Happy Thanksgiving!

Isn't funny the things we remember? I remember being in first grade & learning the

"5 Fat Turkeys Song". I bet ya'll don't know that one do you? It goes something like this:

5 fat turkeys are we-e

We sat all night in a tree-e

When the cook came around

We couldn't be found

So that's why we're here you see!

Now think about T-H-A-T while you're gobbling down old Tom! :O)

Ode to Thanksgiving

'Twas the night of Thanksgiving,
But I just couldn't sleep
I tried counting backwards, I tried counting sheep.
The leftovers beckoned -
The dark meat and white
But I fought the temptation
With all of my might.
Tossing and turning with anticipation
The thought of a snack became infatuation.
So, I raced to the kitchen, flung open the door
And gazed at the fridge, full of goodies galore.
I gobbled up turkey and buttered potatoes,
Pickles and carrots, beans and tomatoes.
I felt myself swelling so plump and so round,
'Til all of a sudden, I rose off the ground.
I crashed through the ceiling, floating into the sky
With a mouthful of pudding and a handful of pie.
But, I managed to yell as I soared past the trees....
Happy eating to all - Pass the cranberries, please.
May your stuffing be tasty,
May your turkey be plump.
May your potatoes 'n gravy
Have nary a lump,
May your yams be delicious
May your pies take the prize,
May your Thanksgiving dinner ...
Stay off of your thighs.

Now what happened to Big Bird?

And finally, on a serious note, I'm very thankful for all the friends I have met from far & wide during my 2 months of blogging. I've never really had a close friend that enjoys decorating, or thrifting, or any of the things we share, other than my mom, and she no longer lives near me. But, you guys go with me places every time I post, and I always enjoy your sweet comments. I also enjoy getting inspiration from you, seeing places I'll never go in person, getting new recipes, and many laughs and friendships. So for that, my sweet blogging buds, I am thankful! May you all be blessed beyond measure! I hope you will all have a wonderful weekend with your family.

Have a great Turkey Day everyone! And rest up for Black Friday! :O) We have a lot to do tomorrow! LOL!

Dickens Christmas Show - Part 2

So, today I'm going to show you a few more things from the Dickens Christmas Show in Myrtle Beach. I took this photo because it reminded me of Stephanie at Angelic Accents. The little snowlady wasn't for sale, but the ladies in the booth said there is a lady at the Christmas show in Pigeon Forge, TN that do-das up snowmen for all different professions. This one appeared to be a hairdresser because she had a mirror and make-up brushes, and was totally bad to the bone...a member of the Pink Hat Society, I believe! I know some of you crafty ladies could make one similar.

Now on to the gingerbread house display...

I'm so in awe of people who can do this...what patience! T.K. & I tried to do one of those kits one year, and it didn't turn out too well.

And this looks like one of the waterfront beach McMansions down there.

Ok, this is not good....I'm getting hungry...I wonder why!?

This one looks kind of like a hurricane might have blown through the backyard!

This is a little cutie!

and this...

I'm not sure about their fund-raising efforts, but for the floral arrangements, wreaths (which I didn't take photos of), and the trees, you could bid to support animal adoption, autism or various other community organizations. Here's a sample of some of the floral arrangements. Not all of them met my "champagne taste requirements", but these passed!

I loved this vase.

This one won best of show (but I thought some of the others were nicer!).

And how do you fit all that into this skinny candlestick? Go figure!

Now, this one was my favorite arrangement. I couldn't bid on it or the trees (to be seen later) because you had to be there at the end of the show to claim the item...and I had to hit the road.

I'm hoping I can re-create it. I don't think it would take a brain surgeon, and it would look yummo in my house-o!

A nice centerpiece

This was pretty, but a tad blurry for some reason (operator error, perhaps?)!

Thought this was awesome...and I could even copy it! Very Pottery Barn, huh?

That woodsy theme seems big this year. I love the peacock feathers.

And finally, a topiary.

