Celebrations and a giveaway winner...

 I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

Ours was lovely as we combined Thanksgiving with celebrating our Amanda's birthday 

since she was home from the city for a few days.

Amanda always enjoys coming home, and one of the highlights is that she gets to spend time with her sweet Tiger, who is now over 20 years old!

This is a photo of them sleeping together back in September of 1993. 

Aren't they adorable?

And to this day, Tiger sleeps on Amanda's bed.

We've built her something of a "Tiger cave" that she can snuggle into to stay warm....

... or lay in front of if she wants a bit of fresh air. She's such a sweet little girl.

And speaking keeping warm, I snapped this photo last week of our first 'mini snow' - Brrrrrr! I feel cold just looking at this photo. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get through the next four months, but c'est la vie! That's New England!

And now it's time to announce the winner of the giveaway for any 16" x 20" or smaller 

art print from my Etsy shop....

Hubby did the picking and he pulled Carla from Here in Texas!

I'll be in touch with you, Carla, to work out the details for your print choice & address.

I hope you all have a wonderful week, and be sure to stop back because I'm going to be having another giveaway for a fabulous 1995 edition of The Night Before Christmas with amazing illustrations by Christian Birmingham. As many of you know, I have an extensive collection of "Night Before Christmas" books. When I spotted this book while out thrifting, I knew one of you would enjoy it as I already have it in my collection and it is gorgeous!

Till then, stay safe & warm!

This week I'm joining Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show & Tell Friday.

Donna

A study in black and white...

black and white cat shaped tin boxes that recently sold in the Etsy shop. (I had a hard time parting with these beauties, being the cat lover that I am)...

a vintage copy of Little Women, a beautiful prismed candle holder (thank you, Jill!), and a button vase on the mantel...

my lady head planter, 1950's hat, and ceramic hand (all thrift store finds), also on the mantel...

some old family photos (I love the dated short 50's bangs in one and the old 40's car and legs in the other!) along with a vintage wedding cake topper from the same era...

a couple of vintage Bibles and an old religious statue (all originally intended for the Etsy shop, but I'm having a hard time parting with them)...

the St. Francis of Assisi wind chimes that hang in my office window, again, thrift store decor...

Baby (literally the baby of the family) taking over 18-year old Tiger's bed...

and Tiger trying to decide whether to let Baby stay or not...(she did. such a good Tiger girl.)

Pop over to see all the other Show and Tell Friday participants at My Romantic Home.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Donna

The family room balance beam...

I was asked where the treadmill (that used to sit in front of the TV like this) ended up...


(click any photos to enlarge)

It's now tucked behind the sofa, a perfect location - it's out of the way, it faces the slider (great for Sammy Squirrel and bird watching), and it faces the TV! (I think I need to pop in the Mamma Mia DVD I got for Christmas to get me motivated to start walking!! I love that movie!)


See the beam way above the 7' tall bookcases in this photo from yesterday's post?


Flashback to 1994 - Tiger, then just 1 year old, on the family room beam
(Do you recognize the valance and curtains? Yup, they're the same ones I have now... and that's the corner TV hutch that I painted white and moved to the living room)

Look at what a wild woman our little Tiger was! She used to love to get up there and walk back and forth across the beam, or plunk herself down and watch the world below! And here's how she managed to get up there... If you look at the first photo, you'll see that our FR closets have flat tops ceilings on them.


Back in '94 (our prim days), there was a hutch right behind the sofa, where the treadmill now sits. Tiger would jump from the back of the sofa to the top of the hutch... then onto the top of the closet... and then onto the top of the beam...



Now that she's a sweet little lady of 15-1/2, she prefers to sun herself in the living room window...



... and when she gets tired of doing that (yawn.......), she heads down to Amanda's room...

... where she gets cozy on her green furry blankie...

...or her soft blue blankie... (She is a very pampered girl!!!)

I thought I should share some photos of her since she doesn't get as much 'blog time' as her brother, Spotty! (She's very shy and spends most of her time in Amanda's bedroom, so she's not available for photo shoots like he is!!).... But isn't that just the sweetest little face? We sure think so!!!

Donna

A time to celebrate...

Happy 23rd birthday, Amanda!!


(click photos to enlarge)

This is last year's cake, but as you know, I'll be making you the same kind this year! (It's Amanda's favorite and the one she asks me to make for all her birthdays - super easy and soooo good! Recipe at end of post)...


Just look at those chubby cheeks on you at 12 weeks old! You were the sweetest baby! (Was it really 23 years ago?)


And you were always the 'bestest' big sister...

I love how you are so gentle and loving with animals! Here you are with your sweet little Sooshi, your BIG surprise for Christmas, 1990. Just look at the two of you - love at first sight... (Several weeks before Christmas Amanda had "wished upon a star" that Santa would bring her a real dog. Since her dad & I had been thinking of getting a dog anyhow, we figured we'd look, and if it was meant to be, we'd find one... We were so fortunate to be able to adopt this little guy, who was 2 years old, in such a short amount of time - he was an absolute sweetheart of a dog!)

And just look at you and your Tiger on the very first night we adopted her. I remember going in to check on you before I went to bed, and this is what I saw. Of course I immediately ran to get the camera so I could capture this precious moment forever!

Well, here it is 15 years later and not much has changed! Tiger still sleeps right next to you each and every night. (And she is soooo happy you're home from college!)

I love your sensitive nature and the way you care about all God's creatures. Ms. Giz and Mr. O'Malley's lives were made so much better because of all the love you showered on them... Every pound dog should be so fortunate to find someone like you...

We always have so much fun on our little excursions! Here you are in Amherst at the cemetery where Emily Dickinson is buried. Remember how muddy it was and how you ruined your shoes because of it that day? And look - you still smiled!

(Central Park, New York City)

So Happy Birthday honey!! Enjoy your special day... We are so proud of you!!

Love, Mumsy

Black Forest Cake

1 chocolate or devil's food cake mix

1 can (21 oz) cherry pie filling

4 oz cream cheese

2 tsp lemon juice

1 can Creamy Vanilla frosting

CAKE: Bake two 8" round cake layers according to directions. When cool, split each one into two thin layers. FROSTING: Beat softened cream cheese and lemon juice until smooth. Fold in vanilla frosting. Spread frosting and cherry pie filling between each layer and on top of cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve.