Tuesday Talk ~ 50th Birthday Party Decor

 Today I am linking up for Tuesday Talk and am talking about my 50th birthday party.  

With this being an unusual year for gatherings, we wondered how to celebrate and decided to invite 8 couples over to our home.  We had a friend and my daughters help with decorating and I prepared the food, thanks to Costco!  It was so fun to be with friends and they were all happy to have an event.  We were able to stay on our back porch for most of the night and had grouped chairs together so that people would feel safe.  My daughters helped serve the food and I tried to be creative with serving of the food.  It was a super fun night!

I have admired the balloon garlands and my husband surprised me with this creation that was on our front porch.

Blowing out birthday candles, safely :)

Now to the decorations....

Throughout the house, we had flowers and pictures.

It was great weather and we had a fire inside.

The food was served on our dining room table.

Here are pictures from our back porch.  We had a dessert table and a drink station out here.

Dessert table....

Drink station....

Sweet friends brought some gifts for me as well.

I am thankful for a fun night of celebrating!

Weekend Wrap UP ~ Birthday/Elvis/Wedding Edition

 Last week I had a birthday and we have had days on days of celebrating and it's been so fun.  And actually, I have a 2 more family celebrations in the next 2 weeks as well.  Today and tomorrow, I will highlight some of the activities, so lots of photos coming up here!  Linking up with Tanya today.

My birthday began with a leisurely morning at home and my husband made me breakfast.

My daughter was out of school for Veteran's Day. so the 3 of us went to my favorite Mexican restaurant.

Then the girls did a little birthday shopping.

That night, my husband and I went to dinner and the food was great.  I had salmon with crab meat on top!

I indulged in this delicious dessert.  Calories don't count on birthdays, do they?

A great gift that night was our college girl came home!

The next day, she helped me do some grocery shopping then after my youngest finished school, we had a family day of roller skating.   Actually, just about an hour and a half because we were worn out pretty quickly!  I had once wanted to rent a skating rink for a party, but we decided to just do a family skate and it was perfect and so fun.  I use to do this on weekends when I was much younger.

That evening, my husband planned a staycation for us at The Guest House, which is a hotel next door to Graceland.  A quick little back story, Elvis was my first concert, I worked at Graceland as a tour guide while in college and we renewed our vows at the Graceland chapel on our 10 year wedding anniversary.

They had a staircase that is a replica of the one in Graceland.

All of that was just honestly last Wednesday and Thursday.  Friday night, I had a birthday party, which I will highlight tomorrow.  Come back and check out the beautiful decorations!

Saturday night, we attended the wedding of my nephew.

My husband and daughters

Wedding date :)

My great-niece

My nephew, the groom

My beautiful sister and I

I'm going to leave today's wrap up here and will share party pictures tomorrow.

Happy Monday!

Let's Look ~ Birthday Edition

 Well ladies, today is my 50th birthday!  I am super thankful to celebrate 50 years of life.  I am thankful for all the good and hard moments.  I am thankful for seasons of my life and people along the way.  I am thankful for the constants...Jesus and my family.  I am thankful for my husband, daughters, parents, siblings, in-laws, nieces and nephews.  I am thankful for opportunities to serve, to travel and for work.  I am thankful for health and a home I love.  I am thankful for God's constant love, forgiveness, grace and provision.  I am thankful for Jesus who gives me breath of life.

This week, like any good celebrations, will involve some good food!  I started on Saturday with one of my favorite desserts, frozen yogurt.  

I had lunch with a friend yesterday.  The food was delicious and they brought out dessert as well for me.

Today, I will go to dinner and Friday, we will celebrate with friends and more good food.  I will post on that menu next week.  

Thank you for reading along with my little blog and for your kind comments.

Also, I want to wish all the Veterans a Happy Veteran's Day!!

Weekend Wrap-Up ~ November 9, 2020

 Good November Monday morning to you!  The weekend came and went so fast.  Like most, they were low key for us, so this post is short and sweet.  I am linking up with Tanya.

Friday night, our daughter had an event, but my husband and I ate at home and watched some Netflix.  We just started Schitt's Creek, and it has definitely provided some laughs so far.  

Saturday, we worked around the house on projects, inside and outside. I love the area where we live and it is especially pretty in the fall.  I always love the colors of the trees on the main street of our neighborhood.  Isn't it pretty?

