new old friends and furniture

Where does one begin to describe a 4 day lovefest?

Thanksgiving was fantastic! Better than I even dreamed even though, I made entirely too much food and served dinner an hour late. The whole day turned into a comedy of errors but it was just perfect. Sharon came over to help me cook but I was frantically running around that I did not give her enough to do but I appreciated the company. We took regular coffee breaks and she gave me pointers (that I ignored but probably should have followed). Thank goodness for James' dad Vince as he brought his knives and cut the turkey like an expert. William and Luke came over because let's face it, they are family too.

James' whole family came over and got some quality time in. One of my favorite moments was walking into our music room where James and his nephew Ben were playing records and talking music. Ben grabbed my guitar at one point and jammed out. It made me stoked that I had bought him a guitar for Christmas.

Over dinner we laughed and shared stories. Everyone stayed until 11 or so and we sent James' parents home with a ton of left overs. I got to bed sometime around 1am after hanging out with James' brother and sister in law. We were talking antiques and treasure hunting. They have turned their hobby of loving old objects into a side business on eBay.

The next morning, we all woke up and sat around the living room in our pajamas drinking coffee while a fire burned in the fireplace. Robert and Melissa had brought their three dogs and Ellie ran around the livingroom with her new friends. James and Robert headed to Robert's storage unit down here and did not return for 5 hours but came with a van packed full of treasures for our house. Robert and Melissa are in the process of cleaning out their storage unit and gave us a ton of amazing pieces of furniture for our house.

They were so kind to give us so many amazing items. They gave us an amazing art deco chair, two English armoires (male and female) from the 1940s, a radio from 1937, and some other great fun things.

While the boys tried to get the radio to work, I reogranized the house to make room for our new furniture. I had a portable wardrobe in the garage that I wanted to get rid of. Inside was my cocktail dresses and winter coats. I was uncomfortable with those expensive articles hanging out in the garage so it was great to move them inside.

By the time Cyn came over, I was still in my pajamas. She had homework to do so I kept working while she set up in the dining room. Kelly came over a short time later followed by Carrie. We sat in the dining room eating dessert and gossiped. It was so good to see everyone and made my heart very happy. Chris and Rodrigo came over and the ladies took off for Target. Chris and I got distracted by the Christmas department and lost everyone. By the time we reappeared, Chris was carrying stacks and stacks of Christmas lights for her house.

The next morning, James, Cyn, and I lit the fireplace and made a huge breakfast. After Cyn left for her hair appointment, James and I worked on the house more. We spent an hour wandering through Home Depot where we picked up Christmas decorations. James isn't as crazy for the Christmas season as I am but he's giving my slack for my own craziness after I explained why Christmas is so important to me.

Christmas is the time of year where those you love come together. It is a spirit where you can still believe in magic and Santa. It doesn't matter what is in a box for yourself so much as just being with the people you love. Christmas is the time of year to spoil children and let them be kids. It's so important to give to the less fortunate at this time so that children can remain being children. No child should doubt the existance of Santa. I love Christmas because I love giving back. That's what it is really about.

In college, Wendy and I were pretty inseperable. She and I would find ourselves on some of the most ridiculous adventures. We both moved separately to CA in 1999 but lost touch in 2000. She got married, had a kid, and moved back to Oregon. When Carrie and I went on a road trip a few years ago, I had brunch with her, her son, and Chamise but we only had an hour or two to hang out. On Saturday, she came over. We talked for hours and caught up finally on the roads our lives had taken since 2000. It was completely awesome and meant the world to me.

Unfortunately, Wendy's visit meant that I missed Jessie's birthday party. :/

While Wendy was visiting, James went out to pick up firewood and run other errands. He came home announcing that he had found the very best new antique store. We vowed to return on Sunday. On Sunday, we spent 6 hours in that antique store. We bought a ridiculous amount of stuff and as a result, we have no idea where to put some of it. We spent hours last night organizing and reorangizing. We bought a mantel for our fireplace, a sideboard for the dining room, three chairs, 2 framed pictures from the 40s, a side table/ magazine rack, a metal knitting basket/magazine rack, and some other stuff that is not immediately coming to mind.

Oh! I almost forgot my favorite piece! After filling our living room with items from the 30s and 40s, our TV stand looked out of place. I convinced James that we should get an antique tv to use as a TV stand so that's exactly what we did. We got a 1950s tv to use as a TV stand. Everytime I look at our flat screen, cable box, etc on top of this old TV, I cannot help but grin.

Our house looks amazing. It's so much fun and full of love. Thank you to all of my friends and family who stopped by, called, hung out, and made me so happy.