allthroughthehouse

Happy Thanksgiving.

Gobble, gobble, gobble....the day is finally here!  Time to celebrate with family and friends, grateful for each other.

Wishing you and your families a Happy Thanksgiving filled with love and laughter.

grateful.

Thanksgiving dinner will be at our house this year.  I'm looking forward to a house filled with chatter, laughter, little voices echoing from the great room to the kitchen, someone falling down and getting a boo boo that needs care, football games playing in the background, and the inevitable "when is dinner going to be ready?"  I'm ready to cherish every moment.

This year, I ordered a fresh turkey from The Fresh Market and the bird is ready for pickup.  I have my list all made out for everything else I need plus a side trip to Williams Sonoma for the turkey brine.  Have you ever brined your turkey?  If not, you are missing a wonderful treat.  I went to WalMart last night and got a new trash can (plastic) for the bird's overnight stay in the garage.  There's no way a 24 pounder is going to fit in my fridge.   I can't wait to start cooking!

I spent last night cleaning my kitchen - getting it ready to get messed up again.  The stove (inside and out), the fridge (ditto), and steam cleaned the floor.  If you don't have one of these, you've gotta get one.  Let's just say it really does all the hard work and I'm not down on my knees scrubbing away at scuff marks on wood floors.  It's wonderful on tile too.  Not a commercial - just a nod to a good thing that I'm grateful for.

motivation.

"People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing.  That's why we recommend it daily."  ~ Zig Ziglar

Christmas music is being played on the radio.  It's just the middle of November and the strains of Christmas music are hovering out there on the airwaves.  I counted three on my way out this morning.  Usually the stations in my area don't start playing Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving.  It got me into the mood to hear more and now I'm listening to some gently Christmas tunes on Pandora radio. 

But absolutely nothing motivates me more than Christmas music.  Listening to Mannheim Steamroller's soothing rendition of 'Stille Nacht" pushes me over the edge and sends my creative juices spiraling out of control.  I'm ready to start rummaging through the attic and see what survived the summer.  I didn't realize that some of those cute little red berry stems and wreaths don't do so well in the sweltering attic heat.  And of course, candles.  I've made the mistake before of storing candles in what I thought would be a relative 'safe' place in the attic and then spent hours scraping wax from everything.  Lesson learned - there is no safe place in my attic for candles.

My husband and I spent a couple of days in the mountains a few weeks ago.  The scenery was so beautiful.  A visual explosion of glorious fall color.  Everywhere.  Twisting and turning up winding roads leading to scenes more beautiful than the ones before.

On the way home, we decided to take the back roads - the roads less traveled and filled with surprise after surprise.  And we weren't disappointed.  Several small boutique shops were opened along the way and in one we picked up a small publication and noticed an advertisement for a fall open house.  We asked the shopkeeper if it was located nearby.  She said that it should take us about 35 minutes to get there, but warned us that it was really off the beaten path.  Whoa - how far was 'really off the beaten path' was it?  We plugged the address into the GPS and off we went.

She was right.  About 35-40 minutes and really, really off the beaten path we arrived.  At a house.  A really big house.  With lots of cars parked in front.  I knew we were at the right place.  Shoppers, lots and lots of shoppers.  The owners, a very nice couple, decorate their home, her studio, the barn, and two other buildings on the property several times a year for her shows.  You get to wander through their house and shop.  It was awesome!  Every corner and turn held glimpses of more beautiful things.

Santas, Bellsnickles - decorations of every kind.  Pure eye candy - and to the shopper (me), pure trouble.  I could have spent a small fortune if the big guy wasn't there with me.  But not to worry, my daughters and I are going up the day after Thanksgiving to roam through her Christmas open house and shop like madwomen! 

sightseeing

This whole internet blog thing is fascinating.  Not only can I travel around the world visiting the most wonderful people, but I get to do it in my pj's and no one is the wiser.  Except for all the other million or two that are probably doing the same thing.

I would post a picture of myself, but honestly, I've got to get my hair re-colored before I do that.  I let my sweet friend Joni (the hairdresser) talk me in to going darker for the fall and winter.  Now, for some that might seem an okay thing to do.  But, for a fair skin blonde - that was a really radical thing to do.  My husband is still having a hard time adjusting.  In the mornings when we're getting ready for work and I keep hearing stuff like - "so, do you really like your new hair color?" - I get to thinking that maybe, just maybe he's not liking the dark auburn brown so much.

If you've stumbled on to my new blog - a big welcome to you!  If you're one of my friends and stumbled on to my blog - hey, what took you so long to visit!!

I hope you'll come back.  Maybe I'll share a project or two.  Maybe share a new recipe.  Maybe share of few of my favorite pictures, but I will share a little of myself and the things going on all through the house.