Just Being Me

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Winter Weather Coming!

YIKES!! Down here, in the "deep south" ... as the weathermen put it... we don't get a lot of WINTER WEATHER. So far, this Winter seems to be an exception!! We had snow flurries one day, and then an actual dusting of snow on Christmas Eve. Now... it has been predicted that we are going to be hit with a WINTER BLAST of freezing rain and sleet!!! YIKES!!

I live in right smack-dab in the middle of this map!! Right there in the ORANGE part!

We had an ice storm several years ago here, but it wasn't "crippling", as some ice storms can be. Once, back in the '70's (showing my age!), when I was little, I remember an ice storm that WAS crippling! We were living in Atlanta, Georgia at the time. The ice storm was VERY bad! We were without power for 3 days. We lived in a tiny apartment with no fireplace. Thankfully, we had gas heat! So, my mom and dad shut the doors that led to the bedrooms and we "hunkered down" in the living room and used the gas from the oven to stay warm. This doesn't sound very safe to me as I think about it, now!

I wish I had pictures from this particular ice storm. I remember it being beautiful, but dangerous at the same time.

I remember laying there with my mom & dad on the "pull-out couch", trying to go to sleep and hearing the CRACK of the pine trees in the woods behind us, as they began breaking at the weight of the ice. Luckily, the trees were far enough away from our building. The "cracking" sound is one that I will never forget, tho!

Where we live now.... we are SURROUNDED by trees!! Not all of them are pines (the weakest trees), but many are. I am thankful that we have a fireplace and lots of cut wood!

Today, I will be gathering candles and flashlights as we prepare for the worst.... just in case.

Yesterday, I decorated my mantle with snowflakes and created a WINTER WONDERLAND for my living room. It look so very pretty!! It looks like we really will be living in a "Winter Wonderland" by tomorrow! I took photos yesterday, but haven't uploaded them to my computer, yet.

So, in case I can't get online after today.... I will leave you with some beautiful photos (found online) of different "Winter Wonderlands".

Saturday, January 8, 2011

My Winter Tablescape

As promised.... here is what I have for my WINTER TABLESCAPE, so far!

Miranda and I went on a shopping ~~spree~~ search on Monday to look for items. We found these beautiful blue soup bowls at ROSS for $2.29 each! I just LOVE the color of them! And I really did need some soup bowls, as I didn't have any.

We found these white & blue plates at Goodwill for less than $2.00 for four of them. I really wanted six. Oh well.

We also found these blue, glass plates. There were only two, but I already have 4 others that are very similar. (You'll see, below) They were less than $2.00, as well.

Another look at the pretty bowls. Don't you just love the "swirl" pattern? I do!

Here's a closer look at the blue plates that we got from Goodwill.

And here's a look at one of the plates that I inherited from my grandmother. They are very similar, as you can see. My grandmother's are slightly smaller, though.

Here, you can see that my grandmother's were used quite a LOT! But, that's ok. I still love them!

Back, before Christmas, when I first started planning my tablescape for January, the girls and I were in Pier 1 browsing and shopping for Christmas gifts. I had seen this blue vase in there on the clearance area and really liked it. It was only $8.99, but at the time... I didn't want to spend the money on it since I needed my money for Christmas. So, I didn't get it.

Well... I couldn't stop thinking about that vase!! So, on Wednesday (of this week) I went by Pier 1 after work, and the vase was still there!!! YAY!!! I knew that it would go perfect with my winter theme!! Next, I would have to figure out what to put IN the pretty vase!

Yesterday, I went on ANOTHER shopping ~~spree~~ search and found these decorative "sticks" that look like ice covered branches. I found them at Michael's on clearance for $.59!! I bought all that they had, which were six! I think that they are SO pretty!

I also found this cute silver snowman basket!! I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, but I figured that I could work it into my tablescape, somehow. And I did! It is the perfect size for my salt & pepper shakers! The basket was $.79!! YAY!

