Man oh man...Thanksgiving is over!

Wow. That's all I can say is wow. Thanksgiving is over - actually it was over hmmm, 3 days ago. I apologize for JUST now getting around to writing this post, but I have been extremely busy for several reasons...mainly I was cleaning & cooking non-stop until Thursday night at about 10:30pm. I am happy to report that I got all of the things on my Thanksgiving to do list done by the time the big day rolled around, got all the food cooked. And everything was huge success!

My husband's family arrived on Thursday morning about 9:30am & I hadn't started cooking the hot food yet, but I was up soooooo late on Wednesday night finishing up the MBath cleaning & general house cleaning, then the cooking of the sweet potato pie, potato salad & cranberry sauce, so I decided a little sleep in time was in order. Anyways, I got started on that stuff shortly after they left to go check in to their hotel & chill out until it was time for dinner, which I said would be served at 4pm. Guess what?!?! Everything was DONE by 4pm! That never happens in the House of Dennifer! I'm usually a little behind, so that alone makes me very happy. Second thing that makes me happy: everyone LOVED all the food I made, yay!! I was hoping everything would turn out great & I guess it did! Woot. Now, on to my holiday planning/shopping/decorating - much to the chagrin of my hubby! I was at Michaels for about an hour today stocking up on some great crafty stuff for my holiday decor! Inspiration pics coming soon to a blog near you. :o)

The CRAZIEST part of this whole weekend though....Black Friday. Yep, that's right - we braved the stores (well, store) & got my hubby his new lova:

Yep...we are now the proud owners of this lovely new 40" flat screen. The hubbs was soo happy to finally get a TV for his man cave (the basement). It was seriously one of the the craziest things I think I have ever done! We literally got to the Target parking lot @ 11:10pm. We were the only ones there, but more people started showing up by 1am & so at 1:30am, we got out of my warm, comfy Stella (my *new* SUV) & went to sit on the cold pavement in front of Target. It is probably the only thing we will be purchasing for down there for a while. And I also scored a digital photo frame for $30, so it worked out for both of us!

In other news, the master bath is DONE, but we have had a little hold up with the over toilet storage unit - a bag of dowels we needed are missing (& HD/Lowes don't carry the size we need), so we had to contact Overstock for the replacements - takes 2 business days for a response...still waiting to hear back. So, once we figure out everything with that, then the hubbs will put it up & I will finally be able to post some after pics! Worth.the.wait...believe me. My husband is summoning me upstairs since we have to be up in 5 hours for work tomorrow - ugh...the end of long weekends SUCK.

Tomorrow is Turkey Day!

In my last post, I compiled my to do list for this week leading up to Thanksgiving! I can't believe it's tomorrow & that means Christmas is right around the corner...eek! The only person I have bought anything for so far is my hubby & we like to shower each other with gifts every year, so I need to figure out what else to get him. Thanks to my *new* wishing jar, I have a few ideas on the last few things to buy for him! I hope he likes his presents!!

Before I get ahead of myself though, I need to get through Turkey Day on Thursday, so here is my updated list (completed items crossed out):

Monday, 11/23/09:

• Purchase cook/serve ware needed to prepare the meal. I still need a veggie scrub brush, hand held measuring cups (good for non-liquid measuring), gravy boat & possibly some extra Tupperware. Planning to purchase all of this tonight.
  
• Clean master bed & bath; vacuum upstairs bedrooms.
  

Tuesday, 11/24/09:

• Go past mom's house to borrow celery salt.
• Purchase fresh ingredients & any remaining items not purchased before.
  
• Prepare cranberry sauce/relish; refrigerate.
  
• Clean guest bedroom, powder room, guest bathroom (in basement), basement. The hubbs is in charge of the basement & bath down there.
• Freecycle items we need to get rid of.
• Wash clothes & towels.
  

Wednesday, 11/25/09:

• Make sweet potato pie; refrigerate.
• Make potato salad; refrigerate.
• Complete any left over cleaning that needs to be done; re-vacuum main level (dogs!).
• Do final ingredient check for tomorrow's dishes.
  

