Busted

Thursday was day o' fabric buying. I went to RichTex with my samples. Decisions made. Measurements accurate. I waited in line for the longest time to make my purchase.

And then I went over my "budget."

By 100%.

Oops. I'm not sure how that happened, I swear.

After seeking wise counsel on the matter, I decided not to exactly tell the hubs. I figured what he doesn't know...

I got home. I unloaded the 4 bolts of beautiful goodness. He said, "What is this green stuff for?"

"Oh, just some curtains."

And that was the end of that.

Until Friday at lunch. We have a standing lunch date each Friday. It's usually somewhere really romantic like the Chick or Moe's or Big Ben's Barbeque House of Love.

And it was at the corner booth at Chick-fil-A, where out of the clear blue sky he asked me to tell him EXACTLY how much I spent.

And that is the story of why I got left at the Chick-fil-A.

Oh, I jest. But he still isn't speaking to me...

Crazy Taco Tuesday

Today has been a little crazy at the church. I know you all must think church working is easy going, but it is not. You have to be nice all the time, and that is very hard for me some days. Anyway, I'm headed out to Moe's for a little two-for-one taco action, but I wanted to post a pic that I found yesterday in my Christmas stuff. I want to be one of those bloggers who posts a lot, but on days like today, it's just not going to happen. So, here's Isabelle. I love this little girl!

My New Obsession

I have been to the mecca of all that is good and holy. Row upon row of slubby basket and slubbed duck, prints in every color and pattern... I'm talking of course about RichTex Fabrics. I used to secretly think Krista was NUTS for going every week to check out the new arrivals. But now.

Oh, but now.

I have been redeemed.

We (I) decided that my very old couch needed a makeover. It has been through 6 roommates, untold numbers of boyfriends (not any of mine, of course) and a million parties. It is just time. Justin told me that I could trade in both Valentine's Day gifts and Anniversary gifts for said reupholstering. I told him that Moe's is fine with me, and off I headed to the fabric store. I'm such a low-maintenance wife. Of course I have taken his really nice offer and expounded upon it somewhat. We are going to get new pillows! And curtains! But don't tell him about that.

Here is what I have picked out. The pillow in the background is from the existing couch and chair which shall remain. I'm thinking of using either of the solid colors for the couch (can't decide! HELP!), the green print for some window panels and the others for lots o' pillows. Ooohh and the little breakfast room needs some color too! This is so much fun!Justin is going to be so surprised. He doesn't read my blog, by the way. He says that I just tell him all the stuff that I write about, so he doesn't bother. So let's keep this on the DL. Okay?

And then I am going to make curtains for the dining room! Oh the joy! And this is what I am going to use for that (the brown bamboo looking one). I am going to be such a busy bee.

If anyone knows how to sew, hit me up.

New Year's Eve: Part 2

I have found that the easiest way to gently coerce folks into doing what you want them to is to write about it on your blog. Lucy sent me more pics almost immediately after my last post. I am going to try this tactic again soon.

Back to the story of all that is New Year's Eve...

The women, as is custom, got together for a group photo. I like group photos for one reason and one reason only...to remember who was there. I dislike them for many reasons, the main one being that I am always stuck in the very back row. It's been this way since grade school, and I'm quite certain that it will remain this way for me indefinitely. Another reason I dislike group photos is that my outfit is never seen. And in this particular picture, becuase of my way-back position, I look like I am sporting some off-the-shoulder, sports bra 80's concoction. Which I am not. See how pretty Krista and Lori are? Right there in the front? Next time I am jockeying for that position. The floor is good. The couch is better. Look at Nicole looking all sweet...legs crossed. That would be nice.I was very proud of myself for being able to stay up past midnight. There are a two good reasons for this which I shall now share.

1. Justin playing Tom Cruise is just funny. Doesn't he know you don't mix wine? And check out that vest/tie combo. He finally confessed that his mother picked it out. Figures.2. Jeane Carroll (my new best friend) is a good person to have around when one is about to succumb to the sleep lord. We took about 50 pictures of this. And a video or two. We are so funny.

