Gobble Till You Wobble!

I hope everyone had a terrific and filling Thanksgiving!!

I had such an incredible Thanksgiving week with the hubby and his rents! The only problem was that time went by way too fast.

Saturday, before Thanksgiving, I spent the day prepping the house for Nathan's rents! Riley certainly was keeping himself entertained.

Nathan's parents came into town late Sunday evening!
Monday, I had to work for a little bit, but for dinner, we tried a place we haven't been to yet, a German restaurant - Restaurant Linderhof! It was beautiful inside! Our waiter was extremely knowledgable about the German food, and helped us make our delicious meal choices!

Restaurant Linderhof

I went with something I normally wouldn't try! I had the eggplant ratatouille with spatzle on the side. Spatzle is a type of egg noodle, and it sure is yummy!

I really look forward to going back and trying their other dishes!

Eggplant Ratatouille

Tuesday morning, we went to Nick & J's cafe for breakfast! Nick & J's was an adorable diner, just like the diners' you see in the movies. The atmosphere was relaxing, yet fun. The service and food was even better!

Nick & J's Cafe

Western Omelette

After a delicious breakfast, we all headed home. Kay and I worked on projects with the Silhouette Cameo 3 machine. The boys worked on their projects and began smoking the meats to have for Thanksgiving.

Silhouette Cameo 3 cutting machine!

Resting Grinch Face

Ta Da!

Figuring out how to work the Silhouette Cameo machine was awesome! The possibilities are endless when it comes to crafting! I look forward to making some new projects! 😄

Thanksgiving Eve, we all went to Painting with a Twist!

It's always such a fun time going to Painting with a Twist. It never gets old!

Ready to start painting!

Our finished paintings!

THANKSGIVING DAY:

We all knew we would be eating a plethora of food later that day, which made us decide to head over to Lilly Bluff first and get some fresh air and "hiking" in. We all wore our new shirts! Nathan and I wore shirts with a turkey that said "Pour Some Gravy on Me," and Kay & Steve wore shirts with cooked turkeys that said "Let's Get Basted." 😂

Pour Some Gravy On Me T-shirt

Lilly Bluff 

The Lilly Bluff overlook is a beautiful spot! 

Obed River

Showing off our t-shirts

Holly

For our Thanksgiving feast we had our traditional Raclette dinner! We brought out the raclette Swiss grill that cooks the meat on the top, and melts the cheese on the bottom. Gruyere cheese is our preferred choice, over the raclette cheese. The turkey had already been smoked, but the grill heated up the turkey on top.

For our side dishes, we had green bean casserole, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and baby red potatoes.

Nathan made an excellent pumpkin pie cheesecake for dessert. Talk about being stuffed! 

SO. MUCH. FOOD.

Thanksgiving Feast

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake

BLACK FRIDAY:

Nathan and I both had to work on Black Friday. Kay and Steve volunteered to come to work with me! Thank goodness they were there to help at the store, because we were BUSY! 

Kay and I made snowflake earrings with the Silhouette Cameo 3 machine and faux leather material to wear on Black Friday - along with the Christmas t-shirts we made!

Snowflake Earrings

Cookies!!!!

Meet Molly - Santa's little helper!

Selfies with Santa

After work, we had a chill afternoon relaxing back at the house. 

Nathan's parents had to head back home on Saturday. 😞
It was a pretty chill day, I began putting up Christmas decorations! I can't wait to have them all up!

Beginning to put up Christmas decorations!

'Tis the season for Peppermint Mocha creamer!!

After such an exciting week, it's officially back to reality. It is time to finish putting up the Christmas decorations and clean/organize the house!

🎄

QUESTIONS FOR YOU:

* How was your Thanksgiving?

* What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?

* Have you started putting up Christmas decorations?

Spring Preparation

Spring will be here before we know it, and to be honest, I'm ready for it to get here already! I enjoy winter, but I enjoy it much more if there is SNOW. Since we haven't really had a lot of snow, I would rather Spring get here so we can enjoy the warmth, and flowers!!! Tennessee is always beautiful, but especially gorgeous in the Springtime. Everywhere you look there are the most vibrant colors.

With Spring, comes Spring cleaning! To help get your entire house (and/or office) smelling clean and fresh, the Purification essential oil is mandatory! Diffusing the Purification oil helps get rid of odors by neutralizing and purifying the air. You can add some Lemon essential oil with the Purification oil in the diffuser to really add a pop of fresh, energizing, clean air! If you don't care for lemon, try a different citrus essential oil like tangerine!
Purification essential oil also really comes in handy while doing laundry since it helps get rid of odors. Apply a few drops of oil to a wet washcloth and throw it in the washer with your clothes! It is that easy!

I finished up a quick little organization project:

I have had these containers for a while now, I spray painted them the sea-foam green last year, but decided to go ahead and put chalk labels on them!

Have you guys seen the Pantone Colors of 2016? 

If not, look here: Pantone Color of the Year

I LOVE the rose quartz and serenity!! They both are such pretty colors!

At the end of last year, I found these pieces below on sale at Michaels. The jewels on the statement piece have that rose quartz color to it! 

I put together the necklace, and now I have the cutest Spring statement necklace!

Speaking of rose quartz, I found a rose quartz-ish color of nail polish color by OPI:

I couldn't help myself, I bought it, as well as two other colors...

