Quick Catch Up: End of 2014

I'm going to make this quick and try not to bore you with long posts about where I have been the last two months. I know. I've been slacking major time. But that's about to change!

// We went to Branson back in November. If you don't take a little family getaway trip once a year you SHOULD! We had a great time and it really kicks of the holiday season on a great note.

// I started an Etsy shop making custom baby headbands.

// I hosted our 3rd Annual Bake-Off. We made lots of cookies and drank wine. It was uber fun!

// I started a gift-wrapping business and actually had some customers! I probably wrapped 100 gifts this year!

// I went to the PRI show in Indianapolis and then went to Michigan to check our new boat.

// I got engaged!

bling bling!

// And had an awesome Christmas.

// Neely and I hit up some after-Christmas clearance sales.

And we both got awesome "holiday trees"!

// For New Years Eve we enjoyed time with family at Neely's house where we all made artisan pizzas and drank champagne.

And that's where I've been! I had such a great holiday season and was so thankful I was able to be at home and not traveling. Sometimes, I can be such a homebody!

Anways... stay tuned for more posts and regular blogging around here. I truly miss my random rants and filling this little corner of the interwebs with silly ramblings.

How to Organize Your Christmas Decor

Happy New Year! I plan on writing a little catch-up post soon but before I do that I wanted to share how I organize my Christmas decor.

Taking down Christmas decorations can really be a pain in the rear UNLESS you have a good system that makes it easy. I've been doing this for just about my entire life. My parents had vintage ornaments that were very fragile so I learned at a young age how to pack away Christmas decor very well. So I hope you learn a few tips that will make your holiday season much more organized!

1. Label everything! Label the original boxes that your ornaments came in. This will make it much easier when you are removing the ornaments from your tree. You can see exactly where each one goes and it will make the process much smoother. Also, your glass ornaments are safest in their original packaging!

2. Use shoe boxes and Ziplock baggies for miscellaneous items that may have came in strange packaging. Don't forget to label each box/bag so you know what goes inside!

3. Put random decor items (ie: glittery trees, signs, characters, etc) inside  shopping bags from Target or Wal-Mart so they don't rub on each other and transfer glitter inside your tubs.

4. Use tubs! Boxes work well if you are storing your items in a controlled environment. If you store them where it can get hot/cold/musty/humid the boxes will absorb odors that might not be pleasant.

5. Take photos of your decorations before you put them in storage. Put the photos in a folder on your computer so that a few days after Thanksgiving you can look through the photos to remind yourself what you have. This way when you are out shopping right after Thanksgiving you won't get caught up with all of the beautiful decor and ornaments that are already out on display because you already know what you have! (I put a reminder on my calendar to look through my Christmas photos in mid-November. Right around when holiday items start showing up in stores.)

6. Make a list of items you might want for next Christmas. Let's say you were at a friends house and they had multi-colored lights on their tree and you want to do that next year. A list will help remind you what you DO need to buy before you dig out all of your decor. (Or if you are really good at planning ahead, go buy those items a few days after Christmas on clearance!)

7. Store similar items together. I pack my small filler ornaments inside a smaller tub. This makes it much easier when it comes time to put them on the tree... I just grab that little tub and go to town!

 I also pack my ornaments with items that are in the same color family. I have one whole tub that has my red and gold ornaments and one tub that has my blues and silvers.

8. Use soft goods like hand towels, tree skirts, tablecloths in between layers of your decorations so that things stay protected and don't shift as much when they are in storage.

I hope you learned something today that will make your Christmas tear-down go much easier!

My Cyber Monday Faves

Black Friday? Blech... so four years ago. The new fad is Cyber Monday! Shop from your bed in your PJ's and no interrupting your Thanksgiving. Don't pretend like your inbox isn't blowing up with crazy good sales right now. Get on it, girl!

Here are my favorite Cyber Monday sales!

Sigma Beauty

Sigma only does 20% off once, maybe twice a year so use this opportunity to try their brushes. They are OUTSTANDING. I don't know how I lived without them before. I ordered a few things I have been dying to get my hands on, but had to have a sale of course!

Converse

25% off nearly everything! That includes custom designs. You can bet your sweet little tush I designed some radical Chucks at about 6:30 this morning. Can't wait for those bad boys to get here!

Target

Love me some Target furniture. Don't love me the Target shipping prices. Today is the day, my friends, to order whatever you may desire from Target!

American Eagle

I live in American Eagle jeans. Are they worth their on average $45 dollar price? Yes but I like getting things on sale so 40% off is the prime time to buy!

Go get'em ladies!

Confessional Friday

Guess what day it is!?

Confessional Friday!

Yup! My only form of communicating with y'all.

I'm kidding... but seriously.

I'll just confess what has happened in the last month.

// I did a Halloween themed photo shoot like I was talking about here. It was fun to dress up in a costume and not look like that adult trick-or-treating freak with no kids.

// We went to Miami and Key West for nearly two weeks. We were gone away from home for 13 FREAKING DAYS. But I won't bore you with 324,759,323 pictures, I'll just give you this pretty sunset shot.

// And while we were gone our precious Boo Boo got very weak and sick. We got a call five days before we were supposed to be home that he wasn't doing well. We had a friend stay all weekend at the house with him and our vet made multiple home visits to try to make him more comfortable until we got home but he just didn't make it. We had him put to rest on November 9th... just two days before we got home. RIP sweet Boo Boo kitty.

