the hostess with the mostest

with the holidays fast approaching, i always like to have some of those "under $30" gifts on hand, for last minute get together hostess gifts, co-worker gifts, secret santa swaps, etc. here are some of my fave pics for this year's small gift giving. all of these are less than $30 and most all of them can all be bought online. many companies and website will offer free shipping starting next friday as part of the black friday sales, so take advantage! (and if you're like me, you'll probably won't be able to control yourself and will buy some of these for yourself as well!)


1. this gorge fossil cutting board with cheese slicer from crate and barrel. this can be chilled for serving fruits, cheeses, even sushi. perfect for the entertaining gal. cost: $24.95

2. oh, how i love me some etsy! i can always find things on here--some practical, some not so much (see # 16) but how cute is this little leather debit card holder? especially great for the team jacob'ers out there, with its adorable little wolf stamp on it! you can find this under etsy seller bonspiel creations for just $12.

3. love this little brewing mug from polish pottery. great for tea time! cost: $29.95 and boy do polish mugs ever keep the bev's good and hot.

4. my favorite cd as of late...great background music for parties or for driving down the road. this boy is one of my faves (as most of you already know...i'm borderline obsessed.) cost: $12.99 at target.

5. jaw droppingly beautiful crystal winestoppers are just one of those things you just don't buy for yourself, at least i don't! so i'm always happy to get these as gifts. these are a steal at $19 from pottery barn.

6. for the starbucks aficionado, how about a frother for at-home lattes? found this aerolatte on crate and barrel for just $19.95.

7. and while we're on coffee, check out these adorable coffee koozies that velcro around your hot drink! (plus, they are "greener" than the cardboard ones you get everytime at starbucks.) these are on etsy, under seller name notapotato for $8 a pop. AND they're reversible!

7. for the man of the house, this is a good one at just $29.95 at brookstone.

8. this one's just a classic and a must-have for anyone who actually enjoys spending time in the kitchen, like yours truly here.

...and you could even throw in a copy of the new dvd, julie and julia.

i haven't seen it yet, so can't really give my two cents worth, but it sure would be cute tied to the top of this cookbook, found at amazon for $10.17. dvd is $9.99 at amazon as well.

9. bargain hunters, unite! i have one of these ikea farm vases in our bedroom and it is a great piece for any room of the house. only $9.99.

10. i'm a sucker for leather. i'm also a sucker for blank pages. there's just something about an empty journal with lines just waiting to be filled up. these on jennibick.com are just lovely. cost: $25

11. we southerners are cuh-ray-zee about monogramming. it's on our bags, it's on our feather lined coozies at football games, it's even on some people's cars. how beautiful is this personalizable, silver plated julep cup from pottery barn? it could be used as a vase, as a pretty container for tea spoons or drink stirrers, even a toothbrush holder. $24 with free shipping.

12. we love these ice cream balls. great for campers or kids! you literally just shake it to make it. :-) $29.27 at amazon.

13. i found these neat wooden musical fruits on west elm's website and think the apple, especially, would make a great gift for teachers. it plays "what a wonderful world." "awwwww!"-worthy! $29.95

14. these are my favorite handmade soaps, and lucky me, they are made locally. the folks at thistle ridge are most always at our local craftshows and festivals, so i am always able to stock up on my favorites, like the patchouli and twin mint. but if you aren't fortunate to live in the beautiful palmetto state, you can buy them online. $5 each

14. oh, anthropologie! why must i love every little thing you sell? everything freakin' thing!!! i'm lovin' this pretty sweater candle for $20.

15. a must-see movie for your favorite gal pal with many laugh out loud moments. $14.99 at wal-mart.

16. the absolute, most perfect funny gift. a real conversation piece when you pull these out of the bag. i'll just let the pic do the talking on this lovely set of breast pillows from etsy seller VulvaLoveLovely. Yes, these are $5 over my $30 budget, BUT 15% of the proceeds go to the Susan G. Komen foundation.

17. fun times ahead with this cool table topics conversation starters from Z gallerie. they come perfectly packaged in a cute, clear box with questions like "what was your most embarrassing moment?" and "what is your favorite line from a movie?" $24.95

18. i dig this rattan chip and dip set from pier 1 so much that i already own one. $25

19. how fun would this be to have this at a party? i love this vintage tattoo set at restoration hardware. a bucket of fun for only $12!

20. and last but not least...perhaps the most meaningful gifts i've ever received are handwritten letters. it's actually my favorite thing to get. in the world of text messaging, twitter, and e-mail, it is nice to get something on paper, handwritten and from the heart. write a letter to your friend, your child, your spouse, your parents, etc. on nice paper (use your bestest handwriting!) Then roll it up and tie it with a piece of yarn or pretty ribbon. cost: free. but mark my words, it'll be priceless to them....

martha moments: oreo truffles

have you had oreo truffles yet? these are oh-my-gosh good! perfect for house parties or tailgating and super easy. everyone will love 'em!

You'll need:

1 pkg. (1 lb. 2 oz.) OREO Cookies, finely crushed, divided

1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened

2 pkg. (8 squares each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted

MIX 3 cups of the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls.

