{Gender-Reveal Party}The Truth is in the Icing

This past weekend Matthew and I had a party to announce the gender of our precious baby. ;0) It wa such a fun party! With all our favorite people (minus a few) in the same room to share the excitement with, it sure was a night to remember!

I sent out these invitations prior to the party....

I found lots of online inspiration from fellow bloggers and preggies alike, which I soaked up with enthusiasm!

Here are some fun photos of the evening....

Here's the dining room with all the

goodies! I carried out the yellow and orange from the

invitation throughout the party.

Paper flag banner & fun chalkboard sign

that I made....

....and super easy tissue pom-poms. I used lots

of these throughout the house.

Fresh orange gerbera daisies with alstromeria

in tall glass cylinders rounded out the

refreshment table.

We asked everyone to wear either pink or blue

based on their guess of what it would be.

Here's my sweet Mema going all out

for Team Pink! I love it!

Yummy Orange Crush sodas.

My wonderful sister, Gwen, who made the delicious

cake that held the secret of the gender!

Don't worry, I didn't peek. ;0)

A very large Team Pink!

A humble Team Blue. Haha!

Playing the "Speed Diaper Changing" game. This game

was hilarious to watch.....especially the guys. Sorry guys!

Another fun game- Baby Jeopardy!

The all-too-serious Jeopardy crowd.

Me & my lovely Mom, Cindy. Love you, Mom!

My Dad, Brother & Me going strong

for Team Pink.

My Besties! I love you, girls!

And the cake revealed......

It's a BOY!!!!

Happy Parents-to-be. ;0)

XOXO,

Gail

Garage Sale {Goodies}

It's that time of year again.....Garage Sale season! I decided to scout out a few sales here in our neighborhood in an effort to change/vamp things up at the house a bit. I found a few goodies the past 2 weekends and thought they were blog-worthy enough to share them with you! :0)

Guess how much I paid for this beauty? It's a painting that has been printed on canvas

complete with a nice solid wood frame & matte in great condition. The varnish on top

of the print that seals it is all crackly looking when you look up close. I love that.

I love how peaceful and serene this picture is...

The only thing I changed was to clean it up a bit and paint the (previously bright red)

matte this off-white color. I think it looks much better now.

I already had the paint on hand.

$2, Baby!

I snagged this cute owl print and wood frame

at a church rummage sale. I may

end up painting the frame black...but we'll see.

25 cents!

This original oil painting came with a frame

that was beat up...so I discarded that. I may end up

framing it again...but I'm not opposed to

frame-less oil paintings. I love the colors

and calming landscape.

$2!

These little sherbet dishes were too cute to pass up...

and I might add...too cheap! I'm such a frilly girl,

so I know I'll use them over and over again in the

years to come. Can't beat clear glass, either.

Goes with EVERYTHING. Added bonus:

they were in pristine condition with no scratches or chips. Yay!

60 cents total for a lot of 6!

Another large beautiful print with a nice wood frame & matte.

I'm debating whether to paint the matte or not to make it stand

out more.....what would you do???

Da da da dummm....$2!

Favorite find of all: a vintage rocking chair! I had been

on the look-out for a vintage rocking chair after seeing

THIS EXACT ONE in my "Fit Pregnancy" mag. The one

in the magazine had been painted a vintage green color...all

except the cane, which is pretty cute to vamp up an older rocker.

It's in pristine condition with no holes or instability

in the cane seat and back. I love it! I can't wait to finish

the nursery so I can put it to good use in there when

the baby comes!

Question: should I paint it?

$40. ;)

And lastly, who could pass up these sweet little

embroidered cloth napkins? I'll use them for

luncheons, tea, or what-have-you.

25 cents total for a set of 12! Wow!

Is it just me, or does anybody else get completely giddy when they find a steal of a deal? I was pretty happy with what I found. May you feel encouraged to find a few goodies yourself!

XOXO,

Gail

17 Weeks: Belly Pics

I felt brave enough to post some belly pics finally...seeing as how I'm actually showing now, and not just in that "man, she looks like she's gained weight" stage. Ha!

~17 Weeks~

According to "Baby Center" online:

"Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop."

But don't be fooled by the "her"...we haven't found out yet if it's a boy or girl. Only 17 more days until we do! I can't wait!

XOXO,

Gail

Take a Seat {& New Dining Room Furniture}

I've been labeled "The Craigslist Queen" by family and friends. Well....I guess I can't really deny it. (Nose scrunched upwards and eyebrows raised, half smiling). ;) In fact....I'm proud of it!

When we were engaged to get married nearly 3 years ago we started with almost nothing (in the furniture department that is). I'm not even going to count the beat up metal desk and falling apart bed frame of Matt's.

They. don't. count.

So me, being the "I can't wait to make a home of my own" type of girl...I tackled the problem with enthusiasm. Where did I turn? Craigslist, baby. Where else can you get awesome finds for next-to-nothing prices on a shoestring budget?

I was happy when I found this antique gem with 6 chairs for a good price...