// The weekend after we returned home was Tyson's nephews 3rd birthday party. His sister went all-out with the construction theme so I followed suit! It was so much fun, even for the adults!

// One of my best friends, Justine, delivered her baby. Teagan, has an omphalocele which is a condition where the umbilical cord doesn't close around the baby's belly properly and multiple organs grow outside of the baby's body. I went up on Monday and spent two days with her and Teagan. They are both doing well but they need all the prayers they can get. Teagan is in the NICU and will be staying there for quite some time.

// And finally... today we leave for a little family va-ca to Branson. We did this last year and it was a lot of fun so I'm excited that we are making it a tradition.

I promise I will get in to a better routine around here. I have a lot of great posts I want to share but other things have taken the time from me. That's life, right!?

Confessional Friday

Thank the good Lord that Leslie hosts this great link-up or else I might never talk to you guys.

Meh.
Life. And all your random fly-balls.

// I confess that we are leaving next Wednesday for Miami and Key West. But when I say we are leaving next Wednesday I mean that's the day we thought we were going to leave until the guy that has one of the boats told us that the boat won't be ready to be picked up till Monday. But he told us last week it would be ready this Saturday. So now all our plans for a smooth, non-chaotic departure are GONE. Which basically means I'm going to be a huge ball of stress until we finally do leave... whenever that is.

// I confess that we are going to be gone for TWO WEEKS. Who in the hell leaves their house/family/pets for two weeks!? Me. Why me? Because my boyfriend likes to rip all forms of stability out from underneath me and lock me in a car for long road trips to FL. Oh well. At least our hotel for most of the trip is a 72' Hatteras.

// I confess that I didn't decorate for Halloween and I'm not sad about it. It has been very warm here in SW Missouri for the last few weeks (until yesterday) and I just would not accept that it is "fall". I don't want to wear boots and jeans. I want to wear flip flops and shorts! Good thing I'm going to FL next week!

// I confess that I think the new season of Kendra On Top is all fake. I just find it very odd that they were not in the tabloids for a few years for anything and then BAM, Hank cheats on Kendra with a transgender while she's 8 months pregnant and it's all caught on camera? Uhhh no.

And that's all for today, folks. I will just leave you with this picture of me jumping in a muddy puddle.

Happy Friday!

Confessional Friday

Happy Friday, Ladies! It's been a little while but no worries, nothing exciting happening around here.

So let's confess!

// I confess that I started a new small business! Better Than Bags Gift Wrapping Service. I love wrapping gifts and have been told by numerous people I should offer my service to the community... so I did! I would love any feedback or advice on anything on my website or my Facebook page.

Oh and I forgot to mention I have one employee already! He's not much help as of right now but he's very cute.

// I confess that I went to KC last weekend for my friend Justine's baby shower and found out Ikea was open. I might have went a bit overboard but in all fairness I found a few items that I have been trying to track down for a few months-- a cube system for our entry way and a vanity mirror that is tall enough for this giraffe. Now I can finally do a vanity tour!

// And lastly I confess that we leave for Miami and Key West in less than two weeks and I am excited to get away but sad to leave the kitties behind. Oh the animal lover in me will never cease.

Confessional Friday

Howdy friends! It's Confessional Friday. What better way to catch up with you? Here we go!

// I confess that I finally found a replacement for a bracelet I lost about four years ago. I lost it one night at the lake and I was completely sick about it. My mom had given it to me and I wore it all the time. I had never seen anything like it until last Wednesday. I went to Tyson's doctors appointment with him and one of the ladies that worked there had a necklace on that reminded me of my bracelet. I asked her where she got it and she said Dress Barn. She didn't say when she got it and I didn't ask if they had matching bracelets but GUESS WHAT!? They did!! Some day I will have a jeweler copy this in silver, just like my moms. But this will hold me over til then.

When I told my mom I had found a similar bracelet, I asked her where she got it (since I never really knew). She said my dad had given it to her a few days after their first date. He went to Columbia for a doctors appointment and went in to Dillard's. They were having a fundraiser where some of the profits from certain jewelry pieces went to breast cancer research as it was October and breast cancer awareness month. She said it was 1994. What a coincidence! The doctors appointments, the month (almost to the day) and it being almost exactly 20 years later that I found this bracelet. I don't really believe in coincidences. I believe God speaks to us in ways that make us think. This is a perfect example of that.

// I also confess that I did really good this week and only bought three pairs of shoes.

These moto boots, these rain boots, and these sneaker wedges...

I really dislike ordering shoes online that I've never tried on. I hope the sizes I got work!

// I confess that I really want to dress up like an evil bride or a modern bride of Frankenstein this year. Mostly I just want to rock this hair and makeup and most of all EYES!

I think this looks so pretty/creepy. But those contacts that make your whole eye black are $160 dollars!!

// I confess that I am just now, today, officially, getting in to the fall spirit. I just could not accept that it was fall with our blistering 80 degree Southern Missouri days. Today though--- today it's cold. Like 55 degrees cold and I have pants on cold. Cold like I wore a Carhart today. It's going to be a long winter...

And those are my confessions...

Have a great weekend!