More Stands......

Once I get something in my head, it's hard to get it out!!! Here are a few more ideas for cake stands:

I think this is quite unique!

This is similar to the cake Shelby has expressed interest in....except she wants it all white and she wants the hydrangeas to be very uniform (I can't find the one she made in photoshop!). In this case the flowers would become the cake stand....just raise up the cake and fill the area with flowers...how pretty!

This was at a wedding that was held at a winery! What a great idea!

I still love the birdbath idea....but I also think that if you took the top off of this one and put the cake in it and set it on the cake table, it would look great! You could have a riser in the middle to raise the cake and fill with water....it would look like it's floating in the water! How pretty and unique!

Now this idea is great for a nautical type wedding, a wedding on a cruise ship or a wedding held on the water! It's a ship's wheel! I love it!!!

Well, I'll keep thinking and let you know what I come up with next!!!

Dare to be Different - Make a Stand!

Literally.........I was bored the other night and was surfing some wedding websites and saw the most unique cake stand! I didn't save a picture of it, so I've been searching ever since trying to find it......and I did!

I'm not crazy about the twigs sticking up everywhere, but I thought the tree trunk as a cake stand for wedding in the outdoors was very creative! Many brides do pay close attention to this detail......and some take it just a bit too far!

Most are pretty traditional in their choices.......... ....it's beautiful, but would probably only look right in a traditional setting. I find that alot of brides these days are anything but traditional. This generation's bride wants to put her own unique personality into her wedding......and I think the best way to do that is in the details! Some brides spend a fortune on cakes that feed 1000 for a guest list of 200 just to have the "WOW" factor when people walk in the room. I think you can do that just by being a little creative in choosing the base your cake sits on....look at some of these!

I love this!!! Right now I have a planter similar to this sitting on my front porch with a huge pumpkin on it.......I think it makes a statement. I think the cake is so much more beautiful on the planter than it would be just sitting on the table. And check this one out........

I think this is awesome! It would be gorgeous in an outdoor garden setting! And I think these would make great cake stands........

...this one has a vintage feel.......sitting on top of the cake table surrounded with votive candles, I think would be gorgeous. You could even add some floral touches!

This would look great at a wedding with an Oriental flair....

This one is perfect for a Texas wedding (not you, Shelby!!!)

This is soooo shabby chic!

Or you could take a tip from the show I saw the other night on CMT.....My Big Redneck Wedding......her cake stand was beer cans! Whatever your choice....whatever your personality....make it you! But don't forget the details.....no one else will either!

I'm Moving!!!!

I know it sounds crazy, but I've found a new home. It just doesn't sit right with me to blog about stuff that isn't wedding related....this blog is about a wedding and I'm going to leave it to that...blogging about weddings (one of my most favorite subjects!).

Soooo.....visit me at my new home, Inside Out!!! Feel free to stop in anytime.....and make yourself at home!!! See you there!

Good Morning!!!!

Sometimes it's hard to sleep after the sun comes up.....but sometimes we really want to sleep in a little. We have skylights in our bedroom, which makes it extra bright in the morning, so once in a while one of us (or both) will get up and retreat to the sofa for a few extra winks..........this is what I found in the living room this morning:

Isn't that cute!!!

They're baaaaaaaaaack!!!!!!

Welcome Home, Shelby and Justin!!!

Shelby called a little while ago to let me know they are home.....tan.....and tired! We didn't talk long because they have to get unpacked, do laundry and then Justin has to pack again........yep, he has to do a rotation 3 hours away from San Antonio and will be gone for a month! Poor thing!!

I think I'll just sit here and wait to see Shelby's vacay post.....can't wait to see the pictures!!!

Whoaaaa....girlfriend, you need to syndicate!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was just checking out Courtney's blog to look (once again!) at the picture of her, Lindsey and Shelby and happened to check our her counter! Holy Moses, girl!!!!!!!! You could pay for your wedding if you would just syndicate your blog. Dang...............I thought I was getting alot of hits!!! Here's Courtney's counter as of 10:54 pm on Friday night!:

Geeeeez.................I feel so small now! I thought my blog was getting alot of hits! But then I'm sure I don't have anywhere near as many friends as her (they started dry rotting years ago!)!!! Girl, your blog is a hit!!! Syndicate, syndicate, syndicate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll manage your bog for only 10%!!!! :o)

Haven On Earth......

