InstaFriday: Christmas Time Edition

Happy Friday, friends!

I'm snuggling by the fire this morning as the rain pounds and pitter patters all over our little house.

I won't be around much the next few days, I have a sweet friend of mine visiting for 6 whole days, the longest she's ever been here. I am seriously excited and a little overwhelmed that I have to entertain someone for that long!

This week has been good, probably because it's been short! I love 3 day work-weeks, I wish there were more of them! But good news, I got my shift covered for the Gilroy handmade show so I still get to participate! 

Anywho, here goes the last week through instagram:

As mentioned, we went home and hung out at our favorite bar/restaurant called The Office. Fire places in restaurants are the jam. 

I'm super jealous of this cute gift my mom was given. I want to steal them!

Sunday night we got home and picked out our Christmas Tree. We went to the place that you could cut your own down, but after circling the lot 5 times we couldn't find the kind of tree that we wanted -- aka a Noble Fir. We are both apparently particular about our tree type! We asked the people there and they said they don't grow them in California and they were only available pre-cut. Oh well, at least we got the kind we wanted!

My MIL gave us this sweet "First Christmas" ornament. Seth's fam is super into ornaments and he has one for every year of his life. I'd love to start that tradition in our house. 

I've been having a little fun decorating the whole house!

My mom has every wednesday off, she has had Wednesday off for most of my life so naturally it's become my favorite day of the week. This wednesday we met for lunch and I taught her how to use you-tube on her phone. We got her the i-Phone 5 for her birthday and it hasn't come in the mail yet, naturally she is nervous that she has to learn something new! But I'm excited to teach her everything it can do!

Btw, this pic is totally candid..she had no idea I was taking it :)

Trader Joes is the best, they carry this low carb chocolate bar that only has 8 carbs in the whole bar! I refilled my stash at work so I wasn't tempted by the other sweet treats floating around the office. I've been doing really well this week getting back on the diet and I already am seeing results!

And finally, I hung that amazing "HOPE" ornament in the perfect place, the light hits it so well and it is always easy to find. I love our little crooked tree. I love the way it makes our little home smell and its just perfect!

Well friends, it's been a good week and I'm excited to share with you the adventures I have with my girlfriends in town. 

See you next week :)

Linking up this week with Life Rearranged.

When the Sky is Pink...

Everyones family has quirks right?

I know mine does. 

I love retelling stories from my childhood, like my ridiculous temper tantrums I used to throw and the pranks my brother used to pull on me. 

But one of my favorite childhood memories centers around Christmas, so I felt it completely appropriate to share today. 

Tell me, do you think this picture has anything to do with Christmas or Santa?

I didn't think so.

But in the Skaates family, it means a whole lot.

You see, 

"When the sky is pink, Santa is making toys."

My mom has been telling my brother and I that since we were babies. And until recently, I honestly thought that everyone knew that too. 

When I started getting excited about the pink sky, I noticed my friends didn't share the same excitement, so I would say...well don't you know? When the sky is pink, santa is making toys!

You can't imagine the strange looks I got when saying that.

But for me it was absolute truth growing up! 

I have yet to ask my mom where she got that saying, or who passed it on to her.

But I do know that it is something I will be passing on to my kids.

Because I'll always get the same happy feeling when the sun is setting and the clouds are pink.

Do you have any sayings in your family that are quirky and fun?

I'd love to hear about them :)

Virtual Coffee Date

It's a good day. The rain is falling, the wind is blowing, the fire is blazing, my coffee cup is full, the Christmas tree lights are dancing and I'm finishing up cleaning/decorating the house before two of my favorite girls get here.

Over said full cup of coffee, or hot chocolate, or eggnog, or cider,  I'd love to update you on my crazy life lately. In between my busy work life are really great moments of love, laughter, and family.

First and foremost, I would remind you that you MUST read this book. If you're in a relationship, plan on being in one at some point, are married, divorced...whatever you are it will change you. This book continues to change and grow our marriage every day. It blows me away how a few simple truths can have such an impact.

