month of thankfulness at meet me in philadelphia

Today I'm over at my friend's 'house', <a href="http://meetmeinphiladelphia.blogspot.com/2013/11/a-month-of-thankfulness-elizabeth-of.html" target="_blank">Meet Me in Philadelphia</a>, sharing what I am most thankful for this year. Go over and <a href="http://meetmeinphiladelphia.blogspot.com/2013/11/a-month-of-thankfulness-elizabeth-of.html" target="_blank">check it out</a>!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_lriAQlajniBS-zumMJbL1WS-6cKTpK_EME5HTxfmwJQ9-hKO8TfP_XtoIj2RTUvjuGA1gJ2wZ9UdZxFk9cpqDYqY_hXJGKDcOdqnhaVOwsjZrRZ00QiZJcc_6cIkjdxCP-vDoOPMWqn5/s1600/Meet+Me+in+Philadelphia+blog+header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_lriAQlajniBS-zumMJbL1WS-6cKTpK_EME5HTxfmwJQ9-hKO8TfP_XtoIj2RTUvjuGA1gJ2wZ9UdZxFk9cpqDYqY_hXJGKDcOdqnhaVOwsjZrRZ00QiZJcc_6cIkjdxCP-vDoOPMWqn5/s640/Meet+Me+in+Philadelphia+blog+header.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />And <a href="http://meetmeinphiladelphia.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Ashley</a>, thank you for not only being a great friend, but also for teaching me how to spell Philadelphia. xo

month of thankfulness at meet me in philadelphia

Today I'm over at my friend's 'house', Meet Me in Philadelphia, sharing what I am most thankful for this year. Go over and check it out!And Ashley, thank you for not only being a great friend, but also for teaching me how to spell Philadelphia. xo…

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~~~Sunday Breakfast~~~

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzFxY5TGo_s_fgT53hAfPBS3ARlgJAZSoqhPWISBp2jyqWAFNC0vT_304LKTCyythKvrpFsyGVjKwTfZTg6wjlHp4qSIJrZyC8fEijcBPimIErXmsBHHmb8_lVFrgg-b7hEUfTlWPnXmE/s1600/IMG_0716.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzFxY5TGo_s_fgT53hAfPBS3ARlgJAZSoqhPWISBp2jyqWAFNC0vT_304LKTCyythKvrpFsyGVjKwTfZTg6wjlHp4qSIJrZyC8fEijcBPimIErXmsBHHmb8_lVFrgg-b7hEUfTlWPnXmE/s640/IMG_0716.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> This morning I decided to make us a good breakfast to get us ready for the day. I have not cooked bacon for breakfast in AGES!!! But I sae a commercal last night and that's all I could think of. So, I got it out of the freezer last night so it would be ready to cook this morning. OMGoodness, this breakfast was delicious! I made myself a mug of Hot chocolate. I don't drink coffee, never have. I just don't like the taste, I know, I am weird:) I love my snowman mug, it is large and keeps my chocolate hot! And right now I am using these snowman placemats. They are plastic but wipe up easily when "someone" i know is a litlle sloppy, just sayin:)<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqAeoz7NaOcItNMaMxqbQP9u2chhleLuCy5o6Q3XJAbxqc8JsPZINQUPGxavFPS4hu5teHErUlboiEm4zgaym2aOuITCbsG_of4jHJBHqmhrjmG1YVUpAuSkjTbtRKj_PqZGH8cSiC3Xs/s1600/IMG_0717.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqAeoz7NaOcItNMaMxqbQP9u2chhleLuCy5o6Q3XJAbxqc8JsPZINQUPGxavFPS4hu5teHErUlboiEm4zgaym2aOuITCbsG_of4jHJBHqmhrjmG1YVUpAuSkjTbtRKj_PqZGH8cSiC3Xs/s320/IMG_0717.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Here is my scrambled eggs and bacon and....<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipUMnZbbzoO_CN7BixAG68i5sx29G07aLRcAM9oAJQgEU8JzsRb_dPup5cz0P1Ze2yBpGFhN8QwvvUQCYRXkheKttYi0BTLnbR0MIZwaxAcu0QgJvf0IhP-dN7VSOMfqHRU2z2LcJ1Uo0/s1600/IMG_0718.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipUMnZbbzoO_CN7BixAG68i5sx29G07aLRcAM9oAJQgEU8JzsRb_dPup5cz0P1Ze2yBpGFhN8QwvvUQCYRXkheKttYi0BTLnbR0MIZwaxAcu0QgJvf0IhP-dN7VSOMfqHRU2z2LcJ1Uo0/s640/IMG_0718.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> my English muffin with strawberry preserves. Oh honey!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH4-3k-pK2bZhtZxwh0n659e6AL2cXos1pv9QnVMXCsAttTS9iu6f1gWPGRxz9-yfarP2UwTTc3cC1Ucb3Vp7KZSNmpfv4aCyeo8bxAifCOoPju2f73pTxQIj-AN66FppU8cxj6aWgogg/s1600/IMG_0719.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH4-3k-pK2bZhtZxwh0n659e6AL2cXos1pv9QnVMXCsAttTS9iu6f1gWPGRxz9-yfarP2UwTTc3cC1Ucb3Vp7KZSNmpfv4aCyeo8bxAifCOoPju2f73pTxQIj-AN66FppU8cxj6aWgogg/s640/IMG_0719.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO0DXVYygDUpud-O9uHL6b-MBNNLC5_6Bnvy8PUz3tFOna4-vmrk8cZU8Veqxxj5o1s1Uf9dsp7AfkWLBFuvd5_Hi8BVt-s0bM94cQK6aaKfdBQ90g7_oGlviJjzJeGiOkRGlfqNj618g/s1600/IMG_0720.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO0DXVYygDUpud-O9uHL6b-MBNNLC5_6Bnvy8PUz3tFOna4-vmrk8cZU8Veqxxj5o1s1Uf9dsp7AfkWLBFuvd5_Hi8BVt-s0bM94cQK6aaKfdBQ90g7_oGlviJjzJeGiOkRGlfqNj618g/s640/IMG_0720.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx_iVUnXrn-6kak1xIFODeelbfh3TVeRS_Hu9ty7LCVUhuK8UpXpIdBUTEDPRJIm3ybuMV8pRS1-B9uTWBkMyjJ1mHCN0wZogO6n_hyphenhyphen-U9D940SpIbEBvSw-0ks2AEU0iHGOYt6MGqm8k/s1600/IMG_0721.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx_iVUnXrn-6kak1xIFODeelbfh3TVeRS_Hu9ty7LCVUhuK8UpXpIdBUTEDPRJIm3ybuMV8pRS1-B9uTWBkMyjJ1mHCN0wZogO6n_hyphenhyphen-U9D940SpIbEBvSw-0ks2AEU0iHGOYt6MGqm8k/s640/IMG_0721.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> Just for fun I took this shot of one of my snowmen, with the sun shining on him for ya! You know how I love my shadow shots:) <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwWo8zPP4sXNJd2nRYUzt9LQhddsDzV1Jn5pAlWNwXCda6R7NcHyPnuh6b6oGr2ItpJnlvpk_VWgNwZfscEV2rCBfvcPpyILC6ZfkqNzWvHzy2E1H8gI5XFxoVrqHDXS-wZlUrR9Qa68A/s1600/IMG_0725.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwWo8zPP4sXNJd2nRYUzt9LQhddsDzV1Jn5pAlWNwXCda6R7NcHyPnuh6b6oGr2ItpJnlvpk_VWgNwZfscEV2rCBfvcPpyILC6ZfkqNzWvHzy2E1H8gI5XFxoVrqHDXS-wZlUrR9Qa68A/s640/IMG_0725.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>That's all for today, I am now going to put the tree up. It is a 3-4 hour process so I have to get MOVING!!! Bye!!!!<br />Linking to:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Between Naps on the Porch for <a href="http://betweennapsontheporch.net/" title="http://betweennapsontheporch.net/">Metamorphosis Monday</a></div><br /><div>Judy @<a href="http://diybydesign.blogspot.com/" title="http://diybydesign.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #5d2910;"> DIY by Design</span></a> for Sizzle Into Summer Wednesday</div><br /><div><div><span style="font-family: Lucida Handwriting; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #333333;">The Dedicated House – </span><a href="http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com/2013/07/make-it-pretty-monday-week-60.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheDedicatedHouse+%28The+Dedicated+House%29" target="_blank" title="http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com/2013/07/make-it-pretty-monday-week-60.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+TheDedicatedHouse+(The+Dedicated+House)"><span style="color: #45818e;">Make it Pretty Monday</span></a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Lucida Handwriting; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #333333;">Confessions of a Plate Addict - </span><a href="http://confessionsofaplateaddict.blogspot.com/2013/07/please-join-me-for-scoop-77.html" target="_blank" title="http://confessionsofaplateaddict.blogspot.com/2013/07/please-join-me-for-scoop-77.html"><span style="color: #45818e;">The Scoop</span></a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Lucida Handwriting; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #333333;"> A Stroll Thru Life – </span><a href="http://www.astrollthrulife.net/2013/07/175th-inspire-me-tuesday.html" style="background-color: white;" target="_blank" title="http://www.astrollthrulife.net/2013/07/175th-inspire-me-tuesday.html"><span style="color: #45818e;">Inspire Me Tuesday</span></a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lucida Handwriting; font-size: small;"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium;">TUESDAYS AT OUR HOME</span></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lucida Handwriting; font-size: small;"><u><span style="color: #0066cc;">Happy List Tuesdays</span></u>~</span><br /><span style="font-family: Lucida Handwriting; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #333333;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Lucida Handwriting; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #333333;">Worthing Court - </span><a href="http://worthingcourt.blogspot.com/2013/07/homework-wednesday-11.html" target="_blank" title="http://worthingcourt.blogspot.com/2013/07/homework-wednesday-11.html"><span style="color: #45818e;">Home(work) Wednesday</span></a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Lucida Handwriting; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #333333;">Savvy Southern Style - </span><a href="http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/2013/07/wow-us-wednesdays-129.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SavvySouthernStyle+%28Savvy+Southern+Style%29" target="_blank" title="http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/2013/07/wow-us-wednesdays-129.