It was close, but we made it to Graves Mountain! We were packing in the morning when we heard the "You've Got Mail" sound....yep...another foreclosure that Dennis needs to list! We didn't panic...just took care of everything and figured we'd get out of town by 2 or 3...plenty of time to make it for dinner! NOT.......an hour later another one came over and 20 minutes after that...yep, another! Three in one day!!! We rushed to get done what had to get done and got to Graves Mountain just after sunset.

Shugs was soooo excited to be going for a ride in the car and she loves it even more when her bed gets to go, too! She used to hate going for a ride in the car, but once she figured out that the alternative was to stay behind without us, she started going along and now she just loves it!

I could hardly wait to get there....it's been 6 or 7 years (can't really remember!) since I've been and each year I've known when it was Graves Mountain weekend...if you weren't there this year, it smells the same...it looks the same....it feels the same! There was a great group this year......20 of us on Friday night, 15 on Saturday night and 6 of us on Sunday night! Of course, we all really missed some of the OSLers that couldn't make it this year....as a last thought before heading out the door, I ran off copies of Shelby and Justin, Courtney and Austin, and Lindsey and Darren....figured it was better than nothing! Y'know...I think they had a great time!!! They got to sit by the fire, eat at the harvest table.

...sit on the porch....Shelby and Justin even helped make the Cabin Chicken Chili (recipe coming soon!)...yep, I think they had a great time!

On Saturday the guys had breakfast going before our feet hit the floor...it was delicious! Melinda started her Cabin Chicken Chili for our lunch, then headed out with Jess and Robin to a baby shower. Dennis and I went down the Apple Harvest Festival to check it out...great bluegrass music, crafts, food and I love watching them make apple butter. I thought I was taking a picture of the guys making it, but I guess I wasn't...check out the video! Sound like the festival????

Then we took a drive up to Skyline Drive.....it wasn't peak, but the colors were brilliant on one turn, then you'd make another and it was pure green.....it was a beautiful drive.

On the way back, we decided to mess with "Gypsy" (our GPS system) a little bit. We really just wanted to go through the mountains to get back instead of around them. So when she said go straight, we took a left....when she said take a left, we took a right....she recalculated so many times I think she was dizzy. THEN she decided to mess with us a little....she had us going down a "slightly paved" road, which turned into a rocky road, which turned into a dirt road that got narrower by the turn.....we were having such a great time! We really thought we were going to get back to Graves by going over the mountain.......not! We ended up at a gate...with a sign....and the sign said, "If you can read this, you're within range!". Needless to say, we did a quick u-turn and I could swear that I heard "Gypsy" chuckle.

We gave up and got back on the main road....we got back to the cabin in time for dinner and some relaxing on the porch! Later Adam started a fire in front of the cabin, the OSL and Partners hangout! The adults sat on the porch with the puppies and drank wine, although I do remember a s'more or two! Yummm!

Melinda and I were the last to bed....we ran out of lime juice for our gimlets, but found some cranberry juice and made our version of "Decks Out of the City"....get it? I was a hurtin' fool the next day, but that night chatting was worth every pain that shot through my eyes into my brain!

On Sunday Dennis, Leslie, Karen and I headed to "town" (the apple shed, grocer and a couple of yard sales)...we found some interesting things at the yard sale. Check out what was inside of this tin when Leslie opened up! It must've driven that poor lady crazy when she couldn't find those teeth! In hindsight, I probably should have bought them....they might come in handy someday!

When we got back to the cabin and told Melinda, she HAD to see it! So she, Dennis and I headed out to check it out......then we decided to take a little drive over the hill to a winery! It was a cute little place and they had a house and log cabin on the property for rent....the log cabin was different, but nothing like Graves or Baby Graves!!!

After we left the winery, we took a back road we'd been told about by Mark, Everett's brother (they're from up in that neck of the woods....). We were expecting dirt roads, but I guess progress has been made and it all now paved, but it was a beautiful drive!!!

