Aspen

Chad did a lot of skiing, I did a lot of resting.....we flew out on Thursday to visit our friends Gus and Antonella who live in Snowmass.
We ate at a great restaurant, got to go to the X Games, and went to a Ghostland Observatory concert which was an outdoor concert but was well worth it to brave the cold to see the laser light show in the midst of the mountains. It was a great long weekend getaway for us before tax season starts and I'm up to my ears with work for the next couple of months!
Even though we had the most horrendous travel experience on the flight to Aspen, it was well worth it to getaway and relax!

Chad and Gus at the X Games

Chad and I with Antonella and friends

Chad and I at X Games

Quote of the day

"Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels"
-From Lauren and I have to say I agree

Beerfest

Who knew they made beer that tasted like banana bread, coffee, chocolate, blueberry and pumpkin? Think I'll stick with Natty Light but we had a great time!!

Christmas Decorations

Why is my new Olympus taking such cruddy pictures?  ARGGHH!!  Well, here's the blurry edition of our decorations this year.  Merry Christmas!

My Potterybarn 'knockoff' wreath Lauren made me a few years back--still lookin' good!!

REAL Garland

Sadly, these were the best pictures I got of the downstairs decorations, pretty pitiful

 

Real cedar garland on the mantle with my new PB stockings

The Old Diggs

For those of you who never got to visit the old house, here's a VERY quick tour....as much as we love the new house, we miss this old place sometimes!

The kitchen (the day we moved the last of everything out)

The one and only bathroom (the day we moved)

Living Room

The one and only bedroom

Thanksgiving

We had and absolutely fabulous Thanksgiving! We spent Thanksgiving day with family, put up our Christmas tree, took a road trip to the Biltmore (I was a Biltomore virgin, believe it or not) and then celebrated a huge victory for the Gamecocks on Saturday!! Go COCKS!!

I really enjoyed the Biltmore Estate, we were able to see all of the beautiful holiday decorations and tour the home. I only wish we had a little more time to take a backstage tour or visit the winery but that's just an excuse to go back soon. I'm very gracious to my mom and stepdad for taking my brother, Chad and I to Asheville for the day, it was truly spectacular!

Happy Birthday to me....

Thankfully Lauren snapped a few pics at the party on Saturday night. Only a random few were taken and unfortunately they were all taken way too late into the night! Haven't we all learned by now to take the pictures at the beginning of the night when we are still wearing a little bit of makeup, before our teeth are discolored from wine and we remember how to keep our eyes open when someone pulls out a camera? We had a great time with friends, ate too much, drank too much and felt like crap the next day but isn't that how your'e suppossed to say good riddance to your 20's?

This is the armadillo cake that my aunt and mom made. They truly are geniuses when it comes to crafting anything (and that includes food). Some didn't get the jist of the joke-cake but if you've ever seen "Steel Magnolias" then you know it's the bleedin' armadillo grooms cake.

View salon scene HERE and the cutting of the cake HERE

Halloween!!

Turning 30 two days before Halloween is scary enough!!! I've tried to spook-ify (Chad's lingo for what I've done) the house a little bit to scare a few guests on Halloween night. Since we just moved in and I didn't want to spend a bundle on Halloween decorations, I spent a little time on the internet and came up with some super cheap decor for one of my favorite holidays! These flying bats were my project this past Sunday night while Chad went hunting. I had an original plan to make a spooky centerpiece but didn't feel like breaking out the spray paint....the bats are cut-outs from a peice of foam paper I bought at Hobby Lobby last week, tied with thread and tied to the tops of the pendant lights. Fishing line probably would have worked better than thread but it's all I could find at the time.

The bat lamps are the same cut-outs as the ones in the kitchen; construction paper cut-outs taped with clear tape to the insides of the lamp shades.....easy and cheap!!

Wheat on the mantle is from our wedding centerpieces.

Cobwebs and spiders adorn the chandelier in the dining room

I had been looking for fake crows for weeks and finally came across some at Tuesday Morning. Large crows from Tuesday Morning: $6.99; Small crows from Tuesday Morning: $2.99; scaring the bejeebus out of my husband when he walks into the dining room: priceless!!

On Halloween night this wreath will be replaced with a black feather wreath I just got at Target but don't want to put out with all the rain we have had lately....pictures to come soon....

My new rocking chairs my in-laws gave mefor my birthday and our anniversary!! I love them!!

More Bats!!

Even the Foo Dogs wanted to dress up for Halloween.....

Update 9.21.09

As most of you know, we have finally moved into Casa de McClary!! Boy how the past few weeks have flown by! Since we have moved we have had friends and family over twice to watch the USC games, took a trip to Savannah, and have pretty much moved and organized most everything in the house. Needless to say, the past few weeks have been very busy but exciting! One of my dearest friends had her first baby this past week and I've had the pleasure of visiting her and her bundle of joy twice!
There is still plenty to do and buy and organize and tinker with but as I have time at work, I'll update everyone with some pics as soon as I can!
Have a great week!!
K