Optimistic October

October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and the sixth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus c. 750 BC, October retained its name (from the Latin and Greek ôctō meaning "eight") after January and February were inserted into the calendar that had originally been created by the Romans. In Ancient Rome, one of three Mundus patet would take place on October 5, Meditrinalia October 11, Augustalia on October 12, October Horse on October 15, and Armilustrium on October 19. These dates do not correspond to the modern Gregorian calendar. Among the Anglo-Saxons, it was known as Ƿinterfylleþ, because at this full moon (fylleþ) winter was supposed to begin.

October is commonly associated with the season of autumn in the Northern hemisphere and with spring in the Southern hemisphere.

October's birthstones are the tourmaline and opal.  Its birth flower is the calendula.  The zodiac signs for this month are Libra (until October 22) and Scorpio (from October 23).

The last two to three weeks in October (and, occasionally, the first week of November) are the only time of the year during which all of the "Big Four" major North American professional sports leagues schedule games; the National Basketball Association begins its preseason and about two weeks later starts the regular season, the National Hockey League is about one month into its regular season (check out this beaut of a goal from the last night's Stars game vs. Detroit:  https://youtu.be/FTvmQcjW7jQ ), the National Football League is about halfway through its regular season, and Major League Baseball is in its postseason with the League Championship Series and World Series. There have been 19 occasions in which all four leagues have played games on the same day (an occurrence popularly termed a "sports equinox"), with the most recent of these taking place on October 28, 2018. Additionally, the Canadian Football League is typically nearing the end of its regular season during this period, while Major League Soccer is beginning the MLS Cup Playoffs.

October also celebrates the following festivities: 

• American Archives Month
• National Adopt a Shelter Dog Month
• National Arts & Humanities Month
• National Bullying Prevention Month
• National Cyber Security Awareness Month
• National Domestic Violence Awareness Month
• Filipino American History Month
• Italian-American Heritage and Culture Month
• LGBT History Month
• Polish American Heritage Month (more info to follow!)
• National Work and Family Month
• And of course, it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  If you haven't already scheduled your mammogram, pick up the phone now and call your doctor!  https://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-cancer-awareness-month

Here's the link to this month's Action for Happiness calendar: 
https://www.actionforhappiness.org/media/810489/october_2019.jpg

Hello October!

It's officially Fall Y'all!  The greatest time of the year!  Except in Texas where it's still 90 degrees and you wouldn't dream of turning off your A/C just yet.  Maybe some time in late December or early January. 

KJ is settling into college life very nicely.  She likes her roommate, she's made friends and she's successfully survived Rush at Ole Miss, one of the most competitive in the country.  And no, she didn't have a consultant.  She did it all on her own. 
http://thedmonline.com/rush-submission/

She had an extremely positive Rush experience and we're very, very proud of her!  Ole Miss has changed things up a bit and did things a little different than when T was there.  After visiting all 11 houses, KJ was invited back to 6 (max of 8).  Out of those 6 she went back to 5 (max 5).  Then on Pref day she was invited back to 2 (max 2).  Although she was an AOPi legacy, she #wentKappa on Bid Day.  She was so, so excited!  I couldn't be there for Bid Day but T, Pony Boy and T's friend Maddie were there to support her as well as her roommate Maddie.  She's had her pinning ceremony, had lunch at the house a couple of times already and has a formal coming up.  Baby girl is branching out on her own and doing great! 

Coach and I went to 3 football games during the month of September.  We went to the Ole Miss vs. Texas Tech game in Houston (which was a lot of fun!).  He had been in Houston all week so I flew down on Friday and we did a bar crawl with Ole Miss and Tech fans.  We followed the cheerleaders from bar to bar and although we had great seats, Coach won two sets of 50 yard-line tickets (total of 4 additional tickets!).  We ended up giving them to some folks we met from Oxford. 

Then we attended the Kent State game with the Martins.  Or, I should say we tailgated in the Grove with the Martins, never even bothered to go into the game.  After the crushing loss to Alabama, we thought we'd have a better time if we didn't actually go into the stadium.  T and Dew came in for the weekend and we all had a great time despite the torrential downpour at the end of the game. 

