plated, blue apron, freshology, platejoy, and purple carrot

Mine looked just like that - I swear!

I have pretty mixed feelings about all of these new companies who deliver meals to your doorstep. Do I think it is a neat idea? Yes. Did I end up cooking and eating things I never before thought I could put together myself? Yes. Is it a complete waste of packaging materials and individual containers? Hell to the yes! Are the cooking times all perfectly accurate and on point? Hell to the no!

I recently had experiences using Plated and Blue Apron. I tested out both companies using a free promotion (normally it costs $59.99 for three meals that feed two people). While I do think that is on the higher side of my normal grocery totals, when I cook dinner for myself I tend to make large pots of soup I eat for four days. The meals I chose to receive from both companies included things like duck, pork, cod, and chicken - all of which I would never put into a soup...well, maybe chicken. My favorite meal was Asian Duck Tacos with Pickled Cucumbers from Plated. I actually cooked duck and it was delicious - like whoa! I was so proud of myself, but must admit I have yet to recreate the meal and have no definite plans to do so in the upcoming weeks. Something I learned when putting together the Blue Apron meals is that I like to use butter as a cooking base, as opposed to olive oil. I do not think vegetables need to be prepared with two tablespoons of oil - it is gross. A little melted butter goes a long way and if the pan begins to look dry, I add a little water.

While I was VERY proud of the final products - they literally look like gourmet meals, complete with spices, colors, and garnishes - I was so disappointed by the amount of waste they produce and how inaccurate the cooking times were. Not only do they come in huge, insulated cardboard boxes; every ingredient is in its own Ziploc bag, or container. It makes throwing things together pretty easy, but you end up with an enormous pile of trash once you're finished. I also have a bone to pick with them about cooking times. Most of the recipes I chose said twenty-five or thirty-five minutes - not the case! One of my meals literally took an hour and a half. While I wouldn't make a habit of ordering these, it is nice to splurge every once in a while and skip having to make a trip to the grocery store. They deliver to most cities at this point, so you should try it for yourself, or just search the websites for recipes and make them with your own grocery shopping at a fraction of the price. Click here to visit the Plated website and here to visit the Blue Apron website.

an upgraded home and garden and land...in RI

Photo credit:  Zillow

As much as I love our home, I do have hopes and dreams that we will one day upgrade. I don't necessarily want a larger home, but I would love more land - yes, even though that comes with additional yard work. I truly love our home and feel very lucky to own our three-leveled, three bedroom, two and a half bath abode. I guess I wouldn't mind an additional bedroom and it would be great if the upstairs spare bathroom wasn't directly next to the master bedroom...but I really love the layout, especially how our living room is on its own floor, positioned in between the two main floors on the front of the house. It keeps our den, dining room, kitchen, and bedrooms private and quiet, and makes the home feel exceptionally spacious for only being seventeen hundred square feet. 

My biggest gripe is the proximity to the neighbors, which makes me want to start house hunting immediately. Lucky for my husband, I subscribe to House Beautiful on my Flipboard and found the perfect home on my boat ride into work this morning! Although my absolute favorite part of Rhode Island is Little Compton and the home is located in Middletown, I am willing to look past that because everything about it is absolutely perfect AND Middletown is closer to Newport (I really heart Newport). This incredible home combines castle with beach house and farmhouse and gardens and I want it -  bad - and fully furnished with all the same paint colors. Click here to read more about it and see the interior.       

best tagline ever - method - people against dirty

I have not done our dishes in quite some time - that doesn't mean I have not cleaned up per se, it just means I've been using our dishwasher a lot...right?! Truth be told, my husband is nice enough to not only cook dinner on the weeknights he is home, but also pick-up once we are finished. (Quite a gem, that one is!) Before Christmas I had purchased a bunch of Mrs. Myers Clean Day products - dish soap included - and as the last few months have passed, the products were used up. (P.S. If you love the scents and smells of Mrs. Myers, order off their website. It is very cost effective and I placed mine on a day when shipping was free. Score.) Although I have an overabundance of love for Mrs. Myers, I recently purchased a bottle of Method Sea Minerals dish soap and WOW does it smell good. It does not smell anything like the ocean, in my opinion. Instead, it smells like freshness and rain and clean laundry, all wrapped into one. I highly recommend. Dishes are definitely not my favorite, but when your dish soap makes you as happy as this soap has made me, they become less of a chore. Method also sells large refill packs that are a lot cheaper than buying a new bottle every time and it is better for the environment. I wish my next sentence could be "scratch and sniff the bottle to get a whiff of Sea Minerals", but that is not the case.  

enjoying something dark as the days get lighter

So do I!!