Suzi Shops & Island Hops; Princesses Rule; Significant Other Color

While out and about, I stopped at Starbucks. I already had my delicious Real Good Coffee k-cup at home before leaving the house so instead of ordering a coffee, I ordered the iced green tea passion tango! How have I not had this until now? A grande is only 80 calories! This tea was delicious and refreshing! It wasn't too sweet or too unsweet either, it was the perfect mix!

I just received my first freebie from BzzAgent! To welcome me to the team, BzzAgent sent me a free Welcome magnet! What is even better is what comes next! BzzAgent will notify you of "campaigns" that you can sign up for (for free) to test out a certain product! They will send you the product and you just have to try it out and share your review! 

It's a pretty sweet deal if you ask me!   :)

Last, but not least, I want to congratulate Becca for winning the Real Good Coffee Co. k-cup giveaway!!! 

Question Time!

* Are you ready for Spring?

* Have you started your Spring cleaning yet?

*Do you like the Pantone colors of 2016? If not, which color(s) would you have chosen?

DIY Lavender Pillow Spray

Hey ya'll! Did you survive the blizzard of 2016?! I hope you are staying safe and warm! I took advantage of the cold weather and came up with some new DIY ideas at home.

I saw an advertisement recently for a lavender pillow spray that is supposed to help you relax before going to bed. After looking through Pinterest, I found that I could easily make my own spray with ingredients found around the house!

Ingredients to make the lavender pillow/room spray:
*Mini spray bottle
*1 tsp of rubbing alcohol
*30 + drops of Young Living Essential Oils - lavender
*Water

I filled up the bottle with the rubbing alcohol and drops of the lavender Young Living Essential Oils, then I filled up the rest of the bottle with water! It was THAT easy to make!

All you have to do is spritz your pillow a few minutes before bedtime, and it helps relax you and fall asleep faster!

This spray can retail for around $10 per bottle! The Crabtree & Evelyn brand is a good $18! Ouch!
The DIY version is all natural and way cheaper! Plus, you can change the scents, and personalize it any way you want! It can be used as a room spray instead of Febreeze or air fresheners in bathrooms!

For the spray bottle - you can find some at the Dollar Tree OR if you already have travel size hairspray - keep the bottles after using them and wash them out! The bottle is just the right size to re-use for this spray! I'm pretty sure you can also get the rubbing alcohol at the Dollar Tree if you don't have some around the house. Per the Young Living Essential Oil website, the lavender oil retails for $30.92. It doesn't take much to make the spray and the oil has lasted me quite a while already.

I absolutely fell in LOVE this spray! The travel size bottles are perfect, especially for trips! If you are like me, and have a difficult time falling asleep away from home, this spray really helps out! I also keep it with me so if I start to feel stressed or anxious, I spray it to help keep me calm/relaxed.

DIY Lavender Pillow Spray

Have you bought any pillow sprays?

Which scent(s) would you use in your spray?

First Snow Recap!

Wednesday was the first snow day of 2016 in Knoxville! It feels like it has been forever since we have had snow here, so it was a pleasant surprise! Watching the snow fall with a hot cup of coffee (usually with a cat on my lap) is one of my favorite relaxing things to do. It snowed quite a bit, but unfortunately did not take long to melt away on Thursday.

First snowfall on Wednesday:

After playing around in the snow for a little bit this week, I came inside to work on another chalk paint project. My jewelry armoire!

Before:

I used the Americana Decor brand again. I chose the color "Yesteryear," which is a beautiful light grey with some blue tint in it. 

I wanted to show you how you want the first coat to look - very streaky. A little paint goes a long way!

After:

The jewelry armoire turned out perfect, but blends in a little too much with my blue walls. I'll have to place it in front of my accent wall (dark grey) so it pops out better!

Thursday, the hubby and I both had the day off, so we grabbed some Starbucks and ventured up toward Tellico Plains and Cherohala Skyway.  We're always ready for an adventure!

Our first Starbucks of 2016!! 

Bald River Falls is one of my favorite places to go in that area, so we stopped to take some pictures.

Isn't it gorgeous?!

The sun came out for a second!

Cherohala Skyway is such a fun scenic drive, no matter what season it is!

Today we woke up to a little bit of snow on the ground - maybe half an inch or so. Looks like the "blizzard" missed Knoxville this time. 

Even though it wasn't a ton of snow, I went outside to play around and to build a tiny snowman. 

I had on about 4 layers to keep myself warm! I would be lost without my Columbia jacket!! It's the best!

Our patio heater puts out some good heat! It was nice having it on so I could sit and not freeze to death!

I grabbed my Canon 60d to take some pictures of the birds in our backyard. I love sitting out there (even in the cold) watching the birds. The bluejays are my favorite!

Finally, I decided to hang out with Riley for a while inside, WITH my heated blanket on & coffee in hand! Tonight will probably be dedicated to marathoning shows on our Amazon Prime TV. Nathan and I have become addicted to watching the show "Orphan Black." We have binge watched the first two seasons already! Orphan Black seriously is amazing, and the acting is phenomenal! I HIGHLY recommend checking it out!

Riley sure enjoys the little heater! He just lays in front of it, soaking in all the warmth! We're pretty spoiled!    :)

I hope ya'll are staying warm and safe in this weather!

Is it snowing where you are? 

Do you have cabin fever?

Do you like to go outside in the snow?