Thursday, Turkey Day! 11/26/09:

• Hubbs picks up turkey @ 8:15am. Get up & get showered/dressed.
• Set out plates, cups, napkins, cutlery, etc.
  
• Start prepping/cooking around 12:30pm: prep mac & cheese green bean casserole.
• Around 1pm - pop turkey in over to re-heat prior to serving. Possibly may be usining my friend's oven who lives across the street & who will be out of town for TG.
  
• Around 2pm - pop mac & cheese into oven (35 min); boil potatoes for mashed potatoes & prep yams.
• After about 10 min.of the mac & cheese cooking, lower heat to 350 degrees, then pop in green bean casserole & candied yams in for about 30 min. each.
  
• While those three dishes are cooking, prepare mashed potatoes & gravy (store bought with some additions).
• Have favorite sous chef (AKA - the hubbs) prepare champagne punch for adults & get kids cups filled with ice for soda.
  
• Serve meal & say prayer around 3:00pm-3:30pm. Eat & enjoy!
• Clean up as much as possible after eating.

I think that's it! As you can see, I'm a little behind. And my husband's family gets in tonight! Luckily I'm working from home today...cross your fingers for me that everything goes smoothly. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

T-Minus 3 days till T-Day & holiday shopping planning!

Thanksgiving is right around the corner & I am busy *attempting* to finish up the last of my Thanksgiving to do list. Last week I was using Carrie over at A Life in Progress' list; she and two other fab bloggers - Molly over at My Happy House, Kristen over at The Working Woman's Guide to Domestic Success - are running this awesome "Sunday's with Santa's Little Helpers" 5-week Challenge to get everyone ready for the holidays. This week they are focusing on gearing up for Christmas shopping. And, while I am following along with the challenge (see below), I have to veer off course a bit and focus mostly on Thanksgiving this week...at least until Thursday after everything is cooked & everyone is fed.

Here is my updated list of everything I still need to get done & with a run down of my plan for the next few days leading up to T-Day & the big day (my comments in ORANGE)! You are welcome to use it too if you think it'll help you be more organized.

Monday, 11/23/09:

• Purchase cook/serve ware needed to prepare the meal. I still need a veggie scrub brush, hand held measuring cups (good for non-liquid measuring), gravy boat & possibly some extra Tupperware. Planning to purchase all of this tonight.
  
• Purchase any items that were not purchased in this past weekend's grocery trip.The first store we went to was out of several items I need to cook with, so on to store #2 tonight.
• Write out cooking temps & time required for each dish to strategize on how/when to cook each item & in what order.
• Clean master bed & bath, vacuum upstairs bedrooms.
  

Tuesday, 11/24/09:

• Prepare cranberry sauce/relish; refrigerate.
  
• Clean guest bedroom, powder room, guest bathroom (in basement), basement. Main level cleaned & vacuumed this weekend!
  

Wednesday, 11/25/09:

• Make sweet potato pie; refrigerate.
• Make potato salad; refrigerate.
• Complete any left over cleaning that needs to be done.

Thursday, Turkey Day! 11/26/09:

• Hubbs picks up turkey @ 8:15am. Get up & get showered/dressed.
  
• Start prepping/cooking around 12:30pm: prep mac & cheese green bean casserole.
• Around 1pm - pop turkey in over to re-heat prior to serving. Possibly may be usining my friend's oven who lives across the street & who will be out of town for TG.
  
• Around 2pm - pop mac & cheese into oven (35 min); boil potatoes for mashed potatoes & prep yams.
• After about 10 min.of the mac & cheese cooking, lower heat to 350 degrees, then pop in green bean casserole & candied yams in for about 30 min. each.
  
• While those three dishes are cooking, prepare mashed potatoes & gravy (store bought with some additions).
• Have favorite sous chef (AKA - the hubbs) prepare champagne punch for adults & get kids cups filled with ice for soda.
  
• Serve meal & say prayer around 3:00pm-3:30pm. Eat & enjoy!
• Clean up as much as possible after eating.

Whew, now hopefully all goes according to plan! I will let you guys know after Thursday! Am I missing anything?!

