Unfortunately the Thanksgiving holiday didn't bring about the fun that I had hoped. It was a wonderful day, but the strange neurological disease that I have battled since I was 17 showed it's ugly head during the break. It's been NO fun and I have had to take some time off from regular life to seek out doctors and treatment.
So to say the least, this Thanksgiving I was thankful for doctors, medication, a comfy bed, my wonderful husband, and the time off to rest. Thank you, Lord, for each of those. I know that God has me right where he wants me to be...it's just tough to understand why all of this is happening now. I've lived the past 5 years without any major problems so the change has definitely brought about some shock.
Ok, enough about the serious stuff...let's get back to the fun!
Guess what arrived yesterday? She's just beautiful. She arrived at 3:52 pm, weighing 13 lb. 2 oz, and measuring 25" long.
Yes, our beautiful dining room chandelier is here.
We brought her home yesterday and placed her in her new room! We just love her! She's still adjusting to the change, but we hope to have her in place and loving our home very soon.
I'm hoping to get back to blogging very soon. Thanks to all of you that have kept checking back to see if I have posted. I have tons and tons of ideas spinning in my head so stay tuned!
Remember using "not" after you sarcastically said something!?
Ah yes, I grew up in the 90's.
It has just been one of "those" days...if something could go wrong, it has! And it's only 12:30pm!
I love these days! NOT.
It's on these days that I have to stop and THANK God for all of the little teeny-tiny problems that I have that sometimes overwhelm me. They are so tiny in comparison to so many in the world. Sometimes He gives me these days to refocus and see the good even when all I want to focus on is the bad, insignificant details.
Today I had to stop and thank Him...
Today I thanked God for giving me a house to sleep in...that isn't clean and made me sigh as I had to step over piles of laundry before letting the dogs out this morning.
I thanked Him for giving me a good bill of health for over 4 years now...when my disease decided to show it's ugly head this week with some wonderfully fun symptoms.
I thanked Him for giving me a husband that sincerely loves the Lord and wants to serve Him...that has 3 bible studies a week right now...so we have little time for each other and see each other around 10 pm as we are falling into bed exhausted.
I thanked Him for 4 dogs...that I seriously could have given away this morning because of their mischevious and bad behavior.
I thanked Him for the land that we own...that is filled with the dirt that covered my work pants after 4 dogs lovingly had to brush against and jump on before trying to leave for work.
I thanked Him for clothes to wear...since I had to change from all of the mud.
I thanked him for food to eat...and the mess that was left when the food spilled all over my 2nd pair of pants while getting into the car.
I thanked Him for a car to drive and job to go to...even though I was late due to traffic being terrible this morning.
I thanked Him for loving me and forgiving me...since I am so selfish at times and forget that my purpose is to glorify Him in all of the big and tiny things in my life.
I thanked Him for today and tomorrow...more time and another day to work on improving my life for His purpose. Thank you, Lord, for the time!
Now it's not looking all so bad. He just needed me to readjust my mindset and look at things a little differently. Thankfully He keeps forgiving and giving me a new chance to start all over again.
It's approaching. No matter how much I want to ignore that it'll be here before long, it'll be here...Christmas. I love this holiday and up my anxiety meds because of it.
I've been beginning to think about possibly considering making a list of thoughts of gifts for people...I really have to work myself up to get rolling. Procrastination really is one of my talents. I won't start really panicking until I see the stuff from New Year's already on the shelves...then I know it's time to focus.
However, I have been following Edie's Life in Grace blog for a little while now and have really enjoyed her 12 days of Handmade Christmas. It's helped get me motivated. There are some really cute ideas. I highly recommend checking it out. Now, don't be overwhelmed by Darby's from Fly Through Our Window's tutorial of making a picnic blanket...that is totally NOT for beginners like me. But, I might check out the dishtowels and the cinnamon honey butter toffee recipe...YUM!
Do let me know if you try any of these out...don't let me know if you have already completed your shopping.
Are you planning on making any of your Christmas gifts this year?
This past weekend my sister-in-law, Janene, and I hosted a bridal shower for our sis-in-law, Courtney (Josh's middle sister). It was the most incredibly gorgeous day here in Texas. The sun was shining, the air was cool, and God was smiling on everyone at the event. It was so much fun and a true privilege to be able to host a special event for such a wonderful woman.
Courtney LOVES Anthropologie and the eclectic vibe of the store. She would work there for free, I think, just to be able to play with the clothes and dishes.
Janene and I tried to take her passion for the fun and mismatched feel of the store and plan our shower around that.
