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I'm in Portland this week for work, and after checking the weather online yesterday, I realized that that I would be going from 80 degrees and sunny to 50 degrees and rainy. I needed to get myself in the correct mental state for cool weather, stat. So I made pumpkin bread. I mean... you GUYS!  This plate, could not look more "Halloween" if I tried!! Aside from it looking like fall, and our house smelling like a haven of pumpkin spice, it is AMAZING.  Like unbelievably good, and soooo easy to make. It all started with this pin from Pinterest... The recipe said that all you needed was yellow cake mix, and canned pumpkin. Let me start by saying, I LOVE yellow cake.  In my heart, I KNEW, that this recipe could only end in success, since we were starting with the base of my favorite sweet treat in the world.  As I went along, I doctored the recipe a bit, and found that I needed (and wanted) a few additional ingrediants. As I was mixing, the batter was really REALLY dry, s...

Seasons are changing, and between weddings, work, and enjoying the absolutely glorious weather we've been getting (how has it been perfect weather - 80 degrees and sunny for weeks?!) I've neglected my poor little blog. Luckily, I've got a thoughtful, creative mama (I must get it from her) who sent me some autumn inspiration, and some lovely pictures of her fall mantle... In her own words... My favorite season is Autumn, not fall, Autumn. Just saying the word, autumn, has such a sense of solidity. I'm also a Virgo...go figure! At any rate here is my mantle, decorated with items collected over a lifetime of sixty + years.  There's the pewter topped mug my mother in law brought back for her son (my hubby) when she visited Germany.  And the antique Haviland Limoges plates-I've always been particularly fond of the one with the radishes.  And the pumpkins and gourds...collected from visits over the years from visits to "Half A Moon Bay" as my Baby Boo used t...

TheTorchiere Lamp... a very fancy name for perhaps the ugliest lamp ever. Everyone's had one.  They are in every dorm room and first apartment in the history of the world, since they are the cheapest lighting option out there. Not only has everyone had one at some point, most of us twenty something's (and let's be honest, 30 somethings) probably still do.  I did... until a week ago, when I had a moment of clarity and promptly unplugged it and walked out out to the street corner.  Actually, when Kris and I moved in together, we each had our own, and had to decide which one to keep!  Ugh.  The answer should have been neither!  We (me and my lovely torchiere lamp) spent 8 glorious years together, so I'd say that was $20 well spent back in 2005. Anyway, there are so many amazing standing lamp options out there that are totally affordable, and now that I'm on the hunt for a new one, I've rounded up a few of my favorites.  None are over $100 - in fact, most ...

Whelp... fall is officially here... I quickly snapped this picture as I was walking down the hill from our house to the Marina over the weekend... how gorgeous are the yellow leaves against the blue-blue-blue sky.  I absolutely LOVE this time of year... It was warm and perfect.  Here's a quick peek into my weekend - through the eyes of my feet... Cooling off the tootsies after a hot run...  Admiring my wrist bling against an all white outfit...  How can you not be excited for little workout when your footwear is day-glo.  Loving my new Nikes!  Feeling a little fancy, and trying on white dresses for the fabulous Dinner en Blanc on Friday night... SUCH an amazing event... And of course my new obsession - my moccasins from Target.  They are SO COMFORTABLE... like slippers, but totally appropriate to wear out in public... Happy Monday!

Um.... STOP THE PRESSES.  Have you guys seen one of the newest additions to Target's Threshold Fall collection??? Link to Buy That's right... that's a brushed brass bar cart (with wood shelves)! Look at it styled up all pretty on their site... I looked for pictures of it styled in someone's actual home, but it's still so new, there were none to be found.  I was a little curious about what the quality would be like... I mean it's Target right?  Well it's got glowing reviews online, and everyone says the "wood" is real wood!  Holla!! Let's talk about price... $129 is AN UNREAL PRICE for a bar cart. Don't believe me??  Check out the competition I've rounded up... The CHEAPEST brass bar cart I could find was still going to be well over $600 from Crate and Barrel once you factor in tax and delivery.  I don't know what made these become popular... perhaps all the great mid-century furniture on Mad Men?? but regardless, current prices defi...

It's a subtle change to those that don't spend a lot of time in our house, but our gallery wall got some revamping a few weekends ago... I had been thinking of changing out the layout of our gallery wall recently, and then began toying with the idea of swapping out the art we had framed. I know... the gallery wall had only been up a few months, but there was something about it that never felt 100% right to me. I LOVED the La Baule print that had been there before, and the punches of yellow and blue brightened things up in here over the summer months, but it seemed too bright for fall. Here's how it stood a few weeks ago... The bright yellow and blue demanded other bold bright prints to help balance it, but the abstract prints to the left always felt too matchy-matchy.  I also felt that there were too few frames, and the frames were too homogeneous.  We needed more variety - in both the art and frames, and with fall on it's way, I wanted more muted colors. Originally, I...

So last week I'd jumped the gun with excitement and posted a few blurry pictures of the newly painted dresser that is in our room functioning for storage and as a TV stand... This has been a long time in the making... remember LAST FEBRUARY when I first started talking about this???  Well, it's only taken me eight months to finish this project ;-)  With the hardware attached, I can OFFICIALLY check this project off the list! Yep, that's my reflection in the TV!! I can't even begin to explain how good that feels to be able to say it's DONE.  Phew! I am so pleased with how it turned out - the ultra-marine blue paint color brings such LIFE to our bedroom without being overwhelming, or too in your face. I am in love with how it all turned out, but it was a LONG road to get here... let's start at the beginning... Ikea... on a Saturday... NIGHTMARE.  I got in, I got out, and a glass of wine later, I was ready to get the party started get this dresser built. Step one...