nyonyamansor09

My family had a photo shoot this December. Sarah Whitmore of Sarah Whitmore Photography did the pictures. They turned out great. We couldn't have been more pleased.

(Image Courtesy of Pottery Barn) Merry Christmas! Enjoy!

Image Courtesy of FortheLoveofCooking.net I didn't do a menu planner this week...so much going on with Christmas on the way. But we did eat and we had this Southwestern Casserole from For the Love of Cooking. It was delicious and I recommend it. I am hosting Christmas dinner at my house and we are having Paula Deen's Chicken Florentine Pasta Bake . Another good one and a nice switch from the traditional ham and turkey.

Start 2011 off on the right foot...move in to this updated and upgraded home! Make 5215 W Grace Your Home

I've moved from one bubble to another - currently sitting at Vancouver airport, wondering how much debt each of these Vancouverites walking by me has. Probably rude to start canvassing this time of year, so I'll get to my info. Spoke to a senior banking executive before I left and was given some interesting things to chew on throughout my flights - considering my lack of sleep I'll try and put it together in a coherent manner before I totally wig out and people mistake me for a crack-head, or being it's Vancouver - a guy who's just bought a crack-shack with mansion money. The most interesting point, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are looking to buy money 'hand over fist' at the moment to fund their existing loan books and both have slammed the brakes on lending - basically it's any excuse to turn down loans. This ties in with another source who told me the banks 'have to roll over a large amount of debt next year.' There's been a some Mexican ...

My local, Martin's , uses a holiday grocery bag that can be turned into wrapping paper. The grocery bags went from this.... to this....

  A satirical look into the future for entertainment purposes only... JOINT STANDING COMMITTEE ON UN-AUSTRALIAN ACTIVITIES (Effect of Negative Views on Real Estate) SYDNEY Monday, 5 December 2012 Committee met at 11.21 am JAMES, Mr Craig, Former Chief Economist, CommSec  CHAIR - I welcome the Former Chief Economist for Commsec to give evidence. I now remind witnesses that, although the committee does not require you to give evidence under oath, this hearing is a legal proceeding of parliament and warrants the same respect as proceedings of the House or Senate. The giving of false or misleading evidence is a serious matter and may be regarded as contempt of parliament. The evidence given today will be recorded by Hansard and will attract parliamentary privilege. Are there any corrections or amendments you would like to make to your submission? Mr James - No. CHAIR - Do you wish to make a statement in relation to the submission, or would you ca...

This was really easy and inexpensive because I already had the cardstock. What you will need... Black Cardstock (I used some leftover from another project) White marker from Michaels (You could also use gold or silver) Stickers also from Michaels I cut a tag freehand and then used it as a guide to make all the others.

I love sending and receiving photo Christmas Cards. Look how things have changed since Michael and I got married... 2005 (Not sure what we did in 2004, 2006) 2007 2008 2009 2010

The more I stick my nose into the real estate industry, the more I wonder how people can operate within it completely oblivious economic indicators. And I'm not talking about real estate agents here, their job is to ignore economic indicators, or even better - don't understand them to begin with. You can't be accused of lying if you don't even know what you're talking about I'm talking about the people who've seen real estate as a honey pot, no matter the time, stuck their nose in and now resemble Winnie the Pooh - unable to get out until they slim down their price. Here's some good times ahead for a flipper in Launceston. Purchased back in March (of this year) for $175,000, this 3x2 has been touched up throughout. It came back onto the market 20 days ago for $329,000. Four days ago, the flipper, showing the impatience of a horny teenager with the new copy of Playboy stashed underneath his mattress (I just missed the boat on internet p@rn), dropped the a...

I think most of us feel a little overspent this time of year with Christmas presents, Christmas parties, babysitters. I found this website with some inexpensive meals to try this week. Sunday - Easy Chicken Pot Pie Monday - Chipolte Pork Soft Tacos Note...this uses such a small amount of Chipolte Peppers. I froze the leftovers peppers last time and will pull them out for this week's meal. Tuesday - Homemade Chicken Pizza Wednesday - Tortellini with Edamame & Smoked Sausage , French Bread Thursday - Turkey Sliders or Burgers , French Fries

A Christmas Party last night provides brevity and clarity today.

Camille and I made these bird feeders using pine cones, yarn, peanut butter and bird seed. It was fun and very easy! Now to bird watching. Look closely to see them hanging from the trees.

The latest ABS housing finance statistics caused some consternation amongst some of us. I say some of us because there was no confusing uptick in the grab for debt in Tasmania - ok, I concede - in the unfiddled figures one more person got themselves a loan in October than did in September. Unfortunately for the bears, the Tasmanian figures have remained static for the past three months. Unfortunately for the bulls, that current flat spot is still reminiscent of a time when the Backstreet Boys weren't middle aged, Bill Clinton was denying 'sexual relations' with a tubby intern, and Frank Sinatra crooned his last number. For the first time since 1998, Tasmania is facing a calendar year where every month coughed out less than 1000 housing finance commitments. To put that further in perspective, there were 17 sub 1000 months from the start of 2001 to the end of 2009 and in 2010 we already have 10 sub 1000 months. The first home buyers have dropped by over 50% from their pumped ...

Outdoor lighting....

Don't worry...there is only one more in this series. ;) We spend most of our time in our kitchen and great room so I wanted to add some festiveness (is that a word?) to this room as well.

Hobart generally escapes the wrath of this blog, not for any positive reasons, but because in such a small state the presence of a lurching bureaucracy helps to insulate the Hobart economy. Sales falling by 16% doesn't look scary, when others around the state have been base jumping without a chute. When you're pissing everyone else's money up the wall it stands to reason you'll eventually become a spendthrift yourself; even luckier - you're rarely subject to market forces - while all those other poor saps around the state lose their jobs, your hardest task will be thinking up silver lining communication strategies. As the state moves from balls up to balls up, not one advisor, or communications douche, will get their marching orders in an effort to tighten the purse strings. In times of crisis, the skills of the bull dust artist are needed more than ever - someone has to pull the wool. It's why you'd suspect the sale of this house has come about because its ...

Some new recipes this week... Monday - Southwestern Goulash Tuesday - Frozen Spring Rolls, Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps , Spiced Edamame Wednesday - Chicken Rollatini over Pasta Thursday - Easy Night... Barber Chicken Cordon Bleu , Risotto & Green Beans

The Dining Room.... I had this wreath as a hand-me-down from my grandmother. I removed the old bow and found this ribbon for around $3.50 at Joann's. Don't forget your coupon .

The Living Room.... We have an artificial skinny tree from Martha Stewart and Kmart. Our space is not huge so this works nicely and no watering and needles everywhere. We got the tree last year and it appears that Martha isn't working with Kmart anymore. Don't look too close...the tree is leaning a bit. Do you see the sword in this picture? We picked up this sword at the Dollar Tree today and I have never seen such excitement in Clyde. He was squealing with delight! Uh-oh! Let's hope the tree makes it until Christmas. For Christmas Cards