Fall Home Tour 2011

Hello all!

Today was such a pretty, crisp fall day (and hubby was working with his BF in the garage and shed trying to fix up snowblowers and lawnmowers, leaving me to my own devices, hehe!) that I was inspired to finally get my fall decorating done. Yay!

I made a quick stop at Michael's (Love!) and then back home I dug out my Fall plastic bin from the storage room in the basement and went to town. I thought it might be fun to share what I ended up with:

Finally did up the front window boxes. I love the little pumpkins tucked all cozy in there!

Another shot.

Walking into the front foyer I put a little white pumpkin on a white ruffled cake stand next to my spray of baby's breath.

In the kitchen I added a few little peices . . .

To the left of the sink are some little pumpkins sitting in a dessert/fruit bowl atop more white cake stands.

Hung on the window is an adorable little sign shaped like a roller, it says "Pumpkin Pie Served Daily" (it is a little hard to read in this pics, sorry!).

To the right of the sink, under the glass dome over a glass cakestand is a sweet little baking dish filled with candles shaped like mini pumpkin and apple pies. Yum!

Looks like I will have plenty of pleasant things to look at while I am washing dishes :)

Stepping into the dining room now . . . .

To your right is our china cabinet. On one of the doors I hung this cute sign with little tin cups attached.

All this talk of cider and pie is making me crave some! I can't wait to get to the pumpkin patch and apple orchard to bring some pie pumpkins and apples home!

Looking across the room . . .

I strung a little fall garland in the chandelier. On the table on top of a black placemat is one of my Great Grandma's serving dishes. Layered on top is another small white plate with a harvest orange candle.

Sparkly fall leaves!

On the other side of the table, on the shelf are more little pumpkins and mason jars filled with candy corns!

A close up.

Trying to keep a white theme on the sideboard with white lace, white dinner candles, and a white pumpkin.

In the living room on the leather ottomans I put out some of my favorite magazine's fall issues. Can't wait to pick up the newest ones!

Thank you for stopping by! Hope everyone is having a fabulous fall day!

- H

Last day of my long weekend

Hello!

Again, it has been so long since I have posted here :) The only reason I can offer is that I just recently discovered that our desktop computer is not completely worthless, and I can in fact upload photos to it from my camera! Yay! (It is not the fastest machine, so for a long time I did not want to even try with the whole camera / picture thing.)

Anywho, I felt like celebrating by taking some pictures to share, and all I had to offer was what I did with the last bit of my vacation :) I hope everyone had a long and fun-filled 4th of July weekend. I soaked up the last bit of mine today:

After taking my parents to the airport early this morning (Vegas, lucky!), I slept a bit longer and woke up with a cup of coffee.

Of course, Max joined me on the couch :)


Once the caffeine jolt kicked in, I was able to get some laundry put away and actually found motivation to dig out my super cute sewing box for a little touch up to the gray tank in the pic below. I love all the fabric flowers that are on tops now, but the ones on this Gilly Hicks number keep wanting to fall off . . . :/

Of course, on a day off, a little baking is required. I just happened to have ingredients on hand for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, yum!

You know me, trying to be the ultimate wife, I actually ventured into the "man-cave" for some needed tidying up. I left the boys a little present (cookies!). (PS- is it not totally ridiculous that we have something like 8 remotes sitting in that tray?? Seriously guys . . . )


I didn't quite have dinner ready when John got in, nor did I have time to think about putting my new apron on (goodness!), but I was able to quick clear up the front foyer and put out some fresh flowers in an antique glass milk bottle to welcome my hubby home!

Just took this pic after dinner. I adore red, white, and blue fabric bunting for the 4th of July, and love how it looks here outside the front door. Just wanted a little visual since I will probably be taking it down tomorrow, or some time this week.


Well, not anything super exciting, but thought I would share some of the little things that made me happy today. Back to it tomorrow. But, being a 3 day work week won't be all that bad :)

Hope everyone has a good night!

- H

Snow Cream!

Yesterday, as I was enjoying a lazy Sunday confined to the indoors, thanks to the blizzard that swept through, I was catching up on my blog reading when I came across Aunt Ruthie's (of http://www.sugarpiefarmhouse.com/) recipe for Snow Ice Cream. Okay, I just heart the Sugar Pies and, since I just let you in on my Suzie-homemaker secret, you must check out her blog. The music is awesome too!

This will make you want to keep your pantry stocked with Vanilla and Sweetened Condensed Milk all winter long, so that you can whip up a batch every time the snow falls. I can't think of a better way to get excited about snow!

Gather up your bowls and spoons ladies, and head out to your back yard for some fresh, white snow!

