Still Snowed In

With all the snow keeping us from getting out of our neighborhood by car, we went for a walk. It was about 20 degrees outside, but the sun was brilliant. It was truly a beautiful day! Of course, that's because I LOVE snow and cold weather. I would be thrilled if it stayed like this for 3 months--as long as they cleared the streets so we could get out for supplies, lol.

More Winter Weather

We woke up to more snow this morning. It's surprising because we didn't get more than a few flurries last winter, or the winter before, I think. I love snow, so I was thrilled. Kelly, not so much. He thinks the next Ice Age has arrived when it drops below 70. And of course, this meant he couldn't go in to the office, or more importantly, to Starbucks. Because we know that's what's really important!

Sushi and Birds

Up until this past year or so, there is no way on earth I would have eaten sushi. Now I love it! I usually pick some up at Publix when I do my grocery shopping, and have it for lunch.

This evening, when I went outside to feed the cats, I noticed hundreds of these turkey vultures migrating through our land. They would fly in shifts, slowing making their way through the woods, stopping every so often in the trees. It was bizarre to watch.

More Assembly Required

Spent the day putting together more storage cubes for the new office...

More Decorating Progress

One of these days, I might actually be finished! But this morning I picked up my new desk and bookcase from ModerNash, a great little company that takes orders for Ikea goods and runs down to Atlanta and brings them back. It sucks that the closest Ikea is in Atlanta, but nice that I can still things without paying Ikea's outrageous shipping costs. And even get things that Ikea won't ship. The shipping on this bookcase on desk through Ikea was almost twice the price of the actual items! The guys at ModerNash did it for a third of that.

These are the first items I have purchased from Ikea, and I was very pleased at how easily it all assembled. Often when buying furniture that needs assembly, you find that things don't always line up just right and you have to improvise or force things. That was not the case with Ikea.

I love my new furniture!

Cat Napping

This is Woofey's spot in the evenings--between me and Kelly on the couch, usually snuggled up to his daddy. Mama can't sit still enough for him and he gets annoyed.

Fog

Look at this fog! It's unusual for us to get this much fog at our house because we are up on a ridge.

The Bruise Lingers

A week later, and I still have this nasty bruise...

More Progress on the Office Renovations

A little more progress has been made on the office renovations. Kelly got the woodwork at the ceiling and around the windows and the baseboards done. I got the curtains hung. I LOVE my curtains. In fact, I kind of based the whole room on the curtains. I was inspired by my friend Carrie's Blog Entry.

I wanted that green velvet settee, too, but it wouldn't fit in the room!

Woofey Helps Daddy

Woofey likes to help his daddy surf the interwebs...

Clean

I think this is the cleanest my dining room has been in weeks!

Wordless Wednesday

What Friends Will Do...

OK, so I mentioned that adorable zebra chair Rebekah bought yesterday, right? Well, she actually purchased the floor sample from the show, so she couldn't take it home with her until the show closed. And she was stuck in meetings all day. So I told her I would go pick it up for her. I had some other places to go before that, and was wearing a long skirt and high-heeled boots. Not a good choice for walking through the tradeshow and carrying out a freaking chair, right? Just as I got outside onto the sidewalk, I tripped and fell! Not only did I have some nasty bruises on my ribs from falling against the chair, but I skinned up my knees really bad. I had blood running down my leg and some gravel stuck in my knee. And would you believe that a group of guys just stood there and didn't offer to help me up or anything?

Fortunately, a man and his wife, both photographers from Indiana, stopped and not only helped me up, but offered me a ride to my car, which was quite a distance away. They loaded up the chair in the back of their van for me even. I really wish I could remember their names so I could send them a thank you note for their kindness. But I was embarrassed and in pain, and my memory for names isn't that great under the best of circumstances. So whoever you are, THANK YOU!

When I go to my car, I had a first aid kit and was able to disinfect and bandage the knees. This was taken later in the day.

I just hope that Rebekah lets me borrow that blasted chair one day!

Imaging USA, Day 2

Rebekah and I returned to Imaging USA again today, meeting Katie there. Rebekah found a Zebra print child's chair that she just fell in love with and bought. I wish I had taken a photo of it--it's adorable!

Imaging USA!

I attended my first Imaging USA tradeshow today. This is part of Professional Photographers of America's annual conference. It's held in a different city each year, and this year was Nashville! There were hundreds of vendors there, from labs, to props, to packaging, to frames... so much to see. Not to mention the amazing photographic works entered into competition! Gosh there are a lot of talented photographers out there!

I wasn't sure until this morning that I would be able to make it, what with the snow we had a few days ago. Our area still has some sticking around, since we have so many trees keeping the sun out. But fortunately, the roads were clear enough for me to get out. I met Rebekah at her house, and we drove over to Opryland together. We enjoyed it, but were so tired by the time we left.

A Winter Day

Took advantage of being snowbound to work on my office renovations some more. I LOVE this beautiful Apple Green paint I chose. There's still so much work to be done. I put together all these cubes today, then had some delicious Peppermint Hot Chocolate.

Winter Weather

See what I mean? We don't go anywhere when it snows out here. Check out those icy hills! The tracks were made by some ATV's--that's the only way in and out in this weather.

First Snow of 2010

Well, the kiddo has gone back to Hawaii. We actually had to take her to the Marriott near the airport last night, because we knew with the weather forecast of snow and ice, we wouldn't be able to drive out of our neighborhood this morning. I felt awful leaving her at a hotel alone her last night in town, but she couldn't afford to miss that flight early this morning. Classes start on Monday, and she has to work this weekend. She wasn't upset about it, but I was! She only gets to come home for a couple weeks a year now, so I treasure every day of her time here.

But the weather forecast was right, we did get snow, and we couldn't get out of our neighborhood. And you can see here that Woofey was not at all pleased with this turn of events. He's definitely not fond of snow. No matter how pretty he looks in it.

Parrish

Whenever Parrish makes it home from Hawaii, I have to update her portraits. She has always been my favorite model--she's willing to do just about anything I can think up!

New Centerpeice for My Dining Room

Went to Michaels today and silk flowers, a vase, and the stuff to put together this Cherry Blossom arrangement. I'm not real good with flower arrangements, but I was pleased with how this one turned out.

Rummikub

I love playing board games, but my darling husband doesn't. So when my kiddo comes home from college for visits, we play our favorite game--Rummikub. It's kind of like Gin Rummy, but with tiles instead of cards. You have to create sets of the same number in different colors, or runs of sequential numbers in the same color. First one to get rid of all their tiles wins. And Parrish has mad Rummikub skillz, let me tell you. She is hard to beat. While she was home on this trip, we spent hours playing this game. I think I beat her maybe 6 times to her 2 dozen wins!

It's A Brand New Year

And I have decided that keeping up with both a personal and a professional blog is just not working for me. So I am combining the two here, and see if this works better for me.

So to start the new year, Kelly made breakfast for us this morning. Scrambled eggs with bell peppers & onions, and bacon and toast. Yummy!

Then we (and by we, I mean Kelly) installed the new TV he gave me for Christmas. This was a huge project that required cutting into the drywall to check for stud locations and make adjustments as necessary. Now I have my 47" LCD on a bracket the swivels and tilts, so you can view it from anywhere in the room! I love my new TV. Thanks, honey!