Travel Tuesday

This post is sort of about traveling---downtown. We don't go downtown too much. It's really crowded and very touristy. Personally, I find it pretty exciting. Still we don't go very often. So,  it's sort of like a trip when we do. 

On Saturday, we went down for an event called "Brunch and Bloody's" at the Thompson Hotel in The Gulch. Since we were going to be drinking, Butch drove us down and picked us up.

Karolyn heard about it last week and invited us. There were six of us: Karolyn, her daughter, Lauren, Pam, me, Stephanie and Mindy. It was sponsored by Nashville Lifestyles magazine and a benefit type thing, but I've already forgotten what it benefited. 

Upon arrival, we picked up our 2 Bloody Mary drink tickets and a ballot. There were 13 different restaurants represented. We were to vote on the best food. We started with the Bloody Mary.

The mix was called Walkers---it had a barbecue flavor. Once we got our drinks, we stepped in to the next room where they had set up every possible garnish you could want. I had bacon, olives, asparagus and celery. I tried the pickled okra because I like that in my bloody Mary's, but it was "sweet" pickled okra. I didn't like that at all!

Then we started making the rounds of all the different restaurants and their foods. There were several offerings of shrimp and grits. I love shrimp and grits and they were all very good. There were mini tostados, Nashville hot chicken and biscuits, pimento cheese, egg salad, biscuits and gravy, eggs, assorted waffles including waffles and chicken. My favorite was the stuffed French toast. The name of that restaurant was Party Fowl. I've never been there, but everything they had to offer was delicious. They got my vote!

I've always joked that Bloody Mary's are drinks that act like a meal! This proves my point. Actually, there's so much stuff here--it's looks kind of gross!

There was so much food. After just the second tasting, I was getting full. After that we started to share. We made our way around the room and had our second Bloody Mary. By the time we finished, we were all pretty full. Steph treated Mindy and I to a glass of champagne. She was shocked to find that she paid $18.00 a glass for it! 

We stepped out on the roof for another picture. We did one of those "boomerang" things with our drinks. I'd never done that before. 

I don't really know how to add videos here. It looked like it worked, but doesn't seem to. Maybe it will work for you.

They had a photo booth with props too. 

All in all, we had a great time and have vowed to do it again next year. As it turns out, we won't have to wait that long. There are other events that Nashville Lifestyles magazine does too--like--burgers and beer plus a few others that I've forgotten. They all sound like fun. We like to try different activities and are always game for something new. 

We especially like to do festive things through the holidays. We have our annual ornament exchange coming up on Wednesday night. It's been two years. Well, basically, it's been two years for anything holiday related!

Me On Monday

It's been a fun week. I had quite a few fun activities and accomplished a lot (finished the decorating I can do right now, finished all the wrapping and baked 3 batches of cookies for the freezer).

1. I've had not one, but two baths this week. 

There's nothing like an afternoon bath with bubbles, scented candles, Christmas music, a Diet Coke and my book! I've kind of been at loose ends with not being able to do all the normal stuff around here. This bath came after Butch and I hiked the trails at Radnor. Since I'd already walked on the treadmill that morning, I ended up with a total of 6.5 miles that day!

I get on the treadmill early in the morning while it's still dark. It's not unusual for me to see the sunrise. But this particular one was spectacular. I called Butch up to see it! The picture does not do it justice.

2. On Tuesday, a little old lady bridge friend of mine, Louise, invited me to be her guest at a Christmas luncheon. She is so sweet and always remembers me. She remembers Butch too. Years ago--probably 20--she told me that the Central Parking lot next to her church, St. Mary's, made them pay to park. I asked Butch to intervene. He did. Turns out, they were always allowed to park for free when going to Mass. To this day, she thinks that Butch arranged it for her. There was no convincing her otherwise, so now I don't even argue with her. She brings it up whenever she introduces me to someone new! All Butch did was call someone at the church to let them know that they could park free during Mass. They just didn't realize it or hadn't spread the word.

The party was at the Centennial Club. The tables were beautiful! The paper whites were the party favors to take home. The food is always so good--old-fashioned southern cooking. We had a delicious turkey dinner. I saw quite a few people that I hadn't seen in two years, so that was really nice.

3. On Wednesday, we went to Sam's. I bought this to be my dining room centerpiece rather than what I normally do--a little too much work to have to do at the last minute for me this year.

It's so beautiful with many different plants and textures---and huge! A bargain at $16.00! 

Speaking of flowers, Nicky brought over my annual poinsettia.

I've come to look forward to the delivery every year. I just never know when he's going to swing by to drop it off. He's a sweetheart!! 

4. Thursday night was our annual Christmas party with my Overbrook and St. Cecilia friends. A few of them I see regularly, but there's several that I don't see often. It's been two years for this group too. We all bring a dish and exchange gifts. We were at Kim's new house. I didn't get any pictures. Her dining room table was gorgeous! I do love pretty tables. 

