Gonna Party Like It's 1999

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here's to an even better year and a new decade. 2010, we can't wait to meet you and see what you have in store for our little family.

We hope you all have a fabulous year.

XoXo,

The Crain's

Good Things Come...

...to those who wait.


Before we revealed the surprise to all our lovely readers we wanted to tell our parents first. We like Bella to be involved in all surprises for my parents because no matter what our surprise is they have to be excited because they love their "granddaughter" so much. We thought it was only fitting to reveal our surprise to you the same way. So, here is the book that Bella "brought" to my parents.

 

"Dear Grandma and Grandpa,

This year I have been extra good so Santa says he will bring me something really nice. I wanted to show you all of the things I asked Santa to bring me. I thought you might want to see what was on my list..."

"First I asked Santa for a ball. I like to chase balls a lot, but I especially like to chew on them. Sadly, when I chew on them, mommy and daddy have to throw them away...they say the pieces will make me sick."

 

"Then I asked Santa for a bone. Not just any old bone, a big, long, meaty one. I don't think mommy and daddy will let me have one so I asked Santa to leave it at your house."  

 

 "Next I asked Santa for a puppy. I would really like a brother or a sister and mommy and daddy don't seem to be listening to me. As much as I like to be the baby of the family, I would like another pup around the house so I can chase it and show it whose boss."

"After that I asked for a kitty. Grandma always calls me kitty so I figured she wanted one. Actually, I did not ask for a kitty...I don't even like kitties. Kitties are like nails on a chalkboard, please don't get me one." (sidenote: Bella doesn't hate kitties, she just hasn't spent much time around them).

"The last thing I asked for was king of big. It was so big that I didn't think Santa would be able to get me one for a long time. I asked Santa for a yard. Not one that I have to visit, but one that I could go to anytime I wanted. One that I could play in for hours. Thankfully Santa didn't think that gift was too big at all. In fact, he didn't even wait for Christmas to give it to me. Turn the page and you will see what I mean..."

"My New Home!!"

Yes, it is true. The Crain's are homeowners! I know that we have had to stretch the truth a bit to you, but it was all innocent I promise. With our experience in real estate we knew how many things could go wrong in the process so we weren't ready to announce it to the world yet. In fact, nothing is final until we move in which we have not done yet. We are set to move in mid January so we will keep you posted. We have many plans for this little gem and you can expect to hear all about it...like it or not. We do plan to share our experience in the home buying process...especially since ours is a bit different than most. Also, we have LOTS of renovation plans for this little bungalow of a nest and we will share our thoughts on that later on as well.

Thank you all for sticking with us while we kept the secret from you longer than we had anticipated. Please feel free to ask questions and we will do our best to answer them. We will be back soon with all the dirty details.

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Love,

Joshua, Mallory, and Bella "the reindeer" Crain

Light Me Up!

For those of you curious as to if I have lost my mind after posting that title, I will assure you I have not. Well, not fully. Actually, the other night Josh and I hopped into the car and drove around the Bush Park and Fairmount neighborhoods for our yearly Christmas lighting adventure. We usually hit up the Keizer lights, but after a dissapointing year we decided it was time to find out what the neighbors were up to. We found some elaborate ones, some simple ones, some gorgeous ones, and even one that had a goblin of some sort. Here are some pictures from our adventures...

 

 

 

 

 

 

There you have it. Do you have any favorites? We couldn't resist the absolute fabulousness of the last home, but we sure do enjoy the ones with the full creative displays out front.  We can't wait to take some of the ideas and implement them on our house someday!

Holiday Inspiration

With Christmas only a week away I couldn't resist posting a few inspirational photos to give you all a little boost of holiday cheer.

Rate My Space

Rate My Space

Rate My Space

Look! It's the Grinch's hiney in the tree! (Oops..couldn't resist this one)

Have a great weekend! If you haven't yet, be sure to go out and look at Christmas lights in your neighborhood. That, followed by a cup of hot cocoa with marshmallows is the only way to get in the Christmas spirit. Really. Unless you can't have hot cocoa and marshmallows because you musn't eat dairy, well then I guess you can join me in drinking water.

Party Like a Rockstar

One of the greatest things about Christmas is a fun Christmas party. We have been honored to attend not one, not two, but three so far! Actually, I think that is less than last year, but it was just the right amount to get us in the spirit with friends and coworkers, but it also kept the stress levels  to a minimum. Since we are still in our temporary living space with no festive decor, I started to dream a bit about what my perfect party would look like. Let's just say it's a total fantasy and some aspects of it might be beyond my abilities...

