Fall Into A Good Book

October is my favorite time of year.

It's no secret that I love a good book. However, this is the time of year is when I read the most of all. The air is crisp and leaves are slowly changing color. I love being able to curl up in a comfy chair and stare outside in between chapters. Plug in a wax burner filled with apple pumpkin, crisp fall leaves and toasted campfire wax melts and it's almost perfection. Fall is the time of year, you wish you could just enclose it in a bottle to remember the sights and smells. Last year we took a weekend trip to Lake George and saw the last of the leaf peeping season here in the North Country. We stopped alongside the Hudson Watershed and snapped a couple quick pics. Autumn in New York is brief, however it is breathtakingly beautiful. 

October is a time for fresh apple cider and hot cider donuts. Enjoying one in front of a waterfall is an added bonus. Impromptu picnics on the remaining days of an Indian Summer and spend the evening under a full moon warming yourself beside a roaring bonfire. It's more than PUMPKIN everything. As I said, it's my most favorite time of year. New books begin hit the shelves at local bookstores and  The New York Times Best Seller list produces tons of fall worthy reads. Which brings me to my original thought. I love a good book. A few ladies in our neighborhood have formed a book club and although we took  the summer off from reading we started back up in right before school started back. For August, we picked a historical fiction WWII novel, "War Brides" by Helen Bryan. Although most of our group enjoyed some parts of the book, we mainly agreed it was a little slow going. It received 3 1/2 stars. 

September's selection was a debut novel, California by Edan Lepucki. It was a post-apocalyptic novel following the characters, Cal and Frieda into the wilderness leaving L.A. behind in their past. Our group enjoyed the far fetched reality that Cal and Frieda faced, but we were left hanging by the ending. California received a week 3 stars. For October's selection we decided to go with a thriller to fit with this time of year. "The One that Got Away" by Simon Wood was a fast paced thriller that had us rooting for Zoë and that the Tallyman got what he deserved in the end. Wood's book received 3 1/2 stars. 

For November's book club pick we decided to read another thriller.  Reese Witherspoon's Instagram account provided our selection. "In a Dark, Dark Wood" by Ruth Ware is a mystery/thriller based on high school friends that loose touch, only to reunite at a "hen weekend" to celebrate the upcoming wedding of Clare. I picked this book up after our meeting to get a jump on reading. It was a page turner and had you guessing until the very end. Ware's debut novel received a strong 4 stars. I'm also excited to see news that Witherspoon is taking this novel from page to screen. Meanwhile, I'm trying to finish up reading the first book in the Outlander series, so I know what all the hype is about and then moving on "Into the Wilderness" by Sara Donati. I'm hoping that there's no thick Scotch accents to read like in Outlander. I hope this rambling of my love of all things fall and a few book club selections kept you entertained. Until next time y'all and keep on reading! 

An Autumn Meal

Tonight, I made a super simple Sunday supper that screamed "Fall is here". We had apple bourbon pork loin, a sweet potato, apple & pecan 'hash' and braised bacon Brussels sprouts served alongside some Harvest Pumpkin stuffing. Dinner was delicious and I had several friends on Facebook asking for the recipes. So, here they are! 

For the pork loin, I marinated it for about 20 minutes in a packet of McCormick brown sugar bourbon made as directed along with 2 tablespoons of apple cider for a little kick. Then I seared the loins in a cast iron skillet and once done I transferred them to a stoneware dish. I baked the pork loin at 350*F for 45 minutes until it reached 170*F. 

While the pork was cooking I peeled and diced a few sweet potatoes and granny smith apples. In my cast iron skillet, I melted 3 tablespoons of coconut oil and cooked the sweet potatoes for about 8 minutes until they were beginning to soften and starting to turn golden brown. I added the apples next and continued cooking them until they were browned. A couple teaspoons of cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice were added to the apple and potato mixture. Then I tossed in a half cup of pecan halves and a cup of Craisins (soaked in warm water for 5 minutes, then drained before adding to the hash). Stirred it all together and cooked for about 2 more minutes. Then you're ready to put it on the table.

