Thanksgiving - Oh Yum

My parents are coming out for Thanksgiving (yippee!) to celebrate the holiday but also help us on the house... again. They worked like dogs back in August in the kitchen (which is 95% done now - pictures coming soon!)

and unfettered by exhaustion, sweat and lots of drywall dust, they return next week for more - bless them. 

Anyway, I'm excited at the prospect of hosting a Thanksgiving meal at in our new home and thus digging for tasty (and relatively healthy) looking recipes - like this gorgeous Winter Jeweled Fruit Salad which calls for lime, sea salt and honey in addition to the fruit. Mmmm. 

I made these heavenly rosemary mashed potatoes and yams last year when we had friends over for dinner and they were so tasty I think I'm gonna do them for Thanksgiving. With garlic and Parmesan cheese baked in, how could you go wrong, I mean really.

These citrus green beans sound deeeelish. The recipe calls for shallots, roasted pine nuts and orange zest. I was never a fan of the heavy green bean casserole or those awful things out of the can. This citrus-y dish is more up my ally... 

What about you? Are you hosting holiday meals this year? Any favorite recipes? Do tell!

(all images via here)

More Wedding Lovliness

Back in September, I had the privilege of providing flowers for our friends Amber and Ryan's wedding. 

It was such a lovely day and a beautiful wedding. I posted about it right here.

Just last week, Amber emailed me with a link to the website of their professional photos. They were just too gorgeous not to share... 

Amber was a vision - just stunning (and I'm still so happy I was able to score those anemones with the dark centers for her bouquet!)

This image board captured the feeling of the day so well. All the little vintage details were put together so nicely and that dessert table...sigh... 

All images via Free Bird Photography

Snow Day

It's snowing again (quite a lot) in Denver today and Ike is working from home. We had eggs and grapefruit and coffee together in our robes. It's been nice. Real nice. 

We might take our fireplace for an inaugural run tonight (if I can convince him we don't need one of those screens up first to protect from sparks and stuff - fire hazard-shmire hazard). I see an apple crisp and bacony potato soup in our future too... 

(all images via)

Living Room Inspiration (and a not-so-fun day)

About eight hours ago I was just logging in to my blogger account to do a nice little post on gray, cream and gold and how I'm loving these colors right now and thinking about decorating my living room using that palette. As I was typing in my google password, I was confused to hear what sounded like a babbling brook coming from the basement. What the?? I ran downstairs to discover a veritable waterfall pouring in the basement window. I was home alone and in a frantic state as water gushed (I mean, gushed like a river people!) from the window and in to the laundry room. Long story short, a frozen pipe burst and three rooms had water standing in them along with some lovely muddy sections as well. Thus my day was spent hauling boxes out of the basement, wiping, mopping and cleaning up the mess with my less than pleased husband who raced home like a bat out of hell to help me. Now I'm really ready to forget about the basement and think happy thoughts - like how gorgeous my living room could look with a palette like the ones below once all the wet boxes are cleared away...

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Gorgeous wall color and cool lamp shade...

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Love the art/antler mix along with the pops of citrus colors...

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Love the striped walls and dark pulls on the drawers... 

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I'm smitten with the gold/cream/gray combo but Ike isn't convinced... How do we convince the men folk??

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This room is a tad too dressy for my taste, but wow - I still love looking at it. Love that gold mirror and those curtain rods not to mention the long, gorgeous smokey gray panels... 

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The headboard and rug really get my goat (in a good way). And that velvet-y bolster on the bed adds such a nice bit of color... 

What color combos are you loving right now? I can't seem to shake the gray...

Fern & Flora Recommends

I generally don't like one-stop-super-giant retail stores for all the obvious reasons, but one thing I do love about them is the massive bin of $5 DVDs that are almost always plunked down in the main isle by the registers. I hit the adorable British cartoon jackpot earlier this week when I saw the BBC's Beatrix Potter and Friends DVD in said massive bin. My late Uncle Steve got us hooked on these utterly charming animated shows based on the books and I want to start a collection of my own for when we have little kiddos. There won't be any Sponge Bob Square Pants crap on at our house. No sir. BBC animation or bust.

Anywho, my favorite part of the series isn't the cartoons. It's the lovely beginning where Beatrice is out painting in the English country side and it starts to rain. She gathers her things and runs back to her stony little cottage, makes herself a cup of tea and starts writing letters, which then turns into the animated part. 

Maybe I'll be asking for the complete collection for Christmas... The Tailor of Gloucestershire makes for a lovely Christmas show... They're all available for purchase right here. And if you have little ones, take it from me, you need these!

Happy Weekend Friends!

Hooray for Fall Foliage!

 

Over the weekend, I got to do something I rarely get to do: arrange flowers for the fun of it. A friend of a friend is starting an event planning business and asked if I would provide some autumn-inspired bouquets for a photo shoot. Getting to peruse the wholesaler without any guidelines but my own taste is just a hoot for me. And the fall offerings right now? Off the hook! The berries and branches, vines and blooms are to die for. I've never used those tangerine colored Ilex berries before - probably because those babies aren't cheap, but every one in a while a creative splurge is totally worth it, don't you think? 

Back to Reality

How does an auntie say goodbye to these sweet faces? I hardly know...

Commence re entry into a life filled with remodel dust and boxes that need to unpacked. Sniff. 

I had the good fortune to fly home last week to celebrate the birthdays of my two favorite little people - my nephews. They were born two years and about a month apart so my sister decided a joint party would be a fun and simpler way to celebrate both little munchkins. Long story short, I spent 5 days lolly gagging with the little boys, my  three sisters and my folks too. There was a trip to the apple orchard and pumpkin patch as well as the birthday party, lots of family dinners and some watching of football. Come Sunday afternoon, the exodus began with my sister and her husband heading back to St. Louis. Next, Ali (my other sis) flew back to South Carolina and then last night, it was my turn to head back to Colorado. A few tears were shed as is customary for my family. Why can't we just enjoy the time we have together instead of getting all blue and wishing we didn't have to part? I don't know. But saying goodbye hardly seems to get easier. On the bright side, my dear Ike was waiting for me when I arrived and was so kind and welcoming which was just what I needed. There's always a silver lining....