Tuesday Thoughts About..

... safety and security:

There’s so much about home safety and security that is amazing. And so much to love! Buttttt, it can go terribly awry when you are remodeling—or away from home. 

Let me start by saying that we’ve had our “Ring” doorbell for several years now. We love it! Or at least we thought we did. Well, I’ve learned that only Butch and I get the alert that someone is at our door. Makes sense. After all it’s an app on our phones. Ordinarily it never mattered. But recently, it mattered. 

There were things being delivered for the remodeling project that the workers needed. We were alerted, but the guys never knew when things arrived. We'd get home and find that things were dropped off in the garage. 

Butch arranged for Mindy and Justin to be at our house on Halloween since we were in St. Louis. All of a sudden, our “Ring” kept going off. We noticed that the trick or treaters were ringing and then leaving. That’s when we realized that anyone inside the house would not know there were people at the front door. The doorbell rings on the app, not actually at the house! What a pain!

The ring alerted us constantly. The guys were in and out—they did as much of the dirty work outside as they could. That meant a lot of coming and going. A lot! It was particularly annoying when I was out and about with other people. I ended up keeping my phone on mute.

But, that didn’t solve the problem with the door alarms. When we moved in to this house in 1995, we had grand babies. We decided that we needed a security system that would alert us when someone went in or out a door. So, we had ALL the doors alarmed. Actually, I liked that because Butch was traveling so much. I liked the idea that if anyone came in the house, I would be alerted. Plus we wanted the added protection so we would know if the grands might go outside—because of the pool we didn’t want to take any chances. 

The door alerts have worked perfectly over the years. But during the remodel—OMGosh! They are alerting constantly. It gets pretty annoying. There might be a way to disable this feature, but I don’t know how to do it. I’ve found that the best thing is to just be gone while the workers are here.

Oh, and then there’s the fire alarm that went off at 2:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. That was due to all the dust from the remodel. But what if we were out of town? How in the world would we have been able to turn that off. Maybe it’s time to update the system and control that with our phones too. 

Or, we could stop remodeling. Yeah, that’s it. That would solve ALL our problems! Luckily, with the completion of this project, there isn’t anything left to do!

All of these safety and security measures are pretty great. I just never realized they could be so annoying at the same time!

Monday Mystery

This is probably the most unusual mystery I've every posted. Well, I guess there have been quite a few unusual ones. But this one definitely rates up there.

So. On Friday afternoon, I was talking to my favorite cousin, Chrissy. As we were catching up, I noticed this "lump" on my leg near my knee--kind of on the side. I pressed on it. It sort of startled me because I could feel that it wasn't part of my body. There was something in there. Now, you have to realize, I had worn these black jeans two other times this week--just a couple hours each time. If I'm just sitting around at home, I have some comfortable double knits. 

I jumped up, and reached down in to my jeans. This is what I pulled out:

Apparently, during the laundry process, a pair of black underwear worked their way in to my jeans! I can see that I wouldn't notice it since I wash all blacks together. A pair of black underwear wouldn't show up inside the jeans. Now maybe if I folded jeans, I might have notice a bulge. But, I hang my jeans, so I was none the wiser. 

Now the mystery is this. How in the world did I wear these jeans all week without noticing there was something in them? Or more puzzling, how is it that I didn't push them through with my foot? 

All I've got to say is that's some strong static electricity to hold them in place for so long! 

How About...

...a little holiday cheer!

1. Several years ago, Sara, my garden girl, started making winter pots. I just love them. They are so beautiful and lush.

There's one on each side of my front door. They are so full with different textural elements. They last all winter.

She did Stephanie and Nicky's pots too.

They put lights on theirs. That looks even better!

2. This was the first Christmas card we got this year:

Cute, but nothing unusual---until...

...you turn it over. How clever is that? And LaRue is adorable too! She is so smart and really quick witted already for such a little thing! Or maybe, it's just the 'ol "out of the mouth of babes" thing!

3. There are so many different types of Advent calendars out now--wine, beer, Legos, the regular chocolates and many more. Sandy picked this one up at Disney:

It's a Disney charm bracelet. Each day is a different charm! So cute. Stephanie and Mindy missed it. I said that's why we always need to have "show and tell" when we're traveling together. 

Elizabeth is obsessed with Sephora. I got her this Advent calendar. It looks kind of unusual.

I like the pink, red and green color combo. I'm glad the numbers are mixed up. I like that better than all in a row. I don't know why. I guess it's fun to search for the number. Sort of like a game.

She sent me this picture with her first surprise. It's nail polish! Actually, I love Advent calendars---and I love that there are so many different choices these days.

4. Sandy sent me this picture of their tiny elf's first appearance this year. 

Crystal bowls full of sparkly ornaments is one of my most favorite decorations. You can never go wrong with that. It's always so pretty and makes such a happy statement!

5. We always like to do something festive to kick off the holiday. As if Disney wasn't enough, we went to our Schermerhorn Symphony Center to see The Muppets Christmas Carol. If you've never seen it, it's so cute. Definitely one of my favorites. I'm sure you can find it on Disney + or maybe Netflix.

Anyway, the symphony plays the musical score while the movie is playing. It was soooo good. We did this a couple years ago--it was Home Alone that time. It was really good too. It's just so much fun. We get a box so we have plenty of room all to ourselves! Oh, and dinner at 60 Vines at the new City Center was delicious too. We don't go downtown very often. It's wild and crazy down there. To me, the streets are crowded like New York--and I love New York, but it's better because there is music blasting everywhere! Plus, with all the neon lights, it's pretty and colorful. Seems just like Christmas!

Something for Saturday

I'm so happy to share this post today. There's nothing like enjoying a newly re-decorated house---even if it's someone else's! Especially when you are in the midst of your own remodel. It gives me hope that ours will finally be finished. Case in point---it took nearly a year for this one!

Connie invited me to see Amanda's newly finished remodel. I was so excited because I've been hearing about her ups and downs for almost a year. Amanda is Connie's daughter and Sandy's childhood friend. She's a sweetheart! I was so excited for her. Before I begin, let me say that Christy handled Amanda's project too. Christy does it all--for all of us!

Amanda's house is beautiful! Check it out:

New hardwood floors throughout, new lighting, furniture, rugs--everything. It was Connie's idea--she was quick to point out--to open up the stair with the bannister. Before, there was a half wall there. By doing that, it made the entry look much larger. Good idea Connie!

This picture is looking from the dining room to the living room and entry. It's a wide open, large space. Just beautiful.

Updated dining room.

The hardwood floors unified the entire space and look so pretty. Nothing like white cabinets to freshen everything up.

In the rec room, Amanda wanted to change it up from all the blue of the first level. This is perfect! I love the green. 

Everything looks so good. Honestly, it looks like a brand new house--all fresh and clean. Actually, I guess it is. 

Oh, and then, as if getting to see her beautiful house wasn't enough, she gave us a bag of Chex mix as a welcome gift! I told you she was a sweetheart! 

After our home tour, we all went to lunch together. When we were dropping her off, I noticed this:

The house next door had a book box! I just love coming across these everywhere. That's what the world needs--more books!

This is the first one that I've ever seen that was decorated! So darn cute.

As if this wasn't enough for one day, we ended with book club at Connie's. 

She set a beautiful Christmas table for us. There's nothing that will get you in to the Christmas spirit faster than a beautiful table. At least that's my opinion. I love a beautiful table.

I'm not saying that because I'm the one who did this one---several years ago. I'm saying it because not only is it true, but I'm impressed that she took a picture and sets it up every year just like the first time. But the truth is, it's really easy to do. Just gather up some of your favorite things and bunch it all together. You can't mess it up. Good job, Connie. Just gorgeous! 

Can you tell that I love these girls! I feel so lucky to have them in my life!

Friday Funnies

Five Things Thursday

1. I've saved this picture for a year to post. This is my favorite tree for 2020. My friend, Josephine posted it on Facebook.

Our girls went to school together, but I haven't seen her in years. I need to invite myself over this year to see this tree in person! So gorgeous! She really goes all out decorating. This year she posted a video of her entry. Unfortunately, I cannot seem to post videos here. I love all her wrapped gifts surrounding the room. That looks so cool! Check out all those stockings!

Speaking of friends, these girls are the first people we met when we moved to Nashville in 1985.

Leigh (on the left) and Mindy went to school together---they were newborns in 1985. Nancy is my friend who is always up for anything with me! Paige (on the right) lives in New York. This particular restaurant (Rolf's German Restaurant) is decorated for Christmas all year round. It's on my list! I tried to take the girls a couple years ago, but they never answered the phone. Hopefully, one of these days...we already have our plans set for this year. We---the girls and their husbands---leave on Dec. 30 for NYC and the "ball drop!" Another bucket list item. We were supposed to see Hugh Jackman in The Music Man right when the lockdown started. We've been rescheduled for January 1st and decided to keep that date and bring the guys with us! Love New York!

2. If you want a little project to do with your grandkids, this banner would be easy. It's made out of cardboard cutouts and a white marker. Any wide ribbon, or ball fringe (shown here) and clothespins. I could see having each grandchild decorating one house. That would be so cute.

Seriously, if I thought we could squeeze it in, I'd plan it for my girls. They always want craft projects. This one would be easy to replicate with the Circuit. Then, of course, I have every color of glitter glue, sequins and stamps to make it really come alive. Maybe next year!

3. OMGosh! This would have been a perfect "Friday Funny,"...

...but I just couldn't wait!