Back at the cabin, all of the kids had left......there was only Melinda, Brad, Everett, Robin, Dennis and me left! The place looked kinda lonely......and it sounded kinda quiet.....the chairs were empty....and the bonfire was out!

Sooooo.....we heated up all of the leftovers and had a feast!

Then Dennis went off to try his hand at fishing and Everett decided to take the chill out of the cabin by starting a fire....only first he had to split wood! He was doing great until he got to this one piece....it looked like it was pretty hard, but that man refused to let that piece of wood get the better of him.....here's the picture story of how it went:

Now I would have given up long before that hatchet got embedded in that piece of wood, but it didn't deter Everett....he headed down to get his feet entrenched in the earth, then tried a piece of wood to hammer it through, but ended up using a huge rock to pound the thing. I didn't get a picture of that because we were all laughing so hard! But he DID IT! I'm impressed!

I sure am glad that we had plenty of leftovers to eat and weren't depending on Dennis' catch of the day..... he said it's hard to catch big fish in little bodies of water.....I guess that's why he loves the Chesapeake Bay so much! Oh well, back to the salt water fishing! Monday was a sad day.....seemed that we'd done everything we could to fill the weekend and now it was time to pack and go. Shugs did get a little "dog watching" in.....there was a Golden Retriever swimming in the pond area of the creek....Shugs just sat there and watched, but I'm quite confident she wasn't thinking of jumping in! After we left, Dennis and I headed back up to drive the rest of the Skyline Drive....we stopped at Loft Mountain for lunch, then headed home. I drove, while he napped....not long into the drive Melinda called shrieking that her niece had gotten engaged and they're hoping to get married next October during Graves Mountain Weekend!!! ARGHH!!!! Melin says that she told her brother that she'd drive to Graves on Friday, Philly on Saturday morning, and Graves on Saturday night..........it would take more than a wedding to keep that girl from that cabin.....she hasn't missed that weekend for 17 years....I'm sure next year won't be the first!

See you there!!! PS - Sorry for the long blog, but it was a long weekend! I have lots more great pics that I'll post later....my hands are tired and this "Add Image" button really ticks me off!!!

It Seems Like Yesterday.........

...........that we were celebrating your first birthday! I could hardly believe that it had been a whole year! You had learned so much that first year....you even learned to walk at 10 months old! Just in case you don't remember (!), here's your first birthday party:

We kept it small....just you, me, your dad, Granny Galvin and Jim Case. We had just gotten in the night before from taking my first cruise....a Carnival cruise to Nassau! It was fun, but it was the first time I had left you and that part was so hard!

My what a pretty baby you were....and what a lovely young lady you've become! I love you and miss you and hope you're having the best birthday ever!

Love, Mom

XOXOXO

Happy, Happy Birthday, Shelby!!!!

I just spoke to her....they're having a great time at sea! I sure do miss her...but I'm so happy she's having a great birthday!

I love you, Shelby!!!

Happy Birthday!!

Mom XOXOXO

Save My Skin!!!!! Please!!!

I used to doodle on scraps of paper when I was on hold with tech support or a teleconference.....now I "surf" blogs! I've seen some gorgeous blogs and really think that mind is boring, so I started "surfing" skins (which I originally called "templates"....taboo!) I've found one I love, but I can't figure out how to make it work right!

I've read about issues with widgets and when I tried to download the one I love, I had a widget issue, even though I have no clue what a widget even is!

Here's the skin I'm in love with.....can someone help me figure out how to make it my own? It's sooooo me.......it looks just like my daytimer!

Don't you just love it!!!! It's called "Notepad Chaos"....how appropriate is that???

It's Twins!!!

Well, it's that time of year.....and although it's been a while since I've sat on that porch, I'm sooo dreaming of the smell of Graves Mountain and hoping that this year I'll be able to go to the cabin...it's been toooo long! Business is crazy right now, so Dennis and I both have to get it when it's there....makes for last minute planning to go out of town, but I've got my fingers crossed!