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+SavvySouthernStyle+(Savvy+Southern+Style)"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Wow Us Wednesdays</span></a><span style="color: #333333;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lucida Handwriting; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #333333;"><div style="text-align: left;">Ivy @<a href="http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/" title="http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #5d2910;"> Ivy and Elephants</span></a> for What's It Wednesday</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #33aaff;"><a href="http://www.cuisinekathleen.com/" target="_blank" title="http://www.cuisinekathleen.com/">Let’s Dish!</a>,  <div><a href="http://www.flusterbuster.com/search/label/Fluster%20Muster%20Party" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.flusterbuster.com/search/label/Fluster Muster Party"><span style="color: #5c4e49;">Fluster Creative Muster Party</span></a>, Wed.</div><div>Katherine @<a href="http://katherinescorner.com/" title="http://katherinescorner.com/"><span style="color: #5d2910;"> Katherines Corner</span></a> for Favorite Things Thursday Hop</div></span></div></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"></span><div><span style="font-family: andalus; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/2013/02/thursdays-inspiration-white.html" title="http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/2013/02/thursdays-inspiration-white.html"><strong>THURSDAY’S INSPIRATION</strong></a></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;"></span><a href="http://mockingbirdhillcottage.com/" title="http://mockingbirdhillcottage.com/"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;">Claudia at Mockingbird Hill Cottage for A Favorite Thing.</span></a><br /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Lucida Handwriting; font-size: small;">Between Naps on the Porch – Tablescape Thursday</span> </div><div><div><a href="http://frommyfrontporchtoyours.blogspot.com/" title="http://frommyfrontporchtoyours.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #7f001f;">Treasure Hunt Thursdays</span></a></div><div><div><a href="http://www.lambertslately.com/2013/06/create-it-thursday-6-plus-features.html#more" target="_blank" title="http://www.lambertslately.com/2013/06/create-it-thursday-6-plus-features.html#more"><span style="color: #b81212;">Create It Thursday</span></a></div><div><a href="http://stonegable.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" title="http://stonegable.blogspot.com/">Tutorials Tips and Tidbits</a>, <a href="http://www.adelightsomelife.com/" title="http://www.adelightsomelife.com/">Home and Garden Thursday</a>, <a href="http://www.commonground-do.com/" title="http://www.commonground-do.com/">Be Inspired Friday</a>, <a href="http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" title="http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/">Feathered Nest Friday</a>, <a href="http://www.commonground-do.com/2013/01/be-inspired-friday-121-whats-new-in-new.html" title="http://www.commonground-do.com/2013/01/be-inspired-friday-121-whats-new-in-new.html"><span style="color: #777777;">Be Inspired Friday</span></a><br /><a href="http://www.jenniferrizzo.com/2013/01/fabulously-creative-friday-linky-party.html" title="http://www.jenniferrizzo.com/2013/01/fabulously-creative-friday-linky-party.html"><span style="color: #777777;">Fabulously Creative Friday</span></a> <a href="http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/2013/01/feathered-nest-friday.html" title="http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/2013/01/feathered-nest-friday.html"><span style="color: #777777;">Feathered Nest Friday</span></a><br />Show and Tell Friday, <a href="http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" title="http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/">Seasonal Sundays</a></div></div></div></div>

~~~Sunday Breakfast~~~

 This morning I decided to make us a good breakfast to get us ready for the day. I have not cooked bacon for breakfast in AGES!!! But I sae a commercal last night and that's all I could think of. So, I got it out of the freezer last night so it would be ready to cook this morning. OMGoodness, this b…

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fess up friday - the makeriesta

Happy Fess Up Friday y'all! Today I've got my friend Gwen from <a href="http://www.themakerista.com/" target="_blank">The Makeriesta</a> over to share. Gwen is a fellow Missouri girl, which already makes her awesome. But on top of that, her <a href="http://www.themakerista.com/p/blog-page.html" target="_blank">design skills</a> are out of this world, she can create a <a href="http://www.themakerista.com/2013/10/the-makings-of-party-xanders-woodland.html" target="_blank">party wonderland</a> overnight and she is single handedly going to turn my hair into an <a href="http://www.themakerista.com/2013/09/reader-question-how-ive-made-my-hair.html" target="_blank">enviable mane of glory</a>. Yes, she is just that good. Welcome Gwen!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtptd8MSVyRY1cBgvMsxPGnjnPFItnJjJMSxU1XZQ8KdkEnIfWw-ygqrzHbNzPBtQptUt5qxKjGGjisHLWlSH9-qS6yN869oxaHAo5I3PLorfxHqgD4M0hHOipQSP6BBoA0z19DZHkO4Sw/s1600/FessUpFridaylogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtptd8MSVyRY1cBgvMsxPGnjnPFItnJjJMSxU1XZQ8KdkEnIfWw-ygqrzHbNzPBtQptUt5qxKjGGjisHLWlSH9-qS6yN869oxaHAo5I3PLorfxHqgD4M0hHOipQSP6BBoA0z19DZHkO4Sw/s1600/FessUpFridaylogo.jpg" /></a></div><br />I've had something on my mind for a bit now, and when Elizabeth asked me about fessing up I knew exactly what I wanted to get off my chest.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQi5aeSJw5fYGT_ASgahYageTmL-etblwsSTpOgmwfgJ_u963E2JQFdJyjb-MzhMztkLM6QhDVJTH0K-fWXqNaP4RV1DTU62hTHj0fLjh2F54UmvNGFLveU0FeLBlE-QIeO6WQ8iE3Xzc/s1600/The+Makerista-Living+Room-Dining+Room-Chesterfield-Sofa-Orangerie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQi5aeSJw5fYGT_ASgahYageTmL-etblwsSTpOgmwfgJ_u963E2JQFdJyjb-MzhMztkLM6QhDVJTH0K-fWXqNaP4RV1DTU62hTHj0fLjh2F54UmvNGFLveU0FeLBlE-QIeO6WQ8iE3Xzc/s640/The+Makerista-Living+Room-Dining+Room-Chesterfield-Sofa-Orangerie.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>If you've ever ventured over to <a href="http://www.themakerista.com/" target="_blank">my blog</a>, you've probably seen pictures like this.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjET8ktcq_kl7dEuOzNsA9_WYF1hjL95JHgYQby13K015xhhk5BcjNoHnuMRdvVsPo2K54cQVr878UXBP8kmDYZ_QMX8kLpsAXXVuEBd8jSTp6_z6pLg57MIBT3-xX_5XcyOCfVhoaeuQ4/s1600/The+Makerista-Living+Room-Dining+Room-Black+and+White.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="479" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjET8ktcq_kl7dEuOzNsA9_WYF1hjL95JHgYQby13K015xhhk5BcjNoHnuMRdvVsPo2K54cQVr878UXBP8kmDYZ_QMX8kLpsAXXVuEBd8jSTp6_z6pLg57MIBT3-xX_5XcyOCfVhoaeuQ4/s640/The+Makerista-Living+Room-Dining+Room-Black+and+White.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Our <span id="goog_1411656141"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/">living area<span id="goog_1411656142"></span></a> is my favorite space in the house.  It definitely reflects my personal taste, and I enjoy spending time in it.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDKUNXTFXq4DNh8I5AJdiOB2BxzGdNr40asQXMd8YH_Z6TyUiRozcxmJZouDwz32EvpaIs_q941opod6fxsAGBX1k7cSLRqnTK6bnwF3cwaU5-dmOnyGAhIxvzmDWBz-OFEkIKElu4UeU/s1600/The+Makerista-Milly%2527s+Room-Girl%2527s+Nursery-Pink-Black-White-Green.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDKUNXTFXq4DNh8I5AJdiOB2BxzGdNr40asQXMd8YH_Z6TyUiRozcxmJZouDwz32EvpaIs_q941opod6fxsAGBX1k7cSLRqnTK6bnwF3cwaU5-dmOnyGAhIxvzmDWBz-OFEkIKElu4UeU/s640/The+Makerista-Milly%2527s+Room-Girl%2527s+Nursery-Pink-Black-White-Green.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />When our second child, a girl, was born <a href="http://www.themakerista.com/2013/07/millys-nursery_15.html" target="_blank">the nursery</a> was transformed into a more feminine space. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDMGf93y69DNQpkKOMnu_BUQtg-PWx2z-0CEnot4_vhfT9sLjxV_QFIcJ8r299U0Kz4LsIWTH-ORHNNH3XGGYi8z8aUlF9iabYMkuQsYjSUfC8d2n0x_V-JkGlgsIh1ORqW5UHxrJBA-Q/s1600/The+Makerista-Boys+Room-Xander-Blue-Red-White.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDMGf93y69DNQpkKOMnu_BUQtg-PWx2z-0CEnot4_vhfT9sLjxV_QFIcJ8r299U0Kz4LsIWTH-ORHNNH3XGGYi8z8aUlF9iabYMkuQsYjSUfC8d2n0x_V-JkGlgsIh1ORqW5UHxrJBA-Q/s640/The+Makerista-Boys+Room-Xander-Blue-Red-White.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br />And my son got a <a href="http://www.themakerista.com/2013/07/xanders-room.html" target="_blank">big boy bed in our old office</a>.  The office had to find a new home, and there was really only one place for it to fit.  My husband finished the basement right after we got married.  He claimed the space as his and I really didn't mind.  