Fall Swap

I think I have mentioned {several times} before that I absolutely love getting mail.  It's one of those simple things that really makes my day.  So when I saw that Mia at The Chronicles of Chaos was hosting a Fall Swap I knew that I was definitely in.  

We were to choose our fave thing about Fall and it was a no brainer that my favorite thing is Fall traditions.  It turns out that Victoria over at One Crafty Momma also loves Fall traditions so we were paired up!  I am so glad that I was paired with Victoria because I love reading her blog.  She is so darn creative!!!

The highlight of my week was getting a package in the mail from Victoria for the swap.  She was so generous and I can't imagine getting a package more fabulous.  She sent me a handmade scarf she made herself for crying out loud!  AMAZING!

In my package I found two packages of notecards {a perfect gift for me as I love sending mail as much as I love receiving it}, nail polish, candle melts, a notebook that I intend to use to plan blog posts, an amazing handmade headband, a handmade scarf, and a colorful pair of socks!

I forgot to mention that the wax melts are Paula Deen!  I LOVE Paula Deen!  I think Victoria might be psychic!

Is this headband perfect for Fall or what?!  I'm going to wear it everyday possible for the rest of the season.

The first thing I did when I opened my package was paint my nails with this Fall color.

And check out the scarf!  LOVE!   

I wore this exact outfit to work today and got so many compliments!

Oh, and don't forget the fun socks {ignore my ginormous feet}!  

Thank you so much Victoria!  I absolutely love everything!!!

If you haven't checked out her blog yet, head on over to One Crafty Momma and be sure to follow her.  You won't regret it!

Spooky!

So I've been looking at Pinterest for months in excitement.  I came up with a million and one ways that I wanted to decorate the outside of our house for Halloween.  I had grand dreams of skeletons, spider webs, pumpkins that looked like they were eating a man's leg... you know.

So I went outside one Thursday evening with all my supplies and realized that it was harder than I thought.  Most of my ideas required a ladder.  I don't go on ladders.  Ever.  I did put out some spider web {which I will probably regret when I have to pull it out of the bushes}, a strand of orange lantern lights, and I planted some mums.

Yes, there is one random skeleton lounging in the bush.

 Please ignore the fact that I have a forest of weeds growing between my bushes... oh, and also apparently poison ivy as now I have a rip roaring case all down my legs.  Needless to say, I've given up on Halloween perfection and am quite happy with the result even though it isn't Martha Stewart picture perfect.

After all, this is just a practice run on outdoor decor.  The real deal comes at Christmastime right?

Do you do any decorating outside for Fall/Halloween?  

Linking up with:

Fall Decor... Check!

I shared some of my fall decor over at The Chronicles of Chaos a bit ago, but I wanted to share some of my favorites for those of you who missed it!

I am loving pumpkins right now (who isn't!).  Its amazing how adding something little into your existing decor can really set the stage for the season.

After putting out these pumpkins I decided that I like the color orange so much with the grey, turquoise, and navy color sceme in my living room that I want to incorporate this color into my decor on a more permanent basis.

I'm thiiiiiiiissssssss close to revealing my redecorating living room and hope to put the finishing touches in the room this weekend.

I can't wait to care a pumpkin with my love sometimes soon!  Do you carve a pumpkin for Halloween?  I always say I'm going to do something really creative... maybe this is the year?

Also, I'm taking part in a Fall swap and have been partnered with the fabulous Victoria over at One Crafty Momma!  Today she shared a fab recipe for pumpkin butter she found on Pinterest that I can't wait to try.  Go check out her blog... she is so crafty!

Fallish Things.

Over the weekend we did Fallish things.  We were fortunate to have our two good friends, Dianna and Tyler, visit from Indiana.  We took advantage of the turning leaves and cooler temperatures to indulge in some of my favorite things.

Scarves, and leaves, and warm blankets in the chilly air.  Homemade apple cider sangria, hot soup, and catching up with my friend that I miss so much.

