Stripes & More Stripes

Wow. What a crazy day it's been. I'm so looking forward to a weekend of Halloween fun. And speaking of fun, how fun are those striped ladies above (both from the thrifty Forever 21 for under $30)? I'm always a fan of stripes, but I tend to go overboard in the fall and winter. Striped sweaters and dresses are just too hard to resist.

Three quick things before I jump into wine-and-cheese-Friday-night mode:

1. I just discovered this little blog and it has some of the prettiest pictures you ever did see. This post is so, so romantic (as so many of them are), and if you read it while listening to this, you just might cry a little...like I did.

2. Check out the crisp and cozy fall photos on Habit today. The leaves are a turning...

3. I'm very excited to have my Fall Leaf Garland featured in One Pretty Thing's Daily DIY Roundup today. Check it out here!

Wishing each of you a Happy Halloweekend filled with lots of treats, minus the tricks!

Dear Santa: 2011 Calendar

Everyone needs a new calendar for the new year, right? And how pretty is this one from little brown pen? Right now, the calendar that hangs in my office was printed off the internet on a scrap of white paper. It's not very fun. And it's not very pretty. And it's certainly not filled with pictures from Paris. I think looking at one of these every day would make me much happier. Don't you agree? (Color choices are red, brown, white, yellow or markets. I think brown is my favorite - pictured above on the right.)

Fall Leaf Garland

This year will be my third year hosting Thanksgiving, and I'm always so excited to plan the tablescape. When I scored a few packs of fabric leaves in the Target $1 section, I immediately thought about turning them into some sort of garland as part of my Thanksgiving decor. This past weekend I spread out my leaves and got creative, and I'm happy to report that my fall leaf garland was a (totally cute) success.

Fall Leaf Garland How-To:

To make this fall leaf garland, you'll need ribbon, thread and fabric leaves (you can either buy these or make them yourself).



Start by threading your needle and sewing through the leaves, arranging them with desired space in between. When you're done, make a knot at the end.



Next you'll need to sew a bit of ribbon on the end for hanging since the thread isn't quite sturdy enough. Once you've got your ribbon on, you're ready to hang!

I chose to make 6 little mini garlands and hang them in strips from our dining room lights so that they frame the center of the table sort of like a leaf chandelier, but you could also make it longer and hang as a traditional garland.





Now on to the rest of the table decorations...

Faux Mounts

I know exactly what I want to hang above our bed. I've been struggling with this for a while now. A framed picture - too boring. A mirror - too fancy. A faux deer or moose head - PERFECT!

I love, love, love, love (seriously love) the idea of hanging one of these babies in our bedroom where they can look over us all night long. It's a little bit country and a little bit quirky and depending on the color, it could even be a little bit modern - which is why I'm so excited about this shop on etsy that'll custom paint yours in whatever shade you choose.

I'm so moving this up to the top of the must-have-for-the-apartment list...

Apartment Tour: Living Room

As most of you know, Mason and I have been redecorating our apartment since we got married in July, and because I've been promising pictures of the finished product, I thought I'd share a few of the living room, which is just about done. (We'd still like a new TV stand, curtains and some new bookshelves, but those things will have to wait for a while.)

Since we spend most of our time at home in this room, we wanted it to be warm and cozy and comfortable, and we're so happy with the way it turned out.

For the accent wall, we went with a burnt orange and the other walls are a soft cream. We also upgraded just about all of our furniture to what Mason likes to call "big boy" furniture.

Atlantic City Style

Mason and I have really gotten into the newest HBO series, Boardwalk Empire. Set in Atlantic City during the Prohibition era, it tells the tales of deceit and greed and power that marked that time period. With interesting characters (the kind that you like even though you shouldn't) and a plot that pulls you right in, it's quickly become our Sunday night staple. Plus, how can you not love the fashion of those days? Check out the stunning ladies and strapping men above. Makes me want to curl my hair, paint my lips red and pin a carnation on Mason's jacket.

Dear Santa: Washington Wall Hook

It's easy to find things in the shape of Texas (my home state), but not so easy to find them in the shape of Washington (Mason's home state). Maybe that's why I love this Washington state handmade wall hook so much. There are so many places I can see it - near a front door for hanging keys, in a kitchen for hanging pot holders or towels, in a bedroom just for decoration - oh, the options...