It gave him some personal space and me the freedom to do just about whatever the heck I wanted with the upstairs.  We had an understanding: the upstairs was my domain, the downstairs was his. <br /><br />But the more kids we add, the less basement he has to claim.  Our office area moved to the corner and Micah gave up his pool table to make room for a craft table he built me for my birthday a few years ago - really nice, I know.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTDC35sp2c_mJ-X0WlmiRwL6rNNHXhpO33PXhIgtGNUAQoPmlaugMp321baK2ThFKW53h6T2R53cN8EdcY7f1sWezeiHfF4gzAnAu-yhWkYNx4JBHqDrrM23cQp0OnjZum90rSFoXSx0g/s1600/Basement.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTDC35sp2c_mJ-X0WlmiRwL6rNNHXhpO33PXhIgtGNUAQoPmlaugMp321baK2ThFKW53h6T2R53cN8EdcY7f1sWezeiHfF4gzAnAu-yhWkYNx4JBHqDrrM23cQp0OnjZum90rSFoXSx0g/s640/Basement.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br />You see, open shelving sounds like a good idea, until you have a 1 year old who likes to pull out and rearrange EVERYTHING.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgolPHAhzXAyTM571vc4_lNPM5hxp1FBktFcd_O7-MQb845BaPl6siocHJvE7KaLfSbFWUY2GTDvUOet6UvZaVmk7v-7VEYIKXWZ0rQWZAf94n1Tfb0lGwGERl6Ty3oEdlHSz_NHTjzcdk/s1600/Couch+and+Marilyn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgolPHAhzXAyTM571vc4_lNPM5hxp1FBktFcd_O7-MQb845BaPl6siocHJvE7KaLfSbFWUY2GTDvUOet6UvZaVmk7v-7VEYIKXWZ0rQWZAf94n1Tfb0lGwGERl6Ty3oEdlHSz_NHTjzcdk/s640/Couch+and+Marilyn.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><i>Cue the bad, florescent lighting.  </i>The basement is full of Micah's bachelor essentials: the microfiber sectional that dog hair clings to, the leg lamp, the mini fridge full of beer (perfect size for your children to grab you a cold one) and way too many gaming systems and accessories.  Not to mention the art…Marilyn and Bob Marley. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_WB1c3sjAEwYIIpaN-utsSIsM04piD42l2qTaqZp93qetT7_Zu9yLHdWh9PJnK2ctWxOtSWOzuMZ2VnjQoaHDLrgHycMyCtnX3ytKVIDqqnUKNzdVMj1sAwcJqg28u7BmiONajQHjwzk/s1600/Toys+and+CDs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="441" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_WB1c3sjAEwYIIpaN-utsSIsM04piD42l2qTaqZp93qetT7_Zu9yLHdWh9PJnK2ctWxOtSWOzuMZ2VnjQoaHDLrgHycMyCtnX3ytKVIDqqnUKNzdVMj1sAwcJqg28u7BmiONajQHjwzk/s640/Toys+and+CDs.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The kid's toys are certainly not doing the space any favors.  This is where the less attractive ones go to die.  I talked in <a href="http://www.themakerista.com/2013/11/toys-can-be-pretty-and-uncommon-gift.html" target="_blank">this post</a> about what I prefer toys to look like, but you can't help what kids want and what others buy for your children.  The reason they're everywhere?  Most nights my husband takes them for a bit so I can have some time to get things done, and they are little tornadoes down there. Oh, and Micah's CDs?  A tower of history that my daughter, Milly, loves to rummage through.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">  </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7anu7_ydAgUd_CPWBdJCxpICbgtz6I0ndhq_HcHSrgvn6H7VtxZyOCTy2lC76bj5MrJQsomdo8qlHWh9DgIPJwUKAwScABX1Kin-mL99m_uM6mqi2SNaWDyMZ337HUA1A5yRYYHPw-nQ/s1600/Desk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7anu7_ydAgUd_CPWBdJCxpICbgtz6I0ndhq_HcHSrgvn6H7VtxZyOCTy2lC76bj5MrJQsomdo8qlHWh9DgIPJwUKAwScABX1Kin-mL99m_uM6mqi2SNaWDyMZ337HUA1A5yRYYHPw-nQ/s640/Desk.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />And this is where the magic happens.  Looks magical doesn't it?  I curl up in that Mizzou Snuggie until the wee hours of the night writing and editing and brainstorming.  I never spent too much time down here before I started blogging.  It was a place to pay bills and sync my phone.  Now I spend more time here than upstairs most days, and it's not very inspiring.<br /><br />We do plan to make some changes soon.  First on the list is turning the storage area under the stairs into a kids space to lessen the clutter and hopefully keep them out of our things a bit more.  I'd also love to give the desk space some of my personality (clearly it's lacking any at this point).  Micah doesn't really want me touching what little he has left, but he's a stylish guy who I believe deserves a much better looking room to relax at the end of the day.  <br /><br />Phew.  I feel better now.  I guess I wanted to share this today to show that just because some of my rooms look nice and put together, that's not a reflection of my home as a whole.  Making your home "you" is a process and something that can't be rushed.  <br /><br />Thanks for the free therapy, Elizabeth!<br /><br />You aren't alone Gwen. We all have 'that space' in our home, right?!

fess up friday - the makeriesta

Happy Fess Up Friday y'all! Today I've got my friend Gwen from The Makeriesta over to share. Gwen is a fellow Missouri girl, which already makes her awesome. But on top of that, her design skills are out of this world, she can create a party wonderland overnight and she is single handedly going to t…

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the 12 days of christmas tour of homes

What?!<br /><br />I go from no posts to two posts in two days? I am just that exciting. True.<br /><br />It is rather important to me to take the time to enjoy the season/holiday we are in and not jump ahead to the next one. Poor Thanksgiving gets run right over with the excitement for the big daddy of the year - Christmas. So I exercise as much strength as I can to not pull out anything for Christmas, not even a song on the radio, until Thanksgiving is over. The excitement is even bigger then when we finally unwrap all of those great things that stay in a closet 11 months of the year.<br /><br />But, I am also one for planning ahead and I love to mark things down on my calendar. So with that in mind, I'm excited to let you know that I'll be joining several other fabulous bloggers this year for The 12 Days of Christmas Tour of Homes.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9hAubtXiIiQ1IIwCv8ZWhQCZi6LDt_lfjOBR2Ph7IU3FZ_FOC-IUWSP7S4bcMVYs3JisHvsbTG2Ma02myk6co8dqqvprD24iok-Ah-cZfsnq12itrSkAK9nj03MimZ2RWidAsIMKvXksr/s1600/Blogger+Tour+Announcement.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9hAubtXiIiQ1IIwCv8ZWhQCZi6LDt_lfjOBR2Ph7IU3FZ_FOC-IUWSP7S4bcMVYs3JisHvsbTG2Ma02myk6co8dqqvprD24iok-Ah-cZfsnq12itrSkAK9nj03MimZ2RWidAsIMKvXksr/s640/Blogger+Tour+Announcement.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><br />Now not only does this mean you have 11 days of holiday eye candy to look forward to, but best of all, on the 12 day will be a great link up party so that you can share your holiday home as well! I can smell the pine and peppermint already.<br /><br />So mark you calendars and get ready for some holiday cheer!!<br /><br /><br />

the 12 days of christmas tour of homes

What?!I go from no posts to two posts in two days? I am just that exciting. True.It is rather important to me to take the time to enjoy the season/holiday we are in and not jump ahead to the next one. Poor Thanksgiving gets run right over with the excitement for the big daddy of the year - Christmas…

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the dog ate my homework and pop-up shopping

I've missed you!<br /><br />I'm not going to bore you with any excuses as to why I've been MIA just know that I miss y'all terribly when I'm not on my normal schedule. I feel like a big part of my day is missing. And now, I want to sing this song to tell you how sorry I am... just kidding. We would no longer be friends if I sung to you.<br /><br />Things will return to normal as quickly as possible, so just hang with me. And because I can't leave you empty handed (that would make this the most boring post on record) I want to make sure you know about this little treat Santa has dropped in our laps.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmB3L896xYI9PUulGf6z4mZvhHjOX4KmjnReth365U0FfH5pm6r0U410cNZMlTSStPu9QAoxMBaPMqG2yFDKMW7-ogkP1YrXfzAO4Epg-dTS9nJLeQBoxSyVMtATX-vfbIgnl9CdVRLZMa/s1600/shopblackandspiro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmB3L896xYI9PUulGf6z4mZvhHjOX4KmjnReth365U0FfH5pm6r0U410cNZMlTSStPu9QAoxMBaPMqG2yFDKMW7-ogkP1YrXfzAO4Epg-dTS9nJLeQBoxSyVMtATX-vfbIgnl9CdVRLZMa/s640/shopblackandspiro.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />My very favorite Australian, <a href="http://instagram.com/annaspiro" target="_blank">Anna Spiro</a>, opened up her <a href="http://shop.blackandspiro.com.au/" target="_blank">Christmas Pop-Up Shop</a> this morning and things are gong fast. Head over there if you are like me and would love nothing more than to spend an afternoon shopping at <a href="http://www.blackandspiro.com.au/" target="_blank">Black & Spiro</a> but you don't have the extra couple grand for a ticket down to the southern hemisphere.<br /><br />Have a great day and happy shopping!