Here's a look at the final result. If you look carefully... you will see two sets of eyes staring back at you!! **Smile**

I should mention that Miranda and I found the placemats at Bed, Bath & Beyond on clearance for $1.00 each! I wasn't sure about the light blue at first, but I think it works well with the other decor. The little white house is my mother's. She received it for a Christmas gift this year. I asked her if I could borrow it. And the snowmen... I have had those for years. They were both gifts.

I still need to get some decorative napkins. I haven't found any that have "called" my name, yet.

I have glasses and silverware, of course. But, I am hoping to find some "fun" ones (Cheap! Of course!) that would work with my "theme".

I am working on decorating other parts of my house with my WINTER THEME, but haven't completed the "look", yet. But, as soon as I get pictures... you KNOW that I will post them!

Oh!!! And... according to the Weather Channel.... we (Those of that live in Georgia and the Southeast) are most likely going to have an ICE STORM Monday!! YIKES!! I'll keep you posted!

Well, David is anxiously waiting on me so that we can start the pantry "overhaul"! Oh boy!

Apology

I know that I promised to post about my new WINTER tablescape for January, but the day got away from me yesterday.

I received a phone call yesterday morning from my mom's nursing home, regarding the money in her account. They didn't want to discuss it over the phone, so I had to drive over there. I wasn't even dressed yet!! But, I made it over there by 10:45am. We got it all straightened out and it worked out in my mom's favor, so that was good.

Then, I went to town to look for more items for my WINTER theme and also to go grocery shopping.

David and I are going to be working on redoing our pantry today... (It needs a LOT of help!)...so that it can be better organized, but I will try to get the pictures posted at some point today. I may even take BEFORE and AFTER pics of my pantry to show to you. We'll see. **Smile**

Happy Saturday!!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

I Love Dishes & Glassware

I have always been attracted to beautiful dishes and glassware, and.... becoming a "Blogger" has only increased my love for them! I have been finding myself searching for blogs that contain tablescapes so that I can get ideas for my own, and.... because I just LOVE looking at and admiring them!

Take a look at these absolutely beautiful tablescapes, containing some gorgeous pieces of glassware, dishes, flatware, linens, & centerpieces ----

The above tablescape can be found at The Little Round Table, one of my favorite blogs to ~~drool~~ ~~over~~ "look" at! Click on the link and you can see more of this tablescape and MANY others! I love her inspiration for this particular one!

Take a look at this breakfast tray. So pretty!! The blue & white reminds me of my mother. She loved blue & white dishes.

You can view more of this beautiful collection over at The Tablescaper.

If you are one of my regular "followers", then you know that I have been experimenting with my own tablescapes. I started back in the Fall with this one --

You can see more of this post HERE. When I took these photos, my tablescape was not completed, but you get the idea!

Here's my Christmas one --

You can view more of this one by clicking HERE.

So, now it is January and I am struggling with my idea for this month's tablescape theme. I want a WINTER look. My idea was to use cobolt blue & white. (The colors of the breakfast tray pieces, above.) I also wanted to use snowmen and snowflakes in my "scape".

Tomorrow, I will take pictures of what I have done so far and show them to you. I will also find and show you pictures of what I would LIKE to do!

Meanwhile.... Happy Thursday to you!! I'm thankful that it is "my" Friday! **Smile**

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Fun with "Word Verification"

I love to comment on the blogs that I read and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE when others comment on mine! ~~ Remember.... I have my blog set up so that even if you are not a Blogger "member", you can still comment on my posts.

For those of you that often comment on mine ~ or any other blog ~ you know that usually, after you post, you have to type in some crazy word for security reasons. I am not complaining, I promise! I like that this security measure is in place. I am just finding the "words" (not really words!) that they ask you to type in, are HILARIOUS!! What about you??

For a few weeks now, I've been writing down some of the "words" that I am asked to type. Check them out and see if you find them funny! After the word, you will see "my" thoughts on the word. I'd love to hear what your thoughts are!

screpin -- is this slang for "scraping"??, as in... "He was screpin the food off of his plate."

romolost -- is this a GPS for someone that lives or visits Rome, Italy? -- "Check the romolost (rome-o-lost), dear. I think we're lost."

wists -- to me this sounds like a young child's word for "wrists". -- "Mommy, my wists hurt."

adesser -- another child's word for "a dresser". -- "Mommy, can I have adesser for my clothes?"

spoirdi -- is this another word for "sporty"?. -- "That's quite a spoirdi car you have there!"

