Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Fall Decor

I may have mentioned it before, however in case it isn't obvious, fall is my favorite season. Accordingly, I always go a bit crazy with fall decor. This year, I used a lot of what I have used in the past, but also found some new decorative items that I wanted to share with everyone.

Malta Lantern {Pottery Barn} // Potpourri {Pottery Barn} // Pumpkins {Lowe's} // Faux Leaves {Home South}.

This is by our fireplace and the concept is always the same: I just mix-up what I put in the lanterns/vases so that I do not get bored with it from year to year. There is actually a battery powered light that is on timer in the lantern with the pumpkins, so it has this great romantic glow in the evening.



Pumpkin decals {Etsy} // Wreath: {old} Sturbridge Yankee Company// Fall Flag {Lowe's}

The white monogram turned out fairly well; however assembling it to the pumpkin was extremely difficult since the pumpkin is circular.





















Letter D {Hobby Lobby} // Fall Garland: {Home South} // Votive candles{Pottery Barn}{old}

I simply painted the letter D with some leftover chalk paint that I already had.








I am obsessed with this vase and flowers that I recently purchased from Pottery Barn. I think they are great for fall.

I love the woven pumpkins that they have at Pottery Barn; however, I was not a huge fan of the price. I found this pumpkin for $6 at an antique store in Cornelius.

 
Found these adorable mini faux pumpkins at a cute little store in Cornelius.


Just a little potpourri for our kitchen island. 

That about does it on Fall decor for us except I will add a few more things once we get to October for Halloween. 

What are your ideas for Fall decor?
 

Monday, September 15, 2014

Weekend Recap

Hope everyone had a great weekend, we did {other than me losing my voice with my cold that is just dragging on forever}!  Due to my feeling a bit under the weather, this weekend was very low key. 
 
I spent the majority of the weekend putting the finishing touches on our fall decor and running various erands while Evan brewed a batch of pumpkin beer.
 
 
Evan was so sweet to surprise me with flowers "just cause" on Friday after work.
 
 
Friday night we had burgers with pretzel buns, corn on the cob and squash.
 
 
 
 
Bella {as always} followed me around and tried to assist with the assembling the fall decor {more to come this week on fall decor}!
 
 
On Saturday morning, Bella's trainer, dubbed "Auntie Ruth,"  asked that Bella assist in a television advertisement that she is doing for her dog training business. It looks like Bella is going to be on TV! More to come on Bella's small television debut. She did really well and Evan I were so proud of her!


 Saturday night we made this Chicken Parmesan Casserole recipe that I found courtesy of Pinterest. It was delicious and super easy.


Linking up with:

Biana and Meghan for Weekending
Still Being Molly for Funday Monday.
 

Friday, September 12, 2014

Weekend Recap: Northern Virginia

I apologize that I have been MIA this week; I have had a cold that appears to be getting worse and accordingly have just not really felt like blogging or doing anything really {other than dragging myself to work!}.  Anyway...I am back and am a little VERY late, but here is a condensed recap of this past weekend that I finally managed to put together this morning.
 
On Friday, I took a half day at work and Bella, Evan and I drove up to Warrenton, Virginia, where my parents live. We haven't been up there since Christmas and thought it would be a good time to celebrate {belatedly} my mom's birthday.
 
On Saturday, before my dad went to pick up Grandma {who lives in Alexandria, Virginia}, Evan, Timothy {my brother} and I made several stops with the sole mission to find all pumpkin beer that North Carolina does not carry. We were not disappointed! 
 
Our first stop was Dogfish Head Alehouse. They had their Punkin Ale on tap and as always it was wonderful. It is, hands down, one of my favorite pumpkin beers ever!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We had lunch while we were there and I really thought the food would be sub par {given that the primary focus here is the beer} however, it was a noteworthy meal.
 

Evan had the burger {typical for him}.
 
I had the Crab Cake Grilled Cheese. I originally ordered the crab cake sandwich; however our server said that this was a much better choice, so I went with it. The server was not kidding...it may sound like a weird combo, but it was amazing! Ask for this if you make a trip to one of their locations.