Now, in keeping with the 5 week holiday challenge, here is what you should be doing to plan for the holidays this week (week 2): Create your [Christmas] LIST, BUDGET, and HOW MUCH YOU PLAN ON SPENDING PER PERSON! We need to do ALL of these things - the list is barely started!

When you wish upon a star...

or in this case - a jar!

The other day while blog stalking browsing thru blogs I love, I saw this cute idea for a wishing jar from Rachelle over at Fingerprints on the Fridge & I lurved it, so I brought up the idea to the hubbs. Well, at the time, he was racking his brain over my Christmas gift this year, so he agreed it would be good for all of our future gift giving holidays. And to make things even better...it was his favorite price - FREE (I always tell him that he's frugal)! And the icing on the cake (for me) - this was SUPER easy...seriously something anyone can do!

We were given a cookie jar about two & a half years ago as a housewarming gift (thanks Shannon!) & we used it for a while, but then we stopped baking cookies & started buying the baked cookies from the grocery store bakery that had their own containers. For some reason, they always tasted better than mine *hmph..goes in corner & sulks*  - I guess baking is really not my fortay (sp?).  Anywho, I kept the cookie jar up in our cabinets because I knew one day I'd find a good use for it & Rachelle's wishing jar was just the project I had in mind! So, I took the cookie jar, gave it a good cleaning with soap & water, then gathered up the rest of the materials for the project: sticker letters, double sided tape, ribbon, spare card stock in different colors (1 color for me & 1 for the hubbs) & got to work. (click any photo to enlarge)

First, I decided on what wording to put on the jar & stuck the stickers on:

Then I used double sided tape & stuck a wide ribbon around the center of the jar, then tied spare ribbons to the lid & hung a pen from the bow on one of the ribbons:

Next, I cut up pieces of paper in two different colors & started writing down the different items that have been on my "wants list" in my mind, then tossed them in the jar:

And last, but not least...I found a cute spot on the landing at the top of our stairs, right next to some magical characters!

 

This was literally the easiest DIY project ever & so cute! I love how it turned out & no more guessing what to get each other for birthdays, anniversaries & other holidays every year. Once you are together long enough you start feeling like you have gotten each other everything there possibly is to get & you run out of ideas. Since the Dennifer's are coming up on seven years of being a couple, we are just about at that point, so this worked out perfect for us! Think Mr. Dennifer will buy me one of the Brookestone massage chairs this Christmas?! I doubt it, but hey - it's worth a shot....they call them wishes for a reason, right? Right? :oP

Linking this project up to Frugalicious Friday over at Finding Fabulous:

Clearing out the clutter!

So I know in several of my previous posts about our Master Bath re-do, I have mentioned cleaning out the clutter under our sinks, like here & here. Well last night I FINALLY completed the task! Yes, yes I realize the slackerness (is this even a word?!) was running PRET-TY on high on this one. However, I got it done...please lay your eyes on the before of this area AKA Exhibit #1:

 

Super embarrassing! How did I let that clutter get THAT out of control?!  Well anyways, last night while watching my husband do all the work finishing up some of the final items for the big reveal of the bathroom, I decided to go ahead and finally tackle this project & I'm so happy I finally got it done. Behold the clean, organized afters AKA exhibit #s 2 & 3:

*my side*

*the hubbs' side*

Ahhh...so much cleaner & much much more organized! I just took some contact paper, measured it to the correct size & cut it to fit under the counters, bought the baskets from Marshalls & got rid of the junk that we had under the cabinets, but didn't ever use. Just looking at it makes me feel better!

We are nearly done with the big Master Bath project & should finish up the last few to do's in the next few days. I can't wait to share the final reveal with you guys...believe me it's worth the wait! In the mean time, I will leave you with my *updated* Master Bath project to do list (I removed the items that were previously completed):

• Buy the mirror framing materials, prime/paint it & put it up
• Paint second coat on vanity & do any necessary touch ups
  
• Install the new faucets
• Steam & put up the new shower curtain
• Clean out under cabinets, put down contact paper & organize stuff into baskets
  
• Clean entire bathroom
• Assemble over toilet storage furniture & add fabric cover to glass doors
• Put cabinets back on vanity & install new hardware
•  **ADDED** - put up wall art purchased from Kohls & decide if additional decor touches are needed (I think they will be, but we shall see)
  

Almost done! Yay! :o)

Getting ready for the holidays!

