A Fresh Start and a Chick-fil-A Recipe

Happy New Year's Eve! I took down all my Christmas decor yesterday and it feels so good to get a fresh start in the new year. 

I love my Christmas decorations, but I'm always more than happy to get back to my normal decor. I start putting up fall decor in late September or early October, so I always welcome back my regular things with open arms. :) 

After we put up all the Christmas stuff, I quickly cleaned the house, then went around snapping pics of my fresh, clean decor. :) 

Love a squeaky clean kitchen! 

We actually had cold weather the other day. Cold enough to have a fire, which is why my candelabra isn't in the fireplace right now. :) BTW, Miss Holly Joaquin parked herself right there on that pouf for about 5 hours! 

I made a change to my dining room that I'm excited about. If you follow me on Instagram (@texasdecor) you've already seen it, but I'll share it here soon. 

Well hello there, pretty hydrangeas! Haven't seen you for awhile! Surprisingly, they didn't get totally squished while being packed away for months. 

We used to have a blue pendant light in the foyer (my hubby's choice, not mine) and when we changed it out for this one from Ballard Designs, I couldn't believe what a difference it made. (For those of you that are new, my hubby made that stained glass window above the door.) 

I still think painting the entire house this much lighter color (Sherwin Williams "Kilim Beige") made one of the biggest impacts. 

My mom gifted me with her pretty cake stand over Christmas break. She's had it for over 50 years and I was glad to receive it. It brings back memories of my childhood when she'd display our birthday cakes on it. :) 

And last, but not least...did y'all hear Chick -fil -A is taking their coleslaw off the menu this month? I thought they had a brilliant response to all the customers who showed their displeasure...they gave out the recipe!

For some reason, the recipe seemed a little blurry when I transferred it. Here it is:

* 4 teaspoons vinegar

* 1/4 cup sugar

* 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

* 1/4 teaspoon salt

* 1 cup mayo

* 2 bags (10 oz bags) fine shredded cabbage, chopped to 1/8 inch

* 1/4 cup finely chopped carrots

Whisk vinegar, sugar, mustard and salt together until sugar is dissolved. Add mayo and whisk to mix. Add cabbage and carrots. Mix to combine. Refrigerate for 2 hours and serve.

Makes 6-8 servings. 

I'll be back soon to share the dining room changes. Y'all have a great week!

~Lisa

Childhood Memories

After reading my friend Kim's blog post HERE, I was inspired to blog about my own childhood books that recently found their way back to me. My mom found several of these while cleaning her attic and I was thrilled to see them again! 

I'm pretty sure I received this cookbook along with my play kitchen when I was around 7 or so. I have no idea what a "mini moppet" is, but apparently I was one. Lol! 

Here's a look at the contents. I must have put a purple dot next to the ones I planned on making. :) 

I actually remember these mini pizzas were pretty good. 

Next up is one of my "Me Books" my grandmother gave me. Did any of you have these?

This is my birthday land adventure "me book." 

My grandmother sent off for these. She had to fill out a form with my name, my friends names, my pet's name, the name of the street we lived on, etc. Then they would incorporate all that into the book so it really did seem like it was written especially for me. 

It's basically about an elf who came to my street on my birthday and led me (and all my friends) on a trip to Birthday Land. 

While in Birthday Land, I was given my birthday flower, my birthstone, a cake, etc. There was even a "Days to Christmas Counter Lady" who told me exactly how many days it was from my birthday till Christmas. 

Just look at that description above... now don't you totally want to live in Birthday Land too? :)

Another "Me Book" she bought me was "My Jungle Holiday." It was about a giraffe that came to my street and took me on an adventure to the jungle to meet all kinds of animals. (my book doesn't have the cover anymore, so I couldn't show it)

I loved the Two Too Twins book. I somehow lost my copy over the years, but was able to find this one on http://www.abebooks.com/ and it was only a couple of dollars. It's a great place to start looking if you're trying to track down a rare book. 

I loved their pajamas! We could never find any like these in the stores, so my mom spent countless hours trying to track down similar material to make me some, but we never found any. Truth be told, I still kind of want pj's with stars and moons. ;) 

Another favorite was "Peppermint." 

This one was about a cat named "Candy" who (appropriately) lived in a candy store with Mr. Dobby. Candy had kittens and Mr. Dobby put a sign in his window selling the kittens for .15 cents. 

All the kittens sold except for little Peppermint. Then one day a little girl came into the candy shop crying because she didn't have a kitten. Mr. Dobby gave her Peppermint and of course, it made her day. :) 

Peppermint was very dirty, so Barbara's mom gave her a bath and Peppermint jumped right into a pan of bluing! (whatever that was?)

The children at school were holding a cat show and, spoiler alert, Peppermint won! :) 

The last one is "Good Little Bad Little Girl." 

I loved this one so much. Pretty much every time I drew a house, I would color it with the crayola color "brick red" because of this picture. I loved red brick houses and both times we had one built, I chose red brick. 

This book was about two girls. One was very, very good and one was very, very bad. 

And (spoiler alert again) they turned out to be the SAME LITTLE GIRL! Gasp!!! 

One other favorite of mine was a Baby Alive coloring book. I remember one page where the little girl took her Baby Alive with her when they went out to eat. Such a happy little book. Wish I still had it. Actually, I did find an instant download of it on Etsy and I was able to find pictures of all 100 pages through a Google search. You can click HERE to see it if you're interested. Fun times! :) 

Oh, and The Poky Little Puppy...definitely one of my favorites. 

I've saved every single one of my boys books from their childhood. I don't know what it is about books, but they bring back the best memories for me. :) 

Did any of you have these books too? Do you have a favorite from your childhood? Thanks for going down memory lane with me. :)

~Lisa 

Cookies for Days, a Stranded Whale and a Walmart Blog...

Weird title, huh? :) Before I get to the cookies and blog, let me tell you about this poor stranded whale that was on our local beach.

Bless its heart. It was 45 feet long and was stranded about 150 feet from the shore in Galveston. Apparently it was already very sick and passed away shortly after they found it. 

They had to haul in heavy equipment and tie something around its tail (the strongest part of its body) to pull it onto the beach. Then they'll examine it and bring in more heavy machines to dispose of it. It really was heartbreaking to watch it all unfold on tv. 

So, on to happier things...

Those cookie cutters with the red and green wooden handles belonged to my great grandmother. I love that I'm getting to use them now. 

I spent the better part of Tuesday baking up a storm. I baked, frosted, and decorated almost 150 cookies! I made gingerbread men with almond icing, sand tarts, sugar cookies with vanilla frosting and sprinkles, and a batch of peppermint bark. 

Here's a look at the fruits of my labor...

This was before I iced the gingerbread men. But don't they look cute tied up with baker's twine?

Oh, and just look at how cute that plate is! It was a whopping $1.50 at my local HEB grocery store. 

I'll package a lot of these up to send home with family members on Christmas day because lord knows I don't need that many cookies around here. :) 

One more thing. Do y'all know about the "Whoa Wait Walmart" blog and Instagram? Here's a link to their blog...

http://whoawaitwalmart.com/

The name is kind of funny. It's like they're saying "Whoa...wait...you got that at WALMART???" Lol!

They do blog posts about new lines Walmart is carrying, holiday merchandise, gift ideas, new items, sale items, etc. They are the reason I knew about the new Pioneer Woman line at Walmart months ago :) 

The other day they posted about some cute $5 tassel necklaces that would make a great last minute Christmas gift. I think I "need" to pick one up soon. :) 

They're so good about posting when things are on sale. I remember last summer, they posted about the farmhouse style punch dispensers when they went on clearance. You can follow them on Instagram too @whoawaitwalmart 

Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year!

~Lisa 

Breakfast Room Christmas Tablescape

I'm back today to share my breakfast room Christmas tablescape. I can't tell you how many times I changed my mind on this one. :) 

A close up of the plates...

That dollar spot burlap runner has come in handy lately. :) 

These pics make me realize how glad I am that we took the plunge and painted/stained this kitchen table. I love how it looks now. If you missed the post on that transformation, you can click HERE 

Thanks for stopping by!

~Lisa

Dining Room Christmas Tablescape

Hello all! I've been playing around with my Christmas tablescapes and today I'll share my dining room. Stay tuned for the breakfast room later in the week. 

Instead of my usual napkin rings with ribbon, I opted for red and white bakers twine and a peppermint stick. Love the whimsy of it all. :) 

I can't tell you how glad I am that I purchased so many of these mini stockings at Dollar Tree a few years ago. They have so many uses.

My BHG salad plates from Walmart make me smile with that cute little bunny. :) 

There you have it! Next up, the breakfast room...

~Lisa