Goodies in the mail and a few more Christmas pics

                         Look what the mail lady brought me on Friday!!!

Last week I ordered these from Kath at The Olde Weeping Cedar. I was surprised to get them so fast. I luv, luv them! It's a combination of a bundt cake, three antique mold pantry cakes and a dozen of her prim cini mini's. I love them so much that I emailed her with another order. Be sure to check out her blog to see more prim items for sale.

Can you believe these are the same bowls that the pantry cakes are in? The bottom one I got some months ago at Hope Harbour for $2.00 and I bought the one with ivy painted on it for $1.00 yesterday from a vendor that was set up outside CWF.

I started sanding and painting them as soon as I got home.

Here they are on my dining table. Not sure if this grouping will stay but it works for now.

The quilt shelf in the den decorated for Christmas.

I think these Santa's are my favorites so far. I bought them last year at Prim and Proper after Christmas for 50% off.

I almost forgot to fill you in on my turkey cooking experience. As I mentioned on Thanksgiving I was cooking my first ever turkey. I know that seems hard to believe but I'm kinda weird because I don't like to touch raw meat. It completely grosses me out. But, since Chris had to work for a few hours that day the job was mine. I did ok getting it out the plastic wrap but I had to call Chris and put him on speaker for the rest. I mean really, what purpose does putting the neck and giblet things INSIDE the turkey. Really? That was the single most disgusting thing I have ever done. I know some of you are rolling your eyes and thinking pa-lees! But, put yourself in my shoes. There's just something about the way it FEELS! YUK! YUK! And double YUK!

But any who, Ashton woke up and came to my rescue. She injected the sauce into the turkey for me and I finished the rest. And after spending much time on pins and needles the house began to fill up with the aroma of turkey cooking in the oven. And, surprise! Surprise! It turned out juicy and tender and everyone loved it. I was so proud of myself, but boy-o-boy, do I ever hope and pray that Chris is off the next time we cook a holiday meal : ).

Thanks for stopping by,

Till next time,

Kimberly: )

Happy Thanksgiving!!

A quick post today while my green bean casserole cooks to say that I hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving.

Chris is working today so Ashton and I will attempt to cook the turkey. Not sure how that will turn out as it will be our first attempt. I know, all these years and I have never had to be the one to do the deed. Someone else has always cooked the turkey and I've always did the trimmings and desserts, so wish us luck.

Today is also a day for us to give thanks for all the blessings in our lives. Though there are far to many to list them all, I know I am blessed to have the love of my family, a roof over my head, food to eat and a job that I love. I know that God blesses me each and every day that I live and I am thankful.

And, can you believe it? We finally started decorating for Christmas.

Yesterday was a busy day of Dr. Appointments, stops at Harris Teeter, Aldi, Food Lion and Wal Mart to get all the things we need to cook for Thanksgiving dinner. And after a quick bite for lunch we headed to storage to get all the Christmas decorations {it took both cars}. Unpacking everything created a mess but it was an organized mess {there is a method to my madness}. So in between cooking and crossing my fingers and praying the turkey is edible I will be working on the mess I left last night.

I'm off for now to do a bit more cooking and cleaning before Erik, Amber and Ben's girlfriend arrive.

Till next time,

Blessings,

Kimberly : )

P.S. I guess that wasn't such a quick post after all : )

Where do the Years go??

 Wednesday my son Erik turned 21. It seems like only yesterday he was a little boy and now he is all grown up and married. Chris, Ashton and me met him, Amber and a group of their friends at Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner.

This is Erik proudly wearing his wing master crown.

Erik and Ashton.

And Ash after she took his crown.

Erik and Amber {to his left} and their closest friends. We all had a really nice time, lots of good food, lots of laughs. That's it for the birthdays this year, NOW, I can finally give Christmas gift making/shopping my full attention. I always say I have to get past the birthdays first, one in September, two in November. Then I begin the countdown for Christmas.

Is it just me or does it seem that the older your children get the more difficult they are to buy for?

Well folks, I'm off for now to relax {stitch} a bit before heading off to bed.

