Preparing for Jason

Talk about having a laundry list of items to do! Between a few last minute things for the house (I've come to accept that no, the room will not be 100% finished when he gets back, but it will be dang close!), grocery shopping, Jake's fiancée Stacey coming in from Minnesota--and oh yeah!--my day job, I'm going to be crazy busy!! I have a ton of stuff I also want to post about before the clock strikes midnight and I turn into a pumpkin I go into hibernation with my hubby, including the winning homecoming dress.

So guess what time it is? Honey-Do time. For shizz. Only this isn't just a weekender's list--this is a serious it's-time-to-git-'er-done list!


- Grocery Shopping
Among other things, tiramisu from Olive Garden is on my "need to buy" list!
- Have duvet dry cleaned
I had an unsuccessful attempt at washing it at home.
- Make chocolate covered strawberries
Seriously? These things are like $5 at a candy store! If I can DIY furniture, I can DIY these!
-Purchase mirror for bedroom
- Mop, sweep, & vacuum like crazy
- Paint other foot stool
They won't be reupholstered before Jason gets home, but they can at least match.
- Find cold weather alternative for homecoming outfit
After all that work, I'm going to have to prepare for the likelihood of grey, drizzly, or smack dab in the middle of the night for Jason's arrival!
- Hit up Tuesday Morning & Dollar Tree for some cheap fall decor
I just need a few more things to finish my decorating extravaganza (see parts one and two here).

By Sunday, I'm hoping to have a shot of the room in its no-it's-not-actually-finished-but-it's-pretty-dang-close stage, and a shot of the winning dress, plus its cold weather look. So here we go!

It's the final countdown!

Meet me in Del Mar

Judy Garland may have had St. Louis and the world fair, but here in San Diego, our county fair is the mark of summer! I've gone to the fair for as many years as I can remember and have never missed a single summer--even when we were living back in North Carolina! I always coincided my trips out here with the fair schedule. I've made my first official trip for the year, but I have two more planned already! ;)

Me and Mom enjoying the sun...



...the flower competition...



...the wood working exhibit (yes, this full-size male lion is carved completely of wood!)...



...the gems and minerals displays (love the jade "peas" in this food display)...



...and marveling at all the fried foods!



Not pictured: chocolate covered bacon (ew!), fried butter (double ew!), and fried Snickers. But I did help myself to a fried Reese's! I hate to admit just how good this really was! ;)



On the next trip I plan to try one of the fried Klondike bars! =D

I ♥ summer shopping

What is it about summer that makes shopping so much more fun?! I've been trying to keep up with my recent weight loss (I'm down to 117 pounds now people! I finally match my driver's license!) by buying belts to hold up my old jeans, but I'm actually getting to the point where this won't be a solution much longer. Today, I broke down and bought my first new piece of clothing: a romper from ModCloth (in a small no less! I've never been a small!).


I've been wanting one for a while now. Ever since they started coming back in style I knew I wanted to add one to my wardrobe. But finding the right style was proving to be difficult! When I saw this adorable little polka dot number, I knew she was the one!

Now I'm on the hunt for the perfect red wedges to go with it (what is it about black and white and red together?)! Our county fair starts this week, and I have many a-visions of sporting this little number on those long hot trips. My little sister has even talked about going to opening day at the (pony) race tracks, so I have a feeling this would work there too!

Of course, I'm not shopping for just me! One of my friends just had a baby boy and I spent like, $60 on onesies for him! Jason and I may not want kids, but we love to shop for and spoil other people's babies!

My friend has always been the "life of the party," so this one was a must!



Literally, "Danger" is his middle name!



His daddy just got a t-shirt with retro playing cards on it for his birthday. Figured the baby could use one too!



Did you expect anything less from an Irish girl to her Irish friend? ;)


There's about a bazillion more that I want to buy him, but I think I should probably wait a little. I can't wait to get these so I can wrap them up in some super cute packaging (but it will not be all cutesy-cutesy-baby-like, it's gotta match the gifts inside). I may try to find some little punk-rock pacifiers and accessories too, so if anyone has some good sources, please pass them along!