It finally feels like spring! I wish I could take a week off from work and (1) completely take care of our yard, (2) go on a long bike ride, (3) go for a three plus mile run, (4) go for a big hike, and (5) grill up a few dinners. Unfortunately that cannot happen, but we did spend the better part of this past Saturday pruning and cleaning up our yard. This upcoming weekend my plan is to rake our beds and put mulch down, then we will be ready to sail into summer and enjoy our surroundings. We moved our table and chairs back onto our patio (out of our shed) and once we were done for the day, planted our fannies on said chairs, relaxed, and enjoyed an ice cold Guinness. I didn't think I liked Guinness, but apparently I do. It looks heavy and although very dark, it is quite airy and light. I also just learned one Guinness is only one hundred and twenty five calories - sounds like a good splurge to me! While the healthy eating and exercise are going pretty well, I did allow for some splurging this past weekend - all in the name of my husband's birthday weekend. In addition to enjoying a Guinness, we also had dinner at our favorite restaurant (Drew's Bayshore Bistro in Keyport, New Jersey) and indulged. We didn't go completely overboard, but we definitely ate a lot more than we've been eating. I hope the weather is sunny and bright this upcoming weekend and we can have a repeat - Guinness included...but with a healthier dinner date.      

prepping the home and yard for a furry friend

We are in the market for a fence and my votes are going towards a post and rail style with wire mesh. While installing two rails would be less costly than three, I think I like the looks of three. I would not be completely opposed to two, it's just all the examples I've seen that I like have three. 

While more solid wood fences are nice, I like the idea of our backyard being enclosed, but appearing more open. There are a number of homes in our area that have them and the more research I do, the more it seems like it is a good fit for us. My husband worked for a fence company, which will also help drive down the cost. I have no problem getting out there and helping him either. I think together we can tackle this project...which will get us that much closer to having a dog! While we still have a long way to go, we want to keep the motion moving forward.

home is where...your winter snow gear is

My husband was actually home last weekend and we spent last Friday night in front of the fire, listening to records and laughing about life. Whenever I sit by the fire, I sit as close to it as possible because I just plain love it and feel very lucky to have one. One of my Christmas presents was a pair of Crazy Creeks (the portable camp chair), which I requested so I could sit extra close to the warmth of the fire, complete with back support. As I was nestled in my chair at the start of last weekend enjoying a White Russian, I gazed into our foyer and noticed something that made me really happy inside - the basket on our bench was overflowing with hats, mittens, and scarves. I remember when I put the basket on the end of the bench and it sat empty to pseudo-empty for many weeks. I kept wondering whether it would ever give off the impression that our home contained a family; though be it a small family, a family of people who weren't afraid to be out in the cold and could provide additional warmth to those that visited, if the need arose. It is definitely a simple pleasure, but it made me think about our lives and our home...and I smiled. Our home feels lived in and like it is truly ours. We have our routines down and our things are intermingled now more than ever.

a scent that whisks you away into the forest

When I think about Stonewall Kitchen I normally picture food items (blueberry jam, bourbon molasses mustard, lemon curd, etc.), but we recently purchased some of their hand lotion and it smells incredible. If you are not a fan of fragrance, or are not able to use products that contain fragrance, then this is not for you. However, if you love woodsy, spicy scents I recommend you run out and purchase one of their Maine Woods products. You can choose from a soy candle, dish soap, hand soap, or (as I mentioned before) hand lotion. The description says it is made with black pepper essential oils. I'm not sure if that's what is contributing to my obsession with this scent, but whatever it is I like it and recommend sticking your nose in it. It reminds me a little of Williams Sonoma's Winter Forest products, but this smells even better. Although it doesn't really scream spring and summer, I had to share because I've been meaning to write about it for a few weeks and keep forgetting. Buy it and use it.  

a-well-a herb, herb, herb, h-herb is the word

I am so excited! I signed up for a class about herbs (cooking herbs, ahem!) for next Saturday with the Monmouth County Park System. It costs fifteen dollars and I am thrilled to learn how to select, plant, grow, and preserve them. We will also learn about the folklore surrounding herbs, which I am really looking forward to because I LOVE fun facts, and their current uses. We also get to enjoy some herbed refreshments, take home recipes, and choose an herb plant to take back to our home. It sounds so happy and fun! I am quite interested to see what one of these park programs is like. Normally I am never around when courses take place I am interested in, but I will be home that weekend and need something to do. While we don't have a garden, I was thinking about planting herbs in pots around our patio and I wish it would warm up, so I could get started. I am antsy in my pantsy to get growing and excited to begin testing herb-heavy recipes with our homegrown creations.   