Like I said... These crack me up!!!

I think I will continue to write them down and post about them every now and then, just for a laugh!

Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday! I am heading back to work today after being home for almost three weeks for the holidays. It will be fun to see the kids again, but HOME sounds so much better! **Smile**

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

I've Won Another Award!!

Two days ago, my dear blogging friend "Thisisme" over at Southhamsdarling, awarded me (along with four other fellow bloggers) the Honest Scrap Award. What a happy surprise this was for me!! I love that my blog is being read and enjoyed! Thank you, Thisisme!!!

According to the rules... I have to share FIVE random things about myself with you, and then pass the Award on to FIVE other blogging friends.

Okay.... here are mine ---

1) I love to read magazines (or at least look at the pictures and read the headlines!) and I don't like it when someone else picks up my magazine to look at it before I have had the chance to! I have to be the FIRST one to look at it! ~ Kinda' silly, huh??

2) Before we moved to the Columbus, Georgia area back in 1998... I had a successful pet-sitting business!! It started out with our neighbor offering to pay me to "pet-sit" their dog while they were on vacation. Then, a light bulb went off in my head and I decided that this would be a way to make a little bit of extra money for our family. I advertised in our neighborhood newsletter, and by the time we moved away... I had over 40 clients!! ~ I have never started the business back up again here, but I have often thought about it.

3) In the Summer of 2003, I won a radio contest and won a trip to the Atlanta Motor Speedway where I got to ride in a real race car and go 168 mph on the NASCAR race track!! It was such an AWESOME experience and one that I will never forget!!

4) I am currently reading the Harry Potter book series. I have finished the first one and have just started the 2nd one. They are VERY good!! I have always wanted to read them, but never took the time to.

5) I have Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS). The definition of RLS, according to the Mayo Clinic is this...

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a condition in which your legs feel extremely uncomfortable while you're sitting or lying down. It makes you feel like getting up and moving around. When you do so, the unpleasant feeling of restless legs syndrome temporarily goes away. If you care to read more about it, you can by going to this site. It is NOT a fun thing to have and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy! There are a number of ways to control it, but the only way that I have found that works for me is to take medication.

There you go! Now, you know a little more about me!

Now, I have to choose FIVE friends whom I deem worthy of this award. If I could.... I would give this award right back to Thisisme. She is a fabulous blogger and someone that I am happy to call... "my friend".

Here are my choices ---

Susan from KardKornerKrib

Heather from Mrs C's Life

Sandy from The Funny Side of the Street

Evy from Yes, They Are All Mine

Kelly from UnDeniably Domestic

Congratulations! You are ALL wonderful people and great bloggers! Now, I get to look foward to hearing some "Random" things about YOU!!

Monday, January 3, 2011

New Year Memories for 2011

I promised to tell you about my trip to Atlanta for the Falcon's football game... so here it goes!!

It all started with David surprising me with Atlanta Falcon Football tickets on Christmas Day!

He also gave me this great Falcons shirt, which I immediately planned to wear to the game!

As the week after Christmas was quickly passing by, David and I talked and decided to treat ourselves to a night in Atlanta before the game on Sunday. We love to use Priceline and try and bid for cheap hotel rates at fancy 4 & 5 star hotels! David waited until Friday, December 31st, and placed his bid on a 4 star hotel in the Atlanta area called "Buckhead". It is one of our favorite places to stay. Priceline took his bid and we were able to get a GREAT room rate at the VERY luxurious Intercontinental hotel!!

So, on Saturday, we drove up to Atlanta. The weather was not so nice. It was a VERY wet and rainy day! (The last time we went... it snowed!) But, we didn't care!

I took these two photo's of the hotel while David "ran" (literally!) inside to check us in.

