And Visions of Sugarplums Danced in Their Heads...

For today's post, I just wanted to share some Christmas images from around my house.... hope all are enjoying their holiday seasons!

 

10 Holiday Gifts All Under $20!

Forgive me for not getting this post up sooner, but blogging took a back seat to my Christmas cards this week! So much to do, so little time. Anyway, I'd like to share with you some of my top picks for Holiday gifts, and the best part is that all of these items are under $20. I thought this might stir up an idea or two for those of us who love to give, but need to watch what we spend! Read on for my top 10 gifts under $20.

Anthropologie's Voluspa candle. They have several scents to choose from, but my absolute favorite is the Santiago Huckleberry. I could stand around with this to my nose literally all day and never get sick of it. Love this three wick candle, and at $18 it makes the perfect gift under $20.

 

 

 

Christmas planning is underway!

Hello dear readers!

I hope that each and every one of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  As for us, we spent 4 days enjoying family, friends, food and good times.  I've been battling a sinus infection (yuck), but let me tell you, that didn't stop me from having a great time with loved ones this past week.  Since just this past Wednesday, my husband and I have enjoyed: a date night at Empire State South (read about sister restaurant 5 and 10 in one of my Athens-centered posts, here), a performance by Yacht Rock Revue - y'all recall how we love this band! - at classic Atlanta haunt Smith's Old Bar, two days of family get-togethers, and a smashing wedding reception for one of my oldest friends and his lovely bride (they married about a month ago on a mountain-top in the northeast - how romantic is that?)  Oh, and lest I forget, we also enjoyed watching another delicious win (4 in a row, to be exact) for our beloved Georgia Bulldogs over in-state rival Georgia Tech.  It was a great weekend for the Forlines!
 

Our Bunco Group Sends Some Love to our Military this Holiday Season!

Each year our bunco group comes together for some sort of charity around the holiday season. Last year, we supported our troops through a group called Operation Homefront where we sponsored a few military families and purchased Christmas gifts for their children. (Read that post here.) This year, we kept with the same military theme only changed it up to send care packages to the troops who are currently overseas. Some of us met up at Target and purchased items such as candy, beef jerky, cans of Chef Boyardee, Hostess Cakes (long live the Twinkie!) and even some playing cards. These things were compiled with some of our own baked goods, magazines, letters of gratitude, and artwork from our children to make up several packages. One of the girls in our group then sorted and shipped these goodies to the various places around the world where some of our military men and women are currently serving. I believe she said one of the packages went to someone stationed on a ship off the coast of Libya. Considering the recent events in this country, it's unnerving when you think about the danger this young man or woman could be in while stationed near such a hostile environment. Our prayers for protection go with each package that was sent over.

Halloween 'Hood Party

Yes, Halloween 2012 is now in the past, but I want to share some highlights from a party a few of us on my street organized in honor of the holiday. The majority of the effort was lead by, the King and Queen of Halloween themselves – The Sokolowskis, who, I might add, were responsible for the very idea of this spooky soiree! Everyone gathered in their front yard so the house you see in my pictures below actually belongs to them. Needless to say, the SPOOKolowskis go all out with their decorations, they even purchased a projector so we could all watch a Halloween movie displayed on the side of their house once the sun went down. And another neighbor took the time to decorate a trailer he hitched to the back of his truck with orange lights. He created seating with hay stacks where the kids proudly sat as they rode up and down the streets parading their costumes for all those whom we passed by. We were suppose to have a jack-o-lantern contest too, but never got around to that... we must have lost track of time due to all the fun we were having!

It goes without saying that I feel very blessed to be surrounded by such awesome families. I love getting together with my neighbors and hope we can make this an annual celebration!

 

Our fabulous hayride!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween dear readers!

Hope you've had a wonderful day, tricking and treating, dressing up, eating candy, having fun with little ones, or whatever else Halloween might mean to you. 

For today's post, I wanted to share some of what Halloween meant around these parts, in terms of decor that is.  ;-)

A look at our front door... some squashes, gourds, and pumpkins (in vintage iron baskets from happy place Scott's Antique Market) alongside some ceramic jack o'lanterns from Kroger and an autumnal berry wreath from Target a few years back and I'm good to go!

 

Foodies Love Food Trucks!

It seems like Food Trucks are all the rage these days. Foodies flock to them not for your usual hamburger and fries, but for a more cultural cuisine. You’re more likely to find a gourmet twist on tacos or an Asian fusion type of menu on one of these trucks rather than some boring hotdog. These chefs on wheels have put a whole new spin on the idea of street food and the masses are really taking to it. There is even a show dedicated to the concept on the Food Network called The Great Food Truck Race. My husband and I watch this from time to time. The good news is you can find a food truck in almost every major city. Atlanta finally came around to the idea too, opening a huge park on the westside of town. I haven’t been there yet, but I hear it’s really fun, attracting tons of trucks which offer a wide variety of food. This park in particular even hosts small concerts on the weekends. You can check out their site here.

Quick and easy - but still HOMEMADE - No Bake Cookies!

Y'all, today I want to share one of my favorite recipes, No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies.  It's a favorite because the end result is so yummy, but it sure doesn't hurt that it's quick and easy to boot.  And not to mention - no baking required!!  I got this recipe some years ago from a dear friend and former co-worker, Donna.  Donna is just about one of the sweetest women I've ever had the pleasure of knowing and calling my dear friend, so it's fitting that she's the one who gave me this to-die-for sweets recipe.

Burt's Pumpkin Farm & The Cumming Country Fair and Festival all in a weekend... Oh and Zoo Atlanta too!

In the year of 1492 when Columbus sailed the ocean blue... and who knows how the rest goes? Just glad they didn't have GPS back in those days or ole Columbus wouldn't have missed his mark by two or three oceans and most of us would agree that was a good thing. Geez, he really was no where close to India. Well happy Columbus Day everyone, hope you all had a fabulous weekend!

Sorry my post is a little late, Lindsay and I like to have one out by Friday or Saturday if possible, but this weekend was a busy one for me. I actually got around to doing some of those Autumn activities I mentioned when I last blogged. You can read about those here. Anyway, I thought I'd share some of the highlights/pictures from my weekend, we hit up 2 of the 5 places I mentioned – Burt's Pumpkin Farm and the Cumming Country Fair and Festival. And we're headed to Ellijay next weekend for some apple picking so my list is close to being checked off.

Fall Delights

In keeping with Catherine's post from last week about her favorite Fall things to do in the greater Atlanta area, I thought this week I would share some images I've been hoarding that are giving me oodles of inspiration this season as I start to decorate our home.  It doesn't hinder me in the least that we won't be getting cool weather for a few (to maybe even several) weeks, thanks to our mild Georgia weather.  I mean, I guess colorful leaves would be more fitting if I needed a sweater, but hey! you go with what you got.  ;o)

Most of these images are also featured on the "holiday decor" board of my Pinterest page, so if you want to follow me there, please do!  You can find me here.