the dog ate my homework and pop-up shopping

I've missed you!I'm not going to bore you with any excuses as to why I've been MIA just know that I miss y'all terribly when I'm not on my normal schedule. I feel like a big part of my day is missing. And now, I want to sing this song to tell you how sorry I am... just kidding. We would no longer be…

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~~~Turkeys at the Table and in the Dining Room!!!~~~

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDpFGkwUEiA1JN_rFNu5b0Ea01UA6PVHKQJ6f6K4LCx2716aL89xUARY8PIsYIDX6uRRGN10c4ybecD41bUm0PRmfkg5VRUlGouRh-iJAyzEfLOT4HcxMpHFzbKIwTQ5pyOMh01v4HQW0/s1600/IMG_0691.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDpFGkwUEiA1JN_rFNu5b0Ea01UA6PVHKQJ6f6K4LCx2716aL89xUARY8PIsYIDX6uRRGN10c4ybecD41bUm0PRmfkg5VRUlGouRh-iJAyzEfLOT4HcxMpHFzbKIwTQ5pyOMh01v4HQW0/s640/IMG_0691.JPG" width="480" /></a></div> I thought I'd better show you my turkeys since all this is getting packed away and Christmas is beginning! My daughter is having Thanksgiving so that is why I am getting an early start. Usually I don't start Christmas decorating til the Friday after Thanksgiving, but this year I am on a neighborhood house tour so wanted to get an early start! BUT, I also wanted to set a table for us til Thanksgiving and also show you the dining room. .I have this transitional runner that has pumpkins AND turkeys on it. Perfect for right now. I love the soft color of it too. I just used my Mr. Tom for my centerpiece, raised on a pedestal and surrounded by leaves and berries. Real squash and large acorns are scattered along the runner too. My ceramic pumpkins sit on the tiny pedestals from CTS.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir1Huh5x2ML30UN84zfVyjnWp4DuzRq6vmeIuf8KVUvk6Yq_4eXUPNO6LqXSsR0YYVPKx2-rBWSZm5XjmTpWYu8C32vg6IfnIA7iEHqWZU1NH3rnNp7hOuPWwsvejN99vPImQpr9h_jAU/s1600/IMG_0684.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir1Huh5x2ML30UN84zfVyjnWp4DuzRq6vmeIuf8KVUvk6Yq_4eXUPNO6LqXSsR0YYVPKx2-rBWSZm5XjmTpWYu8C32vg6IfnIA7iEHqWZU1NH3rnNp7hOuPWwsvejN99vPImQpr9h_jAU/s640/IMG_0684.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqzw_hdxlm3mWELcM-hoFa7Xh9LfHH27uEKfxBRrb2APvXgQtU4IDMWqglAWkBGNIFlqTD2NfvumW3LqUNalBSuy7QhmiFd5FrRNRBF1-Olr2upNt_r8QBEJOTGBs2V5XgFgaxxnzjK8w/s1600/IMG_0685.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqzw_hdxlm3mWELcM-hoFa7Xh9LfHH27uEKfxBRrb2APvXgQtU4IDMWqglAWkBGNIFlqTD2NfvumW3LqUNalBSuy7QhmiFd5FrRNRBF1-Olr2upNt_r8QBEJOTGBs2V5XgFgaxxnzjK8w/s640/IMG_0685.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>  Just a simple place setting. The napkin really pulls out the green in the plate.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCNY9N1C9bxcbhWMp3Kc9PpI9dS6lrbzZQ98PryCi_7vdgtJHOR46U0CY3-hKEdt91eR4nBubR_VcA-3RYjUjinMUgkAmcBTz1ZAbqf8qRX9LBvKcJbB_Ge8bMW5ztebWICyM9IRhffJE/s1600/IMG_0686.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCNY9N1C9bxcbhWMp3Kc9PpI9dS6lrbzZQ98PryCi_7vdgtJHOR46U0CY3-hKEdt91eR4nBubR_VcA-3RYjUjinMUgkAmcBTz1ZAbqf8qRX9LBvKcJbB_Ge8bMW5ztebWICyM9IRhffJE/s640/IMG_0686.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> I am using my brown bamboo flatware.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHwY0GMXdT6jIYn1Hu1VkttIUuzTE9jabmS7FIXnoBMcoqP4fNdWdbDBxwdwffBHhqzZQd18k2KtOJ307a53nI22YJz1wa3DK1b1C7AfeFwsKvw0gdgPbtH0jG5-jpUkoUxtLivTk654U/s1600/IMG_0687.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHwY0GMXdT6jIYn1Hu1VkttIUuzTE9jabmS7FIXnoBMcoqP4fNdWdbDBxwdwffBHhqzZQd18k2KtOJ307a53nI22YJz1wa3DK1b1C7AfeFwsKvw0gdgPbtH0jG5-jpUkoUxtLivTk654U/s640/IMG_0687.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgivHSCj41MSOn91amLCmSJpB4sIM0i6grKBt-GM71U8H-9L8p20CEU_0rRcDKRHL_OikiqORdgd7lizfe4Pa36BXHKWB7FolMyZTGPSFaEhLFhjXaHy_j7O_DG4kULO3ee8-4cQXNFBFs/s1600/IMG_0688.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgivHSCj41MSOn91amLCmSJpB4sIM0i6grKBt-GM71U8H-9L8p20CEU_0rRcDKRHL_OikiqORdgd7lizfe4Pa36BXHKWB7FolMyZTGPSFaEhLFhjXaHy_j7O_DG4kULO3ee8-4cQXNFBFs/s640/IMG_0688.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> Gorgeous, sunny morning greets us today.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8aFufmRIL2qOKCEXEhvTGF8fKJ7uvKkQFdPfeGFt1to_2ydgrVTAtBmIcaIlOw1BuWNkqRgC5CzgwWmHYpYjqUx-sab0kID7ESO1xqI548o99FYi1QAA_aW3ivgrnHmjpOKbt_2dsHno/s1600/IMG_0689.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8aFufmRIL2qOKCEXEhvTGF8fKJ7uvKkQFdPfeGFt1to_2ydgrVTAtBmIcaIlOw1BuWNkqRgC5CzgwWmHYpYjqUx-sab0kID7ESO1xqI548o99FYi1QAA_aW3ivgrnHmjpOKbt_2dsHno/s640/IMG_0689.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhHj0ZK9Z9VOBkVN1onrjKreHckfQ-Gs2kl-dWaKWpdyIQmWAhRdi5bUdFDeH5ys2xv7OEgRHuXUtYRJ5jSFnlLbozV7HfPMemotXWZZmG_DyUJd_UAaMg5eXnA0pD4x008VY2-3fjK6g/s1600/IMG_0690.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhHj0ZK9Z9VOBkVN1onrjKreHckfQ-Gs2kl-dWaKWpdyIQmWAhRdi5bUdFDeH5ys2xv7OEgRHuXUtYRJ5jSFnlLbozV7HfPMemotXWZZmG_DyUJd_UAaMg5eXnA0pD4x008VY2-3fjK6g/s640/IMG_0690.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil0p7qrnXDErTckI-YImY9PW8Idv3SOYXsZ6UoldXqhtAmcvE1xwOsk25wG3REDgQrBOLBgrWXJRRs3XhfSMqrq343i8aLim7Qt3R_kxdlA0xQ-jJmx0gfW66lJfAG1viJ4A8JOr16kL0/s1600/IMG_0691.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil0p7qrnXDErTckI-YImY9PW8Idv3SOYXsZ6UoldXqhtAmcvE1xwOsk25wG3REDgQrBOLBgrWXJRRs3XhfSMqrq343i8aLim7Qt3R_kxdlA0xQ-jJmx0gfW66lJfAG1viJ4A8JOr16kL0/s640/IMG_0691.JPG" width="480" /></a></div> I love the beautiful detail on Mr. Tom<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3KM35HIhDSZukZhcbDutuwVM-59i3xrzhmFK04sqAR9LDmz5Sd8vhJjvn0GgVayBCdvJhXdOP35ZSOADibcLUSKjysxfAviNI86HeoGDlLToAtXgh3CQft49f61TlZ3QS0YeZQIUPoLE/s1600/IMG_0692.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3KM35HIhDSZukZhcbDutuwVM-59i3xrzhmFK04sqAR9LDmz5Sd8vhJjvn0GgVayBCdvJhXdOP35ZSOADibcLUSKjysxfAviNI86HeoGDlLToAtXgh3CQft49f61TlZ3QS0YeZQIUPoLE/s640/IMG_0692.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQAeRYyMoxlZNreHJZWYfRpyVz9SALqxk-XdX1JvKc6GabLyh0O_yoa6gvdXFmacOeR9GJ7fEuTIAOl49U9ocVO_tTXuRR79DHkpQ-hU6CgUDnxRjnLh8y8wlerVIc_9BO1lRi-GIhoi8/s1600/IMG_0694.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQAeRYyMoxlZNreHJZWYfRpyVz9SALqxk-XdX1JvKc6GabLyh0O_yoa6gvdXFmacOeR9GJ7fEuTIAOl49U9ocVO_tTXuRR79DHkpQ-hU6CgUDnxRjnLh8y8wlerVIc_9BO1lRi-GIhoi8/s640/IMG_0694.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibGM3b532Npdz1AakZ9mIQ2-2ZVFzphAv5v4sCl3ztZYv0f2gLbRZEgjOceBUFUp7v1NKOnaNZnSTcb6wz-Q_Xfgp58E3e07VS3BHJ2ivLzZ-S8pv1AFUbrDpBcKVnMbElZBrTKdZivRU/s1600/IMG_0695.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibGM3b532Npdz1AakZ9mIQ2-2ZVFzphAv5v4sCl3ztZYv0f2gLbRZEgjOceBUFUp7v1NKOnaNZnSTcb6wz-Q_Xfgp58E3e07VS3BHJ2ivLzZ-S8pv1AFUbrDpBcKVnMbElZBrTKdZivRU/s640/IMG_0695.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> Here are a few nighttime shots.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGh9e7q14bLRnm2_-RgYaROPj_FMKzwvIve77ZOyU_blzkLPNlQDTzg_5xKaRIZ4g6zZLVqPifmYt-XMS-viMW4OVPIC389wj-yFungxWlH2rYwwaUsBpyp6QWexL_S3sCb6MwRJYUKZk/s1600/IMG_0674.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGh9e7q14bLRnm2_-RgYaROPj_FMKzwvIve77ZOyU_blzkLPNlQDTzg_5xKaRIZ4g6zZLVqPifmYt-XMS-viMW4OVPIC389wj-yFungxWlH2rYwwaUsBpyp6QWexL_S3sCb6MwRJYUKZk/s640/IMG_0674.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzL1082TVk28k0B67c43n9F_pQKvXmriw9cPhgdtDWwsuFSJ1-69V71bGQWlAmnpWwmAw58yUWxGHKOxk2DPu1OjFkyWPR-nv4wNBV5C78YuAvJ1sd9VBx6RI94HvnG5Qx5QZ7aNNAUps/s1600/IMG_0675.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzL1082TVk28k0B67c43n9F_pQKvXmriw9cPhgdtDWwsuFSJ1-69V71bGQWlAmnpWwmAw58yUWxGHKOxk2DPu1OjFkyWPR-nv4wNBV5C78YuAvJ1sd9VBx6RI94HvnG5Qx5QZ7aNNAUps/s640/IMG_0675.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTSk9pqU5I2UpcVB8JvkthMHqF2C7h4eg7ekU0u1zucbA09yOVUlnY_RCVZmYL4yCnXBWH1ak8FMIZKhIkvQTMHYvIxuHrOr8HZUErO1KIIZiyEuzicICjYoDn7JzPI7pU5fwBSGctxlU/s1600/IMG_0678.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTSk9pqU5I2UpcVB8JvkthMHqF2C7h4eg7ekU0u1zucbA09yOVUlnY_RCVZmYL4yCnXBWH1ak8FMIZKhIkvQTMHYvIxuHrOr8HZUErO1KIIZiyEuzicICjYoDn7JzPI7pU5fwBSGctxlU/s640/IMG_0678.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBSqwpdM7lPTOANkh4_SVGMixQ19MwrtDeJBq5CRIApDhx-Ahkd91gqILCgto0EbxE3YHG6H4t-fwaRxfDSoUZ9YPziMStKHKcZzCcjBHm0oF532Nh_4LXviOG88UBqdBMfY53oQIV03c/s1600/IMG_0679.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBSqwpdM7lPTOANkh4_SVGMixQ19MwrtDeJBq5CRIApDhx-Ahkd91gqILCgto0EbxE3YHG6H4t-fwaRxfDSoUZ9YPziMStKHKcZzCcjBHm0oF532Nh_4LXviOG88UBqdBMfY53oQIV03c/s640/IMG_0679.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> And here is the dining room. It will chnge SOON, so I thought I'd better include it in this post. I kept my pumpkin topiary and used Mr. Tom along with it for the centerpiece.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ZtsXxNadvxyfWjob9Iv27nSkVgfXFl1bnCH40VEyhtdMMzr1cSfrzQ_LyBaUzvf9Qe2dW3U9ohBMR_fMlOUmJjActk2RiySE0Sg2tZTusfWblGhg_1VGofe-K306yQBK97p14jvdOTI/s1600/IMG_0666.