I think the secret to a great Fall weekend is a warm cozy home, some good comfort food, and cider. Scented candles, a couple snuggly blankets, and something pumpkin won't hurt either.  Sometimes the hubby thinks I stress too much over the details so I have been trying to simplify (for my own sanity) and at the same time not give up some of the fun planning.  I've found that if I add in a couple of key details and let the rest of the weekend unfold unplanned I have so much more fun!

So before the weekend started, I scoured Pinterest to find a few recipes that I though would compliment our weekend.

I found the recipe for this Sangria on Pinterest.  I didn't think to snap a picture until I had already eaten out the apple chunks.  This recipe was great and you can find it here.  I will definitely be making it again.  One of the reasons that I loved it was because it didn't require a trillion obscure ingredients.

I also made this slow cooker cream cheese chicken chili.  It was super easy, very filling, and yummy.  Typically, I don't make meals using ingredients that aren't fresh so this soup with cream cheese and a ranch packet was an indulgence for us.  You can find the recipe at Plain Chicken.  I will definitely keep it in mind if I ever need to feed a crowd.  I doubled the recipe and we had tons leftover.

Picture found at Plain Chicken

Did you do any Fallish things over the weekend?

P.S.  I also put out some outdoor Fall decor and managed to get poison ivy ALLLL over my ankles... I would definitely appreciate any home remedy suggestions!!!

Linking up with:

Fall is Underway!

The month of September was definitely good to me.  In spite of a rough start to the month I would say that September finished strong with trips to a waterfalls and two amazing weddings... one of which lead to a trip to Martha's Vineyard.

Garrett and Jodi's Wedding in Brown County, IN

Derek and Lauren's Wedding in Oak Bluffs, MA (Martha's Vineyard)

I traveled to a friend's baby shower.

Got most of my Fall Decor out and already have had more than my fill of Pumpkin Spice Latte's.

And Fall has only just started!  If you haven't already checked it out, head on over to check out my guest post at Mia's fabulous blog The Chronicles of Chaos.  You can see more of my Fall decor there.

Also, check out the Fall favorites swap that she is hosting!  I can't wait to get linked up with another blogger to share some of my Fall faves!!!

Some back tomorrow to see details of my trip to Martha's Vineyard!

A Quick Hello!

As promised I am checking in before my trip to the East Coast for my dear friend's wedding.

Its just a quick "Hello" because I have so much to do!!

BUT, I'm guest posting today over at The Chronicles of Chaos about my Top Three Decorating Rules!  Head on over and get a peak of my Fall decor and while you are there check out Mia's fabulous blog!

Today's my Friday!  Woooohooooo!!!!

Birthday Weekend Recap.

Over the weekend I celebrated my 27th birthday!  I'm always telling Caleb that I don't really feel like an adult, but this birthday it really hit me that I am all grown up {well mostly!}.  I've been married and out of school for several years now, we own a house, and our friends are starting to have babies.

Even though I'm a grown-up, I don't think you are ever too old to celebrate!  After all, celebration is what makes life fun!

For my birthday weekend my sister and mother-in-law came down to Chattanooga to help celebrate and we took a mini road trip to Chickamauga to try out a new little cafe that I heard about called Chocolate Therapy Cafe.

We dined on chicken salad, pimento cheese, and fruit before moving on to the main course.  Dessert.

Just looking at these pictures makes me drool a little bit.  We chose to get a platter with a little bit of everything.  Creatively, the platter is called "Family Therapy."  So cute.

The chocolate cobbler was my favorite.  It was like the best molten lava chocolate explosion experience that you could possibly imagine.  I thoroughly enjoyed it!

On the way back we listened to some good tunes, enjoyed the sunny day, and stopped at a roadside farm stand.  

They had pumpkins!!!

Then on Sunday {my actual birthday} Caleb and I went to Cloudland Canyon.  It was beautiful.  More on that later!

What did you do this weekend?

I'm linking up again with Sami's Shenanigans for Weekend Update!