Bacon braised Brussels sprouts are probably one of my favorite go-to dishes during the spring, fall and winter. Bacon makes everything better. I take a bag of frozen Brussels sprouts and cook them partially in my Pampered Chef micro-steamer. Meanwhile I'll dice and begin to cook 3 strips of thick-cut bacon in another cast iron skillet. Once the sprouts are done in the microwave, drain and cut them in half. Add about 1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to the sprouts in a bowl and season with some McCormick Montreal Steak seasoning. Then scrape the sprouts into the skillet with the partially cooked bacon pieces, mix together and cook alongside the pork loin for the last 20 minutes at 350*F. The harvest pumpkin stuffing I found at Aldi's in their seasonal aisle and made it according to the directions on the box. Dinner was simple enough, on the table in about an hour and gobbled up by my boys. 

Hope y'all enjoyed my take on an autumn meal! 

Wedding Anniversary Weekend

So last week, the hubs and I celebrated 13 years of marriage. We kept our celebration a little low key, but still had fun. We went on an impromptu trip down to Syracuse to B&N  to browse books, popped in at Trader Joe's for a couple things I love from there and we even squeezed in a trip to Wegmans for steaks to grill the next evening for dinner. 

The hubs got me some beautiful irises and tulips, since I'm not a roses type of girl. The boys were out of school for Columbus Day and we decided to take our fall family portrait in 70* weather with sweat rolling down our backs. Mind you that 4 days later it snowed. Yep, October is broken up here in the North Country. However, our family pictures turned out great! Then we capped off the afternoon with a picnic, steak dinner and watched Billy Madison, just like we do every year on our anniversary. 

We even had a cake. Wait, let me explain. I made a delicious lemon pound cake from the same recipe used for our wedding cake 13 years ago. Then the hubs used the Rummage family decoration skills that I lack and iced this 2-tiered sugar confection to perfection. And then we smashed it in each other's faces...twice. The first time our oldest bumped the camera tripod that we had set up to recreate the cake cutting and we ended up with 10 pictures of the window in the dining room. The second time was way more successful.

So, here's to 13 years and many more with my best friend!

Crazy busy.... Or I'm a slacker at blogging.

I apparently took off the spring and summer from blogging. BUT I had several DIY projects in the works. The last one I had posted was the coffee mug wall hanger I like to call "Paradise". Which turned out super functional and pleasing to the eye. Then for a belated Mother's Day gift (since the hubs went on a training mission for a couple weeks), my sweet husband crafted this beautiful console table from plans out of The Handbuilt Home by Ana White. This book has tons of plans and we're slowly building furniture pieces from this book. 

I also did some decorating on the front porch. For the 4th of July I crafted this wooden American flag to hang. All it took was a couple 1x6 boards joined together, wooden stars and a couple pieces of stripping. Then I just stained it all with Mission Oak, leaving it darker or lighter on the areas that needed it. It's a lovely addition to our porch and looks great. Another fun project was the DIY wooden tags to add to my fall wreath. I just cut a couple 1x6's, drilled a hole and hand painted "give thanks" onto the tags. 

After a trip to a local antique store and I found a solid wood door. Pinterest-inspired, I set out to make a corner door shelf. The hubs cut it down the middle, added some shelves, blinged it out with a crystal door knob, cleaned up the original hinges and covered it in a coat of Caribbean Sea. 

My biggest project that consumed my time was what I like to call the "Great Dining Room Redo". I once had yellow chairs surrounding the farmhouse table that the hubs built last year for our 12th anniversary. However, those got a fresh coat of Caribbean Sea, the same color as my console table and door. If you couldn't tell, I love this color! And it matches my Fiesta-ware plates in Peacock.

Then I built this super simple rustic wood planter to house some mason jars and candles. The next addition was the giant chalkboard. I have awful chalkboard art abilities, but I love how I can change out my quotes anytime I like. The final touch in the dining room is the awesome DIY lanterns made from 1x2s, 97¢ glass tumblers, clear adhesive caulking and white candles. The dining room turned out better than I expected and then the next project waiting for the hubs and I to tackle was a new tv stand, since a guilty Weimaraner chewed the MDF corners on the one we had. We once again turned to Ana's book for inspiration and knocked out this beauty in a weekend.  

Future DIY builds we hope to accomplish are 2 matching bookcases to flank the media console, a farmhouse bed frame with storage, a desk for our oldest and an apothecary console for the living room after we redo our second living space off the dining area.  I hope some of these DIY projects have inspired you. Happy DIYing Y'all!

