Resolutions

Here is a quick resolution post,

if nothing else it will give me

something to laugh at next year!!

I think Kristi hit my thoughts completely!!

1.  Get healthy, and shed this excess weight.

Exercise and run with the hubby

(he will love that - so that will kill 2 birds with one stone)

Losing weight will not only make me feel

and look better, but

it will be loads of fun to shop for  new clothes :)

2.  Find a church...this one is not as easy, but

there's only one way.  Sounds like another shopping

trip.

3.  Patience and kindness to those living in my home.

(oh and I guess I can extend that to all

those I come in contact with)

4.  Organization.  I need that.  I am a stuff person

and my stuff has attacked me from within.

I have agreed not to purchase NEW stuff without

throwing away an equal amount of OLD stuff.

I think I can handle that, since I

have boxes and boxes of OLD stuff.

Kris, ask Greg if I can sandbag that OLD stuff

and not get rid of it until I need too.

That does defeat the whole purpose so I guess I better

just PURGE, PURGE, PURGE.

The good news is I have started some of these and hope to continue throughout the year.

 Kevin went out in the rain yesterday,

bought 4 racking systems, assembled them,

and loaded them with decorating boxes.  Yikes.

So it begins.

Happy and Prosperous New Year to All!

Happy New Year!!!

....and Happy Birthday to me...

I always enjoy my birthday, other than the part of being another year older of course, I celebrate the day

with people around the world welcoming in the new year.

I always start with breakfast with the family,

and this year was no different. 

We all met at Mimi's and I was surprised

by a special birthday cake.   

(picture is on my phone and I need to download)

This is a special cake made from cake

and filling not used in the "REAL" cake that

will be for my granddaughters party today.

Kristi decorated of course with my favorite, dragees. 
She probably doesn't want to take
credit for this one...but "I LOVED IT"

Can you believe they even lit the cake,

sang Happy Birthday and made me blow out the candles

in the middle of the restaurant? 

Very embarrassing.

After breakfast we proceeded on to an

afternoon of light shopping. 

Shopping spent birthday gifts

for my grand-daughters and my son. 

Do you see anything wrong with this picture? 

We also got to watch my grand-daughter Riley

get her ears pierced. 

That part was exhausting,

but she did so good and was so

happy to have her new little pink crystal earrings. 

We concluded the afternoon with beverages and snacks at my house...wait did I hostess that too? 

I don't think I am too good at this birthday thing....Kris HELP!!!

Kris did help...along with her husband Greg.  We, Kevin and I that is, were invited to the Grover's to ring in the new year and celebrate the rest of my birthday. 

Kris and Greg always make us feel so special and last night was no different.

We walked into these delicious appetizers

and welcoming set up. 

Kris I need this recipe and it would make and excellent post.....hint hint

Our gorgeous set up

Our charming hostess and host.

Now I must confess......

When it came time to order

our dinner my obsession began.

Kris pulled out these spectacular spectacles

(almost as a tease am now thinking)

to read the menu.

Can you see that they are lighted?  Can you see what that means?

The possibilities are endless....

all I knew is that I had to have them...and

they were small enough to fit in my purse for

a quick getaway later...hmmmmmm????

As I tried to bring myself back to reality...
living in a world

without these fantastic specs ...
I was

shown the beautiful table that was set just for us.

Another confession -

After doing hundreds of tables for others...

there is nothing like

the feeling you have when someone sets a

special table for

YOU.

Kris this was so special.

Speaking of special...the Mr. G even had a surprise for my hubby.

I can't even describe how excited he was.

Crystal glass and all....ahhhhh Mr. G!!!

and as if that wasn't enough...great friends,

great food, great beverages...

there were also presents. 

Yes you guessed it....

I got my own spectacular spectacles!!!

After games and some very funny

YouTube entertainment it was

time to toast in the new year....

and of course did I mention cake and other sweets too?

Thank you Grover's for such a great time and making

us feel so special.

and as Kevin suggested...maybe Times Square

is in our future for

2012!

Happy New Year!!!

and Happy Birthday to ME!

For the Love of Santa....

Santa's busy season has come to an end,

and after a long night of delivering packages

around the world,

Mrs. Claus in her usual Mrs. Claus fashion has planned a small dinner party

  to congratulate Santa on another
successful year.  Just Santa and the Mrs.

with another couple. 

Have I mentioned Santa and I go way back? 

So this is a post Christmas party celebrating

 Santa's hard work and Mrs. Claus'

love for the big guy.

