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January 2, 2014

If You've Been Wondering Where I Went...

Hey ya'll! Happy New Year! How was your Christmas?! How was your new year?! Are you ready for 2014? I took a couple weeks off from the blog to recharge my batteries, travel, watch 48 episodes of New Girl, spend time with family, and nap. 

And oh, how I've missed you. 









We just got home from vacation yesterday, and I came back totally rejuvenated and ready to kick 2014 right in the belly. 
After much thought, I've chosen this as my anthem for the new year.


I've got some really great new projects that I've been waiting until after the holidays to share with you, but it's gonna take me a few days to remember how to contribute to society, go cold turkey with the napping situation, and stop eating Honeybaked Ham.

So, until my ham euphoria wears off, I thought I'd share a few little snippets of our vacation. 

We started by driving 10 hours down to Florida to visit Jesse's family. His parents, both his sisters, their husbands, and all the nieces and nephews were all in attendance. And then my brother, Mathias, even drove down to meet us there, on leave from the Navy. I've not been able to spend much time with the little fella since he left earlier this year, so it was just really nice. All in all, there were about 14 of us there. 
It was a packed house, but I enjoyed every second of it.

Mostly because I got to stretch out in comfy recliners, drink mass quantities of hot chocolate, and completely disappear into my Kindle. 
All. Week. Long.
Sidenote: Please look at the top of the tree. That brown blob is a very large brassiere that my brother-in-law gifted Jesse. I have no real explanation for that bit of awesome, other than to tell you that it ended up as a tree topper for about 8 days. 
And no one blinked an eye. 
Which is just one of the many reasons why I love Jesse's family.



It was mostly lots of relaxing, but every so often we ventured outside the house.
The boys golfed a lot. 
We saw some great movies. 
We went thrifting.
Just you wait and see what I found. Some of my BEST thrifty scores ever. 
Coming soon to a blog near you.

Oh, and then we found Herbert. Our new pet. 
We brought him home to Tennessee, and Tootie and Cheese absolutely adore him.


Kidding, of course. 
That's just some random photobombing Longhorn.
He never told us his real name.


After about a week and a half in Florida with family, we left and Jesse took me to Savannah to celebrate New Year's Eve. 
I had never been, and Jesse has wanted to take me there for a long time. We spent 3 days there, and it's officially one of my favorite places. Just such an amazing place.

My favorite area was the downtown historic district. We spent a lot of our time there, sightseeing, eating, and walking around.
So much so that I currently have a glorious case of shin splints. 
Totally worthwhile shin splints.

I think I took about 115 photos over 3 days, 111 of which I won't make you suffer through, so here are just a few of the highlights of Savannah.




Ok. Forrest wasn't actually there. 
 I'm providing this photo for your referential needs.

 Like total nerds, Jesse and I made it our mission to find where Forrest's bench was in Chippewa Square and take a picture. Much to my dismay, we got there and discovered that there was in fact NO bench. It was apparently just a movie prop that they removed from Chippewa square after the filming of the movie. But, I forged forward with my mission, enduring quite the show from a horse drawn carriage that stopped right behind Jesse as he took this photo. Ponies will be ponies.
I'm smiling on the outside and crying on the inside.


Completely unfazed, Jesse decided to take the party up a notch with his posing-choice.
There was a line of people behind us, waiting to get their picture in this same spot, and all followed suit. 
It was a movement of sorts. 



In other Savannah highlight news, we went to tons of restaurants while we were there, as I am unashamed to admit that this is my favorite vacation hobby, and every single place we went to blew my mind. 
Savannah has some crazy good food, ya'll. 
I tried a Moscow Mule while I was there, too. Oprah told me to do it years ago (on a favvvvvorite things episode), but I didn't listen. 
I should have listened. They're delicious. 
Sidenote: Shortly thereafter I decided I MUST have a copper mug. Until we googled it and discovered that they cost about $60 each. So, now I'm reworking my plan. 
It involves pennies and hot glue. 
I'm kidding, U.S. Mint. 
Google tells me that pennies are made of zinc anyways.



After going all over the place the first two days, we met up with some great friends who were also there for a few days and celebrated New Year's Eve at a rooftop restaurant on the river. 
There were fireworks, champagne, great friends, and a completely inappropriate amount of fried pickles.




And it was awesome.
A perfect vacation filled with family, friends, fun, and fried food.
And now I'm back. Happy, so thankful, well-rested, and looking forward to what the new year will bring.
I hope you had a wonderful holiday, too, filled with great experiences. And I wish you an even better 2014! 
I'll be back to my normal blogging self soon!
'Til then!