4. I love this idea! 

I can't think of a nicer way to spend Christmas Eve. But, we do ALL of our gifts on Christmas Eve, so that wouldn't work for us.

5. This turkey charcuterie was posted on Facebook. So cute and pretty simple.

I'm posting the one that Mindy made for our early Thanksgiving. I think it's cuter for sure, but way more work. The one above can be assembled pretty quickly. I'm doing a Christmas party this year, so I might give it a try---the easier one that is!

Let me know if you have any fun ideas and I will be happy to post them for you!!

What I Buy Wednesday!

Okay, I succumbed to the $25. shipping and handling fees from Fortnum and Mason in London. Considering I got my order in two days, something tells me they have a distribution center here in the states. I would never have done it if a certain someone who always gets what she wants hadn't requested a couple of the things I posted here.

This ornament is so adorable. I plan to keep it on my window sill all year round!

All of the ornaments are adorable. I put my teapot in the background so you can see the size. I bought that when I was in London with my bookclub a couple years ago. That was my first visit to Fortnum and Mason. Now it's a "must do" when I'm there.

Of course I had to order some Christmas tea too! I'll leave this lovely tin out for the season.

Now on to my Disney purchases:

I always buy tea at Twinings in London and England in Epcot! It makes me feel like I'm there. But there's nothing like the original one on the Strand in London. It's been in that same location for over 300 years. My heart really starts beating as I step on the mosaic embedded in the sidewalk outside the store. I just love everything about it! Yes, I know I can get it at the grocery store, but it's not the same. I'm crazy like that. After all, I am a tea snob! Oh and did I tell you about the gorgeous scarf I didn't buy. I'm having serious non-buyers remorse. I keep thinking how perfect it would be with my pink coat. Sheesh Barb, get over it already! Okay, I'm over it.

And then there are my Starbucks mugs. Since this is the 50th anniversary, I had to get one from every park. I got one for the girls too, but sent them home with Sandy. Sooo, you cannot see the one from Animal Kingdom. I didn't mean to send it with her. I'll pick them up when we go there on December 17th for the weekend. Plenty of time to get them wrapped and under the tree! Ooops, I just realized that Sandy will need to wrap her own! Nah, I'll just give it to her. They all know they are getting it so it's not a surprise. I told them because I didn't want them to buy it.

After what I went through to get those mugs--another long story that I'm not going to go in to--just suffice it to say that there were long lines and then a limit of 2! I know why there's a limit. The mugs are already available on Ebay for $50. Yep 50 bucks. They are overpriced at Disney for $22.95 as is. Normally these mugs are about $12.95. Still, I had to have them. ALL of them. You know my multiples problem. (Luckily, I plan to take several of my mugs to the beach). Hmmm, if I'd foregone them, then perhaps I wouldn't have felt bad about the $95 purchase of that scarf!! Oh well. There I am mentioning it again. Apparently I'm not over it. Okay, that's it. I'll never mention it again.

Lastly, I decided to let the girls pick out their charms for the Pandora bracelets I started for them a few years ago. The plan was that every Thanksgiving, we'd shop for them and then have lunch. This year we wanted to get the 50th anniversary charms exclusive to Disney. Sandy and Stephanie picked this one:

It's cute and reversible! This is the one that Mindy and I got.

It's Cinderella's castle. On the bottom, it has the 50th anniversary logo.

Here it is on the far right. A few more years and it will be full. I can't wait! When it's not full, the weight pulls down, so the bracelet hangs under your wrist rather than on top!

Okay that's it for buys, but I do have a few non-buys this week.

I went to Hobby Lobby the week before Thanksgiving to buy wrapping paper and Christmas paper products. Unfortunately, they didn't have any. None, nada, zippo. I'm assuming that it's that whole supply chain thing---like the cargo ships sitting out in the harbor unable to get in. I'm pretty sure most of that stuff is made in China.

Anyway, if you are in to the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, they have a whole line of things that are pretty cute. As you can see, some of it is already gone.

There wasn't much left of this line--oh wait, I guess that's Thanksgiving. No wonder. Still pretty cute.

These Christmas glasses are really nice. They would even make nice gifts or hostess gifts. Now that I think about it, I wish I had picked up a couple. All the Christmas decor is half price. I love Hobby Lobby.

What I didn't buy from Disney:

I couldn't resist taking the toiletries from Disney. I've long since stopped taking them from other hotels, but Disney's are always so nice. Doesn't everyone take them? Perfect if you want to carry on a suitcase and meet the size limits--although I hate it when people carry on their luggage. What a hassle. Butch always ends up rescuing some woman who cannot get her suitcase in the overhead.

Yes, I'm aware the above paragraph is all wonky. Sometimes that happens and there's nothing I can do about it. 

Well, that's it for this week!