Planning my heart out!

The other week I took a leap of faith and ordered an Erin Condren Life Planner after my sister, Mande received hers in the mail. I had been using a my iPhone, a wall calendar and a monthly planner to manage my appointments, things going on the our family and monthly budgeting. Sometimes things didn't get input into my iPhone calendar or on the wall calendar and there I was missing an appointment or trying to remember where I was supposed to be.

On Saturday, this gem arrived in the mail and I'm impressed. Let's start off saying that I got a deep discount on this bad boy and $10 off with a referral from my sister. Normally the basic Life Planners run $50 and it doesn't even include shipping. However the Erin Condren website were offering them 40% off and the coupon from my sister covered my shipping. So, with a few extra goodies added on (Pop-in Meal Planner and budget book) I didn't even spend $40. I had it personalized with my name on the front, which is included in the price. 

After I ordered this and patiently awaited it's arrival. I searched the web for how most people used them. Let me just say, there are some people who decorate the heck out of their planners.  I got tons of great ideas for adding things in my planner, like cleaning schedules, monthly budgeting and lots more. Right now I'm using the 2 page monthly spread for my budgeting and overview of appointments. The weekly spreads I'm adding in when library books are due, when my son is ungrounded, my meet-up group's activites, when to blog, grocery shopping and the biggest thing I'm working on...writing my novel! I've been trying to carve out time to work on it, but sometimes (like always) life has got in the way. Hence, why I've started this project almost 6 years ago. So I'm excited for this planner to help control the chaos in my life and finally get myself organized. I have high hopes for this planner in the hands of a mom with ADD. 

On a totally different note.....GUESS WHAT OPENED THIS WEEKEND!?!?!?

One of the local drive-in theaters opened this weekend. So the hubs, kids and I loaded up and went to the Alexandria Bay Drive-in Friday night. We opted for the kid friendly double feature of "Home" and "Insurgent". I'm excited because nothing says summer, like evening spent at the drive-in with those you love. And of course, we enjoy the "Star Spangled Banner" prior to the movie starting. 

Spring is Finally Here!!

The snow has finally melted and now we get to experience crazy high winds & the joys of chasing trash cans blowing through the neighborhood. The sunny weather this past week has inspired me to tackle several Pinterest projects that I've been wanting to do & start working on the flower beds in front of our house. I'm excited about making our house a little more personalized with each project we add to it. 

The rockers have returned to the front porch alongside a cheery new piece of wall art for the front porch. I was inspired by a friend back home, who made a sign like this for her mother's front porch. I call this the "Lindsey". The mason jars are attached to the wood with a hose clamp with a hole that's been drilled through it. Since spring has just arrived to NNY, I knew that it would be weeks before the first buds of flowers pop up in my flowerbed, so I went in a different cost effective direction. FAUX FLOWERS. ;) I picked up some fake daffodils at the World of Wally on clearance and added them to the mason jars & anchored them inside with a dab of hot glue on a glass marble. After today's crazy wind, I'm really glad that I anchored my flowers or they would've been clear across the neighborhood. 

Another addition to the front porch is my super cute rag wreath with a chalkboard sign.  This wreath is time consuming, but I used the scraps from a quilt I'm still working on and quiet frankly I might be working on forever. I think it the rag wreath turned out lovely and the "Hey Y'all" chalkboard sign hanging underneath. The chalkboard round was a group Pinterest craft my neighborhood meet-up group did the other week. Prior to painting the front, I drilled 2 holes  through the wood and when it was dry I used some orange ribbon to tie it into place. I printed out my text and traced over the paper. Once finished I just used a paint pen to follow the outline. I did the same process for the following text on my next project below. 

This is my favorite project I've done so far and is what I like to call the "Paradise" coffee mug holder. I found a similar mug holder on Etsy for $115. This one cost me about $30.  The Johnny Cash quote speaks to me and I absolutely loved it. When asked what his idea of paradise was, he answered "This morning with her, having coffee." referring to June. And as a bonus I freed up a whole cabinet in the kitchen by hanging all our mugs.  