Ye Old Pumpkin Carving Contest

The 4th Annual Ye Old Pumpkin Carving Contest was a great time. We had happy pumpkins and classic pumpkins, scary pumpkins and really creative pumpkins. I ended up going with the mummy pumpkin I found here, and I'm pretty proud of the way he turned out. We sipped pumpkin beer, baked pumpkin pies, roasted pumpkin seeds and Cajun greeted everyone at the door in his pumpkin suit. As always, the finished product was impressive...



It was definitely another great year of pumpkin carving - and now we can look forward to another great Halloween just around the corner...

Halloween Fun

Remember the plum tart I mentioned here and here? Well I'm over that silly little plum tart - oh yes, I am. After three (three!) trips to the grocery store for forgotten ingredients only to find (on the last trip) that the store was out of baking powder, I folded the recipe up nice and neat and filed it away. That tart and I are not meant to be right now - and I'm ok with that.

Instead, I baked Halloween cupcakes (seen above) and a gingerbread loaf in preparation for the 4th Annual Ye Old Pumpkin Carving Contest tonight. Mason and I are hosting this year, and there will be pumpkin carving, pumpkin seeds and pumpkin beer. Cajun might even make an appearance in his pumpkin costume - which is always a crowd pleaser.

May your weekend be filled with fall fun! (And may my pumpkin be the best of them all!)

Snuggle-able

My little Cajun has been under the weather lately. He's had some trouble with his eyes, which I can just imagine to be the worst kind of trouble. We're watching him closely these days - and giving him lots of extra snuggles, which really isn't hard seeing as he's so snuggle-able.

A few fun things that have kept me entertained this week:

• 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30 (particularly timely for me since I'll be celebrating this milestone next August)
  
• Removable wall paper (every renter's dream!)
  
• Yet another post about Gap's skinny jeans (I so need a pair of these)
  
• Retro black and white throw pillow covers (I'm just about ready to move from living room decor mode to guest bedroom decor mode - and these would be perfect)
  
• Behind the scenes of eHarmony's new 2010 ad campaign (my sister works for eHarmony so I get the inside scoop - they really do love love - and this video totally made me cry)
  
• 10 photographers. 10 photos each. All taken on 10/10/10. (if you haven't seen this yet, you must)
  
• A fun new design blog (because a girl can never have too many design blogs to browse)

Dear Santa: Long Janes

These Fireside Long Jane pajamas from Victoria's Secret are definitely going on my Christmas list this year. Don't they look oh-so-comfy? I'd sure like to curl up in a pair on a dreary day like today with a mug of hot chocolate and a good movie. (And I love that they're called "long janes" instead of "long johns" - so cute.)

Doing & Not Doing

This weekend was a good one - with the perfect balance of doing and not doing. Friday night was date night, complete with dinner (at our favorite Santa Monica sushi spot) and dancing (to Wayne Toups in our kitchen). Jitterbugging really is easiest in your socks, and boy did we get down.

Saturday was dedicated to Halloween costumes. After a little searching, we decided to dress up as a pair of soldiers (because military is so in for the fall). Next weekend we're planning to hit up a local Army Surplus store for all the accessories. Canteens and helmets and dog tags, oh my!

Sunday found me glued to the Sister Wives marathon on TLC. I'm a big fan of Big Love on HBO, and Sister Wives is like the real-life version. I got so into it. In fact, I only tore myself away because Mason was begging to watch something (anything!) else.

All in all, another great weekend in the books. Now to tackle the week with all it's rain. Wishing you a happy (and dry) Monday!

Weekend Ready

Friday is here! Finally.

I'm so ready to get started on my weekend to-dos, which include:

-Date night with Mason
-Taking Cajun to the vet
-Shopping for Halloween costumes
-Watching some football
-Painting the last of the pumpkins (see a few of the little ones above)
-Figuring out my sewing machine (these things are complicated!)
-Finishing up the thank you cards (if you haven't gotten yours, know that I love you and I thank you - I'm just bad at card writing)

Also, another fun fall list from Hula Seventy here. Check it out if you need some ideas for your weekend. May it be a relaxing one!

Dinner + Dessert

Well, Mason is back from his business trip, and the plums are still in their bowl on the kitchen table, which means I didn't get around to baking the plum tart just yet - but, I did find time to bake (with the help of my trusty Crockpot) the best mexican chicken pasta for dinner last night and some pretty fantastic baked apples for dessert.

I'm thinking the tart will make a nice Saturday morning breakfast. Don't you?

(I also didn't get around to cleaning the floors, but I did get in some extra one-on-one cuddle time with Cajun, who I think might be a little sick. Looks like a trip to the vet is in store for us this weekend.)