Today I'm going out with my mom, aunt, cousin, and twin one-year-old cousins for a girls' day! Bet you can't guess what I wish I already owned? ;)

How 'bout you?? Please tell me I'm not the only one splurging on my summer wardrobe! =)

PS: My latest short story ("Birthday Sex") is up on The Escritoire! You can check it out here.

have yourself a merry little Christmas

From our home to yours, Merry Christmas.


I leave you with the one and only Judy Garland from Meet Me in St. Louis, the only female I've ever loved singing this song.

fall decor

Thought I'd share some of the more simple things I've been doing around here. Namely, fall decor.

Here's the table all dressed up for her big debut (see the craziness that was here, here, & here).



The place settings use our everyday dishes from Bed Bath & Beyond (part of their "Everyday White Collection"). Jason has all but forbidden me to buy more sets of dishes. If I get going, there's no stopping me. So, yes, my holiday dishes are also my everyday dishes. ...for now. :) The place mats ($2 each), chargers ($1.70 each--they come in sets of 6 for $10), napkins ($2 each), and napkin rings ($2 each) also came from BB&B. My little pincone name holders happened to be in the big bag of pinecones I got at Michaels.



My lantern centerpiece is something I had laying around from our home in 29 Palms. I bought it at Cost Plus World Market for only $10--I wanted it as a knock off to Pottery Barn's Malta Lanterns, which cost about $40 for the same size. I sprinkled some extra leaves from my garland around the base and unless I can find something else to add, I'll probably call it done.



Moving away from the table, I have to admit that I may have gone a little overboard with my garland this year. ;) I bought four strands at Michael's right after Halloween for $4 each (not bad considering they were originally $12). It started with our bar.




I purchased a box of J-hooks at Home Depot (I call them J-hooks, but I guess they look more like a "?" than a "J"). I was pleasantly surprised to find wood on the underside of our bar. I knew I wanted to put garland there for Thanksgiving, so all it took was a few of the hooks screwed into the wood and I had a garland hanger!

Once that worked, I was on a roll. I quickly tried to assess what else I could hang garland and hooks off of. My eyes fell on my DIY shelves. They were just begging for some fall color. A quick coat of black spray paint made the hooks blend in very nicely. Then I started stringing garland from hook to hook, snipping off the ends to make them fit the length of the shelves.



I recently changed not only their location, but also the items they were holding. These were hanging on the wall next to the kitchen, but every time we rounded the corner we nearly sliced our foreheads open! I'm not sure if I'm 100% satisfied with the vignettes yet, but I like them better now than they were.



I also removed the lanterns I had hanging on the entryway wall and sat them on the shelves. They're much prettier in their new home. And if you've been keeping count, I've only accounted for two of the four strands of garland I bought. The other two are happily adorning our banisters--kept in place by good old fashioned zip ties!


(I swear the garland on the left is centered. The angle just makes it look waaay off!)

Hope your holiday decorating is turning out grogeous!

I'm linking this up to The DIY Show-Off's Holiday Party and Funky Junk's Saturday Night Special! Share your projects too!

Thanksgiving: the decor

*My sincerest apologies if you happened to visit during my bandwidth issues with Photobucket. All is restored!

Most of you know that I'm dishing up my first ever Thanksgiving dinner this year. As most you may not know, I use gatherings as an excuse/motivator to get my projects done. Aside from getting the house in order (we've only lived here a mere three weeks!) there were a few things I wanted to do before the family sat down at the table this year:

- Strip and repaint dinning room table and leaflet, including a protective top layer
- Paint dinning room chairs to match
- Get matching dishes (and enough of one set to serve everyone on)

The dinning room table was going to be a project in itself, but then I realized I didn't have enough chairs for everyone to sit on! Eep! Both my mother and grandma said that folding chairs would be just fine, but I refused to serve a somewhat fancy dinner with folding chairs at the table!

