Day 13 - 20: What I am Thankful For

Monday, November 19, 2012

Funny Thanksgiving Ecard: I'm already eating at a Thanksgiving level.

Geez life has been so busy, but no need to fret! I am still super thankful for so many things in my life! Here we go...

Day 13: I am thankful for my health. Besides a few bumps and bruises along the way, I have be blessed with great health for me and my loved ones.

Day 14: I am thankful for growing up playing sports. Sports taught me life lessons that I use everyday. How to be a team player, competitiveness, dedication and drive all stem from years of playing sports.

Day 15: I am thankful for having a reliable car. Texas is a big state, so getting from point a to point b is not a "walk in the park." Thankfully my car is in great shape and gets the job done!

Day 16: I am thankful for my work friends. You spend most of your week with people who you aren't even related to, so you might as well like them. Luck for me many of them have become friends that I will have for a lifetime.

Day 17: I am thankful for TV. Seriously. Between working and studying for graduate school it is nice to be able to lay around and watch "mindless" television every once in awhile. RHOBH anyone?? 

Day 18: I am thankful for date nights with my husband. Lately we have been getting home from work, putting on Christmas music (I know, too early...), cooking together, and just sitting and enjoying being with one another.

Day 19: I am thankful for my Mom teaching me how to cook when I was little. I make dinner almost every night of the week. I can't imagine getting take out or not having a home cooked meal on a regular basis. It isn't always good for my waistline, but it sure makes me happy to know that I cooked a delicious meal for me and the hubs!

Day 20: I am thankful for blogging. Blogging has been an outlet for me to let me mind wander from accounting work and grad school and just think about whatever. It is quite like therapy, but free :)

I'm thankful that I only have to fake working for two days this week.

Mantel Update: Elephants and Books


Yes, we have an elephant on our mantel and he is so. darn. cute. I showed y'all the picture below when we lit our first fire a couple months ago. I was just not satisfied with the boring-ness of our mantel. It was totally blah. Blah blah blah.


Such a great terrible quality photo. Oh well, ya get the point. The mantel was just ehh.

One bright sunny day (actually I can't remember what kinda day it was) Kirstin and I headed out the door. Mission: make the Tucker mantel unique and cozy.

And this is what we came up with.



I totallyyy had that adorable vase in my basket one day at Target, then after much deliberation while checking out the Halloween candy, I decided I didn't need it...so I put it back (I instead justified the couple pound back of chocolate...). Fast forward a week later and fate brought us back together. I guess it was meant to be. A match made in mantel heaven.

Moving onto those candlesticks. Target. Sale. 'Nuff said.

Finally onto our animal inspired portion of the mantel, Elphy the Elephant. Yes, yes I did just make that name up and I kinda like it. Can I get a shout out for Elphy being $9.99 at TJ Maxx? His turquoise color and cute details were enough for me to want to take him home.

Along with some purple hydrangeas, and the previous items on the mantel, I believe our mantel is complete...for now....because Christmas decorating will be in full swing this weekend! Eeeek! <---This is me jumping up and down with excitement!

We might or might not have put our tree up already. Ok we totally did, but we haven't decorated it yet! I promise! (Yikes, I can already hear the backlash of "One holiday at a time, Tuckers!" and "You can't decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving!")

That would mean most of you probably don't approve of this:


Ahhh pretend you never saw that :)

I can't wait to show y'all our first Christmas mantel this year. I am already pinning ideas left and right...now I just need to decide on which one I want to go with!

Happy Tuesday!

Young House Love Book Singing

Sunday, November 18, 2012


Have you ever met a supa-star? I brush elbows with the rich and famous often. Ok, totally kidding. But this past weekend Sherry and John from Young House Love blog came to Dallas for their book signing and I was totally there! They are definitely famous in the blogging world and their book just hit the New York Times bestsellers list!

Ya see, I am addicted to their blog (a-dicted...literally) and someone had this genius idea to have them write a book about "243 WAYS TO PAINT, CRAFT, UPDATE & SHOW YOUR HOME SOME LOVE." Seriously, best. idea. ever. Go buy the book and you will see.

