Our Weekend

The Holiday's are officially here!

All day Friday I was looking forward to getting some take out, having a glass of wine, and putting up our Christmas tree.  T had set up the tree while I was at work (he is fortunate and has triple the amount of time off) but when I got home to "fluff" the tree... it was wobbling from side to side every time I touched it.  I figured something wasn't "fit" in correctly or tightened... wrong... the tree stand just happened to be a POS and once we folded it up last year it wouldn't open back up properly :(  We found that Lowes sold replacement tree stands, had some in stock at the location near us and headed over to purchase our $13 replacement.  After speaking with 4 employees and explaining that there is a difference between live and artificial tree stands... we cut our losses and went to dinner with some friends.  What boggled my mind was that the store's inventory said they had 18 in stock and nobody was capable of finding them.  sigh.

Saturday lead to more failed attempts at tree stand hunting.... and a not so happy T that our Wolfpack played horrible (surprised?).  After a nice date night we decided to check out Walmart as a last resort... and long behold they had one for $7.50!  Finally at 10 pm Saturday night I was able to actually begin decorating my tree!  .... and then I was too tired, lol.

BUT,  Sunday... I put my motivated pants on and got to work!  In less than an hour we had ourselves a finished product!  I used the same colors as I did last year since nobody hardly saw them I wanted to keep the same tree at least one more year.

One day... I'll sit down and learn how to edit photos again.

Over the past few years I've learned that Slade will occasionally get bored and help himself to presents... this year I'm only putting the presents that I don't think he will mess with under the tree.  I'll put them out when people come over so it looks all nice and pretty, but I know Slade will get a scent of something and then BAM... there are 3-5 presents chewed the corner's of or bows ripped off.

See it looks a little empty considering I'm 3 presents away from being done with Christmas shopping. 

Oh yeah, did I mention?  The surprise project that we decided to tackle was the kitchen walls.  That orangey-rattan textured wallpaper had to go!  The first time that we walked in the house I told T that there was no way that I would even think about the house unless he'd let me take the wallpaper down.  Fast forward almost two years and the wallpaper has left the building (lame? ...sorry).  I'll talk about the kitchen later... but check out what we did :)

Yup.  We started a new gallery wall in the kitchen.  It's not finished, but it's a start and it'll grow as we collect things, change taste, change color scheme... etc.  I already would like to paint the "wall organizer" black or at least another color so that it doesn't clash with the freshly painted trim.
 

I like that there are holes for it to grow <3

T told me that I reached my limit on Christmas trees...

I have one in the kitchen.  It's mainly my Starbuck's ornaments tree but I have a few small Snoopy ornaments left since I didn't want them to get lost on the larger trees.  Unfortunately its hard to tell through the picture that there are even the Starbucks ornaments on the tree.

Kitchen tree.

I used my 4x4 paintings that I did a few weeks ago as ornaments for the tree.  I know it's a little different, but it's me.  The tree was a $2.50 find last year at Target at 90% off, I added some large vintage bulbs (LED to save energy of course), some plastic bulbs that I also purchased 90% off for $.10 per pack of 5.  I had plenty extra bulbs so I used a few to carry the decor throughout the room.

DR tree?  Sure! :) 

I decided to leave my felt trees int he DR

Until I feel brave, our presents will remain on the table

 Our LR was pretty much the same as last year.  I added the lit twigs that I found at Garden Ridge and got the boys matching stockings to go with ours.  It's been pretty chilly at night so I already brought my plants in.... but now don't know where to put them all?  I have to figure that out before we can have a fire.

I think I might make some garland to hang from the mantle

Of course the wine cork tree made another appearance!

My in-laws are on the way and will be there when I get home tonight.  I didn't get all the things that I wanted to accomplished rom my list, but I did get the kitchen done and that was a big project.  Other than the tree stand issue we did have a great weekend!

Our Weekend

Saturday morning we went downtown Raleigh to check out The Handmade Market, a market full of great artists and their handy-work.  There was everything from jewelry, food, art, custom office supplies, live DJ.  There were probably about 40 vendors total, perfect without being overwhelming. 

Look what I had to resist as we walked up

She had the cutest onesies and stockings 

My cousin loves PBR, I immediately thought of her when I saw this print.

Of course we would get another koozie, "919 y'all"

We also purchased some specialty concentrate coffee that was delicious!

We had brunch at Remedy Diner while we were downtown and I have to say I LOVED it.  The place has character to it, good food, and one of the best bloody mary's I've ever had!

Celery and Olives with my bloody mary... heaven. 

Remedy

Saturday night we had dinner at Maggiano's with some of our friends.  I want everyone to know that I went there and did not order pasta!  I'm very proud of that!  I must say that I haven't been impressed with Maggiano's the past few times we have been, the food is so-so, the service is sub par, and the fact that it's just so crowded doesn't make me want to return anytime soon.  If our friend had not made a reservation we would've had to wait THREE hours?!  No thank you.

