Snow in Tennessee, a Winter Blowout, and rain in the desert

I can not believe that 2009 is almost over, which means we are so close to not just a new year but a new DECADE!! Wowzer! We had some beautiful snow a few weeks ago. It was wonderful. I took some pics of the house because its not often we get a good covering. Alas-it was gone by afternoon.

Scott and I had a "winter blowout" party at his garagement. We decided to throw up some twinkle lights over the tables...it sort of reminded me of a school dance, but in the best way. When we turned the lights out toward the end of the night it was really very pretty!

I could not stand the thought of having a holiday party without a tree. Scott compromised and brought this beauty in. With lights its fairly festive.

Extra lights went into the bathroom.

As the evening progressed we decided a group shot was necessary. Here is most of the crowd around Scott's jeep. I actually think this photo turned out really well.

Last Sunday I headed out to Vegas to celebrate the holidays with mom, dad and Shaun. This always involves three things-SHOPPING, CASINOS and COOKIES. Sometimes we manage to combine a few of these by shopping in a casino or eating cookies on the way to shop. You get the picture. It might not be the same as Ohio but it does have its own excitement;) Vegas has a new gazillion dollar shopping center called City Centre on the strip. We decided to take a look and see what all the fuss was about.

Here are some fancy stairs...this was a mosaic like effect-but I could not figure out what it was made from.

They had these towers of water that you could turn into a water cyclone by rubbing the top. Here is Shaun checking them out.

Close up.

Here is a shot of the flower beds, floating staircases and one of the many high end retail shops.

We frosted cookies, LOTS of cookies.

I was particularly proud of this Santa.

Mom made quite a few matching mittens.

No-your eyes do not deceive you. I can not escape the rain...even when I travel to the desert. Here is proof that it rained while I was there;)

I returned the day after the cookie project to find this in the cookie box. Yes-the gingerbread lost his head. And no-there are not any small children in the house to blame this one.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

The star of my holiday show is the tree. I am a purest. I like a tree with lots of ornaments. I don't match it to my decor (yet.) I like lots of lights and until two years ago is was always a real tree. I did make a shift to an artificial tree a couple years ago because many of my ornaments were too heavy for the branches of a real tree and it made me sad to leave them in the box. When I get a bigger house and "branch out" to multiple trees I am sure I will add a real tree and a tree to match the room it lives in. But for now-just my lone family tree. As I was taking some pics I realized that the close ups of my ornaments were so pretty so I decided they were worth sharing:)

Here is another shot of the tree in all its glory.

I have many beautiful ornaments-but I have started to really get into birds-especially with feather tails. This is one of my little beauties.

Another one of my birds...this one sparkles in real life, but the pic doesn't show it off as well.

Look at this teeny, tiny Santa. Here is the size of a light bulb but my love for him is HUGE!!

Santa with his small star.

Another small Santa. I know...I totally have a thing for delicate ornaments.

I love ornaments with glitter. Here is a fun one that combines bright colors and polka dots.

I have dozens of these snowflake ornaments. I put them on the interior of the tree to give the whole thing allot of sparkle. They throw the light beautifully.

I have been collecting mercury glass for the last few years and last year began to extend my collection into the Christmas genre if you will. Here are some of my trees int he corner of the mantle.

Some of my Santa's holding court on my bookshelf. The brown paper books I did for Halloween and then fell in love with them. I like how they fade into the background in all their brown paper bag glory.

More Festive Finery....

More holiday decor from my little place. I love the deep reds of cranberries and try to use them wherever and whenever possible. This wreath makes my mirror opposite the mantle festive. This year I added the berry garland along the top and I really think it brings everything together somehow!

Here is a close up to get a better idea of the colors...

Close up of the candle holders with cranberries.

I also got one of these pretties for the window over my kitchen sink. I was brought up in a house where no surface or room was left untouched by holiday cheer. No matter how dirty my kitchen sink is-this festive touch makes me happy:)

My little dog collection does not escape my festive touches. They have cranberry wreaths.

Aren't they a dashing trio?? If I could knit they might have hats and scarves;)

Bailey-in his UT fleece looking away from the camera just like my little dog statues. He is not inanimate though-he is just ashamed to be wearing an orange fleece and is punishing my by not giving me the photo opp I want!

A preview of the Christmas tree...more on that to come-stay tuned!

Jenny rocks the baby carrier at a party, Christmas comes early, night out and the first holiday decor shots!!

Lots has been going on. First JP and Tabitha had a "WE GOT MARRIED" party! Much fun was had. My favorite part of the night was Jen and the baby carrier. Notice how relaxed both Jen (thanks to the wine) and Rowdy (thanks to the baby carriers soft sway) look!

