Savoring Fall While It's Here

I was born in the right state - Michigan, "The Winter Wonderland." Ok, on the license plates it says "Water Winter Wonderland," but still, in the winter, it's a wonderland. (The water part is for the Great Lakes.)

To say that I am celebrating the end of hot summer days and looking forward to hibernating at home during fall and winter is an understatement. It is also, probably not the most popular opinion. I've done a little personal "market research" at cash registers lately, in line at the market, chatting with the women at the circulation desk in the library, and while passing neighbors on the street. Most of the people I have spoken to, the majority, do NOT want the long, sunny days to end. They are not as enthusiastic as I am about cooler temperatures, dark skies by 5:00pm, and snowstorms that shut us in. I get it. I understand where they're coming from, but I just can't help my teetering on recluse tendencies and a love for yarn, hot chocolate and slow days spent in front of the fire.

This is why I have been bonkers (in an angry way), about the "lingering post-El Nino heat!" What is this!!?!? WHAT is this!!!? Today the high was forecasted to be 79 degrees. It's October 17th in Michigan! What is this? Last Halloween, and the Halloween before that, I remember it raining and snowing and sleeting. Eighty degrees is not October in Michigan.

I promise to stop in two second, but the reason why I'm complaining, in addition to being worried about global warming, is the fact that I just can't take the heat anymore. It's been what? Nearly six months of 80's and humidity? I know that Floridians get that year-round, but me and my hair, we're not equipped for the humidity. Besides, all of my cute sweaters and boots have been going to waste!

In all seriousness though, I've been doing my best to pretend that it is a proper fall, and I know that cooler weather will be here soon enough. In fact, we're predicted to have (fingers crossed) a cold and snowy winter!

Here is what I've been doing to celebrate the most awesomeness season on earth................

Autumn themed jewelry! Before you poo-poo this idea as silly, BELIEVE me, autumn themed jewelry is not the new Christmas sweater.  It's totally acceptable.

Case-in-point, DearestMine's Autumn's Alchemy Photo Locket.  Lori from the Etsy shop DearestMine creates the most beautiful, enchanting, whimsical, lovely pieces of jewelry. Most are photo lockets, which I have absolutely fallen in love with. I shared my new "New York Lights" locket with you two years ago on the blog, and still today, it is one of my favorite necklaces.

Autumn's Alchemy caught my eye several years ago, and I'm so glad I finally went for it. Lori is a pleasure to work with. I made a custom request to have the Autumn's Alchemy photo put into a petite size locket and she promptly wrote back that it was no problem! My necklace arrived shortly, in a wonderful package and on just the right, long 28" chain. My pictures don't do Lori's work service, so please visit her Etsy store for a much better look and to browse all of the gorgeous photo lockets and more that she has to offer!

Product photography is not my foray. Here's a better one from DearestMine. 

Today's theme will be: WHAT AUTUMN JEWELRY CAN YOU BUY ON ETSY!  Really, in case you don't know, but you probably do, Etsy is great. I'm not a big Etsy shopper only because I tend to focus on the family necessities - clothing, shoes, coats, hats. When I was given an Easy giftcard for my birthday though, a whole world opened up! My Mother and Father-in-law were so thoughtful in giving me the giftcard. I had the best time choosing the following two necklaces with it. I adore them and want to share.

The first was this Mini Topaz Glass Acorn with a teeny, tiny copper leaf inside by Bullseyebeads. Beth, the artist, creates gorgeous and unique glass acorn necklaces along with glass cherries and other treasure. You are able to choose the color of the body of your acorn and the size. You can also customize it with a copper Oak leaf inside and/or a metal leaf on the cap. The coolest part, these hand-crafted little works of art feature a REAL acorn cap that Beth sealed with  museum quality wax. It's so cool!!!

Rest assured, acorn necklaces are not only for fall. Certainly there is room for them in winter, spring and summer too. <3 p="">

The second necklace that I bought with my Etsy giftcard was this jolly, little pumpkin from a shop called Ingrid's Creations! Isn't it the sweetest? I especially enjoy this necklace because I don't have a lot of bright and cheerful jewelry at the moment. 

Like the others, Ingrid's pieces are customizable. This necklace came with the choice of the glass leaf hanging off the pumpkin's stem or farther up the chain. I wear it all the time. All these of these fun finds are in a constant fall rotation around my neck. It's love.

Next in on my "get excited for fall" list - October window decorations! Last month I showed you my apple pie themed window decorations. This month I went for a classic, slightly vintage theme: Jack-0-Lanters. There is so much fantastic Halloween clipart to look at from the 20's, 30's and 40's. I had the best time trying to figure out this month's windows.

