Random Thoughts with RA

If you’re getting married, you need to do a few things. For one thing, don’t listen to anyone but me and Emily Post. So, you need to know about Goodwill’s Wedding Gala. Most of the dresses are brand new and donated from local shops. I wish I would have done it. I loved my dress but it’s almost embarrassing how much it cost. You need to get to the Rivergate store tonight. Yes, it’s Saturday morning but these folks are playing around. Here’s some advice from Goodwill’s blog. 

Next, you’ll need me to review your invitations. It’s a not so secret passion of mine. For real. Send them. I’m on a mission to rid people of poorly written and inappropriate invitations. I judge them. I always have. I’m not proud of it. I almost always find something. I’ve thought of making a list of rules, but most rules can be found in any and all editions of Emily Post’s Etiquette. Your grandmother will thank me.

This week I was back in New Hampshire and Maine. I returned the rug and it pained me a little. I didn’t have a place for it, but that’s never stopped me from wanting. If you’re ever near Portsmouth, New Hampshire – go.

A bunch of tasty food and cute shops. What else do you want?

I have an idea of what The Mister does when I’m on the road.

I wish. 

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Party at our house

We had our immediate family over to our house this past Sunday. This may sound like no big deal to you but we’ve never had a party. No dinner parties. No family get togethers. It was a big deal for us. Having parties and finally entertaining was a big motivator to getting the kitchen done. The backsplash doesn’t exist, we need to repaint the ceiling and do touch up paint on the walls but we committed a few weeks ago by inviting everyone. We had 11 people come over. In our opinion, we went all in.

We went crazy did a bunch of cleaning and projects to prepare Thursday and Friday night and on Saturday afternoon/evening. Our house has never looked better. Some things were an illusion.

For example, our glass cabinet in our sideroom has glass panel doors. It’s a really great cabinet that my parents gave us when they moved. However, due to the glass, the inside needs to be tidy or styled. That was not happening.  It looked like this.

The Colonel says hello and “Fix this cabinet. It’s embarassing.”

I decided that was not acceptable. While starring at it for a few seconds I realized the panels are about the size of scrapbook paper and I happened to have a pack of black in the office. So, I put one sheet in each pane of glass with small piece of painters tape  at the top of each sheet on a door. It looked like this in the end.

Booyah!

We found a very sandy table. I say “sandy” because it was dirty from sanding and it sounds better than “dusty.” I’m continuing my illusion of being a home maker. We left a few things on the table, not realizing it would be so messy. I turned my attention away from it for a few minutes and look what I came back to.

The Mister is a child.

I made my go to Crock Pot lasagna recipe, but accidentally put it on low overnight instead of “keep warm.” I borrowed my mother’s Crock Pot so I could make two batches and I think I was thrown off by having an extra batch. I woke up and could smell it. I knew it wasn’t right. I jumped out of bed and this is what I found.

Both batches were burnt. Insert me running into the bedroom and waking The Mister. He ran to Publix and grabbed a Stouffer’s family sized lasagna. Some family (his mother, my father and us) ate the Crock Pot lasagna. It wasn’t my best batch but the middle was okay. However, I’m glad we had the Stouffer’s to feed everyone.

The Mister’s mother and my momma brought food. His sister brought her signature brownies.  It wasn’t too hot so the parents sat together on our back porch. The Mister ate with his grandparents in the dining room and I ate at “the kid’s table” in our sideroom. We even had extra spaces for everyone to sit down and eat. It was a good time and gave us the confidence that we can have more people over. We can handle it. We have already begun to plan our next par-tay. Additionally, it was a great reminder that life is easier when you don’t put off projects. We’re gonna have to keep the momentum going. First, The Mister and The Colonel Hoof-Hearted need to recoup.

I put this photo on Facebook.

I saved this photo just for y’all.

My sweet boys were exhausted.

 I’ll be sharing photos of our house as it’s been awhile since I’ve given you good people an update.

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Kentucky Derby

The 2012 Kentucky Oaks and Derby are this weekend. I’m not going, but my parents are. So, I’ve been busy trying to find pink items for The Oaks and other needed items for Momma. I’ve really gotten in the mood. So, I have vowed to throw a Kentucky Derby party next year. Of course, I’ve already started looking around for inspiration and here is what I found:

  here

here

here

here

here

here

I’m getting jazzed for next year already. Hats required.

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Super Bowl XLVI

The Super Bowl is happening this weekend. We’re going to watch it with one of The Mister’s closest friends, his wife and their daughter. Their daughter is precious, I could eat her up but regarding real food I’m searching for something fun to bring. I typically bring sausage balls because they are delicious. I’m still considering them but I’m looking for something else. I had some inspiration here for football themed food. Here are some more:

here

via Better Homes and Gardens

here

here

recipe here

What are you making? Do you think the commercials will be any good? I’m hoping for more featuring pugs.

P.S. You’re getting a post every day this week. It’s my thank you gift. You’ll hear more on Thursday.

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Update: Hear me roar

Last month, I celebrated my birthday and The Mister hosting a small, intimate Roaring Twenties birthday party for me. He combined some of my favorite things: themed parties, costumes and Mexican food.

We made invitations in Word, which I realize is not very techy but it worked out. Here it is:

The graphics came from Pinterest after much searching:

The quote image came from an invitation that The Mister found for The Daffodil Ball.

Here we are from the end of the night.

The Mister took my photo and it’s a little blurry but here I am:

The fur shawl was on loan from my mother. The dress is from Merona at Target from a few years ago. It’s been a good faithful dress and I’m surprised it has lasted this long. The hair clip I purchased three – four years ago and was originally for my garter belt. I ended up not using it. The glittery belt is just stretch sequined trim. I originally sewed it for a headband but went with the feather piece. The string of pearls were a gift from my mother a few years ago.

The Mister looked precious:

He already owned everything but the cardigan which we found at Goodwill. It’s old vintage London Fog and was $7.00. He’s so cute.

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Raggedy Ann and Andy Party Inspriation

Our niece is turning one and her party is Raggedy Ann and Andy themed. Personally, I’m very excited about this as I loved Raggedy Ann. This was likely because I was envious of her red hair, but we’ll move on. I’m not in charge of anything at said party, nor do I have any say so. However, I am excited about it and found some inspirational photos:

Some of the photos are from here and most come from pinterest.

My sister-in-law has everything under control – the invitations were adorable. I know there are going to be dolls around for decor, as I brought a few. Some were a little sad looking, including my mother’s chidhood Raggedy Andy.  I’ll understand if she doesn’t use it or puts a “fresher” looking one in front of it.

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Are you ready for some football?

It’s almost football time in Tennessee and if you’re from around these parts you may be jazzed like me. If you’re completely uninterested – I cannot promise this won’t come back up. This is especially true because The Mister and I will be throwing a football party at some point. So, here is some football party inspiration.

here

here

here
There is a recipe for Roasted Garlic-Bacon Dip and a bunch of other tasty sounding stuff.

here

Now, are you ready for some football?

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