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Nativity Blog

Carrie over at http://carolanativitygallery.blogspot.com/ is having a nativity give-away. So be sure to stop by her blog and enter! If you haven't taken a look at her nativity collection, what better way to start the Christmas season? Enjoy & good luck!

Dickens Christmas Show - Part 1

As I mentioned in a previous post, I went down to Myrtle Beach, SC last weekend. I never thought I'd never live long enough to see this!



(My husband was just shaking his head that I had to stop & get this picture for you all! He just doesn't understand!) I actually saw unleaded gas for as low as $1.75 in SC. Gas where I live is 20-25 cents higher per gallon.

This past Sunday, I went to the annual Dickens Christmas Show & Festivals Week at the Myrtle Beach (SC) Convention Center. The vendors dress in funny looking clothes period costumes, and sell all kinds of stuff.

Various people provide holiday decor to benefit local charities. Here are some of the shadow boxes they had, and I think they're suppose to be scenes from A Christmas Carol.

As my daughter was quick to point out, it was just Ken in a box...don't think they impressed her much.

Various people or organizations in the community, also decorate mannequins as Santas, and here are a few of those. I believe they're Santas from around the world, but I didn't have time to notate where they're from because it's a long drive home, and I was in a hurry!

My daughter said this was the German Santa (glad she knows). He looks kind of like the Grim Reaper to me, no offense to any German folks.

She said this one was the Civil War Santa (didn't know we had one!)

Now, this is just my opinion - for what it's worth, and I don't know from where this one hails, but he was a little "toe up" to me. His beard was...well let's just say, not good...rasta-nastian!

Stay tuned this weekend, and I'll show you the gingerbread houses, floral arrangements, and all of the Christmas trees you see in the background....and there were a ton!

A special thanks to T.K. for taking the pictures for me!

My Shower

I just want to personally thank everyone who has stopped by this week. Sadly, I haven't had the opportunity to visit with each one of you as I would have liked, and feel I haven't been a good "blogging friend" this week. You know the saying when it rains it pours....well, we got in around 10:30 Sunday night from Myrtle Beach, SC. Monday was catch-up day. My daughter's in a cheerleading competition Saturday, so she's got practice everyday but today, and on Tuesday at 2 a.m., she starts blowing groceries (sorry for the graphic details), and it continues for about 24 hours. To make it worse, I'm in the middle of trying to get my wireless router repaired (it's affecting my blogging, heaven forbid!), and I had painters scheduled to paint 2 days this week...not to mention that I'm trying to get to the awesome Christmas show in Charlotte today to show you guys some of the wonderful goodies there. In addition, I'm trying to decorate for Christmas, while still putting away Halloween decorations...we, unfortunately, pretty much are blowing by Thanksgiving altogether in favor of going back to the beach for Turkey day! So, if you hear someone's head blowing off...well, it most likely will be mine! Do check back over the weekend, as I hope to have some lovely photos to show you from my ventures last weekend in Myrtle Beach.
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On with the post:

Have you ever wondered.....my husband always dreads when I say that because he says nothing good can ever come from one of my "did you ever wonder?"

Well, I did wonder, and I wondered what it would be like to "move up" from our starter home. Then I wondered what it would be like to "move up" from our next home. And due to a large company merger that was out of our control, we moved again, and now again.....and so I always found myself wondering if the "grass was greener" in a bigger or nicer house.

Well, let's see.

This is our shower in our 4th home.

When people come to my house, they usually always comment about our shower....but guess, what? It's one of my least favorite things in my entire house. And do you know why?

THIS!


I hate to squeegee!!!! Why do we do this? Who invented this ridiculous gadget? Who should I thank for the idea that every glass needs to be squeegeed...and we have 7 panes of glass?! Not to mention that the tile makes it cold in this north facing room, and it's like a glass house at the fair because you can see your reflection not one, but seven ways!!!!! YIKES!!! Not to mention that big honkin mirror right there beside it. Now maybe 20 years ago it would have been ok, but now....not so much.