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36 comments:

  1. OMG okay. I have about 5,382 comments on this post, but I'll try to narrow it down to just a few. First, you are the CUTEST. Second, I am obsessed with Savannah. PLEASE tell me that you went to Paris Market. Third, I am also obsessed with Moscow Mules, and have literally been on a hunt for copper mugs that I don't have to sell my cats for for MONTHS. Fourth, New Girl is totally my jam, and I told me husband that if the (hypothetical) opportunity presented itself, I would maybe (absolutely) leave him for Nick Miller. Fifth, your hair...is amazing. That is all.

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    1. Ha! You are such a fave. We ran out of time to make it to Paris Market and I'm so bummed! It's definitely on my list of things to see next time! I probably should have swapped that out for the Forrest expedition, but that would have been a hard sell. Also, Nick Miller is basically 1998 Brad Pitt in my book. :)

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  2. Can you do a blog on how you style your hair?! Looks fab!

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    1. HA! Thank you so much Emily! You are too sweet! I just use a curling wand (one of those curling irons without the clamps). They're my fave! :)

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  3. It does sound like the perfect vacation and break. Happy new year!

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  4. I honestly did not know that you were also a Tennessean. :) That is so funny, but I should have known from your awesomeness. I believe that I found your blog months ago via Pinterest and love how you inject humor into it - some DIY blogs are so dry. My husband is also a UT grad, however I went to that other Tennessee school, whose football team is not quite as famous. Although we did go to a bowl game! :) And lost to Navy. :( We actually are south of the border in Huntsville and took particular glee last night watching the Tide lose. Heehee. We actually spent New Years in Pigeon Forge, which was not quite as touristy as I remembered although Marc really wanted to go see the mind-reading pig. Happy New Year, Virginia!

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    1. That's so awesome, Katie! Small world!! Jesse and I have been to Pigeon Forge many times in the past decade that I've lived here, and we've always had a blast. Any place with a pancake house on every corner is alright in my book! :) And I would totally want to see the mindreading pig, too. Marc sounds like a smart man! xo

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  5. Yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed Savannah--I live here! It totally charmed me on a visit about six years ago and so I just decided to pick up and move. Met the love of my life, got married, and never looked back! :)

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    1. Ahhh! That's so awesome! Good for you! I would absolutely LOVE to live in Savannah. It was truly one of my favorite places I've ever been. I plan on going back about 500 times! :)

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  6. I just got into Moscow Mules too! I was so excited about them that I asked for copper mugs for Christmas and yes...they are crazy expensive! However, I personally really like the ones at Sur La Table and they are only $20 per mug (still expensive in my book, but way better than $60/mug and that's why I asked for them for Christmas!). They have a classic look to them which is what I like. (http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-1398882/Moscow+Mule+Copper+Mug).

    Thought you might like those! :)

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    1. Thanks Cassie! That's a great deal! Still sooo much for one mug, but perhaps I'll splurge one day so that I can feel fancy once in a while! It'll be our secret. ha! :)

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    2. Hi Virginia, I stumbled upon your blog today. LOVE IT!. I live in Florida and I Love Savannah. Who knew? Can't wait to see what you found thrifting. Have a Great weekend!

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    3. Thanks so much!! So happy you're here! Have a great week! xo

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  7. New follower of your blog here, totally excited to start my own projects! But I LOVE LOVE Savannah too! We've been there once, on the way to Hilton Head Island for a family vacation. The river area is just amazing!! So glad you had a great time and also got to relax!

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    1. Thanks so much Kacie! Yes, the river area was sooo cool! I've never seen anything like it. xo

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  8. LOVE Savannah- my husband and I visited for the first time after our wedding. ALL we did was eat from the minute we got there until we left. The Crystal Beer Parlor was my favorite- and was surprisingly disappointed by Paula Deen's Restaurant. We also went on one of the (many) ghost tours in the area. I heard most of them are pretty cheesy- but listening to ghost stories while being carted around in a horse-drawn carriage, sipping adult beverages, was in no way an unimpressive time!

