our tree.

angel tree girl.

I started this two years ago & I have so much fun. This year I adopted a 10 year old girl. On her list were her clothing sizes (the focus is on new clothing), jewelry, & a bike. Buying clothing for a stranger makes me nervous - what if it doesn't fit? I hope it fits & that she likes it! I found this super cute vest at Old Navy & got her a matching long sleeve shirt. I figure when it warms up she can still wear the shirt by itself. & then I found a pretty bracelet at Justice, which I think she'll love. I'm hoping next year maybe I can adopt two children to help for Christmas.

JFK memorial.

This is the layout I created from this inspiration piece.

The red & rustic immediately made me think of our recent trip to the JFK Memorial in Dallas. What's more American than the color red? I love the red with kraft so I used kraft paper as my background. I incorporated texture (that I note in the firewood & the basket) by using a scrap of burlap & the corrugated letters. & I love the curve of that old door so I cut out the brackets from a piece of patterned paper to incorporate the curve of that as well.

Christmas vignettes.

the sewing desk in the hallway.

 This is my old sewing desk that sits in our hallway. Snowman garland around the mirror from TJ Maxx this year. Photo of Hunter during a blizzard two years ago & another xmas photo of my brother & I when we were little. Silver candle from Home Goods. Complete with berry/jingle bell garland.

close up of the sewing desk.

Next up, the space above the kitchen cabinets.



red wreath [Big Lots], an xmas photo from 2 years ago, xmas tree topper.

above microwave

We found the frame at Goodwill for $7 (originally from Kohls, $24). The apothecary jar I think I got at TJ Maxx & it's holding red disco ball garland. The silver garland has little stars on it & it came from Hobby Lobby. & then the greenery garland with colorful lights is so pretty :)

I am linking to A Thoughtful Place/Christmas Cheer blog party.

I count you twice.

photo is from our Christmas card photo shoot



Red Carpet Manicure.

I was at Meijer yesterday & on an end cap stumbled upon Red Carpet Manicure. It's a diy gel polish manicure complete with the LED light. The polishes are kind of expensive ($9.99/each) but they have some great colors & over 30 different colors available. There is a portable light (which is what I got) & the professional light (more expensive but cures the polish in 45 seconds).

I'm not opposed to painting my nails &/or getting a manicure (if it wasn't so expensive!) but my problem is that I always have chips within a few hours. I am too hard on my nails! At work I'm flicking glass bottles & syringes, I'm playing with the dog, I'm cooking, cleaning, washing, + I'm just accident prone anyway. So my nails look a mess within hours of painting them. I've seen the shellac & it seems like an awesome idea, but who wants to pay $30 every 2 - 3 weeks?! Not me.

We have a Christmas party (first of the season) on Friday (TJ's bar association party for work) so I thought I'd try out this diy gel kit in preparation for the event.

The steps are super simple & easy to follow. Basically you prep your nails (I skipped this step) using the prep max adhesion sanitizer. Then use the structure and (these steps are using the portable light) cure them in the LED light for 1 minute. Apply a coat of polish & cure them in the LED light for 3 minutes (for dark colors, 2 minutes for light colors). Apply a second coat & cure them for another 3 minutes (or 2 minutes). Apply the brilliance top coat & cure for 2 minutes. (They will be tacky this whole time until) Finally you swipe them with the pre & post application cleanser (& that hardens them up). The key is to applying super thin coats.

I skipped the prep max adhesion sanitizer & instead just used the pre & post application cleanser before I started with the structure. It's only  been about 14 hours so far but I do NOT have any chips! It's amazing. I'm getting ready to go to work so we'll see how it holds up.

the night is young

wedding invitation ornament.

After seeing the idea here I knew I had to make one for my friend L for Christmas. She just got married in May & I was a bridesmaid in their wedding. If I can dig up the invitation from my friend S's wedding I will make her one too. I think they're so pretty & such a neat idea!

Kind of hard to photograph, but you can see snippets of the names, the church, the date & I love that. Christy gives a great tutorial & it was really easy to do.

Dallas & back in 3 days.

We flew out Thursday to DFW. We had a direct flight, which was awesome. We were there by 2pm & immediately headed to the JFK Memorial. History was never my favorite subject but I do remember a little about JFK & the assassination. A high school boyfriend wrote his senior paper on the theories around his death so mostly what I know comes from that.



on the field

tunnel the players run through from locker room to field

We ate at The Foundary, which was downtown by the Old Red Courthouse & Dealey Plaza. It was good for lunch but our waiter was rude. The next day we hit up Cowboys Stadium for a tour. We caught a deal from a guy who had upgraded his self tour tickets to the VIP tour & wanted to sell his self guided tickets. We planned to do the self guided tour ($17.50) & he sold us his tickets for $15. Score! Even if you're not a huge football fan or even a Cowboys fan, the tour is definitely something I recommend if you're in the area.