Recently, I saw one of my former friends at the NC State Fair. It reminded me of a conversation I had with her several years ago. I was witchin to her about how, after 20+ years, I was tired of shaving my legs, and she agreed that sometimes she tires of it too. She said when she feels that way, she tries to just be thankful that she HAS legs to shave. It kind of puts it in perspective doesn't it?

So, the lesson here is...while I hate that it takes me a few extra minutes to clean all this glass, I AM thankful that I HAVE a shower in which TO SHOWER! There is no better feeling than to be clean...well, maybe a few, but I think Nikki Crumpet can handle that one better than I. (LOL!) But, I'd really just like my old fiberglass shower back. There's nothing special about all that glass & tile! Really!

Lesson Learned: The grass isn't always greener....trust me!

Another one of my friends said she wouldn't bother with squeegeeing (word?) unless company is coming. What do ya'll think...squeegee or just let it go? I think you know what I'm hoping you'll say! :O)

Peppermint Forest

Another Confession......marketing works! I've heard a lot of tv ads for a place on the south side of Charlotte, in Pineville actually, called Peppermint Forest. Well, I've been "dying" to check them out because it is suppose to have loads of Christmas decor. And guess what? It does. *** Happy Dance! ***

Warning.....we are about to embark (Duke word) on an enormous amount of eye candy!

Let's take a look, shall we?

Now they didn't have many trees! ;O)

A lovely traditional tree.



And stuff...




The sweet elf is waving at you guys!



Well, Santamaker did say to bring on the elves!





I think they need to decorate a few more trees, don't you?!




I have a thing for angels too...




I'll have a b-lue Christmas.....







I told you they didn't have any trees!

And these cute little pillows were under a tree.

This one was my favorite of all the trees!

Dang....and I forgot to get those plaid ornaments hanging there on that round thing...guess I'll have to go back. ;O)

And for my beachy side.....loved the top of this one...looks kind of like my hair in the mornings (seriously!) while I'm reading your blogs!



I'm thinking I like the blue stuff. Hubby, not so much. Maybe he just doesn't like the shade of blue!

And one of my favorite ornaments...Santa in the car.

And there were even trees for Mr. Tardevil, Kristen & myself! I was shocked that the Duke tree had fewer ornaments than the Carolina tree. There is something WrONg with that picture! I thought the UNC ornaments would be SOLD OUT!!! HELLO????


My favorite vignette! These are sooooooooooo my colors!

I love the color of this Santa, but I was good. I hate being good. Ok, maybe not hate, but I don't like it very much...I sound like a spoiled kid...I know...hmmmm.



And you know I have a thing for the big guy! Love this pillow!

And I loved this Santa (except he needs to be on Weight Watchers, like myself!). He didn't quite make it home with me though....but not to worry....I didn't come home empty handed!

Oh no...I shouldn't have taken his picture...I'm thinking I made a mistake, and he needs adopting...by me! It was probably the pressure from bringing along Mr. Tardevil! (that's what happens when his golf lesson is canceled....but he gets an A+ for being patient! LOL!)

And Raxx, I took this one because she reminded me of you!

Now, I'm sure by now, you've all heard of Mark Robert's fairies. I'm pretty certain this is the one he did to honor his mother, who died of breast cancer. He donates a portion of the profit from the sale of this one to breast cancer research, so keep that in mind this holiday season. He also makes some for other charities such as Make-a-Wish Foundation, etc.

This little snowman made the cut. Wonder where he'll end up?.....hmmmm.



There's something I actually don't collect...Fontanini. But not to worry, there's still time, right? Actually, I'm thinking when T.K. is old enough, I will start her a collection, so she will have it for her family, should she have one.

A few more nativity items...

By the way, if you've never toured Carrie's carola nativity gallery, please go over and take a look. If that won't get you in the spirit of Christmas, well...

Hang in there, we're almost done....








I hope you've enjoyed shopping around with me a little today! And a special "thank you" to Barbara, my hostess, throughout the store. She was a dear! If you're ever passing through Charlotte, Peppermint Forest is just off of I-485, a small hop off of I-77, so stop by and take a look! I know you won't leave empty-handed...trust me on that!