I wanted to go for a "Monica Geller-inspired" table set. You know:



All the un-matching chairs? Love the look, but I wanted something a liiiittle more polished. So, here's what I decided to do:

- Buy three un-matching chairs
- Use three of our current chairs
- Give them all a matching coat of paint

So, we visited a local estate sale warehouse, which I've been dying to snoop around in. We drive by it several times a week and it tempts me each and every time. It took me a couple sweeps of the store, but I managed to find three chairs that I thought would be perfect.



On the right is one of our current dining room chairs. Since they're already white, it just takes a couple coats of Rustoleum Glossy Black spray paint to get them in order. This guy still needs another coat of paint and a cushion.



I actually started with my favorite chair (shh! don't tell the others!) since I didn't have to do any real work on it. I absolutely love the curves of this chair. I've seen others like it for $100 a piece, but I snagged this baby for only $35!



Then I added a white seat cushion (Ikea, $6) and voila!



I swear the seat cushion isn't hanging off the side. That's flash and bad lighting for you.

This chair needed a lot of love, but it was only $15 and I was totally up for the challenge. I just cut out the center and jerry-rigged a seat cover. It won't really matter what it looks like since a cushion is going down over it.



The last chair is covered in wood putty. It had a lot of gouges and you could see a lot of the old seams coming through the wood. But I think once I get it sanded down and painted it will sparkle like new! And at only $20, it was worth the extra elbow grease.

Jason's been using the dinning room table to do a puzzle (so cute!) but I told him it was time to put it back in the box. I'm hoping to get it all stripped, sanded, and maybe even repainted by the end of the weekend. Then I can focus on some of the other fun things, like what kind of table scape am I going to do?

onwards! (updated)

Now that my parents' birthday bash is over, the move is behind us, and the Highland Games have come and gone until next year, it's time to start the final preparations for Oregon!

I'm so excited and I cannot wait to see my cousins! I can't wait for Jason to meet this other part of my family who I spent so much of my childhood with. Plus, I've never been up North at this time of year. I know it's going to be cold but I'm also hoping to see some gorgeous late-fall foliage.

But being the little prissy thing that I am, I'm looking forward to the wardrobe aspect of the trip just as much (does that make me a bad person?). I've got one outfit hammered out already, and I'm thinking I'll build the rest of my wardrobe around it. Just imagine it with grey tights, black gloves, my Coach glasses from the Highland Games, and a scarf of some sort.



Vintage grey dress jacket - Etsy; shoes - Söfft; vintage brooches - Etsy.

I also have my grey jeans from Banana Republic which are super comfortable and will travel well, so they'll go into the suitcase too. The only other items I want to be sure to fit in are my brown snow boots which I purchased last year for the cross-country drive--good thing since we did actually encounter snow!


(Note to self: see if I can fit pea coat into luggage!)

I still have another week to decided on all the details, but at least I've got a color scheme in mind. If it can go with black or grey it will be considered!

Let's see how our calendar is shaping up since last we checked it...

September 11 - baseball game
September 12 - professional head shots
September 12 - Mom & Step-dad's 50th birthday party
September 13 - baseball game
September 28 - planned move date

October 10 - Highland Games
October 11 - Highland Games
*October 16 - TV audience participation (<--- canceled)
*October 17 - pumpkin patch
*October 17 - family BBQ @ Aunt & Uncle's house
October 24 - leave for Oregon
October 31 - return from Oregon

November 3 - leave for San Francisco
November 5 - return from San Francisco
November 17 - planned trip to Houston
November 19 - planned return from Houston (canceled--it was my event and I decided not to go)
*November 26 - host Thanksgiving dinner (!!)
November 27 - free resort weekend
November 28 - free resort weekend

And in between all that I still want to:
- repaint dining room table
- strip & paint table leaf (for Thanksgiving)
- finish computer chair
- get house in order for the holidays

The house will be my absolute number one priority after we get home from Oregon. I want to talk about Thanksgiving in another post, but we'll be hosting it this year which is a first. That means (to me anyway) my house has to be in tip top condition so I can show it off and open it up. Right now it will just be six of us, but I've told Jason that any little lonely Marines in his shop are more than welcome to share our table--I just hope they like Tofurky! ;)

love v.s. style

Ilove Victoria's Secret. I really, really do. I've always had such good luck when it comes to their clothes, I've never had any issues with returns or purchases, and the only thing I wish they'd change is the availability of clothing in-store (which is slowly happening). Last night I was suffering from a little case of insomnia, and decided a little shopping may calm me down. Besides, it's been a while since I've bought anything with my allowance!