interview room





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boys locker room

We toured the football player's locker room & the cheerleader's locker room. We got to walk on the field. We went through the interview room & sat at the table where they do interviews. We went through the stands to see the views from different levels & different angles. We went through the private club where the people with floor seats pre-game party. The tunnel the players run through from the locker room to the stadium runs right through the middle of the club. We saw Jerry's private elevator that takes him to Jerry's Perch, but his suite was only accessible through the VIP tour so we didn't see that. The employees were all super knowledgeable & so nice. The stadium is actually five floors underground & it took a year just to dig the hole. It holds about 100,000 people. The huge t.v. in the middle of the stadium is 17 stories wide. The speakers hanging throughout the stadium are as big as tractor trailers. The place is just amazing. We were there for a little over an hour. There's so much to see & the amount of money spent is just mind blowing. The lockers are made from imported wood (I forget exactly what it's called) but they're $9,000 each & you're not allowed to sit on them (which I found out after I crawled inside one). We looked up the Cowboys' schedule before we left & for some reason we both thought that there wasn't a home game. While we were there Saturday they were setting up for the game vs the Bills. So sad! We considered for a moment trying to get tickets & staying to watch the game. One of the employees told us the nosebleed tickets sell for $90 but he said there's not a bad seat in the house.

find the joy.

for a challenge at Truly Madly Crafty

new windows!

We finally got our three new south windows installed. It took forever & we're less than thrilled with the company & how long we had to wait but that's another story. We are super thrilled about the work they did. The windows look amazing! & better than that the sound of traffic is reduced (only slightly) & there's no cold breeze drifting through the old 100 year old windows. It's great.

The blinds came from Steve's, which is also where the living room blinds (here) came from. Super happy with that company & their delivery times & their products. I ordered the same blinds for the dining room, the master bedroom, & the spare bedroom. Steve's has so many awesome ones to choose from that I would have loved to order three different shades but in the interest of keeping it super simple, I narrowed it down to one favorite. It's neutral so it works for all three rooms & we won't be taking them with us when we move so they will work for the future renters as well.

We still have to get them hung in the bedrooms but I am loving the dining room!

family portraits.

My friend & I took family portraits of each other for Christmas cards. Neither of us wanted to pay (or could afford) to have professional ones done & we both took a photography class in college. The weather was perfect - 50s, sunny, a slight breeze. This cool abandoned building is right behind her house. It went better than either of us expected - us with Bentley & her with their three dogs. We both were able to find a usable shot for Christmas cards.

red mirror re-do.

I found a little mirror for a few dollars at an antique/consignment store here in town. I thought it was cute & had potential but it was a dirty off white. 

I grabbed my Krylon gloss spray paint in Banner Red & here is the shiney new mirror...

Ikea shelf, vase from TJ Maxx.

Pet Suites.

When we went to the Bengals game a few weeks ago I looked into having Bentley in doggie day care for the day. I looked in the Cincinnati area because it's an almost 3 hour drive & I figured he'd rather spend the time in the car with us than locked up somewhere with strangers. I looked at several websites before contacting Pet Suites for more information. I'd never used boarding or day care for previous pets & this was obviously Bentley's first day care experience so we were a little nervous. Since he was adopted, I was afraid he would have anxiety over being locked in a kennel alone. Maybe it would remind him of his shelter days.

A representative from Pet Suites called me the same evening to confirm our stay & answer my questions. We didn't need reservations; we could drop him off any time. Day care was a flat rate of $19/day & they're open 7a.m. - 8 p.m. 7 days a week! You have to have proof of vaccinations & there are some requirements but one of the main reasons I liked Pet Suites is that the dog is still allowed a play time. With most places, the dog has group playtime & your dog must have a temper evaluation before he is allowed to participate, which is done in advance. At Pet Suites, they have individual play time so your dog can still get some fresh air & blow off some steam. (We were on a short time schedule & couldn't make two trips to Cincinnati for the eval - it wasn't that Bentley wouldn't pass.)

The location was easy to find & the place was super nice. Staff met us at the door, were very friendly, & were good with Bentley. He hadn't started obedience training yet so when they said, "Ok, we're ready for him!" we kind of laughed thinking they had no idea what they were getting into. He had potty breaks & they fed him dinner & they keep a chart on their pets so they can tell you if/when he pooped so you're ready for your 3 hour ride home.

Bentley appeared to have a good time. He was happy to see us, but didn't seem scared or to have any anxiety over the experience at all. There is also a Pet Suites in the Indy area, which will be convenient for us, especially for boarding if we're flying out of town. We will definitely use Pet Suites in the future!

Bengals vs Colts

We went to Cinci for the Bengals/Colts game. The weather was perfect! Sunny - a little windy - & low 70s. Perfect for an outdoor stadium! I love the atmosphere at Paul Brown & fitting in with all my  Bengals fans. We took Bentley to doggie daycare in Cinci & he had a good time too.

last loveliest smile.

for a challenge at Tally Scrapper.