Thanksgiving at Casa de Cash

This week is crazy busy.  We're hosting Thanksgiving at our house, just a small group, but that doesn't mean any less cleaning and craziness on my part.  In addition, I'm trying to get completely caught up on my work/email so that I can enjoy the holiday without anything hanging over my head. 

So, here's a quick post on what the house looks like for the big feast-ivities! Sorry for the picture quality - I was trying not to use the flash.

In the kitchen, I changed the Halloween shelf into a Thanksgiving shelf.  I got the Indians from my mother a few years ago.  I love them.  I wish I could find the Pilgrims - I think they would be cute on the table - maybe next year.

This is the dining room.  It's the same white pumpkins from Halloween, but with much less "stuff".  I decided to keep it relatively simple, and I like it.  Easy-peasy to put away after the meal, so I can move on the the Christmas-crazy.

Don't you LOVE these pilgrims?  I found them at Hobby Lobby a few years ago.  I don't really know what to do with them, but I love them.

Finally, I took my homemade cloches (found the parts at the Goodwill and put them all together), added a few pumpkins and leaves, set them on the kitchen/living room pass-through and called it done.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!  And I hope we can all take a minute out of all the activity to slow down and enjoy the day and the time with your family and friends.

Favorite Things

So, I know I said I'd be posting about Thanksgiving madness at my house today, but I changed my mind.

Instead, I've been inspired by The Favorite Things posts going on over at 320*Sycamore.  I've just stumbled upon this blog and it is wonderful.  There is so much good stuff out there, I think I could make blog reading a full-time job... I WISH!  Anyway, hop on over and check out all the good stuff:



I'm also linking up to another awesome Favorite Things party at Funky Junk Interiors here:





I'm having an Oprah moment talking about my favorite things, excuse me for a minute while I just let that soak in............


.........ahhhhhh!  Lovely!  So, a few of my favorite things - here goes:

It's obvious, I know, but I might as well start with Oprah!  Then, just go right ahead and add Martha to the list too.  Add to that my other favorite TV-ish things:  Tivo, Biggest Loser, and Glee!

Here's some more obvious...family: 

Family who are reading and don't see your pictures, don't be offended - your pictures are implied.  :-)

Then there is favorite vacation - I don't care - just near the water - any water - even a pool or an aquarium will do!

Favorite holiday - duh - Christmas! 

  

Favorite part of my house - the backyard in the late spring.

And a few other random favorites at the moment:

Sonoma Original Bootcut Jeans from Kohl's - I just got a pair the other day, and I struggle with fit - I am LOVING the way these fit me! YEA!  dark wash, of course.

Favorite new (for me) music:

Long time favorite music:

and more Kasey...

Favorite make-up products:

 

Favorite food (I'm not proud):

  apple fritters and...

cheese pizza. 

And, before this gets much worse, I'm going to end on favorite color:

"...And these are a few of my fav-or-ite things." 

Gratitude Friday...on Saturday

Ooops!  A little late - nothing unusual for those who know me well.  The time has just gotten away from me... but, better late than never.

This week I'm grateful for:

1.  My new laptop and printer arrived!  It's not the Mac of my dreams, but it's pretty darn close - it's going to make me more creative, smarter, thinner, richer, cooler, and better lookin'.  At least, that's what I believe is gonna happen...as soon as I have time to take that puppy out of the box. 

2.  Said computer and printer only cost me about $200!!  Woo hoo - thanks to my company's discount with Dell combined with a very generous $500 home computer reimbursement benefit!

3.  My laundry room has a long (usually) empty counter space... and a door (see above). And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that paint color - I just might marry it I love it so much - if I didn't share my space with others, my whole house might be that color...or turquoise...or pink...or robin's egg blue...or pumpkin...or.....  (well, you get the idea)

4.  Halloween has finally been boxed up, and Thanksgiving is making a very brief appearance at Casa de Cash.  (more on that tomorrow)

5.  EBAY!  At this time last week, I did not have a single Christmas present purchased. OK - maybe I had one or two, but I am usually finished by now, so I was getting a little panicky (sp?).  Thanks to Ebay and Kohl's Power Hours last weekend, I've started to make a dent in a list that is way too long.  Breathe....

Whew!  I don't know about you, but I've just typed myself into happy.  :-)

Happy weekending, everyone! 

Organizing Jewelry

After reading this post by The Nester, I thought maybe I had something helpful to offer when it came to organizing jewelry. 

