Oh, boo.

It's been a looooong week and I'm tired, so I'm just going to come out and say this:

I don't really like Halloween.

I know, I know...it's so fun to get dressed up in costumes, and there are so many fun decorating ideas....I've  heard it all. But the thing is, I really don't like spooky things. Never have, probably never will. I've never seen a horror movie (except for Scream when I was in middle school and I was FREAKED OUT for weeks). And things like spiders and rats and bats gross me out.

Also, I find it kind of frustrating that it's nearly impossible to find a costume for a girl that is not a "sexy something."  Like "Sexy hippie", and "Sexy Robin Hood".

People, Robin Hood was A MAN.

Ok, rant over. Moving on to more cheerful things.

You know what I do love that's kind of Halloweeny (if that's even a word)?

The color orange.

This is a new love for me...we're in the beginning of our relationship, so I haven't introduced orange to the rest of our house yet. But one search on 1st Dibs is all it took---I'm beginning to think that maybe orange and I need to make a commitment.

I mean, seriously. How could I resist??

Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.

Get excited.

Friday Night Lights is back.

If you are lucky enough to have DirecTV, then tonight at 9PM EST, you will be able to watch the premier of the fourth season of the hands down best. show. ever.

I have to wait for the episodes to run on NBC next year and I can hardly stand it. Coach Taylor is at East Dillon, Julie is a senior, the jerky QB from last season is apparently even worse, Matt Saracen is delivering pizza and Tim Riggins is...well, Tim Riggins.

Knew that would get your attention.

Also, if you've never watched the show and don't really consider yourself a big football fan, don't be surprised when you find yourself cheering at the top of your lungs and jumping up and down when the game scenes are on. It's totally normal.

Right?

Come on baby, light my fire.

I always miss Wisconsin around this time of year. I wish I could teleport myself back there, where the leaves are turning, the days are chilly and there is that fantastic smell of fall in the air.

Image via www.travelwisconsin.com

And then teleport myself back when it's February and it's been snowing for four months and the windchill is 30 degrees below zero.

But in the fall, there is nothing better than a lazy evening with a good book in front of a roaring fire. So even though it was in the mid-sixties here last Thursday night, I decided to make our first fire of the season.

Before Allen got home.

Because he warned me that perhaps our flue needed a little attention and he really didn't want to deal with it that night.

But I really did. So, I went ahead and built one anyway.

Whoops.

Long story short, the flue opened and the fire roared beautifully for an hour, but then it slowed to a smolder and the smoke wouldn't go up the chimney completely and now our house kind of stinks.

Probably need to have to have someone come look at that before my next fire. But in the meantime, here are some of my favorite images of fireplaces...all via our beloved Domino, of course!

Tales from the sale.

So....we had the garage sale this weekend.

And you know? It really wasn't that bad. Despite the bright and early 6AM rise time on a weekend morning, it was actually a successful venture...

Perhaps bright and early was the wrong choice. It was early, alright...not so bright.

We expected early birds, so we tried to move quickly...but we still weren't ready when the first customers arrived at 7:15.

I didn't take any pics while we actually had customers, by the way. But I promise we had them. By 11, we were cleared out of the little stuff, but the furniture hadn't moved.

And by the time the end of the sale rolled around, we'd had a pretty successful day! Successful enough, that is, for one of my chairs to be reupholstered, so hopefully Santa will come through with the other one. :)

On Sunday, I finally had the chance to tackle my new project...

Again, Mikell, if you are reading this, please stop.

I started the first of my homemade Christmas presents for the year...a set of six placemats and matching napkins. Is the fabric not SO beautiful? It's from my new favorite place: CityCraft. If you live in Dallas (heck, if you live near Dallas), you should head over there, stat. It's AMAZING.

All in all, a pretty good weekend! Now the rain is back...kinda appropriate for a Monday.

Hope you enjoyed your weekend, too!

My peeps.

So, I realized that while I talk about Allen and Tilly a lot, I've never officially introduced them.

So here they are.

And although she's appeared on the blog before:

. 

I mean, can you stand it? Cutest. dog. evah.

And the countdown begins...

...to the garage sale! It's starts tomorrow morning at 8AM.  And we're totally organized and ready to go.

Ha.

I was going to take a picture of our guest room with all of the garage sale wares in it, but it was waaaay to mortifying a mess to share.

Suffice it to say, we've got a lot of work in front of us tonight. And by us, I really mean me because as much as I love him, I'm not sure Allen's going to get in to the whole pricing a million items thing. He's probably going to focus on the getting things set up part, which is fine with me. He's also in charge of going to the bank for small change and sign placement. :)

Speaking of signs. I picked ours up at Home Depot and they are your typical garage sale sign...nothing fancy, like the cute sign above from Sassysigns.com. And then last night I had an idea. What if I used my K& Company Amy Butler scrapbooking paper (since I've never scrapbooked in my life but I loved the line so much I bought 4 of the pads when they had them at Michaels) to make my own signs, and then have them laminated? Wouldn't that totally drive traffic to our house?

