Christmas Decorating

Like most people, I love Christmas! The food, the music, the cheer, the cold weather (which we don't get very often in Houston), seeing friends and family, and, of course, the Christmas tree! This is the first year that Joe and I got a tree for our apartment. The tree is a table-top tree, it's small and a little crooked, but it smells wonderful!

Our tree all decorated.

Usually I like to put up the decorations earlier but this year I was a little lazy. I would love to decorate our apartment with fresh garlands, string of cranberries, and candles, but our budget and Joe's allergies don't allow for it. Instead I use plastic, glitter, and tinsel. Here are some photos of our decorations:

The wreath on our front door.

Our dinning table with a Christmas tree candle on it.

The wreath in our entryway.

And of course a hot pink glitter Christmas tree on the coffee table!

 Now off to do my Christmas shopping. Yes, I'm late doing that, too!
 

Cleaning....

With so many people visiting friends and family for the holidays, I thought this would be a good time for this post!

There are people in the world who love to clean. I am not one of those people. This post is not for those people. It's for the rest of us who would rather (and often do) procrastinate and wait until something like the threat of visitors makes us clean. When I do this I find myself frantically cleaning every nook and cranny, afraid that my guests will be able to see that I haven't been diligent in my housework. Then when my guests do arrive (usual just moments after I have finished my marathon cleaning) I am exhausted. This happened 6 months ago and I decided that it had to be the last time. So this post is about how I changed my cleaning habits.

First off, it was not an easy change and is still ongoing. I am not a perfect cleaning robot so from time to time I slip up, but my habits are getting better. Here is how I did it:


I first made a conscious decision to change. I promised myself that I would strive to change my habits and keep a cleaner home, though I knew it would not always be easy.


I did a little research. I looked at blogs, articles, and talked to friends and family to see what helped others.


I then tried different methods to see what worked for me. I kept the ones that did, and threw out the ones that didn't.


Some of the methods that I kept: 

•  Set a timer! This helps me when I don't feel like cleaning. I set a timer for 15 minutes and clean until it goes off. If I don't feel like stopping then I keep going until I do but I never quit before that timer goes off. You will be amazed at how much you can get done in just 15 minutes.
• Music. Lots of articles, and blogs mentioned playing music while cleaning. While I do think music helps tremendously, I found that it works especially well when I am excited about a new song or album I have downloaded. 
• I think about how nice it will be to have friends over and enjoy their company instead of worrying about how I should have done the dishes or whether there are any clothes on the floor in the bathroom.
• Along the same line, I think about unexpected visitors. I don't want terror striking my heart when I see an unexpected guest at the door. I don't want to run around furiously cleaning as many things as I can. 
• Set a routine. I use to-do lists on my phone to track what chores I'm supposed to do when. It's satisfying to check items off of a to-do list.
• Be flexible. While I have a routine, I use it as a guideline: if I'm supposed to vacuum but I feel like dusting, I dust. 
• Rewards. It may sound childish, but on days when I really need some motivation I sometimes treat myself to a reward after I finish cleaning. I get something small, like a $4 bouquet from the grocery store or a new bottle of nail polish.   

Except for the dress, heels, apron, and posing grin, this is what I look like when I clean.

Here is a link to the image above: http://www.flickr.com/photos/uppityrib/3852464078/

Thanksgiving

My first year hosting Thanksgiving went well. Watching my parents prepare the Thanksgiving meal every year, I never realized how much work goes in to it. This year Thanksgiving was small, as not everyone could make the trek to Houston. I had a lot of help with the cooking and cleaning from my mom and my mother-in-law. I could not have pulled it off without them! Except for some undercooked green beans and a cracked cheesecake, the dinner was delicious. Our kitchen gets crowded with just one person in it, so I was a little worried about cooking such a big meal that would require more than one person to prepare. It worked out, though. We practically took turns working in the kitchen. I really enjoyed hosting Thanksgiving and hope to do it again, hopefully with more family and friends. Sharing good food makes it all worthwhile!

I didn't do any shopping on Black Friday. When I was in college I worked on Black Friday at a retail store and ever since I have vowed never to shop on Black Friday. Why? First, it's crazy!!! Large crowds, long lines, rude people. We had so many people in the store that we were over the building's capacity and had to count people leaving and only let that many more people in. Secondly, it's unfair to employees. Every year stores open earlier and earlier. The year I worked I remember eating my Thanksgiving meal, leaving early to get some sleep, then going to work in the wee hours of the morning. I haven't decided if cyber Monday is a good alternative, but Amazon.com did have some pretty good deals today!

Halloween and Joe's Birthday!

Happy Halloween everyone!

(Joe and I carved this pumpkin several years ago and it's one of my faves.) We have lived in our apartment for several years but have only had one group of trick-or-treaters--and they were my coworkers! Every year I buy candy and every year I end up eating it all. This year I went a step further and ate all our candy before Halloween. But I still love Halloween! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

 





 We also celebrated Joe's birthday recently. 

I decorated the coffee table with confetti and small vase with tall birthday candles. The confetti is easy to reuse if you keep it on a table (this is the third year I've used it). We went to a new Indian restaurant and I was surprised how much I liked it!  I'm not normally the biggest fan, but this place was really good. The night was low key but very nice. Happy Birthday Joe!!

First Post

Hello! This is my first post on my first blog! Yay!  First let me introduce myself: my name is Tess and I live in Houston Texas with my wonderful husband Joe. 

So what is this blog going to be about? Honestly a little bit of everything I love, such as diy projects, interior decorating, crafts, reading, family, friends, and anything that sparkles. I'm excited to get started and see where this blog takes me! 

Some of the things I love:

My husband, Joe

  







My family and friends









DIY projects & crafts

And of course anything that sparkles!