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!!

Witch Way to the Candy?

Today was the final day of getting ready for Halloween at our house. We got our candy, racked the leaves up in the yard and put out our pumpkins. The inside has been decorated for about 2 weeks and it's been nice to have them up.

 the candy is ready to go just in case...

I love the cute carved, glittered Halloween stand-ups (I have no idea what they are actually called!). I got them from sample sale for $1.00

Our cute witch has a perfect home in the foyer. She was another sample sale steal for $1.00!

 

I love my topiaries. I've had these and my ones from Christmas since my first month at Kirkland's back in 2006.

 The sunroon needed a little something, so we hung the cute pumpkin guys in there. They didn't really have a home anywhere else, and they fit right in being so rustic.

Wednesday night we carved our pumpkins. I did a grim reeper that I was pretty proud of! Matt carved a creepy bat cave, but I don't have a picture of that one yet. Will post tomorrow with the rest of the Halloween.

I think it's kind of scary!

And Sadie loves her new present from Matt's parents. She got a stuffed black cat and she snuggles with it like a pillow. It's almost as big as her.



We'll have more pictures of costumes tomorrow. Sadie and Matt both have new costumes this year and I'm still lame and am not dressing up.  

Ushering in Fall

My friend Nikki and her roommates hosted an "It's Fall Y'all" party at their house this weekend. It was a great way to celebrate all the great things that we love about Fall while hanging out with some friends and drinking some beer.

Nikki had all the making of a great fall meal: chili, mexican cornbread, carrot cake cupcakes, caramel apples and apple cider punch

The afternoon started out with tailgating staples: cornhole and botchi ball

The Cornhole Champs - Nikki & Jeremy

It was a fun, relaxing afternoon. Nikki was the perfect hostess and we all had a lot of fun. It started to inspire me to plan a party at Casa Watson. We've lived in our house for over a year but have never hosted a party. Maybe we can plan something before the end of the year!!

A Little Redecorating - Part IV

A while back I got a great sample from work that I thought would fit perfectly in our house. I had to wait for Matt's parents visit so they could help us bring it home.

This post isn't very interesting, I just like to see the before and after.

The dining room...

The foyer...

Quiet Family Weekend At Home

This weekend was GORGEOUS in Nashville. The weather was like something out a book... 60 degrees and sunny all day. The doors and windows were open and no AC or heat - My Heaven!

Being the homebodies we are we pretty much stayed around the house the whole weekend. While spending some quality time at home, the puppy girl was pretty funny. And being the paparazzi that I am, of course I had camera within reach!

Sadie gave me a kiss after I had just put on some chapstick. I promise, there was no peanut butter given to this dog.

All that licking can really wear a girl out. This little puppy was pooped!

A Little Redecorating - Part III

I've been out of commission for the past few days with my posts. The data cord for my camera was on the fritz so I had to wait for one to get shipped.

We've been working on the front guest bedroom since we moved. Every so often we would do a few things here and there. We think we are almost finished, just continuing to look for something interesting to hang over the console.

Here is where we started...

And here is where we are now... (mostly) finished.

Not too bad! And not too bad on the pocketbook either...

Paint - already owned

Bedding - $65 on clearance at Target

Console Table - $25 from sample sale at work (painted and added new knob)

Bed Frame - $90 from Overstock.com (painted frame)

Bedside Table - $15 from sample sale at work (painted and added new knob)

Mirror - $25 on sale at Kirkland's

Curtains - $40 at Target

Chair - $45 on clearance at Marshall's

Small Round Table - $20 on clearance at Marshall's

Lamp - free, Thanks Nikki!!

Decorative Accessories - Samples Sales!

Total = $325.00