Then a few weeks ago I received this unexpected gift in my mailbox. Yep-all on the same day. It was like a true gift of the magi-but instead of frankincense, gold and myrrh I received a million shiny catalogs and magazines. ALL ON THE SAME DAY. Obviously I was so excited I hurried inside, clutching them all to my heaving bosom, to take a photo for the blog! WOOHOOO-I love glossy mags!

Then over Thanksgiving we got together with everyone to celebrate the holiday, adult style. We took this pic to remember the evening. One creepy note-some guy at the bar at this establishment was taking our pics on his camera phone. For his own personal enjoyment. ICK!!!

Over Thanksgiving I started holiday decorating. I am proud to say I am almost done. Here is a shot of my mantle. Note the new molding at the top. I had that done a few weeks ago and am so pleased with the results. I go with jewel tones and lots of natural-ish materials.

Here is a close up of my wreath. Note the red berries. Those are a new addition and I really like how it pulls the elements from the mantle and the rest of the room into this focal point.

Here is a close up of one of my red berry trees and the fruit and pine cones I scatter in my garland.

Another close up which highlights my ribbon and boxwood additions. All in all its very festive.

Of course I have many more photos, but I figured I would roll out a few every couple of days to keep the falalalala lasting all the way to Santa Day!!!!

Halloween-Raining Buckets, or Barrels would be better;)

A quick Halloween catch up. Scott and I partied not once, but TWICE on Halloween. We started the day off with a kids party-where the constant drizzle forced us all to stay inside. We gorged on mummy hot dogs and sausage balls-and enjoyed ourselves despite the weather. Then later that day we went to a friends house to partake in some trick or treating. The men planned a hayride which was very fun, even though very wet due to CONTINUED rain. By evening it was more like a downpour. But there were treats to collect, and no kit kat could be left behind so we soldiered on. Before leaving Scott debuted his costume-which was a HUGE hit. People were really "barrelled" over by it;)

Because of the reflective nature of the safety barrel it was hard to photograph inside. I still like this because of the beer silhouette.

Second try...I was getting closer;) Note the light-yep it flashed.

Me and my barrel man.

The whole crowd, minus Scott, ready for some trick or treating-HAYRIDE STYLE!!

The only thing I don't have a picture of is Scott directing neighborhood traffic in his costume. It was hysterical. I was laughing too hard to capture it on film-that and it was raining buckets.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend

Bailey and Molly tolerate one another. They do not play together or snuggle together really. They will sleep in proximity to one another on occasion. I have had a contractor in for a few days finishing up some small projects. He came with a very loud nail gun. The dogs HATE IT!! So much so, that they have banded together until its over. Here is a shot of them from an hour ago-sharing a small dog bed. I guess they have decided to put their differences aside until all the scary power tools have left the living room;)

Gameday Saturday, a visit to Asheville, and a spider with loyalty

Scott and I went to the Auburn game. We stayed for just under one quarter. We both are more football on tv types;) We had fun tailgating though. Pictures to follow.


Then the next weekend we went to the Biltmore in Asheville, NC. It was Scott's first trip. We had a great time exploring the house and grounds. We even went to the petting zoo area where I had a close encounter with a goat (does anyone else find their eyes a bit creepy?) I wouldn't get too close because I was afraid. Yes I know, goats don't eat people. But this one had a look about it:)


There have been some scary spiders setting up camp on my front porch and flower beds. One in particular was HUGE. No matter how many violent rain storms we received this guy just kept kicking. I was actually afraid to take a broom to it because I feared its retaliation. I told Scott that because I let it live on my hosta I felt confident it would never come in the house. Scott informed me that insects and creepy crawly things are not known for their loyalty. In this case I think he is wrong, I have never seen a spider (itsy bitsy or otherwise) crawl up the waterspout. Thank GOD!!!


Scott and I seeing how many patterns we can introduce into one gameday photo;)

View from our seats, which we sat in for less then 15 minutes.

A friendly goat in a cart at the Biltmore petting zoo. Why was the goat in the cart? Because it wanted to be-it had four fully functioning legs.

Me getting a pic with the goat. That's as close as I wanted to get. That goat had it in for me...look at it looking at me. I am pretty sure I am saying "sh*t"

A little closer...for the sake of a better picture. Of course the goat wasn't looking. After two tries I had had enough.

Funky chickens. They looked like they were wearing Derby hats.

We paused for a geese crossing on the grounds.

A view of the countries largest residence.

The view from the back balcony. The day was overcast but you could still see for what felt like miles.

Lastly..my very own eight legged wonder. I wonder if the picture does justice to its size. I actually called Bailey away from this plant everytime he went to pee on it. I didn't want to make the spider mad and I didn't want it to eat poor Bailey. It was GINORMOUS.