Last weekend we attended the Arkansas vs. Texas A&M game at AT&T Stadium (aka Jerry World).  One of Coach's vendors had a suite which, in my humble opinion, is the only way to watch a game!  Hahaha!!!  Seriously though, I love not having to wait in line for the ladies room or for concessions.  That stadium is first class all the way.  From the super friendly ticket agents at the gate, to the elevator attendant to the security people telling you to have a safe drive home after the game.  The suite was gorgeous, the food and drink was plentiful.  The A&M fans were awesome to watch.  Very loud (hence the whole 12th man thing) and very entertaining.  And their band was incredible.  Extremely precise. 

So now we're gearing up for our Annual Week of Family Festivities (our niece's birthday and our anniversary on October 11, Coach's birthday on October 12, KJ's birthday on October 13 and my mom's birthday on October 15). 

WPS

Woo Pig Sooie!  It sure has been a long, long time since I blogged! 

Fall is in full swing despite what the thermometer here in Texas reads!  We had one or two days in the low to mid-70's but mostly its been in the 80's. It's almost Halloween and the A/C is still on.
The nights have been a little cooler and Coach is enjoying his homemade, outdoor big screen for football games. He has a nice little set-up out there ... he's got a 6ft+ screen, beautiful outdoor patio furniture, the fire pit ... he has a couple of Blue Moons or I join him for some Moscow Mules ....

So our 49th birthdays came and went without a terrible amount of fanfare.  T sent me a gorgeous Kendra Scott bracelet, coach bought me a new camera lens and he and KJ made me breakfast in bed and lasagna for dinner.  KJ also bought the most delicious red velvet bundt cake from "Nothing Bundt Cakes" and a Charming Charles gift card.  Coach had practice on his b-day so KJ and I surprised him with cupcakes and balloons on the field and we celebrated with burgers at Dutch's.

Our 24th wedding anniversary was also kind of quiet.  KJ had lax practice so Coach made a delicious shrimp scampi. Love a man who cooks!

KJ's birthday is a whole 'nother story.  It's a never-ending celebration.  She had a lax game on her b-day so the weekend before some friends took her out to dinner and they all came back here for a bonfire and s'mores. One of her friend's decorated her car the morning of her birthday and they met t Starbucks for breakfast before school.

We went to the Texas State Fair this year and had so much fun!  We didn't go last year because we had either just come back from Europe or were just about to go and didn't have much time. It was a GORGEOUS day and I loved the art deco buildings that make up the fair grounds. Got to see Big Tex and even tried some fried fair foods!

And then came our weekend at the U of Arkansas. The drive up on Friday was nice, about 5 hours from our house.   KJ had the afternoon tour but we were a little early so we parked and had lunch on campus. Fall was definitely in the air, it was only about 60 degrees, and the leaves were just starting to change in the Ozarks. It was soooo nice being in the mountains!  It felt like "home" -- New York in autumn, State College, West Point, Vermont, etc.  Coach's sweet nephew had made arrangements for a goodie bag to be left in KJ's name and he had a can koozie in there for her, a pig nose, a Razorback blanket, a  Tervis Tumbler and a bunch of other stuff.  She felt so special!  Coincidentally KJ's tour guide happened to be from Texas, lives around the corner and went to Marcus HS.  Campus was beautiful, big but not too big, great little downtown area and everyone was very welcoming. I could totally see Daughter #2 there. With her grades she should qualify for in-state tuition so that's a bonus!  Of course Alabama and Ole Miss are high on her list but I'm encouraging her to branch out and make her own memories.

After the tour were drove around for a bit and looked at the different sorority and fraternity houses. KJ wanted to stop and take a pic in front of the AOPI to send to T when all of a sudden I hear a big scream and some crazy girl starts running towards us!  I was totally blown away!!  Coach and T had been scheming for weeks and surprised the hell out of me and KJ!  We had dinner at a neat gourmet grilled cheese place and watched the homecoming parade. We went back to the hotel but KJ dragged T to the pep rally and they walked around campus a bit more. Saturday we parked by the baseball fields and tailgated. The family next to us had one daughter who was a sophomore at Ole Miss and one was a freshman. The tailgaters on the other side of us were a combo of Pig and Rebel fans and one of the ladies was from Pony Boy's hometown and knew his family. Although the game didn't turn out the way T and Coach would have liked, KJ had a blast doing all the Woo Pig Sooie cheers!!  And, coincidentally the tour guide from the day before sat next to us with her parents. It was too funny!! 

Last weekend KJ took the ACT's Saturday morning and had a tournament in downtown Dallas immediately following. Coach had the purple vs white scrimmage game last Sunday and this weekend is going to be jammed packed, too!  Tomorrow we are going to the TCU vs Texas Tech game and tailgate with some friends and Sunday night we're going to see Stevie Nicks!!! #WPS!!!