I only had 1/2 of a piece of bread.

I snook the new Sur la Table at Southpoint before dinner, it's so pretty in there!!!  There is floor to ceiling nothing but kitchen stuff.  I only got to briefly go in, but I fell in love with this ornament...but at $15 it stayed there.

Deviled Egg Ornament.

It was gorgeous here this weekend, the sun was out and it was in the 70's, I would take this weather every day of the year!!

Our Weekend

This past weekend was spent catching up with family.  My cousin, her husband, and her adorable baby boy flew in from Scottsdale, AZ for a few days while my dad stayed with us my aunt, uncle, cousin, and her daughter came into town to see everyone too.

When you don't have a fire pit, you use a grill.... until you find your aunt staring at you in the window like a image from a horror movie!!  At that point to quickly put the lid on and scramble to get rid of all the evidence.

Redneck fire pit

Saturday I had a cuddle session with this girl

Saturday wasn't a good day for the Wolfpack... TOB needs to shape up or ship out, he's had long enough to play around and we shouldn't have lost to UVA.  After "Thanksgiving" dinner we went out to a local brewery, Big Boss, to have some Harvest Time (aka. Pumpkin beer).

The girls

Since we were gone for the majority of the weekend we spent Sunday with the boys, however, their idea of quality time and ours isn't always the same.  Fenway probably had "to go" outside 15 times before 10am, not because he "needed" to go out, but he wanted to do a lap around the backyard to make sure there were no squirrels/birds/bunnies/acorns/leaves etc that had changed since he was last out (5-10 minutes prior).  Slade thought he should have been fed on the hour, every hour.  Slade also happened to have a cuddle buddy all morning, Travis, a friend that came into town.  But at 5pm... I was faced with the two of them BOTH staring me down for food.... needless to say they got dinner early.

Begging because they don't understand daylight savings time

When we were at Garden Ridge last weekend, I talked T into letting me take home some lit twigs.  I knew they would end up in a vase, probably on the mantle, but what I didn't expect was that I should have bought two packages.  These twigs came in all sorts of styles and colors, operated off two AA batteries, and only put be back $10.  I feel a trip to Garden Ridge soon :)

Needs a little more... 

Sunday was also the first time in two days that we had "cooked" a home cooked meal and I had to say that it was nice to have one.  Stuffed chicken breast fillet, green beans, and baked potato was exactly the comfort food that I was craving!   It was also a plus that I satisfied my cravings with a 8pp meal.

Sunday night dinner

This coming week is time to put our busy pants on and tackle the things we want to do before Thanksgiving!  We also plan to visit the Handmade Market downtown Raleigh :)  I highly recommend checking it out if you are in the area Saturday.

Our Weekend

This past weekend we "survived" a hurricane, and I use the term "survived" very loosely because there was not much of anything here in Raleigh (thankfully).  The skies were a little grey and some leaves fell, it finally sprinkled a little bit Sunday night, but nothing to write home about by any means. 

After I googled that there was a Garden Ridge in Raleigh I drug T out of the house Saturday morning to go check it out before the NCSU vs UNC game (and, no, we don't want to talk about it).  To my surprise it was actually in a old Target building in North Raleigh.  I thought they were closed when we pulled up at 9:15 with hardly any cars in the parking lot... nope.... I guess nobody else wanted to check out Christmas decor on a Saturday morning?  No?  Oh well, their loss.  

They had most artificial trees i had ever seen.... even a wide variety of colors!

Santa was too large to stand up straight.

After getting our Garden Ridge fix in we headed over to Green Front where we were disappointed... they usually have several items we drool over and wish we had the $$ to take home with us, but this time... not so much.  T has been wanting to find a new chair, currently his sits cockeyed and one side rests on the floor.  We didn't have any luck... but we did love two things...

A DR table with some awesome wood grain.

Grey mid-century modern couch with peg legs. LURV. 

A weekend isn't complete without checking out Target.  I realize that y'all probably think I am obsessed with Target, and to be honest, I know most people think it's odd.  I like to check out the store and see what's new...

I thought this ceramic container was adorable, lol. 

What would one do with Reindeer lights?

Saturday night one of our friend's decided that she wanted to make a haunted house.  Luckily after a late night craft run we found one at 70% off and she quickly scooped it up without thinking twice.

Haunted Gingerbread House

First Attempt construction didn't last long after this picture

Finished... still reminded me of a crooked house

She even made a spider...

Since the boys didn't get in on the gingerbread action, they wanted a seasonal treat too.... they had pumpkin treats.  Slade quickly forgave me for not sharing the icing, wasn't he nice?

There is my weekend.  I've started on two projects.... hopefully they will be complete by the end of the week. 

