Top 5 Reasons I couldn't Blog this Past Month

Wow...I felt so loved to have people email and ask if I was OK after not posting in so long :)

Life has been so busy....

Instead of trying to remember all the details of the last month (wow, has it been that long) and make a new post for each event, you will get a Top 5 list... (warning... this will be one picture heavy post)

5.) Hosted my First Thanksgiving
Highlights: Yes folks, Madeline the "non cooker" finally has left the building! Geoff and I were lucky to host our friends Laura and Jared. Jared's 3 sisters also came from Washington, add a couple of neighbors and 1 mother and you have dinner for 10 people! It was a smashing success and the turkey was so tender.

Lowlights: Realizing our table could not seat 10 people and having to buy a table for 10 the day before Thanksgiving. (And when I have time, I need to devout a post to my beautiful table. I LOVE IT) Having to buy 2 more china settings...and they ended up sending the WRONG ONES. Having to rush deliver the new ones that arrived...all together now....the day before Thanksgiving.

Stress factor: I thought I was going to be a wreck. I actually was stress free!!!(helped that I made bought a turkey the week before and practiced my "technique" on it...hahaha) It was fun to cook while others toured Savannah (and I had an awesome helper, Laura). And when the worst was over (the turkey of course), I was able to take a shower while everyone else helped with the side dishes. I would totally host again!

Married almost 3 years and it's the 1st time we used all of our China

Right before the big meal

Our group at dessert

My first Bell and Evans Turkey...if it's good enough for the White House for the past 50 + years...it's good enough for us.  (For a girl who HATES touching raw meat, I had to call Fresh Market and ask for the most organic "happy" turkey, who played on a farm and was fed a wonderful diet and had a good life. When I had to put all the herbs inside of it...I had to give my myslef a pep talk, thanking the turkey for it's sacrifice. And I wore gloves.  ) 

4.)  Madonna in Atlanta

When, my friend Brianne told me that Madonna was coming to Atlanta and if we wanted to get tickets...well I was in HEAVEN. We bought them way back in the summer. And finally the Monday before Thanksgiving, Brianne and I drove to Hotlanta (which was actually cold and rainy) in a record 3 hours (thank you very much) and stayed at a quirky/cute hotel in downtown. We took the Marta to Philips Area and were pretty happy with our seats. (Floor seats were a HECK of a alot more). We saw everything and didn't have tall people in our way! These pictures from my cellphone do not even show justice to how much we could see. And I can't upload the video for the life of me :(

Highlights: MADONNA MADONNA MADONNA. It was an AWESOME concert!! And the DJ that plays before the show starts was fabulous!

Lowlights: Madonna being an hour and a half late to start. Taking FOREVER to get out of the arena and missing the first Marta back to the hotel.

Seats were not too shabby

Our funky hotel (Indigo, near Fox Theater)

Trust me....somewhere on that stage is Madonna...darn cell phone!

3.) More Home Improments from Hell: 

There is not enough hatred I hold for this object...

That my friends, is the water heater from hell in my 1/2 basement (it's TINY and the ac/furnace takes up most of it). And yes, I am one of the few older homes in Savannah to have a basement because we are almost at sea level and flooding is a problem. Thank goodness we don't have that problem!!

Well this MONSTER of a water heater is at least....wait for it....50 years old and STILL FUNCTIONING!! The last year we could find it was made was 1962. Can you imagine all the sediment that was been accumulating in that thing???!!! GROSS!

Highlight: Getting a tank less water water system. Using gas now instead electricity!! (Yup, that huge thing was electric and was constantly on to keep it hot)

Lowlight: Finding out the steps in the basement were put in AFTER the water heater was put in. 4 men not being able to move it AT ALL, even after taking out water for 3 hours. Having to saw that sucker in 1/2 and see all the sediment that had been causing our hard water...EWWWW!

And it's gone folks!!!  (That's were it used to sit...I can now store stuff under the stairs.  And after it was moved...everything was painted, cleaned and organized...that post is for another time)

2.) Parties Parties Parties: 

 I swear people in Savannah love parties! Every weekend since before Thanksgiving we have had at least 1 if not 2 events to go too. This past month I had my first "real" super fancy pants party!  (I have been to a lot of really nice, fancy parties. But this one was over the top) It was at one of the beautiful mansions (it's now a museum) on the squares downtown.  I felt like we were in a chapter out of  Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.  You read about these parties all the time...never thought I'd go to one.  I loved getting all dressed up:) 

Found this fun top and great shoes at Black Market White House.

Highlight: Open bar...haha.  Just being invited!  Oooo...and we later found out that a certain politicial running for GA govner was there too (and a bunch of big wigs in the Savannah political scence). 

Lowlight:  We were the youngest people there HANDSDOWN (So happy our neighboors were there too).  Not too much to talk about with the old Savannah money in the room :)

Champion-McAlpin-Fowlkes House

1.) Decorating the House for Christmas (add sending out Christmas cards/wrapping gifts and shipping them as part of the work...no pictures of that...haha)

Wayyyy to much to do. Last year out landscaping was completely different than this years. All the lights we bought last year were the nets for the huge bushes we had. Couldn't use them for tiny new ones! It was alot of work but I think the outside looks great! Why would it take up so much time? You'll see when I post the outside pictures tonight.

Highlights: Well....here they are (and I am sorry for the crummy pictures...I got a new point and shoot camera to take out when I don't want to take the SLR out...the trade off is picture quality).

 

The foyer...gold was the theme at our house.

My first bow! I was so proud...and then I was really over it after making 10 of them.

A really bad picture of the tree.  We still used the shell theme from last year...but added gold in the tree.  And I moved all the furniture to put the tree in the bay window.  Please excuse the scattered pillows and chairs.  The evil eyes in the background are the reason why!!

                                       I used my machine to embroider all our names on our stockings

Our mini tree that has our special ornaments that we get from travels and milestones (engagement, first house, wedding, pups etc)

Even the kitchen gets some fun decorating :)

Lowlights: Attaching string of light after light...to find out that the outlets were not going to fit.  Making huge bows for 8 wreaths and 2 trees.  Trying to coordinate 3 timers to work....let alone go on around the same time!