Our house in the middle of our street...

Today, September 30th, is the 2 year anniversary of the day we closed on and began moving into our home...here she is:

I had no idea that you could fall so in love with a piece of property, but it's possible! Billy and I fell in love with this house the moment we walked into it in 2008 and never looked back. We know it was our "home" immediately.

House, here are a few of the many things we love about you:

• How charming you are, in all of your 90 years (that's right, she was built in 1920!)
• Your beautiful leaded glass front door
• All of your windows
• How you keep us safe and dry
• How you sit up high on a hill
• How you make our friends and family feel like you're their home, too

We also have another anniversary coming next week! Can you guess what that is?

Snack time!

Happy Tuesday! I just wanted to share with you a little snack recipe that I found on the Weight Watchers website. It's for Roasted Red Pepper Dip--but I tweaked it just a bit because the original recipe called for cilantro and I don't really care for that. Whether or not your watching your weight or just want an easy, tasty snack, I urge you to try it! It's super good!

Mmmmmm! Snacks!

Roasted Red Pepper Dip

15 oz. roasted red peppers

1 c. fat-free sour cream

1/4 c. basil

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

Put all ingredients into food processor and pulse until smooth. Serve with Stacy's Simply Naked Pita Chips and enjoy!!

I think this would also be a great recipe to take to a party, which I might do in the future so I will have something yummy to snack on without wasting all my points...like I did the other day with our friends' queso dip. Oops! And I'm happy to report that even after a week in NYC, I still lost a pound! I am definitely stepping it up this week and it's been a lot easier since I'm at home.

I hope everyone is having a great week, and that the weather is nice where you are!

House Tour--Master Bedroom

Hey y'all! It's a gorgeous Sunday morning here in Nashville. I LOVE fall here. Although the weather hasn't quite changed yet, I know it's coming and that makes me so happy! Time to get out my fall decorations.

So, I know I said I would write again "tomorrow"...but the very next day I got a crazy email from my boss that they needed me in New York for help on a project! So, all last week I was in NYC. We worked a lot and I actually got a chance to see a lot of the city and even New Jersey; it was a whirlwind to say the least!

Billy and I were talking and he thought it would be a good idea to have pictures of our house for insurance purposes, and it gave me a good reason to get off my lazy butt and take some pictures, and then post them here as promised. I'm actually going to work from the BACK of our house and move forward.

Today, let me show you our master bedroom. The fact that it was actually clean is a miracle in itself, so please enjoy!

Master Bedroom

Sitting area to the right of the bed

Area to the left of the bed. Door on the right is the walk-in closet;

door on the left is the bathroom.

View from the left side of the room.

Vanity and "throne" in the bathroom.

Take a shower, you smell like New Jersey!

- a funny quote from my new work friend from last week's project

Storage and stuff. I can't believe I put this on here!

The paint color is Behr's Quiet Moment, but my friends and I have affectionally dubbed it "Adult Blue". I'm seriously thinking about painting--I want the room to have a peaceful spa-like airy quality, and I'm just not getting that with the "adult blue", and it really doesn't flow with the rest of the house. Maybe I've been spending too much time in hotels, because I really want something light and neutral and clean, much like a hotel room. Some favorites right now are Martha Stewart's Spring Melt for the bedroom and maybe Whetstone Gray for the bathroom. I also like Behr's Ivory Mist. I think we'll try to pop over to to the HD today and get some samples.

The furniture (bed, side tables, and chest of drawers) are all from Haverty's, the Marseille bedroom collection.

The bedding is from Crate & Barrel, the Lindsey Paisley Bed Linens. It's actually on sale right now!

Accessories:

• Lamps on the side tables, curtain rods--World Market
• Curtains--JC Penny (I think! I've had them for a while so I don't really remember!)
• Long mirror over the couch--TJ Maxx Home Goods
• Small round table was my grandmother's
• Metal candle-holder over the bed--Pier 1.
• White shelves in bathroom--Target, from my college apartment.
• "Art" in bathroom, small white bud vases--Ikea

So, there's that. Like I said, I have some plans to change things up in there. If we had the time and the money, I would gut the bathroom and start over--or at least fix some of the things that bother me. We fell in love with the slate tile in the shower when we saw the house and do still love it, but there are other things about the bathroom that are just not functional. Maybe the BG will let me mix it up a bit...yeah, probably not!

mg

Brain dump...

And here we are again...almost 2 months since my last post. Bad blogger lady!! We have a lot to catch up on, and I have a lot on my mind, so this post might be a bit of a brain dump. Here we go...

I've moved several things around in the house and I do so want to post pictures. I've almost gotten to a point where I don't want to touch another single thing around here, as I love the way it is THAT MUCH. Somewhere in Nashville, Billy's jaw just dropped...

That pesky 5% is still the adult blue in our bedroom. I just can't figure out where to go with it. I'll post some pictures of how it is now, promise, and then let you see what you think of some potential color choices. Definitely loving some of Martha's new shades.

And then there is work. I had a really good day today. Most of my job is learning and implementing Salesforce.com with some of the projects that our marketing team has been working, and I gave a training presentation today and had great feedback. Within minutes I had an email AND voicemail from my fabulous boss saying how great she thought I had done. Phew!!!!

In August I went with my two friends Kara and Jennifer to our other friend's wedding in Savannah, and it was the best time! BG couldn't go, but we had a great time, just us girls.

I took lots of pictures but honestly, I still feel a bit wonky with that camera attached to my face. But K and J reassured me that it is a MUST accessory on our adventures. I still have to thank them for making me lug it around as I got some great pictures! Here's one for you of us at Catherine's super-swank wedding. I fixed the color just a bit, but didn't crop because I love to see all the background people having as much fun as we did! Cheers!

Jennifer, Kara, and me at Catherine's wedding, 8/7/10. Love them!

And one more thing...I know how many times I've posted that I'm gonna do P90X and finish, or how I like Power 90, or recently that I've started (trying) to walk 3 miles a day, or even post on here once a day. Here's what I've discovered about myself: I have no self-discipline. And it really doesn't bother me that much, honestly. So, I've decided I'm going to do my best, at whatever it is I choose to do. Lately, especially after dress shopping and seeing myself in pictures, I've decided that the self-discipline thing definitely needs to change and I need to start taking better care of myself, so I put myself on Weight Watchers last Thursday. Today was 1 week into it and I've already lost 5 pounds. I'm hoping to lose 20 at least by the end of the year, and I think I've got a good chance of hitting my goal.

Part of me feels really embarrassed by admitting it, but the first step to fixing a problem is admitting you have one. Truth is, I was so proud of myself when I weighed this morning and actually had a RESULT!! I love the accountability of the points and being mindful of everything I eat, and seeing that line go down on my weight tracker. And the fact that there is an iPhone app to help when I'm out and about or traveling for work REALLY helps. I don't feel deprived at all or that I'm even on a diet. I still get to eat the things that I love, although not as much, but it makes me appreciate it that much more.

As far as this blogging thing and self-discipline goes, I know I have to treat it just like a work project--do a little every day. And that's what I intend to do! I'll put it on my to-do list right up there with unloading the dishwasher. Baby steps!

Until tomorrow,

mg