Christmas Tree Tour and the Perfect Day!

Last week, I had this super awesome day. Actually it was a bit of a horrid day until I got home and then things started to look up. My mom does Grandma day every Thursday, with the grandchildren that aren't in school This year, that includes Carmie and Chaz. So when I got home Thursday, I found these on my stairs...
And the card that was included...
Is that the cutest thing ever?

So that was just the beginning of an amazing night...I set out to see all 3 of my sisters and take them a Christmas surprise. When I walked into Ally's house, I was met with this amazing splendor...

It's red! Her tree is red! And soooooo beautiful I took a few seconds to take it in. You might remember my post about Hillary's tree from 2007....when I saw Ally's tree, I knew what I needed to do....take a picture and share the beauty with the world.

On to Hill's, where this little gem was waiting to be photographed...
How she continues to top herself each year is beyond me...

And then it was on to Pop's....
I might be a little biased because we have the same tree so of course I love hers. :)

And on my way home, Jeff called to see if I still needed help painting my wall!!! So we ended the day w/a delicious meal at Denny's. :)

So there you have it....THE PERFECT DAY in which I saw all 4 of my siblings and all 5 of my sweeties. And then I snapped this when I got home to round out the tour...

What do you think of the new drapes?

Fancy Pillow

So I purchased this AMAZING new couch that I referred to in this post. And I finally got it upstairs (thanks Pop and Steve!) and am ready to accessorize! I've been looking for ideas for new couch pillows and I found this post on my new favorite blog: Oh So Crafty.

So I immediately rounded up 4 old shirts that would've ended up at goodwill sooner than later....

And I up-cycled them to make an amazing pillow!!!!
It turned out a little more stripey than I envisioned (gotta love my lack of ability to visualize)...but overall I LOVE IT! This was most definitely the funnest project I've done in a LONG time!

Are you thinking "Weird color scheme, Shannon, are you color blind?" Well here's how it fits in the room....and I'm painting a wall the Cool Caribbean color so stay tuned for that.....

But for now....what do you think of my new look?
The remotes are a nice touch....but if I give them the chop I also have to cut out the vintage resin grapes and my Granny's craft project from the 50s...so they got to stay in the photo. :)

Happy Holidays!!

The 13th

Yesterday I had the first normal Saturday that I've had in many months....it was good to be back!! So it was filled w/a Zoey sleepover on Friday night, stamping in the morning, Einstein's for lunch w/3 Roses and Pop, Hobby Lobby and about an hour of being a Maxxinista! Then Zoey and I stamped for a few more hours...the perfect day!

Zoey's latest thing is covering journals, which she writes in during ever spare moment. She did this one almost completely unguided....I only had to contribute my glitter Mod Podge. :)

It scares me how old she looks in this picture. :(

Also, to make the day even more fabulous, the 13th of every month is my unlimited Diet Coke day!! How is that different from every other day, you may be asking? Well it's not really, except I just don't feel guilty for damaging my kidneys. So after 32 oz. of the Dark Bubblie @ Einsteins, and a refill, I snagged this one on my way home...

Even after all that (roughly 96 ounces), I still spent less than $4 on Diet Coke today. :) mmmm!

November Art Class

I am so happy and lucky to be taking an art class!!! The kids have been taking art from this awesome lady who lives in my Rent's neighborhood....and so Hill and I decided to join up for the adult classes this year. In October, we learned to sketch. I even have my own sketch book now!!

This past Tuesday, we created amazing landscapes with oil pastels. OMG I seriously loved it so much and when I'm finished it is going to be an amazing work of art for my newly decorated house (no progress on the house yet....just dreaming).

So here is my initial sketch...on special paper for this medium (I almost sound like I know what I'm talking about)...

And then I snapped this one after the background/mountains & sky were complete....

And this was how I ended the evening...I'm about 75% finished.....

Awesome, right??? I'll post the finished one next month so stay tuned....you will just die when you see the fields in the foreground!!! :)

Hocus Pocus!

Halloween was awesome again this year at Stampin' Up! The training dept dressed up as witches...

Me, Donna & Carrie

Happy November, all ya'll! :)

Last 7 weeks

I've been on 6 business trips in the last 7 weeks. It's been amazing. But I am tired and ready to sleep. Oh yeah--I already have been pretty much since I stepped off the plane! Anyway here are a few pics from things, not just business trips, that have been going on in the last little bit....please ignore my stupid phone pictures--I hope you can click on them and make them bigger if you wanna...

Times Square....SO AMAZING!!

I took a few days off after the Book-a-thon and it was UEA so we all...sisters, kids and friends...went to McD's one day for lunch. Does this look like awesome fun or what?!?!
I am my father's daughter so I snapped a picture of the South Carolina Capitol building whilst we buzzed by it in the cab one day...
Annual trip to Lagoon (or "The Magoon) as Chaz is still calling it...it was Frightmares which was so awesome!!
We've been doing Paper, Pad & Marker at Regionals this fall....I love seeing all the colors like this....
Stamping SWAG!!! I went to an awesome event when in Canada and this is all the swag I took home with me.....so much fun!!!
Also got to go to Niagra Falls for the first time...
Beef anyone? Texans know how to BBQ right!
And I bought a new couch!!!!! Stay tuned (ok check back in a few months actually b/c it is going to take me awhile) for a complete makeover of my house!! :)

Unbelievable Autumn

And finally the weather is turning!!! Why is everything so much better in Autumn? Music sounds cooler. Food tastes better. Clothes are cuter. TV is unbelievable. I am happier.

NYC in Autumn is pretty much the best ever. And I was there this past Sunday and Monday. Sadly the leaves hadn't turned, but I assure you the weather was truly amazing!!!

And these are the crappy pics that I get w/my phone....must add camera to my Christmas list. :)

Book #7

You can probably already tell how much I liked this book by how quickly I read it. I was sucked into it literally from the first page. It's surprising, shocking, evil, naughty, devastating and sweet all rolled into one. There were so many surprising things throughout, I expected the ending to be a little more WOW in some way and it just fizzled out. Kind of a bummer for a book that I found 90% of to be so incredibly fascinating!

Would I recommend it? It is really different so I am not sure I could pinpoint would like it. However, if you decide to read too many reviews before reading the book, it may ruin all the twists and turns.

I finished it last night and I am already looking back on it with a "that was awesome" feeling.

7 down; 5 to go...