Man, I'm sooo excited & a little freaked that the holidays are upon us (again...how did they sneak up so quickly?!). Excited because it's my FAVORITE time of year - food, family, friends, fun, parties & gifts (I know the holidays are not about 'em, but who doesn't love gifts?!)! I actually don't even have a list - or even an idea - of what I really want for Christmas, but I love seeing what people come up with! And I'm also freaked because I feel like I have so much to do & so little time to do it.

So, being the Type A person that I am, I need to be extremely organized & have a plan for the holiday season that is upon us, especially since The Dennifers will be hosting our first ever Thanksgiving as a married couple at our house! Enter the three gnenius women who have been sent here to save me from the holiday craziness that the holidays can become: Molly over at My Happy House, Kristen over at The Working Woman's Guide to Domestic Success & Carrie over at A Life in Progress came up with the perfect holiday challenge for me all of their readers!

It's a 5 week challenge starting this week (Thanksgiving Prep). This week I am working from Carrie's list & her's actually starts 2 weeks prior to Thanksgiving. Thankfully, I kinda subconsciously started doing some of the stuff I needed to get done on the 2 weeks prior list already! So, here is the list of everything I need to do in the next week or so to prepare for Thanksgiving - I deleted the stuff that does not apply to my gathering (completed items crossed out, comments in ORANGE):

2 Weeks Prior:

• Do a mock table setting: This allows you to see how many place settings you have, what you are missing, and if you have enough serving pieces. What linens will you be using? Do those napkins need ironing? Do you need to call Mom for another deep serving bowl?
• Create your menu: What are you, as the hostess, in charge of? What are your guests bringing? Be sure to ask your guests as they RSVP if their dish will need to be heated up or if you will need to provide serving dishes for their food. Still waiting on the hubbs to contact his family & finalize everything they will be contributing to the dinner...I have tasked him with finding out this information no later than TODAY so that I can tackle the rest of the menu.
  
• Also be sure that you have everything you need to prepare your food, not just serve it. Do you have enough cookware or will you need to purchase or borrow something else? Best to make sure of this now than be caught unawares during the week of the holiday!
• Make your grocery list: Using your menu, write down everything you will need. Be sure to check your cabinets in case you have some supplies already in there!
• Clip coupons to use on your holiday food items you will be purchasing next week.
  

One Week Before:

• Head to the grocery store and purchase anything that NEED NOT be fresh. For example, I will be needing baguettes and won't want to purchase that in advance, but instead the day before our gathering. I normally do my grocery shopping on Saturday, so I will head to the store armed with my list and coupons!
• Are your guests taking home leftovers? What are they bringing them home in? It is a great idea to provide some sort of box for them to put all the yummies you are sending them home with in to! Hmmm, most of our guests will be coming from about 4 hours away, although they may be staying in the area thru Black Friday, soooo I'm not sure what we are doing about left overs. I think that we will most likely have them over the day after Thanksgiving for the leftovers.

At the end of this week, I will re-post this list with *hopefully* everything marked off, along with what needs to be done next week.

Am I crazy because in the midst of all this I have both a candle party to throw this Saturday & the completion of the master bath project? I also have a few DIY Christmas projects lined up to decorate the house, but those will most likely wait until the day after Thanksgiving. Maybe I am, but I like to aim high. What do you have planned for this week? What are your Thanksgiving plans? How about Black Friday?! Wish me luck this week!

Master Bath Sneak Peek!

