Grey Christmas
Today I am in denial. Denial that short of a miracle, we will not have a white Christmas…more like grey. Much to my dismay, nearly all of the snow (which wasn’t much) from last weekend has melted. The weather forecast for Christmas day is a high of 50 degrees and rain. Growing up in Michigan, a white Christmas was normal, even expected. During my years spent living in North Carolina, then Kentucky I came to terms with the fact that they were very rare. Now that I have been back in the Midwest for several years, I am back to expecting a white Christmas.
Despite our lack of snow, I am still rocking my festive sweater today along with my snowflake manicure. I will still spend plenty of time this weekend curled up on the couch under a cozy blanket with Ruby on my lap & coffee in hand. The denial will continue but I refuse to let it dampen my Christmas spirit.
As my consolation, here are a couple of pictures Dad sent to me of our little cottage tucked away in the snow, even with deer tracks out in the front. Cute as ever and just waiting for us to resume work in the Spring…we haven’t forgot about you!
Hopefully, all of that glorious white stuff sticks around for our trip to Michigan over the weekend of January 6th for my family Christmas celebration. See you soon snow!
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!
O Christmas Tree
As I mentioned in my last post here, our only Black Friday purchase this year was our Christmas tree.
Picking out a Christmas tree has been a BIG DEAL ever since I was a little girl. I have many fond memories of getting bundled up, climbing in dad’s truck, and going to pick & cut down a tree. I picked, he did the cutting, it was a good system. When we would get home, mom took over the supervision of tree decorating, but still gave me plenty of free rein. It remember it being one of my favorite days each year, and still is.
Our family ALWAYS had a live tree, and that is a tradition I plan to continue. I have nothing against artificial trees, I am amazed by how real some of them look! Yes, live trees require some upkeep and can get a little messy but to me it is worth the trouble (Remind me of this on 12/27 while I am cursing the needles on the floor). It is all about personal preference. Mark grew up having an artificial tree, except for one year which apparently was enough of an experiment for his mother. At first, he just indulged me, but now he enjoys the experience of having a live tree and it has become a tradition of our own.
Once the tree is set up in the stand, that is where Mark lets me take over the decorating, with the exception of putting the bow on top…he is 6’1″ and I am 5’3″, it is just plain common sense. I like using a combination of red & white lights, along with red & gold ornaments in different shapes, sizes & designs. Our tree skirt was an auction find.
No matter the lighting, or how many attempts, I have a hard time taking a picture that captures how pretty it is in person. To me, the tree is the centerpiece of Christmas decorations. It makes me smile every time I walk in the door and it is always a little sad for me when it comes time to take it down.
Do you have any special traditions revolving around your Christmas tree? Do you prefer live or artificial trees?
Trimmings Transformed
Decorating for Christmas makes me downright giddy. Anyone else feel me on this? It takes every ounce of willpower for me to wait until after Thanksgiving, which is a personal rule of mine. Full disclosure: I started decorating at approximately 7:00 PM on Thanksgiving night. Close enough right?
Black Friday our only purchase was our Christmas tree (more on that later) but while we were there I asked for some extra tree trimmings and the guys happily obliged. In fact, they said we could have a whole truckload, but we politely declined and just took a few branches.
We have an antique milk jug that sits in front of our house. Usually I fill it will seasonal potted flowers and it ends up in the garage over the winter, this year I decided to make use of it with those extra trimmings. The best part about this little project…FREE. Aside from the tree trimmings given to us, I had everything else on hand.
Any special Christmas projects you’ve been working on? I’d love to hear about them.
Christmas tree post will be coming soon!
Orange Inspiration
I believe that design inspiration can strike at any time, sometimes when you least expect it. In the case of our guest room it came in the form of an orange metal side table at our local Gordmans. When I walked by it, I knew instantly it could be a perfect night stand for our guest room. Even though we didn’t have a stitch of orange in our house, I loved the color and the design so I decided to run with it.
Once I opened my eyes and mind to this new color addition, it was a fun challenge to search out coordinating pieces to go in the room. Never did I imagine we would have a guest room full of orange. I had always thought soothing colors like soft blues, greens & were more appropriate. However, I think the end result is a warm and welcoming space for our guests.
BONUS: let’s not ignore the fact that this color is perfect for the season
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!
Builder Beige
I have been meaning to write a post on this for awhile and decided to take advantage of my downtime at home. Let me first me preface this post by saying we have a lovely home in a lovely neighborhood so the following is by no means a complaint, just a current design struggle….