Till next time,

Kimberly : )

My thrift store treasures

 Last Wednesday I stopped by Hope Harbour Thrift Store to look for goodies. I found a couple of things that I plan to paint but the best find was a pair of pewter candle holders for only two bucks!

For now they are on the dresser in my bedroom but I'm not sure if they will stay there. I love pewter so I am always on the hunt for it when I go to my favorite thrift shops and primitive stores.

This is a close up of the runner that  Karen from KM Primitives made for me earlier this year. The space on my dresser is narrow because of the mirror that sits on top and she was able to make one that fits perfectly from the measurements I emailed her. She also sent me some sample colors of the felt so I could choose something to coordinate with the quilt in my room. I love, love it and eventually hope to order small runners for my night stands to match.

This is what I'm working on this week, it's another Jenny Hoffman design. I'm stitching the design on each end of a 14 count aida cloth runner for my coffee table.

Here is a close up of the design. I know it's a bit stark white right now but not for long. Once finished I'll tea stain it and bake it a bit for that aged look. I can't wait to finish it!

Till next time,

Kimberly : )

A few more finishes

 Good evening blog friends. I thought I'd post a few more finished projects while waiting for our pizza. I know, healthy dinner, right? What can I say? Sometimes it just works when you've had a busy day at work.

 Thankfully tomorrow is my day off so I should be able to work on a few more projects. Tomorrow is also my son Erik's 21st birthday. The years seem to go by faster as I get older. Funny how it works like that.

I think this is my favorite pattern from Simple Goodes Stitched by Jennifer so far. My friend Christina has a birthday this month and I think I'll stitch one up for her along with a couple of ornies. I love hand made gifts, they're more personal.

My  BFF Melissa has a birthday tomorrow so these are for her. These are freebies from Sampler Girl and Primitive Bettys. Last year she really like the paper mache ornaments I painted for our tree so I thought I'd paint a couple for as well.

Working on all these Christmas ornaments really has me fired up to decorate the house {not that I needed any help in that department}. I think I go prowl around in storage tomorrow and slowly bring things in and get an early start .

Well Chris is home from a long day at work and I think it's pizza time.

Till next time,

Kimberly : )

A few finished projects

 I hope every one's week is off  to a great start. We had a very busy day at the animal hospital, lots of new puppies. Some only a few hours old. Needless to say, the day went by in a blur.

 I wanted to jump on here to do a quick post to show some of the things I got finished last night and tonight when I got home from work.

One is this freebie from the Primitive Bettys blog. If you want a quick fix, you'll love this  pattern, it stitches up fast. Be sure to stop by and visit her blog and check out her patterns free for you to copy and save as well as those she has available for purchase.

This is a Jenny Hoffman design that I got back in the summer and stitched up for my CWF friend Karen for her birthday. She has an Americana room so I thought this would be perfect for her. After I get my Christmas x-stitch patterns caught up I gotta make one for myself.

I love this little pillow, truer words have never been spoken. This one, I believe is a Sampler Girl freebie {forgive me if I'm wrong about this}. There are a lot of great patterns to be found on the Sampler Girl blog as well. I don't think I'll ever reach the end of my "want to stitch this pattern" list. But I believe that is part of the fun.

There are still several more projects to show you later but for now I'm off  to get ready for bed and do a bit of stitching before turning in.

Till next time,

Kimberly : )

My productive weekend

 Good Sunday morning blog friends! I hope everyone is having a great, safe weekend. My weekend has been very productive. I've been wanting  to change my curtains in my dining and living room for a while now but couldn't decide what I wanted. While shopping at Hobby Lobby on my lunch break one day I found a country red check homespun fabric that I liked and at $2.99 per yard with 30% off I decided to make my own curtains.

 So yesterday I stretched all 9 yards of fabric down my hallway and started measuring and cutting.

And surprisingly it only took a few hours and before you knew it I had some new country curtains.

But as all of you know, once you make one little change, you're suddenly in the mood to change other things around. You know, move this here, move that there. Take this down, well you get the idea.

