No super pretty blog post. Sadly, I have too much going on today! One of which is the purchase of a new home (see blurry and non intrusive photo of it above!). We think we found 'the one'. We are on counter offer no. 3, and its down to us deciding if this final price (which is what we already said we'd max on) is good or if we want to say no and go elsewhere. I really do love the house and think its a God thing that its available and the owners are going as low as they are. As I keep telling people it's 'Erin and Bob ready'. Meaning there is not really anything we'd change to it. Well except the adding of furniture since its larger than our current place. But its a huge decision to make, so today we're praying for clarity and guidance! Will let you know how it all turns out!

For the past six or so years I have been working in a retail environment. Meaning lots of hustling and bustling at stores, designing last minute email blasts and catalogs and dealing with work at all hours and days of the holiday. It honestly took a lot of joy away from Christmas.

Meet one of my new suites, Diane. Below is the inspiration and my sketches. Check back tomorrow as I reveal the full Diane Wedding Invitation Suite!
PS- The weekend was great! Got our photoshoot done and I can't wait to start looking through the pics and picking out my favorites to show you. Got to visit our dear friends Mel + Brad and we went to our favorite restaurant overlooking the Intercoastal Waterway on Saturday. Sunday we went kayaking, which was a blast! On the way home yesterday we stopped at Ikea in Atlanta (favorite!) and then stopped at my friend's Sara's place for a visit in Chattanooga...We didn't get home until 10 p.m. and went straight to bed! BUT the mini vacation was definitely worth the long trip, good to see friends and our ole stompin grounds.

-e.n.h

This weekend was perfection. It was jam packed with so much laziness it was ridiculous. B and I stayed in Friday night because of the nasty winter storm, watched a rental and went to bed early. Saturday afternoon we wanted to veture out and we went to the Creamery in Fountain City. Its a delicious diner atmosphere with the yummiest sandwiches and milkshakes ever! B and I had a great lunch and some good quality time as the snow fell all day! Saturday night was Star Trek (I know I know...but it was B's turn for a movie pick from netflix), dinner and some yummy wine (like we needed to relax anymore!)



Sunday our sunday school and church service was cancelled so we slept in and then got up and went to a TN vs. bball game! Thankfully they won, so it was a great afternoon. Then I did a P90X workout with B. Not looking forward to how sore I am going to be, but glad I did it!



So with that being said I'm stepping up my blogging game and going to write out some of the eats I'm making this week for "Menu Monday":



Monday - Turkey Meatballs with Quick And Spicy Tomato Sauce and Whole-Wheat Spaghetti

Tuesday - Red Beans and Rice (IF I can get a ham bone from honey baked ham by then!)

Wednesday - Spicy Shredded Beef

Thursday - Grilled Chicken on Salad

Friday - Corn Flake Chicken Nuggets + Baked Fries



On the deck for this week:

Potential trip to Atlanta for work meeting

Working out with more P90X!

500 Days of Summer movie on Friday night in

My Christmas massage, mani + pedi on Saturday morning!!

UT Alumni tailgate and bball game Saturday afternoon

Superbowl Party @ B's coworkers house...and I STILL have not officially decided who I am rooting for.



The back story is this: I was born in New Orleans, as was my dad. So I was born and raised a Saints fan. I remember wearing a black Saints sweatshirt to middle school a lot and thinking I was so cool....someone should have told me the 'Aints we'ren't all that back then. I never really had any other team I cared about until I went to college. I always, always, always liked Peyton Manning and b/c of that the Colts have grown into my team. I know them all and have always rooted for them. Peyton and his boys even helped me to my Fantasy Football victory this year. So there is my dilemma. Root for the team I've always known or the team I'll always love....hmmm, it might be a game time decision.

(BTW - my bff is going to the game with her cajun husband and friends...I won't even tell you how much her tix cost...Whatever you think it is, double it! ha!)



Have a great week!

-e.n.h.

