Monday, November 25, 2013

CHRISTMAS AT SYBILL'S SAINT JAMES...

Hello everyone.  How was your weekend?  Ours was great!

Friday evening was a wonderful time for the hubs and I.  We were invited out to dinner at one of our areas finest restaurants...Sybill's Saint James...and, not only were we invited, but our entire meal was paid for. To show their appreciation for all of our hard work this year, our pastor and his wife took all the church staff members out to dinner.  Such a nice treat!!!

























Now I will tell you, I am not one for FANCY, SCHMANCY restaurants.  I like casual dining best but Sybill's is a place that everyone should experience at least once, especially around the holidays when they are all decked out for Christmas.

I have only been to Sybill's twice in the 20 something years we have lived in Missouri.  Both times were near the holidays and, oddly enough, both times our meals were paid for by someone else...I am a truly blessed woman, no?

Anyway, this time I got a couple pictures of some of their awesome Christmas decor.  I don't know who does their holiday decorating but I can tell you they are good at what they do.  This place is truly magical and my pictures did not do it justice...

This beautiful, majestic fireplace greets you as come through the front door....



I would love to duplicate this scene on my mantel at home.  I could if I had a bazillion dollars as all the decor at Sybill's is for sale.  That's right, there is a price tag on literally everything in this place, including the pictures on the wall.  Not kidding!!



See, notice the price tag on the big ornament?























This years colors are silver, gold and white.  VERY ELEGANT!!!

The Christmas tree was no disappointment either.  It was chock full of some of the most unique, whimsical and beautiful ornaments I have ever seen...




Again, all of them are for sale...




























and, since I didn't have to pay for my meal, I figured I could afford to buy a couple of them.  I got two of those cute little fluffy white owls.

Now I am super excited to get started on a little Christmas decorating of my own.  I'll be sure to show you where these little purchases of mine show up!



Friday, November 22, 2013

WHAT'S MISSING?...

Happy Friday everyone!!!

Can any of you guess what's missing from my living room?...

























Yep, you guessed it...my new red furniture.  IT'S GONE!!!...and just when I was starting to really like it, WHAAAA... So what happened, you ask?

IT BROKE!!!  Yes that's right, after only five months the main frame of the sofa snapped in half.  We rarely ever even used it and certainly not enough to merit the main support beam to break.

Though I never shared this with you all, I was somewhat disappointed in the quality of this furniture from the moment it was delivered. There were several minor things that were just not right for something that was supposed to be new.  After just three days I called my furniture store to inquire about returning it but they said there would be a $150.00 charge to exchange it since it had already been "sat" on.  They said they had to charge that because they would not be able to resell our set at the new price.  They would have to sell it as used furniture and would lose money on it.  Truthfully, I wanted to tell them that it looked like they had sold US used furniture at new prices and demand that they take it back at no charge, but we have bought furniture and appliances from this store for more than 20 years and they have always been good to us, so we were nice about it and decided to keep the furniture.  Besides, for $150.00 I could cut off the stray threads that were hanging all over the place, deal with the cushions looking somewhat wonky and even add some batting to fill in the massive empty spot that was in one of the back cushions of the loveseat myself.

I did those things and everything was going good.  I was even getting used to the red color which, if you will remember, was the hubs choice.  I had been working tirelessly to get my main floor design plan that I talked about HERE in place.  I was almost done and then...THE BREAK!!!...

I called the furniture store immediately.  They told me there was a one year warranty but that they wanted to try and fix the sofa first.  I wasn't completely happy with that answer considering I had spent money on this stuff and had been unhappy with it to begin with, but I agreed.  A week later they called and said it was not fixable and that we should come down to the store and pick out a whole new set.  YAY ME!!!!!!

The only stipulation was that they would not sell us another Ashley brand set like we had.  We had to choose a set of a different brand.  When I asked why the sales lady said that they have been having A LOT of quality issues with Ashley furniture.  She said that Ashley's new line of furniture, though it's nice looking, is made cheaper so that it can be sold at a price that is affordable to more people.  Basically, you get what you pay for!! After this little experience, I can testify to that!  My thinking is; however, that it's not reasonably priced if you have to replace it more often, right?  Not especially every FIVE months!!!!!!!

According to the reviews of Ashley brand furniture on the Consumer Affairs site, I am not the only one dissatisfied with Ashley furniture.  Apparently ALL of it is just plain right down JUNK and I know one thing for sure, I will NEVER buy another piece of Ashley furniture for my home.  I would advise anyone I know not to waste their money on any as well.

Anyway, we custom ordered a set of Best Home Furnishings...it's more expensive (of, course)...but I think I am going to like it a lot better because...IT'S GRAY!!!  Gray was the color I had originally wanted but couldn't get at the time so I am considering this little disaster with Ashley furniture and blessing in disguise.