Oh, and you know what else was colorful this month??? We had our house painted! Jon and I were shocked at how quickly our exterior paint faded over the past five years. I suppose it's par for the course as we face south and get all day sunlight on the front of the house. We had everything painted the same colors as before except for a new, blue front door! I know this color might not see historic to some, but I did a bunch of research and indeed, during the 1800's many country homes had  doors of this color. I think it makes the little apple wreath that I made pop!

In my version of a rain dance, but for cold temperatures, I finally returned to crochet. It's been such a long time. I decided to start out with something easy, potential useful and cozy. The free pattern for the Serene Comfort Shawl by Lion Brand Yarn ticked all of the boxes.

It was easily whipped up in a few crocheting sessions, and the pattern was simple enough to work on while I mindlessly watch British mysteries on Netflix. Ahhhhh.....perfect.

As always, my photos don't represent how pretty this is in real life. You can see a much better picture from the  Lion Brand site in the top photo. They must have continued beyond the three balls of yarn, which you can do, as their example looks quite long. I love it! I think I might keep going and make mine longer.

My shawl was made with the three balls of yarn recommended by the pattern.  I'm pretty short in the torso and only 5' tall, so on me, this hangs down quite low but now that I look at the photo above, I want it long.

I sewed on these two little buttons that I had in my button stash for when I want my shawl to stay closed.

I even found the Lion Brand Homespun yarn (3 balls) on sale! I also had a 40% coupon for a regularly priced item and so I purchased my first crochet hook with a rubber grip. It made such a difference. I am going to slowly collect them.

This is next on my list - this decorative Pumpkin Patch Potholder from Crochet Memories.

And that's the scoop! Today I pealed twelve hard boiled eggs and made a new egg salad recipe from the Gracious Wife blog. It was really good, even without the relish. (I discover that our dill relish expired last year. Jon said he's eaten it at least three times this month already. Oy!) At any rate, the egg salad was yum.

Until next time, enjoy the fall!

xoxoxoxoxoxo,

Lauren :)

On Your Mark, Get Set, September 1st. GO! \(^-^)/

It is no secret that I am crazy for fall. Crazy, crazy, crazy. In all honesty, I just tolerate the other three seasons and bide my time until autumn comes around again. I look forward to fall more passionately than I look forward to most things. While I do enjoy completely surrounding myself with "cinnamon pumpkin scent," oddly, I've only once partaken in the quintessential fall girl drink - the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. (It was good, just not my thing.)  Which is troubling to me.  Am I not the biggest autumnal fan that I can be!?

While I've been worried about not being in love with the Pumpkin Spice Latte like I'm supposed to, I did see that they just released a new fall drink. The Chile Mocha. I might need to try one of those. They sound like the Mexican Hot Chocolate that I used to drink in San Francisco, only the Chile Mocha also has coffee in it. Incidentally, while drinking Mexican Hot Chocolate at The Canvas in San Francisco, I learned that the film that forms on the top of fresh hot chocolate and other heated dairy products, it is called a "ploika" in yiddish.  The end.

Back on track.... Fall. Of course being the fall maniac that I am, you'd better believe that I had my house plastered both inside and out with autumn decorations on September 1st.  Psych! Just kidding, why would I wait so long? The 1st. was a Thursday and I knew that I'd be homeschooling that day, so I just went ahead and spent August 27th, which was a Sunday, putting up every last foam pumpkin and faux leaf that I owned. I also put up an apple wreath that I made for the front door, and apple pie window decorations that I crafted, and the plastic acorns and the scarecrows and black cat and the mini-apple stool with the wool felted gnome and the autumn dish towels and rugs and hand towels and the fall wax warmer with the cinnamon wax melts and the golden glitter pine cones...........and....and....and...and....... THIS YEAR....this year do you know what I did? I SCALED BACK ON THE DECORATIONS!

Here is some of what it looks like. Don't judge. (Not that you ever do.) I just couldn't help myself!!!

A tip that my Mother gave me: If you can't change out your rug at the moment, and it doesn't exactly go with the look that you're trying to create, just ignore it! Pretend the rug is a neutral and just do what you want! That is why I have orange fall cushions and a bright red rug. Just be like: "WHATEVER!"

Excuse me, your slipcover is showing!

Noah was not as enthusiastic as I was about fall decorating.

