Matt's Birthday

Matt's 36th birthday was Tuesday. I tried to think of something interesting to do, but couldn't really think of much. The only thing was that I maybe had to be out of town for work on his birthday. That fell thru, but I never told him so that I could create a surprise.

The morning of his birthday after he left for work I hid clues around the house to send him on a scavengar hunt for his present. At the end I would be there with his present and them we'd go out for the night. He was depressed all day thinking he would be by himself.

When he got home from work {unbeknown to me} the carbon monoxide alarm was going off, he missed the first and second clues, he thought Sophie was missing, he was on the phone with his dad and just other non-sense. All the while I was waiting outside by the mailbox waiting for him... in 22 degree weather... COLD! It took what seemed like forever. I finally called him after a while and was like, "have you found the clues?" and he was like, "yeah, I found a few, but I have other stuff to do so I'll finish it later". UGH! I strongly urged him to finish to which he replied "it's my birthday, don't yell at me!". I'M FREEZING!!!

Long, Long, Long story short, Matt kind of ruined his birthday surprise and all my planning for undone. I told him I'm never planning a surprise for him again! We managed to salvage the evening and went out for a nice dinner. He enjoyed all his nice cards, phone calls and presents. The furry girls were excited it was his birthday too.

{yes, I make Matt do pictures!!}

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

We had a wonderful weekend here in Nashville. The weather was a chilly 23 degrees {yeah, that's been the high}. Matt & I aren't complaining though, we LOVE it!!

Luckily we had 2 days of rain coupled with low temperatures = SNOW!! Matt is especially enjoying it since he hasn't had snow for his birthday since 1999. It's kind of reminiscent for him. I just love that it's finally cold enough to get me to put on a jacket. I love cold weather :)

Anyways, here's some pics of us enjoying the our little pre-Chrismas blessing...




Merry & Bright

Matt & I love this time of year. It's filled with so many things we love: my birthday, Thanksgiving, Matt's birthday and then Christmas {and sometimes if we're lucky... snow}. I must admit though, I think it makes holiday merriment a lot more enjoyable since Matt is just as excited about it as I am!

Each year our decorating gets a little larger. This is our second Christmas on Chapelwood Drive and we just love this house for decorating. Our tree gets prime placement in the middle of the house. It requires us moving out a bench and a large wall clock, but it's so worth it. Our neighbors tell us how much they like see our tree through our windows.

Another reason we like this house so much is the shelving that makes decorating so much fun. Since we don't have a lot of extra money to spend on decorations, a lot of our stuff has come from sample sales. It's definitely about making the most with what you got!

{our card holder tree is starting to fill up. i love christmas cards!}

{this used to be our door wreath, but it's too large to fit between our wood door and the glass storm door. We HAD to find a new place for it. I love it too much}

{the little nook in the front of our house}

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is always a nice time in our house. Family comes to visit, the weather turns cold, yummy food and shopping! The only spoiler... getting sick.

My parents got to town Wednesday evening then had dinner at Cheesecake Factory. The guys played golf on Thanksgiving while my mom and I hung out at home and I cooked. Then it was time for turkey!!

{Pecan Pie & Pumpkin Cheesecake}

Friday morning my mom & I woke up at 4am and started our shopping at 5am. It's kind of a tradition for us that we haven't been able to do for a couple of years now. Only problem, halfway through the day I started feeling bad... then worse... then SICK.

Saturday morning I went to the doctor. Infected tonsils and a double ear infection. Awesome! The rest of my holidy weekend was spent either in the bed or on the couch.

Saturday night was the Clemson vs. Carolina game. It's a big deal in our house since we are a house divided.

{Sadie helping Eddie deal with Clemson's loss}

{A little something to help celebrate Carolina's win and to soothe the sting of Clemson's loss}

How Was I to Know - that it was Reba!

Yesterday was my birthday. I turned the big 26! It was a great day. Went to work where I was greeted by balloons, flowers presents and welcoming faces. Lots of phone calls throughout the day full of birthday wishes. Lunch with the girls and my boss, who treated, then a yummy cake for all the Kirkland's gang.

When I got home Matt surprised me with a lovely card and 2 bottles of fabulous wine.

{all my nice cards and b-day gifts}

Then it was off to dinner at Eastland Cafe. It was one of the few places in town neither of us had been to. We had a wonderful corner window table with a perfect view of the entire restaurant. Granted, Eastland is no bigger than our house, it is a great space. We sit down, order our drinks and start looking over the menu. I look over to my left and the lady at the table to our left. I thought, "hm, she's a very pretty lady". Then she turned to the side and then I thought to myself, "hmmm, that lady looks like Reba McIntire". Then she opened her mouth and spoke and I thought to myself, "O-M-G!!!! THAT'S REBA MCINTIRE!!!!!!".

After confirming with the waiter that I was indeed NOT going crazy, we sat in awe... we were sitting next to Reba in a restaurant for my birthday dinner. Now, here in Nashville there is an unwritten code of conduct that people/fans do not in general both celebrities. It's one place they can just blend in and be normal. So, in line with the code, nobody was bothering her. Even though I wanted to, I didn't bother her either.

However, I did go to the ladies room at the same time she did and was lucky enough to stand behind her and also be handed off the door from her as she said to me, "pardon me, here you go". AHHHH!!!!