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    1. Oh my gosh, Dorrie!!!! Yes, yes, yes! We went to the Crystal Beer Parlor on our 2nd night and it was handsdown my favorite restaurant we visited. It was only a few blocks away from our hotel and it was so fun to be able to walk there and then eat the BEST burger EVER. I seriously just jumped up and down a little when I read your comment. (Not sure why, but I did.) Some good friends told us to take the ghost tour, too, but we ran out of time. I think we will have to do it next time. But, I definitely want to do the one that involves a horse-drawn carriage and the sipping. :)

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  9. Oh dear goodness! I just started following your blog, like literally yesterday or day before, and I thought, this girl is just awesome...then I just read this posting, and of course, it all makes sense...your a Tennessean! Whoop Whoop! I am in between Nashville and Knoxville, and I am praying to get my old outdated house to look half as good as yours. It is hard with doing dog rescue for so long (we no longer foster, but we do have 5 dogs from it, lol)!!!! Too crazy, and so happy I found you. Thank you Pinterest! Lots of Love! xoxo- Stephanie

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    1. Whoop whoop, indeed!! That's awesome, Stephanie! So glad to have you as a reader! Oh, and that's so awesome about the 5 dogs. If Tootie and Cheese would allow it, I would have 5 dogs tomorrow. For some reason they were okay with the longhorn. :)

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  10. Glad you had a wonderful vacay but I'm glad you will be blogging again. I painted my patio furniture thanks to your spray painting tips and now I'm ready for more projects! Your blog rocks. Oh, and my patio furniture and seat covers are FAB!

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    1. Yay! That's so awesome Roni!! Thank you and I look forward to blogging again, too! Sometimes I just need to rest my brain! :)

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  11. I stumbled upon your little gem of a blog over the holiday and I am in LOVE with all of your amazingly great ideas!!! Super inspiring, cant wait to try some great new decorating tips and paint some furniture!!! :) :)

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    1. AW! Thank you so much, Heather! So glad you found me! :)

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  12. Glad you enjoyed Savannah Virginia. My husband took me there on a trip back from Hilton Head, SC. Since he's from Georgia, it has a special place in his heart. I hope you took a carriage ride and had a chance to eat at Paula Dean's restaurant..if not, maybe next time. Glad you had a great time and it looks like the weather was really nice!

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    1. The weather was perfect, Ashley! We ran out of time to do a carriage ride, but will definitely be taking one next time if I have anything to say about it!! :) xo

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  13. All I can say is I love you ( not in a freaky stalker way ) But lord you make me feel like there are people out there that understand my humor. Thanks for your blog, it rocks! And when you say y'all it reminds me of home....I am also excited to inform you that I have made the decision to BUY my first home in CA (not what I ever thought id do) but since I'm stuck here with my husband I will make the best of it. Cant WAIT to use all your tricks :)

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    1. Well, that is just an awesome comment! Thank you! Congrats on your soon to be new home! That's just too exciting!! You're gonna have so much fun!! xo

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  14. I stumbled on your blog looking for ideas for a makeup vanity! I really love all of your ideas... your blog is so awesome and your passion is inspiring! I've gone on a painting frenzy and I'll be thrifting this weekend for a small desk to silverleaf! Yes...I'm going to try! lol

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    1. Oooooh you are a brave soul, Kiandra!! I love it! And just remember, if it goes terribly awry, have some silver spray paint handy! :) xo

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  15. we love Moscow Mules as well! a friend of mine found a few copper mugs she gifted to us while thrift-ing and estate sale-ing so there have to be some out there still - good luck. and, i love fried pickles too

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  16. You look wonderful in each and every picture!! Shames me for having spent most of my holiday in pajamas and let us not even talk about the hair.. After seeing that copper mug, I may have to go on a hunt for a few of those - keeping my eyes peeled for your blog!

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  17. Just found your blog via Pinterest and I love it. I am a frustrated DIYer myself, possessing loads of vision but no talent. You are awesomely funny and if I lived anywhere near you I would totally have you over for coffee. Keep up the good work!

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  18. I lived in Savannah for two years (I went to SCAD) and still didn't have enough time to do everything I wanted! Thankfully we're in Atlanta now and it's an easy trip to make. I follow this gal's blog because she's a Savannah native and always posts the best trip recaps (and gives recommendations of new places to visit!)

    http://dixiedelights.blogspot.com/

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  19. New Girl is probably my most favorite show of all time right now. (It's so hard for me to like television shows!) I can't wait until the new season is on Netflix!!!

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  20. Hi, I've been so inspired by you and your work. Me and my husband are DIY novices. I love to shop and love home décor. Finally we've bought our own house after years of struggle. I've been bloating with ideas without the courage & knowledge to execute them. Moreover I'm absolutely in no position to spend an extra pound. Your ideas have given me the push. Suddenly I can imagine doing things in a different way on a tight budget. I'm on a painting spree now and have almost completed giving a total makeover to a chest. Thank you so much Virginia, your ideas are so simple yet the outcome is brilliant. Thanks for doing what you are. Please keep up the good work. Will post photos once my first mission is accomplished...all thanks to you.

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Thanks so much for leaving a comment!! I do the hammer dance every time I read one.

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