Tis the Season

Hey yall! I'm happy to announce that the cool weather is starting to hit the south, and the decorations are coming out of hibernation! I love this time of year. Besides Christmas, it's also going to be our 11th anniversary this year. The cool weather makes me want to light a fire and curl up with a cup of hot chocolate and a good book. Or a good movie. Last night I watched The Holiday with the beautiful Kate Winslet... I love her. Jude Law is ADORABLE in this movie as well... and no, this isn't Jude Law. It's Jack Black, duh. He's funny too.



Yep... it's time for the Holidays!

While the girls were out playing in the fall weather with the neighbor kids, I started dragging out some decorations... I just couldn't help myself...



Here's a close-up of the twig topiaries...They Sparkle! I'm using lots of different greens and white this year.





After being camera-less for over two months, I've nearly forgotten how to use the darn thing... this picture proves that. But besides stating the obvious, yesterday I found these great red weathered fleur-de-lis pots and rosemary topiaries at Smith and Hawken. I also picked up a bag of their Festivity potpouri and a reed diffuser... it smells soooo good!

I've found some great furniture this week, so the before pictures are patiently waiting at Photobucket for their reveals... A few pieces were custom, so they'll have to wait for their moment in the spotlight. I've also gotten curtains picked out. They will be done after the holidays, so I'll have a fun reason to pack up all of the decorations. Next up... paint colors! Then I will have some particularly fun posts!

For any readers in the Houston area... Laurie's Antiques in Tomball is FABULOUS and worth the trip! and Metals Petals and More in Old Town Spring has some really great stuff right now... just doin' my part to stimulate the economy!

Divine Design

So... What do those crazy scatter-brained A.D.D. nut-jobs do when faced with a huge organizational problem? We BLOG about it! Here's my problem... I have about a billion things running through my head. I keep poking around blogs... then I jump to another blog, that leads me to ANOTHER blog... I keep finding these "perfect" pictures for inspiration, and then I loose them! Do yall ever have that problem?

There are two places that I always check in on when I am looking for some divine decorating intervention. Velvet & Linen and Restyled Home. These gals really are my BFFs. They just don't know it ;-) If I could keep up with my bloggy links, they'd be right at the top. FOCUS Holly... Back to keeping track of inspiration... I found these pictures via Linda's and Brooke's blogs. I HAVE to keep them nearby so that I can keep looking at them. The garden picture just takes my breath away. Levi's bookcases for the LSU office are being delivered today... and I STILL haven't painted. But at least with Brooke's help, I now know what to do to keep the books from looking like a bunch of schplech on the shelf!!! Bless you Honey!

Welcome to my perfectly decorated entry...



Would you like to sit a spell?



Or maybe read a good book?... no, I promise there's more than Twilight on the shelf... they just look similar because they are DESIGNED to look pleasing to the eye!



Dinner's nearly ready. Would you like a glass of Pinot before we eat?



How about an evening stroll through my enchanting garden?



Ahhh... now that the company's gone, I think I'll go to bed and read some more. And yes, I'm reading Breaking Dawn... AGAIN...



Nighty Night... Sleep Tight... Don't let the vampire bite ;-)

Dreaming now...




;-) Yummy...

It's beginning to look at lot like Christmas!

Hey Yall!

Well, it's Mid-Oct. and I'm already starting to feel behind on all of my holiday prep. I have SUCH a huge surprise for you!!!! I have to give a little background first though...

Levi and I went to LSU. We're LSU fanatics. Our girls have had LSU themed birth announcements, birthday parties, clothes, tatoos ... you name it, we love it! We've even had a bottle of LSU Alumni wine!!!

Well, every year about this time, I start to panic over what to get Levi for Christmas. Last year, Mr. NOT SO Handy got tools. Yep, pretty lame, I know.

But this year, with the move and setting up the house and all, I thought that something for his "study" would be cool. I'm going to be doing an "LSU Lux" theme there. Rich gold walls, Plum colored silks, guilded frames... Get it? I'm happy, He's happy, we'll all be happy when it's done, right?

So a good friend of mine that I met via blogland is a fabulous artist. I have gotten prints, cards, etc. from her in the past. Then she went to Santa Barbara and did these amazing sketches... WELL.... I begged her to do some sketches of some scenes from LSU and she actually agreed!!!! Yeah Me!!!! She just posted about them here and I just KNOW he's going to love them... He may even just cry with joy and amazement!!!

I can't wait to get these guys matted and framed!!! He is just going to LOVE them!

Thanks so much Vana!!! {HUGS!}

Well, Lookie Lookie

HI YALL!!!!!

I have the longest most depressing story to tell, but I just can't bring myself to write much about it. I'll just try to not ramble on too much and focus on the fun things I've been up to, and then get back to the Good Ole Bloggin Days!

So here's the scoop...
We evacuated. Gustav hit. Mom's house flooded. We went home. We moved. Ike hit. We visited Austin and San Antonio. We came back to our temp. apt. with no power. We FINALLY closed on our un-damaged home. AT&T screwed up my DSL AND my Blackberry so I was out of the loop for FAR FAR too long. I'm 3 weeks in and still swimming in boxes. I miss home terribly. I gave him a year.

So that's my story for the past month or so. I hope you don't mind really... I just haven't felt myself lately.

So what do big girls do when they are feeling blue? Come on now... besides DRINK EXCESSIVELY... that was a given, right? No No... I mean what ELSE do we do... You got it!!!

RETAIL THERAPY!!!

So here's where we stand...

I've nearly gotten the Game room done... it was a priority to get the girls out of my hair so that I could actually attempt to get the rest of the house livable. I'm not finished, but as soon as I find my camera battery charger in the sea of never ending boxes, then i'll take some pics.

I've gotten 1/2 of my sewing room unpacked... fabric refolded and neatly shoved (eh, stored)... and I've recently become the proud new momma to this little baby.... just wait for it... here comes the retail therapy...

.......



Awe..... there there now.... Don't you feel better? I know I sure do... ;-) I'm hoping to get more done in the room today so that I can set her up and pet her !!!!

Yall have a lovely Fall day and do something creative!

{{{Hugs!}}}