"And all at once, Summer collapsed into Fall"

Saw that quote this morning and thought it most appropriate for today's blog post!  There's a definite change in the air and although Autumn takes a bit longer to reach Texas, you can tell it's on its way. The sun is still super strong but there's no humidity and there has been a nice breeze in the air the last couple of weeks. The change from Summer to Fall is subtle but tangible.

Football is in the air, too.  Friday we made the 30-minute trip to the Allen Eagles stadium for the Hoover game.  We have been incredibly impressed with all of the high schools we've been to since moving here and Allen did not disappoint.  Seriously folks.  Everything really is bigger in Texas. Every one of the high schools KJ has played lax or volleyball at has been state-of-the-art and Allen was by far the nicest facility we've ever seen. And, it wasn't just the beautiful football stadium, it was the people. The citizens of Allen were incredibly hospitable to the visiting team.  We went out to dinner before the game and had a guy stop at our table to welcome us and wish us luck (KJ and I were wearing plain black shirts but Coach was wearing a Hoover polo so he was more easily identifiable).  Of course we explained that we haven't lived in Hoover for over 3 years now but he was genuine and sincere when he said Allen was excited to play Hoover.  We parked our car next to some Eagles fans and they wished us luck as did the police on the Segway, the lady at the gate who took our tickets and the volunteer who was on hand to direct me to the ladies room during the lightening delay.  It was just easier to smile and say "yes, it was great, thank you" when repeatedly asked "how was y'all's drive in?" rather than explain we live in Texas now. Some guy even clapped Coach on the back and said "we sure are glad you're here and hope Everyone's been treatin' you well."

We've had such a wonderful summer filled with many blessings  ... a beautiful baby (great) niece was born into the family last weekend, our beautiful niece is getting married this weekend, and our nephew got engaged!  So incredible to watch the next generation growing up and carrying on.  We are all so so excited about the wedding this weekend!  We haven't really seen Coach's side of the family since his mom passed away January 2015. And, of course, I can't wait to see T and Johnny Frat Boy!!

KJ had a great first week of school.  I can NOT believe this kid is driving herself to school each morning. Each Friday from now until after Homecoming (basically the entire football season) is dress-up day. Last week was Hawaiian day, this week is Fisherman Friday, I know there's a nerd day in there somewhere, a twin day, a super hero day, a jersey day, etc.  She has finally decided on a career path and has joined a couple of clubs to reflect her choice and she's got a couple of scheduled college visits coming up. Yikes. And, of, course, she's counting down the days until her Costa Rica trip.

T-bone is loving her new job, her nice paychecks and her cute apartment. She loves her location and is always tickled when she runs into people in the darnedest places. She goes to yoga regularly, the farmer's market each week, catches a baseball game when she can and has dinner with friends.  When Frat Daddy comes into town they rent bikes and explore. She has a couple of girlfriends in T-town for grad school so she sees them regularly and a bunch of them recently met in Nashville for a friend's birthday.  She and Johnny Boy have also had a couple of weekends at the beach.  Yep. She's got it made. My friend LCM has always said, "T is a rock star and I wish I had her life." She is 100%  right. T has always done things her way and has always had a ball doing it.  She's a combination of Mary Tyler Moore, her friend Rhoda and Carrie Bradshaw all rolled into one. #CosLife

Fall into Fall ???

Sitting by the pool drinking my morning cup of tea and it is positively glorious!!  The temperature is way down, there's a beautiful breeze and you can actually smell the rain coming our way. I'd say the weather is starting to transition to Fall and I'm excited to see what Fall in Texas is all about!  I actually dreamt of Fall decorations last night (which I can explain!). Fall is my favorite time of year and Fall up North is gorgeous and Fall in Birmingham was always fun and fantastic. Coach loved putting his TV on the back deck, having a fire in the pit and watching some SEC football.

Last night Cosmo and I went to the Rangers vs Mariners game and had a great time!  He's  been to that stadium many times before (honestly, where hasn't he been) but it was my first Rangers game. One of his vendors dropped off the tickets and we had great seats 25 rows up off the 3rd baseline. The stadium is nice but I really think Camden Yards is my favorite place to see a baseball game. The O's are coming to town next weekend so maybe we'll catch part of that series.

We couldn't figure out why the Rangers mascot, which is a horse, was running around wearing a tartan kilt and a set of golf clubs. And then Jordan Speith threw the ceremonial pitch. 