So this is what I came up with so far.

I found the wooden sconce this past Wednesday at Hope Harbour {one of my favorite thrift stores} and I bought the pineapple candle at Prim and Proper {one of my favorite country stores} which also happens to only be a couple of miles from my house.

I also found this candle holder at Prim and Proper several months ago. It has traveled around the house a bit and for now has came to rest on the quilt shelf that I hung yesterday. But week after next it will change yet again when I start decorating  for Christmas. I've been in the mood to decorate since before Halloween but I thought people would think me a bit weird if I started that early.

So I've been keeping myself busy stitching away on things to use as pin keeps, ornaments,  pillows etc., etc.,

Today I spent quite a bit of time tea staining and baking some of my finished stitching.

Some I will keep but several of them are birthday gifts for  two of my good friends from CWF. I'll post pics of the finished projects later this week as well as some of other things I've moved around in the house and some other goodies I found last week at Hope Harbour.

 I'm off  for now to do some sewing while the mood is still with me. Thanks for stopping by.

Till next time,

Kimberly : )

Sweet 16!

 I hope everyone is having a great weekend. It has been a awesome and busy weekend here in NC.
Yesterday my baby girl turned 16. I can't believe how fast she is growing up.

As you can see she got a little cake in her face, lol. We spent the day cleaning and decorating. She had a small group of friends over for snacks, pizza, movies and a dance marathon on Wii that went on for several hours. They had a lot of fun challenging each other to dance offs. After exhausting themselves they settled down to watch scary movies. It wasn't a very large party, just a small group of friends getting together and having fun.

Today has been a lazy, relaxing day so I've had the chance to get out a couple of patterns from Primitive Bettys, Liberty Primitives and Simple Goods Stitched by Jennifer that I want to finish for gifts and for myself as well. I'll post pics once I get them tea stained and framed or sewn into pin keeps.

That's all for now, back to my stitching.

Till next time,

Kimberly: )

Happy Halloween!!

I hope everyone is having a safe and fun Halloween!!

Blessings,

Kimberly; )

Today was a blessed day!!

 I have been away from my blog for far too long. Many things have been going on and I was honestly undecided about whether I should continue my blog, and to be quite honest whether I had anything to share that anyone would be interested in reading about. But, much has been on my mind and heart lately and I believe that a blog is not only about decorating and treasure hunting {though these are great things} but about sharing every day life experiences. Since leaving CWF I have met some truly great people and experienced things both great and sad and I hope to share these things with all of you who care to follow.
 This lead me to why today was a blessed day..................................................
I get off work at the animal hospital at noon on Saturday's so today I stopped by Wal Mart for a bit of weekend food shopping, while in the check out line my friend Melissa sent me a text that Sherrie { Ms. Tallow Berries} from SC was at CWF. I immediately sent a reply txt OMW! {on my way}. She and her wonderful husband had just delivered bundles of Tallowberries to the store and She was in the back shopping. We hugged and had a great time talking. And it was through sharing some of my experiences at the animal hospital with her that I realized that I do in fact have much to share. She also sent me home with a beautiful bundle of  her Tallow Berries { thank you super big much Ms. Tallow Berries}! I so can't wait to display them! It's always a pleasure to see her. Linda from CWF and I hope to visit her booth soon.
 The store displays look great, leaving there always makes me want to go home and decorate. Melissa, Linda, Karen and Pam have done an awesome job getting things ready for the holidays. I also had the chance to see some old customers who have shopped there for years. It truly was a fun visit and a blessed day.
Till next time,
Kimberly ; )

