Fall Tour Continued ....

Happy Monday ... hope everyone had a great weekend!  My husband, son and I enjoyed a fun, busy weekend with my stepdaughter and her boyfriend, who drove up from Georgia.  Our visit went by *way* too quickly.  This morning, after they left (and I was able to get a bit of work done), I continued playing around a bit with my Fall decor (feel free to click on any pic to enlarge it) ....

We're hanging out in the breakfast room today.  The last time I posted pics of this area, my color scheme included reds, greens, golds and blacks.  It looked like this:

Now, it looks like this:

As you can see, we did quite a few things in here ... painted the entire kitchen SW Ivoire; took down the cornice boards and apple green roman shades and added 108" checked panels (the *mis*treatments I made) and Origami bamboo roman shades in their place; replaced the laminate on the dry bar; traded out the rug and lightened up the accessories. I gotta say, I'm lovin' the new color scheme!  Don't get me wrong ... I love red, but this is a nice change. 

Here's how my centerpiece looks to-DAY (it'll probably look different tomorrow as I'm still "futzing" with it). 

Love the new fleur-de-lis vase that I ordered from a recent Willow House par-tay.  Of course, I had to *cram* it with muted Fall greenery and sprigs that I found at Michaels and Hobby Lobby:

A simple apothecary jar holds fall potpourri and a candle:

I picked up this pretty, cream bowl from Wal-Mart (along with the matching plates ... part of their Fall line), placed a piece of burlap in there, threw in some green apples and called it a day:

Below the table is a new, neutral "soft" jute rug from Pottery Barn.  Love it:

Looking up, you'll see that we replaced our red chandie shades with cream ones and, just for fun, added some fancy crystals.  Again, I love mixing fancy with casual.  You'll also spy a fun "Fall Harvest" sign from HomeGoods lurking in the background:

Beside the table is a deep red 3-tiered buffet that I picked up at Kirkland's last year.  I'd love to paint it a cream color and perhaps distress it a bit, but then I remember who I am, and that I canNOT paint like you creative folks, so it'll probably stay just the way it is:

I recently snatched up Mr. Rooster from Pottery Barn.  I love how he sits perched on top of the buffet, ready to wake up the house at the crack o' dawn. 

Of course, I had to place a strand of garland around the base and throw in some pinecones for color:

I found a cute set of acrylic leaves at Kirkland's and decided to thread them through tassels and hang them around my lamp bases:

Beyond the window is our screened porch, which I'm not quite done decorating yet.  I'm on the prowl for a set of old whitewashed shutters to put behind the big ol' barn star: 

Back to the buffet ... I shared my cloche filled with goodies last week.  I bought the wooden crate from Pottery Barn to house a few wine bottles:

Guess what?  I spy yet another festive card from KariCraft!

On the other side of the table is the dry bar.  A year ago, it looked like this.  Toooooo dark:

I'm so glad we "retired" the red wall, along with the bronze backsplash and dark countertop.  This is such a fresh change!  I also added the "Wine Tasting" wall words and a few other fun accessories: 

Of course, you gotta throw in a few blocks of *faux* cheese to mix with the *faux* grapes and wine corks:

I thought I'd pull out the wine that I received as hostess gifts last year at our Fall party ... love the bottles of Vampire and chocolate wine:

I found this cute "Give Thanks" book at Cracker Barrel: 

And I'm enjoying this new wooden mini *table* server from Pottery Barn:

Well, once again, I've gotten a bit carried away with pics.  Sorry!  I hope you enjoyed your visit ... come back soon!

Thought I'd link up with:

Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday

Making the World Cuter Monday

Motivate Me Monday

Link Party at The Twice Remembered Cottage

Inspiration Friday at Southern in My Heart

Color Outside the Lines for Vignette Fridays

Thanks so much for stopping by,

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It's a Fall Cloche Par-tay!

Happy Friday!  There are lots of Fall gatherings going on in blogland this week!  I'm joining the fun at A Stroll Thru Life, Southern in My Heart, Color Outside the Lines, Style Feature Saturday, The DIY Showoff Fall Festival, Tatertots and Jello, Funky Junk Interiors, Under the Table and Dreaming and Kozaks' Closet and It's So Very Cheri  ... I thought I'd join the fun.  Here are a few of the cloches (and other glass containers) that are scattered throughout our home, showing off the season's colors.  (Feel free to click on the pics to enlarge them).

In our breakfast area, this cloche sits on a red-tiered buffet table from Kirkland's.  The cloche actually belongs on a different, dark brown base, but I though I'd pair it with the white dessert stand instead to allow the pine cone, pear, red pomegranate, leaves and berries to pop against it: 

On the other side of the breakfast table, I placed wine corks, along with a few acorns, in this glass hurricane that is on our wine bar:

The hurricane sits on what used to be the base for a glass fruit bowl (that is, until I broke the bowl ... ooooops):

Over in our great room, the coffee table has a simple tray filled with books and this candle holder, which I chose to fill with *rustic* potpourri:

Also in the great room, these glass hurricanes are filled with all things Fall and are displayed on the mantle.

