{Not} Living Vicariously

United Way Putt Putt

We are in the midst of our 2013 (no that is not a typo - we really are working on 2013) United Way Campaign at work. As an ambassador, one of my duties is to bring awareness to others of a UW agency and increase enthusiasm for donating to UW. Today was our big activity in which departments signed up to create golf holes in honor of a particular agency. Due to the nature of our job, we chose Friends of TN Libraries as our agency and create a hole with items we could donate to one of the libraries in our state who suffered quite a bit of damage recently during one of our tornados. Not only did we create a golf hole for the event, we decided we would be the "nineteenth hole" and added a tiki bar for effect. Complete with margarita machine (serving frozen lemonade) we were definitely a hit throughout the company. In the interest of preserving some anonymity, I have chosen to only include pictures here with no people. However, a great time was had by all.

Needing a theme, we decided to focus on the time of year and include "beach reading" as well as "summer reading" for our decor.

As you might be able to tell, we used the shape of a question mark, after all who best answers your questions? the library!

Talk about creative - the husband of a co-worker created a page lined ramp for our ball to roll up before going down the hole in front of our "library" birdhouse.

At the end, we had a murder on the beach with a towel provided by a publisher. Surrounded by other beachy items, we had beach reads down pat.

Our sand trap was a work of art, created by sandpaper so as to ensure easy cleanup.

Non-story hour took place in this corner. Yup, we made it happy hour instead!

The tiki bar was the place to be, especially as it reminded everyone of our agency of choice: Friends of TN Libraries.

See the margarita machine at the tiki bar? It was kept busy serving that frozen (lemonade) concocation - why yes, I am a Jimmy Buffet fan ;-). Also being served was "overdue blues" a lovely (non) alcholic mix of blue raspberry mixer with Sierra Mist.

While I was the ambassador and nominally in charge of this activity, my committee totally ran with the idea and created an amazing hole. Not biased at all, I do think we had the best golf hole in the activity and it is all due to their extremely creative minds. The only thing I can take credit for? Is getting the right people on the committee, and even that was completely volunteer so really I take no credit at all. I work with some amazing folks!

Garden Vignettes

Even though I've been sick with allergies, life has gone on without me, especially in our garden.

First, our peas are blossoming which should mean good things are in the future!

Next, our raspberry vines are also blossoming. We weren't even sure they would take so this is exciting news.

And our fruit trees? The ones we planted only about 18 months ago and were tiny sticks when they came? Well one of them actually fruited this year. The peaches on there weren't edible yet, but maybe next year they will be!

Last. Remember those crazy birds? Well, I snuck a peek and we have eggs!

What a strange week it has been.

Using my fine china . . . cabinet

One of the things my mother helped me with while they were visiting was pulling out all my fine china, and placing it in the easy to get to and use china cabinet I inherited from her quite early.

I do have three different patterns in here: the one we registered for, my parents' as they no longer use it, and my Grandmother's (or what is left of it). I never met her, but it is nice to get to use her china. And speaking of using the china, not only has it been used at Thanksgiving and Tea Parties, it also sometimes gets used in the everyday, such as when Ryan made Chicken Tikka Masala the last time he visited.

I really enjoy getting to use my china whenever I want.

February 11th Tea Party

As mentioned several times over on 2HB I helped out with a tea party at my church last month. While I blogged about the tasty food we made here, here, and here, I have not yet shared any photos of the event. Time to remedy that! Keep in mind that I am not a decorator. All of the beauty you see below was created by other talented woman. I just got to enjoy the fun and festive setting.

I was amazed at some of the collectibles brought out by women just for the purpose of creating a lovely setting . . .

Our tables had centerpieces made of flower arrangements in tea cup/saucers that were door prizes. Those were surrounded by netting in a variety of colors . . .

which we also used in the mix of napkins at each place setting. Our "silverware" was actually silver plastic which made for easy cleanup. All of the cups and saucers, as well as the tea pots/sugars/creamers were on loan. The most amazing piece of decoration were the party favors of those little hats of which I wish I had a better picture. Directions are here for something similar. However we did not paint ours!

Even though there were no children at our event, we felt the need for a "kids table" and is it not adorable?

Last, but definitely not least, let me share a few pictures of the food!

and

Yes, the food tables look fairly similar. If you are having a tea party and have multiple food tables, I highly recommend having the same food options on each - helps keep the lines short!

This was a blast, and although we were all exhausted by the time it was done, I think we are also looking forward to next year's Heart to Heart tea.

After five years and one month

I decided it was finally time for that face lift I've been promising NLV. And that would be one of the reasons my posting has been light lately. Most of my computer time has been spent playing around with the different designs. Now that I realize how fun it is, I just might have to switch it up more often.