The thing is that not only is their blog and home fabulous, but they write their posts in a way that you feel as though they are your best friends (and you secretly wish they were!), so when my friend Jessica and I saw they were coming to the West Elm in Dallas I was totally screaming inside with joy/excitement.

Leading up to the "big day" I had been reading that people were showing up to their book signings hours, HOURS, before it even started. For instance, in Chi-town the line started forming at 5:30 AM for a 1:00 PM <----PM book signing. Yikes! Their book signing in Dallas was scheduled for Saturday at 11:00 AM, but there was no way I was getting up before 6:00 AM on a Saturday. Ok, I totally would have, BUT luckily I knew that us Texans move slightly much slower then those northerners. I called Jessica and we decided we would get there at 8:30 AM and hope for the best.

With our sack chairs, chicken biscuits, and coffee in hand we arrived at the West Elm in Dallas and  BAM this is what the line looked like. (Sorry to the man I caught with his eyes closed!)



We were 10th in line. TENTH! Holla! We didn't have to wake up early and we got a bomb-dot-com spot in line. Basically it was a perfect day and it wasn't even 9:00 AM....on a Saturday.

It was really fun waiting in line. Jessica and I got to catch up on life...even though we talk weekly. We are both newlywed and new homeowners, so we just chit-chatted about painting and DIY'ing...much like the Young House Love book! I took a run walk to Starbucks for us and the guy made my tall drink a grande on accident and gave it to me at no extra charge. Like I said, best-morning-ever. Even getting pooped on by a bird didn't ruin my morning. As Jessica said, "It's ok because it is white on white!" Hahahah!


I dropped the poop jacket in the car and got back in line just in time for the cookies and hot coco. We might have consumed 4000 grams of sugar that morning between Starbucks, coco, and cookies, but I was super-fine with it. The hot coco was delish and the cookies were adorable.





We waited inside for about 45 minutes and made friends with the people around us. Everyone was so excited to meet Sherry and John, and the beautifulness of West Elm just added to everyone's giddy feeling. I scoped out items that I wanted to look at after I got my book autographed and then was crying inside not surprised they were ten times out of my price range. But hey, I got some great inspiration ideas!


 


Then like magic, the time had arrived and a lady announced that Sherry and John would be coming out in 30 seconds! I would be lying if I said my heart didn't start to race and I wasn't grinning ear to ear. Within 30 seconds, from behind the super expensive beautiful Christmas decorations, and bookshelves, emerged Sherry and John! They were exactly how I had imagined. John's bow and Sherry's wave instantly portrayed their sincere happiness to have so many fans there to see them.


It was finally our turn and I was so. freaking. excited. I don't remember much except Sherry said she loved my outfit (I swear I didn't dream that!) and they were such nice people. I tried to not geek out too much and grin too large...


Inside my book I drew a picture of where I was going to place the real picture that I took with them. If you read their blog you would know that Sherry sometimes calls herself $herdog, so I thought it was only fitting that I went by the same, $ardog. After I told her I was going to cover it she said it was too cute to cover and she suggested I put it on the opposite page. I mean it is her (and John's) book, so I am totally on board with that idea. She drew that little red heart...

A lot of people draw in their books, bring them gifts, have them sign items other than the books, so I wanted to join in on the fun!




As you can see it was a complete success. Even getting pooped on didn't ruin my happiness. I got to catch up with Jessica and see two of my favorite bloggers all within one bright and early Saturday morning. This girl is happy.

Thanks, Sherry and John, for coming to the Big D!

B-t-w, do you see their adorable little girl, Clara, up there in that picture? Ya, all the more reason to go check out their blog!

Happy Monday! Time to start mentally preparing for the abnormally large amount of food I am going to consume by Thursday night...I cannot wait!

B-t-w-w (by the way way) you can stay up to date on my life by:
- Joining this site by clicking the button on the right
- Following me on Instagram at sarahtuckerup
- Like my (newly made) Facebook page Tucker Up
- I guess you can follow me on Twitter @mrssarahtucker, but I am warning you that I am not a good tweeter. I just can't get into it quite yet...sorry in advance for the disappointment :)