And finally it came. The ball dropped. The champagne corks popped. I kissed the hubs, we went home, and I fell fast asleep.
Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2008 is the best yet.

A Post about New Year's Eve (Finally): Part One

Hello bloggy world. So sorry I have been remiss in my postings as of late. You see, I have been lazy. Unmotivated. Slovenly, even. The holidays have zapped my willingness to live (read: do anything other than lay on the couch eating chocolate-covered things). I have been living in my yoga clothes, and I'm afraid to go back to the real world and wear real-world, non-elastic pants. At least I appear to have been exercising daily.

Anyway, I digress.

The purpose of this post is to share with the world the activities of our last night of 2007. Our dear friends, the Henderlys, hosted a mighty fine soiree at their home in Daphne. (Shamless plug: Check out Lucy's new Gourmet Girl website. She is an awesome chef, so order up!) Justin decided that his tux does not get enough wear, so he chose to sport it at the v. casual party. Of course I was fully on board with this plan and used it as an excuse to buy a new shirt/dress thing so I could "match" him. Of course I did not match his level of dressed-up-ness at all, but it was a great opportunity to talk him out of a few bucks. That doesn't happen often, and I have learned to take advantage of the situation should it arise.

Anyway, I digress.

So, Justin is in his tux. I am in my black shirt/dress thing. Here is what we looked like. Of course Justin talked Jonathan into wearing his tux, too, because you know we can do nothing by ourselves. Please take note of the extremely messy hairdo...I appear to have an actual rat's nest atop my head. It looked better in my mind, I swear.So we are partying it up at the party of parties of 2007. Food was abounding. Lucy owns a chocolate fountain. Enough said. The men were gathered around the tv watching Auburn (or a team that physically resembled Auburn) in the Chick-fil-A bowl. The women were gathered around the chocolate fountain. This is what it looks like, just in case you need a visual. And yes, those are creamy delicious cream puffs.Oh sweet Jesus, I love a chocolate fountain.

I also love when the women and men separate at social functions. It is just like sixth grade, except you have to actually go home with a boy at the end of the night. Oh the horror. So the women were segregated to the living room where a whole lotta talkin' and wine drinkin' went down. Here are some of my friends that have no idea their picture is about to be posted for all the world (or the 5 of you who actually read this blog) to see. Here we have Jeane Carroll (my new best friend), Lauren, Lori, Lucy and Lynn. That is a lot of L's. Jeane Carroll, Lauren and Lucy are sisters. Bet you couldn't have guessed that. Anyway, these fine women were the hostesses of the evening. They can throw a mighty fine party, as I've already said.

I made myself at home on the floor (closest to the afore-mentioned fountain). I do love me some Lucy and Jeane Carroll. I think we should go visit her at college. It would be the most fun.
And that is where my tale ends for today. You see, my camera battery decided to die before the party, so I am patiently (sort of) waiting for pics from sweet Lucy. I know there have to be some good ones from later in the evening when it got CRAZY. I mean dancing on tables, keg stands, the works. JK. So stay tuned. And if you have any ideas about what to do with my rat's nest, please let me know.

My Christmas Vacation by Emily Chappell

We have been quite the busy travelers this holiday season. This year was Justin’s turn to get to spend Christmas with his family in Birmingham. This is something about marriage that really depresses me. Why do I have to share my favorite holiday with the in-laws? I know that it is fair, but I still don’t like it. So we decided to have our little Christmas on Thursday night, the 20th. We had a big date over to Moe’s and came home to open our presents to each other. It was very fun…just the two of us. Justin acted very surprised, even though he knew what most of his gifts were. He is so funny. Here he is emoting over a sweatshirt that he had asked for. All our pictures look like this. He even got this excited over the Carhartt pants and he picked those out himself. And bought them.