Our house was built in 2009, the first phase of a neighborhood development that finished in early 2015. When we bought this house in December of 2014 there had only been one owner, an elderly woman, who kept it immaculate. Everything was in nearly new condition but there was (and mostly still is) what I refer to as builder beige throughout.
Many have likely heard this term before… contractor (or builder) beige. Starting years ago there was a transition from white to tan (beige) as the go-to neutral for staging & spec homes. More recently grey is becoming the more commonly used neutral. But alas, we have lots of beige.
We have beige walls, tile, kitchen countertops & carpet. The only thing we have done to remedy this thus far has been removing the carpet in the living room & replacing with a laminate plank floor. In our main living areas we have furniture & accessories with pops of red which does help keep it from feeling too bland.
We have been debating what to tackle first…tile ? countertops? Currently I am leaning towards replacing the tile, which is the same in our entry, kitchen, guest bath, laundry & master bath. I am fairly certain it was probably on the end cap of a home improvement store as the 97 cent per square foot special. There is nothing wrong with this, it just doesn’t have much (any) personality. I will keep you posted once we decide to make a move.
What would you do first? Does your home suffer from a case of builder beige?
Simple Sunday Subs
I wanted to make something today that would require very little effort on my part since I am not back to feeling 100%. So I decided on one of our standby favorites…meatball subs.
The ingredients are simple and they are super easy to make, just what I needed for today.
- Frozen meatballs
- Spaghetti/pizza sauce
- Provolone cheese
- Parmesan cheese
- Banana pepper rings
- Hoagie Rolls
- Olive oil (I used garlic infused)
Optional: Extra seasoning, I like to add a little sriracha
- Add sauce & seasoning to frozen meatballs in crock pot
- Cook on low for about 4 hours
- Slice hoagie rolls & open on baking sheet
- Lightly brush on olive oil
- Add provolone cheese & sprinkle with Parmesan
- Bake @ 350 for 5-7 minutes until cheese is melted
- Add meatballs
- Garnish with banana pepper rings & extra Parmesan
- Enjoy! (Preferably while watching football)
Cottage: Before and After
Quick post today to share a before and after comparison of where we are at now with the exterior compared to when we started in the Spring. Not bad for a few long summer weekends huh?
Below are a couple more photos dad sent me of family members helping out with the finishing touches on the exterior.
Like I said before, this has truly been a family affair, and for that we are grateful. Aside from Me & Mark, Mom & Dad, we have been fortunate enough to have the help of siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins, uncles, etc. When all is said and done we will definitely have to have some sort of party express our gratitude!
Cottage: Late Update
This post is overdue…as in a month overdue. The last time we were in Michigan to work on the cottage was Labor Day weekend. Life has been a little crazy since then. Mark was offered and accepted a new job, and I found out mid-September that I will need surgery which has been scheduled for the end of October. A whole lot of life happening right now!
I’ll keep this pretty brief and let the photos speak for themselves. Over Labor Day weekend we made big progress…we started putting insulation in then hanging drywall. It was truly a family affair and as always, we were/are thankful for any extra hands.
On Sunday evening we took a leisurely boat ride around the lake with my Uncle. It was a perfect reminder of why we are on this adventure and that all of the hard work will be nothing in comparison to the reward.
We have been hoping to make it back up there a couple times this fall but due to the recent developments a lot is up in the air for the time being. C’est la vie!
Cottage: We Passed!
Just received confirmation from Dad that we passed the rough-in inspection (passed electrical earlier this week) Do you know what this means? We get to spend our Labor Day weekend putting in insulation and then drywall!
Maybe this doesn’t sound like your ideal way to spend a holiday weekend but for us it is very exciting. Will update next week with our progress.
Wishing everyone a safe & enjoyable Labor Day weekend!
Cottage: Electrifying
Quick post today before we head up north after work. This past week has been all about electrical. Dad handled digging the trench & burying the conduit under the road so the power company can complete the conversion from overhead to underground electrical service.
Also, the electrician has been on site to begin rewiring the entire house. Absolutely everything will be updated & brought up to code so we shouldn’t have to be worried about it for a very long time.
Excited to see it in person tonight…Well maybe tomorrow morning since we won’t get to Mom & Dad’s until late tonight…maybe. Have a great weekend everyone!
By The Poole 