Catching up.

Well. 

It's been another long stretch without a post. I know. Try as I may, life has been ca-razy busy, and, well...

Let's catch up, shall we?

Far too much has been going on to cover it all in one lil' blog post, so I'll just cover a couple of the highest points.

Let's see. Where do I start?

Work has been busy, with me prepping for a project I have been working on, which included quite a few evenings at home tweaking handouts, and creating props. (And you know how I love a project like that!)

We got the Sewing Queen all semi-settled in up here and she is in the middle of unpacking moving boxes and trying to find some of her sewing accessories as I type this. We are thrilled to have her here!

Then, I spent this past weekend with my two daughters, celebrating a milestone birthday for Carter and Coen's Mama. (How can she be 30 when I am only 42?!) We had a fabulous Girl's Weekend, complete with an overnight trip to the Allison Resort and Spa for some much appreciated foofifying and relaxing, laughing our heads off, as well as a marathon shopping expedition, and eating way too much.

On the home remodel front, our projects are getting buttoned down and things are looking aaaaah-mazing! 

Let me interupt myself here to say that my Rock n' Roll Buddy deserves a shout out here. He has been the driving force behind making this fabulous make over happen in record time, not to mention being the ultimate egg-McMuffin of bargain shopping, swinging some of the most eye popping price deals I have ever seen. Now, this is extra hard to picture if you know him, as the house has been in the exact same state as when he first moved in, back in the 80's. (We are not talking about a guy that typically embraces change here, people.)It's truly been a fun time and we are both pretty thrilled with the outcome.

Now, back to my post...

I have been waiting to share pictures because the plantation shutters took three weeks to be made. Since we were having them installed in every room,(pinch me!!!) there was no way to really capture any room without it looking undone due to a window without anything on it. (Unless you count the sheet we swagged across the living room window to shield us from the sun while we watched the Superbowl.)

Anyway.

The exciting installation was yesterday, and so I am gearing up to share our grand reveal. (Doesn't that sound dramatic? Trust me, the change is incredible and we both keep saying how it feels like we live in a brand new house.)

Here's a lil' peek at the installation process in the family room. The sliding doors got "Slide-By" shutters and my-oh-my! I adore them! The look of plantation shutters with the ease of sliding them open to go in and out the door, or let cool air in in the summer time!......

We're down to the accessorizing stage now, and I must say, that is my most favorite part of decorating. You know, adding touches that reflect our personalities really warms up a room. I can't wait to show you everything...room..by room..by room!

One last lil peek at Christmas....

I wanted to share a few more pictures of Carter and Coen's home from Christmas eve...

 Their stockings were hung....

 The tree was trimmed, and waiting for Santa...

The table was beautiful....

It was a wonderful Christmas...and a wonderful year, as I look back on it!

Christmas at Mr. and Mrs. Big Dog's home.

While I was at the newlywed's home yesterday doing some marathon gift wrapping, I remembered my camera and got a few pictures to share with you of some of their wonderful holiday decorating...

When you first enter through the front door, you are greeted by not one, but two beautiful, real, fresh cut trees within eye range. One in the living room, and one in the corner of the dining room.

There are plenty of eye candy details all around...in the living room...

 

 

the dinging room...

 ...in the kitchen too...

A live potted tree in the master...they plan on getting a live one each year to plant in their huge yard.

....And even the guest room boasts a tree, and lots of lil' sweet details....

You can't help but feel the Christmas spirit here...Merry Christmas eve, everyone! Hope you are having a wonderful holiday, shared with the people you love.

Oh, how I LOVE a surprise!

Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!!!! I..we... had the most fabulous surprise this weekend!

I shared a while back that my first born daughter had gotten engaged. Well....since then, no date for the wedding had been set, and all kinds of ideas had been tossed around; a destination wedding, a quiet trip to the courthouse with a party afterwards, a planned elopement...but no date set and no progress on the plans. Trust me, I threw out all sorts of suggestions, and themes (a Christmas wedding? New Years Eve? How about something in a barn? A fabulous dinner after watching them burst out of the courthouse?) and even began gathering pictures for ideas on my Pinterest board...(you know how I love a project, right?)

Anyway.

We were invited to Multnomah Falls Lodge for a dinner to meet my daughter's future in-laws, who are visiting for the holiday's from out of town.