They're were having some great sale on their henley sweaters, and I love henley's!¹ I may also be just a little over zealous to get the heck out of the desert and into somewhere that has cool mornings (more on the in a second). I bought this sweater, in this color (ivory)...



This sweater, which isn't technically a henley, but I had to have it anyway because it was the only one that came in this color (ultra indigo)...



And this sweater (in midnight). I love ¾-length sleeves. Perfect for in-between weather.



Yesterday we found ourselves hit with an out-of-nowhere storm. I mean pouring rain, strong winds--reminded me of the hurricanes we'd have back in North Carolina.² But to see rain, and to hear rain, it was great! This morning it's also quite gray outside, and it's only in the mid-eighties (it's usually about 105-degrees by about nine a.m. here). So while it's not those chilly mornings I'm longing for--my air conditioner is still on, after all--it's nice to be able to sit and pretend.

¹ I love henley's so much that I actually had Jason convinced that Henley would be a great name for a little girl, should we ever have one. But after realizing it really didn't sound good with our last name, I begrudgingly gave it up.
² I think I'm really going to miss the eastern winters this year. While I don't like being cold, I like dressing for the cold.

looking forward

You know what I can't wait for?

Clouds. Mist. Drizzle. Rain. Believe me, I never thought I'd be someone who'd actually miss the cold. However, the past week here in the high desert has consistently hit triple digits--and I'm not just talking about a mere 101-degrees F. I'm talking 110. 115. We even had one day where is was a blistering 128-degrees F here! My skin literally felt as though it was burning under the three layers of sun screen I was wearing. I even had to give up a water aerobics class I started taking because an hour in the pool [under four layers of sun screen] was still producing a sun burn!

I'm already thinking of gray foggy morning runs on the beach, splashing through puddles in wellies, and opening my windows to let cool air into the house! Is it time to move yet?

summer, ready.

Cucumber melon body wash from Rite Aid: $3

Cucumber melon body spray from Bath & Body Works: $12

Plumeria body spray from B&BW: $10.50

Pearberry body spray from B&BW: $0 [buy 2 get 1 free]

"Need a Margarita?" body wash from B&BW [new!]: $15

Extra one for mom [buy 1 get 1 half off]: $7.50

Smelling like a tropical summer paradise in the desert: Priceless

le sigh

We are going to be so busy in the next three weeks. And sooo spending money we probably don't need to be spending. Here's the deal:

Jason is in (what we'll call) career progression school. If he wants to continue doing his same jobs for the Marines, he has to complete this course. The school started in January and was supposed to end sometime later this year. We'd heard October, we'd heard December--we'd even heard January of 2010! He just graduated the first "half" at the beginning of April. Now, they're being given a month off before starting up again for the remainder of the course. That means (however many months are left) we can't go anywhere unless it can be done on a weekend. So that means this month is cram time!

This weekend we're going to see my family (and shop, and check out a wedding band we had made to match my heirloom ring, and visit for Easter). These trips are always fine as there's really not much spending going on. If we decide that the band looks right with my ring, it will go on layaway (I've done without it this long, a few more months won't kill me). This is basically what the ring will look like, but because of the basket on my antique ring we had to have it made to sit flat, and not rounded like most rings. They also had to send it out for special sizing to fit my teeny tiny size 4 fingers.

(Image from Helzburg Diamonds)

Then, my friend is having her 26th birthday in Las Vegas. Now, this was a last minute trip by all means, but one Jason and I have been trying to take since we settled in. I managed to score a room at The Stratosphere for only $200 for 3 days/2 nights, thanks to our military discount (hallelujah--most Vegas hotels have stopped offering them).