I loved the fun details and the scrolling on the back of the chairs. Fancy fancy..and it looked so cute in our first apartment with it's tiny dining room, which was really just an extension off to the side of the living room. Nevertheless, I loved it.

I also scored big on our bedroom set. I love real wood, so when I found a Broyhill sleigh bed set on Craigslist that was in excellent condition, I jumped at the opportunity (talking the owners down $100 bucks didn't hurt either). Between Matthew, me, my mom and sisters and a couple truck-loads later...we got all the furniture which included a queen-size sleigh bed, mattress & box spring in barely-used condition, nightstand, dresser and desk with a shelf/hutch that sits on top. Unfortunately I don't have pics of this...but I will post some at a later point. I LOVE IT. Still do.

Other than that we've gotten couches, chairs, instruments, and electronics....all for incredible deals. I'm such a bargain shopper.

Okay okay..so I like Craigslist. What's the big deal? (I tend to ramble on, sorry)

Well....what do you think? I wanted to show you my latest find! It all started about a month or so ago when Matt and I were talking:

Me: So I found this really great deal on Craigslist that I want to tell you about! (excited)

Matt: What are you wanting to buy now? (anxious to hear my response)

Me: Well, I found this great deal on a dining table, chairs, sideboard and hutch

Matt: But we already have a dining table...why do we need another one?

Me: Yeah, I know. But we don't have a hutch. Or a sideboard.

Matt: Okay? So how are we going to pay for all that?

(Note: always offer a solution for the payment part of

things when talking to hubby about buying something. It

smooths things over real nicely.)

Me: I'm glad you asked!

In the end I sold an old couch, our dining table and chairs in the picture above, and an antique lamp I had bought at a garage sale for $10 only to resell it on Craigslist for $40 (YES!). And yes...I got my new dining set. :)

Here it is! It's from the 5o's and is sort of a Duncan-Phyfe style.

And my sideboard...a place to tuck napkins,

Christmas dishes, assorted hosting items,

and my awesome punch bowl.

I just recovered the seat cushions last weekend.

They went from this (not me at all)...

....to this (very me). I love the warm gold tones

in this neutral linen material. Great thing is,

it'll go with anything. :) (The pic makes

it look more gold than it is...it's really more

of a beige/brown).

And finally my favorite piece...

the china hutch! I'm such an old-fashioned gal,

so getting to put all my china in it totally

made my day. :)

The Vera Wang "Vera Lace"

looks pretty nifty in it, don't ya think?

And fresh flowers from my garden

ties everything together on the table.

So the question is...would you like to come over for dinner?

Take a seat and let's enjoy a meal together. ;0)

XOXO,

Gail

Oats are for Goats

I used to hate oatmeal growing up.

Maybe it was the fact that, like most children, I had hard-to-please taste buds. If anything was unusually clumpy, lumpy or crusty, I didn't like it. I remember I used to not like eating mashed potatoes, either. Can you imagine not liking mashed potatoes?? Silly me. Or how about the fact that I used to eat everything on a sandwich except the crusts? Those were the days...

There are so many delicious and satisfying foods that I missed out on simply because they were too "weird". Oatmeal was no exception. The gooey, gloppy, salted mush was about as pleasant to wake up to as mud. {Sorry Mom...no fault of yours}. It wasn't that there was something wrong with the oatmeal really, we even drowned it in milk and brown sugar to add some flavor...

I just simply didn't like it.

But oatmeal is economical in a family of 9, so oatmeal it was...several times a week.

Funny how things change.

When I got married I swore off oatmeal with a vengeance. That goop was in the past...no oatmeal for me! But you know what? After awhile I actually started craving the stuff. But this time, determined to give oatmeal a second chance, I decided to change things up just a tad. I wasn't going to resurrect the meal and then decide I hated it again! That's when my sweet sister Greta gave me a book she compiled with recipes from magazines as a Christmas gift. The one that caught my eye? Oatmeal! Now I love this breakfast staple. Teeny tiny change, big rewards. ;) And the good thing is, oatmeal is incredibly good for you...loaded with fiber, vitamin E, zinc, iron, protein, etc. Can't beat that in an bowl now, can ya? ;-)

Here is the recipe I use now and love:

*Cook oatmeal on stovetop according to directions

on back of a normal Quaker Oat box

(not the instant flavored kind, which is full of sugar)

When oatmeal is ready, add to the top

of each bowl:

*2 -3 rounded Tablespoons of low-fat or fat free vanilla yogurt

*1/4 cup or so of granola of your choice (I use organic

cinnamon-raisin by Cascadian Farms)

*A sprinkling of dried fruits such as

apricots (chopped), raisins, dried cranberries, etc.

*A small drizzling of honey

YUM!

Note: Try and not mix the ingredients up in the bowl,

but savor each spoonful in their respective layers.

XOXO,

Gail

P.S. What food do you now like (whether in it's original form or not)

that you used to abhor? ;0) Do tell!