NumberNineteen

Holiday Inspirations

It's exactly one week from the day that we traditionally decorate the house for Christmas & I'm loading up on inspiration. I have my stack of books & magazines on the coffee table, waiting for me. Every night I get cozy on the couch, in front of the fire, and leaf through one of them, turning down corners of my favorite ideas.

I cannot resist holiday themed periodicals.  The magazines above are the ones that I've purchased so far.  I also have my eye on a Martha Stewart Craft themed special issue.  Has anyone bought this?  Is it good?  I haven't read MS Living in a long time & just finished the December issue.  It is packed full of great ideas.  I might have to think about renewing my subscription....

Another place that I look when getting in the mood for decorating is my inspiration binder, which is full of my favorite clippings from years past. 

I think that all of these are from last year's Country Living.  I love that cabinet full of putz houses.

This is either from last year's Country Home or Country Living.  I love how this tree is chock full of ornaments & garlands.  Love the red & white theme too.

Sorry, I couldn't get this one to scan right, hence the white bar at the bottom.
This is from a British magazine called Ideal Home, from 2006, I think. Again, the red & white theme.

These are from Southern Living at Home catalogs.  I just love those food displays.

Another place that I love to go for inspiration any time of the year, but especially now, is Susan Branch's monthly newsletter.  I can't find a link to it, but you can sign up to receive it here.  Her drawings & photos are so cozy and she is just the loveliest person (you can just tell from her writing!).  Reading her books or newsletter is just like drinking a warm cup of tea.

Do any of you have suggestions for where to find holiday inspiration? I'd love to know about magazines, books or links that you love!

Back to Antiques

Glenn & I spent this weekend in Williamsburg, where we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary.  We took the leisurely route home & stopped into several antique shops along the way....

The first was Through the Garden Gate, in Hanover, VA.  It isn't as big as some other antique malls that I've been to, but the booths were adorable & high quality.  Here are a few photos that I took there...

The next stop was a place that I've been wanting to visit since I read about it on Andrea's blog, Squashapenny Junction.  It's an old general store that is being used as an antique store. 

This place is stuffed to the rafters with STUFF...


This place was all eye candy, floor to ceiling.  I was mighty tempted to purchase an old store display, but decided against it at the last minute.

Antiquing was mostly window shopping this weekend, but I did pick up these baubles for this year's tree...

I hope that all of you are having a great week!

Stylin' Baby Gift

I fixed up a little baby gift today that is quite stylin', if I do say so myself.  And, tres inexpensive.  Love that.

If you are a new, hip mom, wouldn't you rather have these cute cloths over your shoulder to catch all of the baby burbs...



Rather than....

(Photo from Babies R Us website)

Especially if they came packaged like this....

Maybe I'm patting myself on the back just a bit too much, but I think that they look exactly like a set that I saw in a super-cute but tres expensive boutique.  Of course, I thought "I could make those & package them just as cute!"  I hope that my girlfriend, who just had a baby girl, will agree with me :)

Halloween 2008

Now that all of the election excitement is over, its back to previously scheduled blogging....this year's Halloween celebration.  It was the first year that Hope went Trick or Treating. 

First, we carved the pumpkin. 
 

Then, we put on her costume.  She was supposed to be a Penn State cheerleader, but she FLATLY REFUSED to put it on.  So, she wore her Tinkerbell dress up costume.



She insisted that she had to have pigtails.

We went to 6 houses & she said "Let's go home now."  But, I think that she had a good time & she really liked the candy :)

Smart Women (& Men) Vote

 

It is the eve of the most exciting election in my lifetime. Tomorrow we have the opportunity be part of molding our future.  I don't care what your opinion is, what your persuasion is, whether you vote blue, red or green.  What I do care about is that you VOTE! 

The thing that has been so exciting for me about this election is that Americans are seeing again that their votes DO COUNT.  Do you remember the primaries in which the polls firmly predicted a certain winner & yet, when we woke up the next day, the voters had chosen otherwise?  Those voters didn't care what the media told them, they got out there & let their voices be heard and THEY WERE HEARD.  Tomorrow, we have the opportunity to do this again on a grand scale.

Do you know that less than a century ago, the President of the United States wanted to have a leading suffragette committed as insane because of her belief that women deserved the right to vote?  This year, a woman took the United States by storm when she was selected to run as Vice President. To quote the old cigarette ads, "You've come a long way baby".  Think about it, less than 50 years ago, before the 1964 Civil Rights Act, African Americans could not vote without fear or a belief that their vote would actually be counted.  This evening, an African American is a leading contender to be President of the United States.

This year is so thrilling in that people are feeling empowered.  My parents, both in their 60s, who have NEVER done anything like this in their lives, decided to campaign for their candidate of choice.  They were out there today, knocking on people's doors.  People, my mom is a retired elementary school teacher, not a political activist!  Or maybe, that is what political activism really is....normal people, the lady who lives down your street or the guy who fixed your car, getting out there & exercising their freedom to participate in this process.  I urge you to do this tomorrow.  Be an activist.  Bring a book & stand in line with all of those other activists, casting their vote.

A Fall Outing

A few weeks ago, we headed out west of our place, to the Piedmont Valley of Virginia. Less than an hour from our suburban life (emphasis on "urban"), is this slice of heaven.  In fact, we saw a lane to a farm that was called "Slice of Heaven"!

We stopped at a wonderful winery, the Barrel Oak Winery.  The website stated that they were "dog & kid friendly".  A kid friendly winery!  This is the place for us. While we sampled wine, Hope colored at tables they had set up.  Look at these photos:
 
 
Is this not the place for weary souls?

Here is the guy who served us the delicious wine.  I'm sure he'd be delighted to know that his photo is on the world wide web.

After we sampled the delicious wines & enjoyed the view from the patio, we went in search of our Halloween pumpkins.

Hollin Farms...why did this place sound familiar?  It turns out that this is the place from which we ordered free range beef last fall.  Now, we can confirm that the beef is indeed free range.  We forgot to take pics of the grazing cows.  Look at the little hollow in which this farm lies....

Hope had a great time finding her pumpkin:

This little outing was just what our family needed to get away from our recently crazy lives.