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ZtsXxNadvxyfWjob9Iv27nSkVgfXFl1bnCH40VEyhtdMMzr1cSfrzQ_LyBaUzvf9Qe2dW3U9ohBMR_fMlOUmJjActk2RiySE0Sg2tZTusfWblGhg_1VGofe-K306yQBK97p14jvdOTI/s640/IMG_0666.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> Brown pillar holders hold my leaf embossed candles and I used two candle rings: the greens and pumpkin ones too. It all sits on my leaf runner and the hutch is dressed with leaf plates.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8zqhY_jX1Gj-VZB_RtaHAIsq7m2NdYupLGD7a47yVCxrvlZRmsBI7uSyY6p4ME2nDGLXW2XAgBz_ZejXPZboY45sRLs8EDqA2Ntpjt9FKXQtZVE46pSTRbadhU_hdGfW8G_OinaoX4iw/s1600/IMG_0667.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8zqhY_jX1Gj-VZB_RtaHAIsq7m2NdYupLGD7a47yVCxrvlZRmsBI7uSyY6p4ME2nDGLXW2XAgBz_ZejXPZboY45sRLs8EDqA2Ntpjt9FKXQtZVE46pSTRbadhU_hdGfW8G_OinaoX4iw/s640/IMG_0667.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> I love this topiary.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjJodt6y2F5EdSShohg_fbEv_PDwhTVKcNfzXAkJarvY5eqUPpOSBBA9Gmixxbd2Q-nGyZh14zE2mr6WQuLWEtkcClynUO1fcg63llBfP9cB927K2Us0I5_Y8HPGaDaic9hjwXh4N7EG0/s1600/IMG_0668.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjJodt6y2F5EdSShohg_fbEv_PDwhTVKcNfzXAkJarvY5eqUPpOSBBA9Gmixxbd2Q-nGyZh14zE2mr6WQuLWEtkcClynUO1fcg63llBfP9cB927K2Us0I5_Y8HPGaDaic9hjwXh4N7EG0/s640/IMG_0668.JPG" width="480" /></a></div> I think he looks regal wherever he sits!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1x4hO5fIBS8saCqNyN_aB3pzp7ThpCt3QQ-CV8VLSUoQKZONOIJBJpIir4LhdHv0BxFLLg8JgkxADWMRQGlYlDLTn1UVJjoiJviugu7L9ODwYGoTb5uUGC4h5kCa8JEd7GfJtAe9VMrU/s1600/IMG_0669.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1x4hO5fIBS8saCqNyN_aB3pzp7ThpCt3QQ-CV8VLSUoQKZONOIJBJpIir4LhdHv0BxFLLg8JgkxADWMRQGlYlDLTn1UVJjoiJviugu7L9ODwYGoTb5uUGC4h5kCa8JEd7GfJtAe9VMrU/s640/IMG_0669.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNUcvulm8pA64zcDWhOjBk46LLuXtajIofudwGjqNCVq_3w8el1cLiwCZMcvLcyo2CqBrRy7IYIMG40QoqVv1DTZ4Wd8ANSAWzljBXe544mTN7EjT2kCJm2zf56WXH1-nVG_xDmlLHPN0/s1600/IMG_0670.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNUcvulm8pA64zcDWhOjBk46LLuXtajIofudwGjqNCVq_3w8el1cLiwCZMcvLcyo2CqBrRy7IYIMG40QoqVv1DTZ4Wd8ANSAWzljBXe544mTN7EjT2kCJm2zf56WXH1-nVG_xDmlLHPN0/s640/IMG_0670.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> 2 sugared pumpkins complete the setting.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQVrhZQA-oKQf_4zX6iOuL74J1mNwqJQV6oFXsurvfFnyHtweOj4FW5wPyZLl0bJT0EsSBNOiqaBNOHL3sYTtUR0dxAPkRoz14SsebfDQmS87Ficroq-yzyrJZiaMfFtRT3moVz8I8VCk/s1600/IMG_0671.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQVrhZQA-oKQf_4zX6iOuL74J1mNwqJQV6oFXsurvfFnyHtweOj4FW5wPyZLl0bJT0EsSBNOiqaBNOHL3sYTtUR0dxAPkRoz14SsebfDQmS87Ficroq-yzyrJZiaMfFtRT3moVz8I8VCk/s640/IMG_0671.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOshy6EnV8-pPytQoJQJo4CnnYJbEs1d2By_0aCD6STAQbBwoWMHpCDpOWnzY0aQvF3wpwxtXjWI1JQXdvn6scMblWE7321L5LirStm3MxGN5mcbrCem6KrQOF06LuIgFfcclaAjvOBkw/s1600/IMG_0672.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOshy6EnV8-pPytQoJQJo4CnnYJbEs1d2By_0aCD6STAQbBwoWMHpCDpOWnzY0aQvF3wpwxtXjWI1JQXdvn6scMblWE7321L5LirStm3MxGN5mcbrCem6KrQOF06LuIgFfcclaAjvOBkw/s640/IMG_0672.JPG" width="480" /></a></div> I hope you all have a blessed Thanskgiving. We will, as our son is coming up from Florida so all of the (immediate) family will be together. That is a true blessing. I wish Joe's brother and sister and spouses could be here too.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDuUC0jCE9k8sCvztRuEQeMb9-KK2bYsFZ6nDJv6JFA9Loy1ZP6gJ8sVZQTc40fw9gIKCJ9MqQdXOvoG7NF9RHvGV3UUplXbBcneK5XQ42veewRfHf0zAlW19JpJld35lypNTRQttZVRM/s1600/IMG_0673.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDuUC0jCE9k8sCvztRuEQeMb9-KK2bYsFZ6nDJv6JFA9Loy1ZP6gJ8sVZQTc40fw9gIKCJ9MqQdXOvoG7NF9RHvGV3UUplXbBcneK5XQ42veewRfHf0zAlW19JpJld35lypNTRQttZVRM/s640/IMG_0673.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>I am linking to:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Between Naps on the Porch for <a href="http://betweennapsontheporch.net/" title="http://betweennapsontheporch.net/">Metamorphosis Monday</a></div><br /><div>Judy @<a href="http://diybydesign.blogspot.com/" title="http://diybydesign.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #5d2910;"> DIY by Design</span></a> for Sizzle Into Summer Wednesday</div><br /><div><div><span style="font-family: Lucida Handwriting; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #333333;">The Dedicated House – </span><a href="http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com/2013/07/make-it-pretty-monday-week-60.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheDedicatedHouse+%28The+Dedicated+House%29" target="_blank" title="http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com/2013/07/make-it-pretty-monday-week-60.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+TheDedicatedHouse+(The+Dedicated+House)"><span style="color: #45818e;">Make it Pretty Monday</span></a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Lucida Handwriting; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #333333;">Confessions of a Plate Addict - </span><a href="http://confessionsofaplateaddict.blogspot.com/2013/07/please-join-me-for-scoop-77.html" target="_blank" title="http://confessionsofaplateaddict.blogspot.com/2013/07/please-join-me-for-scoop-77.html"><span style="color: #45818e;">The Scoop</span></a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Lucida Handwriting; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #333333;"> A Stroll Thru Life – </span><a href="http://www.astrollthrulife.net/2013/07/175th-inspire-me-tuesday.html" style="background-color: white;" target="_blank" title="http://www.astrollthrulife.net/2013/07/175th-inspire-me-tuesday.html"><span style="color: #45818e;">Inspire Me Tuesday</span></a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lucida Handwriting; font-size: small;"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium;">TUESDAYS AT OUR HOME</span></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lucida Handwriting; font-size: small;"><u><span style="color: #0066cc;">Happy List Tuesdays</span></u>~</span><br /><span style="font-family: Lucida Handwriting; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #333333;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Lucida Handwriting; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #333333;">Worthing Court - </span><a href="http://worthingcourt.blogspot.com/2013/07/homework-wednesday-11.html" target="_blank" title="http://worthingcourt.blogspot.com/2013/07/homework-wednesday-11.html"><span style="color: #45818e;">Home(work) Wednesday</span></a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Lucida Handwriting; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #333333;">Savvy Southern Style - </span><a href="http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/2013/07/wow-us-wednesdays-129.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SavvySouthernStyle+%28Savvy+Southern+Style%29" target="_blank" title="http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/2013/07/wow-us-wednesdays-129.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+SavvySouthernStyle+(Savvy+Southern+Style)"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Wow Us Wednesdays</span></a><span style="color: #333333;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lucida Handwriting; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #333333;"><div style="text-align: left;">Ivy @<a href="http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/" title="http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #5d2910;"> Ivy and Elephants</span></a> for What's It Wednesday</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #33aaff;"><a href="http://www.cuisinekathleen.com/" target="_blank" title="http://www.cuisinekathleen.com/">Let’s Dish!</a>,  <div><a href="http://www.flusterbuster.com/search/label/Fluster%20Muster%20Party" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.flusterbuster.com/search/label/Fluster Muster Party"><span style="color: #5c4e49;">Fluster Creative Muster Party</span></a>, Wed.</div><div>Katherine @<a href="http://katherinescorner.com/" title="http://katherinescorner.com/"><span style="color: #5d2910;"> Katherines Corner</span></a> for Favorite Things Thursday Hop</div></span></div></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"></span><div><span style="font-family: andalus; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/2013/02/thursdays-inspiration-white.html" title="http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/2013/02/thursdays-inspiration-white.html"><strong>THURSDAY’S INSPIRATION</strong></a></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;"></span><a href="http://mockingbirdhillcottage.com/" title="http://mockingbirdhillcottage.com/"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;">Claudia at Mockingbird Hill Cottage for A Favorite Thing.