-- Last Post of 2010 --

Kind of Sad, right?!  I know. 

Just of 2010...

There'll be much to come in 2011 I can just feell it.

But 2010 has been a big year for us at the Kellermeyer Household.  Well, not really THAT big, but we've had some huge moments this past year. 

Here's a recap. 

Jan:
We found the church for our wedding. 
After being engaged since April of 2009, we searched and searched and finally found a church that would accept us!  Check it out here. 

Feb:
I made the vases for my centerpieces.  See my painted milk vases here.

March:
Honeymoon searching...
Check out the many ideas we looked into here. 
Then we WON our honeymoon from Brides Magazine!  Jackpot!

April:
1 year of being engaged!!!
I apparently decided that I wanted to own my own floral design shop.  Wouldn't that be so great?!  I think it would.  See my loves here. 

May:
Invitations went out for the wedding.
Pretty happy with how they turned out. 
Not really happy with the final guest list, but you live and learn. 

June:
I started with Stella & Dot.  Here was my first post about it! 
I also worked on the programs for our wedding.

July:
WE GOT MARRIED!!! Here are our wedding pictures. 
And had our first international trip together!  ARUBA!

August:

I made this piece of art to hang over our bed from willow branches that we used in the wedding. 

September:
With the inspiration from Janell, I made my own starburst mirror.  I love it. 

October:
I made some $10 ledges that I found on Ana White's site.  I'm actually getting ready to make a couple more for my living room this weekend! 
 
November:

I made some art for my walls.  Check it out here.  Totally simple and totally easy.  All you need is a printer and frames!

December:

Christmas with The Kellermeyers!  We love this holiday!  Christmas Pajamas, Karaoke, and great times with the family!

Happy New Years to Everyone! 

Have A Safe and Happy Holiday!

Now time to get ready for our big night out.

Yea, right.

-- Chef Babs --

Ok, so call me crazy, but yesterday I joined weight watchers online.  My mom does it and I need to get back down to wedding weight.  This will mean consistent trips to the gym as well.  I know.  I know. 

So this week I planned to actually cook three meals. 

There are some really good recipes on there.  Plus, this is one of my goals for 2011 - To Cook More!

So, last night, I attempted Angel Hair Pasta with Eggplant-Tomato Sauce!

YUM!  It was delicious! 

And really not that hard. 

Unless you forget to cook the pasta while you are doing everything else!  haha... At least angel hair doesn't take that long to cook!

Anyways, it was a success.  I wish I had a picture of mine, but here is a picture of it I found.  It looked almost exactly like this especially because I put it in a big white pasta bowl.  The only thing missing last night was a glass of wine. 

Any recipes you have tried recently? 

Reminders: 
Check out the Stella & Dot Sample Sale I'm having here.  There are still many items left and I am going to add a few as well.
Look for new giveaways soon!

-- Stella and Dot Sample Sale --

Hey Blog Hogs!

I'm selling off some of my jewels to make way for the new line to launch in January!  Below are beautiful jewels up for grabs!

Here's how it works! Listed below are the samples available. There is only one of each item, so it is first come first serve. Click on the name of any item to be taken to my Stella & Dot e-boutique for a complete description of the style.  Those that don't have a link are no longer available at the site. 

If you'd would like to purchase an item simply email me at abigail.hake@gmail.com. Write the name of the piece in the email subject line and include your shipping address in the message. (U.S. residents only...sorry!) If you are the first person to claim an item I will send you a confirmation email with the total due, including a $3.00 shipping charge, and a PayPal account for payment. Once payment is received the jewelry will be shipped to you. If any items go unclaimed (have not been paid for) after 24 hours, I will contact the next person who expressed interest in the piece of jewelry.

Anastasia Brooch - $27
Originally $59
SOLD

Garden Party Earrings - Berry - $15
Originally $29

Little Girls - Lola Stretch Bracelet - $5
Originally $14
SOLD

Bloom Flower Ring - Black - $20
Originally $39
SOLD

Lola Girls Necklace - $8

Originally $24

SOLD

 Maltese Brooch - $15
Originally $44

Cortez Turquoise & Suede Necklace - $75
Originally $98

 Turquoise Soiree Bracelet - $10
Originally $29
SOLD

All items are in perfect condition, though I no longer have the original boxes for many of the pieces (if I have it, I will send it). Happy shopping!