We have been slaving away working super hard on our Master Bath project this weekend & have made soo much progress. Unfortunately, it's not quite done yet, but our goal is to get it all done before next weekend gets here! I am so excited! Based on the list I made in my last post, here is a little preview of what we still have to do & what we have already completed from the list:

• Buy the mirror framing materials, prime/paint it & put it up
• Sand, prime (where needed) & paint the trim around the bathroom
• Sand, prime & paint the vanity frame
• **ADDED** - paint second coat on vanity & do any necessary touch ups
  
• Install the new faucets
• Caulk tile areas in shower that need touch ups
  
• Steam & put up the new shower curtain
• Clean out under cabinets, put down contact paper & organize stuff into baskets
  
• Clean entire bathroom
• **ADDED** - assemble over toilet storage furniture & add fabric cover to glass doors
• **ADDED** - put cabinets back on vanity & install new hardware
  

Our only one set back this weekend was the fact that we couldn't find the composite casing material we wanted to use for the mirror framing project, so we got the real wood, which is supposed to be heavier & therefore, not ideal. It was the thinnest, most lightweight wood casing we could find that we actually liked, so *hopefully* it'll work out...there is actually no other option, or you may see yours truly going insane soon, lol.

And without further adieu....progress:

*FRESH paint & NEW towel bar*

*NEW lighting fixture that makes me smile BIG :oD*

 

*REFRESHED vanity*

*NEW light fixture & another close up of the paint ;o)*

Oh my...Thanksgiving is in less than 2 weeks!

How did this happen? Seems like it was summertime only yesterday. Eeeek! Don't get me wrong - I lurve the holidays, it's the most wonderful time of year after all! I am even beginning my holiday decorating planning...but then ::light bulb:: first comes Thanksgiving & we are having my husband's family over this year. OmgOMGomgggggggg. I have to cook all.that.food. I'm actually a grown up, lol. Not that I have never hosted parties at my house - actually, the house of Dennifer is quite the party spot, but having all my ILs over is a completely different story. I love them, they are cool, but it's still stressful anytime family is over the house & half of them are scared of dogs, which makes my life that much more difficult. I mean really - who could be scared of this cutie?


He's harmless - wouldn't hurt a fly. Well, maybe a fly, but he'd just be trying to play. He is literally the sweetest dog in the whole wide world, or maybe I'm just a wee bit biased?! Anyways, I feel bad for him when they come over b/c some of them tend to freak out over any little move he makes - harmless as it is. I don't blame them - they just aren't used to animals as pets & being in the house & being treated like children...it's just how it was where they are from. One time I even went upstairs with him & refused to come down if they were going to be weird about the dog. I know - I took it it a little over board that day, haha. Here's how I feel about animals when you have guests over - I don't mind gating him when a lot of people are at the house & moving about or eating, but once the crowd starts dwindling down or if you are staying at the house overnight - I'm sorry, but I'm not locking him up the entire time someone is staying at my house! However, we have moved past their fear of dogs & they even like him a little now, so my current biggest concern is: the food & finishing our Master Bath project!!!

Okay, so I'm not sure how much assistance our guests (possibly including a few of my family members) will be chipping in to help with the meal, but here are a few things on my list:

Turkey (w/cranberry sauce) of course - but the big decision here is fried or roasted?! I hear fried is amazing & I have never had it, but you have to fry it outside & it's cold & I am not experienced frying something that large & would rather not burn down my house this year, sooo yeah. If we did fried, it would be purchased from somewhere & heated in my oven. I need to figure out how much that would cost & then I guess we will decide.



Next, side dishes - I am thinking of the following (warning - yummy food pics below):

a nice green bean casserole

homemade mac & cheese (yum!)

homemade stuffing

mashed potatoes + gravy

candied yams

potato salad

hot dinner rolls

And...for dessert, my Hubby's aunt is making her delish famous banana pudding

& if I'm up for it, I may throw in a pumpkin pie.

Just thinking about all that food makes me sleepy! Now I need to go beg my MIL, mom & possibly step mom to help me cook, lol. Am I missing any Thanksgiving staple food here? Do you have any good recipes for any of these dishes? I am most scared of the stuffing & turkey. :o/

Oh & the MBath project is going well. Last night I finished painting the cabinets, woot! Those were a PITA especially since Dizzle's hair is flying all around the house, so it kept getting onto the drying cabinets. We also ran into a bit of a problem trying to find the molding/casing for the mirror framing project, but now that I realize just how close Thanksgiving is, we just need to make a decision & go with it. I need this house in order when everyone gets here in 2 weeks (plus I'm hosting a candle party next weekend).