I want a round room at the end of the day

Obviously not my photo, but
how cool are these things?

There is so much going on in the world. I have so much to write about, just not enough time in the day to do it. Thankfully, I got to work early today and although these next posts may be short, they will be packed with curiosities, hilarity, and may even shock you. This post is going to be about Free Spirit Spheres in British Columbia (aka the greatest place on earth in my book). I'm not sure I would enjoy spending the night in one, but I could name at least ten people I know that would. They sound a little scary to me because of the suspension, but seeing out into the forest from "a nutshell that's decorated like a palace" sounds totally awesome! It also makes me think of the nutshell quote from Austin Powers, which always makes me giggle. "That's you in a nutshell!"/"No, this is me in a nutshell. Help! I'm in a nutshell! How did I get into this nutshell? Look at the size of this bloody great big nutshell. What sort of shell has a nut like this? This is crazy!" It gets me every time, but...back to the sphere. They are handcrafted and I am sure staying in one for any number of nights would make for quite the memorable adventure! Click here to read more and make your reservation.

our first holiday hosting down, hopefully many more to go

My cornucopia fold.

We survived Thanksgiving 2014! It was not bad at all - we think we could have easily made everything ourselves and skipped requesting dishes from our guests. We were calm, cool, and collected, and everything came out great. My husband's only wish was that he spent more time perfecting homemade gravy before the actual meal happened and I wish I pulled the brussels sprouts two minutes before I did. The turkey was the best ever - brining is the way to go - and the veggies and desserts came out great too. Win.

I went pretty minimal with the centerpieces and floral arrangements because we wanted to make sure we had enough space to make the meal family style. I am all for setting up a buffet, but not on Thanksgiving. I used a few small glass bottles filled with a flower or two, and tied some red and white craft twine around the tops to make them somewhat uniform. I folded the napkins into cones, or in the spirit of Thanksgiving "cornucopias", which worked out great. For the place cards, I used gourds and tags made from kraft paper. I bent paper clips using pliers and my husband's cousin helped write out everyone's name in her artistic handwriting. It was simple and added just enough decor to our table. My proudest craft had to do with our new stemless wine glasses; I was wracking my brain trying to figure out how to label them and it came to me a few nights before - use the gold letter stickers that were leftover from my Halloween costume and monogram everyone's glass. If someone's name started with the same letter as someone else's, the older of the two family member got the uppercase letter and the younger got the lowercase. I was worried the stickers would leave a residue on the glasses, but it cleaned up easily without leaving a trace. We were (mostly all) cleaned up by Saturday and were able to enjoy our clean home over the weekend, which is now ready for Christmas. I cannot believe it is December. Yikes.

brightly colored and not necessarily needed

...but I want it! I have a crush on Pendleton - as in the blankets, clothes, towels, and dishes. I want them all. Our home is the furthest thing from southwestern and although I realize they have more options than just the southwest-themed designs - those are the ones I really want. I knew they made blankets, clothes, and towels, but what I did't know (until I signed up for their emails - best move ever) was that they made dishes. They are so bright and colorful, but they still look classy and amazing. We don't really need dishes; we have beautiful dishes from Simon Pearce that I am eternally grateful for. They also wouldn't really go with anything else we own - I am just infatuated. Maybe I should stop looking at them on a regular basis and focus my attention on a blanket or bag. Who doesn't need a warm, cozy, three hundred dollar blanket in their life?! I personally love blankets and would use it every night, three seasons out of the year. Click here to view the wonderful-ness.

an interesting way to end the week - in yellow

That is the actual culprit -
beautiful lilies in our kitchen.