Not a very pretty day.

Here are a few photos of "part" of the lobby. It was SO BIG and GRAND, that I couldn't take it all in!

I wish this photo had turned out better. This chandelier was so beautiful! I loved the glass "ornament-like" pieces that hung from it!

You probably think I'm a bit crazy for getting so excited about staying at such a fancy hotel, but when you are on a "2 star" budget, you tend to get excited about "4 star" hotels! **Smile**

Here are a few photos of our beautiful room. It was decorated in the colors navy blue, white & yellow. VERY pretty!

The bathroom was wall to wall marble! Beautiful!

We had never stayed in a hotel that had a seperate tub....

and shower!!

So LUXURIOUS!!

Here's our view out of our window. Of course, it was raining, so it wasn't very pretty.

The pool was HUGE!

It's hard to see, but the courtyard was very pretty!

We got a laugh out of the mini bar!! The sign inside the door of it read.... "When and item is removed for more than 20 seconds, you will be charged for the item." -- YIKES!! -- David said, "Shut the door and don't touch a thing!!" He was laughing of course and all we could think about was Kevin's room bill in the movie "Home Alone 2, Lost in New York".

We decided to take a walk (Yes. In the rain!) and check out a few of the stores nearby.

Here's a look at our hotel from just up the very wet street.

After stopping by a couple of stores, we ended up at this place - Gordon Biersh - a beer brewery and restaurant. We had a couple of beers and watched a quarter of college football on the TV's that were on. It's a fun place to sit and "chill" for a bit. I love sitting at bars and looking at all of the different liquor bottles that are displayed, too!

Next, we went next door to one of my favorite stores... Marshalls. It's kind of hard to believe that a place like Buckhead would have this great discount store in it's vicinity, but IT DOES! We went in there to just browse and also to look for some bubble bath so that I could take full advantage of that fabulous bathtub, back at the hotel!

We found some bubble bath, but we also found.....

ATLANTA FALCONS JERSEY'S!!!!

I have been wanting one and they actually had one with my favorite player's # and name on it --

Roddy White!!

My eyes lit up as soon as I saw it and David was a sweetheart and bought it for me!

After our afternoon of walking around and shopping, we headed back to the hotel for a little while and then later went to a mexican place for dinner. I didn't take any photos there. Oops!

This is the coffee shop that we stopped at on our way back to the hotel.

This was the sunrise out of our window on Sunday morning.

We left the hotel fairly early and headed into downtown Atlanta to do some exploring before the game at 1:00pm.

As we drove through downtown Atlanta, we passed many places that we have yet to see.

This is the Georgia Aquarium. It opened in November of 2005.

The World of Coca-cola. It opened in May of 2007.

Then, we arrived at the Georgia Dome, home of the Atlanta Falcons!!!!

We parked the car and decided to brave the cold temps (Which were warm when we arrived the day before!!) and walk around this part of Atlanta. It's funny, because as a teenager growing up on the outskirts of Atlanta... THIS was the area that my friends and I always came to! I hadn't been here since I was in high school! Of course, it has all changed thoughout the past 30 years!

Centennial Olympic Park was also not there, back in "the day". It was built and used for the 1996 Summer Olympics that were held (mostly) in Atlanta, Georgia.

The CNN Building that you see here, WAS there back in "the day". There was an ice skating rink on the bottom level that we would hang out at occasionally.

Here's a closer look at the Georgia Aquarium.

Back at the Georgia Dome, there were all kinds of festivities going on before the game. Lots of vendors and pre-game activities, mostly for the kids.

About 11:00am, we headed inside to find our seats and GET WARM!

Our seats were rather high up, but I didn't mind. I was just glad to be there!!

While we were looking at our programs and taking it all in... we had an unexpected surprise!!

Some friends that we had not seen in 10 years tracked us down and surprised us with a hug!!! They knew that we were going to be at the game and found out where our seats where and came looking for us! We had no idea that they were there! It was fun to see them after all of these years. I only wish I had gotten pictures of our reunion! Oh well.

Here are some of the players as they "warmed up".