Five on Friday - Sequin Skirt, a Fabulous New Children’s Book, and Auction Basket Ideas

*This post contains affiliate links.  As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Happy Friday, y’all!  Guess what?!  WE ARE FINALLY ON CHRISTMAS BREAK AND I’M SO HAPPY I COULD JUST CRY!!!!  It has been a stressful December and I feel like we’ve had absolutely zero time to soak up my favorite time of year other than the few days I spent in NYC and my girls brunch.  Aside from those two things, we’ve done literally nothing festive (other than watching one single Christmas movie) because we’ve been running around like maniacs trying to get stuff done, playing catchup constantly, and battling illness after illness. 

December is always stressful, but typically it’s a bearable, festive stressful.  This year, it has been an unbearable stressful minus the festive part and this has probably been my least favorite holiday season to date aside from the Covid year... I hate that so much.  I’m hoping that we can make up for lost time over these next few days and squeeze in some last-minute festive things together before Christmas comes and goes. 

But first – some favorites!

O N E – Girls Sequin Skirt

Ok, y’all, how perfect are these darling little tiered sequin skirts?!  They popped up in my suggestions on Amazon and I just had to share in case you need something fancy for your little one for New Year’s Eve… or everyday life.  ;o)  This skirt comes in 17 different colors and most colors and sizes arrive before New Year’s Eve.  Olivia LIVES in skirts (she hates pants, leggings, and most shorts) so she wears skirts and dresses year-round.  This one will likely be purchased for her birthday in February because I just know she’ll love it!  It only has 47 ratings and reviews, but the reviews are amazing and it currently has 4.7 / 5 stars.

 

T W O – A Mess Made of Magic

I absolutely adore Jessica Garvin… she is the very first influencer I ever followed on Instagram, and that was technically before she was even an influencer… really, it was before influencers even existed.  She recently wrote this children’s book, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen something made for Olivia more than this book is! 

Olivia is our care-free, spontaneous child, and she doesn’t have an organized or tidy bone in her body.  But boy, is she joyful and whimsical and magical and all the other fun things that I am not.  Therefore, she and I are constantly butting heads about what is and is not acceptable when it comes to picking up after ourselves.

This book is about a little girl who has a messy room and a mom who is asking her to tidy up… literally Olivia’s and my life every. single. day.  And I’m hoping that this book will encourage her to learn to enjoy keeping her things a little more in order while also encouraging me to loosen up and find the magic in the mess.  <3   

 

T H R E E – Bar Cart Auction Basket

As most of you know, I’ve been collecting money and procuring items for the fourth-grade and seventh-grade auction baskets for a school fundraiser we’re attending in January.  I FINALLY finished up both baskets and turned them in and it feels so good to get them off of my proverbial desk.  The seventh-grade auction basket theme was a bar cart, and I wanted to share it here today because it turned out to be so fabulous this year… by far, my favorite one that I’ve done yet!

I went with this bar cart for the second year in a row since I loved it so much last year, and then I added different accessories than in previous years to freshen it up a bit.  I was really impressed with this bartender book and this bartender set… the bartender set is absolutely STUNNING in person, and it includes everything you could possibly need.  These napkins were also a must since we live in the south.  ;o)

The disco ball was an incredible find because, y’all, ask me how much I paid for it?! 

$2. 

TWO. DOLLARS. 

I knoooow!

And it’s such a great disco ball for the price… it’s the same quality as the disco balls that sell for $12-$18 on Amazon, so it was SUCH A STEAL.  I couldn’t believe my luck when Brian and I came across them on our shopping day date a couple of weeks ago.  I found them at one of our local Walmarts in their Dollar Spot section, and they were labeled as $5 each (which was still an excellent deal), but they had a sign above them that said $2, and I could not believe it. 

Sure enough, we confirmed that they were, indeed, $2 each, so ask me how many I bought. 

12. 

Lol. 

I bought seven for my girlfriends to give as little gifts at our Christmas brunch, one for this bar cart, one for Olivia for Christmas, and three for me.  Because you can absolutely never have too many disco balls.  ;o)  I’ve had one on our bar cart for years and it is one of my favorite things in the whole house.  When it picks up the evening light and sprays sparkles around the entire living room and kitchen, it is just magical.

