Fall is here, I love this season! (Well, I love most seasons actually). The leaves haven't quite turned yet but they are well on their way. This year I'm ready to say good-bye to summer and embrace fall with all its cozy loveliness. I've spent my last few days off doing "fall" stuff. Hoping to go up to Greenbluff tomorrow. Yesterday, I went for a walk (and side note, ending finding a lovely green trunk at a garage sale). Anyways, this time of year is fun at the park, seeing all the squirrels scurrying around, finding acorns and what not.

Ever since I was little, my mom would take us on walks in the fall to look for bright leaves. We would take our favorites home and press them between wax paper. 

Today, my sis and cousin invited me over to make fall wreaths with them. It was so much fun. I had seen this fun fall wreath on Elise Blaha Cripe's blog earlier in the week, tutorial here. It got tucked into that "Wow, That's Cool, Maybe I'll Get Around To Making One Some Day" folder in the back of my brain. This was perfect timing, now I have my own hanging up by my front door instead. Some times you just need someone else to help kick start your crafty side into gear.

Here's mine all finished. (Of coarse I couldn't wait for decent lighting to take pics, so impatient.) I love how it's so not a typical wreath. Today brought back fun memories of making wreaths with my grandma when I was a kid, still remember my first hot glue gun burn.

This cornucopia has been at every Thanksgiving I can remember, after being moved, removed, box to bigger box to garage sale to my trunk, it had lost most of it's innards and was pretty pathetic looking. It deserved better than that, so when the new Hobby Lobby opened up, I got it some sprigs to spruce it up a bit. ... much better. Also busted out my favorite "Leaves" candle, smells perfectly of fall. And one of Gram's electric candles to finish it off. I still miss her so much. Thanksgiving this year is going to be hard...


And it wouldn't feel like fall with out a good piece of pie! Kicking off pie season with some pumpkin pies! There is something really therapeutic about making pie crust. Also made a batch of spiced cider to finish off the first weekend of fall! Off to enjoy the last glass!

Oh Paris

So, more pictures as promised! I just finished up a long work stretch and finally had a chance to sit down and start sorting through the 1000+ pictures from our trip. Here are a few of my favorites. 

Outside our Bed & Breakfast

Ornate scroll work on the door at the Notre Dam

Succulents at a Flower Shop

There were locks all over some of the bridges

Latin Quarter

Inside the Louvre

Ancient Stone Tablets

Stone Tablet with Hieroglyphics

The Mona Lisa - it's not a small as people would have you think

Streets of Paris

Blue Doors. Love all the wrought iron balconies.

Cheers to Paris at the top of the Eiffle Tower

View of the City

From the top!

Sun setting over Paris

And from the bottom.

What a wonderful city. I would so go back...

Back to the Humdrum

Bicycle on the Canal - Annecy, France

It is nice to be home. Spending time with Mal, getting the laundry done, grocery shopping, trying to get over jet lag. Sorting mail, paying bills, putting stuff away. Sounds so glamorous... not. But really, its been nice to have some down time before heading back to work on Wednesday. Time to get things in order, get back into a routine. Europe was lovely, and my most epic adventure to date! (more pictures and such to come) but it sure is nice to have a cup of coffee in my pjs in the morning while hanging out with my cat. I missed that among other things like "regular" toilets, drinking tap water, sleeping in my own bed. Ahhh... it is good to be home.