On our way to the stadium last night we passed this great little nursery by our house. On the way there I noticed they had some Fall/Halloween decorations up but couldn't get a good look. On the way home it was dark and the decorations were lit up and looked super cute so that's why I think I dreamed of fall decor!!  I love the layout and look of this house and think my Fall things are going to look great in this house! 

A little Fall Fun

KJ had a great Halloween and trick or treated with a couple of girls from the neighborhood despite the light rain.  We had a ton of kids at the house which was pretty fun and I had just enough candy.  My favorite costume of the night was Troy Polamalu.  One of the boys KJ goes to school with wore a Steeler's jersey and had a huge wig on.  Too funny!  She didn't have school on Friday so we got to sleep in for a bit.  We met Cosmo for lunch and did a little shopping in the afternoon.  KJ picked out a Michael Kors bag and it will be put away for a Christmas present.  She also bought two cute dresses and a couple of shirts. 

Saturday KJ was invited to the movies and shopping with a girl from her Math class so Cosmo and I took advantage of the free time and had a date day.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous, mid-60's with plenty of sunshine.  We had a GREAT lunch at the DC Boathouse in Georgetown
http://dcboathouserestaurant.com/ and walked around the campus for a while.  We found the football stadium and caught a bit of the game vs. Lafayette.  Nice stadium, very small (nothing like Bryant-Denney!) but nice nonetheless.  Can't wait to see some lax games there!  I was so mad at myself . . . I lugged my camera around all day but it didn't have a memory card in it but did get a couple of good pics with my phone.  I luv, luv, luv Georgetown.  I've told Cosmo repeatedly that I'd give my right arm to live there. 

Pumpkin Chunkin'

We had such a great weekend!  Very "autumnal."  The weather was amazing -- lots of bright sunshine, temps in the mid-60's and lots of blue skies.  Cosmo was on a roll and cooked almost the entire weekend.  Saturday morning he and KJ made biscuits for breakfast.  That afternoon they made homemade white pizza.  Sunday morning he made us French toast.  Love a man who cooks! 

Thursday I didn't feel like cooking so KJ and I planned to meet Cosmo at Uncle Julio's, a Mexican restaurant we like which is close to Cosmo's office.  I wasn't paying attention when I entered it in my GPS and it felt like we were driving forever.  I actually said to KJ, "hmmm....I didn't remember it being this far."  Double-checked my Garmin and realized I hit the address for the Uncle Julio's in Fairfax, VA.  Fortunately, I was able to get off at the closest exit, turn around and found my way to the right Uncle Julio's in time for a yummy swirly margarita!  My fave! 

Saturday we went to a local orchard to get our pumpkin on and couldn't have picked a better day.  The weather was perfect and we had so much fun.  http://www.butlersorchard.com/  Lots of stuff to do -- we went on a hay ride, found our pumpkin (35 lbs!), pet some animals, slide, walked through the corn maze, etc.  Every year we went to a farm in Clanton http://www.alabamagrandolepumpkinpatch.com/ and going to the pumpkin patch is one of our favorite family traditions.  KJ's obviously too big for pony rides and face painting but this year was fun because she did a little Pumpkin Chunkin'!  It was AWESOME and her pumpkins went flying!!  They must have gone at least 100 yards. 

Saturday night we watched a bunch of scary movies -- the remake of the Amityville Horror (w/ Ryan Reynolds) and the remake of The Omen (w/ Liev Schriber).  I'm not a horror movie fan and had never seen either of those movies (originals or remakes).  Cosmo was out like a light on the couch and KJ and I were up until almost 1 AM watching scary movies.  She slept with the light on that night. 

Sunday KJ had her final rec league volleyball game.  It was one of those "play until you lose" kind of things.  (Un)fortunately they lost in their first round so it ended up being an early afternoon for us.  Since the weather was so good we did our outside Halloween decorations. 

Coming Along Nicely

Finally feeling like we've settled in and finally got around to taking some photos of our bedroom and KJ's room.  Our room is gigantic, almost a little too big. 

 

Here's a photo of KJ's room.  A little smaller than her room in B'ham and she didn't want to loft her bed so the desk part is in one of the guest rooms.  She said she's been sleeping better than she ever has but I think a large part of that is because we're upstairs with her.  She positively hated being the only one upstairs in the old house.  If T was out of town or at a sleep-over, KJ refused to sleep upstairs alone and would spend most nights on the couch.  And it got worse when T went off to college.  Even at a young age, I'm talking 2 and 3 years old, we'd find her asleep everywhere but her own bed.  She'd get out of her toddler bed and try to get in bed with T, we'd find her on the floor in T's bedroom and then T got smart and started to shut her door at night.  We'd find KJ curled up like a ball right outside T's door.  It was so pathetic!  Then KJ realized she could come downstairs to the master bedroom and she'd try to get in bed with us or we'd find her on the floor in our room with her favorite blankie.  

 

Started some of my Fall and Halloween decorating but I've got more I want to do.  It's raided the last couple of days so I haven't done anything outside.  I did, however, manage to get my table started. 

 

The water goblets are a new addition this year.  My mom picked them up for me at a garage sale.  

 

The sparkly pumpkins are in the living room and I have a few other things to go with them.  A purple sparkly skull for one. 



 

 

Just a Bill

Ed & Gins are coming for a quick visit this weekend.  The weather is supposed to be pretty good (unseasonable warm, in the high 80's) and I would have loved to go into DC but with the shut down and now with today's incident on Capital Hill (I always think of "I'm Just a Bill" from Schoolhouse Rock every time someone says "Capital Hill), that's not going to happen.  Maybe we'll go into Baltimore or Annapolis (I haven't been back to Annapolis since we left the first time!). 

There is a local Octoberfest on Saturday so we might be able to hit that depending on what time they get here.  I haven't done any of my Fall / Halloween decorating yet so maybe my mom can help me with that.  There's also a nice orchard nearby that is supposed to have a great pumpkin festival (as opposed to a Great Pumpkin festival a la The Peanuts).   http://www.butlersorchard.com/

I've had a touch of insomnia the last couple of days and end up watching mindless garbage on TV.  If I read, I can read all night and that's worse.  Mindless TV makes me drowsy and I end up falling asleep on the couch.  The last couple of nights I've watched a show called Life Below Zero on the National Geographic channel.  http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/life-below-zero/  This show is CRAZY!  I totally get folks wanting to living off the grid, etc. but I'm not a big red meat eater and don't think that I could survive.  Instead of seal meat or bear meat, I'd be craving a salad. 

HY, DR !!!

Welp, the game didn't turn out the way Ole Miss fans would have liked but we still managed to have a good time Saturday night.  I was hoping the Rebs would put up at least a touch down.  Oh!  And did I mention that Coach Freeze tweeted some birthday wishes to me???  How cool is that??!!

The weather was gorgeous this weekend and we had all the windows open and my dining room looked great!  Cosmo and I had on some Rebel gear, KJ, however, was a little "confused" -- she had on an Ole Miss jersey but she wore an Alabama hairbow and an Alabama button.  One of our former Hoover neighbors came over and brought a delish cheesecake and The Godfather and his wife (they had never seen KJ!) brought some great cookies.  I made T's favorite chilli cheese dip and pulled pork sandwiches. 

I haven't talked to T but she texted a couple of times throughout the weekend.  They got to T-town Friday night and she was able to catch up with friends this weekend.  She texted an amazing panoramic pic from her seat in Bryant-Denny and she's already back in Oxford for Rush practice. 

 

And here's a couple pics of the kitchen area and the family room.  I forgot to take photos of the bedrooms yesterday and haven't made my bed yet today so that's just going to have to wait!  And the formal living room is now full of my Halloween and Thanksgiving boxes just waiting to be opened.  I'll probably do my fall decorating this week! 

 

Foyer

Breakfast Nook

Family Room from Kitchen

Breakfast Nook



Fall

"Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree."  ~  Emily Bronte

 

A little nippy this morning as KJ headed off to school.  She wanted to wear the red and blue cardigan I bought for Ole Miss games but I told her that's not gonna happen.  The kid has a closet full of clothes and accessories yet raids my closet every chance she gets. 

 

No secret Fall is my favorite season.  Besides cooler temperatures, sweaters, boots, fall decorating and all that great stuff, I love all the great new Fall shoes and movies!  Last night I TiVo'd "Blacklist" with James Spader.  There's been a lot of hype about the show, I just hope it's as good as critics say.  "Modern Family" is back and the second season of " Nashville" premieres tomorrow night.  At the theaters, I'd like to see "Don John" with Joseph Gordon Levitt http://donjonmovie.tumblr.com/ (he sure has grown up since his "3rd Rock from the Sun" days and who doesn't love a guy who sings "Good Vibrations" in the car???) and I'd also like to see "Runner Runner" with Justin Timberlake and Ben Affleck  http://www.runnerrunnermovie.com/?gclid=CIbwupaH5LkCFbF9Ogod6AoAJQ.  In November, "The Wolf of Wall Street" comes out as well as "The Book Thief" and "Catching Fire." 