On the buffet table, I decided to pair the candle in the glass lantern with just a couple of leaves and pinecone:

In the sitting room, you'll find this cloche that I placed on a fun and fancy gold cake stand from Home Goods.  I placed folded up book pages, a pinecone, pumpkin, leaves and a little shell (from our nearby beach) inside of it.  I topped it with a raffia bow and called it a day:

I like mixing casual with fancy:

Walking across the way to the dining room, the floral centerpiece is flanked by large hurricanes (Cindy Crawford line at JCPenney's).  Like the hurricane on the coffee table in the great room, I stuck with a more muted, simple filler of acorns and pine cones (found at Pier One and Kohls).  Something is missing though.  Oh, wait, I know(!) ... it's needs some raffia!  Can you tell I'm overdosing on those bows this season?  Pretty soon, I'll be wearing one in my hair!  LOL.

Outside on the screened porch, I placed these large lanterns (from my fave Home Goods) on the fireplace mantle.  I filled them with a large candle, along with leaves, pumpkins, acorns and guords (a mix that I found at Michaels):

Lastly, I filled this votive with a few large pumpkins (from Michaels) and set it beside one of the rocking chairs on the porch as well.  I'd like to raise it up a bit though by sitting it on a few books ... that's *if* I can find them.  Hmmmm ....

Well, folks, that's all for now.  I'm off to look at everyone else's fun Fall projects! 

Thanks for stopping by!

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We interrupt this program ...

Greetings !!

I know we are in the throws of "all things Fall," however, I just wanted to take a moment to share a little adventure that I went on this summer. 

Admittedly, I am be-YOND petrified when it comes to flying ... we're talking a paralyzing fear!  I've flown quite a few times in the past, but ever since 9/11 (I worked in Washington, DC at the time, just a few miles from the Pentagon), I've been scared to death at even the *thought* of stepping onto a plane.  Some of our fun friends decided it was time for an "adults only" trip (a/k/a no.kiddos.allowed!).  While I was praying it was to a place close where we could travel to by car, alas, it wasn't!  They decided that Punta Cana (Dominican Republic) was the destination!  I immediately said "you guys have fun" ... however, my husband and determined friends wouldn't accept no for an answer!  They wore me down, and wore me down and wore.me.down, until I relented and agreed to go (of course, not without a prescription for Xanax)!  Even though I felt sick and couldn't sleep for several days before we left (and also sad since I was leaving my son for the first time), I'm sooooo glad that I faced my fear of flying because I had the time of my life!

A few weeks before we left, my sweet husband asked if I'd renew our wedding vows on our trip since it was around the same time as our 15th wedding anniversary!  I cried ... and, of course, happily agreed to marry him all over again!

Off we went.  Punta Cana is a such a beautiful place!  We were greeted by an airport filled with tropical huts: (click on any picture to enlarge)

We immediately warned our shuttle escort, Eduardo, that we were a crazy bunch from South Carolina.  He and his co-workers were amused:

The resort where we stayed (Majestic Elegance Club) was beautiful !! 

Here we are, shortly after arriving at the resort .. one of the gals in our group embellished and *bedazzled* fun T-shirts for all the ladies to wear, saying "PC or Bust!" LOL

Our rooms were beautiful:

As was the view:

The food?  Well, let's just say it was "okay."  For example, this tiny, itty bitty thing is what they consider a chicken wing.  Ummmm ... needless to say, I pretty much stuck to bread our entire trip.

There were gorgeous pools everywhere! Of course, we usually found ourselves at the one with the swim up bar.  Here are the fellas with their "Bubba" mugs that kept their drinks nice and cold:

We loved getting dressed up to go out at night and often split up tables between guys and girls.  This way, the guys could talk all things sports *yawn,* while us gals could talk shopping and all things fun!

The day of our renewal was gorgeous !!  It took place at 5:00 p.m., on the beach at our resort.  Another couple in our gang also renewed their vows (and, ironically, their anniversary date is the same day as ours)!  What a special day it was. 

Our great friend and neighbor, Tony, "officiated" for us since it wasn't a legal ceremony.  (Look.at.that.ocean!)

My honey reading his sweet vows:

... placing a beautiful anniversary "bling" on my right hand:

... and sealing it with a smooch:

I love how John's shirt seems to match the ocean in this shot:

The palm trees were gorgeous:

Here is one of my faves ... the infamous jumping pic!  What fun!

 

After the ceremony, we all went to dinner to celebrate, but not before stopping by the beautiful gazebo to see if my husband could still get down on one knee.  Yay, he could:

Annnnd, of course, I simply *had* to convince the girls to take a funny "goddess-pose" picture:

The trip flew by too fast ... MUCH too fast!

Again, I'm so thankful to my family and friends for encouraging me to face my fear of flying.  If I hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to take such a beautiful walk with my honey after renewing our vows ... the beginning of our next chapter together:

Okay, back to your regularly scheduled programming ... so, as you're decorating your beautiful home for Fall, I'm curious to know what fear have you faced lately?
I'm linking up with Tuesday Morning's Chatting at the Sky

Thanks for stopping by,

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