Tales of a Thirty-Something

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Despite being prepared to stress, my Thanksgiving meal ran rather smoothly. I'm sure my hubs was super grateful for that. :)

Then on Sunday we snapped some pics for our family Christmas card--turns out taking pics with dogs is a tad tricky...especially when a camera timer is involved. Oy. Here's an outtake (one of many):

We finally got some that worked and through the magic of Photoshop, we have a lovely picture for our cards. Actually, postcards. We chose the simple-ish route of getting postcards made so we don't have to worry about envelopes and such. They should be here next week!

Thanksgiving OCD

So, I have a little case of Thanksgiving OCD. I might have set my table yesterday. Yeeeeeah. Which is why I was a teensy bit thrown off when my party of 10 adults changed to party of 11 (see below with the added table to my table). And now, probably party of 12. Ugh.

I am most definitely the kind of person that likes to be prepared. And I like things to look nice. I'm not a very good fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants person. This can be both good and bad.

Needless to say, I am currently getting a few butterflies in my stomach as I look up tips on making a turkey and hope that it turns out ok. I am nervous thinking that people will be in my house while I'm preparing food (I like to do it where no one can witness the awesomeness that is me cooking). I am anxious to think about children AND dogs being in my house at the same time...the list goes on.

But with all the worries and anxieties there is so so much that I am thankful for.

I am deeply grateful that I am married to an kick-ass husband. Seriously folks. He's amazing and I love him like crazy. I'm grateful that we live in a beautiful home that allows us to have a big group of people over to enjoy one another's company. I am grateful for family and friends cause they are super-mega-ultra important to me. I am so lucky to have dogs that are cute and cuddly and are a part of our little family. I am grateful that we have food (and a lot of it) to eat and clothes on our backs and plenty of love to go around because I know there are those without.

With that in mind, pushing my anxieties aside (seriously, writing a list like that cures it a little), I wish you all who are celebrating, a Happy Thanksgiving!

Turkey Day

This bad boy is thawing in my fridge right now. That's right folks: I'm making Thanksgiving dinner. I have done it once before...and that's it. So, cross your fingers and hold on tight cause Santa Claus is comi...sorry. 

Here are the online recipes I am using (in case you were dying to know):

Roast Turkey with Herb Butter - Martha Stewart
Classic Green Bean Casserole - Campbell's
Sausage Stuffing - Allrecipes.com 

I looked up much, much fancier recipes that sounded wonderful and creative but my laziness led me to these ones and I'm perfectly content with that. The people joining us are bringing mashed potatoes, yams, rolls, salad, and pies. I'm also completely content with that. Yet...I feel like I'm missing something. Ugh. 

We'll see how it goes! And if it goes horribly, you will never hear of it. Unless there's a really good story involved...

Freebie Friday Thanksgiving Edition

I don't know if you have the same problem as I do: decorating for Thanksgiving is hard. There's not as much build up for this holiday as far as decorating goes so I've found myself...just not decorating. Sad. I know.

So, I thought I'd design a little something that is simple yet pretty and that would be super easy to stick in a frame or hang on a wall (it's 8x10"--perfect for framing). And in my case, be one of the only Thanksgiving decorations I have! Seriously...all I wanna do is put up my Christmas tree.

It comes complete with a little hand lettering (the "give") a la me. :)

Go ahead and download this baby right here! It expires at the end of the month. And sorry Canadians...I know you had your Thanksgiving in October but maybe if you download it now, you'll remember to print it off before next year's.

Oliver

I just had to post this pic of my dear Oliver. While there are still some challenges with this little guy, he has been a delight and we love him like crazy. He is my shadow that follows me everywhere. Like...everywhere. Ha. He is super snuggly and snorts like a pig when he's excited. Mostly when he realizes he gets to go in the car. THE CAAAAAR!!! He jumps and wiggles and snorts. Love.

Freebie Friday - Sneak Peek!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner! Crazy. This week's Freebie Friday is Thanksgiving themed and will be a great addition to any turkey day decorations. Stay tuned!

 

Sometimes...

...when my husband is gone on a business trip and my dogs are making me a little crazy...I wish my friends didn't live so freaking far away from me. The end.

My Craft Room

When we moved to our new house, one of the things I knew I wanted was a separate space for crafting (getting messy) and designing (staying tidy). I've had jobs where I mixed both and let me tell you--it gets mess-ay.

Since one of the rooms in our home already had a chalkboard wall, I knew that one would become my craft room. Perfect for doodling and inspiration! It's still in the early stages (i.e. my shelves are in NO WAY organized and I've only started putting stuff on the chalkboard wall) so I promise it'll get better! I'll post more pics the more I get it put together. Enjoy!

P.S. This room was pretty much brought you to by the letters I, K, E, and A.

White shelves: Expedit from IKEA
Work table: Bjursta from IKEA
Folding Chairs: Frode from IKEA 
Tall work table: Utby from IKEA 

Stools from Walmart. Spray painted (somewhat poorly) by me.

Let It Snow

This was the beginning of the storm yesterday and I wanted to snap a pic of our house since it's the first real snow of the season, hence the first real snow in our new house. Luckily I was home because I watched it snow and snow...and snow some more. It didn't let up.

Naturally, I turned on White Christmas and make cookies. Naturally. And I might have turned on the fireplace also. And played some Christmas music. And designed some Christmas tags. Maybe.

Kelly Purkey's December Daily

In case you haven't heard, Kelly has added more kits to her shop for her awesome December Daily collection. Go get it! Now!

I was lucky enough to design some cards for the kit. It was so much fun to do! Here's a sneak peek:

These colors are to die for! Kelly done good.