I made mismatched fabric wreaths for the front doors with Courtney and Korbin's initials.
The shower was filled with lots of little details...
Lots of clear glass jars filled with babies breath
Bunting for the dessert area
The hot trend...paper straws
Fun wool ball garland draped around my kitchen's chandelier
Depression glass plates I collected off of Ebay for cheap. Perfect for desserts!
Cupcakes, of course!
Janene had sewn bunting for each of the doorways throughout
the house in mismatched fabrics.
We hung paper flowers from the center of the room
and clear bulb lights since my new dining room chandelier did not arrive on time. Boo.
Mason jars were collected and filled with dry green peas, navy beans, white beans, and candles.
Bright fabric tablecloths and napkins were found at Home Goods.
Each guest received an iced cookie with the bride and groom's initials to take home.
We used a collection of mismatched plates for the day...
both of Janene's grandmother's china, Janene's china and my china!
The spread of "girly" food as Josh referred to it
Printed napkins with the bride and groom's names and wedding date
Since the weather was perfect all of the tables were set up outside under the porch and trees.
The beautiful bride had a fantastic day!
She received so many wonderful gifts...LOTS of them from Anthropologie!
Am I jealous...um, yes!
My precious husband was happy to help with the heavy loading in exchange for the leftover cookies.
Janene, Courtney and Me
It was truly a love filled day celebrating Courtney and Korbin's upcoming marriage.
My apologies for leaving you hanging for almost a week. I'm sure you are on pins and needles just waiting to hear about my dining room.
How have you even been able to sleep?!
Things have been a little nuts...last week brought about 4 bible studies, a lot of preparation for a shower that I was co-hosting, the birth of a new precious little girl, an air conditioning guy pretending to be Santa falling through our ceiling, and a handful of other crazy activities that I am struggling to remember.
I have lots to share about a beautiful shower my sister-in-law and I hosted for our sister-in-law yesterday, but I need to share some of the progress on the dining room first.
Remember, we started with this...
And then I started doing this...
And now, here is our freshly redone dining table...
With a little bit of sanding, a little bit of painting, and a little more sanding, a traditional piece went from looking new and polished to rustic and casual. Exactly what I was searching for.
More details to come...I promise.
I do.
I just need to catch up on laundry and life...oh and schedule a carpenter to come repair a big hole in our porch ceiling.
Yes, the A/C guy "forgot" to walk on the rafters in our ceiling and fell through feet first on Friday afternoon. No, he was not hurt...thankfully. I, however, still hurt a little from laughing so hard at his feet dangling through the ceiling. When asked about his lapse in judgment, I appreciated his attempt at explaining the accident. He believes some of the nails might be loose in our ceiling. I think the 200 lb. man walking on them might have something to do with it, but I'm no expert...
The latest transformation in the Casade Jones is our dining room.
A little history...this room was a wild card to start with. When we bought our house the previous owner (PO) had their dining room in another area of the house. It was RIGHT when you walked in the front door. In fact, you had to walk around the dining room table in order to get to the living room. For us, it just didn't work.
One of the stipulations that Josh had from the beginning was finding an alternative spot for our dining table and chairs. We resolved this by using a guest room that was located right off of the kitchen and changing it into a private dining room for us and guests. It allows the natural flow of the house to work better and allows Josh to have a "whiskey parlor" where the PO's dining room used to be.
Side note...trust me ladies, you can get A LOT further in a marriage by helping your man build and decorate a "whiskey parlor". Let me just say, it was one of my smarter moves, if I do say so myself. Back to the dining room...for a little less than a year we have rarely used it and have mainly stored the table, china, and chairs in there waiting to make it "our own" when the time came.
We had to tackle the most important areas first...whiskey parlor, laundry room, and dog room. Yep, can you see the priorities?! Don't judge.
When I began to think about how to make the dining room special and a place that we wanted to spend time in I became really overwhelmed. There were so many options in lighting, paint colors, fabric, etc. and so few options in arranging the furniture, changing the furniture, and using what we had in order to save $. The furniture we have in the room is in great shape, some of it has sentimental value, and one of the pieces is just really cool. I wanted/needed to make it all work without having to buy new pieces. I began trying to decide what to do and where to start...no progress. Too overwhelming. So the room sat...and sat.
It looked like this most of the time...blah and unfinished.