My morning started off pretty nicely; I woke up a few minutes before my alarm went off and I wasn't overly rushed getting out the door (there will always be some aspect of rushing, but today wasn't too bad). I give myself a once over as soon as I get to work because my commute is pretty long and you never know what the wind could do to my hair, or what may be hanging out of my nose. Well, I marched into the restroom this morning after discovering some yellow marks on the sleeve of my sweater, and to my shock and horror realized my entire left shoulder was covered with the same sludge. After calming down and thinking through my morning, I could not for the life of me understand how my sweater went from being so clean & pristine to completely destroyed. Side note: I would have been earlier getting out the door, but I realized my sweater looked a little on the worn-out side (very pill-y) and spent a good ten minutes going at it with the lint remover. I left our bedroom with a sweater that literally looked as good as new. 

I racked my brain to try and figure out how the hell I was covered in yellow and then it hit me - the lilies in the kitchen. My husband bought the most beautiful lilies on earth last weekend that have been filling our downstairs with the sweetest smell in the universe. I realized I must have walked into them while getting my English muffin buttered & jammed and the yellow stains all over my off-white sweater were pollen. So, I did what I had to do and soaked the left wrist and shoulder in water, covered the wetness with our Mrs. Myers geranium hand soap, and began scrubbing. Thankfully, the pollen came out. However, I was left with the chunkiest sweater I own (aka the warmest, which is why I chose to wear it on this frigid day) soaked beyond belief. 

We have one of those Xlerator hand dryers at work, but I hate using it because it is so loud. Well, this morning I didn't have a choice. It would start, then stop, and then I would start the cycle again. It seemed to be working, but then I realize it wasn't actually drying my sweater at all - it was just pushing the wetness from one area to another. The sheer power of the damn thing was ruining me. So, I did the best I could and returned to my desk. It has been six hours and four bathroom visits later and my sweater is still wet. I don't know what else to do. I wore it to be overly warm and cozy on this freezing Friday, but it is making me crazy and cold. The sleeve part is actually pretty dry, but the shoulder area needs some work. I cannot wait to get into our car later tonight and crank the heat and turn the seat warmers on high. Next time we have lilies I am going to cut them shorter and make sure they are pushed a little further from the edge of the kitchen counter. Noted.

a welcome addition to our little homestead

Our driveway. Our wood.

I am feeling really adult today; we just got a load of firewood dropped off at our home for the winter. That is so grown-up, I can't even get over it. We had a fireplace and an unlimited wood supply at our last home, so we never really had to worry about running out. Now we have a beautiful stone fireplace and a yard full of pine trees, which obviously cannot be used for indoor wood burning (we also have a number of ornamental trees, but they aren't big enough to be used as firewood...that would just be silly). After doing a bit of research about prices in the area, my husband placed the order last night and we are now the proud owners of an entire cord of wood. We have plans to have our first fire of the season this Friday, after we return home from one of our favorite restaurants on the planet (Drew's Bayshore Bistro). I cannot wait. The pile that is presently sitting in our driveway won't be quite as cool as it is today on Saturday, as we dedicate our morning to stacking it, but as long as we focus on the warmth and cozy ambiance inside our home all winter long and the cardio workout we will receive, I think we will be fine. This is our first cord ever. What a day!    

fit for a harvest party, or fall holiday party

Production has begun on our Thanksgiving invitations. We are hosting this food-filled holiday at our home this year and could not be more excited. Although I will miss seeing our Massachusetts friends and family, it will be glorious to spend a four-day weekend at home with Thanksgiving leftovers in our refrigerator. I love Thanksgiving leftovers so much. I also love dinner parties and this is one for the record books! It feels great to actually have the space and skills to "produce" an entire holiday from start to finish. We will ask our guests to bring a dish or two, but will take care of the rest. I am most excited about the invitations, setting the table, and of course baking. I don't think we need menus, as it is Thanksgiving and the menu is always pretty self-explanatory. I was able to begin working on the invitations last night and wanted to give you a sneak peek. Of course I chose something that requires tracing and cutting, which I really need to stop doing because tracing and cutting aren't very fun, but they are absolutely adorable and I love how they are turning out - hence this post. I plan to write-in the event details on the acorn and the requested contribution on the leaf. I found the idea and patterns for these invitations on (believe it or not) the Kraft website - shock and awe! I used scrapbook paper bought on sale at the craft store along with rubber cement, and tried to follow the colors used in the example. Click here for the patterns.  

collecting design inspiration from a myriad of places

Fireplace at the foot of the bed?
Let's incorporate this! I wish... 