Here's a little peek at what my new sofa will look like...



I did a little photo editing to see how it might look with my wall color...



I know things look quite different on the computer than in real life but I think it's going to work great. Yayyyyy, I am totally excited!

The only bad thing now is the wait.  It will probably be another several weeks before it arrives.  I guess it's a good thing I am not hosting any holiday meals at my house this year.  LOL!!



Thursday, November 21, 2013

A TIME TO REFLECT & GIVE THANKS...

'Twas the night before Thanksgiving
when all through the house,
not a creature was stirring,
not even a mouse.
With the children all nestled and snug in their beds,
Momma and Papa fold their hands and bow their heads.
Counting their blessings 
they give thanks to God,
for it is He who has made their life so good.
                                                 by: Sheila Rodgers

WHOA...is it really only ONE WEEK before Thanksgiving?  My oh my, where has the year gone? I'm almost afraid to blink, I might miss something! Haha.  One thing I will not be missing though is Thanksgiving.



Though this is the busiest time of year I have determined that I am going to purposefully slow down, take some time to sit back, reflect upon God's goodness and give Him thanks for all the wonderful blessings He has bestowed upon me this year; and, not just for the blessings, but for everything that this year has brought. Because no matter what life brings whether it's good or bad, God is still God, He is still good and He is always worthy of my thanksgiving.

I have my journal and pen in hand ready to count my blessings.  What are you doing for Thanksgiving this year?  Anything special besides gathering your recipes for a feast of turkey and gravy?  Have you set aside some time to reflect and give thanks for God's generosities to you this year?   I hope so because He truly is worthy.

Happy Thanksgiving!



Thursday, November 14, 2013

WORKING ON THE KITCHEN...



Hey everybody.  How's your week going?  Mine not so good.  I have been sick again.  This time with a head cold, but enough about that, I have some good news to share with you today...I started working on prettying up this crusty ol' kitchen of mine...

I was going to save this room for last simply because there is a lot of work to be done in there and I have been dreading it, but the hubs kind of got me moving on this room a little earlier than I had planned when he decided to install a cabinet above the stove to house the microwave.  I would not allow him to install it until after the top portion of the walls were repainted.  The red I had chosen to paint them shortly after moving in was just not my thing.  They were too dark and too shiny and after three years I was ready to be rid of them...




Well, one thing led to another and not only did he paint the top portion of the walls in the same beige buckhorn that I used in the dining and living rooms, but I tackled the priming and painting of the doors, door frames, windows and the bottom portion of the walls (which were terribly crusty, chippy, dingy and yellowed) with a nice fresh coat of white. And here's the results...





Much better doncha think? I am really loving these changes.  Things are looking so much brighter and cleaner already.  Now I just have to tackle the ceiling and cabinets.  The ceiling won't be bad but I am really dreading the cabs because it is such a long, drawn out, tedious and MESSY task.  However, I so anxious to finally have this kitchen done that I am planning on working on all that over the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  I hope to be done with that by Christmas and then I can concentrate on the pretty stuff, like adding pendant lights over the sink and picking out some new curtains.  Of course I will keep you updated and as soon as this little kitchen is ready for it's debut I will share all the details with you.



Friday, November 1, 2013

A LITTLE SOMETHING I THREW TOGETHER FOR THE CRAFT FAIR...

Tomorrow is the day...the day of the craft fair in Dixon, Missouri.  Our church will have a booth there to raise money for our building fund.  We will have all sorts of homemade goodies just waiting for some nice people to come and take them home.

We have homemade pumpkin butter, apple butter and other yummy treats for sale.  We also have crocheted items and all sorts of rustic treasures made from old barn wood and barbed wire ready to go to the perfect home.  We have reindeer made of logs and branches...they are soooooo cute...you really must come and get one! 

There are high heel boot stockings perfect for the fashionestas in your family and book page pumpkins ready for the taking.  There are all sorts of embellished vases and candleholders all decked out for the holidays that would go perfect with any decor...and then there's this little one of a kind, perfect for fall, beauty that I threw together just for the fair....



This beautiful pumpkin is made from a gorgeous tapestry fabric in muted colors of blue, cream, orange and brown.  It sports a book page stem and leaf and is all decked out with a twine bow and curlyque.  It's the perfect one of a kind fall treasure and is sure to go fast! 

If you are in the Dixon, Missouri area, stop by and check out our booth.  I'm sure there will be something you will want to take home. 

UPDATE:   This little tapestry pumpkin and the book pages pumpkins I made for the craft fair were the first things to sell on Saturday..  They sold before the booth had even opened.  Another vendor spotted them and snatched them right up.  She didn't even argue over the prices.  The tapestry pumpkin sold for $12.00 and the book page pumpkins for $8.00 each.  Not too bad!  I was so very surprised because I figured that most people would be dodging the fall stuff and get things for Christmas. .

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