After the daunting task of decorating became too much, I decided I needed professional help (no comments necessary). I decided to take a risk and investigate e-design. I've seen the idea on other blogs before, but I didn't know if it was really for me or what to expect. I contacted a few bloggers that I read daily and after getting prices, working styles, and time frames established, I decided that Shannon at Pink Wallpaper would be the best person and designer to try this with. She is SUPER talented, really friendly, writes an amazing blog, and had worked with one of my best girlfriends that just loved and raved about her. I contacted her and she was ready for the challenge and ready for my constant barrage of emails each day. I immediately felt comfortable with her and her style. We are both email girls...and the scariness of the project subsided and became so much fun. I loved checking my email each morning and finding an email from her waiting. I seriously don't have a clue when this chick sleeps!
Shannon's design process was simple and easy to do over the distance...she's in South Carolina.
I was first instructed to send her pictures of ideas that I liked. I had been saving them from other design blogs, from magazines, from Houzz.com, etc. I sent Shannon these images which she compiled together in one pretty format.
All images were found at either Cote de Texas (1st row left side and 3rd row left side) or Houzz.com
Shannon then asked that I send her pictures of the actual room with a list of what I wanted to keep and what I was comfortable getting rid of or changing.
I sent her these:
I wanted to try to keep the table and chairs but was willing to rework them in anyway. I would love a circular table in the room, but the budget just doesn't allow for it right now.
I am willing to get rid of the massive mirror and the painted concrete floors, but I wanted to keep the serving hutch on the left side.
The new crown molding needed paint, obviously, and the paint color on the walls was certainly changeable. The tall china cabinet had to stay though. I love it.
A light fixture was necessary! We had moved the fan out of this room and used it in another room in the house. Light was pretty essential since you must eat in this room before 6:30 in order to see your food!
Shannon sent me several lighting recommendations but we both agreed that an oversize lantern would look great in the room. We both liked this one...
It is from Wisteria and the same one that Brooke Giannetti at Velvet and Linen used in her office.
Shannon then gave me a few ideas to consider regarding my existing dining room table. She merged them all together here.
In a morning email she sent me these thoughts and ideas:
Two options w/ the existing table:
1. Sanding the top of the table to make it a more natural wood finish and then painting the base a distressed white finish like picture A.
2. Using a liming wax (Brimwax makes a wax that apparently can go over any finish) and putting it all over the table to create a finish like picture B.
Chairs:
I have a couple of things I was thinking:
In all of your pics, one variable that seems constant are wicker chairs...so I thought we could add a host and hostess wicker chair, similar to something like picture C (although I am not sold on these particular ones). Then take 4 of your current chairs and either
1. paint them to resemble pic D (your current chairs have the X back like these) and recover the seat cushions
2. or slipcover them like E or F
Shannon and I both hunted for the right wicker chair for the head of the table and finally found the one we had been searching for. I'm still waiting for Redefine Home to get them in. Eagerly waiting...
When it was all said and done and dozens upon dozens of emails had been exchanged, I ended up with this final idea board from Shannon. It's truly the design that I had pictured in my head but wasn't sure how on earth to implement.
To break it down, Shannon recommended:
We choose an oversize lantern for the room.
Linen draperies to hang on each side of the French doors.
A cool statement piece for over the buffet. Josh vetoed the mirror in the design board above, but that was fine because the Round Top excursion earlier in the month produced two awesome etchings that will be hung above the piece.
A great jute rug from Sundance that is very reasonably priced.
Slipcovers for the dining room chairs in a brown twill.
For us to strip down the main table and paint and distress the base.
And, replace the heads of the table with two woven wicker chairs.
Now it is up to me to implement...if only she could be shipped in a little box to my doorstep for this next step (sigh).
This week has been particularly draining. I'm very ready to sit outside with Josh and take in the crisp fall air. TGIF!
On a side note:
Cedric and Rose are very busy this weekend getting ready for Halloween. As they have aged, now reaching 8 and 7 years old respectively, they have become bored with the drab everyday dog costumes that so many of their friends sport. This year they wanted a distinguished and classic look.
Cedric is trying to decide between an English gentleman...
Or an accountant from Savannah, Georgia...he's working on both of his accents.
Rose, well she is getting back to the classics and wants to be Dorothy...
We'll just have to see what they end up sporting. Who knows!?! Picky, picky, picky!
No, these are not actually Cedric and Rose... these are the very talented pugs from Rover Dog on Etsy.com. So cute!
I sincerely try my best to credit each photo source.
However, many of my older inspiration photos and quotes have been collected from blogs and other websites over the years for my personal use and I simply do not remember the sources.
If you find a photo on my blog that needs to be credited and you know the source, PLEASE let me know!
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