I'm thinking of doing something like my good friend Cindy did last year, and just buy this book for everyone I know, Christian or not. 

I would tell you about going home for Thanksgiving and staying with my in-laws for 5 days. I would tell you that I loved being back in our hometown, seeing our friends and family was great, but I was dying to be back home alone with Seth on Sunday. 

I would tell you that I'm getting excited about the Gilroy Handmade Boutique coming up, but that I'm starting to worry that I can't get the time off of work. I originally thought I would have that day off, but since my schedule has changed I no longer can be there...I'm praying that someone agrees to switch shifts with me. 

I would ask you to pray for my friends who are heading to the East Coast today to help victims of hurricane sandy. Many of those going are the same ones I got to serve with in Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina, I love their hearts to serve. 

I would tell you that I'm still enjoying work, a lot. I feel like I was meant to do this, meant to help people in this way, I feel really blessed to have this job and to be given this opportunity. Especially when I work with people that are twice my age and doing the same job, its a bit overwhelming! BUT, sometimes I come home and have a glass of wine or three because what I do is hard, it plays with your emotions and it tugs at your heartstrings all day long. 

I would tell you that I'm really excited to spend my first Christmas with Seth in our own home. I have truly been enjoying decorating, creating new traditions, and shopping! I would tell you that Seth and I wanted to buy a cat as a gift to each other this year, but that yesterday our kitty dreams were slashed. We thought that because our whole place was hard wood floors there would be no problems with getting a cat, but our landlord decided that we weren't allowed to have any animals. I'd be lying if I told you I didn't want to move because of that. 

Over said coffee, I might ask you how you're doing to.

Did you go shopping on Black Friday?

What was your favorite Thanksgiving dish?

I would ask you for Christmas shopping ideas, because I'm fresh out of good gift ideas.

What's your favorite part about the holidays?

Do you have any traditions?

We would probably laugh, sigh, be on the brink of tears, and talk for hours on this coffee date -- because that's what this season calls for. 

Then I'd have to sadly leave you.

Because I only have a couple hours to do a million things before work, like going to the post office to hopefully pick up the next Twilight movie from Netflix, obviously that's the most important errand of today. 

Until next time, 

SALE!

Happy Monday friends!

I have the day off today and I'm running errands, cleaning house, and decorating our Christmas tree!

I'm also offering a 25% discount today in my shop!

Shop with coupon code: GIVETHANKS 

Click here to SHOP!

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly {1} A Little Drama for your Tuesday

Hi friends, I'm joining a new linkup today over at Scissors and a Whisk, and its the perfect time to tell you about my hair-rendous experience at the salon yesterday. 

Yesterday was a really, really bad day for me. 

I decided that it was time to get my hair trimmed, and the hairdresser I've been seeing my whole life is now too far away, so I ventured out and tried someone new. 

Freddie was seemingly nice. He told me he was new to the salon but not new to hair-cutting. He actually came from Menlo Park which is close to where I'm from. He seemed to listen well. I told him I wanted a trim, maybe clean it up a little more than usual because I was having a lot of breakage. And we agreed on 1 inch.

ONE INCH. 

An hour and a half later he had cut "one inch" off the ends...and 3-4 inches off the rest. So I basically have layers all around my face, which I told him I didn't want and have hated on me forever. And it's so short in the front I basically have bangs again. And my hair looks SO short, my mom told me it looks like he cut 5 inches. You can always count on Mom to be honest. 

I have been growing my hair out for 4 years.

 4 YEARS.

For him to chop it all off like that was really heartbreaking. I actually woke up in the middle of the night  thinking it was all a nightmare...and then I felt my ponytail that is now barely 5 inches long and was still sad. 

I cried all afternoon. I cried in the car, I cried in the grocery store, I cried on the phone with my mama. 

