Life in the South!: Pearls aren't just for wearin'!

I have spent approximately the past four months living in my house, absolutely worthless as a housewife. However, for the past week or so I've had some energy and my medicine has been effectively controlling my nausea. This makes me quite happy!

This past weekend I had committed to visiting Raleigh. I had a shower to attend for my precious Bible study leader from college, Renn. (P.S. - One of the cutest pregnant women I have ever seen). One of my closest friends, Jenni, graciously played hostess to me for the weekend. This included coming into Jenni's house and being welcomed with Snyder's pretzels (because they are the best) and caffeine free Mountain Dew (because this little bean has me drinking weird things). It was awesome! I was able to have lunch with my fabulous college roommate since she and her family are back from their years as missionaries in Thailand. Unfortunately, most of my day Saturday was not a great feeling day, but I took meds and prayed for a better Sunday as I headed off to bed.

I always do the same thing on Sundays in Raleigh: go to Hope Community Church with Miss Katie. If you live in the Raleigh area and don't have a home church, I highly recommend this one. It has been so great watching the church grow. When I first started going to Hope my sophomore year of college, there were only 50 or so people at the church and we met in a small building somewhere. Now, it's a massive church with a following that just speaks to the power of God and what His committed followers can do for a community.

When I got home I realized that I had a LOT to do regarding my very neglected house. Sandra and Steven are coming in on Friday, so I wanted to try to get what I could done. I've been working on and off all week (it's amazing how sore and tired I get in such a short period of time). Tonight, I decided to switch up my "tablescape" as Sandra Lee calls it. I turned up some Josh Groban Christmas music and got to work (don't judge me, it's close enough to Christmas).

Normally it looks something like this:

I use another center piece, but these have frequented. Aren't green roses fun?!

As of tonight, it looks a bit more like this:

I love our formal china, but must admit that we seldom ever use it. So I thought this would be a fun way to break it out and perhaps force myself to utilize it. I also did not want to spend money to completely change the look of our dining area. I took a cost effective route. Obviously, the china was from our wedding (almost 3 years ago). Several months ago Pier 1 introduced these lovelies to the market. Like any good Meredith girl, I snatched them right on up. Granted, they were $4.95 each, but I didn't consider that pocket money because it was spent pre-baby. :-)

Pearls aren't just for wearin'! I am in love with these, you should be too. I had to buy the napkins because I had none that would match our china. I was walking through Target today picking up some last minute things for the weekend when I stumbled upon these beauts! And for $3.99 a pack, who could resist?!

The only remaining problem was the centerpiece. I knew what I would use, but I had to prep this while Phillip was gone (spray paint had to be used and he says I can't do that and be with child). I bought some pillar candles last year post-Christmas from Target, but never found a candelabra to use. Earlier in the year my mom gave me a brass one from the florist. She said they never used it and told me to do what I wanted with it. My solution: spray paint. Now, I love new things as much as the next person. However, this cost NOTHING...and I like that more! :-) Not too shabby.