{Not} Living Vicariously

Thanksgiving Centerpiece

I meant to post this last week, however we were BUSY with all of our Thanksgiving plans. I do want to show you our tablescape though, and especially the centerpiece we had in case any of you are looking for an easy, natural way to showcase the season. We don't have a dining room in our house and with several guests coming for dinner, we turned our living room into a place to eat. We moved all furniture out of the center of the room, either against the wall or into the bedroom, and set up two six foot folding tables in a large square.

 
We pulled out our fine china for the first time in our eighteen months of marriage. Now that we have eight place settings, it was perfect for the occasion. We did not bring the food to the table, we set up a buffet line in the kitchen and only had desserts on our sideboard. Did we remember to take any pictures of the food? Of course not. However, you can read about the menu over at our food blog to find out what we had to eat.

As for the centerpiece, I had seen a page in some magazine about using acorns to decorate. We were out the Sunday before with a friend and came across lots of acorns on the ground. Jason gladly helped me gather plenty of them and when it came time to decorate, Aaron and I piled them into some small trifle dishes and topped them with tea light candles. Everyone enjoyed the simple centerpiece that still allowed for us to look across the table at each other. Here is a closer picture of them.

 
And now, to continue with our BUSY life, we are prepping for our next event: Annual Cookie Exchange next Saturday. Stay tuned . . .

Words of Wisdom - Voltaire

"Let us read and let us dance - two amusements that will never do any harm to the world." -- Voltaire

Not that I'm doing much of either these days. Life is certainly keeping us busy. However I wrote this quote down several years ago and stuck it on my bulletin board at work. It has followed me through five plus moves at work and always manages to find a place to be hung somewhere. I've never bothered to find out what context he said this in, and yes I do know the importance of reading quotes in context, however as I'm not out trying to change the mind of the world with this one . . . I don't think I really care if what he meant was the exact opposite of how I interpret it.

And what does this say to me? Why do I keep it around? How does it affect my life?

It reminds me that what I enjoy doing, as long as it brings no harm to others, should be what I do for enjoyment. AND the opposite is also true. That what you enjoy doing, as long as it brings no harm to others, should be what you do for enjoyment. In other words: be true to yourself and you will find other likeminded people out there to be friends with. Although I also try to be open to new hobbies that people in my life enjoy just in case I might enjoy them also.

Why yes, I did write this one down at a time of my life in which I was lonely having just moved across country to a place where I knew no one and spent a few too many evenings at home alone. But when I contemplated doing things I didn't like just to hang out with others versus trying new things and keeping favorite activities around . . . well I'm very glad I stuck with things like reading and dancing because I have a rich life filled with good friends who love me and I don't have to pretend to be someone I'm not. It was definitely worth the reminder! And I hope, if you are in the same situation, you will know that someone like me is out there rooting for you to be true.

Odds and Ends

Somehow I seem to have taken a mini-vacation from the blogs. It was not intentional and I'm not quite sure how it happened. Anyway, here are some odds and ends from our life:

1. My brother got a new job and will be moving to Illinois. He will only be seven hours from us now. I really hope to see him more often.

2. My friend B. and her husband closed on a new house. They have five acres now. While I don't envy that commute, the five acres sound fabulous. Of course, we're having problems deciding what all to do with our one acre so I think I'm good with our place.

3. Speaking of our one acre, we have these little pink flags all over the place. We ordered a bunch of trees already from Arbor Day and with the help of our friends J & D, we have picked out their locations.

 

4. We are getting ready for Thanksgiving. Once again we have opened our home to friends and are looking forward to lots of fun. I'm even trying out a few new recipes, but keeping the favorites from last year(s) as well.

5. It is a beautiful day today and we need to head out to walk a dog . . .

Things I Love - Day Hikes

I may not yet be ready to hike the AT, but someday I hope to do at least portions of it. In the meantime, on a beautiful day like today, it makes me very happy to go hike someplace new. We decided to try one of the hikes in the book 60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Nashville. We have a few Tennessee hiking guides, and this one is the one we turn to again and again. We thought we were doing a 6.3 balloon shaped hike, meaning to eat our picnic lunch about halfway through, named the Old Trace/Garrison Creek Loop.

 
However we parked at the wrong area on the Natchez Trace and only did the loop. It was absolutely beautiful and by the time we were back at the car it was definitely lunchtime! That would be in part due to some "random detours" we took along the way . . .

 
towards a b&b along Leiper's Creek Road?