A Few (Fun) Things

First things first - before you do anything else today, go read this post from Molly Irwin, one of the many great bloggers I discovered via habit. If you're like me, you'll be all sniffly and teary-eyed by the end, remembering summers and falls of your childhood and relfecting on the person you've become.

And now, how cute are these kitchen conversion prints (above)? One of these sure would come in handy hanging in my kitchen, and they're cute enough to frame and hang as art. Get one for your kitchen in SweetFineDay's shop on Etsy. (Wouldn't one of these also make a great gift for someone just getting into cooking?)

In other news, I've seen a whole lot of apple-picking photos in the blogosphere lately, which has me thinking I might like to try it myself. (Everything about it just looks so fall.) I'm not familiar with any orchards near Los Angeles, but I'm off to do a little research on it. If you know of a good one that's not too far of a drive, I'd love the details!

Plum Happiness

This here's Badger - the nicest horse in the world. He came trotting right over when we called his name, and that was before he knew we had a bag of apples. I tickled his lips and made him show me his big teeth, which was pretty much the funniest thing ever (and possibly the highlight of my entire weekend).

Mason is away on business for the next three days. That means Cajun and I have the apartment to ourselves. I've got a few projects in mind - one of them being the not-so-fun cleaning of the floors, the other one being the way-more-fun baking of this plum tart. Mason's had a thing for plums lately, and I've actually never tasted one. When I saw this recipe, I knew it was calling my name. Wish me luck with my first plum-tasting (and tart-baking). I'll let you know how it turns out...

Poladroid (& Honeymoon Pics!)

I was browsing online recently, looking for something that would make my digital photos look like Polaroids, when I stumbled upon this (and sort of went Poladroid crazy).

You can download the Beta version of Poladroid for free, and the way it works is so cute. When you open it, a little Polaroid camera pops up on your screen with a blank photo sliding out of it. You then drag your digital photo into the blank photo and a new photo pops up and starts developing. You can "shake" the photo using your mouse as it develops (classic Polaroid style), and you can also save versions of your photo as it develops, making it easy to control the color tones and get the look you want. (I have noticed a few bugs, but it is the Beta version - and the final product totally makes up for it.)

I'm telling you, this thing is cooler than sliced bread, and to prove it, I thought I'd show off a few of our honeymoon photos after some Poladroid magic....

Taxi Cab Kisses

I think this wedding photo is just about as amazing as they come. Can you believe it's from a real wedding - not a photo shoot? What a great moment to have captured forever (and what a perfect photo for this drizzly day).

See more photos from this stunning New York wedding here, all taken by these folks.

Painted Pumpkins

This weekend was a busy one, but busy with fun things like birthday shopping, movie watching and crockpot cooking (my first crockpot roast turned out fabulous!). I love when my weekend to-do list is filled with the sorts of things I don't mind waking up early for.

And since October is now in full swing, don't you just love the photos above? They inspired me to try a little pumpkin painting of my own this weekend, which was incredibly fun (and way easier than carving). I'm seeing lots of painted pumpkins in my future. I'll post photos when I'm done with my crafty little Halloween display.

In other news, today is rainy and chilly and grey, and the weatherman says it's all here for the next few days. I'm not complaining (it is quite fall-like, after all), but I do think I might need to stop by the store for some apple cider to warm up my insides...

Fall Fun

It's October, and fall has officially arrived at my house. Pumpkin spice candles are in the air, sunflowers are on the table, dark beers are in our bellies and football is on the TV (all. week. long.). So, in the spirit of all things fall, I thought I'd post a little list with some of the fall things I'm loving these days (I'm calling it my Fall Fun List).

This Fall I'm loving:

• Watching through photos as Soule Mama and her family fix up their new farmhouse


• Sipping Sam Adams Oktoberfest from frosty glasses


• Reading other people's fall lists


• Giving my new leather leggings and red lipstick a spin (but not together, lest I look like some sort of biker chick)


• Planning for Halloween (and considering going as a biker chick)


• Flying back home for football games


• Sleeping with socks on (although this one has been put on pause thanks to the recent LA heat wave)


• Burning pumpkin spice candles in Mason jars


• Brainstorming for our Thanksgiving tablescape


• Singing along to Pat Green mix CDs


• Painting my nails all shades of purple
  
• Trying my hand at Crockpot cooking

Wishing you a great weekend (and a happy October)!