Rate My Space!!

I just posted my Master Makeover on HGTV's Rate My Space.  Go vote!!  I'd love to hear some feedback too.  There are a few things that I already want to do, but the budget's tight... so be innovative! 

Here's a preview:

Don't forget to rate my space!

Simplicity and Community... Home is Wherever You Are

This video pretty much sums up the feelings I have about this Thanksgiving.  I'd really like to adopt this way of thinking throughout my daily living while in Philadelphia... where Jason and I have no biological family. 

Not forgetting those at home, however our family this year, and I hope years to come, are the people that we go to school with, work with and fellowship with.  The people that give us rides when our car breaks down.  The people that call us when we've missed two days of work/school.  The people that play bocce ball with us barefoot in the winter.  The people that we dine with.  The people that live with.  The people that we celebrate with.  This is my family.  I'd like to treat them as so. 

~I hope you've found yours~

BLACK FRIDAY & Private Sales!!

For all of you (like me) who are afraid to actually step out of your home on one of the busiest shopping days of the year and prefer to do your shopping via internet, I thought I'd share some invitations to some of my favorite private sales where you can find great online sales & earn credits too.  

Just Click on the picture for each to sign-up for free!!
Shop for your kids, your home, your man, and maybe sneak something for yourself!

Happy Shopping!

Shutterfly Explanation

Ok, so some of you may have been thinking, "What's the deal with her promoting all these companies?"  Well, my friends, there are incentives.  First things first... you must be a blogger to benefit from the Shutterfly deal I'm about to tell you about.  As mentioned in the previous blog, Shutterfly is one of the best photo sites I've come across that has a tremendous amount of benefits for their loyal customers.  No credit card included... no gimmick.  It really is easy to reap the benefits, I promise.  

All I did was sign-up to receive Shutterfly's email, and promos just come my way... like magic.  This particular promo consisted of creating a blog basically to brag about Shutterfly (and rightly so), and afterwards inform Shutterfly of your blog.  Well my friends, doing that granted me 50 FREE holiday cards of my choice to send out this Christmas.  The only catch is the selection.  I had to choose a 5 x 7 flat or folded stationary.  All I'm paying for is shipping which is around $8.00... not too bad seeing that most boxes at our favorite stores... ehmm Target... cost around $5.00 if not more a box.  I can't post the one I chose because then it wouldn't be a surprise to all of the lucky ones to receive it!  However, now you know my secret.  Whoever said, "Secrets don't make friends?"  

Here's a sneak peak of one of the pictures included in this year's Christmas card. 

 I hope you all have a wonderful holiday with family and friends.  Eat lots of Turkey!!  And don't miss me too much!  Jason and I will be celebrating in Philadelphia.  If you are still looking for an awesome dish to bring to a Thanksgiving dinner, you may want to try the Turkey N' Dressing recipe I posted a few weeks back.

Happy Thanksgiving, Y'all!!!

All I Want for Christmas is My Shutterfly Cards!

When looking for the "perfect" Christmas card this year, I headed over to my favorite site Shutterfly!  What I love about Shutterfly is once you are on their email list they send you amazing promo codes for all kinds of great deals throughout the seasons.  This year we were able to get a  photo album and give it to Jason's dad as a birthday present for practically free!  We only had to pay for shipping, and what a great gift it was!

Currently, you can save 20% on your photo books.  Plus receive free shipping if your order is over $30.  Click here to see more on photo albums.

Now, back to Christmas cards.  I've already done the hard work for you... the selection is massive!  Here are a few of my favorites!   Aren't these elegant!?

I love the monogrammed look!

But anyone who knows me well, knows that I find it hard to resist a little COLOR and FUN!  I must get that from my dear mother!!  Speaking of my mother, a Christmas tradition at my house was receiving a new calendar.  We each had our very own!  Shutterfly has them too! Check them out!

In the meantime, here are some more FUN cards!!
 

What kind of grandparents could resist spoiling their grand-babies when they received this in the mail?  The most difficult decision is which one to choose?

Turkey N' Dressin!

Hey y'all!!  I'm bringing on the Southern Charm right now if you can't tell.  I've been hearing all kinds of remarks stating that so many people are just skipping right over Thanksgiving and jumping straight to Christmas without even blinking.  Well, (EhHmmm...Aunt Jan), this post is dedicated to you!!  

She's the talented one in the middle with the sideways frown on her face. 

In the South tradition is Turkey N' Dressin!!  No stuffing here.  We prefer to serve our stuffing alongside the bird not actually inside the bird.  Plus the bird wouldn't be able to handle it!  Dressing, as we like to call it, is enough to feed an entire family.  I'm talking about the whole shabang!  Cousins, aunts, uncles, brothers, mother's ex-husband's boyfriends... all of em!  

I hope you enjoy this true Southern Thanksgiving recipe and the left-overs too!