(Image from direct-ownersgroup.com)

Next, we're home for a mere two days before rushing off to Disneyland with my BFF, her husband, and baby girl who are all down from Alaska. Again, military discount to the rescue! Jason will get a 3-day Park Hopper pass for FREE (yes, bold, underlined, different colors--it's that big of a deal!) and I'll get mine for a mere $89 (regular price $179). We were planning to stay at one of the resort hotels, which gave us half off our room rates, running us $300 for what would have been well over $600 (á la military discount, again). All though it's a phenomenal price for a Disney hotel, we've now decided to go über frugal and stay at one of the local hotels for a mere $150 for our three day trip. As Hubbs so smartly pointed out, that extra $150 will more than pay for our meals in the land of happy.

(Image from ronmartin.net)

Hopefully by the time our whirlwind month is over with, we'll be getting a call from base housing telling us they have something. I think we're pretty much sold on the idea of living on base, especially as it's getting very stressful having a rent and mortgage payment go out at the same time a rent check is coming in--my little budgeting skills are not that advanced yet! We just need to see what the house looks like. It's been so hard not to do random drive-by's of all the potential neighborhoods.

So that's what's going on on our side of the mountain. The giveaway ends tonight and tomorrow morning I will use my number generator to pick a winner! Keep your fingers crossed!

outfit: tax day

So...it's looking like we owe. Hubbs is furious. I'm complacent. I'm not going to bore you with the details, suffice to say we're now hunting down every scrap of paper that we can find so we can itemize and bring the number down to a non-stinging amount. He has informed me that I am "never working again." We would have received a nice refund without my W-4s. ::shrugs:: What can you do?

We did come home and do some retail therapy though. I know what you're thinking: spending was at a halt. Okay, side note: Layne, my favorite person in the whole world, once said to me (we were talking about our cash drawers balancing at the bank): "It's all a matter of perception. When you start the night missing $500, and finish only missing $10, you're happy to accept that $10 loss!" Her philosophy works on so many levels. One day, we thought we owed the IRS over $2,000. The next, we owe them $500. Now, with the itemizing we're doing it's looking more like $300. I'm much happier with that figure than I was before!

So Hubbs got (wait for it...) baseball cards, and I was rewarded with this beauty:

It's a 1960's day dress from Etsy, and I've had my eye on it for a while. At only $22, it was a complete bargain! And it's so pretty and floaty, it just makes me think of summer! Today was one of the first days we finally hit the high eighties and it felt so good to be outside. It brought to mind images of lemonade and afternoons spent watching the clouds blow by. The breeze was blowing, the sun was shining, the bells were ringing--I felt like I was in a musical! I'd even donned my best "a-lady-does-her-taxes" outfit. And what exactly does a lady wear to do her taxes? Anything that keeps her from sweating!







White blouse from The Gap, linen capri pants from Maurice's, cherry cha-cha shoes by TUK, flower pearls from Claire's, pearl earrings from personal collection.

I absolutely love the simplicity of this outfit. The shirt is very lightweight and comfortable and there's something "sweet" about it. The capri's and shoes have been featured in other outfits as I'm trying my hardest to mix-and-match most of my wardrobe. When it comes to separates I'm trying to make most items do double duty. Although I have to start relaying this concept to my accessories as well. I don't have a pair of plain white shoes (am thinking I'd like some Mary Jane's or T-straps), nor do I have a simple white purse (and how many times could those items do double duty?!). So, after the dust settles and the IRS is out of my hair, I'm hoping I can start polishing my wardrobe. In the meantime, I'm just happy I don't have to hawk all of our belongings to pay our tax bill!

not a drop to drink

::moans:: It's tax time here in the U.S., which means spending has come to a halt. Hubbs and I are only slightly concerned (read: confused and furious) about our taxes. I'm not a fan of the do-it-yourself online tax preparation sites. I feel that they leave too much room for error and can too easily confuse you. Case in point:

