Just a slice, please

a little update

tomorrow we go to sign papers (hopefully!  For some reason this isn't set in stone) on our new house...while I'm completely excited to have a new decorating challenge, I'm stressed out beyond belief about having to pack and move everything potentially in a week.  Of course we have school Thanksgiving plays and Thanksgiving thrown in there just so we don't have a full week, too!  The house would be just about perfect for us...maybe not this one that we loved and remodeled and made just so, but I think we could/will be very comfortable there.  As soon as I can, I'll post pics here and you can follow my decorating ocd to have it all figured out before we move in...

I have to get through tomorrow first...a meeting with a handyman to get some quotes on some repairs around here, then meet with the real estate agents and so forth to sign papers, then Jillie's IEP meeting, then car pools then NEW MOON!!!!!  

YAY!  So excited to have a girls night out with Kari (and Maddie and her BFF in tow)...our plan is to drop the teens off with soccer chairs and fast food to wait in line and we'll go enjoy a glass of wine and a nice dinner!  Tee hee...sounds like a grand plan to me!

I leave you with my challenge layout for ScrapbookExpress.com's weekly challenge...come play along!  The winner of the monthly drawing gets a $25 GC to the store and all you have to do is enter..the contest is NOT judged...it is a random drawing.  The more you play the better chance you have to win!

Lisa's Weekly Challenge- What'cha Got Cooking?

With Thanksgiving looming in the next week and the holidays right on it's heels, our thoughts turn to the family gatherings and meals, and what we'll be cooking! My challenge to you this week is to create a layout about cooking! You can choose to document a special family recipe, a holiday baking tradition or even a kitchen flop..it's up to you! Here's my example:



Bo Bunny Kitchen Spice Die cut
Bo Bunny Kitchen Spice
Bo Bunny Kitchen Spice Cloves
Bo Bunny Kitchen Spice Combo Stickers
Bo Bunny Gypsy Flowers
American Crafts FAbric Thickers
My Minds Eye transparency
Maya Road Leaf Stick Pins
Vintage Milk Cap
Buttons from Stash

We don't have a special folder in the gallery for this challenge so please upload to your Member Gallery by November 24th. You must link your creation back to this thread to be entered into the drawing.

You may upload one layout for this challenge. 

Each upload earns you a chance in the random draw for a $25.00 GC at the end of the month. 

a little update

tomorrow we go to sign papers (hopefully!  For some reason this isn't set in stone) on our new house...while I'm completely excited to have a new decorating challenge, I'm stressed out beyond belief about having to pack and move everything potentially in a week.  Of course we have school Thanksgiving plays and Thanksgiving thrown in there just so we don't have a full week, too!  The house would be just about perfect for us...maybe not this one that we loved and remodeled and made just so, but I think we could/will be very comfortable there.  As soon as I can, I'll post pics here and you can follow my decorating ocd to have it all figured out before we move in...

I have to get through tomorrow first...a meeting with a handyman to get some quotes on some repairs around here, then meet with the real estate agents and so forth to sign papers, then Jillie's IEP meeting, then car pools then NEW MOON!!!!!  

YAY!  So excited to have a girls night out with Kari (and Maddie and her BFF in tow)...our plan is to drop the teens off with soccer chairs and fast food to wait in line and we'll go enjoy a glass of wine and a nice dinner!  Tee hee...sounds like a grand plan to me!

I leave you with my challenge layout for ScrapbookExpress.com's weekly challenge...come play along!  The winner of the monthly drawing gets a $25 GC to the store and all you have to do is enter..the contest is NOT judged...it is a random drawing.  The more you play the better chance you have to win!

Lisa's Weekly Challenge- What'cha Got Cooking?

With Thanksgiving looming in the next week and the holidays right on it's heels, our thoughts turn to the family gatherings and meals, and what we'll be cooking! My challenge to you this week is to create a layout about cooking! You can choose to document a special family recipe, a holiday baking tradition or even a kitchen flop..it's up to you! Here's my example:


Bo Bunny Kitchen Spice Die cut
Bo Bunny Kitchen Spice
Bo Bunny Kitchen Spice Cloves
Bo Bunny Kitchen Spice Combo Stickers
Bo Bunny Gypsy Flowers
American Crafts FAbric Thickers
My Minds Eye transparency
Maya Road Leaf Stick Pins
Vintage Milk Cap
Buttons from Stash

We don't have a special folder in the gallery for this challenge so please upload to your Member Gallery by November 24th. You must link your creation back to this thread to be entered into the drawing.

You may upload one layout for this challenge. 

Each upload earns you a chance in the random draw for a $25.00 GC at the end of the month. 

Quick Sneaks..