Here's to more time spent {Not} Living Vicariously!

Antique Cruet Set - bud vase

My mother-in-law gifted me with the beautiful antique cruet set the last time we visited and I finally put it to good use as a bud vase.

I love it when something beautiful can also be used as something practical.

Thanksgiving 2011

I've always known I was going to get my parents' fine china someday which is a blue floral on white pattern with a silver rim (Wedgewood Belle Fleur). However, we did also register for our own fine china when we got married (Lenox Solitaire White) which is white with a platinum rim. My mother is currently downsizing their home and I ended up inheriting her china earlier than expected. We were thrilled to realize that the two chinas blended nicely. As we only have eight of our settings (and ten of theirs), when our guest list ended up at ten (maybe eleven) adults for Thanksgiving, we decided to mix and match the table. It helped our decision that we have very few serving bowls in ours and there were multiple in the Wedgewood. Bed Bath & Beyond came to the rescue with tablecloths that perfectly matched the deeper blue of the flowers and we have a beautiful table setting . . .

We also put out several of our Wilton Armetale pieces for the appetizers that were there for hungry guests as they arrived. With a variety of candles around them, I was pleased with the effect.

Maybe not your traditional fall colors, however it really did look lovely. Thanks Mom and Dad for the early presents!

Recipe Card Art

I've been working on this art project for over a year now - yes, I don't move very fast sometimes. And it is complete except for one remaining recipe needed from Rita. I saw Rita this past weekend and did I remember to ask/remind her? No! Which would be why I don't move very fast sometimes. However, I'm still going to share it with you now.

I love handwritten recipes. There is such sentimentality to having a card in someone's handwriting knowing they took the time, even in this day and age, to handwrite something up for you. I decided that in a kitchen or dining room, framing and hanging a few would be very appropriate. So I solicited cards from some important people in our lives and now I have the following.

The empty frame on the lower right is just waiting for Rita's card(s) to arrive. Hopefully I'll remember to remind her soon!

For those interested in the details - I chose a pack of four identical frames, sent identical recipe cards to my participants, requested they use the back side of a new card if they needed to use both sides, and then chose scrapbooking paper that complimented the design of the recipe cards. I worried that it looked a little too Christmas with the red and green, however I have been assured it does not. I apologize for the fuzziness of the picture. Trying to avoid the glare from the windows was not easy and photography is not my strong suit.

Halloween Vignette 2011

As mentioned a few weeks ago, I was not thrilled with how quickly last year's pumpkin rotted so even though I loved the look of it, I knew this year would be different. Currently, this is my vignette:

 
This will most likely evolve over the month, and parts of it will hopefully carry through into November, plus Aaron has not finished "spookifying" the place. However, I LOVE my jack o'lanterns and wanted to share them with you.

Step 1: Go to a nursery and buy some smooth river rocks. I did not take a picture of this step. Sorry.

Step 2: Paint your river rocks orange.

 
 

Step 3: Lightly pencil in your faces.

 
 
 
Step 4: Paint in your faces once they are to your liking.

 
 
Step 5: Coat them with some sort of finish so they are weatherproof.

Step 6: Arrange them in a vignette and enjoy your work.

I have no clue where I first saw this idea, I do know I'm not creative enough to come up with it on my own. However, with no instructions to follow, I'm pleased mine turned out as well as they did. I may add to the family next year.

Weekend Plans - Halloween Prep and Closet Cleanings

The last several weekends have been spent in the kitchen (pickled green tomatoes, green pepper jelly, corn salsa, pickled okra, and our latest success - an even hotter pepper jelly which ended up orange in color due to mixing jalapenos with serranos). However, it is time to start thinking Halloween beyond our beautiful orange pepper jelly! Especially as I see most of the traffic to this blog lately is focusing on previous Halloween decor posts. While I can't get too far ahead of myself, I will tell you that I'm tired of jack o' lanterns that rot well before October 31st and yet I hate to not put something out much earlier. Thus my goal this year is to make a fun fake jack o' lantern.

The weather is also starting to change here in Tennessee. Now, I'm sure we'll end up with some more 90+ degree days, however maybe I can start to pull out some warmer clothes and I definitely need to get rid of some summer items that went all season without being worn. After all, if I didn't wear it this year, I'm unlikely to wear it next. Plus, I've noticed a few holes in some seams that are easily mended - if I just take the time to mend them. So these are my plans for this weekend.

Don't you find it enjoyable some times to plan nothing exciting . . . just tasks to cross off the to-do list?