Happy Belated V-Day!!

I know I was suppose to come back and share with you just ONE more V-day decor project to add to the arrangement that I had started in my entryway!!

Remember this:

Wall colors are more true to color here (natural light helps!):

Ya well my busy lazy schedule has overtaken and I never completed it!! It was suppose to be a book page wreath inspired from HERE:

Good thing is, it's not really "Valentiney" so I still can make it (crossing my fingers sometime this week!)!!  Sorry my peeps but just keeping it real.  You know because "real life" has me working 40 plus hours a week and PJ's and a movie with 2hotty seems so much nicer at the end of a day then making a book page wreath. But I'm not a quitter and I will get it done therefore I've extended Valentines day into Valentines "month".  Your welcome.  HA!

What else have I (we) been up to lately?!?!

- Well we've been doing lots of shopping:

(I found this cute cross to hang over our front door at a local boutique and I heart it so much!!)



I absolutely LOVE anything driftwood!  I found this heart at Marshall's and I am obsessed with it!  It will find a permanent home in our bedroom but for now it is hanging in the kitchen:

These cute elephant salt and pepper shakers (Any DIY bloggers obsession: white ceramic animals. HA!):

- Booking a "girls only" trip to Panama City, FL that I'm super excited about!!! Just have to say I have a brave hubby (he suffers from "paronoia"!! lol.  Everything will be just fine. lubyou!)!!  Can't wait for some cold mojitoes in hand and the feeling of sand between my toes. AHHH! BTW, have you been?!?!  Have any recommendations on places to go/eat/do?!?!

- Hosting "date-nights" with our friends (LOVE THEM):







 There's nothing like drinking a few bottles of wine (and beer) and playing some games to start off the night:

I think the best part of the night was when we decided to play a "how well do you know your spouse" game!! Let's just say things got very interesting and I have never laughed so hard in my life!! BEST GAME EVER!! Highly recommend it......only if you have a good sence of humor otherwise it can lead to your spouse wanting a DIVORCE!! LOL!!:

(I think the question(s) here were: "What does your spouse buy alot of (I think)?" 2hotty said "purses"! lol.  Another question was: "Which body part does your spouse think is unproportional to their body?" This can get really funny here! LOL.  I said his "ears"!! Obviously he wasn't thinking the same thing!! LOL. Minus one point for me!!)

- I still have to share our new couch pictures and a review because WE LOVE IT so much!! Super comfy!!

- I also got the flu last week.  I know terrible right?!?!  First a bad sinus infection and then a week later I get the flu!! I blame my husband and co-workers!! We've all cought the nasty bug...UGH!!  Who wants to disinfect my house?!?!

This week I'm feeling MUCH better (or "Mo Betta") as 2hotty would say. lol.) and now I'm ready to start tackling more DIY around our little abode again!!

Enter the word "ORGANIZATION" here!!!  Yup that is what we've been up to lately.  It was out of desperate needs.  We couldnt take living the way we were anymore!! I blame it on the pit stops to my parents house.  We still have a ton of our stuff there that have been making its way home slowly but surely.  When I say making its way home I mean making its way into a cluttered mess in our spare bedrooms.  Wanna see?!?! (I'm warning you its BAD!!):

Ya our "stuff" has really taken over!!
Who you ganna call?!?!? Ghos----- NO......IKEA!!!  Yes what better place than Ikea to help with my organization needs!

- Our friend did me a HUGE favor and picked up a few things at IKEA:

He even got me this sheep skin rug (by total surprise) that I mentioned in my "Ikea Wish List" post a few weeks ago:

Love it!!!

THANK YOU CHRIS......YOU'RE THE BEST!!!

 More specifically the closets in our house are getting a HUGE makeover.  The coat closet, my closet, and 2hotty's closet are getting a major overhaul.  I am over the moon because the taught of opening our coat closet before scared me.  EVERYTHING was shoved in there to a point of NO RETURN!!

2hotty got to work taking everything out (you have no idea what we found in there: wedding photo albums, serving bowls, hardwood floor samples, books, etc.! Ya it was bad.).

Here is our coat closet gettin painted by my lovely Valentine:

Here is a "sneak peak" picture:

"MY" closet also got the same treatment and I am loving on it so far:

So this is what we've been up to lately.  Kinda all over the place.  Some work and lots of PLAY!  That is why we have more unfinished projects around here than finished......yikes! the story of my life.   That said the word "organization" has been on the brain lately, because if my house is in shambles so is my life!! They say life is about balance......which I am having a hard time doing right now!!  Life is good though........CRAZINESS and all!!

