Randon musings and my start on Christmas decorating!

Hi there! So happy to be back in blogland!  Was also excited to see my scheduled post on "enchanted giving" posted on Sunday. I am happy to announce a winner this morning for the 3 bars of monogrammed soaps and soap dish! Here we go, congrats goes to-

Result:#87 (from random number generator)

There is so much to love! I am particularly fond of the dough bowls. And the napkin rings... Thank you for the giveaway. Susan H. sphicks@aol.com

 Please contact me with your contact and shipping information click here to email me. I will be having many more giveaways right up to Christmas so stay tuned!

Moving on....hope your Thanksgiving holiday was fabulous! Ours was so much fun. I have never spent Thanksgiving by the beach and have to say, we had a blast. Besides my sisters family we also had extended family in from out of town so it was chaotic, loud, food everywhere, football games blasting, kids all over, just the way I like it...very lively! The super charming home from the movie, Nights in Rodanthe was filmed there. 

The Outer Banks are so beautiful, a very lively beach community and I have to say the beach itself is one of the most beautiful I have seen. It is so wide and open, truly spectacular as my pictures will show. It is also to me, simply magical to be by the ocean in the "off season" walking the expanse of beach with not a soul in sight....talk about peaceful!  It was nice being away for four days, it was a much needed little break. I am now ready to plow ahead with a super busy month. Below are a few highlights from our trip...I am always so inspired to take pictures when by the ocean!

 My sisters adorable (and very athletic) golden, Moosey! He could be Teddy's twin and they are good buddies...we so wish Teddy had been with us.

 Last house right before the beach......newly completed, love the decks and the views are spectacular!

Headed over the dunes to the ocean and letting Moosey be our fearless leader.......

 Moosey showing off for the camera!! Boy, can he swim!

 Even on a very foggy morning, the beach was absolutely spectacular!

 Everyone said they had never seen the shoreline this close to the dunes ever.

 Still going...........

Show off!

 Sisters neighborhood........great homes, wonderful community, amazing beach..what more do you need!

 Now hes off to the lake....he just cannot get enough!

 We went on a wild horse tour.......fun fun fun to go off roading on the beach in a giant hummer!

The house from the movie, Nights in Rodanthe

And we are off.......it was a spectacular day (but coooold)........

 Absolutely breathtaking stretch of beach, that went on like this for miles and miles..........

 

Check out the "sea foam"......looks like snow!

 How calming and peaceful is this? Made me want to pitch a tent....lol

 This house is the closest to the ocean that I have ever seen, it is practically IN the ocean. I mean I do love ocean front but this is a little scary.....

 Hey,, we finally spotted a "wild horse"!!!!!!! Not exactly as I had imagined in my mind but good enough!

 Lots of off roaders on the beach this day after Thanksgiving

 An old Coast guard building...charming. What I could do to that to make it mine:)

 Second sighting of "the wild horses"....OK this is not the wild beautiful mustangs I envisioned galloping on the beach at breakneck speed but this lazy fella sure gave us a good laugh (not to the amusement of our "tour guide")

 The house so close to the ocean...I will call it "Oceans edge"

So those are a few highlights..it was so much fun. We really had a blast and the best part was of course, all of us being together..doesn't get better!! Onto Christmas!

And speaking of Christmas....I am starting to do some Christmas decorating around here, lots more to go, but here's a peek of whats happening around here

 Got my dough bowl ready for the holidays and have to say I LOVE the way it turned out...also super easy, green, berries and scented pinecones..voila and I was done!

 And on my breakfast room table flanked by two pretty red amaryllis plants.

 And then I started some outdoor decorating too...still have to get my big oversized wreath and will probably add some boxwood garland around the door but will see.....

 And on a hallway chest, I kept this little vignette in all golds, silvers and pewter tones.....

And in a hallway chest......getting things all spruced up for the Christmas spirit.......

 Here's a "do it yourselfer' I worked on, still need to add the finishing touches but have to say I really love how its coming out. Saw one in a store for $290.00 and felt it was so overpriced. I made this for about  $20!! (not including the tole planter)

 And I love experimenting with table settings.......this was one such "experiment".....

I have a very large antique blue and white bowl (about 20") which I like to change seasonally with different plants.I planted it with white poinsettias and put scented pinecones at the base.....

Though I am not done, I am putting the finishing touches on my planters and have yet to hang the wreath( in a week or so) and maybe garland around the door..so consider these "in progess" shots!

Last speaking of dough bowls.....just got my last batch from this particular lot of bowls from Hungary and Belgium. They are truly exceptional. As the saying goes these are truly  "the pick of the litter" and as pretty as they get. So many of you have written that its simply easier to post them here with their sizes and it will be first come first serve. Absolutely stunning bowls! Contact me here if you are interested. A new batch will be here in February from this resource. In the meantime I will still be able to get some from my other resource but they are not quite as special as these (in my humble opinion)!

 This beauty is 31x17

 And this one is 32x17

This one is 27x17

 And finally this one is 26x17
 

For anyone who is contemplating a napkin ring order.......this is the final week of my napkin rings being offered at their introductory price of $45.00. As of this weekend they will be $55.00 (still very competitive and discounted heavily). Remember any napkin ring you have seen on my site can be ordered though not all are on the online store!

I have some new goodies being added to New Arrivals which will be there later today, be sure to check them out! Here's a sneak peek at whats new....

So that's whats going on over here! I will be posting 2-3 times a week as opposed to my usual 4 and even sometimes 5 times a week from here on until Christmas, it is such a busy season with all that I have going on plus my blog and online shop...... I do need to sleep (wink)  and I have many balls I am juggling in the air! Thanks for stopping in, wishing you a wonderful day and all the joys of this magical season!