I had seen an idea on Pinterest for little cards for the table to use as an ice-breaker of sorts...you know, a conversation starter. I ran the idea by the happy couple and then whipped them up. I popped the cards in my purse and we headed to the falls.

Little did we know, but once inside the charming room upstairs in the Lodge, the dinner was not just a dinner...it was a surprise wedding! Not a detail was forgotten, with both of my girls planning and plotting and organizing....Old silver pitchers and canning jars from home filled with white roses adorned the tables in the banquet room. There were favors of mittens and scarves for everyone to wear as we were escorted outside to a spot near the falls. We were given cups of hot cider and cocoa along for the chilly walk.

The happy couple were decked out in their wedding attire, and my daughter had the most incredible overcoat (from Anthropologie!) that was cut slightly higher in the front, and showed off the bottom of her vintage reproduction dress....breathtaking!

We took our seats and witnessed their vows...(The little men were entertained with raisins...)

...then we all returned to the upstairs room in the Lodge for a wonderful wedding dinner and cake. My pictures came out terrible due to some screw-ball adjustments I made to the shutter speed or something or other. (Sheesh...) Thank goodness the professional shots should be here within a week or so and I can share more then.

I am still smiling as I remember the complete and total surprise upon realizing we'd all been tricked (some were told it was a charity event, others a dinner, and who knows what all else!) and what a spectacular day it was.

edited at 4:00 PM to add: here's a link of just some of the pictures from the photographer!

Here comes good ol' Santa Claus....

I don't recall sharing anything about my co-worker friend Clarence. 

Clarence is 80 years young and proud of it. For most of the year, he's our sweet lil' mailroom guy, but come December things start to change. He grows his beard a bit longer and fuller, and he gets out his nice red suit.

Mmm hmmm, he's our very own in-house Santa! Last Thursday and Friday he and Mrs. Claus (another good sport-co-worker friend) sat and listened to countess wish lists from kids (and Grand-kids!) of employees...(Have I mentioned that I love where I work?)

Carter was a little shy this year, but managed to sit on Santa's lap and have a lil' chit-chat, but Coen wanted no part of Old St. Nick. Now, Mrs. Claus was another story....(I'm telling you, this little guy is totally a ladies man!)

...Hard to believe Christmas will be here in just one more week!

All in the family.

For my birthday last week, (Good Gawd, I am "double nickels" as my friend Dona says...no denying it now. I have to say "mid-fifties"...)my kids gave me something I will treasure always...they had a photo shoot arranged last time my son, daughter-in-law, and other grand babies were up visiting from the biggest little city!

There are some darling shots of the grands together....

 

...and some alone...

...and some wonderful pictures of my entire brood as it is now...

I couldn't have hoped for a better present from all of them!

Foofy-and-oh-so-fancy gift wrap ideas.

So....I want to share a few pictures from the Gift Wrap Party my daughter had at her home last Sunday....
It was a perfect Autumn day here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, and there was plenty of hot cider, cocoa with all the fixings, and lots of yummy baked goods, including some delicious pumpkin bread, and cookies made from cake mix. (Have you had them? I will have to get the recipe from my daughter and share it...so good!)

We even got to dip apples in warm caramel sauce, and then each guest was given a can to take home as a party favor!

I like to wrap my gifts for the most part in brown paper, but I had lots of glittery boxes, bags, ribbons, and doo-dads to sparkle things up.  The deep silver glitter has such a vintage feel to me. It reminds me of the old German Glass Glitter, you know? 

By adding a simple adornment like an inexpensive Christmas decoration, a gift goes from ordinary to fabulous. I shared my favorite trick for wrapping wine bottles...simply wrap it by gathering up mylar tissue paper with a length of ribbon, add a little ornament, and then spray the top area of the gathered mylar with spray glue, and sprinkle mylar confetti (pearlecent or silver glitter confetti work nicely also!)See? It looks like it was meant for a party.

The same technique works well on the little take-out style boxes sold at craft stores...(so great for concealing a gift card!)

A bit of tulle, some snippets of ribbon, and a little mylar shred make all the difference..

(I have to admit that I quite enjoy wrapping presents far more than I like shopping for them, fighting the crowds, and trying to find that elusive perfect present.)

Everyone had a wonderful time at the party and I think they all were more than a little inspired to get home and start assembling their wrapping supplies.

I am thankful for time spent with friends, laughing and sharing ideas...and I guess I have to say that I am thankful for glitter.