-- Fails and Accomplishments --

Ok, so I have failed at almost everything this week! 

I failed to post on the 17th (which was technically last week) about the adorable ornament that Daphne - my ornament exchange partner - sent me.  My camera is on the fritz.  Hence no picture.  I want to be able to do it justice.  I'm hoping that I can get it fixed tomorrow. 

I've barely been blogging for the last 5 days or so.  I've been crazy busy.  With my trip to San Diego, finishing Christmas shopping, cleaning my house for company... I often wonder how these bloggers who I follow do it so great and so consistently great!  I am hoping to get there someday!

I failed to announce that Daphne was the only person who commented on the Santa Ornament Giveaway so she's the WINNER!!!  Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!!  ;)  Congrats Daphne!  I'll be sending it your way soon! 

I have failed at being on time to work now 2 days in a row.  Slick roads and snow storms do not help this cause. 
I've failed at successfully wrapping my gifts cutely!  LOL.  I know, but seriously I had this whole plan and it completely bombed so I ended up just using all kinds of wrapping paper and ribbons and bows, etc.  I really like to wrap in themes as I wrote about here... but obviously, that will not be happening this year. 

I failed at sending out holiday cards this year.  I was totally planning on it too!  Well, unless I get them out Monday of next week, they are not going!  <-- not like I even have them yet... actually they are on their way... I broke down!  HA.

And I can't remember when the last time I went to the gym was... that has to be knocked WAY up to the top of the to do EVERYDAY list!  Seriously!  Pants are getting a little tight!  lol.

Among all these fails I have done a couple of things...
1. Started skating again. 
2. Rearranged my loft and am now loving it.
3. Have become Qualified for Stella & Dot this month! 

I think that's it.  December has not been what I thought it would! 

Happy Holidays Blog Hogs and a belated Merry Christmas!

-- There's Still Time --

Not to worry, you aren’t too late. Sure, there’s still time. Ok but only a couple days!

With our free upgrade to 2-day shipping, you can still surprise her with a beautiful gift from Stella & Dot.

On a budget? No problem. Just give me an idea of how much you would like to spend and I will be happy to make a few suggestions, and with our adorable gift packaging you can’t go wrong.

So, who is left on your list? Mom, mother-in-law, sister, best friend, the babysitter…we have the perfect gift for even the hardest ones to shop for.
This year, give her a gift she will absolutely LOVE!
Plenty of gifts under $50!

Email me, or send this to your husbands!  ;) 

www.stelladot.com/abbyk

abigail.hake@gmail.com

-- San Diego --

So I'm in San Diego for work. 

It's actually a nice change since when I left Indiana yesterday it was 12 degrees and when I landed it was 75!  I'll take it.

Anyways, I wanted to tell you about my plane ride. 

Edie Beale and mother

Has anyone seen Gray Gardens?   I swear there was a lady on the first flight who looked like Edie.  She had a scarf on her head and then a hat over it and pants tucked into boots and an entire ensemble that could only be inspired by Edith Bouvier Beale. 
We left about 20 min late which made me worry about missing my connection.  I didn't after running and getting semi-lost at O'Hare - What?!  All their screens where you check gates etc were off.  And no one could give me the correct directions. 

Once I got on my flight to San Diego, I found out that I was sitting next to a SINGLE DOCTOR (sorry Mike) who was trying to get back to Seattle, but then continued to tell me about him and his practice and his son and how he might try to stay a night in San Diego now because he loves it here and he also told me a couple of places to go.  While in flight, he offered me a cookie too. 

My first drink that I ordered was a diet coke and the lady gave me a can from Japan where Diet Coke is apparently called Coke Light.  The Doctor next to me then asked for a Japanese Diet Coke...weird, I know... But I had gotten the last one. 

Then I noticed that the girl in front of me looked exactly like Olivia Palermo.  I will say thought that if it was her I'm surprised she was sitting in coach, she's much prettier on TV, and she was very polite.  I mean this girl was a dead wringer for her!  She even had on a really sassy outfit! 

Well, that's all I have right now.  :)  But don't forget to hop on over to The Kellermeyer Chronicles to see how Mike sent me off!   Until tomorrow Blog Hogs!

-- Giveaway --

Happy Monday! 
Monday's are never happy so I thought I'd spread some Christmas cheer by singing loud for all to hear...but you can't hear me sing so I'm going to do it by having a giveaway!  I was inspired by the ornament exchange that I'm participating in with Shannon at Webbisodes. 

