Monthly Archives: November 2010

Nov29

Tis the Season

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Thanksgiving is over, my appetite is satisfied, and now it’s time to gear up for Christmas.  Whoo-hoo!  I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving feast, complete with good food and even better company.  We hightailed it on over and down to the Myrtle Beach area to share yummy eats with my parents and we were not disappointed.  My mom put together a huge spread that we shared together along with good conversation. 

Other than stuffing our faces to our zippers popped, we also managed to make a jaunt to the beach and several thrift stores.  All in all, it was a wonderful trip and holiday.  Of course, after all that rest and relaxation, I was itching to get some necessary projects done when we returned.  First on the list was raking.  Again.

Now that all the leaves have fallen, the City’s leaf sucker upper truck (or whatever it’s called) is coming around on Monday, so it was high time to rake all that detritus to the street and enjoy a leaf free yard (once and for all).  With that chore done, I moved on to a much more enjoyable task: beginning the holiday decorating!

First on the list was getting ready for a new entryway display.  This meant that all the pumpkins I had been using, had to be moved.  Aaron suggested putting them in our horse trough, I did, and they look awesome.  I’m planning on tucking in some fir branches in the next week to make it a little more yule tide appropriate.

Next up for a little festive adornment was the front porch/door.   I pulled an metal milk jug out to the porch and filled it with some Magnolia and Nandina branches to add a little red/green coloring.

Then I cut some Leland Cypress branches and bundled them together, adding some more Nandina on top.  I secured the pieces together with rope and then covered the rope with some spare brown grosgrain ribbon.  I hung it on the door and, wahlah!, super easy yet elegant door hanger.

I still plan to add garland to the exterior, but at least I’ve made a good start to the holiday decorating.  Of course, I’m still working on my front entry display and incorporating a little Christmas spirit throughout the house (baby steps).  Here’s a sneak peak of part of the display thus far:

Fingers crossed I finish it in the next few days.  Again, I hope everyone had a superb Thanksgiving!

Nov22

Homeward Bound: Road Trip!

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We decided to spend our weekend in a place we used to call home: Charleston, South Carolina. We were looking forward to a relaxing weekend spent with friends, catching up, and revisiting some of our old haunts. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect, with sunny, blue skies and a temperature hovering around 70 degrees. I’ll admit that I didn’t take as many pictures as I would have liked, but I guess that means that I was just having too good a time, right?  Anyhoo, one of the best parts about our quick jaunt was hitting up the beach at Sullivan’s Island.

You are able to bring your dogs this time of year to run around the beach and Hutson had an absolute blast. It was awesome to watch him run free and be able to act like the puppy he is, no worries about constraints.

When we walked down to the beach, we were met with an interesting spectacle: the Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR) officers trying to get a buck out of the water. Apparently, the overdevelopment at Isle of Palms is eliminating the deer’s habitat, forcing too much competition for limited resources and driving the animals to seek less competitive feeding and breeding grounds. This poor buck had to have crossed over some pretty treacherous waterways not matter where he originated and he was obviously exhausted from his journey and subsequent battle with DNR.

The good news is that DNR successfully pulled him from the water without having to tranquilize him. They were extremely gentle and professional and I was duly impressed with their handling of the situation. The deer was simple bounds at his legs and put in the back of their pick-up, to be taken to one of the national forests in the area for release.

After this spectacle concluded, we spent a good bit of time just walking, building sand castles, and shell hunting.

Since I neglected to photograph a lot of what we did, you will just to take my word that it was a wonderful weekend indeed. A big thanks to Hip, Tanya, and Mia for being gracious hosts (as always)!

Nov18

“Leave” it to me

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Last night we had Aaron’s family over to celebrate his mom’s 60th. All birthdays are special in my book and we wanted to make it a special occasion for everyone attending. We did our Costco run to prepare, picking up a massive beef tenderloin and plenty of wine for everyone. Everyone was asked to bring a side so that all had a hand in making the evening special. Aaron cleaned the house most of the day yesterday and had a lovely fire going in the kitchen. He worked quite hard and everything looked great.

The only thing left to do was a little seasonal decorating to add a touch of flourish and pizzazz. As I walked Hutson prior to everyone’s arrival, inspiration struck. Use some of the brightly colored leaves to adorn my otherwise plain glass votives.

I simply picked up a bunch of smaller leaves near the end of our walk and pulled out my twine once I got home. I cut even lengths of twine, one piece for each votive, held the leaf on the votive with my finger, and gingerly wrapped the twine around the votive ending it with a nice bow.

Quite simple, but it added a nice, festive touch that was free. Since I had some leaves left over, I did the same decoration to a pillar candle and, wahlah!, instantly more attractive.

Just a little creativity and time and we had beautiful decorations to accompany a wonderful evening. Happy Birthday Marti!

Nov17

It’s Not Nice to Yale

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Hello and happy Wednesday to you! I have been terrible about posting regularly and I do feel guilty about it. I am making a mid-month resolution at this moment to be more committed to sharing what’s going on in our home and lives.

I just returned from a business trip to New Haven, Connecticut yesterday so I have yet to prepare a substantial post for today. On the flip side, you can take my word that New Haven is a cute little town and reminded me of my own alma mater: College of Charleston. Although the cost of attending and, dare I say, prestige, is quite a bit different between C of C and Yale, both share similarities.

I only had 48 hours in this sweet little town and worked most of it, so unfortunately I did not get to tour around and sight see as much as I would have liked. I guess that means that Aaron, Little Man, and I will just have to go back and check it out ourselves during a mini-vacation! In an effort to uphold my resolution to be more attentive to this blog, I will post again either tonight or tomorrow. Til then!

