Friday, October 29, 2010

Thursday, October 28, 2010

autumn home ideas

So, I realized that as I've been scoring over home decorating websites and magazines looking for ways to incorporate more of the fall/winter season into my house, that it really doesn't take a lot to do so. I don't need to change my whole living room color palette to make it feel more like fall. Here are a few cute ideas that I picked up from this site.



Wednesday, October 27, 2010

baconnaise & IJM

So, it's that time of the year for me. The time when I start to think (and admittedly fret) about Christmas gifts. I usually make a list of the people I'm shopping for and then some ideas of what I'm getting them way ahead of time so I'll have a direction when I actually go shopping.

Most years, it's pretty easy. I'll see something or think of something that I think the recipient would enjoy, use, love, or appreciate. This year, there are some of those kind of recipients on my list. But there are also a few on my list that it is hard to shop for whether it's because of their "stage" in life, their eclectic tastes, or simply their ability to pretty much buy whatever they want whenever they want to.

So, I've decided that for those whom I have a hard time figuring out what to get, (especially those people who say that they don't really 'need' anything) I'll make a charitable donation to this mission in their names. Some people may accuse me of taking the easy way out, and they may be true, but I'll take the easy way out anyday if it's also the more charitable, compassionate and benevolent way as well.

The other gift I've decided to pass around like the swine flu is this. Only to select recipients as well. Because it's awesome. And kosher.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

top 5 tuesday: why I love Charlotte

This past weekend I became acquainted with someone who was visiting Charlotte for the very first time. We quickly realized that there were so many things to do and so many places to see but not enough time to do so. This also made me realize just how much I really like living in Charlotte. Here are the top 5 reasons why...

1. The weather. We actually have 4 seasons!
2. Big city feel but small-town charm. Even though Charlotte is a large, urban city, it can have a small town charm to it because of the way it's separated into neighborhoods and districts. You almost always will run into someone you know.
3. Stuff to do. There's ALWAYS something going on in Charlotte from festivals and parades to sporting events and there are a lot of interesting places to go visit.
4. Location. Charlotte is 3 hours from the beach, 2 hours from the mountains and 4 hours from the next largest city, Atlanta.
5. Skyline. I'll admit that I'm a tad biased, but I do love our skyline. Here's are 2 pics I took from of my boyfriend's balcony last night. They're not photographer quality, but definitely show off the skyline!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

sweetness

I'm leading worship this Saturday at a Women's Day Conference in the area. The theme is "Be Sweet" and it's about having a godly attitude. The conference's speaker asked me to do some graphics/backgrounds to be projected behind song lyrics, speaking notes, etc. She told me that she'd be incorporating candy and cupcakes into her theme. So, I took that and ran with it. This is what I came up with...





By the way, you can find out more info about the conference here.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

top 5 tuesday: my fair monday

Yesterday, I went to the state fair for the first time in my life. (that I remember) I was surprised at a number of things that were different from what I expected. Here are my top 5 fair observations.

1. Size. Seriously, this fair was HUGE! It was in the parking lot of the USC football stadium, which parks 80,000 cars, but it still seemed to span forever! We felt like we were walking for miles around the loop.

2. Diversity. (or lack of) Expecting a flea market-esque variety of food, goods and amusement, I was somewhat surprised at the lack of it. Now, there were TONS of different kinds of food, but you generally had what you would expect at a fair. (Pizza, corndogs, nachos, funnel cake, fried foods, chicken, burgers, etc) When we came across a rare fried food booth, we had to consume. (see # 5 in this post) The rides, while all having different names and themes, fell mostly into the same categories. You had your big swings, your ferris wheels, your scramblery things, your tilt-a-whirls, your funhouses/obstacle courses and your slides. Lastly, even the games were somewhat the same. We found one skeeball game in the entire place. Many of the other ones were shooting games, basketball games, coin/ring toss, bottle breaking games or skill games.

3. Crowd. We were both surprised at the number of people who were at a fair on a Monday afternoon. We chose the time because we figured it wouldn't be crowded, and while it wasn't REALLY crowded, it was definitely more than we expected. We kept seeing a lot of school-age kids there way before school should have been out. It was about halfway into the day that we overheard someone say that the local schools were out that day. Figures.

4. Animals. I had hoped for a barn or farm area where there would be livestock and a petting zoo. I was definitely not disappointed when we entered the barn area. We saw cows, donkeys, rabbits, chickens, turkeys, ducks, other various birds, llamas and a zebra. Yes, a zebra. We also stopped by an "African" exhibit on our way out. Apparently we were missing out on some large cat show that was about to start, (lions? tigers? I'm not sure) but we did get to see an Asian fishing cat, a lemur, a capuchin monkey, a kinkadou and a boa constrictor. Not at all what I expected at the fair, but very cool. Oh, and I almost forgot...they also had elephant rides. For real.