However look at the trail along which we got to walk:

 
and the tree under which we lunched:

 
and the view from the parking lot:

 
After we finished lunch, we realized we weren't ready to go home yet. So we pulled out the guide book to find another close hike and decided to attempt the Burns Branch There-and-Back. Hopping back on the Natchez Trace Parkway, we went down the road about another mile. When we got there . . . we found a sign which let us know this was the parking area for both the hikes we attempted this day. Now we know for next time . . .

 
This was a much shorter hike, 1.4 miles and 1.4 miles back. However about one mile out we discovered they were doing some sort of work and a detour had been set up. Not knowing where we would end up . . .

 
. . . we opted to head back to the car instead, happy and a bit worn out.

 
Hopefully we'll have a few more days like today we can take advantage of before it gets too cold . . . since we did little hiking over our extremely hot (and busy) summer.

Words of Wisdom - Mother Teresa

"We can do no great things; only small things with great love." -- Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa continues to inspire me with her wisdom, faith, and passion for doing the right thing. I don't know as much about her as I'd like . . . no children's books about her have come across my desk . . . however I do often think back to this quote when I am discouraged about life and the time I have to live it. Lately I have felt a passion to do more for others, and yet can't find the time in my busy schedule. Is it that I truly don't have time to do more in my day or is it that I don't have time to do "great things" and yet can find time to do "small things with great love"? I think it is definitely the latter. When I stop stressing over the trying to make big gestures of volunteerism . . . and look for the small ways to lend a helping hand . . . all of a sudden opportunities exist all over the place.

Where can I lend a helping hand tomorrow?

Tuesday Tours - Office/Craft Room/Library/Misc.

On to the last room in our tour . . . because Aaron is not ready for me to show off our garage . . . and the laundry room is not worthy of an independent entry. Because this is a three bedroom house, we do have one bedroom we are using as ours, one as a guest, and one as an office/craft room/library/misc. It works hard at being all those things and I'm not sure how successful it is at any of them right now. As an office, it lacks some file storage. As a craft room, I don't even have the sewing machine unpacked yet. As a library, it is sadly lacking in bookshelves. And as misc., well the cat and the dog have both claimed favorite spots to snooze while one of us is on the computer. So I am stating up front, this one is still a work in progress! However, let me show a before picture before I show the after.

 
Yes, that would be bubble gum pink on the walls with a princess border around the top. It gets better. Remember this post? The one where you got to see the dark red carpet against the pink walls? Well, when we pulled down the border we found that they had not painted completely over the previous mustard yellow scheme. I always thought I was brave when it came to color. After all, a can of paint is the cheapest way to change the look of a room. But this house made me feel like I've taken zero risks in my life.

And, when you see the afters, you might agree with me. I once again used my favorite Behr brand Scotland Road hoping it would not look too much like Christmas with the green and red. I have some rugs from the old living room that are on the floor, trying to disguise most of the stains on the carpet which pull the two colors together actually. And the Lindy pillow bed adopted by Stoli also uses the same colors so I don't have to shield my eyes every time I walk in.

 

I do have some wall space for some pictures, since I can't figure out how to add any more bookshelves. You saw the ones against the front wall here and the only thing I can do is maybe add another shelf up if I can convince Aaron our foundation can handle the weight. And that about sums it up. A boring room right now, but at least I no longer have boxes all over the floor.

Halloween Costumes 2010

So I know I'm supposed to be doing a Tuesday Tour post this evening, however the cold I was fighting won and I have not been productive at all. So instead I'm doing a simple post I meant to do Sunday evening. At work this year we went with a "genre" theme for our department costumes and I was able to resurrect an old favorite from my days in Los Angeles. With a little updating, I was the genre of folktales in the guise of Little Red Riding Hood. With some creativity, Aaron joined in the fun for the Halloween parties on Saturday night as the Woodsman who saves Little Red and her Grandmother from Big Bad.

 
The top and skirt were made from the same basic pattern Debbie and I used for quite a few costumes, a dress pattern of her mother's from the 60s or so. It was a great pattern that could be used for any variety of styles and kept in one piece or split into two. I made the cape from a pattern I bought at the time and am most proud of the edging as I made that by hand from a swatch of small gingham print. Those came out of storage to be used. The basket is the one we use to keep kitchen towels and I added some leggings, a belt, and new mary jane shoes to complete my outfit. All in all, quite affordable.

Aaron went even more affordable. His overalls are at least 13 years old, the shirt is also one he has had for a long time, even the vest has been in the closet for ages. He wore his everyday outdoor shoes so the only new things are his hat and the axe. He insisted on a real axe as he says he needs one for our property. I insisted he keep the safety on . . . just in case.

I think he made my outfit pop that much more! And I look forward to seeing what we come up with for next year . . .