blog

visions of sugar plums


...are dancing in my head this Christmas Eve night as I remember all the wonderful memories during the Christmas season of the past month. I hope you're celebrating in a most memorable way and savoring the fun of the season. Now I'm off to bed in hopes that Santa won't pass by this house! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!

is it almost 2011 already?

The only thing that gets me even remotely excited for January is the possibility of a cute, new calendar and day planner. At least I've narrowed down a few options...

Pocket Planner

Because all things Kate Spade are adorable!


Never go wrong with polka dots!

Small Desk Calendar

I love the "Keep Calm and..." series!


Pretty hand-drawn art calendar (that I can't remember where on Etsy I found this...)


Dainty, elegant design (except this one on Etsy is in French)

I also have another great, cute option for a 2011 desk calendar, but I'll have to post that after Christmas!

christmas in dixie

One of my favorite things to do at Christmastime is to cruise the neighborhoods in my hometown for the best decorations. Crazily enough, this house wasn't even the best. But it had 18 Christmas blow-ups in the front yard...including one with Santa in his swimsuit on an island with Prancer (or Dancer). Now if that doesn't spread the Christmas cheer, I don't really know what will...

gingerbread man


Chase him old woman, chase him old man,
Now chase him, chase him, fast as you can,
Through the garden and out of the gate,
Chase him, chase him before it's too late
The Tate-gingerbread man is out of the pan!

[the whole poem.]

my proverbial christmas list

I saw the Christmas wishlists on this blog and thought it was so cute...so I decided to make my own. I also thought these were some great gift ideas if you're anything like me and haven't started your Christmas shopping yet. Here's to happy hunting on Christmas Eve...because nothing spreads the Christmas cheer quite like last-minute shopping!


(a) tortoise shell watch from Fossil (b) peace flag necklace from Anthro (c) complete Southern cookbook, with down-home recipes! (d) big apple owl earmuffs, cause let's be honest, I can't go a holiday without looking for something owl-ish (e) artist palette tie-dye egg caddy (f) fresh smelling Lamshop candle (g) because who doesn't love Taylor Swift?! (h) glitter AND for a good cause! when you buy a pair, someone, somewhere gets a pair too! (i) nikon digital SLR. maybe more than a stocking stuffer, but for someone really special & great for keeping memories (j) old timey iphone cover (k) cam newton's no. 2 auburn jersey. because clearly every auburn friend or fan needs this! (l) cute nautical striped reusable grocery bag (m) 2011 vintage peacock calendar (n) pharmacy desk lamp

25 and 88

As you saw in my post a couple weeks ago, my granddad and I celebrated big for our 25th and 88th birthdays! Pizza party lunch, ice cream cake, and being together when we're usually thousands of miles apart! It doesn't get much better than that! And, I even got a special treat: beautiful flowers delivered all the way from NYC! Thanks b-stud!

FG thanksgiving feast, 4th annual

This tradition was started 4 years ago by my dear friend, Carrie, who has since (very sadly!) moved to Charlotte. But her legacy lives on... On the Saturday before Thanksgiving all of the sister groups of Aaron Bjerke's "original FG" gathered together for one huge feast! Katherine and I made our first turkey, actually Kat did most of the work and I just watched, and people came in droves. I think we peaked at around 75 people in our tiny 3-br New York City apartment (hence the reason you see us sitting on the ledges of our bathroom in the hallway to eat). I did my fair share of panicking when I found out how many people were coming, but we made it, and it was full of great food, good fellowship and old (and new) friends.



Carrie, thanks for starting this tradition! And please plan to come back one year... 5 sure is a good number to celebrate!

straight no chaser

If you've followed this blog for a while, you may remember me praising this a cappella group called Straight No Chaser from Indiana University back in 2008?
Well, my dream finally came true. I went to their concert in NYC on Tuesday night! Their YouTube video, 12 Days of Christmas, went viral right before Christmas during my senior year of college. I remember one of my interior design professors sending out a blast email with the link to this video during final projects & exams. It's a good thing she did that because watching this video over and over...and over is about the only thing that got me through the end of that semester. (Remember those days, Rose Lynn?!)

Luckily for me, I was able to watch in complete relaxation on Tuesday night. And they were terrific!!! This was my favorite song from the night, I'm Yours/Somewhere Over the Rainbow:

wake up call

Ever heard one of those horror stories before about oversleeping and missing your flight? Well, I think I can say I'm more happy to have made it home today than I ever have been before. I had a 7 AM flight this morning out of LGA, in which I promptly woke up to my mom's phone call at 6:03 AM. In case you didn't know, you're supposed to arrive (at least!!) an hour before your flight departs, NOT WAKE UP an hour before! Amidst the fog and confusion of wondering why my mom was asking if I was at the airport, I quickly figured out what was going on and that I was in big trouble if I wanted to make it home today. When I finally came to, I kicked it into high gear and was out the door by 6:07 (yes, a personal best for me, by a long shot). I hopped in a cab and emphasized to the driver the extreme importance of taking the most efficient route, and in nothing short of a miracle, he did. I arrived at the airport at 6:30, only to find the security lines as long as I've seen them. I panicked again, until I saw a Delta attendant standing near the security lines. I decided I would ask her if she could relay to the plane that I was there and have them wait for me. Before I could get my entire question out, she had motioned for me to go through the First Class Security line- which was empty! I scooted through the first checkpoint of security, and then the second...until they stopped me and said they needed to do a more extensive check of my bag. Luckily that didn't take long and I ran up to my gate just as they were making the final boarding call for my flight. I made it...but just in the nick of time!

Thanks, Mom, for the wake up call!

more halloween


As I said, I really love Halloween and getting dressed up. And after much work and effort, I finally convinced Brendan to dress up with me! We went to a charity event costume party as Superman and Lois Lane (and we couldn't very well go as "Perryn and Brendan"). Sadly we didn't win the contest, but we still had fun!