Falling Into Place

Hi All,

It sure is looking and feeling like fall around these parts, and I could not be happier about it. I do so enjoy autumn's rich colors, the chilly bite in the air and leaves crunching under your feet. I think I've told you before, but autumn is my very favorite.

There are so many things I adore about this time of year and some of them take place indoors. Our house seems to sense the change in season too, and has become cozier somehow. We light fires in the fireplace and the animals decide its time to cuddle again. I change out light, summer linens for soft, warm flannel sheets on the beds, add seasonal rugs to the kitchen floor to keep my toes warm, and probably, like many of you, I change out some of the decorative accessories in the house, and I thought I might share a little bit of that with you today.

A cheery wreath greats you at the door, come on in!

At the entry way sweet little pilgrims meet you at the door with glad autumn tidings. In the dining room my small (but growing!), aluminum collection takes its place on the bookshelf my father made when he was in high school. And my favorite gobble~gobble, a gift from my mother-in-law comes out for his month in the spotlight.

You might notice I have a little thing for acorns... well maybe more than a "little" thing. I think they're adorable and it seems that every year, a few more find their way into my home. Here's the newest one...

Oooh, sparkly!

The top of my clock takes on a distinctly autumn feel with fall berries and flowers. My favorite table runner  with embroidered leaves and acorns (I love Home Goods!) and a scattering of ceramic acorns. I think I got those at Pier 1 a few years back.

Even the kitchen window sill gets a little fall love...

A simple fall mantle for the fireplace this year. Tall candle sticks, tiny pumpkins, autumn leaves, two little squirrels, and of course... acorns.

The large acorns here are two of my favorite, they're boxes actually. I usually keep matches or a lighter in one or the other, gotta have one of those close by when you're addicted to candle light.

That about wraps up my tiny tour, I have a few other decorations out too, but these are my favs. So what about you guys? Do you decorate your homes for autumn too? What changes at your place, do tell!

Thanks for stopping by!

oxo,

Lisa

p.s. Voting closes tomorrow, for the Feeling Stitchy Covered in Stitches contest. My Wynken, Blynken & Nod piece was chosen as one of the top 10 (!!!!!) and it's up to everyone in blogland to pick the winner. Please click here and vote for your favorite!

All Good Things Must Come To An End

(My friendly, front yard tree, going out in a blaze of glory.)

So it goes with our favorite season, so it goes with my Fabulous Mystery Giveaway.

Tomorrow after dinner, I'll be pulling the names of the winners, d'oh!

Did you see what I did there?

That's right,  I said winners, there'll be more than one! So, if you haven't already thrown your name in my big, virtual, Jadeite bowl, pop on over and leave me a comment here.

Whoa!

 As I'm sitting here, hurriedly making this post to you (because I'm really supposed to be showered and out of the house already) my front yard is being swarmed by do-gooders!!

No less than 20 teenage girls, are ascending down my block, giggling and armed with rakes and smiles! In a matter of about one minute, they raked my entire front yard which was blanketed, two inches deep, in golden, fallen leaves.

I had to act quick, this girls are fast! Here they are making their way back up the street.

Wow. Thank you Cavalry Bible Church Youth Group!

Those girls just made my day.

Random. Acts. Of. Kindness.

Pass it on.

Love to you all.

oxo,

Lisa

Fall Boutique

Wow, it's Sunday at nearly 10pm, and I'm finally just sitting down to write this post. Whew... hold on, I need to go fetch myself a cuppa.... Ok, now I'm ready! In case anyone is interested, tonight I'm drinking Eggnog Rooibos Tea. Deelish!

Last weekend I was asked to present and serve tea in Elk Grove, CA not too far from where I live in Lodi. This event was to showcase direct sellers such as myself (I do Let's Do Tea, check it out, it's wonderful!!), Pampered Chef, Salt City Candles, Cookie Lee etc. I served lots and lots of tea and met some wonderful people.