Nov15

He’s Crafty, and He’s Just My Type!

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Aaron was busy this past weekend getting in touch with his artistic side.  His inspiration was the pile of tobacco sticks that are laying around his family farm.  These wood sticks were used in the curing process of tobacco and were each split by Aaron’s great grandfather’s hands; they still even emit the lovely aroma of tobacco leaves.   

Aaron and I have incorporated these tobacco sticks into a number of projects, but Aaron wanted to try something new from what we’ve done before.  His first project was a small, tapered ladder.  We used this handiwork as a towel rack for the bathroom, although I’m sure it would lovely on its own, placed on top of a mantle, or just leaning against the wall.

 

Aaron then made a ladder that was uniform and width the whole length.  This piece is now our new magazine rack for the bathroom.  It’s the perfect solution for displaying magazines in an uncluttered, aesthetically pleasing way. 

 

I’m super pleased with how both of these ideas turned out.  Although that’s not even all of them.  Aaron also used some old slate roofing tiles we had leftover from another project to make chalkboards, using the tobacco sticks to make wooden easel stands.  Is he amazing or what?

 The even more awesome part is that Aaron did these in no time and he’s brimming with more ideas to use the sticks in fun and different ways.  I’ll let you know what Mr. Creative comes up with next!

Nov9

Raking It In

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We had our first frost the other morning and was cold enough to motivate me to turn on the heat to knock off the chill.  While I love this cold weather, there is one aspect of this season that I don’t look upon with gusto: dead leaves. 

Let me be clear.  I love when the leaves change colors.  This year the trees simply popped with reds, yellows, and oranges.  I just don’t love it when they fall.  As of Sunday morning at 9 am, this was the state of my front yard; you can’t even seen the grass!

Since we had spent a relaxing day Saturday in Boone, I had all kinds of pent up energy to tackle this project.  After church on Sunday, Aaron got me started on this task by blowing off the roof.  Such a sweet man!

I then blew off the front porch and front beds.  With Little Man’s help, er, encouragement, I had the front yard raked and leaves bagged in about 2 hours (I took a few breaks). 

Did I mention that I used the entire box of 21 bags for the yard?  Who knew Pin Oaks shed so much?!

Not only did our yard look much improved, but there are several other positives as I see it:  I engaged in some good cardio and exercise; we saved money by not paying someone else to do it; and Little Man and spent quality time during this chore laughing, playing, and enjoying each other’s company.  So despite a few more calluses and some blisters (ouch!), I’d say it was a morning well spent.

Nov8

Extra, Extra: Fall Has Arrived!

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If you didn’t get the memo, then please let me be the first to tell you: Summer is over and Fall is here! Three cheers for cooler weather!  Now that we are entering into colder months, Aaron and I have been simply itching to go to Boone.  It’s a relatively short drive away and a wonderful town.  The people are friendly, the food is good, and there are so many quirky shops and people (and I mean that as a compliment). 

When our original plans fell through for the weekend, we decided to take a trip to this idyllic little spot on Saturday.  It was relaxing drive that resulted in a 20 degree temperature drop from High Point!  When we finally made it to Boone, there were snowflakes in the air and, well, we weren’t exactly prepared for that cold of weather.  Instead of walking the trails we hightailed it over to The Dan’l Boone Inn and got our grub on with their family style lunch.  It. was.  delicious.

I absolutely gorged myself on the ham biscuits.  They were utterly divine.  Once we finished stuffing our faces, we ventured out to enjoy the sights.  In a nutshell, the mountains were breathtaking and entirely worth the drive.  Here are some photos of our day:

It was nice to take a day to just relax and not worry about a to-do list, to simply go with it instead of adhere to a strict agenda.  We just enjoyed each other and our beautiful surroundings;  what more could you really ask for?  After such a perfect day, we were a bit tuckered out from the driving.  We all nestled into our pajamas and enjoyed our first fire of the season.  Bliss!

Nov4

Har-Har-Harvest

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Well, hello there.  It’s been a while hasn’t it?  Sorry for the lack of posts.  In my defense, it’s been busy.  Between attending a wonderful Halloween party last Friday, my parents coming to visit for the weekend, trick or treating, and a three day business trip from which I just returned yesterday, I did not have much time to recap recent events.  In all honesty, I haven’t done that many (if any) fun projects lately.  So instead of one project, I’ll just go over Halloween/harvest related topics. 

First off is that Halloween party we went to.  My sister-in-law invited us to enjoy yummy themed snacks and great company; it would have been hard to have a better time anywhere else.  Some of the things available to eat was this too cute “brain” dip (guacamole in a hollowed-out cauliflower in a bed of salsa). 

Then there were these “monster fingers”.  Adorable. 

 

There was of course lots more delicious things, but those two were my favorite.  As for Little Man’s Halloween costume, I did indeed finish it.  Maybe not the most convincing Gingerbread Man ever, but it worked for this three year old.  The plus is that it was a chilly night for trick or treating and the fleece I used for his outfit kept him quite toasty.

After the trick or treating which left us with enough candy for the next year, I put away the Halloween decorations and rearranged everything for a more harvest/Thanksgiving feel.  Behold our front entry console table.

Festive, isn’t it?  Then there is this too cute front door decoration that I got from Hobby Lobby for $5! 

Last but not least, are the pumpkins, gourds, and cabbage welcoming guests up the front walkway.  

 

Since we’re not hosting Thanksgiving this year, it seems the only thing I have left to do to prepare for November 25th is bake some pumpkin pies.  The goal is to have these done in the next week?  We’ll see (and I’ll keep you posted).