Time for the new year and time for resolutions (in no particular order):

1. Make going to Church/Sunday School a priority.
2. Learn Italian (Rosetta Stone here we come!)
3. Run 1/2 marathon (yowza!)
4. Save $ and get rid of ALL of our debt (totally doable!)
5. Become a Google Blogger expert
6. Expand my business/website hugely in 2010 (things are in the works!)
7. Try not to procrastinate in anything (housework + work)
8. Cook dinner 4 days a week (minimum!)
9. Love on my husband more!
10. Blog 5 days a week!

Hope you have a very Happy New Year!
e.n.h.

Now that its after Christmas, I have a little bit of down time before the new year rolls around. So yesterday I went to work cleaning and organizing my office/studio! I have been meaning to have a work table for about ever, and although my heart was set on a $500 Ikea steel table, I think I have made something that I like better.

Here's what I did: I purchased some chrome shelves for work equipment, so I got to use the other ones I had to make a table and to store my be true paper work. B measured and ordered a glass top that was perfect and then I used the cardboard that the glass came in (yea recycle!) to make the bottom base. Yesterday I finally unleashed my inspiration folder on my computer by printing out some images and using some magazine images that I've been saving to make the table's background by lightly taping them onto the cardboard. Next I cleaned and placed the glass on top...and voila! Now whenever I get a brain fart and can't be creative I can just go over to my table and be inspired!

So this year I wanted to do something different than just send out a Christmas card...this year I wanted to add a little treat. I found this link, sometime this summer about how to make hot cocoa and such for wedding favors...I decided I wanted to send all my friends some cocoa for Christmas! Now that we're in east Tennessee where we have already gotten snow and below freezing temps, it feels right to send out some warming Christmas treats...AND the best part, it was homemade, so of course B and I did a lot of taste testing before we sent out our final batch!
Here's how it came out:

I got all my ingredients at my favorite healthy grocery store Earthfare, and I think all the organic ingredients make the cocoa taste so much better! B would probably argue with that since he's still not on the organic train like I am.
I used some green and white baker's twine from Divine Twine and labels from Swoozie's. I already had bags from a long time ago, so I measured out each bag, attached the twine and label and...


Voila! Little packets of Haines' homemade Cocoa! Marshmallows included! yum!

The next step was the tricky (and expensive part) I ordered small A2 mailer boxes from Paper Source back in October, added the cocoa packets and our Christmas cards, then attached a long label that wrapped around, in order to keep the box shut (sorry post office, no cocoa for you!). Slapped 4 stamps on each and sent them on their merry way! Lets hope they make it to everyone!
And here's our Christmas card!

So I'm out for the holidays. B's family has been here since Friday. They're staying in the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area, which is about 40 mins from us. And let me tell you, I will definitely be back there for 2 reasons:
1. the mountains! I really didn't realize that the mountains were so close to us...I guess I knew they were there when we went to the lake near that area this summer, but when we were driving to their place last night the mountains were snow capped and sooo big! I felt like I was looking at the Grand Tetons or something! I cant wait to start hiking (when it gets warmer) and water fall searching this summer!
2. the outlets. Um, why did it take me almost a year to discover these outlets, fully equipped with a Banana, Jcrew, Coach + Gap! Cant wait to find an excuse to go back!

B and I are travelling back to Memphis Christmas Eve day. We're going to spend the Eve with my parents eating dinner + opening gifts (b/c that's our Christmas tradition at my house), then Christmas day we're going to go see Sherlock Holmes and maybe another movie to fill the day.
Then we'll be back home for good on Sunday (like we're not moving, leaving or budging from Knoxville for at least 2 months kind of good).

Hope you have a very Merry Christmas!
-e.n.h.

So B and I are going on another round the world adventure...and when I mean an adventure I mean we're driving straight down the interstate for 6 hours to Memphis for probably a less than 24 hour visit...Let me explain: B's company is based in Memphis, Millington to be exact. And this weekend is their company Christmas Dinner/Party. I'm excited to see everyone again and to get to eat at Texas de Brazil in downtown Memphis on Saturday night. What I am not excited about is driving, AGAIN, to Memphis on Saturday morning and then turning around and coming back Sunday morning/afternoon...We've decided to leave Saturday morning because B has been non stop this week with work. I've pretty much only seen him maybe 3 total hours the entire week. He's been leaving for work at 7ish (when I'm asleep) working until 1-3 a.m. (when I'm asleep) every night. And he's gotta work a little longer today too, to hopefully finish all this crazy work! Since I'm the driver I voted to just wake up early and head out...we'll see how it pans out.