</span></a><br /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Lucida Handwriting; font-size: small;">Between Naps on the Porch – Tablescape Thursday</span> </div><div><div><a href="http://frommyfrontporchtoyours.blogspot.com/" title="http://frommyfrontporchtoyours.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #7f001f;">Treasure Hunt Thursdays</span></a></div><div><div><a href="http://www.lambertslately.com/2013/06/create-it-thursday-6-plus-features.html#more" target="_blank" title="http://www.lambertslately.com/2013/06/create-it-thursday-6-plus-features.html#more"><span style="color: #b81212;">Create It Thursday</span></a></div><div><div><a href="http://www.impartinggrace.com/" title="http://www.impartinggrace.com/"><span style="color: #ac6b0f;">Imparting Grace</span></a><span> for Grace at Home</span></div><div><span><div><a href="http://glamorousbride.blogspot.com/2013/09/all-things-thursday-blog-hop-10.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20GlamorousAffordableLife%20(Glamorous,%20Affordable%20Life)" title="http://glamorousbride.blogspot.com/2013/09/all-things-thursday-blog-hop-10.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed: GlamorousAffordableLife (Glamorous, Affordable Life)"><span style="color: #336e62;">All Things Thursday Blog Hop</span></a></div></span></div></div><div><a href="http://stonegable.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" title="http://stonegable.blogspot.com/">Tutorials Tips and Tidbits</a>, <a href="http://www.adelightsomelife.com/" title="http://www.adelightsomelife.com/">Home and Garden Thursday</a>, <a href="http://www.commonground-do.com/" title="http://www.commonground-do.com/">Be Inspired Friday</a>, <a href="http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" title="http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/">Feathered Nest Friday</a>, <a href="http://www.commonground-do.com/2013/01/be-inspired-friday-121-whats-new-in-new.html" title="http://www.commonground-do.com/2013/01/be-inspired-friday-121-whats-new-in-new.html"><span style="color: #777777;">Be Inspired Friday</span></a><br /><a href="http://www.jenniferrizzo.com/2013/01/fabulously-creative-friday-linky-party.html" title="http://www.jenniferrizzo.com/2013/01/fabulously-creative-friday-linky-party.html"><span style="color: #777777;">Fabulously Creative Friday</span></a> <a href="http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/2013/01/feathered-nest-friday.html" title="http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/2013/01/feathered-nest-friday.html"><span style="color: #777777;">Feathered Nest Friday</span></a><br />Show and Tell Friday, <a href="http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" title="http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/">Seasonal Sundays</a></div></div></div></div>

~~~Turkeys at the Table and in the Dining Room!!!~~~

 I thought I'd better show you my turkeys since all this is getting packed away and Christmas is beginning! My daughter is having Thanksgiving so that is why I am getting an early start. Usually I don't start Christmas decorating til the Friday after Thanksgiving, but this year I am on a neighborhoo…

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fess up friday - chez v

Have I got a yarn to weave for you today. I've got my partner in crime <a href="http://chezviviv.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Emily from Chez V</a> over for Fess Up Friday today and we've got a good one for you. Freshen up your drink and enjoy. And <a href="https://www.facebook.com/zuck" target="_blank">Zuck</a>, if you want to use us for a Facebook commercial, we're open to offers. Emily, fess up with Part 1...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAbbtBx0ciVZTNwD9it5w7lWVN7ZfkL7UTb2UeOwI8yNJeDSMldF8FkCEaLx2teaBuY_t9riY_vemWRb0R9X7UyLYlw-K0yupvDmJ_gNb7DFeItk92dVMAOmZ3RSyFbVIvBNYprbkXrqKT/s1600/FessUpFridaylogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAbbtBx0ciVZTNwD9it5w7lWVN7ZfkL7UTb2UeOwI8yNJeDSMldF8FkCEaLx2teaBuY_t9riY_vemWRb0R9X7UyLYlw-K0yupvDmJ_gNb7DFeItk92dVMAOmZ3RSyFbVIvBNYprbkXrqKT/s320/FessUpFridaylogo.jpg" width="160" /></a></div><br /><div style="direction: ltr; language: en-US; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; mso-line-break-override: none; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">Is there anything better than the thrill of the chase?  </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">Well here is a little ditty for </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">you about </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">a desperate chase, the </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">power of social </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">media, </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">and the<br />kindness of strangers.  </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">As a linking participant of the <a href="http://www.callingithome.com/2013/11/one-room-challenge-linking-party-pretty.html" target="_blank">One Room Challenge</a>, I was on </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">a </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">frenzied search </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">to locate a pair of </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">affordable sconces for my bedroom plan aka Project Chinoisy Safari Chic.</span></div><div style="direction: ltr; language: en-US; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; mso-line-break-override: none; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuaCKVCS8EgszIA-yd8NLylvPBd6veHD2hxeR1yZuH3Tt3j-P8UDGU8vrVQcI_q6vwzT2xJlAc2l1aSLOPneDBpe-_b1uW17Jv_6g7LW6yzNloNsvjZAtR_iYH6a6E8BWhUnxnVIg__fY/s1600/ORC+-+Week+1+Graphic.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuaCKVCS8EgszIA-yd8NLylvPBd6veHD2hxeR1yZuH3Tt3j-P8UDGU8vrVQcI_q6vwzT2xJlAc2l1aSLOPneDBpe-_b1uW17Jv_6g7LW6yzNloNsvjZAtR_iYH6a6E8BWhUnxnVIg__fY/s640/ORC+-+Week+1+Graphic.png" width="388" /></a></div><div style="direction: ltr; language: en-US; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; mso-line-break-override: none; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="direction: ltr; language: en-US; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; mso-line-break-override: none; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">With little time, I knew my search would be a lot like trying to avoid bread and cheese.  </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">Not </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">gonna </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">happen.  </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">On a Wednesday, mid-challenge, I headed to <a href="http://www.ikea.com/us/en/" target="_blank">IKEA</a> in search of some drapes to hack.  Imagine my glee when I stumbled across the </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20231325/" target="_blank">Ranarp</a></span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">clamp </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">spotlights.  I was </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">complet</span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">ely smitten upon first sight considering </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">all the other sconces I was </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">contemplating </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">for my </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://chezviviv.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-big-reveal-wk6-orc-challenge.html" target="_blank">ORC room</a> </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">carried hefty price </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">tags</span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">and long lead times.<br />The </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">Ranarp</span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"> - $19.99.  </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">Say what?!  Done and done.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcVcHNlE0JUwMzcIsdtUSGLwyvh73cBsuuJuXTjwfiCykHxI755ER43E3scq9fypStz4nd8PsFxRZyIxGup4bpYV41kNnhH1Fn3DIAvsf-KmekRVEkGEQm1rREwASTX2Ct2LkpvEyHVUw/s1600/Day+186+-+ORC+Link+Up+-+WK3+-+Ranarp.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcVcHNlE0JUwMzcIsdtUSGLwyvh73cBsuuJuXTjwfiCykHxI755ER43E3scq9fypStz4nd8PsFxRZyIxGup4bpYV41kNnhH1Fn3DIAvsf-KmekRVEkGEQm1rREwASTX2Ct2LkpvEyHVUw/s400/Day+186+-+ORC+Link+Up+-+WK3+-+Ranarp.png" width="300" /></a></div><div style="direction: ltr; language: en-US; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; mso-line-break-override: none; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">But like all too-good-to-be-true dreams, </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">I awoke from my design euphoric nirvana state only to realize that </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">they </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">were sold out.  </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">Of </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">course you are, little gorgy industrial glam thingy, you!  </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">Immediately, I </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">sent out a request on </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://instagram.com/chezviviv" target="_blank">Instagram</a></span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"> asking if anyone knew of any in stock anywhere.  </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">Like the </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">shot heard round the world, </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">my fellow design soldiers started rallying to the call, </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">one of which </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">was one of my </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">favorite gals in all of </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">blogland</span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">, </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">Elizabeth.  </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">It seems she too was on the hunt for the coveted <a href="http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20231325/" target="_blank">Ranarps</a>.</span></div><div style="direction: ltr; language: en-US; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; mso-line-break-override: none; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">  </span></div><div style="direction: ltr; language: en-US; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; mso-line-break-override: none; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">In </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">the meantime, </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">while my little was busy hopping herself up on a cinnamon roll, I </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">sweet talked a very accommodating IKEA customer service guy into doing a country wide inventory search (</span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">which </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">I do not necessarily suggest as it took </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">forever and garnered </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">a </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">lot of </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">evil side </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">eye from the long customer svc queue</span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">) </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">only to discover that the </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">lamps were indeed, sold out everywhere with the exception of </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">17 </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">in Paramus, NJ and </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">3 in Houston</span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">, TX.  I shared this info with Elizabeth and thus began a dual mission to score these lamps through one of our varied networks.</span></div><div style="direction: ltr; language: en-US; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; mso-line-break-override: none; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"></div><div style="direction: ltr; language: en-US; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; mso-line-break-override: none; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">We schemed, we commiserated, we called, emailed, <a href="http://chezviviv.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">blogged</a>, </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://instagram.com/chezviviv" target="_blank">IG’d</a></span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"> and </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/chezviviv" target="_blank">FB’d</a></span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"> in an attempt to reach anyone who had peeps near Paramus, NJ or Houston all to no avail.  </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">I even contacted </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">my master finder-of-all-things </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">bestie</span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"> in Berlin, Germany.<br />This is the </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">kinda</span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"> gal who has a vast network of contacts willing and ready to do her bidding.  She said, yes, she could probably pull it off but to keep checking with other sources as it would take a few to orchestrate.<br />Meanwhile</span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">, </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">on Friday </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">evening of that same week, at 7pm, </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">my sister’s father-in-law, who lives in </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">NJ, happened to be near the Paramus store, and agreed to go pick some up, but would I mind calling to verify stock first.  </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">Hoo</span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">-ray!!!!  No problem!!!! </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">Except when I called IKEA another very nice customer svc lady informed me that no, in fact, Paramus did not have ANY in stock.  </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">Is it possible that all 17 sold out in 2 days?!  </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">No, turns out that when my customer svc dude did the country wide search, the 17 he ‘found’ in the Paramus, NJ store where actually in the Elizabeth, NJ store.  Which was no where near where my sister’s father-in-law happened to be at said moment.  </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">Wha</span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">wha</span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">wha</span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">.</span></div><div style="direction: ltr; language: en-US; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; mso-line-break-override: none; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgifNWY6lLSrzOL77shOyzxj9lNiHv4oHn_T8HyBe7SuQ7H-Zvi2E44w_UlGgody9QzZfoutv3cXaaq_x3bP8nkxvDsatur9AZR6kmcy5EaVcp5dA-NyIYtE0gQuO40K4mcWN2y1z9wUeU/s1600/royvey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgifNWY6lLSrzOL77shOyzxj9lNiHv4oHn_T8HyBe7SuQ7H-Zvi2E44w_UlGgody9QzZfoutv3cXaaq_x3bP8nkxvDsatur9AZR6kmcy5EaVcp5dA-NyIYtE0gQuO40K4mcWN2y1z9wUeU/s400/royvey.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.thejimbolist.com/?p=415" target="_blank">via</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="direction: ltr; language: en-US; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; mso-line-break-override: none; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">Are you still with me?<br /></span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">I know, me neither.<br />I am exhausted just retelling it. <br />Clearly it was time for wine and more commiseration.  Off went another email to Elizabeth detailing how the Holy Grail had slipped through our fingers, yet again.  At which point, I hand off the story baton to her which involves that Friday evening spent feverishly exchanging updates via email over many glasses of wine on my side and probably many G &Ts on hers while my much ignored and frustrated husband could not understand even a little bit about what all the fuss was about.  </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">Thankfully, Elizabeth’s </span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">hubster</span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"> could!</span><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="direction: ltr; language: en-US; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; mso-line-break-override: none; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="color: #d99694; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 5; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="color: #254061; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 4; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">kisses,  </span><span style="color: #254061; font-family: "Satisfaction Pro"; font-size: 36.