My Fantasy Thanksgiving Table

If I were hosting Thanksgiving my centerpieces would look just like this...assorted gourds and greenery/flowers in vases and mason jars.

Unfortunately with a tiny kitchen and dining area that won't be happening any time soon, but at least when the time comes I'll know exactly what I want my Thanksgiving table to look like!

I also really like the idea of using vintage plaid blankets for table cloths...but with a busy pattern like that I think you'd have to simplify the centerpiece quite a bit.

Blue Velvet

So many of the bloggers I follow have been posting about blue velvet.  At first I thought it was silly, but I have to admit, its growing on me.

I found this image on Pinterest...it claimed the chair was from Ikea, but I haven't investigate to find out if that's actually true or not.

We do not have room for another piece of furniture at our current house, but...

My parents have a pair of chairs that are almost identical to this one.  Right now they live in the storage area of their basement and are covered in a not so pretty peach and sea foam green 80's floral.

They've been claiming that they were going to put their house on the market for at least 10 years, but now that they have a lake house the want to retire to I think they actually might.

Even though they are in the process of putting an addition on it, it is MUCH smaller than their current house.

That means they're going to have tons of furniture they don't want any more, just waiting for me to makeover and put in my future larger house.

Put You Party Hat On

This pic really makes me want some gold party hats. 

These are a must for NYE this  year...

and probably my birthday party too!

Clog Cravings

I feel like every time I post an outfit I love I also comment that its not BMT appropriate.  At nearly 30 I think I've finally found a style that suits me and know how to dress my body, so just because I moved to a little mountain town I'm not going to go and change everything, but I've realized I need to make some small changes.

For heels this means no more stilettos.  That last post got me thinking about heels I could wear that would still look appropriate here and I've decided clogs are the way to go.  The style is still growing on me but I think its worth looking into.

First I found these, the Ugg Chrissie.   Let me just tell you, I am the queen of finding obscure things on the Internet and these can not be found except for in HUGE sizes.

Then I considered these, the Ugg Kaylee, but I feel like I would walk right out of them.  I do like the braided detail though.

These are the Frye Naiya clog, I liked the idea of a back strap, but these are just too tall.  I try to stay under 4" even with a platform.

I think these might be the winner, the Ugg Dafni.  I have cognac colored boots so I figured I didn't need another pair of brown shoes for the winter.  These have a back strap and the right sized heel.  In my head I think they could be worn with tights...but we'll see!

One last thing, I should probably be taking this as a hint, but all these styles are 30 - 40% off on Zappos!

Style Inspiration

Shoes are a little to masculine for me, but I love the little cuff.

This is how I could look dressed up but laid back in BMT. I've been wanting a pair of sandals that tie and I like that these have a wooden clog-ish heel for a little bit of height while still being comfortable!!

Love it all.  This pic has brought to my attention how much I NEED a camel colored cardi.  Seriously.  It's on my Christmas list now.

Anthropologie Items of the Week

I like the idea of blue earrings as your something blue for a wedding.  All of these would be great options:

Bold blue.

These are described as mint so they might not look as blue in person.

This last option is much less fancy, but could work for a rustic wedding and would be more likely to be wearable in everyday life.

New Year's Eve Outfit

I know its way early to start thinking about this, but I came across this pic on a blog the other day and I thought it was perf NYE outfit inspiration...especially since a set of stacked rings is on my wish list (in gold though).

Last year I decided to get a New Year's dress because I love dresses and love an excuse to get dressed up.  Mistake.  I was cold.  And WAY over dressed for our little mountain celebration.

I like this outfit because I think I would still feel dressed up without looking out of place and most importantly I'd be warm in it!

The coat is J.Crew Factory and its right around $130 (a steal!).  The top is Boden and its as much as the jacket so I'm on the hunt for another embellished top.  The flats are Madewell, I love them even though I'm not normally a bow person.  I'm pretty sure the pants are target (that was a surprise to me).  The scarf is Terrain (an anthropologie sister store).

Fall Salad

I rarely cook for myself when Alex is working.  All summer long salads were my go to meal for such nights, but with the cooler temps they haven't been appealing to me at all!

I came across this fall salad on pinterest the other day and am going to give it a try.  Salads are such a quick, easy, healthy option so I'm hoping that changing up the ingredients will make salads sound good again.

This one has crasins, feta, pears walnuts and bacon (which I may opt out of).  I'll probably add some grilled chicken to get a little protein.

The recommended dressing is one part balsamic vinaigrette, two parts poppy seed dressing.  I'm not going to make a mixture of these two, I think I'll just drizzle accordingly!

Ikea Shelves EVERYWHERE!

Since seeing a similar set of shelves at Hardee's house I've been noticing them all over the Internet too!

I like they way they were used here in a playroom underneath a TV. 

Some day when I have a home office (and not a desk in the guest room like I have right now) I think I'll use something like this for storage and organization.

Pom Pom Holiday Decor

After pinning this pom pom tutorial I've come across all kinds of pom pom holiday decor ideas.  I think I'm going to give it a try...wish me luck!