I fully realize that with the fall bathroom I kind of crossed a line. This room is a bit...out of control and corny. Ha! Pun intended. But I couldn't help myself and Noah loves it, so WHY NOT? 

Why the "H" not?

This is why not. Because you can end up doing this. On the back of your toilet...

Don't tell anyone.

 Did I make up for the bathroom with this "elegant vignette?"

 But LOOK how RESTRAINED I was in the family room. Nary a decoration in sight.

 Thank you Mom, for giving me your couch. And thank you couch for having a slipcover that is PERFECT for the fall and winter, that covers up your 1992 yellow floral chintz that is PERFECT for for spring and summer. Winning.

Jon is not fazed by the decorations. He is a real man.

One day I spent HOURS and HOURS making these paper and marker decorations for the windows.

And I made this faux apple wreath! I love it and had so much fun. I was inspired by The Wood Grain  Cottage.  All you need is a foam wreath frame, some burlap, a hot glue gun and a bunch of fake apples. Voila.

Happy fall y'all!!!!

Love, 

Lauren 

Grateful For.... Fall Decorations and More

This post is from early September. I meant to finish it up right away but I unexpectedly became really busy! Lol. Anyway, I figured that if I didn't post it now, it would be winter by the time I did, and an ode to Autumn makes no sense in the winter. ;)

I think one of the best feelings in the world is to be full of gratitude. Only the lucky ones get to feel gratitude. That's because they have something in their life to be thankful for, and they see it.

........I AM GRATEFUL!

I was just thinking the other night about an old app that I have on my phone called "Gratitude." I've had it since 2009, it's a little gratitude journal! Each day you list several things that you're grateful for. You can add a picture and rate your day. While I haven't kept up with daily entries this whole time, it is one of the only apps that I go back to time and time again. I love looking back through the years and remember great days and small things that made me smile from the inside out. (Although more entries than I want to admit include chocolate).

When I'm able, I'd like to blog more posts of gratitude. It makes me happy and puts life into perspective. Sometimes in the morning, before I open my eyes, I silently say to myself all of the things that I am thankful for big and small. I thank the universe. I go throughout my day when I'm mindful enough stopping and feeling gratitude along the way. "Thank you gorgeous yellow leaves falling , I'm so happy to watch you blow in the wind. I'm grateful for you September sunset. I'm so luck to see you again."

And when I do these things continually, or at least every morning for a while, a change occurs. There's a shift! I can't explain it, and it's almost too magic to be real, but truly, when you learn to come from a place of thankfulness and awe, life gets better. Life is happier, more gentle, less frenetic. Try it! You might really enjoy this.

And now, some things of late that I have been grateful for.....

I'm thankful for......

Small, beautiful, wonderful diversions from everyday struggles. Places like the Cider Mill!!!!  And the fact that Noah still wants to have his picture taken on the tractor. I'm glad he doesn't feel  too old for that . :)  Btw- my parents used to promise to take me here after nursery school for cider and donuts if I didn't cry at drop off. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree! (Pun intended).....

Thankful for historic places. I love history, especially the domestic history of 19th century rural America. I know it's a bit narrow of a field but... The cider mill above was completed in 1837! It's pretty cool. They have found many artifacts around the mill and in the walls over the years and they're all on display. In the same small town as the cider mill, we went to see a house that was for sale recently! (I'm laughing because around this time last year, we also went to see a house in the same neighborhood for sale, and I blogged about it.) And once again we returned to our current house and said: "HOME SWEET HOME!" It's ridiculous, our house is our home, we'll never move! Probably.

I'm very grateful for good, supportive veterinary care for Josie. Poor Josie came to us at just 10 weeks, itchy and scratching. We ruled out fleas or anything like that, and I watched her for patterns. Like winter, much less scratching in winter. She seemed to scratch more outside and always on the grass. We eventually found our way to a wonderful veterinary specialist. She is a dermatologist/allergist. She was so great. Our vet wanted to first rule out food allergies as they are simpler to treat and fairly easy to spot. So, that's when we started a three month food elimination challenge. Three months in and scratching was still there. It seemed like she was allergic to every protein. We were down to just fish. That's when summer turned to fall and her scratching really ramped up. So much so that little Josie, to our horror, scratched a hot spot on the side of her face! :(

We ran her up to our regular vet, and this is where actually a good turning point came about. I'm sooooo thankful. Our vet listen to me when I said that I really really sense this is environmental and seasonal inhalant allergies, not food allergies. She believed my instinct!!! So, Josie's wound was cleaned up and we were given a cone and sent home with some topical medication and anti-histamines. The itching lessened a bit and the wound healed. Finally we were able to take the cone off  about a week later, but when we did.... as soon as she was out of our sight for a minute,she scratched another small wound! We decided to consult with our vet again. This time we all agreed that it was worth a try of a short round of steroids. We trust our vet to be safe and conservative with these and to have Josie on them for the shortest time possible. Her hunch was that Josie was having bad fall allergies, just like last year!