Who knew?

I will let you in on a little secret ...

I got a new lens for Christmas.

Someone I know (unauthorized of course) tried it

out for me

before Christmas and said it worked great.

I am not so sure. 

I took these pics with the new lens and

I am having a little difficulty. 

I am however, looking

forward to practicing and improving.

He requested I sit next to him at the table. 

Mrs. Claus, always

the most charming of hostesses, always seats

boy, girl, boy girl.

Did I mention Santa and I are tight?

Since Santa's favorite color is red,

the Mrs. embraced the red on her table.

Check out the cute rhinestones in her rose arrangements.

She even added a few reindeer....

since Santa does love his reindeer

Mrs. Claus' roses almost looked artificial, but

she grew them in her garden.

Santa has many names and faces...Mrs. Claus

emphasised this fact by using a set of

plates showing Santa's many personalities

She especially likes him in creams and whites.

The Mrs. has a fear of color.

Santa perfers himself in RED...of course

Mrs. Claus is a fan of lots of bobbles and glitter

Kristi got me these cute candle holders with the

starburst on

them for Christmas...I love them

and loaned them to Mrs.

and I loved the patterns on Mrs. Claus' candles.

I think she said the elves made them...or

maybe she bought them at Kohls.

anyway we had a lovely evening.

and Santa settled in for a long nap...

Until next year Santa....

We'll be good.

I am linking to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch

for Tablescape Thursday....be sure to join in for all the fun.

The stockings are hung...

As Christmas approaches and I begin my last minute hustling and bustling, I thought I would share

some more of my holiday

decorations.  As I look at these pictures, I

am always amazed at how much I love my Christmas "THINGS". 

Each "THING" brings back a memory,

an event or a dear friend or family member that

picked out something especially for me. 

Maybe that's why we LOVE

to decorate at Christmas....it reminds us of the LOVE that

IS Christmas.

My friend Debbie

(when she was in her former home)

always took a picture of her

living room from upstairs. 

Because of the design of my house, I can't do that, but

whenever I take a picture from the stairs it reminds me of Debbie.

Meet Debbie

I'm still embracing the RED this year, and my rich reds

remind me of my good friend Kris. 

As long as I have known her, Kris has always embraced

color.  It may be a little harder for me to embrace color, but

with a little influence from her I think I'm

  coming around, so Kris, this reds for you.

Meet Kris

and me embracing the RED

My daughter always takes pictures peaking into

her house from outside....so Kristi,

this is in reverse, since the weather outside is frightful.

Kristi has many talents and gifts when it

comes to anything CREATIVE.  I would

like to say she gets it from me...but she is

her own Creative Being.

Meet Kristi

A glimpse of the Man Room.  This reminds me

of my friend Peggy (since she named it). 

Peggy is not a blogger, but she should be.

She also is blessed with extraordinary gifts.

You can see her gorgeous home here

This is my Nativity...

owned originally by my red haired grandma.

This lady was bigger than life and I never remember her

with anything but a big welcoming smile and hug.

Nice to remember the REASON for the SEASON

This is my mom's little tree that she brought with her when

she came to live with us.  It is home to all the little

mouse ornaments that we made...oh so many years ago...

Can you see these little guys...??

Moms plan is to make a set for all the grand kids and

let them each paint their own.  I will

be looking forward to that project in the coming year.

This was a tree I won at our annual Bunco gift

exchange many years ago...and reminds me

of my wonderful Bunco friends.

Here I have some random Santa's purchased over the years.

You better watch out....he's coming to town

Every year on Christmas Eve, my dad presented

us each with a hand-made ceramic piece that

he had personally created himself and

reflected our personalities (usually ;).

These were alot of work and usually took him

months.  Looking back over the years of treasures

I noticed they usually reflected the interests of that

particular year.

We do miss him an awful lot.

My cream and gold tree.  I always

say I am going to add some color to this tree and each year

it is still Cream and Gold....

But I do like my little goodies on the tree.

This year, on the day we took the grand kids to see Santa,

I overpaid for a set of ornaments from Pottery Barn.

The 12 Days of Christmas.

The are beautiful though.

and Christmas wouldn't be the same

without a snowman or two

I love mantels, and I am lucky enough

to be able to do 3 different ones.

and they are all different.

So Merry Christmas to all, enjoy your holiday, and

Praise the Lord for all he has given us, all we have, all we are and all we hope

to be....and for the greatest gift of all,

his beautiful SON.

May all your dreams come true...