So what have you been up to lately?!?!  Any makeovers?!?!  Any unfinished projects?!?  I bet yours are all finished unlike mine (its just I choose to be a lazy no good person!! haha!)?!!!  Any party hosting?!?! Know of any good games?!?!  Any divorces (wait dont answer that!)?!?!? How was Valentines Day?!?!  What did you give/recieve from your sig other?!?! Tell me I'm not the only one with organization on my brain!! HA! :-)

xoxo JD



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A Classy Woodland Tablescape

So last time I left you off with a centerpiece I made (pretty much FREE) out of branches (2hotty so obediently fetched for me. HA!) and spare ornaments.......................

(remember this curvalicious "junk in her trunk" arrangement)



.........................and then at the end of the post I was thinking of moving it to the kitchen table 

to use as the centerpiece of a tablescape!!

Well I did just that!!

I rummaged throughout the house to find items to add to the table and I managed to create an elegant yet bright tablescape!

TaDa!!

(sorry I took these pics later at night and not during the day (like the photos above) so there is a difference in lighting!)

You likey?!?!

 I love it!!

I don't think my pictures do it justice though! 

So want to know how I achieved this look?!?!

 I first added a long full length mirror as the base of my centerpiece!! (Tablescapes are all about layering and adding short and tall pieces together! Well I think.....I really don't know what I'm talking about!)  Then I added the branch arrangement as the eye-catching, showstopping, "first thing you see when you look at it" to the center of the table!  Next I just added a few candle holders such as these:

I just used some left over yarn from my YARN WREATH project to use around the candle votive (not permanent just taped the yarn to the bottom) and added a leftover sparkly ornament to the front.

I didn't think my drift-wood reindeer would work for the look I was going for (maybe another tablescape using him?!?!)...................

........so I added these deer candle holders I found at the thrift store (two sets at two different thrift stores......how ironic!) a few months back! 

 

I love them.....they look so graceful and I love how the mirror shows their reflection (it adds more sparkle and substance!):

They didn't always look this glamorous!!  Actually they looked like they came from the Jersey Shore!

They were gold and gaudy (and I think one of them even had a pickle in its mouth! HA!):

(this picture does not even show just how gold they once really were)

So I took them outside to give them a "spray tan".......to take them from the gaudyish gold Snooki look to more of a sun kissed bronze Victoria Secret model look!

I used this stuff......it's great:

Oh ya so back to my tablescape:

To finish off the look I added a silver charger underneath my blue plates with a wine glass next to it.  Then I wrapped a green napkin with a fork and a knife into a white napkin ring embellished with a sparkly snowflake ornament to complete the look!

(Disclaimer: the napkin is actually some left over fleece I used on my wreath project.  I am going to make my own napkins with remnant fabric.....I just haven't had a change to do it yet!! Please forgive me!)

So that's it!

My elegant yet bright tablescape using all of the colors from the Bronze, Green, and Blue theme I had going on this year!!

I used everything I already owned like the mirror.

See it really is a mirror.....see my reflection:

It belongs in this room:

Specifically on this wall:

It's the room I named the "diva headquarters" and it is next on my (never ending) to do list!!  It will pretty much be my office/dressing/makeup room and I CANNOT WAIT to finish it!! I'm just waiting for the holidays to come and go.  Can you believe Christmas is only 11 days away!!!  11 days PEOPLE!!  I think I'm going to faint.  I have like nothing done yet!! Christmas cards still need to be mailed......heck Christmas cards still need to be taken!!  I guess I'll just blame it on the house......it's really keepin us busy!!!

xo Joanna D.

So what "Christmasy/Holiday" things have you been working on lately?!?!  I hope I'm not the only tardy one on the Christmas card to-do list!!  Any questions.....leave it in the comments below!



Aint No Party Like An Ugly Xmas Sweater Party!

Gosh I don't even know where to start with this one........the pictures just crack me up......so it's going to be a long one!!

This year 2hotty and I bought a house (if you didn't know that by now).......our first house......that we are so desperately trying to make into a fun and loving HOME!!

In my book there is only one way to do that........fill it with the people you LOVE!!

So we threw a party for some of our closest friends and family.

Not just any kind of party............it was an ugly Christmas sweater party!! 