Evan and I at Dogfish Alehouse.
 
After lunch at Dogfish Alehouse, we stopped at the largest Total Wine that I have ever been to. I was so overwhelmed by their selection of pumpkin beers; it is the largest selection I have ever seen. Unfortunately, because I was SO excited; I did not get any pictures of the beer, but we are talking about an entire aisle of pumpkin beer...I was in heaven. One of the beers that several friends, including my brother, have been raving about is Schlafly's Pumpkin Ale. Unfortunately, I discovered that the brewery does not distribute to North Carolina at all for some reason. Thus, I was on a mission while in Virginia to find some of this supposedly amazing beer. Thankfully, they had a huge display of it at Total Wine and I grabbed a six pack. When I tried it that evening for the first time, I hate to admit that in my opinion, it is not as good as I thought it would be.  I like it; however, based on what others had said, I thought it would be one of the best beers I have ever tasted.

Has anyone else tried this one? Thoughts?
 


 
The rest of the weekend was more low key:  visiting with my parents, grandma, brother and his wife and meeting my new neice, Eliza. It was short trip for us, but as always, we had a great time.
 
 
Linking up with:
Lauren Elizabeth for High Five Friday and
Lauren for Fab Friday.

 Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

 

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Apple iPhone 6 Announcement today!?

Hope everyone had a great weekend!! I am a bit delayed given that it is Tuesday and it is my first post of the week; however, I developed a cold on Sunday and basically have been out of commission for the past 48 hours. I will have lots of pictures to post from the weekend tomorrow!
 
In the meantime, I am super excited about the likely iPhone 6 announement today at 1 pm! Apple has a countdown for the event on their website. I have been planning to get the new iphone for the past several months as my iPhone (the 4S) has seen better days. I will be getting this baby as soon as it is available!
 
 
Per Forbes Magazine, the iPhone 6 should be available in stores on Friday, September 19.  Eeek...that is just around the corner! According to rumors, the phone is supposed to have a larger screen and a much better camera; among other things.

 
Anyone else as excited to upgrade to the iPhone as I am!?

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Thoughts on Thursday: Fall 2014 TV Lineup

I am not sure if this is a good or bad thing, however, I have finally {almost} finished all of last season's shows that I DVR'd.  I dont know what got in to me this past year; but I just didn't seem to have as much time or feel the need to watch as much TV as I have previously. I guess the good news is my DVR has room to record this season's shows!

Here are a few of my favorite shows that I watch fairly regularly {when I have time} and several new ones {* denotes new this season} that I am looking forward to checking out:



 
Have to love Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory.

 

September 2014:

September 21st- The Good Wife

September 23rd- Person of Interest; The Big Bang Theory

September 24th- Nashville

September 25th- Grey’s Anatomy; Scandal; Parenthood; How to get Away with Murder**

September 28th- Revenge


 
 

October 2014:

 October 14th - Marry Me **
 
 

January 2014:

January 4th - Downton Abbey
 
 
Linking up with Annie from Home of the Malones and Natalie from East Coast Chic again for Thoughts on Thursday.
 
http://homeofmalones.blogspot.com/

What shows are you looking forward to this Fall?
 

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

What I Wore: Summer Work Wardrobe

The dress requirement at my office falls somewhere between business and business casual. It depends on the day which side I teeter on, however, here is an example of my typical summer work attire. Year-round, my go-to's are dresses and skirts, primarily because they are more comfortable in my opinion than pants and I think they flatter my petite figure more than pants {I am only 5'2.''}. I love to pair staples such as a black or navy dress with something bright {i.e.: a statement necklace, scarf, or print cardigan} and then color cordinate other pieces {i.e. jewely} to coordinate with the statement piece. I am a huge fan of cardigan sweater as I am cold natured, so I essentially have one in every color that exists {I am not kidding}!