I need to channel all of my design creativeness and skills (if there are any) this weekend and figure out what to do with our master bedroom. It is one of the last rooms in our home to be settled, painted, and decorated. There is obviously furniture set-up and art on the wall, but it needs some major finessing. Thankfully, the carpet that came with the house is clean and new-ish looking. I would obviously prefer wood floors, but appreciate the warmth and softness of carpet in a bedroom. I also don't mind our furniture, but we need to sand everything that isn't the same color as our bed-frame (a dark cherry stained wood) and do some refinishing. I would also like to update all of the knobs and pulls on each piece, so they look like they came from the same furniture family. I think the hardest part is going to be choosing a paint color and figuring out what to do with the walls. We have very high vaulted ceilings in our room and in the larger of the two spare bedrooms (aka the other room in our house that needs some work), so we are a bit limited with what we can do. I must remember as I scour the interwebs for design ideas that the room is not a box and the ceilings are much higher than the normal eight feet. I came across two articles today where I am going to begin my research - one is a new hotel in Vermont and the other is a Times article about transforming a bungalow into a gorgeously restored home in the Hudson Valley. Warning: the hotel is pretty outrageous and I am sure it is pissing off the Vermonters in the area (and trust me, there is a part of me that is appalled by it). However, it looks amazing and if my husband wants to take me there for Valentine's Day I would not be opposed to it (Log Cabin or Barn Cottage please). It is a splurge beyond splurges and although I do not think I will be checking in any time soon, I am happy to steal an idea or two from their cozy, country looking accommodations. Inspiration can come in any form, even from a hotel that charges up to $2,400 a night. Click here to take a peek at the hotel (and remember to breathe). Click here to read the Times article.    

a one day weekend full of cleaning and organizing

Mine actually look like
theirs! It is amazing!

So...I didn't have time for the leaf garland, but I plan to work on it a little each night this week and finish it off next weekend. I did hang the felt leaf garland on our dining room hutch and it looks pretty adorable. I'll say it again, damn Paper Source. On an organized note, my closets and drawers are douched and cleaned and steamed. I also changed our sheets and comforters over to winter mode and it couldn't have worked out better, as I woke this morning to a thirty six degree temperature - it was freaking freezing, or very close to it. I made my duck tacos and they were delicious. I am thrilled to know how to properly cook duck. I most likely won't order anything else from Plated because although they provide you with a gourmet meal you can prepare in thirty minutes, it isn't very cost effective and it makes quite a bit of waste with all the packaging and individual containers. It was fun while it lasted though and I appreciate being sent the deal. Here's to feeling already quite accomplished...and it's only Monday. 

my love/hate relationship with paper source (today)

There's the beautiful
felt leaf garland. Ugh.

I don't really hate Paper Source. It is one of the greatest stores in Manhattan (and other big cities) and is definitely in my top ten. Click here to read my post about it from June. However, I went there today to purchase a few cards and two items caught my eye - a garland and a pack of pre-cut leaves. Before moving forward with my reaction to said garland and leaves, I would like to provide you with a little back story about my recent idea for crafting. It is no secret that I hate do not love football (I also don't like birds and Margaret Schroeder from Boardwalk Empire, but that's another story). I like the "idea" of football - lazy Sundays at home with fatty snacks - what could be better?! However, I find the actual game boring and the large men make me nervous (gigantic necks = scary time). My creativeness and craftiness escalate during football season because I am actually home and have time to stop and smell the roses - and of course think about decorating and getting ready for the holidays. At the instant this year's football season started (little fib) I spotted a leaf garland made from shiny card stock on Pinterest (not glittery, I said shiny) . I was sold and ready to craft! I ordered the paper to make it online and printed the leaf patterns on the printer at work. Thirty dollars later, I am ready to cut some leaves and sew them together to make a fall-like garland we can keep up through the Thanksgiving holiday, when we will be entertaining eleven guests at our home for dinner (definitely another post).

Even more back story: I don't know what happened in nursery school or kindergarten, but my cutting skills are less than par. I am not sure what I was thinking when I initially set out to tackle this project, but as the days pass and I get closer and closer to starting it, I have realized I am going to be tracing and cutting a lot of shapes that are not quite square or round. Leaves are hard. So, this Sunday is the big day for my craft project and I have been trying to psych myself up to cut for many, many hours and I was doing a good job until I walked into Paper Source today. Sitting directly in front of my face as I walked through the doors was a thirty-six pack of colored leaves - I even had my choice between small and large (I mean really?). The only thing keeping me sane is the fact that the packaged leaves are red, orange, yellow, green, and brown, and my leaves are going to be rust, copper, silver, gold, bronze, and plum. After I calmed down and found the cards I needed, I did a lap around the store to see if they had anything birthday appropriate for my mother-in-law. (How many people's birthdays are in October? Geez Louise, so many.) I turned the corner and saw an actual full garland made of felt leaves. Of course I initially wanted felt, but I thought paper would be so much easier. Why am I going to spend hours of my time handcrafting something I can buy for fifteen dollars? Damn it Paper Source. So, I walked out with one strand of the felt garland and still plan to tackle my project this Sunday (and because my husband will be away, I will be watching Bravo and crafting, not football). I figured I can put one set on our front door and the other set on the dining room hutch. I will post on Monday and let you know how the paper garland came out. My fingers are crossed and already sore from cutting.    