First I would want my guests to feel welcome so I would add a beautiful (handmade!) wreath to our front door as well as maybe a wreath on an interior door and even one hanging on the kitchen window.

 Martha Stewart

Yes, I think that just might do.

After that I would need a stunning table setting that would get their mouths wetter than Oregon on a winter's day.

 

Martha Stewart

Is it bizarre that I don't want to admire the centerpiece, I want to eat it instead? There is just something irresistible about it.

Once I have my guests ooh'ing and ahh'ing over the decor I would then have to shock them into a state of oblivion. How do I do that you ask? Easy. Just throw in this gorgeous pink tree and you are sure to have them stunned.

 Martha Stewart 

I really do think next year I will have one of these. I have been saving every picture I find of these gorgeous trees.

At this point of the night my guests would probably be lying on the floor overwhelmed beyond reason. You are worried I don't have a plan to revive them aren't you? Well fear not my friends, I have just the right dose of medicine to get their blood pumping through their veins.

Martha Stewart

Yep, do a little Martha Stewart fudge in some adorable gift boxes and your guests will be giddier than children on Christmas day. Well in my case I am still giddy on Christmas day, but I guess that's one of those things I shouldn't admit on a place where the whole world can read.

Well, you now know my true fantasy when it comes to my perfect Christmas party. We still have one more to attend this week and I cannot wait. For your viewing pleasure, here are a couple of photos from our two Christmas parties that we had for work.

Governor's Christmas party @ Mahonia Hall (Mallory's work party)

HomeStar Broker's Christmas party (Josh's work party)

(well technically taken at our place AFTER the festivities)

Well I hope this got you in the party spirit for the weekend. This is the last weekend before Christmas so be sure to get all of your shopping and wrapping done so you can enjoy the last few days before it's over.  I know I just stressed out half of you, but while I am at it I will attempt to stress you out more. Does it upset you to know that I had all of my presents bought and wrapped two weeks ago?

I wonder how many evil eyes I just received.

Just remember the old saying, "Jesus is the reason for the season!" This is all you need to make your worries disappear.

Cheap Christmas Cheer

One thing about our "temporary" living situation is that we agreed to make it temporary. I know that seems obvious, but let me explain. We moved into our current apartment knowing our main goal was to own a home. Unfortunately, with Josh earning a commission only paycheck we have to wait a full two years to partake in home buying. Well, we just recently hit one year so we have only one year to go. When we were moving we made it a promise to ourselves that we would keep most of our belongings in storage and only unpack those items that we would need for the next year or so. It was a hard thing to do because of our love for interior design, but to us it was the right decision. While I wouldn't recommend this for most, it really has stretched our creative minds. You find ways to make your temporary house a home with the few items you have. This leads me to....

Christmas.

That's right, all of our Christmas boxes are in storage. Of course we could pull it out of storage, but that would require a lot more work than we were ready for. So we made the decision to forgo the festive decor and yes, even a tree. The space we live in is so tight (we can't even use our heaters because our couch has to cover our heat source!) that it would be impractical for us. Yes we thought of some great options for small space living, but in the end we chose to save the money we would spend and use it towards Christmas presents. This sounds a bit Scroogey doesn't it? I assure you that we are very much into the Christmas spirit as always and I still have dreams about what it would be like to have some festive items up in our house. The good news? I still got to decorate a tree. Here is proof...

I had the opportunity to decorate the Governor's tree located in the reception area of his office. It was fun and challenging especially since I was left to scrounge through multiple boxes of mismatched decor. I like how it turned out. It is not perfect, but I settled with less than perfection and I am happy.

We also had a bit of a surprise decor come into our house. Let me just show you...

Yes, that is a tabletop tree! Josh and I were having fun at one of our favorite thrift stores (St. Vincent de Paul's) and we found this baby for $5. However, we certainly didn't pay that much. Turns out they were having a 50% off sale (75% off orange tags!) so we got our tree for $2.50.

 As you can see our tree is not naked either. No, we did not pull out our storage bins after all in order to adorn it with ornaments. Quite the contrary. After spending some time on blog land I had learned a lot about vintage ornaments, specifically ones called "Shiny Brites." Me and my "thrifting eyes" were on a mission and after moving a few boxes of "regular" ornaments my thrifting eyes grew rather large. I found these beautiful blue Shiny Brites in their original box! They definitely show their age, and the box has seen better days, but I knew I had hit the jackpot. How much did I pay for these vintage ornaments? Not the $2 they were asking...I paid $1! All I did was tie them on with some twine (it was actually loosely tied around the base of the tree) and it was finished.

