Ho Ho Ho!

I had been worried that we were going to encounter some Santa anxiety with Miss A this Christmas. I mean, he is a big bearded fellow dressed in a red velvet suit that carries around a huge bag full of stuff and comes sneaking into your house in the middle of the night. You are then supposed to go sit on his lap, smile and talk to him. Most of the time toddlers end up screaming and trying to get away from him as fast as possible. All while the mom and dad are trying to document this wonderful occasion.

So, I purchased a bunch of Santa paraphernalia and we talk about the big guy all the time. Books, plates, socks, ornaments, stuffed Santa and even a metal garden stake..... we are on Santa overload at this house. She can now recognize Santa from a mile away. Every single time she sees a Santa, she greets him with a happy "ho ho ho!" I would say that I had been successful.

So successful that last night when we were at dinner Miss A thought that Santa had made an early visit to Dallas and was eating dinner at the table next to her. As soon as this gentleman and his family were seated, Miss A goes "oh, ho ho ho!!"

And I have to say, he did look an awful lot like Mr. Claus. So, if you are a big man with a white beard - beware..... My daughter will think you are Santa.

I hate carpet

Carpet is nasty.

There is no way around it.... you walk on it. You spill things on it. Animals pee on it. Toddlers do all sorts of things to it. It is full of dust and dirt. All sorts of stuff just seeps down into those fibers and lingers. And eventually it ends of looking like crap.

Our house is about half carpet. If it were up to me, we would rip that stuff out and replace it with polished concrete or something cool. I don't even want wood - too many things can mess up wood. Anyway, back to the disgusting carpet. Our master bedroom is carpeted as well as the entire upstairs.... including the bathroom - genius idea - right? I hate this carpet. It was brand new when we moved into the house 2 years ago, but I want it gone. I have horrible allergies and I don't even want to think about the amount of dust mites that are shacking up throughout my house.

The master bedroom is the baaad.... basically, Jake used our room as his puppy training area. I have tried zillions of cleaners and none of them really worked. So, the other day The Foundary had a Bissell sale. I snatched a Little Green Machine and it arrived on my front porch yesterday.

As soon as Miss A went down for her nap I went to town in that room.

I used ALL of the cleaning solution that came with the machine and that was not enough. I am pretty sure this is only supposed to be used to clean small areas, but I did the entire room. I won't go as far as to say that the carpet is as good as new, BUT it looks a heck of a lot better.

Want a glimpse as to what the crap looked like that came out of the carpet? Heck no will I show you what came out of MY carpet. But, I will show you a picture of someone elses nasty carpet water.

When you adopt a puppy or become a parent, you should automatically be given one of these. And, one of these just for good measure. I use our steam mop every couple of days and love it.

**I was NOT paid or compensated for this review.

Black Friday Purchase

**UPDATE - the seller sold this before I could get a chance to go look at it. But never fear, I found an equally as good piece at the Salvation Army. It is sitting in my garage, waiting for me to attack it with some sand paper and paint.***

Did you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving? We sure did. It seems like we did a tour of Texas in just a couple of days - hitting up almost all of the major cities - Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Houston....check!


And how about Black Friday? We have been wanting a new TV, so we decided that if we found a good deal on one we would get it for Christmas. Target had a great deal, so we went ahead and purchased it.... and the best part - we were able to do it online! Ordered it Friday evening and it showed up on our porch today. Fastest Target shipping I have ever experienced.


So, a new TV means a new stand. Our current TV is one of those massive monstrosities that stands on its own. A huge eyesore and I am so glad to be getting rid of it. (Live in Dallas and want a great deal on a TV - holla)


I did not want a traditional media stand, but something more along the lines of a dresser. We could always use some extra storage, plus this TV is going along a huge wall and the wall can handle a large piece of furniture. I scoured Craigslist for some cheap treasures and I found this:

What do you think? I am going to check it out on Friday - hopefully it looks good in person. I was planning on refinishing whatever I purchased, but the black would also work.

The only thing that makes me nervous about the purchase is that all weekend long I kept seeing previews for the Craigslist Killer movie. If you don't hear from me Friday afternoon, call the authorities.

Code Blue!

This morning I dropped Miss A off at preschool and then headed to the hospital for some pre-op blood work. If you follow me on Twitter, you already know this, but I am having to have my gall bladder removed. Sounds like fun - huh? Anyway, I had to get some some pretty specific blood tests run, which resulted in 10 vials of blood. Yes - 10!

