Our 2011 Christmas Card



 

With Love Christmas Card

Create personalized Christmas card designs at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

happy thanksgiving week!

Sorry for the lack of blogging this past week. I have tons of blog posts swirling around in my mind, but life has been crazy with our business and we are leaving town tomorrow for Florida so I just haven't had a spare moment for editing photos and whatnot.

But I wanted to take a quick minute to wish you all a happy thanksgiving!

And in honor of turkey day, here are a few pictures of a turkey craft I made with the little man.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

xo

a fall tablescape

One of the best things about a new season is arranging a new tablescape. I'm sure some of you agree. Or is it just me?

Actually, I should admit that I added some fall bits to my table a while ago. Once those little pumpkins hit the grocery store I can hardly keep them out of my cart (and off my table). Even if it still is 80 degrees outside. 

I love all the varieties. Those tiger striped ones are my new favorites this year.

And those little glittery ones....well every tablescape needs a little sparkle, right? They were originally plain orange pumpkin candles. I thought they needed a little something so I painted them with Elmer's glue and sprinkled some bronze glitter over them.

Oh and that's my new striped runner. I've been eyeing it for 2 months in a local boutique. My mom bought it for me for my birthday because she is awesome like that :)

We have tons of maple trees in our neighborhood with beautiful red leaves. My mom picked several while she was here and I thought they would be fun to add to the napkins.

  

Do you ever finish taking all your pictures and then think "why didn't I do such and such?" After I took all these I wondered why on earth did I not light the candles for any of the pictures. It was dark out when that thought occurred to me, so I lit them and took a little night time pic for you. Those bronze colored candle holders were $1 from Target. Score! And don't you love the silhouette they make on the table? Double score!

I've showed you this little lovely before. It's from Melissa and it makes me smile every time I see it.

So there you go. Fall tablescaping fun!

If you have a fall tablescape, I would love to see it. Leave your link in the comments and I'll stop by!

xo,

alima

happy fall y'all

It's been fall for many of you for quite some time now, but here in the south the temps don't really start to cool off until after Halloween. Even now, the mid day temps are in the high 70's/low 80's. However, our mornings and evenings are cool enough that the tree leaves are changing to beautiful reds and oranges. And if you leave the house during the cooler hours, you have a good excuse to throw on a fun scarf. So I am officially saying happy fall! 

A few pictures of what fall looks like around here:



how pretty is that tree?!



 

colorful leaves, cords and long sleeve rugby shirts





my mom and the little man at a local state park



family pics in front of pretty, red trees.  (oh and my favorite part....fun scarves!)

walking in piles of leaves

fall tablescapes (more on this one coming later in the week)

turkey crafting (because what is fall without a good turkey craft)?!

What does fall look like where you live?

linking up with Sarah for good life wednesdays

miss sew & so

Have you met Melissa from Miss Sew and So?


via

I adore her!

I feel certain that once you meet her and her blog, you will adore her too! She is one of those people that is radiant with a beautiful energy and passion for life. I've never met her in person, but you can see and feel her beautiful personality from her blog.

She introduced me to these amazing french script stencils and Jamie magazine. I introduced her to The Help and Restoration Hardware.
We both love to sew and cook and be mamas. And most importantly we both have a love for all things french, vintage, coastal and farmhouse inspired. And so we have become fast friends and have officially dubbed ourselves "coastal farmgals."

And in the sweetest gesture, she sent me a beautiful package full of goodies all the way from her beautiful home in the English countryside. I was beyond excited as I have never received a package from Europe before!

There it is - the Royal Mail sticker in all it's glory.

Everything perfectly wrapped in brown paper and twine and garnished with doilies and hearts cut from book pages.

Here it is all unwrapped. Jamie magazine - my new cooking favorite! That sweet little heart ornament which I have hanging on the back of a french bistro chair in my dining room. Fun little cupcake flags made in Europe and even a little coin bank from London that she sent for my little man.

I heart you, Melissa. :)

Go check out Miss Sew & So. I promise you will love her!


Linking up with Privet & Holly for Monday Moments

the big three-o

Yesterday was my birthday.

Some people freak out a little about turning 30. And I might have, except it just snuck up on me so quickly that I didn't have time to. October seriously flew by.

So far thirty has been pretty sweet. On Wednesday, my parents surprised the heck out of me by flying in from Florida. The last time I spent my actual birthday with my parents was when I turned 17. I'll do the math for you - that's 12 years I have not seen my parents on my birthday. So I was beyond thrilled to see them and realize that I get to spend the week with them. Apparently my parents and the husband have been plotting this trip for sometime. And lots of people were in on it. I still can't believe that no one slipped up and ruined the surprise!

Anyways, we just been spending time catching up and relaxing, eating delicious food, drinking delicious wine & coffee, oh and a little antique shopping of course. :)

Me and the 'rents right after they surprised me!

confession time

You may or may not know that I really like to cook. And bake. And I do both quite frequently.

I always think about going all Pioneer Woman on you and posting recipes with step by step pictures.

But do you know why I don't??

{here comes the confession}

I am the messiest cook ever. 

I honestly wish I was more neat in the kitchen. I try all the time to be better about it, but I am rarely successful.



Some really tasty meals come from these messes though so I guess it's OK. :)

What about you? Are you neat and organized when you cook or does it look like a hurricane blew through your kitchen when your done?

I really hope I am not the only cook out there with this problem!

xo

Alima