Here are the things we still need to do to finish up the bathroom:

• Buy the mirror framing materials, prime/paint it & put it up
• Sand, prime (where needed) & paint the trim around the bathroom
• Sand, prime & paint the vanity frame
• Install the new faucets
• Caulk tile areas in shower that need touch ups
  
• Steam & put up the new shower curtain
• Clean out under cabinets, put down contact paper & organize stuff into baskets
  
• Clean entire bathroom

Looking at that list makes me feel like we have more to do than we even realized...and so little time to do it. Eeek! Time to get working this weekend. After today, lol. :oP

Mater Bath Progress!

We are making some progress on our current major project! So far, so good - the walls are painted & we are waiting a week to paint the trim, so tomorrow actually. The new light fixture is up (looks fab, but I'll make you wait on that ;), the over toilet storage has arrived (hubby needs to put that together), the TP holder, hook on the back of the door, wall art, towel bar & new shower rod also need to be put up. I have primed the cabinet doors & will paint at least the first and 2nd coats on the fronts of the cabinets today. The only thing left to purchase is a new shower head...so it's coming along! It should hopefully be done by next weekend - yay!!!

Here are some pics after we tore everything out & patched all the holes - hubbs is taping the walls:


And here are some of the painted walls:

Please excuse the MESS under our cabinets - organization of that area being done today!

And I leave you with something cute the hubby did w/o me making him, lol:Our initials on the wall before painting :o)

I can't wait to show you the final reveal!

Stella!

Introducing my new baby...I call her Stella! :o)

View from backseat - dash area:

View from front (from left): backseat area w/3rd row seats folded down; backseat area w/3rd row folded up; sunroof & backseat DVD player folded down.

It's a 2008 Toyota Highlander & I LOVE her! It has every extra I have ever wanted & it will be the perfect family car for when we are blessed with a little one! It drives so smoothly...my dream vehicle! And we got a great deal b/c it was a demo car & had less that 8,500 miles. My uncle's BFF is the general manager of the dealership I got it from & got me employee pricing, so it was a steal too...which makes her even sweeter!

Gotta love 99 cent shipping at Kohls.com!

Today I purchased a new shower curtain for our MBath - the re-do is coming along nicely btw (progress pics coming soon!). When I took everything out of the bathroom for the renovation, I decided that it would be a good time to wash the shower curtain, and...well...I sorta-kinda-accidentally faded the shower curtain, which made me sooo sad because I actually really did love it. It was a housewarming gift from Bed, Bath & Beyond and I went on there to try & find it again, but I figured it was a long shot since it was given to us over 2 years ago. And guess what, it was a long shot - trying to find a 2 year old shower curtain at BB&B = FAIL. So, my next idea was to still try & use the old one & see how bad it looked. But I showed DH the poor shower curtain & he told me to just go ahead and buy a new one! Well I wanted one very similar to my old one, and I searched the internet high & low and FINALLY found one that is somewhat similar (and not ridiculously expensive) AND was up to both me & DH's standards, behold:


You like? I think it's pretty & will go well with my planned MBath re-do . I am not sure it'll be the same quality as my B,B&B curtain, but for $20 I think it'll do for now.

While I was browsing on Kohls' website & since they are having a $0.99 shipping promo right now, I decided to see if they had any gray sheet sets. We want new sheets for our MBedroom since our current sheets are white, which looks fine, but we want to have another option available, lol. So I also bought these in silver:

They are microfiber, which I have never heard of in sheets before, but our couches are microfiber & are fine...I even think they may be extra warm in the winter!! Warmness is great for me because I am one of those people that are always col - seriously - even in the summer. Have any of you ever tried microfiber sheets? How do you like them? I guess if I hate them I can always return them right?? Ahh the joys of online shopping ! Head over to Kohls' website to take advantage of the $0.99 shipping - it ends today so hurry over!!