All 10 vials were drawn and that it when it started to go downhill....I started to feel a little hot and sweaty, I asked the lab tech for some juice or water and by the time she got it for me it was too late.

I had closed my eyes, rested my head on the wall behind me, and then.... bam! Next thing I know, there is a code blue being called and I am being transferred to a stretcher. I remember not being able to catch my breath or open my eyes, each limb felt like it weighed 100 pounds, I was covered in sweat, I heard ringing in my ears and when I was able to open my eyes, all I could see were black spots. I felt like I could not take a good breath, which resulted in the cardiac resuscitation team being called there.

There are doctors and nurses everywhere. I can hear everything and know what is going on, but it is like I am in a fog and cannot really move or talk. Such an odd sensation.

They wheel me down the hall and into a room... They immediately lowered my head, started an IV of electrolyte fluids, hooked me up to an EEG, strapped a blood pressure cuff on me, attached a pulse ox sensor to my finger and covered my face and neck with cold rags.

It was not too long before I started to feel better.... and when I opened my eyes I was greeted by at least a DOZEN doctors and nurses. I gave them my history and they come to the conclusion that I had experienced a vasovagal syncope episode.

I was given a bag of fluids and observed for about an hour and half and then I was discharged. Not exactly how I had planned to spend my morning.... I have a friend that is a pharmacist at this particular hospital, so she was able to come check in on me and chat for a minute.

I have passed out before during medical procedures, but never to this extent. From now on I am supposed to have blood drawn while lying on my back and I should give them a warning before hand.

I tried to get one of the nurses to take a picture of me, but she said it was against hospital policy. So, here are some lovely self portraits I took. :)

Faux Bois Wallpaper

I have mentioned before how I want to redo our half bath. It is a perfectly fine half bath, but it is covered in dark red wallpaper.... and I am not a dark red wallpaper kind of person.

At first, I wanted to cover the existing wallpaper in grasscloth wallpaper.... but then I started reading and it is recommended that you not use grasscloth in bathrooms.

Ok, onto idea 2. I thought about installing bead board on the bottom half of the walls, then grass cloth wallpaper on the top half. I am sure this would look great, but I want something else.

Idea 3 - Paintable wallpaper!

I found this great Martha Stewart faux bois paintable wallpaper and I think it will be perfect for the space.

I want to paint it a light grey.... Now, if I could just decide on the right shade of light grey.

Now I ask: Have you ever used paintable wallpaper? And, have you ever painted anything light grey? If so, start talking!

Photos from Home Depot and Restoration Hardware.

My Collection

Do you collect anything?

I have been collecting turquoise glass for the past couple of years and have it displayed throughout our house. I have a variety of pieces and have purchased them all over - anywhere from design shops in Sweden to antique stores to Pottery Barn. I love having a collection that I can continually add to - no matter where I travel or shop.

Here is a peek into my collection.....

Christmas Cards

I do this every year.... think I should be crafty and Martha-esque with our Christmas cards. I make one too many trips to the craft store, spend way more than I thought I would spend and the entire project takes entirely too long. I always end up saying "next year, I am just going to order our cards." Yet, when the next November rolls around I fall back into my old habits.

BUT, not this November. I have finally learned! This year, I will be ordering our Christmas cards from Shutterfly. And I might even get extra fancy and order the coordinating address labels.

I should also say that I am super picky when it comes to our Christmas cards. I want the design of the card to match the look and feel of the picture and I want it to not be too cheesy or trendy. Or one that everyone else might have. And, I don't want our card to be the one that ends up on the bottom of the pile. Heck, I am sending you a picture with a super cute toddler - keep the card on the top! Lucky for me, Shutterfly has about a zillion choices for me to pick from.

I have yet to decide which family picture we are going to use, but I am pretty sure I will be ordering one of the designs below.

Aren't they nice?

As much as I already love Shutterfly, they sweetened the deal by giving me 50 free cards for this post. And since our Christmas card list has more than 50 people on it, I will be ordering even more cards from Shutterfly. Are you a blogger? Would you like to get some free holiday cards or invitations? Just go here.

Sneak Peak

We had our family pictures taken a couple weeks ago with the wonderfully talented Erin Woolsey. I just got a little sneak peak of the pictures today and I AM IN LOVE!

Head over to the Baby M blog to see more.....

(Want an invite to the Baby M blog? Just let me know.....)