Then I realized I was probably creating projects so that I didn't have to attack the pricing thing. So we're using the boring signs.

Anyway, please cross your fingers for us that it goes well tomorrow! I need a little padding in the chiang mai dragon fund. :)

In an effort to get pumped for tomorrow, I'm posting pics of cute organizational ideas. Maybe they'll help me stay focused on the goal ahead: a house cleared of clutter and an organized space!

Love these storage boxed from Container Store.

You know what's even better than inexpensive Ikea craft storage? When people decorate it and make it cute. Like these!

I never get tired of this craft armoire from the queen of all things home, Martha.

This sewing cabinet from Better Homes and Gardens is to. die. for.

And finally, what my craft room USED to look like, before garage sale madness took over:

I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.

Dibs!!

I was doing a little virtual 1st Dibs shopping today (my very favorite pastime) and came across a few things that brightened my day. Which is nice, because the rain is back in Dallas. How we've missed you, crappy weather. Or not.

Hope these make you happy, too!

 

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chiang Mai Dragon

The memos came in the mail today.

And I proceeded to freak the heck out open the envelope calmly and rationally.

It's gorgeous in person.  And although I resisted, because it seems everyone and their mom is using it right now, but when I saw it I realized why.

Because it's perfect.

So, of course, I made Allen move all of our furniture so I could stretch the samples across the chairs I want to recover without anything getting in my way and distracting me.

At first, I couldn't decide between the aquamarine or alabaster colorways.

But then it became completely obvious.

I'm going with the blue.

Don't you just love the weekend?

I know it is Monday, but I have a habit of holding on to the weekend.

Especially weekends like the one I just had. After literally weeks of rain, the sun came out and we had a perfect fall weekend, weatherwise. Since moving to Texas I've become especially appreciative of those weekends, because we only get about one a year!

We had houseguests this weekend and we had a great time. The dinner party was so fun (I know you were just DYING to know if I was able to pull it together-ha!) and the card table saved the day once again.

We're rocking the mismatched chair look at our house...because I have to pull them from every single room. :)

I have a complete phobia of setting the table incorrectly (fork in the wrong place, etc) so I just put the flatware on top of the plate.

Tilly was pooped from all of the entertaining. Or, more likely, she was in a food coma from the entire tomato that I dropped on the floor and she devoured before I could get to it.

Saturday morning, my errands sidekick and I hit the road. She was thrilled.

First stop? Consignment Collection on Inwood. LOVE this place. I find something there every single time and it's always such a bargain, I almost feel quilty. For about 5 seconds, and then I get over it.

This time was just like every other time...

How freaking cool are these? Can't you just imagine the home these came out of? Wish I could have seen it.

It was tough, but I only took one of them home with me...the little round ceiling mount in the upper left hand corner of the photo. I'm finally replacing the ugly light in our entrance hall!

 

Next stop was Uptown Country Home...where Jenny completely blew it and handed Allen the reciept for the light pictured above. Granted, I dropped it. He got over it when he realized what a deal it was.

And when I showed an incredible amount of willpower and didn't come home with any of the fabulous things she has in her store right now, he was even more appreciative (and probably shocked).

I am actually a little shocked, too. Not sure how he convinced me that I didn't have to have this amazing headboard...

Or a new bathmat.  How fabulous is the robin's egg blue with the white dot pattern?!?  Anyway, my loss is someone else's gain (unless I beat them back to the store). Which I might.

At this point, Tilly was kind of over it. So we headed home...

Until we took a detour and stopped at Again and Again on Henderson.

This is the fabulous consignment mecca where I found my Chippendale secretary.  As always, Leslie had some pretty gorgeous things that with a little love, could be truly amazing.

Like this double chest of drawers. Can't you just see this laquered white with a brilliant robin's egg blue painted...

...on the inside, just showing through the cane?   

I swooned when I saw this baby hanging inside the entrance to the store...I've been on the hunt for something exactly like this for our dining room. Maybe someday!

By now, Allen and Tilly had both completely had it, so we headed home and out to the SMU tailgate/game against Navy, which was a nailbiter....the Ponies lost by a field goal in overtime. :(

This week, I'm spending LOTS of time getting ready for our first garage sale...a process that is already making me a little crazy. I have NO idea how to price this stuff! Keep your fingers crossed that we won't have anything left over or I really might lose my mind.