I tried different storage methods:  throwing it all in a box (tangled mess), the compartmentalized things that hang in the closet (too hard to get stuff out and no good for necklaces), a tool box (ugly), plastic bead holders (inconvenient), and I even considered downsizing (I came to my senses before anything too tragic happened).

If I don't see it, or can't get to it quickly, I won't wear it.  So, here's the solution I came up with when we moved into our house, and it's been working really well for me.

The things I wear everyday (wedding ring and watch) or that I'm going to wear the next day sit in these dishes on my bathroom counter.  (Yes, I do put out what I'm going to wear the night before - don't judge.)

I know, this is a bead holder, but I took the top off for easy access, and it fits perfectly inside a bathroom drawer.  I keep all my earrings in it, somewhat organized by color/style.

There was an unusable section of my closet where I decided to hang my necklaces. I found a few towel hooks we had laying around, and bought the longer 6-hook bar in the bath section at Target (maybe $9.99).  I mounted them at various heights to accommodate the different chain lengths, and then hung all my necklaces on them.  WAA-LAA! I can see everything and no more tangles! 

All of the "good" jewelry is neatly stored in those little boxes down below (little boxes because there's not that much). 

And, one more thing...purses!  I hate it when they get dusty, so for those that didn't have dust bags, I used old pillowcases, cut them to fit, and sewed some of my own.  I took a picture of each purse, laminated it, and tied it on the appropriate dust bag.  I put shower curtain rings on the lower closet bar, and hung the bags from those rings. Now, it's so easy to switch out my purse - and they're protected and off the floor. 

Have I gone overboard?  Maybe, but it's so nice to know where everything is and to be able to get to it easily.  What are some of your best tips for organizing accessories?

I'm linking up over at The Shabby Nest and Funky Junk Interiors.  See ya there!

Already Feels Like Christmas!

The post-person in my neighborhood has been BUSY lately.  Everyday it seems like there's something else yummy in my mailbox.  Woo hooo!!  Getting the mail this weekend was particularly fun!

Got this scarflette from Flutter on etsy here.  It's made from the tissue t-shirt knit fabric.  So soft and fairly light weight which is important for me these days since I always seem to be about to burst into flames!   Love this and I am still coveting this one, but don't think it would look nearly as pretty with singed edges so I haven't given in yet. 

This card came in the mail from Chicken Little.  It's a handmade card with the little stuffed heart.  It's hard to see in my terrible pictures, but the heart has a little Texas sewn onto it.  CUTE!!!

Isn't it wonderful?! 

This is the inside. :-)  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!  And I'm not just saying that because I'm the Mama.   

And then, finally, some festive reading material that is just going to send me over the Christmas edge!  AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (That's me screaming as I go over - kind of like on a roller coaster - terrified and absolutely thrilled.)

I love getting the mail at this time of year!

In the background

Been busy, busy, busy the last few days, and this cd has been in the background all weekend!  This is The Band Perry, and I am loving them.

So many catchy tunes, they'll just get stuck in your head.  This is one of my favorites. 



PS:  Not that I'm already listening to Christmas music or anything, but I am also LOVING Very Merry Christmas, the new Christmas album by Dave Barnes (I know I'm dating myself by calling it an album). Just sayin'...  It was only $6.99 on itunes.

Gratitude Friday

I completely and unashamedly stole this idea from Edie at Life in Grace. In my own defense, I do have to say that I did tell her the very day I saw it that I was going to copy it, so she was warned and it is totally documented in the comments section.  The first time I went to Edie's blog, this was the post.  I L.O.V.E. the idea of these letters. 

So, I went to the Hobby Lobby, bought some for myself, painted them...


...had to figure out how to hang them (Command Strips!), and

hung them up right over the door leading to the garage so this is what we see every time we leave the house.

(I wish I'd bought the bigger letters, but I thought they would overwhelm the space since it's so tight.  I like it, but I don't love it yet.  I may need a do-over.)

It's a gratitude reminder.  I've been trying to do this here every Friday, but I love having this daily nudge.  There are so many people, circumstance, and things that we take for granted - seeing this not only makes me smile, but it makes me think. 

Today, I'm grateful for:

1. Making my plane on Tuesday morning.  I was the last person to board - YIKES!

2. Having enough gas in my car to make it home from the airport tonight (no time to fill it on Tuesday morning)!

3.  Falling back last weekend - it's so much easier to get up early (I would have missed the flight for sure if not for this).

4.  Everyday is another chance to start over.

5.  My new computer is on the way!!!  YEA!

Have a great weekend!

I'm linked up here: