Mantels

Luv, luv, luv a well decorated mantel! I like when a mantel is dressed appropriately and doesn't have wimpy art work or the accessories are not to scale.

Love the non-traditional colors and the painting is so serene. Just like looking out a window!

Must be hard decorating for winter holidays when you live in a tropical locale.

There is a lot going on in this room but I do like those Zebra chairs!

This room makes my eyes hurt.

LOVE!!!

I have always wanted a fireplace in the dining room!

This is so simple, elegant & classy. And those book shelves!!!

What a great weekend! The weather was spectacular and we spent as much time as possible outside. I think yesterday we had breakfast, lunch & dinner outside and the girls both had lax practice so everyone got plenty of fresh air.

Friday wrapped up T's senior homecoming week and was a busy day for T. She had fun with toga day, the homecoming pep rally and the dinner the Buccanettes hosted for the Freshman dance team. Cafe Iz catered and we had so much fun w/ the decor and theme. I still wasn't feeling great and fighting this horrible cough and cold so I didn't go to the game but Hoover won so all is good. T got to see her friend who is a Thompson cheerleader but plays lax for Hoover since her school doesn't have a lax team. Saturday she worked up at the store earlier in the day, KJ had vball (her team lost both games) and Cosmo & I got the house ready for the homecoming after-party.

She had homecoming photos w/ her group around 4 PM, they went to Bonefish for dinner and then back to someone house to watch some football before going to the dance. R's truck was acting up so his mom let them take her Camaro for the night. It is a very cool car! After the dance the kids all came back to our house for a bonfire, hot dogs, s'mores, etc. Very nice group of kids, they had a lot of fun and everyone was very polite and thanked us when they left (the boys went out of their way to tell Cosmo & I goodnight which I thought was funny. You know their mom's told them "Make sure you tell T's parents thank you for having you!"). One of the girls wasn't feeling too good after dinner and got a little sick in the middle of the night and T & I drove her home around 3 AM. I was wide awake anyway and didn't fall asleep until sometime after 5 AM Sunday morning. My wonderful hubby let me sleep while he got bagels for breakfast and we had a relaxing morning before everyone went off to lacrosse practice.

I started my fall decorating Friday night while everyone was at the game and got some more done yesterday while they were at lax. I luv, luv, luv this time of year. It's still been a little warm but the humidity is gone and I can't wait to start opening some windows.

Since we've got a busy, busy weekend coming up Cosmo & KJ decided to make me a special b-day dinner a week early and made a scallops appetizer, steaks and we had mini cheesecakes for dessert. It really was a GREAT weekend!

So, So, Sad

Summer is quickly coming to an end. It's time to start dismantling my beachy theme dining room table and foyer and start thinking about fall decor. Actually, I'm not really that sad. I luv, luv, luv the fall and can't wait for the house to feel warm and cozy and sunggly! The beach theme has been in place all summer and as much as I love it, it's time to go! I always do a little "Roll Tide" tableau in the foyer and this year I've got some new things to go in the entryway to celebrate game day so I'm pretty stoked about that!
I've been doing some searching on the web and have found some really great fall decorating ideas. I like to ease into the fall. I start off by changing up the color palette a bit (goodbye cool tones, hello earth tones!). By end of September, early October I'm in full on fall. I add some spooky Halloween decor in mid-October and by the beginning of November we're in Thanksgiving mode.