I cried when Seth came home with flowers and donuts, because even that didn't make my hair grow back. 

THE GOOD:

Seth likes it. He says the layers are kind of fun and its not unhealthy anymore, and my biggest fear was that he was going to hate it, so Praise Jesus he likes it.. I also got a lot of positive feedback about it on facebook. 

Thank you, friends, for your encouragement. I'm sure I'll get used to it soon.

Seth titled my new hair style "My Little Pony"
It truly is a tiny little thing.
It used to cascade down my back...
and now..
:(

THE BAD:

There's absolutely nothing I can do about it. You know that helpless feeling? I totally have it. I feel like going on an angry rampage back to that salon and making him lose his job.

Everyone keeps telling me it looks nice, and I'm not saying I look downright ugly, but its the dang principle that we agreed on one inch and this is what he gave me!

THE UGLY:

I don't feel like myself, my hair was so much a part of me and my femininity, had I wanted this change it would be a different story.

I'm now desperately searching for products that will make my hair grow faster.

That seems crazy to me but I think I'm having phantom hair problems.

You know when someone loses a limb but still feels like it's there sometimes?

Kinda like that.

I'm realizing now how ridiculous that sounds...

and I'll stop.

I've said my piece, and knowing there is nothing I can do I will try and move forward. 

R.I.P long hair,

till we meet again.

Home Tour, Partially at least!

Friends and family who haven't been able to see our new place have been asking to see our new home, so today is yours and their lucky day!

Before I start, a couple disclaimers for your wondering minds:

All of our stuff, like mugs and bowls and pans that should have a home in a cabinet is out because our home was not built with cabinets. I repeat, there are NO cabinets. That being said, we've had to get creative. Our home was truly built by a man, and for a man, aka there is no storage aside from two closets and a pantry that both have slanted ceilings and are hard to access!

Our place also has very few windows. Like 3 total. Our home is a converted attic with windows only on the two ends of it, but it makes up for it with two big doors and a lot of lights that are flush with the ceiling. 

Also, my camera kinda sucks, so I apologize for the blur :)

I took these photos on the day of our house warming cooling party. It was the cleanest our house has been since we moved here, and has not been that clean ever since! I didn't include the bathroom or the kitchen because..well people got her early and I had to entertain!

Also, the pictures of our pantry are from today, because I took about an hour and re-organized everything in there, it was unliveable and driving me nuts so I finally did something about it!

Ok, here goes :)

Bedroom area: I say area because it's a studio so it's not really a room. I love our funky little wall cut-outs all over the place!

Here is where I house some of my favorite memories of ours: My bouquet, his boutonniere, our mickey and minnie hats, our lovebirds, a picture frame I made from a couple valentines days ago, and a special frame my best friend gave us for a wedding gift!

I love how our guestbook tree came out, I also love that I get to look at it every day! I'm still looking for the perfect thing to hang right over our bed, but I'm also worried that if it's too big it might fall!

Our "front door"

My desk area. I recently found this fantastic antique desk at a garage sale and I love how it hides all my junk so well!

TV & Living room area. 

I had lots of our wedding pictures out that day on display, they were well looked at!

One of our two book shelfs, that are both very full! I house my collections on top. 

that pile of blankets has been moved to this lovely trunk:

Seth's man cave:

This is my favorite bookshelf of life. I found it at a consignment shop and my sweet mother-in-law went back later at secretly bought it for me :)

Our fireplace is my favorite. We keep a tea kettle on time because it dries out the air when we use the fireplace. Also, those pinecones are sprinkles with cinnamon and they smell oh so good!

And finally..my newly cleaned pantry. It neatly houses most of our kitchen stuff. I dream of one day  having cabinets and drawers and places to hide more :) But this will do for now!

And last but not least...these magnets were on my car as we drove away from our wedding and they now happily reside on our fridge :)

One of these days I'll get to the bathroom, kitchen, and outside!

Happy Monday!