This is the group that frustrates me because they are always late. I had a little trouble finding it because I hadn't been to her new house and it was dark. I actually had to get out of my car to look at the mailboxes for the address. I ended up being 10 minutes late and I was the FIRST to arrive!! We didn't even sit down to eat until 9 p.m. Still it was a lot of fun!

5. On Friday night, we had our annual, poker Christmas dinner. I wanted to get pictures of the group, but someone said we'd take them at Jimmy Kelly's---our favorite steak place and an old Nashville institution. We know the owner, so we always get a good room! I did manage to snap this picture on the way out the door but that was it. We forgot to take any pictures of the gang at the restaurant.

You might remember these guys! I decorated with them for years. 

This was the only picture I could find from a few years ago. When I was ready for a change, I asked the girls if they wanted my elves. They all said "no"! As I keep saying, our kids don't want our stuff. Linda had always admired them. So, I packed them up and surprised her with them! I'm happy to see them being used and enjoyed by someone else. Although, I do sort of miss them! 

Butch and I got home around 10 p.m. The weather was so nice--70's--that we decided to sit on the front porch for awhile. 

This was after I washed off my makeup! Butch made me a Bailey's chocolate martini. We had Christmas music playing and sat out there until 11:30 p.m.! It was just so nice. It's not usually this warm in December, but sometimes.

An added bonus is that my camellias are still in bloom. They glow at night--which is why I am drawn to white flowers. They just always show up at night.

It was a fun week that ended abruptly with the storm and tornadoes around town. It didn't hit us, but we did have some minor damage. A couple of our screens were blown off along with a window outside my office that shattered on the roof of the garage. It looked like paint. Butch realized it was glass. I don't know how we're going to get that cleaned up! There are lots of small limbs and branches down, so there's some clean up to do--but minor in comparison to what others are facing. We were so lucky. The wind was so loud that it woke me up. I actually was a bit alarmed--but not frightened enough to get out of bed and "go to our safe place!" 

I'll save the rest of the weekend for another post. The busy-ness of the season is exactly why I like the holidays! Oh, and the food. 

 

The Remodel

Okay, you are probably sick of hearing about the remodel. I promise that this is going to be the last post about it until the reveal! 

The 324 lb. vanity! I'll be putting my antique mirrors here.

Still quite a bit to be done in this bathroom. The fixtures aren't even shipping until 12/17-12/22 so of course, the Thanksgiving deadline came and went. Looks like the same for Christmas!

This transformation has been amazing! 

We removed a wall and the linen closet to open up the space. 

It's turning out better than I even imagined!

 I love that our contractor works from a list. A guy after my own heart! I have no idea if the fixtures are here for this bathroom.

I love this:

It's a switch plate with a holder for the remote control for the fan/light. I had no idea you could get something like this. It's perfect.

My office and...

...scrapbook room have been the holding areas for all the things!

And all of the new stuff is hanging out in the dining room.

Then there's this. Luckily, the replacement came quickly.

A sneak peek. There will be three of these light fixtures in the upper hallway. 

This is what's been here since the house was built--37 years ago. The new fixtures will be a nice more modern look.

It's all coming along. The painters start tomorrow--both new bathrooms, two bedrooms, ceilings, hallway, trim and the 20ft entry--no telling how long that's going to take. It's a lot! Carpet is coming on Wednesday and Thursday--3 rooms worth. I have no idea when the plumber, the shower doors or window treatments will happen!

I'm getting excited as we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm not going to post again until everything is complete. 

I hope you are having a good weekend! I love the holidays. I've had lots of fun activities. More on that later!

Something for Saturday

Well, this was the second week that we've been at loose ends while the remodeling continues. By that I mean, we've had a lot of free time, but limited in what we have been able to do. This has been my philosophy:

I just hope I can maintain this calm as we get closer to Christmas! There's just so much to do. I've gotten the kitchen, family room, powder room and living room decorated. Still have the dining room and entry including the staircase and banisters. As you can see here, I do have ALL of my gifts bought and wrapped---except for the few I'm still waiting on to arrive. (Which reminds me. We do not have Amazon Prime because I don't want to pay to spend money! I'm telling you, this holds true just about EVERY time: choose the "free shipping" which says will take 5 days. We ALWAYS get our stuff within two days. We placed an order the day before yesterday and got it in one day! Just saving you some money!) 

I've also made three types of cookies and have them in the freezer. I've done most of the grocery shopping. I've gone over ALL the menus through the holidays from a family dinner, to the party we're having, Christmas Eve breakfast, dinner and Christmas dinner. I only have one more grocery run for the perishables. I'm organized with it all, but am anxious to get the house back in order and decorated. Oh, and the cleaning! It's a mess. You know, all the dust! I just hope we can do it all--well, not all, but the rooms that can be done. 

And then, there's the cooking. I have a pretty good plan and have set my timeline, so I should be okay with that too. Now that Butch cooks with me, he's going to be a big help. I could do more if I thought I could make some of the "things" and freeze them. Since I don't know, I'm not taking any chances. 