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Satisfaction Pro"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 4; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;">mrs.</span><span style="color: #254061; font-family: "Satisfaction Pro"; font-size: 36.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Satisfaction Pro"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 4; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"> V</span></div><div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="color: #254061; font-family: "Satisfaction Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Satisfaction Pro"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 4; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSgy0iOEwC0Cg_2DT7geX5i8O1e_An1nPZMSUaRsVZWFSF0eKtgnlJvvDvbrF5isj5NDbWGv-_68apKyU7Xtwj-dVmLcfN8x2NqFkhjDX2bq7RO1_2UYQwZ2AXSQ6UJ48eGxbkoRKbRoQ/s1600/Slide2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSgy0iOEwC0Cg_2DT7geX5i8O1e_An1nPZMSUaRsVZWFSF0eKtgnlJvvDvbrF5isj5NDbWGv-_68apKyU7Xtwj-dVmLcfN8x2NqFkhjDX2bq7RO1_2UYQwZ2AXSQ6UJ48eGxbkoRKbRoQ/s640/Slide2.PNG" width="480" /></a></div><div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="color: #254061; font-family: "Satisfaction Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Satisfaction Pro"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 4; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: #254061; font-family: "Satisfaction Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Satisfaction Pro"; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-color-index: 4; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz39VbzK0lKVwJPYyOju9XW8AUSgRJ_5Pv6kr43iiVbjxzh77cbP4kYs6SQNpE2Mqylsc2ZWFVN0wRrblzL4Z-k4_X9lnlSxQruQNONJNxUv_e8vfInnEsloODaj_axW8DZnw9V7SCydQ/s1600/Sunny+ORC+pictures+045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz39VbzK0lKVwJPYyOju9XW8AUSgRJ_5Pv6kr43iiVbjxzh77cbP4kYs6SQNpE2Mqylsc2ZWFVN0wRrblzL4Z-k4_X9lnlSxQruQNONJNxUv_e8vfInnEsloODaj_axW8DZnw9V7SCydQ/s640/Sunny+ORC+pictures+045.JPG" width="424" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj05iiJ5U8S_4Ptk2Zyt7kGzChrkIX0mQdkJTdPxEWVqOVq_tomUjefJmaerylKON7whbcp3RwQuVN3XroTHqbUnf9jLBllhOzQi7b8fupfifxqo6NsMbiidc0_gMDz7hXFl00xQfiNdcw/s1600/Slide7.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj05iiJ5U8S_4Ptk2Zyt7kGzChrkIX0mQdkJTdPxEWVqOVq_tomUjefJmaerylKON7whbcp3RwQuVN3XroTHqbUnf9jLBllhOzQi7b8fupfifxqo6NsMbiidc0_gMDz7hXFl00xQfiNdcw/s640/Slide7.PNG" width="480" /></a></div><div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidQsgmRw1Ed46p8KKgqDGuOe3cBTJ4eIIzCRLSQ1u_PrpcUR9WXm2YTe2tw_Jujko2vIuJeD69r5lgpNTQJu8J51C-26JmGYBpAgyW1eRNhNRGmQOgyDiq4Gicy_ddYccLpVFhEG5UoxM/s1600/Master+Makeover+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidQsgmRw1Ed46p8KKgqDGuOe3cBTJ4eIIzCRLSQ1u_PrpcUR9WXm2YTe2tw_Jujko2vIuJeD69r5lgpNTQJu8J51C-26JmGYBpAgyW1eRNhNRGmQOgyDiq4Gicy_ddYccLpVFhEG5UoxM/s640/Master+Makeover+001.JPG" width="424" /></a></div><div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><br />Part 2...<br /><br />It was not a good night for Emily and me. As y'all may have gathered, I can get myself a wicked case of tunnel vision when I want something. I am like Miley Cyrus when she sees a foam finger - I cannot be stopped.<br />After days of back and forth, and a Friday night spent emailing at a rapid pace, we were left empty handed. Damn that IKEA customer service rep and his lack of New Jersey geographic knowledge. My New Jersey adjacent sources were tapped as well and worst of all I was running out of gin.<br /><br />Luckily this happened just as the hubs was finishing his movie. "Are you two still talking about those dumb lights?" he said (in an ultra supportive voice). I updated him on the latest and he said, "let's just put this on Facebook". And like that he sent out an SOS on his feed.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSHDVpCnb_RiMKDUstohKBPKLRhbsCQP4WRdx8CxsJRv3OHzd3OWYDl7tWXH4XT1hHmZLIHGYDNwpxpEdFZ2vVgjBIizH9OBiB-MwcFY4r1mn7eXknSCRHexbHs5ZndHuTVG4ip7FKqimd/s1600/lukefb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSHDVpCnb_RiMKDUstohKBPKLRhbsCQP4WRdx8CxsJRv3OHzd3OWYDl7tWXH4XT1hHmZLIHGYDNwpxpEdFZ2vVgjBIizH9OBiB-MwcFY4r1mn7eXknSCRHexbHs5ZndHuTVG4ip7FKqimd/s640/lukefb.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Just an hour and a half later he had a response from a friend from high school (which was in Chicago) who now lives in Dallas. Yes, Dallas is not Houston, but <i>she</i> has a friend who lives in Houston who would probably be up for it. "She loves to shop."<br /><br />Good lord, we might have a winner. I told Emily right away and we both held our breath as my husband texted Dallas and Dallas texted Houston and back again. Houston was in, we just needed to confirm in the AM that the IKEA store did in fact have the lights in stock and she would be there as soon as they opened.<br /><br />So a perfect stranger agreed to go to IKEA on <strike>the worst IKEA day of the week</strike> a Saturday to pick up three lights, the LAST three lights in stock in the lower 48, for two crazy ladies in two different states that she had never met. Emily and I squealed and lit a candle that some early bird Texan wouldn't get our lights before our shopping angel arrived.<br /><br />I had already committed to go to an auction that morning with a client so I called IKEA on my way and they were as (un)helpful as ever, telling me that it '<i>looks</i> like there are 3 available' but they couldn't be sure. Awesome.<br /><br />So we waited, and waited, and just as I lost a bid on some fab ginger jars this popped up on my phone.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHHc-TRI6w4Nop4vKz-7toLCdNHKZmG4yOtAdFnDXvSo0VqTvSmjLGYnUQhGYd6vqtvt1p8PKfD_Ks0vJP4ykBnucO_j1t6Y5gtNhx3mgFjoeAtceQyK1IJ0Mo16fayaL5o7nPp2OmTDjM/s1600/IKEARANARP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHHc-TRI6w4Nop4vKz-7toLCdNHKZmG4yOtAdFnDXvSo0VqTvSmjLGYnUQhGYd6vqtvt1p8PKfD_Ks0vJP4ykBnucO_j1t6Y5gtNhx3mgFjoeAtceQyK1IJ0Mo16fayaL5o7nPp2OmTDjM/s640/IKEARANARP.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />Three left and they were all ours. I cheered silently and forwarded the picture to Emily. IKEA, I love you again.<br /><br />As if this woman couldn't get any better, she sent a few more texts asking if there were any other forms of the RANARP we wanted while she was there (the desk lamp is especially lovely). Can this wonderful person please move to St. Louis so I can hug her?!<br /><br />She shipped them out first thing Monday and on Wednesday morning I had the best package on my doorstep along with the sweetest note (on fab monogramed stationary I might add). Not only did this woman make this trip for people she doesn't even know to a store that is crazy on a quite day but she did it all while sick. And my favorite part - "I took it upon myself to also buy the lightbulbs that were recommended for the light, just in case." I love her.<br /><br />So in the end this<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxe0lsbDl7QFTIiOOU9FCGHbqTlpKyJKho8rFwvdOQSB7T7gjRRqRhw4924FzkkiFd_EDZF7LR8uOvvGdM1f-1qYyLvcxDLeyjH9npRnyyQGVW_PxhQAx_RkYiGfXIYVttoIL9KDqgcxUu/s1600/creativityismessyfinal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxe0lsbDl7QFTIiOOU9FCGHbqTlpKyJKho8rFwvdOQSB7T7gjRRqRhw4924FzkkiFd_EDZF7LR8uOvvGdM1f-1qYyLvcxDLeyjH9npRnyyQGVW_PxhQAx_RkYiGfXIYVttoIL9KDqgcxUu/s640/creativityismessyfinal.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />and this<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisn0B2WfIaJlC04gMUc9N_ItVFBV3YSH3GAN6UY7ne7brreT6a841Sc_UjZO9twhOkoKu9FGkywEu0Pa-ctLtxhTJfJO2kqd5_zAHZEmIiVnrSvOXFDGCyE7jOwGJK_Kv0F1nlNyCtjYCX/s1600/Slide2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisn0B2WfIaJlC04gMUc9N_ItVFBV3YSH3GAN6UY7ne7brreT6a841Sc_UjZO9twhOkoKu9FGkywEu0Pa-ctLtxhTJfJO2kqd5_zAHZEmIiVnrSvOXFDGCyE7jOwGJK_Kv0F1nlNyCtjYCX/s640/Slide2.PNG" width="480" /></a></div><br />would not have been possible without our little slice of heaven in Texas. Thank you Marnie and Ann for your kindness. Emily and I would like to buy you ladies a drink.<br /><br />Have you ever been desperate to get your hands on something? Ever need something and then when you find out it is hard to get it becomes an obsession? Ever want to kiss a stranger?</div>

fess up friday - chez v

Have I got a yarn to weave for you today. I've got my partner in crime Emily from Chez V over for Fess Up Friday today and we've got a good one for you. Freshen up your drink and enjoy. And Zuck, if you want to use us for a Facebook commercial, we're open to offers. Emily, fess up with Part 1...Is t…

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