Still no news on a house for us...we are in waiting mode on the one we want...maybe we'll know Monday?

Sooo..since I was asked, more than once, for my Little Red Scrapbook sneaks...here you go. I didn't have time to do them the way I like to, all three dimensionally, but it's better than no sneaks, right girls??

 

 

 

Just when we felt safe...

We got a bomb dropped on us.  The landlord wants us out.  As soon as possible.  UGH. 

 

Two years ago, we sold the home we are currently living in to someone who was looking for an investment/rental property.  We got full asking price (double what we paid for it 5 years before) at the height of the market *and* we had a 2 year lease signed...we were sitting pretty.  We love this house.  We put our heart and soul into redecorating and remodeling it so it was just the way we wanted it.  And while I know we were blessed to get that extra two years and a couple months, we just didn't think that we were going to be moving, like, NOW.  Especially now.  We both have so much going on, plus the holidays, plus Maddie's bday...it is just bad timing all the way around.  

Okay, cry me a river, build me a bridge and get over it.  We have to move.  I've seen two houses in our neighborhood that would work.  One I love, one is okay (actually bigger, but aesthetically, I like the smaller one better-it's still bigger than this house!)...my fingers are crossed that my good karma will get us through this and we'll get what we want.  And I actually think I'd like to move right away and just be done with it.  We'd be all settled for the holidays and just be done.  No changing schools, no changing carpools...I think everything would be FINE...but we have to wait and see.  Of course, it's not in our hands.  We have to be "approved"...I hate that feeling...like I am being judged.  I understand it, but I hate it nonetheless...and the family is FREAKING out..we didn't have the money to be dealing with a move right now..yes yes yes we know...so should we put our stuff in storage and move in with you? No?  Okay then, you'll have to help us...like we *want* to be asking for help?  Umm..no...but reality is reality.  So anyway...if you don't hear from me for a couple of days (and darn it, I was doing so well blogging last week with Shimelle's class!) that is why..and I'll post an update as soon as I know anything. :-)

Friday Furnishings..

For those of you who know me, you know that I am totally in love with Interior Design.  If my pocket book allowed, I would have a home full of quirky antiques mixed with modern Anthropologie finds with a little Pottery Barn (just because, seriously, they do it sooo well!) thrown in for good measure.  The last time I walked through Anthrolopogie I left with a tear in my eye.  True story.  They just "Get me".  I save Pottery Barn catalogs like others save books...as things retire and I haven't been able to buy them I feel a wistful longing...like a little piece of me has died...I may sound dramatic, but I take this furnishings thing seriously.  Sadly, my budget hasn't allowed for several years, the feathering of my nest.  So I've made do with some old favorites.  This time of year especially, when I actually "decorate" things is bit more fun for me as I can switch things up...make new stuff here and there...but here are a few old favorites that made the cut this year for the Thanksgiving decor..

 

I've had the garland behind the "give thanks" banner for about 15 years.  I love it...the pumpkins, the leaves...it's like no other garland I've ever seen...the "give thanks" banner I made last year for my Little Red Scrapbook DT.

 

The ceramic pumpkins here (and on my other mantle) have been part of the fall rotation for about 10 years now.  I'm so happy they've survived all our moves and have gone on to live with these cute pilgrims I grabbed on sale about 3 years ago at Home Goods.

 

The felt applique pillow here (and it's friend on the other side of the couch) have lived with us for about 7 years now.  I added the cute orange cordoury pillows this year as a quick little find at Walmart.

 

The little pilgrims on this mantle have been with us for about 12 years and the beautiful turkey platter, a last minute score off ebay years ago, complete my dining room mantle.  

And while I *could* be shopping and adding to my collections, I do love these old friends so very dearly.  I love that the kids will now know the story of where they came from, too, now that I've taken the time to write it all down.  I hope that someday, the girls will find joy in decorating like I do.  I feel like it's a really special way to really be present, to change up the environment in my home.  If my home were static, it would be boring...and we can't have boring, now can we?

Do you have anything special that you bring out for the fall holiday?  Am I the only one who decorates for Thanksgiving?

16 loads of laundry later..

I am feeling quite accomplished!  Never mind that it was my neglect that led to the massive laundry fest in the first place.  Never mind that I *had* to start the laundry because I couldn't even walk into my laundry room without tripping over piles of towels or having some rouge pair of panties attach themselves to me...I put "Do Laundry" on the list as if it was just some normal occurance instead of the monumentous task it really was...and the sad thing is, I still have about 6 more loads to go...

at least the piles are now folded and mostly put away...an even greater sense of acccomplishment!  Which all leads to the ultimate goal of not feeling guilty scrapping today!  I have a date with one of these..