So here is the deal...
Leave a comment about your favorite Christmas memory.... or any holiday.  I just want to laugh, cry, smile, etc. 
Then on Friday I'll post the winner. 
Winners will be chosen by Random.org. 
If you tweet about this, you'll get an extra entry.  Make sure to put my twitter name in the tweet so I can track it!  I'm @MissAbbyK

So are you ready to see the cutest little guy ever?!?  Love this little Santa. 

Isn't he too cute?!?  He is an ornament, but he does stand up on his own as well.

Now lets get sharing because we all know it's the Season for Sharing and hear some holiday memories! 

-- Memphis --

I know this was a while ago, but I’m just getting to post/write about it. So here goes…
A few weeks ago I drove to Memphis to visit my sister with my mom and brothers. Sister goes to Christian Brothers University and plays soccer as their goalie. You might remember me talking about her here. This was a super memorable trip…Stuck in the car with my mom and brothers for 8 hours brings out the best in us.

During the drive, Older Younger Brother made up some songs…think SNL Lunch Lady Land-ish or any random Adam Sandler song. My little brother and I worked the McDonalds system to get the most Monopoly tickets as possible for the least amount of money. And my mom tried to keep the peace and from peeing her pants during the insane laughing bouts!

Once we got there, we met up with Libby and enjoyed some Hueys. This place was good and fun. You can shoot toothpicks through a straw to stick into the ceiling. We stuck most of ours in the cobwebs since it was decorated for Halloween. My mother ordered a Bluez burger but though it was pronounced Blueys like Hueys so we all laughed and asked her all weekend if she wanted a Blueys Burger.

Next stop was Pottery Barn Outlet while brothers stayed at the hotel to watch some Notre Dame Football and “tailgate” in the room. Sister had an early afternoon practice so we didn’t have much to do without her. Those Pottery Barn Outlets are AMAZING!!! Have you been to one?! I thought I was going to die!!! And the best part was that they had West Elm items too!!! This VALIDATED MY LOVE OF WEST ELM.

Once practice was over, we picked everyone up and drove to the Nike Outlet that Sister could not stop talking about. She said it was the best outlet ever. Two hours later, we had exhausted our looking and found a few things. Nothing much of a big deal, but they did have like running shorts and pants for $10. Nice. On the way there, we had driven past Graceland so we stopped on the way back.

Graceland was so beautiful. It’s a shame that the areas around it have not been kept up. We did a little Elvis memorabilia shopping and walked by the Lisa Marie Jet that sits in a parking lot across the street. We didn’t go in, but we signed the wall and my mom cried. She does that.

Next stop Sister’s game. It had rained all morning and all forcasts called for like 60% precipitation, but we kept hope that we would be able to see a game…since that’ s the reason we came in the first place! Well, not the case. We watched the 1st half and then the game was called on account of TORRENTIAL downpour.

So that night we went to Kooky Canucks. That place is awesome! They have the head of every kind of animal on the wall. Not that I’m for that, but I’m always amazed by the beauty of the animals. They had buffalo,

Next day we left….Lots and lots of family bonding and all in all it was a good weekend.

-- DIY Watch Me Grow Stickers --

OK, so I've been drooling over these stickers from Picky Sticky! 

No, I don't have a baby.  But I am going to a baby shower tomorrow!  Yea!  And I saw them used over at Young House Love for their little one to track her growth. 

Well, being the procrastinator that I am, I waited to long to order them and the more I looked at them, the more I thought... I could do that.  Usually when I say this it is followed by a "Yea, Right!"  But not this time.  So I started....

I just used paint on the computer to do it.  Buy Sticker paper to use... or iron on transfer paper... whichever you'd like to do.  Make a circle.  Add a text box.  Add a little design if you want... And Voila!  Here are what I came up with... I did 12 months for my friend and will be giving them to her at the shower and I also threw in on the group gift in case she hates them... But I think they turned out cute! 

For my first time doing it, I think they turned out pretty cute!  And they are actually very affordable to do! 

I had to buy the sticker paper at $9.94 each - needed 2 because they come in sheets of 5 and of course I needed 6.  It's like hot dogs and hot dog buns... this always makes me think of Father of the Bride. 

And the ink of course, but other than that, they were all homemade! :)

-- My Ideal Holiday --

Would be on a beach in Tahiti somewhere....