To our great joy, Josie's scratching was 80% GONE within two days of being on the new medication!!!! And after that, I have almost not seen her scratch or paw at her eyes of nose at all! This is a BIG DEAL after having an itchy, little pup for so long!

As we taper her off her medications, I don't know what it will be like when she's done, but I am hopeful that once the first frost comes, things will get better and I'm just grateful for our wonderful vets!

And now for my OBSESSION I mean something I'm REALLY thankful for.....FALL DECORATIONS!!!!!!

I need to breath my way through talking about this because I can go on excitedly about fall decorations for DAYS! Let's start with this I guess. Before I get to what I already owned and what I purchased (with coupons and deals of course) this is what I made. I was short one throw or pillow for this chair. I don't think my crocheted candy corn blanket came out too gorgeous, but it does what I needed! A little fall color and something to help keep us warm when the fall gets going. 

I have some big bins that we store in the basement and hold all of my fall decoration bits and bobs. Its an ever growing collection over the past ten years and my favorite season to decorate for. In my mind, I would like to have gorgeous, sophisticated, matching decorations. You know, like catalogue worthy things from Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel! In my HEART though, I know that my rag-tag group of scrounged up decorations is just perfect because they do the most important thing - convey the warmth and joy of what fall means to me. 

This is our little writing desk decorated. I love this book by Susan Branch. It's called "Autumn from the Heart and Home" and is full of autumnal recipes for your family and for entertaining. There are Susan's gorgeous watercolors too and quotes and tips, all celebrating this cozy season.

Here is our living room! I always worry that the big, red rug will clash with my seasonal decorations but I also always remember my Mom's suggestion of just ignoring the rug. So I did. This year I used all of my old fall decorations, including a ceramic pumpkin that held a flower arrangement that was sent to me last fall! Also, this year I decided to add some pillows to my collection, so I purchased these pillows at Kohl's. I waited until they were 35% off and I had a coupon!

 This year my Mom asked if I wanted to borrow her antique panted acorns. I said "sure!" and knew that I could find a place for them. She brought these little painted acorns and a few larger fabric acorns that she purchased at the art center where she paints.

So now I have an acorn chandelier for a while!

Oh! And I can't forget this month's window decorations!!! I made these early because I foresaw a busy autumn. Little did I know....

October is always pumpkin or Halloween or leaves. I wanted to find something "early autumn" to represent. Last year it was apples, footballs and pencils. School is a good September theme I think. And so is the cider mill, something that most everyone around here gets excited for in September.

So I made little red schoolhouses (IRONIC IN RETROSPECT!) and apple trees and baskets with apples. And then I made jugs of apple cider and donuts! That was the most fun. I tried representing the cinnamon and sugar on the donuts with some translucent glitter paint but it didn't translate too well visually.

I'm still happy with how things turned out. 

Another super deal at Kohl's this simple faux berry wreath. It's just what I needed. (Well, maybe).

 Here is a detail from my living room. That's the ceramic pumpkin that came from a flower arrangement that I received. My Mom gave me some of the little acorns and faux pumpkins years ago. Even the ribbon was recycled!

Same for this little corner of the room. It's nothing special and even a bit odd, but it makes me happy. 

Our whole writing desk dressed up.

So that's the scoop! Until next time, think about your "Thankfuls!"

xoxoxox,

Lauren

A Peaceful and Happy Summer

Friends, Romans, country ladies, lend me your ears......

I am coming to you today from my backyard. Purchasing new outdoor pillows to replace our old, moldy, chipmunk-eaten outdoor pillows was the best decision I have ever made. Today marks day one of the new school year and I hope to spend a lot more time here, on this wicker love-seat, underneath the wisteria-vine covered pergola. With Josie, trying to type for a few, but also involved in an intense game of soggy tennis ball toss. 

(This is where I'm typing from)!

This morning I have already exercised, gotten cleaned up and ready for the day, helped a brand new FIFTH GRADER and his Dad get out the door, folded laundry, cleaned the kitchen, AND went out for a few groceries, toiletries and gym shoes for school. WOOT! Give it up for Mom! Apparently on her game today! (I hope I can keep this productivity up).