In hindsight, I actually wish I’d bought a few more, because they would make perfect gifts to give to Olivia’s friends for birthdays! 

Anyhoo, all of the bar signs are authentic bar signs from an actual local bar that you can’t purchase anywhere, so I’m totally PSYCHED to have those for the auction.  One of our seventh-grade families owns a local restaurant and they were kind enough to donate all of those for our basket.  As a matter of fact, we're thinking the neon signs are worth enough that we're going to separate them and auction them separately... and I think that Creature Comforts sign is calling my name!  ;o)  It's Brian's and my favorite brewery ever, it's located in Athens, GA where our beloved Georgia Bulldogs are, and they make the best beer of all time - Tropicalia.  Brian and I have been obsessed with them for years and I think it would be the absolute coolest to have that in my house.

I also want to give a shoutout to my friend, Jessica, who donated that beautiful watercolor print of the cocktail.  It is the perfect addition to class up the whole cart a bit, and I really think it pulls the whole thing together.

I also grabbed a bottle of Grey Goose, a bottle of Veuve, a bottle of Patron, and a bottle of Four Roses whiskey... all the good stuff!

This is, by far, the most epic auction basket I’ve had the privilege to put together, and I can’t wait to see how much it goes for in January!

 

F O U R – Parents Night Out Auction Basket

For Olivia’s fourth grade classes, the other room mom and I decided to do a “Parents Night Out” theme, and we were able to get a $250 gift card for a local boutique hotel that just opened, so that’ll be good for a one-night stay.  Then we got a $100 gift card to a local restaurant that’s the absolute best in town.  And we threw in a gift card for one of the local axe throwing places that’s good for two people to throw for an hour.  We also grabbed a bottle of wine and stuck all of it in the cutest little wire basket, and then I threw in some mini disco balls to make it look cute.  Because duh.  ;o)

 

F I V E – Old School Pictures of My Nana

My Daddy recently sent me some pictures of my Nana (his mother) who passed away back in 2019, and they’re all old pictures from her school days.  I will treasure these forever.  I cannot get over that picture of her in the striped dress and the pearls.  That might be my favorite picture of her ever.

Friday Funnies Words to Remember

On the Blog This Week

 2023 New York City Christmas Trip - Days 3 & 4

Our Week – The One with the Reindeer Run, Our Girls Christmas Brunch, and More Sickness

20+ Last Minute Gift Ideas That Arrive Before Christmas

Easy, Affordable Christmas Tree Craft for Kids Class Parties

Happy Friday, y’all!  

*Linking up with A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites.

Five on Friday - The Best Affordable Artificial Christmas Tree, Entryway Trees, and the Item You Need for Your Garbage Disposal

 *This post contains affiliate links.  As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Happy Friday, y’all!  Can you even believe it’s the last Friday of October?!  I cannot believe that I’ll be decorating for Christmas in a mere five days.  That is just mind-blowing to me.  We have very little on deck for the weekend, and y’all, I. am. stoked.  I’m so ready to do nothing!! 

Tonight, we’re hosting poker night at our house, and then tomorrow – N-O-T-H-I-N-G.  I plan to stay in my pajamas/workout clothes all day, help the kids with their haunted gingerbread houses, carve a pumpkin, watch a whole lot of football, and get caught up on some tasks that have been needing to be done for quite some time… like cleaning off the back porch.  I’m so excited to be able to stay home for a whole entire day, y’all!

And now I’m praying that I didn’t just jinx us because that seems to happen every single time I mention not having anywhere to be.  Haha.

Anyway, here are some favorites from our week!

O N E – Artificial Christmas Tree

For pretty much my whole life, I have sworn that I would never have an artificial Christmas tree for our main tree because a) I love the scent of a live tree, b) I love hunting for the perfect real tree each year, c) nothing compares to the look of a live tree. 

However, for the last few years, I’ve been experiencing increased allergy issues during the weeks that it’s in our home, I’ve grown SO TIRED of putting on lights and taking them down year after year, and I’ve also gotten really tired of cleaning up the massive mess that a real tree makes after you take it down.  Ours is always dead as a doornail by the time we take it down, and I’m also worried that having a real one could be a fire hazard.

