressing his emotions. Back to reality :)

Day Out.
AC

Annie Sloan Projects

Day In.

I was introduced to Annie Sloan Paint a few years ago by a dear friend, and I've been hooked ever since! It's a chalk paint so the best part is that you don't have to sand, prime, prep, etc. before you paint! Umm, what?!

Stuart's mom let me have this small side cabinet so I wanted to make it a side table for our spare bedroom. It was wood and needed some TLC. I used the Old White and Coco colors. I'm currently obsessed with the Coco color..it's a warm light brown.

Before.

New hardware.

After.

The top is distressed with dark wax. I'm still not sure if I love it yet.

My next project was for a dresser that my sister had but didn't have room for it anymore. I gladly took it! It was already a nice off-white...just need to be updated.

Before.

After. I love this one! I left all the trim in the original color so just painted on the Coco.

I've done a couple other things with Annie Sloan. I'm still (slowly) working to finish the spare bedroom. It's kind of become our "catch all" room so I'm trying to change that :)

Day Out.

AC

2 Year World Trip

Day In.

I have cool friends. Bethany, one of my favorite people I ever met at Auburn, and her husband, Dave, equally as cool, decided to travel the world on a bike. That's right...on a bike (or plane or train when needed).

They planned for years and took off. This weekend, they finally got home. I have missed my friend! Luckily, Stuart and I were in town, and we were able to ride their last 7 miles to "home".

Here are some pictures.

Get back in my life. Right now.

Their gear.

Stuart asking Bethany a million questions. 

I mean, really?  I was a little emotional here :)

The finish line!

Sweet, old friends.

You should check out their blog. Their journey is amazing.

http://www.garthsontour.com/

Day Out.
AC

Stuart's 30th Birthday Party

Day In.

It's been a while. Somehow, this summer has gone by very quickly, and we seem to be busy most weekends.

In July, I threw a party for Stuart since he was turning the big 3-0. I wanted it to be about his favorite things...so I invited close friends and family, catered BBQ, had a keg of Blue Moon and Bundt cake for dessert. There were yard games of cornhole and "white-trash frisbee", both two of his favorites. The weather was surprisingly perfect for an outdoor party.

Here are some pictures. It was a lot of fun!

This fun dresser has been in our guest bedroom since I moved in. Sadly, it has always smelled bad despite all my attempts to fix it. So, I decided to move it outside to serve as our bar! (good idea, Rebecca!)

Stuart loves bowties and has a lot. I found this printable and put it on the bar.

There were Mason jars for water and tea.

Family. Cotton perfectly popped through our photo!

I made this sign with some leftover pallet wood we had, just in case people weren't sure where things were located :)

Take-aways. 

Bundt cake as requested. Chocolate-chocolate chip and a white chocolate. Yum.

I made the burlap bunting with some leftover fabric I had from our stockings.
I sewed it together and then tied it onto skewers.

I asked 30 friends and family to write Stuart a letter for his birthday. They could be sweet, funny, silly, etc. He loved it.
It was a surprise! And he read ALL of them that night after everyone left.

Our friends, Bo and Sarah, have one very cool Kegerator which I asked to borrow for the party. I ordered a keg of Blue Moon (one of Stuart's favorites) from Green's, and the boys set it up.
I also used Stuart's collection of Sweetwater glasses for the beer. It was fun to pour your own!

Cheers!

I ordered food from Pig N Chick as requested. I featured baby pictures of Stuart on the table.

I printed off signs to label the food.

Good friends.

Our dear friends came from Memphis. Cole and Cotton wanted to be near each other :)

Family. 

Happy Birthday!!

We had a great time. More people came, we just didn't have photos of everyone. Overall it was fun and pretty easy to plan. Thanks to my mom and sister for all their help; to Stuart for cutting the grass; Bo and Sarah for the Kegerator; Mrs. Day for the Mason jars; and everyone for writing him a letter!

Day Out. 

AC