Changing with the Leaves

I am so excited the leaves are changing, falling, the weather has turned grey and cold, and the stores are shelving fire logs.  The only thing I'm not so pleased about is that autumn home decor is at the highest prices of the season and I'm eager to decorate.  Ha! 

Some not too pricey fall wishes...

• Green Placemats with Embroidery
• Leafy "orbs" to cluster in bowls.
• Simple, Orange Wreath.
• Dishtowels, and bathroom hand towels.
• Two Harvest Arrangements for the mantle.

I can't wait to see what comes out as the season progresses!

On Digesting Stories

"...I thought I had finished reading [a short story] - but it keeps on coming back, seeping into how I see things, sharmpening the way I hear a difference between what people are saying and what they are feeling.  It's as if a room I know well had suddenly acquired a new window."

From the introduction of The Victoria Reader: A Treasury of Timeless Stories

My 200th Post and...

...a reccomendation for all ladies reading my blog to check out these wonderful Etsy stores run by Kelli of There's No Place Like Home.

I really love her handiwork and placed an order for some bookmarks and a card...and I'm sure there will be more orders in the future.  I really, really love her style!  So cute!

Some of my favorites from her shops:

Dream On

"So we dream on. Thus we invent our lives. We give ourselves a sainted mother, we make our father a hero; and someone’s older brother and someone’s older sister – they become our heroes too. We invent what we love and what we fear. There is always a brave lost brother – and a little lost sister, too. We dream on and on: the best hotel, the perfect family, the resort life. And our dreams escape us almost as vividly as we can imagine them… That’s what happens, like it or not. And because that’s what happens, this is what we need: we need a good, smart bear… Coach Bob knew it all along: you’ve got to get obsessed and stay obsessed. You have to keep passing the open windows."

— John Irving (The Hotel New Hampshire)

Wristing for Layered Bracelets

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I saw this pic over at Haute Design and can't get it out of my head.  I must find multiple strands of pearl  and tennis bracelets (not all identical) and watch with crystals.  Genius layering...

Living a Quiet Life

I had a birthday last week, and while I don't put much stock in the ticking of time, the turning of calendar pages, I do like a good gift. I treasure the thoughtfulness of presents and the reminders they become after their tradition-tethered hand-off.

But then, there are things, and the thinking on of things, and the searching out of things.  For this girl, that means lists: wish lists, grocery lists, to-read lists, and so on.  All of these lists get a bit consuming.  Instead of proclaiming decisiveness, they are divisive.

As the days (years...) pass, for me, less becomes more.  The less I fill up my head and my body, my heart and spirit become voluptuous with life and love.  It is counterintuitive, but a steadfast stillness and dedication brings me so much more than I thought it could.  When restlessness comes upon me I find rest in Him, which is a daily dedication: a parting of the pages, a parting of lips, a parting of  my spirit from my flesh.  Peeling back upon itself like the shedding of snakeskin, until I see a hollow thing that looks somewhat like me lying on the floor before me.  Still like me, but without all this blessed life.

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1 Thessalonians 4: 11-12

"And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing."

Sunday Roses

It is a perfectly grey Sunday and the morning light is filtered through a low haze, casting a cool glow on me as I drink tea from one of our new cups, while reading an old issue of Victoria magazine, and am comforted by verses from the book of Romans and the scent of a pumpkin candle; my happy eyes catching glimpses of my sweet birthday bouquet. Heaven on earth!

Amen.

Pink for Fall

I happen to think the color pink is made for year-round wear, and what I love so much about Lilly Pulitzer is that they believe that too!  Afterall, if nature can bring on the pink when it's chilly outside, why shouldn't I?

This new "Gloria" sweater from Lilly rocks my little pink world.  Stripes?  YES!  Cable-knit?  YES!  It woudln't have occurred to me to pair it with a blue striped oxford shirt, but I like it, I really do.  Preppy stripes can never be overkill.  Well, maybe.....  Ha!

"You're an athletic girl.  I'm more of a horseback-riding, wall-climbing, yoga-doing type of girl."

~ Mia Thermopolis, The Princess Diaries

Thinking About Food

I wonder sometimes about food, why some people crave cinnamon buns (Number's Man) while others prefer a tofu scramble (me).  The Cinnamon Bunners cannot believe that the Tofu Scramblers actually want to eat fermented soy & veggies, thinking that they don't actually want it - that they do it for reasons other than taste.  The Tofu Scramblers can't believe that the Cinnamon Bunners would rather have something sugary less filling, that leaves them either with a stomach ache or hungry 2 hours later.  Don't get me wrong, sometimes I love to have a cinnamon bun, but nine times out of ten, I'll take the tofu scramble...particularly if it includes sun dried tomatoes and green onions.  Mmmm....

When I meet God, that is one of my top 5 questions.  Petty, I know...but it nags at me with fair consistency.  Haha!

Happy Sunday!

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1 Corinthians 10:31

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.