DIP balls in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. (Any leftover melted chocolate can be stored in tightly covered container at room temperature and saved for another use.) Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.

REFRIGERATE 1 hour or until firm. Store any leftover truffles in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

photo courtesy of cinnybear

reasons why i love the south

...people like this our local 11:00 news:



i just had to record that and post because is she not just precious?

as we say here, bless her heart!

goodbye, fall!

the rain these past couple of days has taken with it the last of the beautiful fall leaves that were left just barely clinging to the arms of the trees. here's a few pics from my sunday drive...what a perfect autumn day in the south.

rug placement?

we just revamped the master bedroom (nothing major, just new ceiling fan, hardwood floors, cool new eurosham pillows, etc.). and one of the new additions to the room is this new awesome sisal rug:


so, any of you with a decorating sense out there---i need your help and opinions. what is the best way to place an area rug in the bedroom? do you put the whole bed on it?

do you center it in the room?

photo courtesy of karen sesler design

or do you put half of the bed on it?

is there a "right" way?
...or should you even put a rug at all?

anyone out there in blogville care to share with me your opinion? (pretty please?)

sweet coincidence

two weeks ago, i wrote this post on the blog and used the verse from psalms, "I will lift up mine eyes unto these hills..."

today, i sat with my sweet grandmama looking through old photos and found this one. these are my great grandparents, george and nelle. they were vacationing at one of their friend's homes in highlands, nc just weeks before he passed away.

read the sign above them.

i heart pumpkins

one of my favorite things about fall...pumpkins. last year I was all about my polka dotted pumpkins...this year, i think it's going to be all about painted silhouettes. i started with this cool crow. i found the idea for the picture online and just free-handed it.


then i added an old CZ stud for his eye and some small ones as accents around the words. NOTE: i PROMISE they're CZ's people...please don't come find my house and steal my punkin' cause you think you're getting real diamonds! you'll be sadly disappointed!

here's a closer up:


i'm going to try to do about 3 more, but have to go get more pumpkins first.

while we're on pumpkins, i made a batch of my favorite fall pumpkin muffins this morning. SO easy.

Easiest Pumpkin Muffins Ever... EVER.

1 15 oz can of pumpkin
1 box spice cake mix

Mix all ingredients (all TWO!) well . Pour into greased muffin tin and bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Dust with granulated or powdered sugar if you like.

psalm 121

"I will lift up mine eyes unto these hills..." ~Psalms 121

a snapshot of saturday's sunset over the mountains--the colors were like cotton candy and the mountains were indigo blue.

storm's a brewin'

you know the saying "it's the calm before the storm?" well, that's what i've felt like this whole past week. as many of you know, the busy season for my job kicks into high gear oct-dec and i'm pretty much balls to the wall--surviving on hot pockets and living out of my car. this year it seems like it's been the so-called "busy season" all year long, which don't get me wrong---it's great to have a job (especially one that i love) and it's really great to have lots of business. but it comes with sacrifices, the biggest being very little time with family and friends.

so i'm formally issuing a pre-apology now to all of my friends and relatives who follow the blog.

it's highly unlikely that i'll be able to talk on the phone for long periods of time until after New Year's. sorry.

the whooshing you'll hear in the background is me burning up the highway, trying to multi-task on speaker phone. sorry.

no, i probably won't be able to meet up for dinner or go out and see a movie* sorry.

yes, i'll likely be staring off into the mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving, but just bear with me. i'm worn slap out. sorry.

yes, all of your Christmas presents will be in gift bags because i admit whole-heartedly that i don't have time for fancy wrappin'. sorry.

yes, i understand that when you say, "are you okay? you look tired!" it translates to "girl, get your act together and brush your hair! you look like crap!" sorry.

i suppose i should stop writing the blog and go make about 70 casseroles to freeze so that jeff won't go hungry. on second thought, nah...he can eat hot pockets, too. sorry, sweetie!

so here's to this year's calm before the storm--may it pass quickly!

*exception: new moon, of course!

it's raining, it's pouring

what a great, lazy day! yes, it poured rain all night long and all day today, but it was just a great, do-nothin'-and-not-feel-guilty-'bout-it day around our house. we slept in late and did near nothing. i'm not exaggerating, people. here's the breakdown:

here's where i spent the majority (ok, ALL) of my day, watching superbad, fast times at ridgemont high, football, and then did a crossword or two...(doesn't it look cozy?!)


the only time i even went outside was to take out the dogs, and poor maggie hated it!


i kept the coffee pot on all day! i had some great new beans i bought and my favorite elvis mug, so i was quite content.


i did get around to taking a shower (no photo documentary of that, sorry folks!) and jeff eventually migrated from the bed to the couch to watch (surprise!) more tv.


i did manage to make a good Sunday dinner, although the crockpot did the majority of the work.

and so now it's still steadily raining outside and my plans are to now crawl right back under the covers and snuggle up with edward cullen. i (*gasp*) still haven't finished the twilight series. i have eclipse and breaking dawn to go. so i figure i may as well get going on that now since i feel like i'm living in Forks anyway...