Fake #plantlady

     I used to think I had a black thumb…then I realized that the only things I can’t grow are flowering plants. (Weird, but true.) The past few seasons I have had such a great time buying all the leafy green things. No trip to Lowe’s (and there are many) is complete without a trip around the garden center, and I’ve even branched out (plant pun not intended) to an actual nursery a time or two.

We’re plant people now!

     I love filling up the leaning garden Keith built for our porch, and have developed quite the terra cotta pot collection.  When I had a little luck outside, I thought the natural next step would be to move some plants inside. Plants make a room feel homier and brighter…and then I realized that I live in the most poorly lit house in America. We face north and south, which is great for our utility bills, but miserable for our plants. No room gets enough sunlight to keep much of anything alive.

     I’ve got some mother-in-law tongues, but was needing some variety…some indestructible variety. Enter Commercial Palm Trees. I’ve got to tell you, I have always been hesitant about artificial plants of any kind. I have seen more than enough dust covered ficus trees and faux greenery to last a lifetime, but a quick trip to the website, and I could tell (1) this was not a scam, and (2) these plants looked real! Commercial Palm Trees has a huge selection of products and services and the customer service I received was amazing.

     I selected these adorable boxwood topiaries and could not be more pleased with them. The glazed pots were included and are the perfect neutral. As soon as they arrived, I knew they would be perfect just about anywhere. For now, I have one on my mantel and one in the dining room on my favorite giant basket tray.

Ignore the fact that it looks like we’re on the surface of the sun and focus on my boxwood!

     I never thought I was the artificial plant type (is that a type of person?), but these boxwoods might be changing my mind. If you’re in the market for artificial plants…and you should be, they are kind of having a moment right now…use my code BLOGGER10 for 10% off any product (excluding custom). They’ve got a huge selection of all kinds of plants, so you’ll be able to find something great no matter your style! Are you a #plantlady too? Let me know what you find!

Christmastime is Here

     It is really and truly the most wonderful time of the year!  We’ve been decorated since a few days before Thanksgiving, and it’s all I can do to drag myself away from the decorations to go to the mailbox, or grocery shop, or work.  I’m in favor of a worldwide, month long holiday for all of December so we can settle in and be cozy.  Who’s with me?

     Our tree…oh our tree.  So we bought our tree at Lowe’s Thanksgiving night.  It was dark. It was rainy. I ran a buggy into the sliding glass door on the way out and knocked it off the runner.  Once we got this thing home…y’all, I think it kept growing.  I think it’s still growing!
     It’s kind of bald and skeleton-y, but it has charmed me.  It’s significantly more humongous than our tree last year, and it was not easy to attach ornaments to it…but its personality has spoken to me!

     

     My shelves are probably my favorite part of our entire house. They make everything feel so cozy and inviting, and I love decorating them for Christmas.  The giant nativity on the left is on loan from my mother.  My Nana made it, and it is huge. the camels are probably the size of a kitten.  The mantel is much more full this year, but I stuck with the “woodland Christmas” theme from last year. The shelf on the right has been one of the most fun little nooks in the house! Davis’s Christmas books and toys are on full display, and he has had the best time playing with them.

     I bought Davis several Christmas books at TJ Maxx right around Thanksgiving, and when I got home and started opening boxes to decorate, I found all of these that I had totally forgotten about from last year!  He is still really into his nativities, and will even find baby Jesus and tell me that he has a blanket and is in a “manket” (manger)…then he stares at me until I sing Away in a Manger…

     

     That wraps up the living room.  It is so homey and glowy and perfectly us.  We don’t do fancy Christmas at our house.  We do gaudy, overdone, and busy, and we LIKE it!

     The dining room hasn’t changed much since last year.  We still have the carpet.  We still don’t have chairs.  I did add a giant mirror, so there’s that.

 

          I also added a giant green cabinet and the basket tray.  Weirdly enough, our dining room houses some of my favorite things in the whole house, but still hasn’t quite gelled in my mind yet…I think it’s the carpet.

     The kitchen has a few little happies sprinkled around, but it’s mostly the same as last year.  We’ve got the sparkly bow on our front door wreath and the ceramic carolers (also made by Nana) in the back bathroom…because who doesn’t need to be serenaded in there?

     I am so thankful to have this home and this life to do Christmas in.  When Davis gets excited to play with his nativities, my heart could burst!  The fact that he knows baby Jesus is in a “manket” is almost too much for me.  I know it’s just a “trick” right now, but more than that, it’s a foundation.  How marvelous, how wonderful, how incredible that our God wrote His story for all of us. As an adult I experience a new aspect of Christmas every year, but it’s simple enough for our children!  As I get older, I’m more and more aware of the fact that it’s not the “Christmas story.” These were real people who lived a real life in a real place in service of a REAL God. 

     The same God who formed the earth is the same God who sent his only Son to the broken world, and He is the same God who is still writing His story!  I am in awe of His first coming, and filled with hope and joy at what He is still doing and will do when He comes again.  Christmas is the best kind of reset for our spirits.  A time to rest and refocus on the fact that the Jesus in the manger, however lovely, however worthy, however precious will not return as a gentle baby but as a conquering King!  We will turn our eyes on Him in a wholly new kind of reverence and awe!  I can’t wait!  Christmas isn’t the end of our year, and it’s not the end of the story.  It is the most beautiful beginning!