SOUTHERN CORNBREAD DRESSING

Yield
Makes 16 to 18 servings
Ingredients
1 cup butter or margarine, divided
3 cups white cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
7 large eggs, divided
3 cups buttermilk
3 cups soft breadcrumbs
2 medium onions, diced (2 cups)
1 large bunch celery, diced (3 cups)
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh sage*
6 (10 1/2-ounce) cans condensed chicken broth, undiluted
1 tablespoon pepper
Preparation
Place 1/2 cup butter in a 13- x 9-inch pan; heat in oven at 425° for 4 minutes.
Combine cornmeal and next 5 ingredients; whisk in 3 eggs and buttermilk.
Pour hot butter into batter, stirring until blended. Pour batter into pan.
Bake at 425° for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool.
Crumble cornbread into a large bowl; stir in breadcrumbs, and set aside.
Melt remaining 1/2 cup butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add onions and celery, and saute until tender. Stir in sage, and saute 1 more minute.
Stir vegetables, remaining 4 eggs, chicken broth, and pepper into cornbread mixture; pour evenly into 1 lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish and 1 lightly greased 8-inch square baking dish. Cover and chill 8 hours.
Bake, uncovered, at 375° for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown.
*1 tablespoon dried rubbed sage may be substituted for fresh sage.

Deals, Deals, Deals

I thought I'd quickly share a pretty awesome deal I have stumbled upon over the weekend. 

RUFFLE BUTTS

Zuilly is a private sales company that offers up to 70% off of children's apparel & all things else kid oriented.  Currently they have RuffleButts on sale for $10.99!!!

Photo courtesy of rufflebutts.com

This is a fabulous buy!  These usually sale for $17 or more.  Mom's (and their babies) love them!   It makes a great gift!  If you are not already a member of this online sales community, just click on the invitation below.  Membership is free, and you can't beat the deals.

http://www.zulily.com/invite/jespey249

These are a few of my favorite things...

I'll begin with this video.  I love discovering new (new to me) artist who actually have some talent.  I'm especially drawn to folksy & bluegrass diddies.  Hence the song from Pomplamoose.

But what inspired me to write this post was a new blog I recently discovered, which makes my heart smile and stirs up creativity burrowing inside of me. Check it out!  

She offers tutorials on how to paint hideous furniture into works of art.

She also seems to be giving away a lot of things too, besides free tutorials.  Be sure to click on the link above if you want to see the other giveaways from All Things Thrifty.

And finally, another site that still aims to please is low and behold Apartment Therapy.  People who live in small spaces cherish this site.  However, dwellers of any size, big or small, can gain creative ideas from one day's visit.  I especially love the house tours such as the one I blogged about back in July. 

So long, fare well.

Tis the Season of Giveaways!!

Who doesn't love a good giveaway?  It doesn't really matter how small or grand it is, both are just as fun!  I've took the pleasure of compiling together some giveaways that have struck my interest and hopefully yours too!

I found out about this one from one of my favorite blogs to follow My Sweet Savannah.  She has such great ideas and is fun to read also.  All you have to do is go to her site for directions on how to win one of these cute totes!  Aren't they adorable?  I just love the pink one!

Another great one I ran into today is from The Williamson's Wonderful World.  She is a Willow House consultant and is giving away a $50 shopping spree towards  her line.  Cute, cute stuff!!  Again, just go to her blog where there is a link for directions.  Here's a preview of what you could put on your shopping list. 

Love it!!!

More to come...

It's not even Thanksgiving, and I'm alreay dreaming about Christmas!

My mother was not one to have Christmas decorations up ahead of time, but she did decorate every year... every room.  This year I am feeling the Christmas spirit early, and I am already conjuring up ideas that would be fitting for our one bedroom apartment.  Today I even went browsing to get some ideas...  a little too early for that, I suppose.  As I arrived, the stores were just getting started with unpacking the first delivery of Christmas goodies.  Oh well, maybe next week.  The internet however has remained a reliable source for my Christmas "FIX".  I mean really, if I want cute stockings I better order now!  These whimsical stockings were found on chicmommybags on Etsy.  This girl takes all final orders on December 10th.  Aren't they cute!?

My college roommate use to describe my decorating style as froo froo.  She may be right, because I'm loving this one!  Yet again another etsy find by snazzieque.  Better yet, she monograms!

If you're more into the shabby chic look and need something a little more subdued (but just as fun), you may want to check out South House Boutique.  She has a huge selection!

Let's take a poll!!  Which is your favorite?

Free Web poll for your Web site - freepolls.com

I'm Ballin!

I'm almost embarrassed to post this (revealing my poor decorating skills in the "Before" pic).  Yikes!  In my defense I was working with what I had available at the time.  Jason and I came to Philly with a futon and a full size bed.  I'm not exaggerating, that's it!  Speaking of  Jason, he is the one who really helped motivate me this past weekend by cleaning out the hallway closet.  Next thing I know I'm running around like Mary Poppins!  Just a snap of a finger.  Voila!  A magical transformation.

Here's the Before:

After!

 

And a closer view of the pillows: 

If I do say so myself, the room has made mass improvement.  I would like a new duvet like this one from Bloomingdale's, since the one I posted about previously from Anthropology is discontinued. 

But now that our room is semi put together, I'm conflicted.  Maybe I should just go with a chic white tufted duvet.  Opinons??

In other news, October treated us well.  Here Jason and I are at the Studio Incamminati Gala which is held annually at the Union League in Philadelphia.  This year's theme was "To Russia With Love".  

This season I also had the pleasure of finally strolling around Antique Row in Center City.  I didn't purchase anything, but it was well worth the stroll. 

 

Photo Courtesy of www.ronsaari.com

I did however score me some awesome boots on South Street!!  Sorry, no pic.  They come up to my knee, and believe it or not, there's no space between my skinny leg and the boot.  Skinny girls understand.  Buying boots has not been an easy task for me, so this is major people!

Finally, Philly has been quite cold these last few days.  I was hoping for a long fall, but it seems like Winter has made itself feel right at home.

Ahh...October, I will miss you!