Love Day Recap!

When I think of love, I think of God. He sent his Son to die for my sins, and that's a beautiful, powerful, life-changing thing.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. ~ 1 John 4:7

And sometimes I get too caught up in my life and my schedule that I forget that the whole reason I'm here on this earth is to show the love of Christ to others. And for me this year, Valentine's Day was a great reminder of this. 

Usually, Justin and I aren't huge fans of this holiday, but we did squeeze in a few unexpected & lovely celebrations this year. Saturday night we had a Valentine's Day dinner with my in-laws. Sorry for the blurry & poorly-lit photos, I didn't realize my flash was turned off.

A beautiful centerpiece made with carnations (my favorite flower)!

And just for good measure and keeping with this over-sharing theme, here's a picture of my carnation bouquet from our wedding.  (my sister's carried the white bouquets). 

Back to Saturday's dinner, it was truly a meal fit for a king (or queen!). We had steak, lobster, potatoes, and broccoli. 

My stomach just growled. Yum.

The following day we had a very special lunch with my family to celebrate my sister Lindsay's 26th birthday! (Lindsay's on the right, Taylor's on the left). I forgot to take my camera along - woops!

And as if all this goodness wasn't enough . . . I came home from work on Tuesday to find dinner made by sweet Justin waiting for me.

Homemade stromboli - complete with a heart in the center. 

Could my love tank be any fuller? 

 Because Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise You. 

~ Psalm 63:3

How did you celebrate Valentine's day? Any unexpected surprises? And I probably won't be posting again this week, so what's on tap for the weekend? :)

Thanksgiving Table

When I walked downstairs this morning, I took a picture of our dining room. You can see the extent of my Autumn decorating in this room are the leaves placed around the mirror. Other than that, this is what our dining room looks like on a day-to-day basis. After the kitchen, I would say this room is the center of our home. We eat, do computer work, and craft right at this table. 

But every now and then even the most tomboy of dining room tables likes to get dressed up and be treated like a lady. Since I am not hosting Thanksgiving this year (or more likely for many years), I decided to do a few quick mock-ups of how the table might look if I was hosting.


Look #1: Classic & clean white tablesetting.

I started with a basic white and tan checked tablerunner (*cough*scarf*cough*). Then I layered my china (which was my grandmother's from her wedding that she passed down to me!) and cups/utensils.

For the centerpiece, I decided to stack a couple antique books and place a white pumpkin on top for a little autumn-vibe. Then I scattered my famous birch tealight holders along the table.

Look #2: Where my table no longer becomes vertically challenged.
All I did was swap out the book/pumpkin centerpiece for my vase filled with dried hydrangeas.

I like how the deep red in the vase plays off of the curtains/cabinet.


Look #3: Casual gathering of friends.
If we had a few friends coming over for a simple dinner, I'd keep the table equally simple. I swapped out my grandmother's china for our everyday casual china plates. Then for the centerpiece I subbed in a bowl of pinecones. I decided to use my green glasses to add a little touch of color.

And apparently, we eat with our hands. :)


If I was truly hosting Thanksgiving I would definitely put a little more time and thought into my table setting, but for a quickie mock-up using only what I had on hand - I'm pleased as pink. Although some napkins would definitely be a nice touch and help class things up a bit.


What do you think? Which table setting do you like best? Or do you despise them all? How will you be setting your table for Thanksgiving?


ps: krystle from color transformed family passed the versatile blogger award on to me. Thanks lady!! Since Brandi graciously passed the award to me earlier, I won't make you hear any more random facts about my life. I do want to pass the award on to Ashley from Attempts at Domestication though. Just because she's awesome and then we can keep this bad boy bloggie award alive :)