Merry Christmas!

Halloween Home Tour

     Soooo…these decorations will be coming down probably tomorrow, but since they’ve been up for a month, it’s high time I blogged them!  I love Halloween, and I’ve had the best time making our house a little spooky.  Also, I couldn’t find my camera, so these are just plain old iPhone pictures.

This is on our front door.  The wreath I made right after we got married, and I love changing out its accent seasonally.  The bat is a little wooden hanger I found at Hobby Lobby a few years ago.  I just twist tied it to the wreath.

The giant basket tray is from Dirt Cheap (originally Target I think), and it is everything.  The yummy pumpkin waffle candle came from WALMART.  I instagrammed about them, but these fancier candles are back with the cleaning supplies and are changed out seasonally.  They have three wicks and smell so pretty.  The 4x4 canvas is mine, and I kind of want to carry it everywhere I go.

I looooove decorating our mantel.  Our fireplace sticks waaaay out in the living room, so if it’s going to be a little obnoxious, I might as well help it out…right?  I’ve seen paper bats everywhere, and call me #basic, but I love them.  Mine are a little cartoonier than I was planning, but I still think they work.

     Keith bought me the Halloween tree last year for Christmas (because he knows the way to my heart).  I was going to dress up the bottom with some sparkly green and purple tulle, but it was stuffed away in a box, and I didn’t have the energy to dig it out.  I have big plans of printing Halloween pictures each year and stuffing the tree.  Maybe when Davis is a little older and doesn’t hate crafting, we’ll make some ornaments for it too!

     If you squint or zoom, you can see my Halloween village on the mantel.  I bought a Christmas village from Dollar Tree and sprayed it black (and added GLITTER this year).  I really want more pieces, but our Dollar Trees have been kind of pitiful lately.

     Davis has been surprisingly well behaved with the decor! I have a glimmer of hope for my Christmas tree(s)… He hasn’t bothered the tree at all, and only occasionally stops to point out the cat’s eyes or tell it “nooooo noooo” (which is apparently what all cats say).

Aaaand a wide shot…which I mostly include to remind myself how pretty the house looks when it’s picked up.  Sigh.

     The clock is ticking y’all!  This week I’ll get my cozy cottage all Thanksgivinged up, and in about three weeks, it’ll be a straight up Christmas wonderland in here!  I’m going to attempt to get some pictures of Davis at our Fall Fest tonight, and maybe I’ll get my tail in gear to blog a little more.  My mother told me today that I may just have to “burn the midnight oil…” #wisdom

Being a Grown Up

     It’s a red letter day.  Keith and I have signed a lease on our first place!  Currently neither of us are living there, but with jobs and everything up in the air, it can remain fluid for awhile…
     The most important thing is that we have somewhere to live and I love it.  Details? It’s a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment in a fourplex.  Irony?  My sister and brother-in-law lived in the same little neighborhood in an apartment about two buildings over from ours – same layout and everything. 
     I know I can’t go crazy and do tons of fun Pinterest-type projects, but I am so looking forward to making this place ours. 

The view from the front door.

     …it may be furniture-less for awhile.  Oh well…at least it’s ours.  I absolutely cannot wait to really get settled and share my befores and afters with all of you.  It will definitely be a work-in-progress for awhile, but I’ll do my best to keep you updated!

Neither Crowds nor Snow…

     Y’all…March 2nd is registry day in West Tennessee.  Seriously, we saw at least 16,000 other couples (just a rough estimate), but we were not deterred by crowds or snow or the crazy looks I was getting (for dropping things…and talking loudly).  As of this weekend, we are officially registered, and I am still so excited!  Before you get turned off and click away, as fun as picking out stuff was, the most fun is getting ready to have a home. 
     Don’t get me wrong, I am beyond excited to think about the fun things we picked out, but the closer we get to the wedding, the more excited I am about life.  I want to use the dishes and cook with the pans and be a wife, not just play house with cute things. 

But let’s talk about cute things just for a minute.

I am not going to give you a rundown of the whole registry…because I think that’s a little on the tacky side.  I will however show you some of my faves!

Photo Credit: Macy’s
We knew that we aren’t really the fine china type, and I love the look of mix and match Fiesta dishes.  We chose these four (from left) lemongrass, tangerine, sunflower, and turquoise.  I think Fiesta looks classic no matter which colors you pick, and it is so sturdy.  We also picked out some Fiesta serving pieces – so cute.

Photo Credit: Target
I am obsessed with this pillow.  The colors are a little brighter in person and will look perfect with the bedding and sheets we’ve picked out.

Photo Credit: Target
I am also obsessed with this floor pouf thing.  Keith…not so much.  I tried not to pick things out that he wasn’t crazy about, but this was too precious to pass up.  He said later, “I hope no one buys us that pouf thing…”  It’ll grow on him.

     I won’t bore you with the rest, just imagine the most fun list of pots and pans and laundry baskets.  I’m pretty crazy about home things, so a day full of picking out towels and glasses and bathroom fixtures.  One last glimpse into my future home?

Photo Credit: Bed Bath & Beyond
This picture does not do the shower curtain justice.  The colors are much richer in real life.  Because bathrooms are usually teensy, I think the shower curtain can be really punchy…mostly so I don’t have to decorate the rest of the room.

We’re almost there, folks!  Just 110 more days.