I love driving and love road trips, but lately I feel as though I'm over it. Could be the fact that every time we get about 50-75 miles outside of Nashville we get stuck in some kind of traffic jam. Last week, no lie, we were sitting on the interstate for over an hour. Sitting. Just sitting in our car...as it was parked...on the interstate. Some people in front of us got out for a smoke break...other got out to stretch their legs...but we just sat. That is until we (and I mean B) had enough and made me turn around and we GPS'd our way through some backwoods country to get around it...which in the end didn't really save us any time, since we got back on the interstate and saw trucks we were sitting next to earlier, but at least it made us feel better b/c we were moving.

Anyhow, that's they plan for this weekend. Thankfully its one of our last trips for awhile (besides Christmas)...we've pretty much told all of our friends that we're not moving for awhile, and if they want to see us, they'll have to make the trip! Not us! ha!

Here's hoping you have a great weekend!
e.n.h.

PS- I took Jackson to the vet yesterday and was completely embarrassed and cracking up...He had to get his shots for the year plus the dreaded "poop" test and heart worm test. Well the vet did the "poop" test first and I swear to you, Jackson looked like a cartoon. His 4 legs stretched out like he was on ice, his claws were clinging to the steel table and the yelps he made could probably be heard a mile down the street...he then proceeded to try to wiggle his way off the table all the while peeing in fear. Well the vet showed some sympathy ( I mean they stuck something up his booty for crying out loud!) That is until he did this same routine for all of his 4 shots + getting his blood drawn!!! By the time they were done, the vet and the tech were making fun of him. The tech even said "We have 3 lb Chihuahuas that handle this stuff better"...the funniest part was that Jackson hid under the chairs in the room while the tech was in the room when we waited for the test results...as soon as she left he would come out...So looks like we've raised a baby.

1. Visit with friends - We have some friends that are already home (aka Oak Ridge) for Thanksgiving and some that are driving through on their way to home this week (aka Columbia,SC), so we're hoping to get to have dinner/hang out a lil with them before everyone goes on their merry way.

2. Drive to Memphis - I think we're set. I went to the pet store Sunday and loaded up on Puppy pills to hopefully knock Jackson out while we're on our way. He hasn't been in the car this long, since we moved from Memphis to Knoxville. I hope now that we know he gets car sick/anxiety we can keep him calm/passed out the whole trip! And with B's ankle in a boot and trying to stop it from swelling, looks like I'll be driving the whole 6 hours...yuck!

3. Sleep in and Watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade - Although I'm never really one to care about it, it sort of is a tradition to have it in the background during the Thanksgiving morning. I would have been glued to the set anxiously awaiting to see the Glee cast perform, but since they're not going to, looks like background noise you'll be!

4. Eat lots of Turkey, less mashed potatoes! - I got off my "diet" this past weekend for our last home tailgate, so I need to make sure I try to focus on not over eating this week! Of course I picked the hardest week to do that! Also need to pick up on my half marathon training. So far its been sparse. I just need to get into the habit!

5. Go see the Blind Side - I hear its the best movie. I have not heard one single negative thing from anyone who's seen it or from the media. Sounds like something to do Thanksgiving afternoon!

6. Join the ranks of the crazy's and wake up early to shop Black Friday - Normally I am waking up early to go to the store to work and wait for all the crazy's to show up. Sadly, I will be joining them this year. B and I plan to get up early to shop for ourselves (isn't that awful!). He needs a new watch and I need a jacket to keep me warm in the mountains of TN...I am still going to go visit my hometown store to help out at 8, but if most stores open at 5, that leaves us 3 hours of shopping!!!! Cant believe I'm going to be one of those people!

7. Work at the Collierville store - Its my favorite time of the year and the day after thanksgiving is by far my favorite day to work in retail. I think its just how crazy busy everyone is, but everyone is generally happy and hopped up on turkey! It usually flys by too!