Dinner was delicious and then it was time to go. We all just so happened to leave at the same time. AHHHH!! It was a serious sighting.

We came home, had some cake and then went to bed.

{Reba & I having a glass of bubbly}

{Reba & I blowing out my candles! She sang to me!!}

I'm maintaining that this was the best/memorable birthday I've had thus far in 26 years. Thank you to everyone that helped to make my day very special!!!

XO

What I'm Sippin' - Broquel Malbec 2008

I'm loving this easy to drink, very affordable drinking wine. As I'm making the transition from white to red I'm exploring many varieties and keeping an open mind {with exception to Pinot Noir, I just don't like it}.

This $14.99/bottle Argentinian gem is a great drinking wine. I've been enjoying it while catching up on some tv shows tonight. It's spicy, with a full body that starts out with a fruity background and ends with an earthy texture.

It's definitely being put in the journal as a good buy. I might choose something different for a dinner, but I wouldn't be embarrassed to serve to company. But, this bottle was enjoyed by yours truly!!

It's Frigidaire Outside... and inside too

So the past few days have been a little chaotic here at the Watson house. Thursday while we were at work our refridgerator broke. We had no idea and didn't figure it out until later on Thursday evening. Everything on the fresh foods side was spoiled, but the stuff on the freezer side seemed okay still, but needed to be put on ice in a cooler.

 

Our sad refrigerator :(

So, repairman came and it was the worst possible scenario... the compressor was broken. AWESOME - not. When we bought our house a little over a year ago all the appliances were already here. It was great, all stainless steel appliances, and nice ones, that we didn't have to buy. We were prepared to just have it fixed and suck up the $400 repair cost, but then everyone {both professional and not} said that a broken compressor is a death sentence for a fridge.

Then the delimma began, do we spend $400 to repair it and have no warranty or guarantee on the repairs or do we spend more and buy a new one that has a 5 year warranty?? We decided to suck it up and buy a new one. We didn't want to risk spending that kind of money on a repair that comes with no guarantee and also knowing that 40% of compressor repairs are not the last. With this decision we knew that our work would be cut out for us. We needed a side-by-side, stainless steel and dimensions were important. Those requirements combined with a serious budget = 8 hours of appliance shopping.

Finally, we decided on a Frigidaire from Lowe's {they were having a 20% off sale this weekend}. It fit all the basic requirements and was within our budget. It's not our ideal choice, but given the circumstances, it was the best option. And it was in stock and could be delivered today.

So, here it is

It fits right in with our other appliances

and with the new groceries we had to buy to replace what got spoiled. This isn't even 1/4 of what we needed to replace everything, but it will have to happen along and along.

But at least we have a working fridge now. A long weekend is behind us now!

Oh, and just in case anyone has been loosing sleep over it, in the end the most important things were spared from spoiling... Matt's Bud Light and my expensive bottle of champagne, you know, the really important stuff!

Goin' to the Chapel...

The weekend before Halloween was a busy weekend by our standards. Friday evening we met my cousins Hampton and Jessica for dinner. They were in Nashville from Columbia with their friends Megan and Joe for the USC/Vandy game. This is the second time we have not been able to go when the Gamecocks are in town. The first time was because I had been in a car accident earlier that day, and this year we were going to a wedding in Jackson. We all met at Mafiaoza's for dinner. Great restaurant, fun atmosphere and awesome food! We had lots of fun and was bummed we couldn't hang for the weekend.

Then Saturday around noon we were on the road to Jackson. Even though we used to live there and had to make the trip between Jackson and Nashville on many occasions, for some reason it seemed really short that day. Maybe we've just gotten so used to driving 8+ hours to get home that 2 hours is nothing.

The wedding was gorgeous. Carri Beth made a beautiful bride and she and Ryan are so happy to be married!

 Mr. & Mrs. Ryan Tapley!

 {Most} of the Kirkland's Ladies

Emily, Michelle & I

 Sparklers!! They were seriously the largest sparklers I have ever seen!!

 Doug's Angels {Emily, Nikki & I}. Doug is my boss and me and my friends have all been his assistants at some point over the past 2 years.

It was a great weekend, but a lazy Sunday on the couch was just what the doctor ordered!!

Treats, No Tricks!

We had a great Halloween here at the Watson house. We started out the day lazy, then ran some errands in the afternoon and cleaned up the yard.

Our Halloween evening started off so great with an unexpected visit from my friend Courtney and her ADORABLE little girl Camryn! She's a bit of a rock star to us (and the rest of the Kirkland's ladies) as we think she is just the cutest little princess. Courtney brought her by to see her precious costume that she made. She was the cutest Owl! Courtney is so crafty, I call her Mini-Martha.

Then it was time to get Matt and Sadie all dressed up. Matt went as a Welcome 'Matt'. He was very proud of his creation and it even won him $350 at his company's costume contest. WHUP-WHUP!!

Sadie went as a spider this year. I'd like to say she had a choice in it, but she really didn't! She was so cute!

Then it was time for trick-or-treaters. We got rid of all our candy (after I ate about 20 pieces), but I think we had less kids than we did last year.

 I finally got a good picture of Matt's carved pumpkin

We  hope everyone had a great Halloween!!