You'll also want to grab:

- a measuring cup
- a can of sweetened, condensed milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla (or more to taste)

Measure out 8-10 cups of snow in a mixing bowl . . .

Combine snow, milk, and vanilla until just mixed

Get out your pretty dessert bowls, it's time to scoop up some home-made ice cream!

Serve with honey, fruit or any syrup you like, although it is absolutely de-lish all on it's own.

Happy Snow Day! :)

- H

Dinner for two and some pretties!

Hello!

My, it has been a long time since I last posted! Time goes by so fast!

We have added a new member to the family, Max! Our Goldendoodle baby was my birthday present from John to me. Isn't he precious? This pic was taken down at the farm.

We have also both taken new jobs, still with the bank of course. I am so happy to be at home at lot more! We get to actually eat dinner together in the evenings now!
Here is what I made for dinner tonight, Homemade Cheesy Potato Soup:


Here is a super easy-peasy crock pot recipe for you:

- 5-6 large russet potatoes, peeled and chopped (I did mine the night before and stored them in the fridge in an air-tight covered Pyrex bowl
- 2.5 cups water
- pinch of pepper
- couple tsp of chicken flavored boullion
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onion (again, I did these the night before and stored in the fridge)
- 1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 120z can evaporated milk
- Bacon bits and dried or fresh parsley

1. Throw potatoes, water, pepper, boullion and onion in slow cooker, cook on low 8-9 hours
2. Come home, add cheese and milk to pot and cook on high 30 mins
3. Serve topped with bacon bits and parsley

I made a little run to one of my favorite places (Homegoods) over lunch today and found these little guys:


I couldn't resist the white little soup toureen and the other little crocks, plus the bamboo trays. I thought it was all just perfect for a cozy night in with a hearty soup!

Dinner for 2!

Oh and I did promise some pretties didn't I? In honor of Valentine's Day, I leave you with this:

Pretty red tray (Thanks Ma Bull!) and gorgeous silver tea sets (Thank you 'lil Bro!)

Red rose topiary and red candles in my Ikea lamp

Happy Monday!

~ H

Friday Night Funny

Hello,

This is married life (hehe!) J is playing Call of Duty (ew!) while I am relaxing on the couch next to him watching Youtube videos! OK, so it's not all pearls and aprons, just not tonight so don't tell :)

We work long hours at work and will be more productive tomorrow. Really, we will. J and I are volunteering for a bar-b-que for a local group. Hey, and maybe then I will wear my pearls and apron!

But for now, I had to share this, enjoy!

The Starbucks Rap

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qK5GZp4NAk&feature=related

H

Married!

At last!

The Preppy Wedding has taken place, all had a great time and the Preppy Newlyweds are home from the Preppy Honeymoon!

A special Thank You to the following:

- Bridal Party: Thank you for participating! We definately had one good looking party if I must say so!

- Family: Thank you for all your work behind the scenes! We have come to the conclusion that weddings are definately impossible without a lot of help from loved ones! We appreciate all your work to make our special day just that, special!

- Parents: Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! We really cannot explain how thankful we are for all that you have done!

Also, to everyone who traveled to be a part of our big day, we are so blown away that you made it! Wow! Thank you!

I suppose now I should change the blog title to The Preppy Newlyweds . . . lol. We'll see. For now, I will continue to post occasionally to share with you our journey through our first year of wedded bliss :)

H

Preppy Wedding Showers and a Bachelorette Party

Without further ado, bridal shower pics:

The First Shower of the weekend was hosted by these lovely ladies

The party was complete with a beautiful cake sporting some preppy pink hydrangeas

Pink and green flowers adorned the pink covered table

The same flowers made up my corsage

Here I am, mimosa in hand, making the rounds

As the guest of honor, I had the comfy chair! Here I am with my personal attendant, L.

The Preppy bridesmaids!

The second shower was thrown by MOH at her new place. Such fun! Preppy pink and green balloons and streamers decorated the room. Here we are (I'm the one with the fuzzy tiara!).

Of course this party had a preppy pink decorated cake also!

And now, a preppry bachelorette party!

MOH put the party together, and did SUCH a good job of organizing everything!

Preppy aunts showed up with crazy hats, boas and glasses for the party. I also got a sash and beads with a shot glass and a "Hottie Whistle" (I had to blow this for all the hotties at our table all night! aka, the girls and I!)

MOTB and I

PA and I

Plastics!

Our preppy beverage of choice, peach bellinis!

Overall, a much needed evening with the girls amid the chaos of last minute wedding planning! Thank you to all who came! See you again soon!

H