Speaking of pretty fall colors, my daughter painted this for the window display of our church office.

Later on Saturday, we began a pre-birthday celebration with my favorite Menchie's yogurt.

That was followed up with an early birthday gift to myself, the Apple Watch SE.  I am new to the Apple Watch wearers, so I have a few things to figure out with this, but I do think I will really like it.

Sunday, we had a church fall festival and it was fun to drive about 30 minutes outside of our town to get to know others better, have fun and eat good food.  

This is birthday week for me so more to come later in the week!  Have a great start to your week.

Friday Favorites ~ November 6, 2020

 Happy Friday everyone! Linking up for Friday Favorites today....

1.  Time with Friends

I was able to visit with a friend I had not seen in 22 years!  It was so, so good.

2.  New nightstand

After almost 4 years in our house, we got nightstands for our master bedroom!  Until now, I had been using some end tables that were given to us.  I am excited to use the drawers to hide my stuff :)

It came in a box with lots of pieces.

The old end table

This is what I did on election night....watched a Hallmark Christmas movie and assembled a table!

I was pleased with the final product.

3.  Outside work

I spent some time last weekend raking leaves and pressure washing our front porch.  I was really enjoying seeing the transformation!

Below is the front porch finished, although I had not put back my front door mats yet.

You can see the difference here between the porch and where the walkway begins, that I have not done yet.  That may be a spring project.

I think I was up to 20 bags of raked leaves, and that is the first layer.  There are still so many leaves yet to fall, but I wanted to get a head-start on these.

4.  Clothing deals

Well, I don't have any photos or links to these, but I found some great clothing deals this week.  With a few occasions coming up this month and next, I found some outfits this week.  First, I found a jumper on clearance at Kohls (which I could not find on their website).  Then, I went to TJ Maxx, and found another jumper and a dress (also couldn't find those on their website).  I will post pictures when I wear these.  But, finding amazing deals on outfits I liked was a win-win!

Looks like a good weather weekend in our neck of the woods.  Hoping for a peaceful weekend.

Thanks for reading and enjoy November!

Currently ~ November 2020

We made it this far and it is a good day to reflect on other things, like linking up with the Currently series.

Today we are talking about these topics.......

Appreciating - I am just appreciating this month, trying really hard to take each day as a gift.  I want to reflect on being thankful for all the little things.  So far, I have been thankful for finding a bank I needed to go to, which I had never been and it was next door to another store where I needed to go....see, it's the little things :).  I also am thankful for the beautiful colors of the leaves on the trees, especially on the main road to my neighborhood.  It makes it such a pretty drive to and from home.

Ordering - I feel like I am ordering random things on Amazon and other places, trying to get a head start on Christmas.  I have a few things, but will have lots to order these next 2 months.

Perfecting - I am trying to perfect my system with working with Quick Books.  Granted, it is far from perfect, but I am trying to make a system that works for me. 

Planning - I am a planner, so I feel like I am always planning something, whether it be my day, meals, or an upcoming trip.  Right now, I  am planning out some things for this month.  I am also beginning to think about some trips next spring, which is exciting!

Wearing - I am wearing jeans and sweaters most days.....nothing too exciting. I am always excited to wear a pair of boots though!  

 I will be back Friday for Friday Favorites!

Prime Purchases ~ October 2020

 Today, I am linking up with Tanya for Prime Purchases.  I am looking forward to seeing these with a month of Prime Days dea!  I found a few random things........

1. Broom

I needed a new household broom and so far, I am very pleased with this one.  I like that I can clean the bristles. 

2.  Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

This is currently on sale!  For me, it maintains a manicure for 3-4 days.  I was hoping it would go a little longer, but I am happy to get 3 days out of a polish with no chipping.

3. Mop

I have heard such good review about this mop.  I haven't used it yet, but plan on using it in the next few weeks.

4.  Moustache hook

This was a fun gift for my husband on his birthday.  It hangs on his closet door.

5.  Paw Patrol Racer Cars

 This was a birthday gift for my 4 year old great-nephew.  He loved it, but of course at that age, they are easy to please with gifts :).

6.  Water Bottle

I had been wanting a water bottle that would help me be accountable to get my water intake every day.  I am using this bottle around the house, because sadly, it does not quite fit in my car cup holder.  

The other random things I bought were Sweet 16 birthday decorations and some invitations.  They were great as well.

Have a great day and will see you back tomorrow with Currently!