Hubbs used the site Tax Slayer.com. Usually we file via the military tax center because it's free and if there's an issue we have someone to fall back on. But this year he wanted to e-file. Problem #1: Tax Slayer wouldn't let him claim me as a dependant, which I am according to the Marine Corps. Problem #2: It asked us if we received a stimulus check for 2008. This wouldn't have been an issue, except it asked us the amount which we received, meaning we were claiming it. Had we known that, we wouldn't have accepted the check. Problem #3: It's telling us that (with the stimulus check in play) we owe $600. We are not in any kind of tax bracket that we should be owing the government! But, this brings up problem #4: When Hubbs removed the stimulus check, it said we were getting a refund of $2,000! Umm...okay...if that is the case and we do have to claim the stimulus check, isn't the logical way of thinking that it should be refund (minus) stimulus check (equals) new refund? For arguments sake, let's say we received $600 for our stimulus check. It should have looked like this: $2,000 - $600 = $1,400. Lastly, we come to problem #5: When Hubbs tried to do my state taxes for North Carolina (where we lived/I worked in 2008), it said I owe the state $1,500 after paying in almost $800 for state taxes! This is why I hate online tax sites. So, first thing next month we're going to see the military tax center and see what they have to say about it. Let's just say steam will be shooting out of our ears if anything Tax Slayer said was true (unless we do get that nice big refund, which I doubt because we never get that much back).

However, I have been able to sneak in the odd goodies here and there for myself (don't feel bad for Hubbs, his baseball/football card collection isn't hurting any!). Mostly I've been purchasing music on iTunes, as at $0.99 per song, it's a cheap thrill with immediate payoff. I purchased "Meet Me in St. Louis," to add to my collection of musical theater songs, and I also purchased "Maestro" from my current favorite modern movie The Holiday (I love this movie! Is there anyone more beautiful than Kate Winslet?). I wish I could find a snippet of this song for you but alas even Amazon doesn't have a clip. But it's really a gorgeous melody (it's the opening number for the movie) and I just love to turn it on and veg out in a bubble bath surrounded by candles.

Speaking of bubble baths, I found this beautiful vintage milk glass bath set on eBay while we were in San Diego. I snagged it for a mere $15 and then ran out and bought some lavender bath oil to fill it with. Sadly, when it got here the soap dish was broken completely in half. The seller is searching high and low for a replacement of some kind, but in the meantime, I still have the little pitcher and bowls.

Lastly, just purchased today is this gorgeous satin skirt. It's from the Kristin Davis Collection at Belk (you may know her better as Charlotte York?). When I heard she was coming out with a line that was based off of her Sex and the City character I was over the moon! She has such a classic style and some of her outfits really do err on the side of vintage. I was only going to look, but when I saw this piece I had to peek at the price tag.

I entered my size and it came up with $8.49. That's right! The original price was $68!! This is one of those moments when you say to yourself, "At this price, I can't afford not to buy it!" So into the shopping cart it went. I wish I could find the shoes the model is wearing because they are the perfect compliment to the skirt, but it seems they're not from her line, nor any of Belk's lines (side note: if you're going to put something fabulous on your clothing models, please either a. carry the item, or b. tell me where I can buy the item, but please don't taunt me with the perfect outfit and not offer all the essentials!).

So it will have to wait until post-tax preparation. But at least I have a few lovelies to keep me sustained until then!

my water smells like summer

You know the smell I'm talking about. On a hot summer's day you stop for a quick glass of water. It's been sitting there for a bit so the outside is all dewy and the ice cubes have melted a little. As you tip it to your lips, you happen to catch a whiff of something crisp. Something fresh. Something you can't quite put your finger on, but you know you'll remember the smell forever. Today my water smelled like that.

It had been sitting on the counter as I rushed around the house tidying up to my own little pace. I'm beginning to realize that I'm much more of a clean-the-house-all-at-once-and-tidy-up-as-needed kind of housewife than your typical do-something-everyday type. But in any event, I walked over and took a gulp and caught that familiar smell. I have all the windows open today which is a first! It's finally warming up and the days of fifty degrees with icy wind seem to be dissipating. It seems to be doing wonders for my mood too, because to be honest, I've been a little depressed lately. Truth be told, it might help if I let the sunshine in more often!

I'll leave with a shot of my favorite little nook in my house. Feeling the breeze come through the screen slider, and enjoying the sound of the bells ringing somewhere nearby are memories I will come to treasure for a lifetime.