After that I added a butterfly for a tree topper, a candle from Bath and Body Works (the scent is Spice, its our favorite) and a snowman that Josh's grandma gave me for my birthday and we had a bit of Christmas in our house after all.

Here is the cost breakdown for our little Christmas vignette:
Tree: $2.50
Ornaments: $1
Twine: Free (came with tree)
Butterfly tree topper: Free (was on gift packaging I received)
Snowman: Free (birthday gift)
Candle: Free (already had from last year)

Grand Total: $3.50

Not bad eh? This of course would have been cheaper if I had used ornaments we already had, but unfortunately that was not an option for us. Now we encourage you to look around your house for items that you can pull together to make a Christmas vignette that is sure to make you smile every time.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

When the dog bites...when the bee stings...when I'm feeling sad...I simply remember my favorite things...

Oh sorry, I'm done. No more singing. Promise. Maybe.

Josh and I decided to forgo Christmas presents this year since we both bought iPhones recently and have taken a trip and made a few other large purchases over the past month. However, that doesn't mean there aren't a few fabulous things out there that make my mouth water. Yes, I do have a rag by my side at all times while browsing all of my favorite sites. Don't worry, you will get past that visual as soon as you start looking at all the great things on my wish list.


I. Want. This. Desk. I have had my eye on this lacquered parsons desk for quite some time. I love the simple lines.

West Elm

These books are not only classics that I could read over and over, but they also have the greatest colors which could make for some quick and easy decor. Use them to prop up a vase, a candle, or really anything. It will give it dimension and look great while doing it.

 

Anthropologie 

 

 

This candle makes me feel warm and snuggly. This is WAY better than a snuggie in my book.

 Anthropologie

With all of the rain we get in Oregon, this umbrella stand would be great for holding all of the wet umbrellas that we have and look cute while doing it.

Z Gallerie

I think this would look great in an office, or any room with contemporary styling. 

Z Gallerie

Loving this pillow. I adore Dwell Studio. They always have wonderfully put together items that are such attention grabbers.

Target

Just thinking of all the projects I could accomplish using this one gun. Its a staple, brad, and nail gun all in one. Seriously I do think I need this and I think you need this too.

Lowe's

So that was a bit of a peek into what I would want if Josh and I were doing presents this year. There are so many great gifts out there and I hope the Christmas shopping hasn't been too overwhelming. Our pastor did a sermon on spending less for Christmas which I think is a great reminder that it really is not about the gifts. I know we hear this every year, and yet every year we try to get the biggest and most expensive gifts for our loved ones. I know I suffer from this. His challenge was to focus on Christ this Christmas and give gifts that have meaning that don't have to cost a lot. It has been quite a challenge for me since I really do love to give gifts, but its been a great way to refocus my thinking. It really isn't about the gifts. You truly cannot take Christ out of Christmas, it just cannot be done.

Secrets Don't Make Friends

We have been keeping a secret from you...





A secret so large that I have avoided the blog...





Well, maybe not large...





More like fairly large...




Or small...




Depends on how you look at it...




You can scroll down now, but all you will find is...




Well, NOTHING.


Its not time to reveal the secret yet so please stop looking. When will this secret come out you ask? Only time will tell. :) Well, the truth is we should be ready to tell you in a couple of weeks, we just have to get a few things in order. I do promise to tell you the moment I can.

Oh and for all of you who we have already revealed the secret to (or you already figured it out) please do not spoil it for everyone else. Just pretend like you don't know!

Thanks for sticking with us and being patient!

Bachelor Update: Number Five

Well, Bella's time on the dog version of the Bachelor lasted for awhile, but it has ended. Sadly, when Burger cut the competition from 5 to 2 glamorous pups, Bella did not make it through. It was a great time for all of us and we had tons of fun. We still think Bella is the greatest thing to have ever walked this earth. I mean honestly she is #1 in our book. Guess thats what happens when your dog is your firstborn. When we do have a child of our own I hope that child doesn't feel too left out, hopefully we can love them both the same. Hopefully.

Just for fun, here are some photos of Bella.

 

Good luck to the finalists, Juno and Nico, you are both great pups!!