Speaking of Fall, I did get some of my Fall decorating done this past weekend.  I found most of my tailgating items and have decorated for the Ole Miss vs. Alabama game this weekend:  I've got my entry-way ready and my dining room table is almost complete.  Here's the link to last year's table:  http://cos4.blogspot.com/2012/09/table-update.html  We've got friends and family coming over Saturday night to watch the game so I really need to finish! 

Yesterday I did my mantel.  I kept it very, very simple.  I found a beautiful, sparkly , glittery leaf garland and accented with sequined pumpkins and mercury gourds and acorns.  My inspiration:

 

The end result:

 

 

 

 

 



Crimson Corner (and can I get a Go Bucs!!!)

I realized I haven't posted any photos of my Crimson Corner. I've had the foyer decorated since the beginning of the season and the kids all loved it when they came over for homecoming and KJ's tailgate party.

luv, luv, luv the photo of me & Cosmo from the 2010 Alabama vs. PSU game!

KJ's Bear Bryant Hat. Cosmo bought it for her first Bama game!

Garden art in the backyard; bought this several years ago @ a RB Market)

Go Bucs!

Thought about hanging this on the front door but we get so much sun! Don't want it to fade!

Seriously folks!

It just doesn't get any better than this! The weather has been absolutely beautiful and I love sleeping with the windows open (although I think I'm suffering from allergies or something . . . I've been fighting a headache since Saturday afternoon and I'm very stuffed up again).

KJ had volleyball yesterday. Oh boy. Her poor little team. They just can't catch a break. It's pitiful. They can't even win a coin toss. Honest to God! We took KJ to YoMo after her games (matches? I have no idea what it's called) and sat outside and just chatted and caught up with her doings. She had spirit week at school last week and always has fun with that. After YoMo we bought pumpkins, our hay bale and some corn stalks and did some of our outdoor decorating.

T went to TTown for the Vandy game. It was her first time going to a game w/ just friends. She's been down there for games with friends and their parents, but this was the first time she's gone down there w/out parental supervision. She had a great time and said everytime she turned around she ran into someone she knew. T said it was awesome . . . everyone kept offering them food and my friends from work kept texting her to tailgate w/ them. I don't know if yesterday's TTown excursion was a good idea. I think it's just going to make the college decision that much harder for her.

And whoa! What do you know! Speaking of college, Friday afternoon she got a call from the admissions office in FL letting her know she had been accepted and because of her grades and ACT score she will quality for a Presidential Scholarship. She was SO psyched and couldn't wait to call me! She said she was headed to the Senior Tailgate and saw the FL # on her caller ID. The admissions officer said, "I know it's late in the day but I just wanted to call you and hopefully this will make your weekend!" Um, yes! It made EVERYONE's weekend! Go T!!!

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.

Fall 2011 Preview

So ready for this hot, sticky, steamy weather to be over! I absolutely hate living here in June, July and August (unless we're at the beach!) but LUV, LUV, LUV being here in the fall. I like late September, early October best.

I like being able to wear a pair of cargo's with a lightweight sweater and some cute shoes, a pair of jeans with a short-sleeve top and killer shoes.

Happy Snails (see below) is my new favorite Vera Bradley pattern. This is a photo of the "Grand Traveler" (very similar to the "Weekender"). I have the "Weekender" in a couple different patterns and LUV it! Lots of room, lots of pockets and I love the option of using either the should strap or the hand straps. It's a great all-purpose / carry-on / long-weekend kind of bag!
I love a big brown leather bag to carry around, too. Coach recently issued a vintage collection (I think they refer to it as "Classics"). I have a bag very similar to the "Station" bag below but mine is that gorgeous British Tan color and was the very first Coach bag Cosmo bought me. I took exceptionally good care of it and it's in excellent condition. That bag has to be 13 to 15 years old (we were still living in Cincinnati when he gave it to me). It's one of those leather goods that actually looks better with age.
Love the Transatlantic bag, just not sure about the color. I love the color but don't know how much use I would get out of a green bag. I do wear alot of neutrals so maybe I could get away with it.

Of course, the mac-daddy of all bags is: