Finding the perfect couch

My hubby & I added a large master bedroom last year. We have it decorated in grays, silver, blues and white. We needed a couch to put in front of our TV but didn't want to spend a lot of money since we put a lot into the addition.

We wound up with a $40 couch from someone at the retirement community. It isn't great but it is working. It is a blue sofa with a pull-out bed (not sure we'd ever need that) with a low back. The low back has been a problem since the hubby is 6'6" and has no where to rest his head.

We have been looking on & off for couches and still haven't come up with any we love.

Our ideal couch would be white or gray with modern lines. It would have two recliners on the end and be long enough for one of us to lay down. I would probably prefer fabric but it could be leather. And...it would need to fit through our tiny door frame or come apart some way.

We have been to numerous homes that had an ad on Craigslist. We have been to a bunch of furniture stores. But we are still sitting on the old blue couch.

Here are a few I love but are either too expensive or don't fit in with the theme of our home.

A velvet Chesterfield patchwork couch - my dream!

Another patchwork, this time in black & white.

This is super close but it is expensive and it doesn't recline.

A Scandinavian beauty.

Love this one too - a pixel sofa.

And last, a bright pop of color!

Somewhere a couch is out there calling our name. If only we knew where else to look!

Thanksgiving Craft Idea: A Thankful Tree

For the last few years, my family has created what we call a "Thankful Tree" for Thanksgiving. It is simply a few branches put in a vase or jar and put on a mantle or table.

On every place setting we put a leaf. The leaves are created by tracing a cookie cutter on scrapbooking paper. We date the leaves and everyone writes what they are thankful for. We read the leaves over dessert.

It is a fun and easy tradition. Whomever hosts Thanksgiving gets the branches and my mom, sister and I put together the leaves.

This year it will only be five of us for Thanksgiving at my house here in Pennsylvania. My theme for the day is teal, royal blue & white.

Here is what the tree looked like a few years back with the leaves on it:

Here is what this year's tree will look like:

And an up-close look:

It is fun to look over past years and see what everyone is thankful for and how the children now have better handwriting. Ha!

Wordless Wednesday

Decorating for Christmas

Today I put up a Christmas tree. It was 70 degrees out and I have a Christmas tree. It is making me chuckle. Anyway...

The tree is my father-in-law's but we are keeping it at our home until after Thanksgiving. My mom and sister are coming for Thanksgiving and we are exchanging gifts with them then. I wanted to make it festive.

I love the vintage-ness of the silver tree. It has fiber optic lights throughout it. Our home is decorated in blues and sands and I wanted to carry the theme to the decorations.

I used Martha Stewart glitter to turn the ordinary & old white Christmas balls into sparkly ornaments. I picked up the glitter at TJ Maxx yesterday for $1.99. It is amazing what you can buy there!

Here is how I did it:

Start out with ordinary ornaments:

I used left over glitter paint but you can use any kind of acrylic paint or even glue:

Paint the ornament with the glue or paint:

Roll the ornament in the glitter:

End result - pretty ornaments:

Here is the tree:

Sparkly ornaments!

Every year we pick a color theme to wrap our gifts. This year it was brown and gold. We picked the color combination before we realized we would have Thanksgiving at our home. Brown and gold totally doesn't match the colors of the tree but it wasn't as bad as I thought.

And a glass bowl that is usually filled with seashells is filled with ornaments. The glass bowl is turquoise but it looks green in this photo.

Here is a wreath that my mom made and gave to me last year:

I was so thrilled with the ornaments that the Holy family got a bit of a make-over:

I love sparkly Jesus!

How do you make friends as an adult?

I am 31 years old and I don't know how to make friends. It is hard for me to admit that.

Growing up I had friends in school and then friends in youth group when I was homeschooled. I now live 7 hours from where I grew up so I only "see" those people on Facebook.

I went to a small college where I transferred in and then graduated earlier than most people. I had a few close friends but again, I live atleast 2.5 hours from those people.

I have what I consider a close friend at work. She is awesome but I cannot hang out while working. And my work schedule is one week "on" and I cannot leave the building for that week.

On our "off" weeks, I come home and I am 1.5 hours away. So we never wind up hanging out.

I don't have children and I live in a very rural neighborhood. I am also fairly shy which I know sometimes comes off as "stuck up" if you don't know me.

I have started to get involved in children's church. There are great people at my church and it is small enough to make friends. And yet it seems everyone my age has children. Honestly though, I find it hard to try. Do you go up to someone and ask if they want to hang out? That sounds weird coming from someone you only see every other week at most.

The internet has helpful hints to join a gym or have a hobby. Maybe it is time to do something. How do you make friends as an adult?

CLOSED: Giveaway: Set of 4 Mineral Eyeshadows

For my latest giveaway, Kym over at Crush Cosmetics is giving one of my lucky readers a set of FOUR mineral eye shadows. You will be able to pick your favorite four if you are the winner.

This giveaway will go through Sunday, November 20 and the winner will have 48 hours to contact me. I will be using random.org to select a winner.

Crush Cosmetics has some awesome colors and the winner will be able to choose their favorite four colors! I love the names: Fairy Wings, Cocoa, Snowflake, Shark Fin, Bomb Shell, Poison and many more. Click HERE for her lovely store.

Here is how to enter:

1 comment - MANDATORY - go to Kym's store and choose your favorite mineral eye color. Leave a comment below with your favorite.

1 comment - Follow my blog and comment below letting me know you follow me.

2 comments - post this giveaway on your blog. Leave two separate comments below.

As an added bonus, if you want to purchase something from her etsy shop you can use coupon code crush20 for an additional 20% off.

Recent ebay sales

I have a lot of jewelry. Some was my mother-in-laws, others were purchased by my hubby for different occasions. I don't wear rings and so I decided to sell some on ebay.

I was surprised that they did really well. Here are the recent sales.

My original engagement ring:

Sold for around $225.

My mother-in-law's wedding band from the 1950's.

Sold for $225.

White gold & created pink sapphire ring.

Sold for $42.

White gold & created Alexandrite ring.

Sold for $39.

White gold & tanzanite ring.

Sold for $37.

White gold & created sapphire ring.

Sold for $28.

And the matching pendant.

Sold for $31.

Obviously they sold for less than retail but I literally had these sitting around and I didn't wear them. So I was thrilled for the extra money. Especially around the holidays!

My husband and I are off until next Friday. We brought home the carpet cleaner from work and we are cleaning our carpets that were put in last year. Thankfully they are not that dirty. We are also going to do my father-in-law's carpets.

How to determine your correct bra size

I wear sports bras almost every day. They are super comfortable and my tops fit great.

On the rare occasion I try to buy a regular bra, I struggle with the decision. I have never been correctly measured by a professional.

I googled how to determine a bra size and found that as many as 60% of all women are wearing the wrong size.

Here is what the internet suggests for getting the right size:

Step 1: Measure around your ribcage just under the bust.

Step 2: Add 5 inches to this number and this is your band size.

Step 3: Measure the fullest part of your bust. Subtract this number from Step 2. For every 1" difference, this is a cup size.

I did this and realized I was wearing the wrong size! I went down a band size and up a cup size. What a difference!

Have you measured yourself lately? Losing or gaining even a few pounds may make you change bra sizes.

Thursday, Nov. 3

Today is Thursday, November 3. It is the third day of my period (yuck!) and the last full day of work. We get off tomorrow and we go home for a week. Yeah!

I found this on my cousin's blog and thought it was a fun thing to fill out.

FOR TODAY

Outside my window... Cold! Can we have summer back now?!?

I am thinking... Of all the things I have to do when I get home: returning items to Target, finishing up Christmas gifts, decorating for the holidays, making cupcakes.

I am thankful... for all 137 of the residents that live here at the retirement community. I love them all.

In the kitchen... are two chefs preparing lunch. I am also thankful for them!

I am wearing... a teal shirt and a pair of Michael Kors black dress pants. Both were purchased at Goodwill and my complete outfit with shoes was less than $15.

I am creating... a scarf. I have been creating it since last year and I am hoping to finish it this year!

I am going... to sleep well tonight knowing that we have off tomorrow.

I am wondering... why I am so blessed.

I am reading... a catalog that a resident gave me. It has all these neat items I have never even considered needing. It is like a bunch of infomercials!

I am hoping... that no one goes to the hospital today.

I am looking forward to... possibly going to Hawaii this winter!

I am hearing... Silence. I took a quick break and am up in my apartment.

One of my favorite things... Organization. I plan on hanging little hooks in my closet this next week to hold hand bags.

A photo of me that I took today:

The residents love when I braid my hair. They call it the old fashion term: a plait.

All Saints' Day

Today is All Saints' Day. I only know this because of group of our residents asked to go to the mass this morning. I am not Catholic so I didn't know about the holiday. I had to google it to find out more. What in the world did we do before google?!?

Here is what I found: All Saints' Day is celebrated in many areas of the United States, including where there are large Roman Catholic populations. According to some sources, the idea for All Saints' Day goes back to the fourth century when the Greek Christians kept a festival on the first Sunday after Pentecost (in late May or early June) in honor of all martyrs and saints. Other sources say that a commemoration of “All Martyrs” began to be celebrated as early as 270 CE but no specific month or date is recorded. Pope Gregory IV made All Saints' Day an authorized holiday in 837 CE.

This got me thinking about the different saints throughout the ages. I did a search and there are over 10,000 saints recognized by the Catholic church! Most I have never heard of. If I am being honest, I haven't heard of almost all of them.

The word saint means "a person of great holiness, virtue, or benevolence." I would love to be a saint! I am a Christian but to be recognized for great virtue & holiness would be wonderful.