On presents?  A perf way to add some color to my usual brown craft paper wrapping.

Different sizes and colors could make a fun fall garland!

Anthropologie Items of the Week

I have MANY plaid shirts, but this one is flannel which = warm!

I've instated a new policy for myself.  Since its really only warm enough to wear dresses a few months of the year here, I don't have to dress up to go into the office and wearing a dress out on the town almost always makes me feel over dressed I'm going to only buy dresses that are on sale.

I think this chambray shirt dress could be worn out on the town.

Obviously I love a shirt dress.  Love the pizazz the belt adds to the outfit. 

One more shirt dress.  Thank you Anthro for showing me that it can be paired with tights and booties so I don't have order it and keep my fingers crossed that it will look ok now that the closest Anthro is an hour and a half away and in a different state!

Halloween Costume

Thank you Lauren Conrad for pinning my Halloween costume inspiration for this year.  Comfortable and wearable besides just on Halloween.

I'll be wearing this shirt from Anthro, jeans, moccasins and round glasses I already have (left over from a sorority social back in the day).  I might look through some more picture to get ideas for props..not sure abut the cane but I know our goodwill has them for about a dollar if I want to go that route.  Didn't Waldo normally have a backpack and camera around his neck?  I can't remember but I have a few more weeks to get it figured out. 

I think the hat can be purchased pretty cheaply at Party City.

Home Decor Inspiration

I blame Douger for starting the dry erase calendar trend, but I have to admit it is helpful to have our schedules in an easy to see place at all times.  I'm thinking about turning our calendar wall into more of a command central like this since we literally have an entire wall just devoted to two calendars!

The kitchen table I had at my condo didn't work at this house so now we have two kitchen tables.  I'm thinking the one we're using now could be used as a "desk" kind of like in the office pictured above in the future.  I'm pretty sure this is Jenna Lyon's J.Crew office...its pretty much what my office looks like too!

I really like the set up of this living room...mostly because it provides so much seating!  I also like tons of details like the Moroccan side table next to that chair on the left and the picture frames hung on the OUTSIDE of the book case!

Pretty sure Ikea would sell a simple shaker style vanity like this which could easily be transformed with a coat of gray paint to look fab like this one.  I swear by Annie Sloan paint for doing furniture.  You can not mess up.  You don't have to sand.  And something like this could be done (including dry time) in an hour or two! 

We keep our dish towel on the oven bar and since we have a small kitchen its really not a big deal, but I love the idea of actually having a towel bar by the sink where it will be used!

Style Inspiration

Have I shared this picture before?  I can't remember.  Its what finally convinced me to get a pair of colored skinny jeans.  Once I saw they could be styled to wear it seemed like a no brainer...especially in red so they could be worn for game days!

O love the lace blouse and the big leather tote.  I also really like her bangs.  Which is bad.  I can not count the  number of times I've thought bangs were a good idea and then felt major regret after I got them.  Luckily I haven't found a place to get my hair cut here so I'll have a few more weeks to come to my senses before I'll be in Atlanta again and could get a hair cut!

DIY Projects on My Radar

I've been liking the idea of dressers as nightstands a lot recently...and seeing the look in person at Hardee's new house this weekend only added to my admiration of this look.  It makes so much sense to have something functional next to the bed and I think we could all use a little extra storage space.  My current nightstand just has one little drawer and the top of it is pretty much full seeing as I always have a huge turvis tumbler of water and a book on it in addition to the lamp, alarm clock and candle that also live there.

I think I could get a really basic, really inexpensive dresser with clean lines like this at Ikea, paint it and add some brass hardware to it and have a very stylish new dresser!

Love the design on this cornhole board.  My parents need a set for the lake and I just might have to make them a similar set!

In the Dark of Night

There was a really cool old house for sale in BMT that was incredibly reasonably priced.  After visiting Hardee's new house I started thinking I really liked the idea of buying a house that I could work on and customize exactly the way I wanted it.  I started living in a fantasy world where I actually lived in that house and began decorating each room in my head.

Alex and I have had several convos about making our house a little more masculine and a little less bright.  He thinks bedrooms should be painted in dark colors and seeing as I sleep with an eye mask if there is even the slightest bit of light in my room I have to agree with him.

I never thought about a dark green, but I love this.

I think maybe I've used this pic before, probably talking about the headboard and not loving the fur blanket...but I could also go with dark grays.

Navy is on my list too, not only for nails...I just don't have a good example of a navy bedroom saved away just yet, so you'll have to use your imagination.

Sadly, I'm 99% sure the house sold since there is no longer a for sale sign up...guess I'll have to go back to reality and keep sprucing up my current abode!

In the Navy!

Now that it feels like fall here in BMT I've gone ahead and switched over to my fall polish colors.  I have Oxblood on my toes because that color seems to be the rage right now, but I'm tempted to trade my gray polish in for Navy this year.  Alex will prob still think it a strange color for toenail polish, but I doubt he'll give me quite as much grief about it!