I've ALWAYS wanted to throw one........and this was our chance!!

We wanted everyone to have fun, let loose, go wild, and just really be themselves.......kinda like this:

HAHA.......I'm so in trouble after the hubs sees this!! I wonder how long it'll take before he says something......Maybe he should read my blog more frequently......just sayin :-) 

We had a lot of fun dressing up and so did all of our friends and family.......it made me really HAPPY!!

My bro and SIL:

friend Chris:

The girls touchin up their makeup and puffing up their bouffants......80's style!!

Bro, SIL, and my nephew Nathaniel all dressed up to partay!

I don't think he's diggin the ugly sweater though:

The FUNNIEST Christmas hat ever.........It moves and makes "boing" noises and looks like something very inappropriate if you know what I mean:

Nathaniel was SO mesmerized:

friends Patrick and Amanda:

His outfit cracked me up:

Patrick's mom Barb on the left and my MIL on the right:

cousin Joanna and her daughter Veronika:

Even my brothers dog, Gizmo, wore an ugly sweater:

 

My brothers sweater totally screams: "I'm from Harvard and like to sip on scotch while hanging at the ski lodge all day":

Speaking of  sipping on Scotch.......we had allot of yummy drinks.  Have you tried Smirnoff's Marshmallow and Whip Cream Vodka?!?!  We got some.......they're both delicious:

We followed the recipes that I found in one of my magazines.  We used the marshmallow one with chocolate liquor to make it taste like a smore.......so so good I highly recommend it!

The food was delish too:

 

I even found this Ugly Sweater Coffee.......it's actually REALLY good and I'm going back to Home Goods to buy more:

Some "ugly" Christmas decor (totally made the house look like a frat party)............

........and some bumpin music that are friend kindly provided:

But wanna know what REALLY made the party.........this thing:

This my friends is a SHOT SKI!!!  Literally.  A ski with 3 shot glasses glued to it!!

This is where the pictures crack me up!!  I want to post them all but there are WAY to many!!

Ya the first shot is always the hardest............

It should really be called a "FUN SKI"!!

I did that all night......add a "ski" at the end of each word such as "I'm so doneski" or "Do you want some moreski"!!! I'm such a dork.......a dorkski!!

Here is my first tryski with the shotski:

Needless to say, I had allot of fun with the shot ski and so did everyone else!

And they're offski............

ONE........

........TWO

.....THREE!!

and another roundski:

We drank homemade apple pie BTW.......It was the BESTski!!



HAHA what's wrong boys?!?!

That's my mother in law in the middle.......she gave it a go.......it was awesome!!

and so did my FIL:

This was the best though:

My aunt apparently didn't know the fundamentals of how to drink out of a shot ski:


It spilled all over the floor!!
What a wasteski.......LOL:

This cracks me up!! That's my mom in the middle.  She isn't a natural blonde.......but she should be!!

She was taking medicine so she couldn't drink that night. 
We wanted her to get in on all the fun so we filled her shot with water:

Apparently it didn't taste like water?!?! 
Like I said......she's totally a blonde!!

HA was that good?!?!

This is the only way you can get both my brothers and me to bond these days:

Even Baby Nate Dog wanted in on all the fun:

JUST KIDDIN!!
Then for some reason the scissors came out..............

................and this is what started to happen:

I guess he taught it was a Redneck Xmas Sweater Party:

Officially taken the prize of BEST outfit of the night:

I guess we can blame in on all the SHOTSKI's!!


The boys watched the UW Badgers beat Michigan State!!
Way to go Badgers now lets kick some BUTTski at the Rose Bowl!!
GO BUCKY!

Oh and we had a lil dance off too.........

Baby V was all smiles:

Not sure what we were tryin to do here.........

..........but I'm sure we thought we looked sexy doing it!! HA!

So that was our Ugly Christmas Sweater Partyski........It was awesomeski.......and cant wait for our next shin digski!!

What shall it be?!?!?

Maybe a White Trash Bash?!?!

Who's bringin the six pack and growing out a mullet?!?

 

Oh and a quick photo op with the mini's for the moms to look at:

 

Kisses for Momma:

 

This was interesting!!

Not only did we have to get all three of them to sit still but we also had to yell and make funny noises and faces at them so they would all look into the camera:

 

This is the best I could get...........

 

...........and then it all went down hill from here:

 

 

HAHA!!

 

I had a great time!!

I hope everyone did too!!

 

xoxo Joanna D.