PS.  I addressed our Christmas cards today while T watched football.  I couldn't believe that 10 people I knew moved in the last year, that seems like a lot.  (One thing checked off my list to do before Thanksgiving)

Our Weekend

On Sunday, Nate Berkus had a line to be released at Target.... but our Target messed up... they had the stuff out on the shelves on Thursday when we happen to run in to pick up some face wipes(you know, don't y'all just run into Target for one thing and then look over the entire store?) and I grabbed T's arm and got all excited.  Of course, T, didn't get excited like I did, but I have to say it's like Nate Berkus had our color scheme in mind (Teal, Yellow, White, Grey, Green) because his whole line had all my favorite colors!   

I'm secretly hoping that nobody wants those yellow pillows and I can get two once they go on sale

I love the brass bowl, I've been trying to find one to turn into a pendent light for a while now

How is this guy not related to me?  I mean, Hello!

This guy won my heart over.

So I had talked T into letting me have the tortoise shell, which consisted of me thinking very quickly where it would go because I knew that was going to be his question.  I hoped to hang it in the SR on the left side of the window because it was the perfect yellow-gold color... but there was one problem with the yellow ones :(   The creases of the shell appeared to be discolored and looked a weird greenish color.   And of course the other colors (green and off white) were all damaged.  So, between T and I we both went to two different Target's the next day to search for a tortoise shell.... and he was the lucky one!  It's waiting to be hung :) 

In case you are wondering, I'm not skipping Fall, Halloween, or Thanksgiving!  See I even have out fall colored place mats and gourds on the DR table! I just have one question, what can I do to stop the mini pumpkins or gourds from molding?  Should I wash them in vinegar?  Any ideas?  I've had to toss three from the mantle already. 

The half green and half orange one is my favorite

Saturday we went to the farmer's market to pick up some treats for the boys and I was heartbroken I didn't bring them when we saw this next to the fountain.

Waverly Place is very dog friendly

I'll be the first one to admit that I'm not a political person, I don't blow up facebook with post followed by post concerning the election because I think it does nothing but start drama.  Instead of venting my thoughts to facebook, I did what really counts, I voted, and I voted early.  I hate to say it, but actions speak louder than words.

I got me a sticker

Saturday night we went out to dinner with some friends to get sushi... and it was definitely a splurge night.  Since I've started weight watchers four weeks ago, I haven't had sushi, and I was craving it... bad!  We split six rolls between three people and I think I had 12 pieces of sushi...which was probably close to 20 points (EEEK!) but it was so good and so worth it!

I highly recommend Yuri in Cary

Hope y'all had a great weekend too!  We've been spoiled with two weekends in a row with no commitments! 

Our Weekend

I loved our weekend!  LOVED IT!

Friday night we went to Gravy, downtown Raleigh, to have dinner before we went to see Holy Ghost Tent Revival at Lincoln Theater.  It was a great show and we even loved the opening band, River Whyless.

River Whyless

Sweet sweater

Holy Ghost Tent Revival

Playing in the backseat

Saturday we accomplished quite a bit around the house, it was a good feeling too!  We cleaned up a lot of the mess around the yard, T mowed/weed-eated and blew the roof, yard, driveway and porch off.  I filled some of the empty pots with some (yet to bloom) mums (hopefully they'll last) and gathered the other empty pots from the failures of the summer.  While I cleaned up, T also hung a few things...

We finally hung the peacock hooks for our pj's

I am really excited to see the SR coming to look like an actual room.  It's came a long way from the giant storage room when we first moved into the house.  We have been able to walk in it for almost a year, but it hasn't been until the past few months that you can go in, sit down, and watch tv.  

We changed up the mantle, less summer colors. 

Sunday morning we were watching tv and all of a sudden the dogs started barking, it sounded like someone had slammed a car door shut or someone ran into something... sure enough, someone had ran into our neighbor's yard.  Let me remind you this was 9am in the morning, not 2:30am in the morning, the guy wasn't drunk, he was playing on his phone (let that be a lesson!).  Our neighbor lost a tree but all is well.  

Obviously Slade was really bothered by it all.... he will go lay in the sun, get hot, pant, and not move.  I catch him doing this and I literally have to pick him up before he will go back inside out of the sun.

Trying to get a tan

I'm not sure how much longer FB is going to last.  Over the weekend when I posted a status I was given the prompt to "promote my status" so being curious I clicked on it and this was what popped up next!  You now have to pay in order to show up "high priority" on others news feeds?!?  $7 each status update?!?  I could understand if you are a business, because it's much cheaper than advertising, but FB wasn't intended to be a advertising outlet.  Needless to say I quickly pressed cancel.

The beginning of the end of FB

With the weather at almost 80 degrees, a bloody mary was in order.

We had some friend's over for dinner Sunday evening, in less than two weeks they will be moving to Charlotte.  We're excited at what the future holds for them, but we are going to miss them.  I have to say the pork chops were amazing!

Those suckers were thick!

I kind of wanted something after dinner when we were watching The Walking Dead, so I pulled out the caramel frozen yogurt and had one cookie.  Of course no sooner than I sat down you see who is making his way over to the couch to see if he will be getting any....

We had a great weekend, I wish it could've been longer, but there will be another in 4 days.