I just went to their website....just had to see a picture of it again! I'm telling you Melinda's "babies" look so much alike they're almost twins. The only difference is their age:

Well, that and the porch railings........but they will be finished the next time we're up! Isn't that amazing.....that for all of these years she's waited to find it....and it found her! Melinda's Baby Graves!!!

Hellooooo.....is anybody there!?

Wow......I put a counter on the blog on Thursday night and I already have over 125 hits! Now, I don't know who you are (well, I know who some of you are!), or how you got to my blog, but I'd love to hear from you! Heck, if no one looks at your blog and talks back to you, it's just a diary....been there, done that....it's more fun to share!

By accident a found a couple of great blogs....I hit that "Next Blog" button at the top of my blog yesterday when I was making a post on Aprons Required...I thought it would take me to my other blog, but I saw this blog called Homesick Texan. At first I thought that Shelby had changed the name of her blog......but it's not Shelby! This is a great website for recipes....and her photography is awesome. I'm inspired....and check out how many comments she gets to her posts! Unreal! I don't think I want to go that far!

Anyway, I'm happy to know that someone is visiting my blog....I love company! But it would be alot nicer if I knew you were there! Let me know who you are...and how I can check out your blog! Hey, if you can find a mate on the computer, you can find new friends, too! See ya around!

Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens......

A few years ago Shelby gave me Oprah's 20th Anniversary Collection for Christmas....I think we watched the entire set of DVDs on Christmas Day! Almost every time she came over, that's what we did.....watched Oprah! I especially love her "Favorite Things" show, but it inspired me to do the same thing for my friends. The first year I gave them baskets filled with some of my favorite things: A Wusthof Santoku knife, Aromatique Cinnamon Cider scented oil, samples of Clinque moisturizer (courtesy of Clinique), Lindor truffles, among other things. Last year I drove myself nuts trying to design a cookbook with my "favorite recipes" for my Christmas Favorite Things gift. I knew the kids would love it since they no longer lived at home. But designing a cookbook and figuring out how to print and bind it to look nice was getting quite difficult. I was watching the Today Show one morning and they were giving some great ideas for Christmas gifts......one of them was a cookbook! You just go to Tastebook.com and type in your recipes, add your pictures and they send a beautiful cookbook with the tabs for each section and the recipes.....they look gorgeous! You can add up to 100 recipes.....it was close to Christmas, so I only added 50 at the time, but you can go back in and complete the rest of them and they will send them to you to hand out to everyone. You even get to pick out your own cover! Here's what mine looks like:

I think this is such a great idea.........you could ask everyone in your family for their favorite recipes and put them all into one book! You don't have to buy the book to enjoy the recipes....you can "share" them with others.

I will be posting some of my favorite recipes from the book at my newest blog, Aprons Required. In fact, cooking on the stove right now is the next entry, Pasta e Fagioli!!!

Have a great day!

Courtney.....this is for you!

I was at Harris Teeter the other day and bought a stem of white hydrangea....it's been in the sunroom, so I forgot I had it! When I walked past it a bit ago I thought of you. This is one stem of hydrangea.....it cost me $5. I have bought them at different times of the year and they aren't always this full, but I would think they would be in July!

Just an FYI for you.........

Hanging Out......

I was out on the deck just relaxing and saying, "so long" to the work week and I realized that it won't be long before the deck will be sparse again. I have enjoyed the spring, summer and, so far, the fall watching my flowers bloom and fill the deck with color.

Over the years I've tried every kind of flowering plant known to mankind to put in my pots and hanging baskets. It was a winter pastime to look through magazines and come up with a new and exciting combo for the planters, but for the last three years I've stuck with a winner......angel wing begonias.

The first year I bought red because Dennis is just not fond of pink flowers, but the second year I just couldn't take my hands away from the flat of pink ones! That is one plant in the basket. If it were a larger basket, the plant would have gotten even bigger! Here's one in the pot on the deck.....yep, that's ONE plant, too!

Yep....they are tried and true and I'm confident that my search is over for the perfect plants for our deck. They love the sun (and we get quite a bit of it), unlike impatiens, which I also love. I don't have to "dead head" then like the petunias, which I also love. We tried all greenery one year, but that didn't quite get it for me!

