Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Thanksgiving Feast 2012

We celebrated Thanksgiving this year at our home once more, joined by 2 of our closest friends and their families. It was also made extra-special with my Mother's presence since this was her very 1st Thanksgiving ever (yes, we Filipinos do not have thanksgiving back in the Philippines)!

Let's start of with the kid's table...

Turkey-ful table
 I got most of the stuff from Target at 50% off after Halloween. The napkins though were from Walmart.



Paper Lanterns to set the mood

I also hung these paper lanterns (also from TARGET) to make the spce more festive for the kids. I love it so much, it's gonna stay up until the Holiday season is over! :-)


I used my gold-rimmed FireKing plates ( scored from an Antique Mall) and small glass goblets to make the table a bit more "serious" for the kids. I wanted them to feel that their table is just as special as the grown-ups table too.


Wha'ts on the Placemat

My Turkey Centerpiece

The Kiddie Feast

The kids had Sopas (macaroni noodle soup), Pinoy-style Spaghetti, Mashed potatoes, Chicken barbeque, Sweet Potatoe Pie and of course, Turkey. They had to eat first since some of the kids still needed assistance from their mommies. :-)

Our Kids all ready to eat their feast

Now for the Grown-ups table...

Before the food was ready...

With our feast ready

We gad Turkey of course, Chicken barbecue, Morcon (ground beef wrapped in sandwich steak with special sauce), Sopas, Camaron Rebosado (fried breaded shrimp) Rice, Mashed potatoes & Cranberry Relish.

Melon Juice, Sansrival and Brazo De Mercedes for Refreshment and Desserts


Simple plate setting

Picture before the meal

We all had a sumptous meal and a lot to be thankful for this past year. At the end of the meal, we made our yearly Souvenier ornament with all the things we we are thankful for writtin inside.

I also wanted to share with you some of our group photos taken on this very special day...


Kiddie group picture - Don't you notice how their clothes match?! Promise, we
parents never discussed what they were gonna wear! :-)





There you have it. We hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that next year, we will all have a lot to be thankful for again!!!!


Have a Nice day!!!

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Christmas Dining Room 2012

Now that you've basically seen most of my Living room, of course I can't go all "crazy" for Xmas without my Dining room... 


Added Glitter Wallpaper from Walmart behind my Art work and ribbon for my shades

BEFORE

AFTER

Simple Centerpiece - all on trays, easy to remove when Holiday dinner comes




Snowflakes and Capiz star for our Chandy

Just the same window decor from Last year - yes, I know I need Curtains already! :-)


There you have it, our Dining room for this Holiday season.


Have a Wonderful Week!

Linking back to Dare to DIY & Holiday Home


Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Golden Nativity



One of the most special things in my Christmas decor this year is  our nativity set...



This is extra-special becuase it is a gift from my wonderful mom who brought them all the way from the Philippines!

Remembering the real reason for the season

Beautiful figures






It sits on our living room console table and after a little rearranging, it totally completes our Chrismtas Living room!


Hope you all have a very
Merry Christmas!!!

If your reading this blog or any other email over the internet, WE have a lot to be thankful for already. CHEERS!


Linking back to Serenity Now,  Dare to DIY & Holiday home

Sunday, November 18, 2012

A Golden Christmas Tree 2012


As the title implies, I have chosen GOLD to be my Christmas Motif this year. I GO CRAZY with Christmas and decorating for it. I am not ashamed also to admit that I am a self-confessed Christmas-A-Holic, so bear with me as my next posts are all about my Chrismtas decors this year.

And of course, to start of this series, I am sharing with you our tree this year.  I really love how our tree turned out this year, take a look...

Tada!

Our home's centerpiece for this year
It all started like this....


My $86 Walmart Chrismtas tree bought 6 years ago
I added about 1000 regular Xmas lights - I still have not shifted to the more eco-friendly LED lights for my Christmas tree, I just feel like that light looks different with the newer ones. I grew up with these kind of lights on our tree back home and I think I will keep on putting the same type of lights for as long as it's available!

I then added this...

Sinamay from the Philippines
I bought it on our trip last year from the Philippines. It's kind of like "natural-fiber" kind of MESH with gold strewn in. I love this because it reminds me of home again.

Here is the Sinamay on the tree
Glittered Gold and White Ribbon added from Sams Club
So, after the lights and mesh and ribbon, I then added all the ornaments. The capiz ones again were from  my last trip back home..



And it came out like this...


Big gold stars are from Dollar tree





As you can tell from the number of picture I have of my tree that I am seriously inlove with it!

Despite my motif though, I still put our trip ornaments and ornaments made by my kids in it becuase in the end, a Christmas tree is not only a symbol for Christmas, it also embodies a families likes and loves!
Have a Wonderful week!!!

Linking back to Serenity Now, The Dedicated House, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Carolyn's HomeworkChristmas Tree Link Party, Holiday home & Dare to DIY

Thursday, November 15, 2012

A little dose of Christmas Past - Our First Home Christmas Decorations 2009


Hello Everyone!

To get the Christmas Decorating Spree started, I'm kickin' it off with an oldie but goodie.

This is a video I made back in 2009, before I got hooked on blogging, I think even before I got addicted to Facebook! This was taken in our very first home in Morton Grove, IL - watching this made me miss this home a lot... :-)



Hope you enjoyed this small tour! Take note, that I still use almost ALL of these decors in our home now, just goes to show again, that if you like something, you will always find a place for it - especially if it has something to do with Christmas!

Watch out for my upcoming Christmas Home decor Bonanza next week!

Have a Wonderful Weekend!!!

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

When things are just not meant to be...

You know how it is when things just don't work out for you one after another? Sort of like the Bermuda Triangle instersecting? Well, I had such an experience recently, and with my decorating  issues no less!

CASE #1 WRONG RUG X 2



Remeber this pic? This is my Fall Living room.

I actually ordered a BLACK VERSION of this rug from RUGSUSA.COM. I was hoping this rug would work since it was beautiful, see..

WRONG RUG

But in the end, I had to return it because after all it was the wrong color and it really did not work-out for me. So, RUGSUSA then sent me a replacement, of course, without any charge. But again, THEY SENT ME THE WRONG RUG - Same white color!! This time, though returning was harder I had to take several pictures to prove to them I wasn't lying that they sent me the WRONG ONE AGAIN! And now, after a month already, I still have not recieved my refund!!!! AAAAAGGGHhh! (Disclosure - I have recieved my refund finallyy Yesterday November 7).


CASE #2 RETURN HEADACHE

Remeber, I was looking for a rug for our library?

Utility rug not working at all - all the dirt become attached to it
No amount of vacuming or sweeping can make it come off!


I was leaning more on getting the Dash and Albert rug in sprout color, but I had to see what the color looked like first since adding green to this space would either make or break this space all together. So I ordered the smallest size from RUGSTUDIO.COM



It arrived on time, But, the color was really not working for me and did not look like the one online.

More of AVOCADO color than lime green -not
great for our space

So, I had to return it. You know how long it took me to get a Return Authorization number? Almost 1 month!!!!! This is not for lack of trying, I called them almost weekly, a lot of excuses like manager not there, it was noted but we're still waiting. UUUGGGGHhh! But even with this picture I sent, they didn't even give me a free return shipping?! I paid $11++ to send this back to them. Only good thing was, I got my refund right away.

CASE #3 FAILED EXPEDITION

On our trip to Dallas recently, the ONLY place I wanted to go to was WISTERIA. I am a huge fan of this online store so I was really excited to finally see their brick and mortar store!

We arrived in Dallas Friday, tired from the drive (10 hours),   we chilled out and helped prepare my cousin for her wedding the following day. Saturday, we had the wedding, wonderful and fun. Come Sunday, I was so giddy, because after seeing some of the sites with our kids we would finally be heading off to WISTERIA!

And so....
Ta-Da! FINALLY!


So excited, I was taking pictures of the entrance already..

AAAAAAGGGGhhhhhhh! Finding out about my stupidity the hard way! LOL!

Stupid me!!!! I did not check if they were open on SUNDAYS!

I felt weak on my knees, knowing Monday, we had to go drive back home already early in the morning. I was so sad initially, but hey, there was no one to blame BUT ME! Good thing the day did not end so badly since we spent more time with family at "Amazing Jake's" for my son's birthday!

CASE #4 BROKEN TABLE = BROKEN HEART

Remeber how excited I was when ZARA HOME came out?

I fell in love with this..


Wooster Table
I ordered one right away. Got it on time, and then this....



It arrived broken... WAAAAHH!

It's still gorgeous see?



I was "heart-broken" because I was soo excited. Luckily, this was a happy ending for me.
 Return was a breeze and they sent me a replacement really FAST! Here it is now...

Light and airy side table



I guess we all go thru something like this once in a while. It was just one after another for me that got me blogging about it.

I still feel VERY LUCKY inspite of and despite of, since I AM LUCKY ENOUGH to be ABLE to order and buy things relatively Freely and easily.  How about you? Any mishaps with any online orders or shopping trips recently? I guess it happens to all of us, I just hope it doesn't happen too often!


Hope your week will be great!