Something I find interesting as I do more tea parties, I've observed that people who love tea, really LOVE tea, and those who don't - can't be bothered. There don't seem to bee too many folks on the fence. People who love tea, dive right in, taste, sniff, ask lots of questions and really seem to enjoy themselves. Others simply say "I don't drink tea." and keep on walking. I can't imagine not liking tea. What's not to like? Maybe people who don't enjoy tea have never had a properly made cup? I admit that bad tea can be pretty bad, perhaps it was too bitter, or over steeped fannings (tea dust), or it had no taste because the water was never hot enough to steep the tea properly in the first place... But would that be enough to turn someone away from tea forever? I'm not sure... I'd love to hear your thoughts, has anyone else experienced this?

Anyway the party was great! We were all asked to bring something to put on the snack table for hungry shoppers, this was my contribution, Lemon Souffle Rooibos Tea Cake. Sooo good! I made the little sign to go along side the cake the morning of the party, I'm glad I did! I had several people ask me about the recipe who might not have otherwise popped by for a chat.

Here is a picture of my tables (I accidentally cropped it and didn't save the original sized image, d'oh!) The runners that I made last weekend worked well for me, I was able to quickly sort and search my teas for folks who were looking for something specific. I think I need a larger table though, my tins of tea always seemed in danger of falling overboard.

This was the small tasting station I'd set up on the hostess's gorgeous granite counter top so that people could sample the various teas I made through out the day. I should have waited until the tea finished steeping before I snapped the photo, that way there wouldn't be t-sacs hanging out the tops of the pots... but you get the idea :o)~

This was a fun event, I'm so glad that I did it and am really excited about the craft fair participating in this next Saturday, October 24th! It's at the Stockton Ballroom from 10am~5pm. If anyone happens to be in the area I'd love to see you there!

Time to turn in, tomorrow it's back to work!

Nighty-nite!

Lisa

Not-so-simple Samples...

I feel like I've been in purgatory... making tea samples. Oofa. This is tedious work girls.

But hey!! I'm happyyyyyy! I think I drank a bit too much tea while putting over a hundred of these little babies together! Zing! I'm wired for sound. It's after 11pm, I should be in bed... not gonna happen. Not for a while at least, I need to wear off the tea buzz first. Then again, if I try to go to bed now, I can probably stay up long enough to finally get caught up on Dancing With The Stars and The Biggest Loser. I'm at least 2 weeks behind on each of those. Yes... mind numbing TV, that sounds good right now. I'm typing really fast. Does it sound like I'm typing really fast? Cuz, I am. I'm a fast talker... can't help it.
Whoa, there's a tea mountain beginning to form.

Making a mess of my dining room.

Tea... lots and lots of wonderful, comforting, tasty, yummy tea!

Tea the likes of which you've never tasted (but you should, and I can help you with that)...

Whew! I'm done! Man, I will never take making samples for granted again. That was like a marathon.

I'm trying to get all of my preparations completed early for the Fall Boutique I'm doing on Saturday afternoon. I only have two more days! On the agenda for tomorrow, gift basket making! Then Thursday I need to pull everything together in one spot in the garage so that Saturday morning, I can take off bright & early. The boutique doesn't start until 11am, but I need a couple of hours to get everything set up "just so". I'm a bit of a perfectionist that way.

What's that you say, I skipped Friday? Oh no, Friday is definitely on the agenda, but it's a secret! I'm doing something special for my sweetie, it's a surprise! Eeeee, I hope he likes it! I'll let you all in on it this weekend.

Ok, I think I'll go run around the block or something.

Nighty~night!

Lisa

First Fall Forray, Hooray!

Hello Everyone~
I don't know how the weather where y'all are is behaving, but today was the first day in Northern California that it's begun to feel a little like fall, yipee! I love the fall, its my favorite season. My wedding was in the fall...*gazing dreamily into space* Thinking of the fall always makes me feel happy, like a new beginning... a left over from my school years I think.

I whipped up this little bookmark over the weekend, it's kinda cute, no? I'm thinking of making a few more for my new bookclub peeps. I just started a new group and our first meeting is in mid October, this would be perfect. Yes, I think I'll do that :o) That book it's resting on is our first book club pick if anyone is interested, it's called The Magicians by Lev Grossman. I'm only about 150 pages in, but so far, so good!

It got me wondering what craf~tea fall things my bloggy buddies were up to, I'd love to hear all about them!

oxo,
Lisa