These are just too easy to take care of and so beautiful to look at.........they fill up the deck! They require little care....just a little water and fertilizer now and then. And they don't get angry if you get busy and forget to water them......they are quite drought tolerant!

In previous years I've promised myself that I'm going to cut them back and put them in the garage and I'm making the same promise to myself this year. Then in the spring I won't have to by new ones! They can make it through the winter if they are kept in the garage!

So, it won't be long before the deck will be sparse again, so I'm heading to kitchen for a glass a wine and then to the deck to enjoy it while I can. Have a great weekend!

New Blog On The Block!!!

I started it quite some time ago.....one post and then no more. My intentions were good, but I actually forgot about it until recently. The "girls" are cooking....and sharing their experiences and I thought I'd share mine. Maybe my recipes will bore you, but maybe they will inspire you. Actually, I never really use a recipe....I don't measure anything, unless I'm baking...gotta measure then! Anyway, I just figured that it would easier for you to find the recipes down the road if they are all in the same place. Go look.........!

Aprons Required....let's tie one on!

Weekend in the Mountains.....at the cabin!!!

We've just gotten in from Melinda and Brad's log cabin...........we had a great weekend, even though it rained on the way up Friday...through the night....and all day Saturday! It didn't matter because we had plans......big plans!!! Brad brought up the new cabinets for the kitchen and the wood to start the rails on the front porch and the inside stairs. It was a little late when we got in on Friday, so we settled back and caught up on what's been going on. Saturday morning we took off for the restaurant at Mabry Mill (we all love that place!).....Dennis tried the sweet potato pancakes and they were awesome!

After we got back, the guys were ready to get started on the kitchen! We cleared everything out and they sent us to the store to run a couple of errands....Melin and I stopped at Lover's Leap to catch the view......There was no view to be seen, as you can see!!! When we got back, the guys were hard at work and had already put three of the eight cabinets together! Amazingly, they installed (and perfectly, I might add!) all of those cabinets and made temporary countertops just in time for Melin and I to make dinner!!!

As they finished a cabinet, Melinda and I loaded it and we had the place back together by dinner time, so we could relax afterwards. The kitchen looks fabulous and there is soooo much room to store things and lots of counterspace! Melinda says it's nicer than her home kitchen (although I'm sure it won't be for long.....Brad is a "Kitchen Monster"!!

After dinner we all settled down to watch "Sex In The City".....well, almost all of us! The next morning Melin and I made breakfast while the guys started on the railing for the stairs and were done in no time at all....they look great and going upstairs feels alot less scary! Next they took their hammers, saws, drills, nails, screw and level out to the porch to start on the railings around the porch. Since we decided to put a cap on the top (Dennis said he needed someplace to set his beer down), we didn't have enough wood to finish the top railing all the way around or put on the bottom railing....we just added it to the "next time" list! While they drilled and hammered, Melinda and I moved furniture around, hung stuff, cleaned stuff.......and swept. Let me correct that! MELINDA swept.....ALL WEEKEND! If the guys made one cut with the saw, she grabbed the broom....her "broom muscles" have to hurt after this weekend! The Grin Sweeper!

Everything looks great!!! I gave them an old cedar chest of drawers that's been in my garage for four years....it fits perfectly in their room. Once we filled that, it really opened things up. We also put in the headboard for her bed. Their room looks wonderful!

After we had nailed the last nail, moved the last piece of furniture into its place, we had lunch and relaxed a little on the porch before we had to pack and go.....I just hate to leave that place! Sadly, we packed out cars and headed home.....I'm sure Melinda was doing the same thing on her drive home that I was....dreaming of all of the things we'll do on the next trip, and the next trip and the next. I'm just happy that there is one thing she doesn't have to dream about anymore.....owning her own cabin. This is it....it's the one.....and I'm so looking for to making many wonderful memories there. Home Sweet Cabin!!!

Melinda and Brad....thanks for an incredible weekend....it's one we'll remember always! We love you both! XOXOXO

More Pics of the Cabin!!!