HAHA... right! 

No, really I was thinking about this the other day. 

It would be with family.

We'd attend a very merry midnight mass.

We'd go volunteer somewhere Christmas morning... probably a soup kitchen. 

We'd "sponsor" a family that couldn't afford to have Christmas and

get them all the best things!  



We'd all dress in holiday pajamas....

We'd eat until we were stuffed... and somehow donate the leftovers<-- Is this weird?  I just feel like so much is usually wasted because we can't eat it all.  

We'd drink and sing karaoke and EVERYONE would get up on the mike. 



Doesn't this sound like fun?  Does to me. 

It's all about traditions...



Holiday Pajamas 2009
What's up with the scrunched up face Mike?!

Can't wait to figure the rest of mine out, but for now we'll continue with the exchange of holiday pajamas on Christmas Eve and kissing under the mistletoe. 





-- A Little History --

Today I thought I'd share one of my favorite holiday ornaments.  I got it last year from my mother-in-law.  It was something I heard about on the radio during a drive home one time and just had to have one. 

Back Story

There used to be a department store in Fort Wayne, Wolf & Dessauer, that was not only known for it's great customer service, but also it's wonderfully elaborate window displays and awe inspiring Christmas lights.  Apparently people from all over northeast Indiana would travel to Fort Wayne to see these beautiful displays and lights.  Most who have seen the displays said they were beyond compare...some were even mechanical.  And  many people thought the displays at W&Ds were far better than those in New York or Chicago.

  This amazes me...

Around 1937, G. Irving Latz, himself, drew the first sketches of the famous Santa display that hung on the side of the Calhoun Street building. Brinkman Signs were the ones who constructed the famous displays. According to our Fort Wayne local newspaper, the Journal Gazette, it was the artist at Brinkman's, Isabel Wilkinson Parker who actually designed the Santa and Reindeer display and it was modeled after a scene given to her by the owner of Wolf & Dessauer's, G. Irving Latz Sr. 

Many will agree that the holiday season doesn't truly being until the Santa display has been lit up in Fort Wayne!

And although Santa hung for many years on the side of the department store building there were a few years that it wasn't lit.  The reason for this was two fold - (1) during World War II they were told to keep the lights out to reduce the chance of enemy planes being able to spot the city easily because materials were manufactured for the war in Fort Wayne and (2) it was also a way to conserve energy during the war. 

Last year, the Original Santa display was replaced with LED lights and the lights from the original display were sold with all proceeds going to Easter Seals.  Well, of course with this being such a huge memory that I have, I had to have a part of this history.  And I'm so glad that I got one!  It's one of my favorite ornaments and I'll always remember the Santa display no matter where I am! 

-- A Chronicle & A Giveaway Winner --

Good Monday Morning Blog Hogs!

***Giveaway winner is announced! *** Click here to see who one! ***

Today I'm going to share something from The Kellermeyer Chronicles...
Please tell me if your husbands do things like this too! 
I'd love to hear the stories! 

So for today...hop over to The Kellermeyer Chronicles for the latest Mike funny! 

-- Hanging My Stockings --

I finally pulled out all the holiday decor to put around the house.  After moving the entire living room around to make a place for my stockings, I put everything right back to where it was.  I even tried to change out tables and lamps to make way for the usual place that I hang my stockings...

Stocking setup 2009

This year we got the new (well new to me) wing back chair which sits up higher along the ledge I usually hang them on.  I also used to have a lower sitting table which I think made this ledge ideal...

Well, not this year. 

Here's how they ended up.  I'm not completely satisfied but what are you going to do?  I thought about hanging them from the stair banister which I've always loved at other houses, but I felt I needed garland to put all the way up and I didn't have any extra.  I will continue to look. 

I choose to only use my two folksy stockings from Garnet Hill this year.  My two knit stockings are on the end, but I think I might take them down altogether. 

What do you think?

Above is a picture of my mom's mantle this year... Yes, that is a deer head and No, it's not staying there... at least I hope it's not still up when we get home.  It was a joke for my dad.  Although, knowing him, he probably loved it and it probably is still up.  I think he's cute with the elf hat.  :)

Don't forget to join the link party here - Show Me Your Stockings!  It ends tomorrow... and look for the giveaway winner to be announced on Monday along with another giveaway!  :)

Happy (Snowy here) Weekend Blog Hogs!