Don't let these ugly cookies fool you.

They are delicious! I made them up by taking my chocolate chip cookie recipe and substituting Giaradelli white chocolate chips and adding cranberries. The original recipe calls for baking on an ungreased baking sheet. The cranberries made the stick. Ugh! What a mess---and scrubbing those pans was terrible too. But now I know---I'll definitely be spraying the sheet next time. They are so good and worth the mess. I won't be serving them at our party because they are so ugly, but they will be on our family cookie tray. 

Let me know what's happening in your holiday world!

Friday Funnies

Five Things Thursday

I know I've posted this a few times before, but, it's a good reminder.

What I Buy Wednesday

Let me start by saying this purchase was very stressful. Not exactly how you want to spend money! It's supposed to be fun, not stressful!

Of course, while we're remodeling two bathrooms, we need two new vanities. I bought this one:

You know me and white! Simpatico! Part of the deal was that for twenty bucks (yes, only $20.00) you could have it delivered to the room of your choice. That was a no brainer, so I set it up. It was delivered on October 1st. When it arrived, the men said they needed more manpower when they found out it was going upstairs. It weighs 324 lbs. Since the second one we bought wasn't being delivered for a few weeks, they made a note that they would move this one upstairs at the same time. 

Well, the second vanity was supposed to be delivered on November 16th. Instead, while we were at the beach, they delivered it and put it in the garage. Now, there were several workmen here, so the "main guy" accepted it. He didn't know they were supposed to take both vanities upstairs. When I found out, I called right away. I was told that they would not come out again just to move the vanities. I talked to more than one person who told me the same thing. They refunded me the friggin' $40.00! Big whoop! Now we still had the problem of getting them upstairs. That's when it became Christy's--my designer friend--problem. My favorite reason to hire someone to handle everything. They deal with all the problems---and there are always many problems!

She hired a couple of movers to come. As it turns out, Butch recognized the guys and they remembered the house. We donated all of the bedroom furniture to Re-new through the YWCA. They provide attractive, temporary, safe homes for women and children fleeing domestic abuse. I've donated many times to them--drapes, furniture, comforters, pictures--everything for an entire room. These same movers were the ones who picked everything up. They remembered what they were dealing with:

It is a long flight of stairs with a sharp curve and not much room to maneuver when you get to the top. So, they decided to take the first one--the smaller one--up the back steps--which technically has more turns and a narrower area. After a bit of a struggle, they got it up there. Next came the 324 lb. one. There were just two guys and one of them was on the smaller side. They quickly realized there was no way they were going to be able to move it. They left to get a bigger guy and some straps. They never came back! Yep, that happened. They never came back.

So, Christy was now scrambling to find some other company to tackle it. The very next day, happened to be the 16th. There was a knock at the door around 8 a.m. The guy there said he was to deliver a piece of furniture inside. At first I was a little puzzled. Then, I remembered that the dresser I ordered was due to arrive. I thought that's what it was. The guy said, no, it was a vanity! What??? So, even though they told me that it couldn't be done, the guys showed up! 

I quickly called Christy and told her the guys were here to move the vanity upstairs. The guys sized up the situation. I could not look. I was happy to have Butch handle it. 

Even though I wasn't watching, I could hear it all: huffing and puffing, discussion on what to do and what couldn't be done, etc. 

I went back in to my bathroom to get ready for the day. I could still hear them. I went in the library and closed the door. I could still hear them. I wanted to put my ears on "mute!" I could still hear them. I was so stressed. I was nervous---and yes, downright scared! I had visions of them falling or breaking through the railing and come crashing down. I wish I could have measured my stress at that time. 

I was so hyped up. Part of that was we didn't sleep much the night before. Starting at 2:30 a.m., the fire alarm went off---and continued to go off throughout the rest of the night. If we hadn't just experienced this at the beach a few weeks ago, we would have been more worked up. Apparently, when you remodel, all that dust settles on the furnace. That causes a bit of smoke that then sets off the alarm. Oh the joys of remodeling! 

Finally, the vanity was upstairs! OMGosh! So much work. What were we thinking. But at least it was done!

Oh, and before we began this project, I told Christy that either it had to be completed before the holidays or not started until after! 

The project started 2 weeks late. That should have been my tip off. After all, that happened with the beach remodel too. There's no way you can finish on time if you start two weeks late! Then the contractor took a week off at Thanksgiving. It's going to be a miracle if it's finished by Christmas. I'm not happy about that. You know how I am about the "wow" factor. I want to go from a completed room to decorated---all at once. Instead, it's going to be a hodge podge--painting done, a few days later, carpet. Move the furniture in and get the rooms set up. Then--who knows when--the shower doors and window treatments will arrive. Frustrating for sure!

I'm pretty sure that we will not have shower doors by Christmas. Could get kind of smelly around here---and not the smells of Christmas! Maybe I'll just call it the smell of frustration!