cleaning and chores, and housework and errands

So, I never got around to douching out my clothes/shoes/jackets this past weekend - yes, even after that long-winded post. I got everything else done on my list except for that, which (I may add) was many things of varying degrees of importance in both the interior and exterior of our home. My husband also left much later on Saturday than I had anticipated and instead of jumping out of bed and cleaning, I had a lazy morning. Weekend mornings with him home are few and far between, so taking advantage of the opportunity was a no brainer. I had intentions of tackling a section each night of the week after work, but we have guests coming this weekend (Hooray! I love guests!) and I have been busy getting the house together and settled for their arrival. Douching interior storage spaces is going to have to wait - there were too many things on display that needed attention. I am thinking I will get to it either next week, or next weekend. I am working next Saturday for a portion of the day, but will be motivated to finish the final piece of our organizing puzzle. I want to feel that sense of completion and once everything is organized, I can begin thinking about crafting projects for the home and the holidays. We have two more rooms to paint and decorate, and I have no idea what I am doing this year for our Christmas cards. I must decide soon and begin thinking about my supplies. I would love to figure out another way to incorporate my sewing machine. We shall see what this year's holiday card brings...

on a mission to clean, minimize, and discover

I want to start by saying my closet looks nothing like this, but I would be really freaking happy if it did. Tomorrow is going to be a stormy and rainy day and I have plans to clean out my drawers and closets. My clothes, shoes, and jackets presently need to be 'douched" out and I need to have a major steaming session. I read an article the other day that said you should ask yourself a few questions when cleaning out drawers and closets. It went something like; 1. Have you touched it in the last year? If no, get rid of it. 2. Does it have a stain on it? If yes, get rid of it. 3. Does it fit? If no, get rid of it. 4. Are you planning on getting it tailored? If yes and you don't instantly bring it to a tailor, get rid of it. Seems easy right? It is to me. 

I am really good at minimizing and don't hold onto most things. I am especially motivated to clean because my husband and I seem to be plagued with runaway hangars. Where do they all go? At one point I thought about throwing the hangar into the hamper if I grabbed something that was hanging up - that way when we pull it out of the dryer I can put it on the original hangar it was on and back into our closets. It seems like a good idea, but I have yet to try it. My ultimate plan was to set up the steamer in our laundry room and get the wrinkles out once the article of clothing had safely returned back to its hangar home, but our laundry room is small and I'm not sure we have enough space for it. It is so much easier getting dressed though when all of your clothes are wrinkle-free and ready to wear. I always enjoy getting dressed after a good clothes cleaning. I always discover things I forgot about and get them back into the cycle. Here's to an even cleaner house and having fun getting dressed next week.

many hands make little work and more beach time

I didn't make the pasta, but even without it my husband and I (yes, he was home!) had one amazing weekend. We had a dinner at home on the grill Friday night, worked on the yard for four hours on Saturday morning, spent a few afternoon hours on the beach Saturday evening, went out for a phenomenal Italian meal with his aunt and uncle (reason the pasta wasn't made), and spent all day Sunday on the beach. It was eighty degrees out and sunny and glorious. As much as I think I am ready for fall, I was not complaining for a second about having one more summery span of days off at home. Truth be told, I was also very unmotivated to do yard work when I woke up on Saturday morning (even though it was my idea), but we helped one another and got to enjoy a beautifully manicured yard - it was worth it by a landslide. I am going to do one more round of weeding this upcoming weekend and after that I think we should be set up to sail into fall and winter without having to do much more than mow the lawn a few times. My next home tasks are going through my drawers, closets, shoes, and jackets. Once all of that is minimized and organized, I will be ready to focus my attention on decorating and crafting for the holidays - bring it on!