So while that was all awesome and great, now the lure of scrambled eggs for lunch is almost too much for me, so I'll be a woman of few(er) words than usual today. Here's an abridged wrap-up of the second half of our summer. It was truly a nice one, but I am looking forward more than I can say for fall and cooler temperatures. Here, this week, we'll be hovering around 90 degrees each day. And Noah's excited for fall too! It made me incredibly happy to see him so happy when he smiled and gladly went back to school today. Noah told me that he couldn't wait to hug his teachers and friends.

This summer, in a nut shell, was pretty quiet. That's a good thing! Noah took a ceramics class and did some day camp. We swam and relaxed and went to the park and visited with friends. It was peaceful and nice.

It was a very dog-dominated summer in a way. We were either walking with the dog, letting the dog out, telling her to stop barking or snuggling. She's extra good at snuggling. 

The largest bit of commotion came in the form of our deck being ripped off and then re-built! When Jon and I bought our house, it was in need of much TLC, inside and out. We needed to gut the inside, and re-side and paint and roof the outside. One of the only projects that we didn't do was replace our  rotting deck. It was a good, old deck, but weather and wear eventually made it time. Well, when our feet started going through a few rotted out boards, it was really time!

We'd been saving up and planning to do this for a while. We decided to do the deck and the backyard all in one sweep. This is the new cedar deck, it smells SO GOOD! 

We had to replace our retractable awing and patio umbrella as well. I have to tell you, for those of you who have sunlight that really streams in and heats up your house in the summertime, these retractable awnings are really amazing at keeping the temperature down when you want it. At first I was unsure of the awning that came with our house, but I quickly understood how helpful it can be!

Also, I found outdoor pillows for the deck furniture, the chaise lounges and the seating area underneath the pergola, all about 1/2-off on Amazon! 

Jon and I spent two, full, long days out in the yard, trying to weed and prune, wash and paint. Basically, attempting to fix the back up! We washed all of our furniture with scrub brushes and soap. Jon painted our patio set and a little bench that I've had and stained the chaise lounges.

(I need to do something with this corner...)

(Come sit and read!)

My favorite part was weeding and clearing our little pebble path and trimming the dead branches off all of the trees and bushes. That was fun! Now our "secret garden" is looking a little bit tidier, but there's always more to do.

We took part in a deal to join a local swim club for the month of August. We belonged when I was a kid, and this very same cement dolphin was there! And I was in love with him!

Each time we went, I'd have these grand plans to relax poolside with a magazine or book and my crochet. And each time, I'd last about ten minutes before the heat got to me and I would jump in.

Speaking of crochet, I whipped up the world's easiest little cardigan and the pattern was FREE!!! I made mine a cropped cardigan and I chose not to make the sleeves long. I need to get a picture, but in the end, I sewed on an acorn and some oak leaf appliques. You can watch the video with free patter from Wooly Wonders Crochet HERE!

For my September window decorations, I went with a school and apples theme.

I put them up today! They came out nicely if I say so myself! I'll put up some pictures of them in the fall decorations post I'd like to write. The jug of cider and donuts is from a much beloved, little cider mill around here. 

This summer I got glasses!!! I began wearing glasses at age three. Over time my eyesight became stronger until I had 20/20 vision in my 20's. Now though, I'm getting a little far-sighted again. I was hesitant about wearing glasses, but I'm glad that I got my eyes checked, and just like gray hair, glasses can be something fun and expressive about yourself too!

Another thing that happened is that we went up north! "Up north" is what we Michiganders call northern Michigan, a place where many of us vacation on the great lakes or various inland waters. There are sandy beaches and lots of pine trees. My father lives quite far up north on a bay of Lake Michigan. My Mother vacations at a nice lake in the woods, about three and a half hours north of where we live.

In August, Jon and I packed up the car, the Noah and the Josie, and we headed up north. The cats stayed home with our new cat sitter. (It was hard to leave them, but I'm glad we actually got away). Noah was very prepared for vacation in his Hawaiian shirt and ukulele.....?

Josie was strapped into her doggy car seat and she did so well all the way there and back. She just slept!

Our bedroom opened onto this screened in porch, that opens up onto a deck with the lake below. It was extra pretty in the morning and we even heard the calls of the Loons! It's just like On Golden Pond.

There were bonfires and boating, a walk around the lake, cooking, reading, spending time with friends and skipping rocks. It was such a nice time and such a nice summer!

Until next time, enjoy these warm end of summer days!!!

xoxoxo,

Lauren :)