With that said, Brian and I have been discussing getting an artificial tree for two or three years, and last year, we swore it would be the year that we did.

Spoiler alert, we did NOT. 

However, THIS IS FINALLY OUR YEAR, Y’ALL.  IT. IS. HAPPENING.

Brian and I finally started shopping, and we have found the one!  Here are my requirements…

 

-       It must have the branch tips that look realistic

-       It must be as full as possible… I do not want to see the trunk

-       It must have at least 1,200 lights

-       It must have standard-sized lights and not the microdot lights

-       It must have warm white lights

-       It must be 7.5 – 8 feet tall

-       It must be 60-65 inches in diameter at the base to fit in our space

 

Ideally, I’d love to buy this one from Balsam Hill, but there is no way we could pay that kind of money for an artificial tree.  So instead, I scoured Amazon, and then B and I took a quick trip to Home Depot and Lowe’s last week, and y’all, we have finally found it. 

This tree from Home Depot is beautiful in person.  It has the crazy realistic branch tips that look so good you can hardly tell they’re artificial, and it has 6,052 of them so it is SO FULL giving it an even more realistic look.  To give you an idea, most of the other trees we have looked at only have 2,000-4,000 branch tips, so this one has triple the amount of some of them.

This one also has the standard-sized lights… most of the other options we liked at Home Depot have the “microdot” lights, and they are just too tiny for my liking.  There are 1,200 of the standard-sized lights, which also meets my requirement… the more lights the better!  I typically put 1,200 – 1,500 lights on our real trees each year, so I didn’t want one that had anything less than 1,200. 

The lights are really awesome, too, because not only is there a white light setting, there is also a color setting, and it comes with a remote control so you can change the colors of the lights, dim the lights, fade the lights, and put the lights on a timer.  If I’m being honest, we’ll probably only use the traditional solid-on white light setting, but it’s fun to have those other options.  Oh, and it also has a foot pedal for easy on and off.

In addition to all of that, this tree has “quick connect” technology, so all you have to do is connect each section, plug it in, and then it’s ready to decorate.  All of the branches spring into their ideal shape because it has “memory wire,” so there’s no fluffing required.  Each branch just bounces into shape as you put it in the stand.  Can you even believe that?!  That’s the worst part about an artificial tree… aaaallll the fluffing.  And you don’t even have to do that with this tree. 

The one we’re purchasing is 7.5 feet tall and 64 inches in diameter at the base, so it should fit perfectly in the space in our living room where we usually have our tree.  I do wish it was about 1/2 foot taller, but 7.5 and 9 seem to be the standard sizes for artificial trees, and our ceilings are 9-feet, so the 9-foot tree would probably be too tall.  

Basically, this tree has everything I want without the crazy expensive price tag, and as long as it holds up for four years, we will make our money back since we typically spent $125-$150 per year on a tree that we have to throw out at the end of the season.

I’m really excited about not having to string lights on the tree this year, I’m really excited about not having to clean up after a real tree this year, and I’m reeeeaaaalllly excited that I can put it up whenever I want this year… we don’t have to wait until after Thanksgiving!!!!

If you’re on the hunt for artificial trees, I cannot recommend this one enough!  We’ve seen it in person, and it is beautiful.  And if you’re looking for options that aren’t quite as expensive, this one on Amazon has excellent reviews, and if you don’t mind the microdot lights, this option from Home Depot is a little more affordable, along with this option as well.

 

T W O – Entryway Trees

I purchased these entryway trees last year and they are beautiful on our front porch!  I shared them on Amazon Prime Day as they were included in the sale, and y’all sold them out!  Well, I’m happy to report that they’re currently back in stock (for now), so if you wanted to get a hold of some and couldn’t, now is the time!  The best part is that they are still on sale for 55% off!

 

T H R E E – Plink Garbage Disposal Cleaner

Brian and I have been using these Plink Garbage Disposal Cleaners for probably 15 years, and it just occurred to me recently that I don’t think I’ve ever shared them on the blog!  These little things clean, remove sink build-up, unclog, and deodorize garbage disposals.  Simply pop one in your disposal, run the water, turn on the disposal, and voila!  Works like magic to get rid of nasty odors!  They have a great, clean scent, and they don’t have any phosphates or bleach in them.  They’re also nontoxic and biodegradable, and they’re safe for all disposals, plumbing, and septic systems.  We have always had these on hand for the last 15 years, and we use them all the time!

 

F O U R – Old Photographs

My parents have been sorting through old family things and they recently sent me these two photographs.  The first one is my great-grandmother (who passed away when I was ten) and my great-grandfather (who passed away before I was ever born) on my dad’s side of the family.  They were my dad’s father’s parents.  My dad told me that they were likely about his age in these pictures which is mind-blowing because my dad looks so young now compared to them in this picture.

And the second photograph is from my momma’s side of the family – this is my great-great-grandmother with my great-grandmother and her brother as children.  The lady is my Mama Cass’s grandmother, and the little girl is my Mama Cass’s mother. 

I have no clue what year this photo was taken, but Mama Cass was born in 1929, and since her mother is tiny in this picture, I would imagine it was likely taken in the late 1800’s or the very early 1900’s. 

I absolutely love old photographs like these… we have a whole area in our living room dedicated to old family photos like these.

In addition to this, my brother has been hard at work tracing our family’s genealogy on my dad’s side of the family (so my maiden name), and apparently he has traced our family lineage back 1,000 years in England.  Can you even believe that?!  At some point, supposedly, we were nobility. 

I told Brian I think that might mean that he needs to start bowing to me.  Hahahaha.

 

F I V E – Thank You

I mentioned here on the blog and in my Instagram stories that Jacob’s teacher was just diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer that has spread to her liver.  She will be taking a leave of absence from school to fight this battle, and she’s hoping to get into MD Anderson in Texas as they are the leading facility in the U.S. for this cancer. 

Since she has a big battle ahead of her, the seventh-grade parents wanted to do something special for her, so I am going to collect money and put together a care package for her.  I have been very blessed, and I have never had to go through cancer nor care for a loved one with cancer, so I wasn’t really sure what to put in her care package, and I want to make sure that we get things for her that will be useful.

I polled my Instagram family last week, and there were so many great suggestions, and I thought I’d share those here with you in case you didn’t watch my stories.  If you have anything to add to these suggestions, please let me know in the comments. 

Friday Funnies

 

On the Blog This Week

 Halloween Home Tour 2023

Our Week – The One with a Fall Carnival, a Phillip Phillips Concert, a Lego Convention, Two Birthday Parties, and Another Flat Tire

Target Fall Fashion Finds for 30% Off

Happy Friday, y’all!

*Linking up with A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites.

Five on Friday - Laundry Room Refresh, Rugs, and Genealogy

*This post contains affiliate links.  As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Hey, y’all!  How was your week?  Ours was tiring… now that Jacob is done with his quarantine, we’re back on the baseball train, and it feels great to be back, albeit exhausting.  Lots of late practices!  Between that and entertaining my little Covid patient 24/7 + trying to keep up with the blog and the everyday house stuff, etc. it's been a long one!  Ready for some favorites from the week?

O N E – Laundry Room Décor

Our laundry room refresh is coming along, and I’m checking things off of the list right and left.  Last weekend, I finally settled on the décor in there, and I’m so excited to get it all put together!  I picked up the pink and white striped planters from the Dollar Spot at Target for only $3 each!  They are ceramic and they are excellent quality, so I can hardly believe they were only $3 each.  What a steal!  The laundry sign is also from Target, and surprisingly, it's still in stock... I bought it probably two years ago!  And yes, that sign has just been sitting in my office closet all this time just waiting patiently for me to do something with it.  Haha.  The baskets were Five Below finds and they were only $5 each!  Finally, the rug is from Target, and it is, so perfect for that space.

Here’s the list, and the progress we’ve made so far:

1. Paint walls
2. Clean out cabinets
3. Organize cabinets
4. Hang ironing board organizer
5. Buy glass containers to organize laundry items
6. Buy and put together small cabinet to maximize storage
7. Stock cabinet with cleaning rags, etc.
8. Hang wall décor over new cabinet
9. Install wood ledge over the washer and dryer (to hold décor)
10. Paint cabinets white
11. Install new light fixture
12. Decorate!

All that remains are the big-ticket projects, one or two of which will be outsourced, so I’m not sure how long it’ll take to complete the rest of the list, but I’m hoping to at least have the ledge installed soon.