5. Fried Food. This was one of my top reasons for wanting to go to the fair...I wanted to sample these rare deep fried delicacies that I would hear about. Well, I definitely did! Deep fried Oreos & deep fried cookie dough to be exact. They were delicious! They were amazing! And it definitely makes sense that they are served only once a year during the fair. :)


Friday, October 15, 2010

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

top 5 tuesday: fall must-haves

Here are, in my humble opinion, the top 5 must-haves for fall!

A nice boot. See Friday's post.

Patterned tights to wear with said boots...or just to wear alone. :)


A Pashmina will seriously make any outfit better. And it will also keep you warm!


A good digital camera with which you can take pictures of the leaves changing outdoors.






Pumpkin and Autumn scented candles...for those who are less than enthusiastic about being outside.

Monday, October 11, 2010

the big give

I recently received a bunch of clothes from a friend who is losing weight and can no longer wear them. I LOVE free clothes. Even if all of them aren't necessarily my style, I can't wait to go through them and see what I can use out of the pile.

This also reminded me of the clothes of mine that I can no longer wear and have given away to another friend who is losing weight. I think about each piece of clothing I gave away and what joy I had when I first bought it and wore it. Hopefully, that feeling gets passed on to the next person as they get to wear the clothing, not for the actual first time, but for their first time. My friend acknowledges often that if it wasn't for other people giving her clothes, she'd have gone broke trying to buy new clothes to keep up with her decreasing size.

I now understand that fully. Just as I'm thinking that I need to get some new jeans that fit, I get a bag full of jeans from a friend. Providence? Maybe.

In order to make room for said clothes, I'll probably have to purge some others from my closet. I'll be giving those away as well. It's the big give.

Friday, October 8, 2010

it's aboot time for these babies

My friend Jill posted yesterday about her Victory Boots, so I thought I would also post in honor of some of my favorite style of shoes.

My new love is these wedge-heeled slouch boots from Target. These are the perfect fall boots. Why?

You, see there is quite an art to boot wearing. First, the boots must fit. I always have a hard time fitting boots around my calves...because they are so muscular and well-defined...and I should pretty much be a calf model...but I digress. These boots have an adjustable buckle at the top as well as a semi-stretchy material that allows for ample calfage. (calf cleavage) They do have a bit of extra room around the ankles but because of the slouch style of the boot, it doesn't look that way. The second important part of boot wearing is what to wear them WITH. These boots are casual enough to be worn with jeans or leggings or jeggings, but also can be dressed up with tights and a skirt/dress. That's some versatility for you. The third important part of boot wearing is how they make your legs look. Some boots cut off at the widest part of the leg and make the leg look larger. These cut off at the narrow part of the knee and give off the appearance of a quasi-straight leg. For those of us with curvy legs, this is the equivalent to wearing trouser-cut jeans or wide leg pants. And finally, with the little bit of wedge that these boots have, they raise the derrier and give the appearance of more defined legs. Oh, yes. It's aboot time these came around.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

it's inspiring

On both my work and personal computers I keep a folder of pictures that I call "Inspiring". It's simply a collection of beautiful, whimsical, unique, amazing, cute or interesting pictures that I come across randomly. It serves as a source of inspiration for blog posts, music, creativity and other things in both my job and my personal life. What would you put in YOUR "inspiring" folder?

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

top five tuesday

I'm starting a new post that will be recurring on Tuesdays. It's called "Top 5 Tuesday".

So, for the inaugural post, here are the Top 5 things I'm loving right now:
Fondue Pot from Target

Lycra Racerback Tanks from Rue 21 (I seriously have like 6 colors...)

Osaka Flannel Mary Janes from Target (Mine are Charcoal Gray, but this yellow is way cute too!)


Okay, so I haven't actually had a Deep Fried Cupcake, but doesn't it look DELISH?

Down Alternative Comforter and Pillows from Macys. Perfect for cooler nights!

PS: I need to give a shout out to TD for the idea of the recurring post. So, here you go!

Friday, October 1, 2010

it's fall, y'all!

With today being October 1st and the official start of fall (okay, not officially, but in MY book) I've decided to venture into unknown territory. What, you ask? Pumpkins.

To my knowledge, I've never carved a pumpkin. I've never decorated my house with a pumpkin for Halloween or fall or any holiday. Why? Probably a deprived childhood. Or a mother with a hatred for Halloween.

Anywho, I've decided to both carve a pumpkin this year for Halloween and use a few as fall decorations. I found some of these cuties here.



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