Monday, November 25, 2013

November Totally Tuesday Link Party!

It's that time of the month gang, Totally Tuesday Link Party time!



All you have to do is link up ANY project you've done in the past month. That's right, ANY project from November! Add some of your favorite projects, tips, recipes, room reveals, lists, etc.! I know you all have done some awesome projects, and we'd love to check them all out. I encourage you all to check out other links posted too- it is a link party after all! We had some super fabulous projects linked up in the past, so I'm excited to see what you all have to show off! I'll pick some of my favorites next week, once you all have linked up your projects!

All I ask is that you:

  • Please follow the Host- that's me! (see the social media buttons in the right corner of the blog- follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Bloglovin, Instagram- whatever is your favorite means of following).
  • Link up your own projects- no giveaways or advertisements please. (you can link as many projects as you'd like, but it should be from the past month- November).

Other than that, just have fun! If you have a place to post my blog button (which can be found in my sidebar to the right), great! If not, no biggie- but it would make me a super happy blogger if you did. ;)


Have a Totally Awesome Tuesday and link away! Remember, it can be anything from the past MONTH!
Thanks all! -M
Now on to the link party!


Pinspirations Monday: Non-traditional Advent Calendars

Hello all and welcome to another Pinspiration Monday!
So, long story short to this week's Pinspirations, I have started to decorate for Christmas today. I know- gasp! and I'm sure many are thinking "Why are you decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving?" Well- I traditionally decorate for Christmas on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. However, this year I am working both Thanksgiving afternoon-evening, and the majority of the day on Black Friday- so trying to do it at 9pm after a long day of work, is not something I want to do. This year, the hubs and I celebrated our Thanksgiving yesterday (Sunday), and I have off today- so I thought..."Hmm.. My tradition is decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving, but we celebrated our Thanksgiving early, so if I decorate the day after our celebration, the tradition is still alive- right?" lol.
ANYWAYS... now on to the adorable Pinspirations.
I have been so inspired by these non-tradition advent calendars, I am determined to do one myself. I found these adorable red small takeout boxes from the dollar store, and I am planning to do a wall treatment with them for an advent calendar. Here are some of the pins that have inspired me to do a non-traditional advent calendar!

Source: http://mostlovelythings.com/advent-calendar-decorating-with-old-familiar-things/#.UpOHhNKccRJ

Source: http://www.marthastewart.com/857740/handmade-advent-calendars/@center/307034/christmas-workshop

Source: http://www.infarrantlycreative.net/2010/11/dollar-store-advent-calendar.html

Source: http://findinghomeonline.com/easy-sew-burlap-advent-calendar/

Source: http://www.marthastewart.com/270492/baby-sock-advent-calendar
So have you started decorating for the winter holidays yet, or do you wait till after Thanksgiving? I'd love to hear what everyone's decorating traditions are. ;)
As I am about to finish up writing this post, I just realized this is my 400th post on my blog- holy cow! Always surprises me when I hit milestones like that!
Anyways, have a great Monday, and be sure to stop back tomorrow, as it is Totally Tuesday Link Party time tomorrow! I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone has to share from November!
Have a fun day!
-M

Friday, November 22, 2013

Favorites Friday: Staying warm and getting Geeky

Welcome to another Favorites Friday! This week I am all about embracing my geekdom, all the while braving the winter weather.


1. Spamalot at the Kelsey Theatre: So I saw this last week with the hubs and I enjoyed it a lot! If you love Monty Python, you will adore this show. This might be added to my list of "shows I want to do." lol

2. Dunkin' Donuts Star Donut: I had one of these the other day when my co-worker got a mixed box. So awesome and so festive (I know- so bad for you though!).

3. Thor: The Dark World movie: Saw this with the hubs last week and it was fantastic. I love Thor in general, but the scenes were just stunning in the way they portrayed the worlds.

4. Fingerless Knitted Gloves: I got a pair exactly like the above somewhere along the line and I just love them. They are a little thicker than some gloves in this type, so they are perfect for these cold winters, but allow you the flexibility to use them without the fingers when you need to do things like type or open things.

5. Doctor Who: Since the 50th anniversary episode is coming up, I am in all Doctor Who mode- also helps that I got to do a Doctor Who page at work. I just can't get enough of the doctor! ;)


Have a great Friday!
-M

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Pinspiration Monday (Tuesday): Thanksgiving Shelves and Mantels

Happy Pinspiration day! (A day late, but better late than never, right? lol)
Since I have to work on Thanksgiving (boo!), we are celebrating early- this Sunday. So this Pinspiration is all about the Thanksgiving mantel/shelf/table decor! The hubs put up a cute little shelf for me to decorate for the holidays, above the tv, since we don't have a mantel, so I've been getting ideas on how to decorate the little shelf, from these great pins!

Source: http://proverbs31girl.com/fall-mantel/


Adventures in Decorating Fall/Thanks Mantel
Source: http://adventuresindecorating1.blogspot.com/2013/09/our-fall-mantel.html


Liz Marie's  DIY Chalkboard Tablerunner
Source: http://www.lizmarieblog.com/2013/09/diy-chalkboard-table-runner/

Source: http://adiamondinthestuff.com/2011/11/give-thanks-mantel.html

Source: http://akadesign.ca/fall-mantel-seasons-of-home-autumn-edition/

Are you in the Thanksgiving/Fall spirit now? I sure am!
Thanks for stopping by and feel free to follow my Pinspiratons board, or all my boards for that matter. ;)
Have a great Tuesday all!
-M

Friday, November 15, 2013

Favorites Friday: Just Chillin'

Welcome to another Favorites Friday! 
This week I am all about the things that make me happy, chill and calm. (It's funny how it ended up being 3 beverages, but those are chilled-right?)


1. Chocolate Bar from the Newtown Chocolatier: For the theater gala I helped plan, we had chocolates made by the Newtown Chocolatier as one of our favors. They turned out super cute AND tasted great!

2. Stampin' Up! Festive Flurry Stamp: I got this stamp set (and matching Die Cut set) from my mom (who is now a Stampin' Up! demonstrator) after testing it out while on our Scrapbooking Getaway. It is super cute and versatile for everything wintery or holiday. Love it!

3. Crispin Hard Cider: I tried this cider a few weeks ago when out with my mom and I must say it was delicious! I am all about the hard ciders and it was wonderful and crisp.

4. Immunity Booster from Smoothie King: When I tried to battle off a cold I recently got over, this was my go-to smoothie. It is packed with bananas, strawberries and other immunity boosters.

5. Verdi Spumante: This was our other favor at the theater gala- mini bottles of this lovely stuff. I just adore the sparkling taste and it doesn't break the bank either. Their Sparkletini is a favorite of many of my gal pals. :)


Have a wonderful Friday everyone! Have a glass of wine or a bottle of cider with me (when I get home from work. lol!)
-M

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Gaga over this Gala...

So this past Saturday was the big theater gala (that I have basically been devoting most of my free time outside of work to help plan for throughout this past year).


It was a little crazy the day of, since I had rehearsal for Brigadoon in the morning, had roughly an hour and a half to run home, get changed, do makeup and hair, and then get back up to the country club to finish setup for the gala. In the end, it was a great event- everyone had a blast and we had so much fun!
Here are some of the details of the evening and leading up to it:

Invitations:

I designed the invitation, rsvp card, and the band that went around the invite and the RSVP card/envelope.

Programs:
Each program included everything that was in each of the 30 baskets that were being raffled off, with a total estimated value of each basket, and a list of the evening's events on the back of the program.

Placecards:


The Placecards were "tickets" that you picked up at the "Will call board" to go to the show (the gala). There was also a code you could scan that would take you to the company's website. ;)

Centerpieces:
These were the centerpieces- each themed around a different show we have done in the theater company's past 30 years. (this was before they added the silverware, cups, glasses, salt, pepper, etc. to each table)
 A Chorus Line

Our Miss Brooks

 Our Miss Brooks (other view)

Grease

Grease (other view)

Hello, Dolly

Hello, Dolly  (other view)

Music Man

Arsenic and Old Lace

King and I

Beauty and the Beast

 Brigadoon (also was our Dignitary/reserved table)

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Odd Couple
There was a few other centerpieces, I just forgot to photograph them. doh!

Other Decorations:
This is what guests saw when they opened the front door...


These were on the cocktail tables (they looked WAY better when lit and when they turned down the overhead lights)

The paper chandeliers!


Basket Raffles:
(30 baskets for 30 years!)

Little Women basket

Each basket had a number (that went with the jar to put the tickets in and a listing of what is in the baskets.

Odd Couple Basket

Pink Panther Basket 

Charlie Brown Basket 

James and the Giant Peach Basket (which we won)

Photobooth:

I'll just share a few that the hubs and I took in the Photobooth,
since I don't know if anyone else wants their photos circulating through the blogosphere. lol

Dinner:
Green beans, scalloped potatoes, chicken, salmon, salad, and chocolate mousse with strawberries for dessert. There was also many different great hour'dorves served during the cocktail hour.

Favors:
We had mini Verdi bottles (and cider for the non-alcoholic group) and chocolate bars as the favors.





We also had chocolate bars made with the company logo

Cute tags on the favors!

And everything else...
I did my nails in a light brown and then added silver sparkle edging. I did my fingernails roughly 10 minutes before we left the house, the day of the gala. lol. The brown polish I got from the dollar store, and the silver I got from Five Below- it was a special "nail art" type of polish- with a skinny brush.

I did my toes with the same polishes, however I did them the night before. lol!
(have I mentioned how much I hate my stubby toenails/toes?)

I thrifted up my entire outfit- $2 for 2 brown flower clips, $2 for other sparkle clip in hair, used earrings and silver shoes I previously wore in my friend's wedding, $5 for necklace from thrift store, $1.50 for white fabric for sash and the dress was a bridesmaid dress I wore roughly 6 years ago. And the hubs- I got his brown and white tie from thrift store for $3, and he got his pants and suit jacket (not shown) also at the thrift store. ;)
We love to be classy but thrifty.

All in all, it was a great night. We walked away winning one of the fun baskets, along with our favors. Our muscles were super sore the next day from all the running around and dancing the night away, but it was worth it. I did a LOT of design work and work on the setup for this event (somedays I felt like I did more for this than my own wedding, lol!), so now that it is done- do I get my life back? lol

Anyways, have a great Wednesday all!


This has been what I've been "working on" this past month/year... now to actually get back to working on things for our own home- like getting ready for the holidays!
Have a great day!
-M