 

T W O – Target Rugs

And speaking of Target rugs, my goodness, do they have the most beautiful selection right now!  I had so much trouble narrowing it down to one when I was shopping for the laundry room, so I ended up ordering seven different ones to try in there before finally settling on this one. 

 

Other contenders were this same design, but in grey.

 

I also loved this one in blush.

 

And the same design in grey.

 

This colorful one was so fun, too.  I ultimately didn’t love this one because it wouldn't lay flat and I knew that would drive me crazy in the long run.

 

And I also looooved this one.  This was probably my second favorite.

 

I ultimately went with blush to brighten up the room, and I just love the simplicity of the pattern on the one I chose.  It seems like a more classic option that won’t end up being dated in a couple of years like the others.

 

T H R E E – Old Family Photos

My mom and dad have been delving deep into the world of genealogy on both sides of the family, and they have both uncovered some pretty awesome stuff about our family’s history as well as some old pictures.  My dad recently sent this picture of my great-grandmother (his dad’s mom) to me, and I just love it.  She lived to be in her 90’s, so I was fortunate enough to be able to spend lots of time with her on her farm during the first ten years of my life, and I have the fondest memories of her.  She was such a kind, gentle soul.  All of my memories of her are obviously from when she was very old, so I had never seen her as a young woman until my dad sent this picture.  My dad believes she’s in her early twenties here, so that would mean the picture was taken in the 1920’s maybe?  Total guess, though.

 

My dad has also traced our roots on his dad’s side of the family (so for my maiden name) back by 10 generations, and the oldest generation lived from 1605-1670 and was married to the daughter of a knight (his title is Sir, so I’m assuming “knight” is the correct term) in Ipswich, Suffolk, England who was born back in 1524!!!!   

He said our family has been traced to the original colony in Jamestown, VA at or before the Mayflower, and he said that the person furthest back in our family tree (that he’s located so far) was a Captain.  We don’t know what kind of Captain yet, though, but my dad is thinking possibly the Captain of a ship.  He’s going to keep digging to see what he can find.

In addition to that, my mom has been tracing her family’s roots on her mom’s side of the family (Mama Cass!), and she recently discovered that my great-great-great grandfather (Mama Cass’s great-grandfather) was President Abraham Lincoln’s personal bodyguard!!!!  How cool is that?!  And just for the record, from what my parents can tell from their digging, he was not on duty the night that President Lincoln was assassinated.  Whew!  Haha.

 

My Mama Cass also recently received these pictures from a distant cousin who had a DNA match with her on 23 & Me… these are pictures of Mama Cass’s grandparents, so that makes them my great-great grandparents.  We don’t have a year for these pictures, but I would guess they were taken in the early 1900’s?  Maybe the 1920’s?  Another total guess based on Mama Cass’s age, though… it’s hard to tell how old they were in these pictures.

Family ancestry is all so fascinating, though, isn’t it?  After tracing our family’s roots to the 1500’s-1600’s, I’m really curious to know if any of you have been able to trace your family’s roots this far back?  If so, how far?  This makes me want to jump on the DNA testing train to see what I can find!

F O U R – Dave Matthews Band Summer Tour 2022

Dave Matthews Band released their tour dates the week before last and I was just soooo thrilled!!  After moving the 2020 tour to 2021, and then delaying the start of the 2021 tour for Covid, I thought for sure maybe they’d just take a break in 2022, so I was STOKED to see that they’re going for it!  They’re coming to Atlanta in May, and I’ll be snatching up tickets as soon as the presale starts this coming week.  GIVE ME ALL THE LIVE MUSIC, Y’ALL!

 

F I V E – Happy Birthday to Brian!

And last, but certainly not least, my favorite person is turning 44 on Sunday!!!!  We are so grateful for another year with him, and we are all looking forward to celebrating him all weekend.  Does this mean that I’m married to someone who’s officially in his mid-forties now?!  Yeesh!

 

Friday Funnies

 

On the Blog This Week

 Valentine’s Day Touches in Our Home

Our Week – The One with More Covid and a Valentine's Dinner

House Cleanout and Projects – Mid-February Update

 

Happy Friday, y’all!

*Linking up with A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites.