I am Thankful for...

A lot things this year (in no particular order)
1. My mom's quick recovery
2. Wonderful boyfriend
3. Our beautiful home
4. Loving family
5. I actually have a job
6. School is going great
The list goes on and on...

We hosted some of Chris' family for Thanksgiving this year. It went really well for our first Holiday in our new house. By the looks of this mess I thought I would be in trouble but everything finished on time and everything was delicious!

We had enough food for an army! I cooked wayyyy too much food but I had no idea how to cook for 10 people so I just kept adding to my recipes. This will give you a hint at how I overcooked, I bought an EIGHTEEN pound ham for 10 people. I told my Nana on the phone and she said, "Well you really only get a 1/2 pound per person, so I bought 13 extra pounds. Oh well it was soooo delicious I froze the leftovers for later.

I made the ham, deviled eggs, whipped sweet potatoes with bananas and honey, green bean casserole, corn casserole (my new favorite dish), cranberry sauce from scratch, rolls, Pumpkin Cheesecake bars, Chris made the mashed potatoes from scratch which were extra fluffy and delicious and I loved every second of it.

                                      

Here is our feast!

The "Kid" Table

I can't wait to do it all again for Christmas.

I'm back-

So the semester is almost over [I have to take finals nest week] and I think I can finally breath. At least until January 12th (that's when class starts again).

So for those of you that haven't seen it- I would like to introduce you to our living room:

I'm really happy with how the gray walls turned out.

The TV is opposite the sofa. The black cat is from halloween  I have had these pictures uploaded for a long time and never got around to posting them. Everytime I would walk past the cast I would catch a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye or in the mirrors on that table and think it was real. Literally- every time. You would think over the one thousandth time I would remember that it was there.

The sofa table is my favorite piece in this room.

I saw on Etsy that moss terrariums were all the rage this summer and I decided I wanted for about one second. Then I realized that I didn't want to keep up with it, clean the vase, etc so I found these fake moss rocks and tossed them into this birdcage. I think a lot of people don't "get it" because everyone has to get a closer look at what's in there. It's kind of funny- but I like it so that's what counts I guess. :)

I love my owl lamp. Enough said.

Our huge dining room table that we have squeezed into both apartments finally has a real home. We upgraded our chairs when we upgraded our living space. The chairs that came with the table literally fell apart. It was embarrassing when guests came over and we had to point out 4 of the 6 chairs NOT to sit in.

Finally our picture collage in the entry. My Nana and Grampy had a picture collage in the hallway in their house when I was growing up and I always wanted to have one too. Mine is a little different spin on theirs (they never had a dress form hanging on the wall) but it's exactly what I wanted.

Our house is perfect for hosting. There is plenty of room for everyone to sit. I love it.

And the winner is...

NOT US. :'(

Our "Best Couple Costume" reign is finally over. We won three years in a row. We were beat out by Wolverine and Jene from X-Men. As Chris said- the contest was between the two hairdo's. Mine and Wolverine's. I must say my hair was pretty rad, but Wolverine looked like the real thing! This year was the year to win- the prize was a free night at the Radisson on the Riverwalk.

We should have won based on the fact that I spent at least an hour trying to get all the rats out of my totally teased hair! No regrets- I loved it! I would wear my hair like that more often if I could get away with it.

Chris was totally decked out. I painted his face and neck green, painted is hair black, and stuffed his jacket with batting. He even had "bubba" teeth. I kept finding it all over the house and yard all night long. I would pick it up, go find him, and stuff it back in every time.

My Nana has some close ups on her camera so as soon as I get them I will post more pictures.

Thanks to:

*Nana for my AWESOME tutu, I need to think of somewhere else I can wear that thing. And my little garter.

*Darci for saving me by loaning me a white corset. Free 99 is always the best price.

*Sara for my totally rad hair.  I got a lot of compliments on it!

*Mom for finding me some silver shoes to go with the entire get up.

Now it's time to start thinking of a costume for next year. Any ideas?

Jack-o-Lantern!

We finally got around to carving our pumpkin...whew we only have 3 more days left in October. I'm sure I'll light it up through the beginning of November if it still looks good.

Candelabra with batty love buttons flying by...

Part 2: Pretty Pretty Princess

I finally got my chair for my vanity. The first chair that they sent had a bubble in the plastic so I had to wait for another one. As you know I was using a dining room chair until this one arrived. I didn't really think about the fact that I needed a chair without arms- oops. I can't push it all the way under the vanity.

Jenny, my soul-office-mate, got me this hobnail jar as a housewarming gift. I love it. I need to decide what will get the boot off of the vanity because I like this a lot better! Thank you Jenny!

Rub-a-dub-dub

I'm so glad I decided to take on one more stripe project. I love how our bathroom turned out. Rhino and all...

I had left over blue from our bedroom and leftover gray from the living room so I decided to give it a go in the bathroom. We got the blue towels as a housewarming gift. They match almost perfectly! I can't seem to find anymore of them anywhere so I think I am going to get a few gray ones as well.

                                   

I picked up these prints at IKEA originally for the bedroom but then once I got the bathroom finished I realized they were a perfect match.

                                              

I saw this floor to ceiling shower curtain on a blog that I stalk and I HAD to HAVE it! Chris complains that it blocks that light and I agree, but shhhh don't tell him. I'm sure most of you remember our bathtub saga. Our salesman promised us a garden tub and they installed a regular sized tub. Very disappointing. Well you know me- I always get my way ;) so they agreed to change it out to a garden tub at no extra cost. Chris did most of the leg work to get them to agree to do so. I don't think he wanted to hear me whine about the tub for the next 30 years. 

                                   

And finally...our rhinoceros. I love him. Isn't it ridiculous? I know right now you are agreeing it is ridiculous, but I will have you know that it is backordered online until 12/1/09. So it's a pretty hot commodity.

So I'm a self proclaimed procrastinator...

So nearly a month laterrrrrr I FINALLY have pictures of the rest of our office.

I'm sure you remember my pillow inspired wall...

Well, here is its mate...

                            

In my defense- it took so long to get this side of the room done because I had to paint all of those frames and letters...just fyi.

I won that hideous yet oh-so-comfortable chaise lounge from a company party one year and Chris refuses to let me get rid of it. I have been collecting those frames here and there and my mom gifted us with the cute telephone picture.

I think I might want to paint the other walls, I just can't commit to pink-yellow-orange-OR chocolate brown. So I'm stuck.

Does anyone know where we can find some cute chairs for our desk? We prefer fabric (I could get past that if you have a great suggestion that isn't), no wheels, and they need to be one of the colors from the wall.