Justin is a creative gift giver. He gave me a new North Face coat to replace the one he bought me last year (I should devote an entire post to that gift)...he stuffed gift cards to Saks in the pockets so I can get some (more) jeans. I do love that man.We drove to the big city early on Saturday morning, the 22nd. We got there just in time for the Wallis family get-together in Trussville. We ate a bunch and played Dirty Santa. I came out with a piece of soap shaped like a snowflake…I am thinking that that is what I get for giving crappy gifts at the Baxley’s party. The highlight of our trip was getting to visit with old friends that I don’t get to see as often as I’d like. On Sunday afternoon, we had coffee with Lindsey and Brent. I finally got to meet Brent, and am glad to see that he does exist. In this picture I am wearing my religious Christmas t-shirt that Jonas (brother-in-law) gave me. He bought matching shirts for me and Mary (MIL) to wear. No Lindsey, I am still not over it.On Christmas Eve I had lunch with Jill at Zoe's and went back to her house to meet her sweet puppy Bella. Jill is having a little boy child in May and looks just fantastic. I told mom that she looks like a skinny girl who just ate. Her bump is so tiny. It's nice for my stomach to be flatter than hers for once in my life. On Christmas night we got to hang out with Kristen and Mitch who were in town from St. Louis. We had the best time, and Justin keeps saying how much he likes hanging out with them and wishes they lived closer. I do too. I miss Kris tons, especially around the holidays. We had the best time at the Brown House. Our Christmas parties ROCKED. If it seems like all I did was visit my friends, guess again. I really got in some quality time with the Chappell clan… we ate at Red Lobster, watched at least 13 movies over the course of 4 days and went to a movie. They are really into movies... Oh, and I read 2 books.

I missed my puppies so much while we were gone. I have never been so happy to see those two little furry people in my life. And my bed. I missed my bed, too. Four nights on an air mattress is too many for a person like myself with such a delicate constitution. My parents did come, hallelujah, this past weekend. I just love seeing them! We have so much fun together. My mom and I are just alike and Dad and Justin are quite similar too. It’s very weird. We ate a lot and visited a lot. I like to just “visit.” You know, sit around with the tv off and just talk. We opened presents and ate lasagna. I made another cheesecake, but this one cracked, so I was mad about that. Here is dad opening his gag gift from me. He looks very mad. I have promised not to ever show the picture of him with the actual gift, so this one is pretty close. I bought Mom a monogrammed sweatshirt for her birthday. I have one, too. We love each other like that.I didn’t even go to church yesterday because we were still visiting. Paul (our pastor) called me today to ask where I was. I hated to tell him that I am just a heathen and he should probably fire me. He also left a large bag of Lindor Truffles on my desk while I was gone. I am going to have to eat them all today because I start on my Jessica Biel quest again tomorrow. Tonight we are going to a party at the Henderly's house. It promises to be very fun, as they have invited half of the Eastern Shore. I am thinking of taking the truffles...maybe someone can help me eat them. Happy New Year's Eve!

Fairhope Friends Christmas Party

Today is dreary and rainy. Really rainy. I have cleaned the house and taken a nap, and there is nothing left to do but blog a bit and hope that you all have been blogging a bit too.

Tuesday night we had our annual Fairhope Friends Christmas Party. This year it was at the Baxley's home, and we all brought desserts. I brought 3/4 of the cheesecake leftover from my mom's fake birthday party. It still tasted good! There were too many desserts there to even begin to describe. I didn't even know what some of that stuff was, but I managed to taste some of Lucy's fine bread pudding and a piece of Courtney's yummy Christmas biscotti. That was about all I could handle. It was just too overwhelming. We also had some punch that was either "Ho Ho Ho" or "Bah Humbug." You can guess what was the difference. I partook from the "Ho Ho Ho" pitcher. We played dirty santa, and if Justin and I are going to be invited back next year, we are going to need to bring better gifts. I came home with the prize of the evening... a L'Ocean candle. The wax is actually lotion that turns creamy as it "melts." Pretty cool, eh? Here are some pictures from the evening:

The girls...

Us and the Henderlys:

Courtney has some more pics on her blog, so visit her. The link to The Baxleys is on the right. Happy Thursday!