Wish me luck!  I'll be sure to share the outcome when I'm done!

Today I'm inspired by: 4 on the 4th...

This amazing Family Tree by Gennifer...I sooo want one!!!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=33689112

These fabric pinwheels...OMG.

http://portabellopixie.typepad.com/portabellopixie/

This fabric garland...I totally need to make one.

http://dottieangel.blogspot.com/2009/10/vintage-recycled-whatnot-holiday.html

The clocks at Pottery Barn, especially these...  I totally <3 clocks!!!

Leave me a note and let me know what you think about my inspiration post!

Have a great day!!

A new way of thinking...

I decided last night, in bed, on my iphone, to sign up for Shimelle's "Blogging for Scrapbookers" online class.  I did it on a whim, after reading someone else's blog, but mostly because I've been sort of getting bored with my blogging.  Finding interesting things to say without saying too much has been an issue...lately, I've been feeling like I have too much information about me and my family here on the blog that I've been keeping since 2005..but at this time I can't bring myself to take it down, either.  So I've been really making a conscious effort to watch what I say and what I post...Shimelle's blog prompt today really hit home.  Soo...I am going to be approaching this blog a little differently from now on, and I hope I like doing it this way...but as I sit here trying to find a picture to post for the prompt, I am already stumped..how do I keep anonymity for my family but still talk about them?  What do I do with all the old posts?   

I'm a little unsure of things now...but here's the "real" post..

This picture was taken three years ago during a trip up the coast I took with my oldest friend.  We were on Pebble Beach, doing the 16 Mile Drive and had gotten out to snap some photos.  We were feeling the need to leave our mark on the world...

The interesting back story was how we got on this trip in the first place...It was our 40th birthday present to ourselves...and we were coming out of the fog of having babies, her divorce, my move away, and various other life issues and we needed to reconnect as only girlfriends can.  Sitting in the car for hours on end, just solving the world's problems and laughing at the lazy cows was just what we needed to rejunvinate our souls.  To be women, girlfriends, best friends on a journey...not someone's mommy, chauffeur, housekeeper, nose wiper, wife, ex wife, scout leader, employee, room mom, basically, anyone of the MANY hats we wear for others.  This trip was for US.  We had very little money to take the trip, and budgeted very carefully so that we could enjoy ourselves to the fullest.  We ate fancy food and completed conversations at the same time, we went wine tasting, wine drinking, site seeing and had massages and pedicures.  We shopped and laughed and cried and laughed some more.  But the best part, was the realization that we are still writing our story together.  Kirs had brought along our old journal for the trip.  It was a little notebook we used to pass back and forth and write to each other in when we were 15 and 16 years old.  In it, we pondered boys, cheer squad, which party to go to on Friday night and how to get around curfew.  What outfit to wear, who kissed who and how much we drank...and we pondered if 25 years from then, if we'd still be taking on the world together.  And on this day, on the beach...we sure were!  What a celebration of friendship...there are no vows we take to be BFF's, unlike in marriage.  Your BFF is just someone who is there with you to conquer the WORLD together...to write our names in the sand, the dust, for all times.  Yes, Thelma and Louise were here...together!

Pumpkin Patch!

Well, we finally got to the pumpkin patch today!  It almost didn't happen though.  The kids were totally bickering and fighting right before we were set to leave.  Eric and I were both so annoyed that they were acting up right as we were about to go do something as a family that we almost didn't go.  But the kids hadn't seen my parents in over a month, so we didn't want to punish them, however, they did get lectured the whole half an hour drive out there...anyway...the rest of the day was lovely!  We started meeting Grammy and Papa at Eggs and Things (our favorite breakfast restaurant!) for brunch, then headed to the patch right down the road from there...it was a *real* pumpkin patch!

 

It's been a long time since we've been to a proper patch where the pumpkins actually grow in the ground, lol.  It was totally fun to run around and find the perfect pumpkin!

 

 

Soo much fun...and one shot together...never mind Eric's funny the sun is in my face smile, lol!  It goes in the scrapbook anyway. HA!  

 

I love days that include stuff like this...it was worth it...so worth it...the kids loved the patch and begged to go back there again next year!  And we sooo will!  Hope your weekend is going well, too. :-)

We have a winner! (well, all of you are winners in my book ;)

I put all the names in a bowl, and let Cammy pick one...the name she chose is...

 

Lorry, my Little Red Scrapbooking friend, please email me at wespiegels@aol.com with your land addy so I can get your stamps in the mail!  Thank you to everyone who posted what you are grateful for...it has been a rough year for so many people, and I am thankful that you took the time to share your gratitude here...and that I can count each of you as friends!  Have a fantastic weekend everyone!