Dress: Forever 21 {old}// Shoes: Jessica Simpson Noah Wedge in Black// Scarf: {sold out, other options here} //Jcrew Clare Cardigan // Bracelets: Jcrew {sold out, similar}; Kate Spade Good as Gold Idiom Bangle; Kate Spade Ribbon Bangle {sold out, can find on Amazon.com}.




I love these shoes from Jessica Simpson. They are super comfortable and I have them in the nude color as well!



 
 
Linking up with: The Pleated Poppy for What I Wore Wednesdays 
and
Because Shana Says So for Random Wednesdays.

What are your go-to pieces for work?

 

Labor Day Weekend 2014 Recap

Happy September! To get in the soon-to-be fall spirit, I went ahead and changed our kitchen chalkboard to something a little more "fall-like"!
 
I am a little late in posting a weekend recap. I enjoyed relaxing and doing a whole lot of nothing soo much, that it was hard to get back into blogging! As I mentioned on Friday, we didn't have a whole lot planned this Labor Day weekend, however, we ended up having a good bit of fun.
 
 


On Friday, U.S. Trust (where I work), let us leave work early at 3 pm and I drove home and changed before Evan and I headed to the new Charlotte Premium Outlets. I found a number of good deals at: Kate Spade, Jcrew and Old Navy.

We then ventured to NODA Brewery in Charlotte as their pumpkin beer, Gordgeous Pumpkin Ale, is on tap! It is delicious and one of my favorites. I highly recommend it if you like pumpkin beer. Speaking of pumpkin beer, one of my other favorites, Dogfish Punkin Ale is in stores. I picked up a 4 pack in Harris Teeter this weekend! I was so excited to have it again.  It is as good as I remember it from last year!

 

 
After shopping and NODA Brewery, Evan and I just decided to make it a date night (especially since it was around 8 pm and we hadn't had dinner). We wanted to try somewhere new for dinner, so we finally decided on La Tagliatella which is located in the Epicentre of Charlotte. We were not dissapointed. We started by sharing the Caesar salad {didn't even think to take a picture of it}. Our entrees were delicious {pictured below}.




 I had the Calabrese with Tagliatelle freshly made pasta and chicken.



Evan had the Bolognese with Tagliatelle freshly made pasta and meatballs.
 
 
Saturday morning, we made it our local farmer's market and Trader Joes {sadly this is the first time this whole season that we made it to our farmer's market}. I am hoping to go at least weekly for the rest of the season, the freshness and prices cannot be beat.


Saturday afternoon/evening my father-in law stopped by on his way back from a beach trip and stayed with us overnight. Evan and I whipped up a super easy meal for all of us: Crockpot Barbeque Chicken sandwiches, corn from the farmer's market and baked beans. The barbeque chicken recipe is really effortless, consisting of only four ingredients. I was blown away by how easy this recipe was.

 
 

Fall flowers that I could not resist purchasing from Trader Joe's on Saturday.
 
 
Saturday night, the four of us ventured to Crafty Beer Guys {essentially our local watering hole} to relax. I was thrilled to see that they had two pumpkin beers on tap and I had to take pictures of their current pumpkin selections {pictured below}.
 
 
 
My two favorites {Evan and Bella}
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sunday morning I baked mini blueberry muffins {Evan's favorite}.
 



Sunday evening, I made another new dish, courtesy of pinterest, Quinoa Enchilada Casserole. It is delicious, super healthy, and easy.
  



On Monday, despite the crazy heat and humidity, I decided it was time to begin decorating for Fall.  Evan and I ventured to a couple of cute boutiques near us and I got some adorable fall decor items and I am currently in the process of putting everything together. I did get the fall wreath on the door and our fall flags out. I decided I probably should wait to put the ceramic Jack-o-lantern on the porch since I am waiting at least several more weeks before getting mums and pumpkins. I am itching to complete my porch look though! More to come on fall decor front soon!
 
 
Linking up with:
 
Let's be Friends Blog Hop with The Dwelling Tree or Southern Beauty Guide,
Biana for Weekending, and
Handmade Tuesday's with Kristen.
 

Anyone else ready for fall to get here!? 


 
 
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