Making changes

Change is good, right? That's what I've always heard and this has certainly been a summer full of change.
 Yesterday was my last day working at Carolina Window Fashions/Country Comes To Town, a family owned business. I have spent six wonderful years working there so as you can imagine it was a very difficult decision for me. What began as a visit to a shop I saw in a commercial in late 2003 later became a job just to make spending money in late 2004. What a journey. I had no idea what an impact the place, the customers,the vendors or the family would make on my life. 
 About three years ago my friend and then co-worker took a job at a local animal hospital and a while later I had the opportunity to also work there but said no. I don't think I was ready to leave my safety net but recently the opportunity arose again and I saw it as a sign. I prayed about it, discussed it with my husband and even shadowed there on two occasions. I loved it! It really seemed to be the right fit. So, tomorrow will be my first day at the vets office and I am both nervous and excited. One door has closed and a new one has opened for me.
 As you can imagine yesterday was hard. The owners daughter who is the manager and also happens to be my BFF {that's best friend forever, though she jokingly tells everyone it's big fat friend} {which she isn't} will still be there along with Karen, a truly wonderful woman {I wanna be like her when I grow up} and Linda {the owner} who keeps everyone in order. There were laughs and tears but at closing time I walked out the door with memories to last a lifetime.

Lucky for me CWF/CCTT is located just down the street from my new job so I'm sure I'll be stopping in on my lunch break from time to time to visit and do a bit of shopping.

Till next time,

Kimberly: )

Busy, busy Tuesday!

Today has been such a busy day! I'm always off on Tuesday's and it never seems to fail that there are more things to do than hours in the day.
 It started with a trip to Wal Mart to return a cabinet that was way too big for the space I thought it was perfect for and to pick up purple paint samples for Ashton's bedroom walls. She's changing to a comforter we found at JC Penny's online that's strips of purple, black and zebra print fabrics. She's also been cleaning a lot of things out and needed a storage shelf with cubbies which we had to go to Target for. Then we were off to Lowe's to look for magnetic door panel rods, no luck:(   I'm having a very hard time finding these, any ideas? Ash was hungry so we made a quick stop at Burger King then TJ Maxx & Marshall's { I can't come into town without visiting two of my favorite stores} Kirklands to look for a zebra print shoe holder that fits over the door, no luck there either:(

Once I got home I went through some of the pictures stored on my computer and thought I  would add some that I like.

 

I've always liked taking pictures of flowers.

Pictures of a jail at a fort near a beach in North Carolina.

A dragon fly on the meter box outside our house and one on a statue of a seal at the Aquarium at Fort Fisher in North Carolina. I never know what I'll take a picture of so my camera is always in my purse.

Well, I'm off to read up on a few of my favorite blogs and the laundry, vacuuming and housework is patiently waiting it's turn for my attention.

Till next time,

Kimberly: )

Back to school shopping and Pottery Barn

On Tuesday Ashton and I made the hour and a half trip to the Streets At Southpoint Mall in Durham, NC for a bit of back to school shopping. We did some of our shopping here at home but we don't have Abercrombie and Hollister here in Fayetteville. We had lunch and caught up a bit on how her summer in Italy went and hit the floor shopping! I visited all my favorite stores, Chico's, Cache, White House Black Market, Talbots but I behaved. I only browsed. Ashton found a lot of great sales at her two favorite stores, some were an additional 30% off. We got most of what she needed, all that's left is hair, shoes, supplies and we'll be done. After shopping inside the mall we headed to the shops outside.............

Laaaaaaa.............

I've always had to shop Pottery Barn online or by catalog so I was in Pottery Barn heaven. Ashton sat in that comfy leather chair and listened to her ipod while I meandered through the store making two trips around so as not to miss a thing. But again I was good, I didn't buy a thing. But once I have enough saved I know where our next sofa will come from. I love the idea of changing the look of a sofa just by changing the slipcover.

Then I found a new favorite store.............

I so luv, luv this store!!They have everything! Things for the kitchen, bedding, clothing! Ahhh, I wanted one of everything. But again, I was good. Although I did come home with these.............

Aren't they adorable? Seashell measuring spoons. I'm doing a bit of changing things around at our house and eventually I want more of a beachy theme. Colors that are soft and neutral and things that remind me of my favorite place, the beach.

Well, I'm off to get ready for work.

Till next time,

Kimberly: )

It's been a busy three weeks!

I can't believe how fast time goes by. Summer is almost over, it's almost time for school to start. It seems like only yesterday we were trying to get things in order for Ashton to go to Italy for the summer and I was dreading it so much. I kept myself busy and surprisingly the time passed quickly.