8. Watch some Auburn football! - After working at the store I'm headed home to watch my Auburn Tigers take on the Alabama Crimson tide...We have nothing to lose, and they're undefeated. I would love love love it, if the Tigers could pull off the upset. And I really think we have the talent and spirit to do so. BUT we'll see! War Eagle!

9. Visit with family! My cousin, her husband and her son are coming to my parents to watch football and eat some Memphis BBQ (we're getting 3 different kinds just to have a sampling!). It will be good to see them and hang out with the rents too!

10. Rockettes- B's parents are taking us to go see the "Girls who kick the air" (as I like to call them). I'm really excited...more for the fact that we were going to go see the show in Nashville with friends next week, but decided it was too expensive. So this will be a nice treat!

11. Drive back to Knoxville - by far the worst part of the week! Here's hoping we can get out of town early enough to get home before dark. We always have a tendency to leave late and get home late which screws us up for the next week!

Can you believe its already Thanksgiving???? Crazy! That means Christmas is right around the corner!

Hope you have a great one! (Be sure to eat those extra mashed potatoes for me!)
-e.n.h

Sorry! I haven't been back to blogging since June! Crazy how time flys. Anyways since we last spoke I had a wonderful 4 year anniversary with my husband. We went to a nice seafood restaurant and a movie. Then we had a lazy and productive weekend. Its officially the start of us not having to go anywhere and we're so excited to just hang out in our house and around Knoxville!

After our low key weekend I headed to Hilton Head, SC for a work meeting. Its such a big tease and so hard to concentrate when you see the beach right in front of you and when your bosses son and his friends are splashing in the pool, all the while you're having an important meeting about the state of your job. Wonderful! Anyways I was there for 2 days, and when I got back I had the rest of the week off, so I've been diligently working on getting be true designs up and rolling. I'm almost there! The launch date is now July 17th!!! I'm super excited, and you should be too!

This weekend we had our friends Melanie and Bradford come to visit. They are my personal photogs and I love them to death! We all went (as well as Mox & Donna) to the Smoky Mountains on Friday to go tubing down the river. Well who would have thunk it would be 75 degrees outside on July 3rd! Needless to say it was so much fun, BUT the first 2 hours we all were a bit close to hypothermia! By the 3rd hour the sun came out and warmed us up. And all and all we still had fun. (It wasn't extreme white water tubing, like I had been on before, more like a lazy river). See pics below:

after our 3 hours tubing excursion, waiting for the bus to pick us up.

I'm worried I might use too much red!

Here are my colors, any ideas??

I think with all my "free, don't gotta husband to bug me" time I got this weekend I'll make a few trips to Target, Hobby Lobby and Home Goods to see what I find...any suggestions welcome!

Ok, so I've been meaning to post pics of our new place for about a month now (ever since we moved in). And to be honest its still not how I want it to be, but its clean and good enough for now. Here is the front of the house. Big shout out to Jackson who decided to model for the shoot:Here is the entry way. The living room is to the left. Soooo excited that all the jackets that are hanging up are on their way out because of spring/summer coming!:Living Room. We had to buy a rug because of all the hard woods. We are still using the large chair ottoman as a coffee table in front of the sofa. We had been shopping for a coffee table/end table set, but got side tracked when we found our bedroom set. So, we'll have to resume that search soon because the chair and ottoman is perfect to snuggle in and I think together it filles up the room a little better.

The Tv Wall. I hate it. Manly because the wall is so large and the tv is dwarfed by it. Also we need an entertainment center. I think when we get our new big tv (in June maybe!) we'll get all the fixins to go with it:




Here is a view of our stone ventless fireplace. It makes a great conversation starter...Usually when someone firsts walks in they're like "wow! I bet thats awesome" and then we explain that we've only used it once, and that was just to see if it worked. But I like it still. It seperates the space a lot, but still keeps it all open. AND I can't wait to hang Christmas stockings and garland on it for Christmas!:




Better view of the chair and fireplace:


The dining area:

View of the kitchen. I like it, its very large and has a lot of storage.