Holiday Gathering Success

Well after 4 1/2 years of saying "I should have a party," I finally had my first Holiday Gathering, and I must say it was a smash. The day was filled with family, friends and great food and let's not forget the "Guess How Many Snowmen on Display" contest. Everyone did such a wonderful job in counting the snowmen and entering their guesses. My friend, Roxie, was the winner with her guess of 500, actually count was 494 Snowmen on display. I have included some photos for you all to see, they don't capture all 494 Snowmen, but I think you will get the picture.

Here is the kitchen:

I must show the table of goodies, half gone at the time of this photo.

Who else would have a bookcase of snowmen?

now onto the living room:

master bedroom:

the guest room:

and my Jim Shore collection...just so cute

and a great big thanks to my very special "guest" guests, Liam and Caleb.

Here is Liam with his mommy Whitney, enjoying a nice rest on the couch.

Here is Caleb with his Daddy Jed. I think Caleb had just finished with his count and was taking a break at the goodie table.

and Liam after counting all the snowmen, all great counters deserve a nap.

Thanks to all my family and friends who made my first Holiday Gathering a great success! A great BIG thanks to Rick for all the help! Thanks to Linda for the help on the cooking and to Jenni for the last minute help. Without you guys the party would not have been a success.

Soon the snowmen will be packed up, waiting until next year, when there will be another "Guess How Many Snowmen are on Display" contest. Could be more, could be less, no one will know until the guess.

oh, I almost forgot...

the lighted snowman toilet seat cover!

Beautiful Sunset

Rick and I were able to get away on a mini-mini vacation and travel to Wilmington, NC. We arrived just in time to view this wonderful sunset on the Cape Fear River. We went out on the river front walk next to Elijah's restaurant in the Chandler's Wharf. Elijah's came with a great recommendation from a friend, unfortunately we were unable to eat there.

Late night snow

This is what the snow falling looked like when I got off work. Pretty.

It's Snowing...

...for a little while

My Newest Favorite Thing

Wax Melts

My friend, Melanie, surprised me with a gift of wax melts from AC Moore and now these are my newest favorite things. I couldn't wait to open the "Newly Fallen Snow" wax melt and get to melting it, the smell is wonderful, so wonderful that I even broke out my-never-been-used snowman tea light candle holder and placed some of the wax melt in it. I have already gone through one of the packs, thanks goodness she gave me more; next on the melting list is "Gingerbread."

New Table for My Kitchen

Before...

(the nice blue office chair adds a nice office feel.)

After..

I am getting used to the taller height of the pub table and am looking for chair pads, but so far the table is working very nicely. I was even encouraged to bake cookies. Yes, me baking cookies, and I didn't even burn them (I did have the help of a friend, thanks Linda for the help). Thanks to Rick for putting the table together for me.

Here's a photo for the proof:

Pictured are the flour-free Peanut Butter cookies I made, followed by a batch of Snicker-doodle Cookies (all cookies are gone).

Guest Room

For those of you who have been wondering if I would ever clean out my extra bedroom and make it into a guest room, well I finally did. I now have a nice guest room, with room for one.