My grandmother came to visit for a couple of weeks so Ashton talked her dad into bringing her home a few weeks early so she could surprise her. The day she came home my grandmother asked when she was coming home and I said uh, I'm not sure but soon, so needless to say she was so happy to see her walk through the door that same day. We all shed happy tears, I took the Friday off and we did what girls do best, we shopped. The next day her dad picked her up and they drove to Florida to visit her sister for a few days then to Alabama to visit her great-grandmother then to Tennessee to visit her other grandparents. My grandmother and I left last Saturday for Tennessee, she loved visiting but she was ready to get back home and Ashton was waiting there with my dad to make the trip back home with me on Sunday.

The trip on Saturday started out as most do. Hit the interstate, a bit of traffic but not bad. Just cruising along looking at the beautiful scenery, making good time, should get there within seven hours. Not bad.

But as we got to the Smokey Mountains we ran into this. Traffic down to one lane but still not bad. But then.............

We ran into this. That's right, traffic came to a dead stop. Cars ahead as far as the eye can see.............

And cars behind as far as the eye can see. It took us two hours to drive ten miles. There were three rock slides on the mountain and the crews were hard at work cleaning them up. So what should have been a seven hour trip turned into a nine hour trip. But we still made it before dark. Once there we unloaded the car, visited with my dad a while then Ashton, my grandmother and me drove to My ex-inlaws for a quick visit {we still keep in touch} then we grabbed a quick bite to eat. By this time it was 9:30 p.m. but we still had to stop by Food City to grab a few things then back to my grandmothers to hang some new curtains, sconce and flower arrangement in her bathroom. Whew, by this time it was past midnight and Ashton and I were tired so finally after 1 a.m. we crashed only to get up early the next morning to start the seven hour trip back home.

Since Ashton has her permit she drove the first two hours and we stopped at the rest area at the top of the mountain where we walked around a bit and took pictures.

We walked down to the scenic area to take pictures.

Then it was back on the road. Thankfully this trip was uneventful and though we made several stops for food and gas we made it home safe and sound within seven hours where we were greeted at the door by a very excited Baby and Harley.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Till next time,

Kimberly: )

Back from grandma's house

It always amazes me how fast a vacation can fly by. We had an amazing time at the beach, our first alone time in almost a year and we had a lot of fun visiting my family in Tennessee.

It started with a long road trip through the Smokey Mountains.

There a two tunnels that go through the mountains. Why do people always honk their horns when driving through the tunnels?

It only took us seven hours to get to Philadelphia Tennessee and we made five stops along the way, one was a stop at Starbucks of course. There's nothing better than raspberry swirl pound cake and a hazelnut latte, yummy: ).

Tish and Dan arrived Thursday afternoon to surprise my grandmother. She was so happy to see them she almost cried. On Friday {her 87th birthday} Tish, Dan, my dad & stepmother and Christopher and myself took her to Cracker Barrel for an early dinner. I told the waiter it was her birthday so the staff brought her cake & ice cream and sang happy birthday, she thought that was awesome.

On our way back from dinner we took the bridge across the Tennessee river

We stopped in Loudon to browse through Annabell's Emporium. It's filled with antiques, soaps, lotions, teas and so much more. I'm lucky to have a husband who loves antiquing as much as I do.

On the way back to my grandmother's house we drove up a narrow road to the top of a hill and what a view!

Once back at the house Christopher and I took a walk to the church behind my grandmother's house.

We sat on the steps to watch the sunset.

My grandmother Madge, Tish and me.

Our six month old granddog Sasha.

She is a Chiuaua/Pomeranian mix and so full of energy and so loving. And did I mention she's very spoiled?

We didn't get a chance to visit the Museum of Appalachia. It was way too hot with the heat index the temps felt like 105! We all hope to meet again in the fall to visit the museum and hopefully make the trip to Cades Cove. 

I hope you enjoyed the pictures, thanks for stopping by.

Till next time,

Kimberly: )