Last, but not least, here's the most recent project the hubs & I worked on. This winter we spent several LONG weeks completing this Peanuts photomosaic puzzle while being confined to our home due to the never-ending snow. This puzzle has been hanging out, propped up on my desk and begging for a frame since we completed it. Well, hubs knocked out not one, but 3 custom frames this weekend. We finished this one in a black stain to complement Snoopy. The other two frames are awaiting stain and/or assembly & will be displayed in the near future with custom kid art and another puzzle I completed earlier this past fall. I'm really looking forward to more Pinterest inspired projects to do around the house, so if I'm not blogging I'm either reading, over pinning my heart out or in the garage working on something new. Until next time y'all!

It's Spring and Still Snowing...

Ah, another North Country spring, where we're still wearing snow boots and get excited about temperatures in the low 40s.  How I long to sit on my front porch in a rocking chair, sipping on a glass of sweet tea and enjoying the latest book I've picked up. But, alas here I am in the frozen tundra of the North Country enjoying Spring Break with my boys.

Yes, it's Spring Break, which means we're sporting footy pajamas and carrying fuzzy blankets around the house until we head South. We're looking forward to a long weekend visiting family and friends, attending a wedding and celebrating Easter and even squeezing in a trip to Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Until I need to go start packing for our mini-vacay, I'm enjoying reading a book from the comfort of my couch, with the company of my almost-too-big-for-my-lap dog, Hunter & his sister, Bella. 

Up until recently, all my reading selections were based on word of mouth recommendations, on my to-read list on Goodreads and if the cover made me want to read the inside flap, while perusing a book shelf. Not gonna lie, I do judge some books by their covers. However, I now belong to a newly formed bookclub in our neighborhood and our first selection was voted on by our group. The first meeting is to take place a week after our vacation. Knowing that I had precious time to read it and sort out my feelings on a book I'd never heard of, I bought the book and patiently waited for it's delivery, all the while trying to finish a 1000 page beast on my nightstand. More on it in a bit.

~ Bookclub pick for April ~ 
"My Sunshine Away" by M.O. Walsh was not my typical read, but I devoured this book in 24 hours. Here's my Goodreads review:
"This is our newly formed bookclub's pick for the month of April. It at first reminded me of how dark of a novel "The Lovely Bones" was with the creepy neighbor, but turned out to be much more than that. The story's narrator guides us through his life and the summer that changed him forever. We're given brief glimpses of the past, as well as the future. You don't receive all the pieces to the puzzle, until the end and that's what I liked best. I enjoyed how the author spent so much time, carefully painting a picture of life in the Baton Rouge in the late 80's. I had no idea how the story would end, but it came full circle and I saw the big picture. You as the reader get closure with the narrator and feel like the burden he's carried for so long is finally lifted." 
I could go on about the novel, but that would spoil it for those of you who have yet to read it. So, I'm leaving it there.

I also recently participated in our post library's winter reading challenge of 8 or more books checked out from the library itself or off their Overdrive account. I won some nifty prizes and completed the challenge. The staff had made some selections of their own and turned me on to a cute little series by Jenn McKinlay, about a librarian who solved the mysteries to murders in her small town. Another new favorite read was a YA book series. The Graceling Realm series by Kristin Cashore was delightful. I read the books slightly out of order, book 1, 3 then 2, which didn't effect the final outcome of the series. I also checked out a book that had been lurking on my to-read list forever and finally checked out a copy. "California" by Edan Lupucki was terrific read for those of us who enjoy a post-apocalyptic novel. The author made the possibility of this world so realistic and had me making contingency plans for living off the grid. 

And to top it off, I'm once again doing the Goodreads Reading Challenge. In 2013, I set a goal of 25 books and read 29. In 2014, I read 21 books with the same goal. This year I've kept the same goal, but I'm currently 7 books ahead of schedule. I think it's time to change my goal. 
So, here I am in the middle of my next read, patiently waiting for the snow to melt and drag the rocking chairs out on the porch. You know that 1000 page beast I referred to way up there ^. This lovely book is the second in a series, which is well-written and holds my attention, but it's so LONG. I'm slowly working my way through George R.R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice saga. I read the first book "Game of Thrones" last year and I'm almost 300 pages into "A Clash of Kings". I've renewed the book from the library once already and I have 13 days to finish it before it's due back. Wish me luck! 

 

I Promise I'm Still Here.....

So here I am months after my last post and it seems as always that life has "got in the way" of my blogging. I'm not to entirely unplugged, but I've been working on a project that needs my attention. Anyway. If you missed me, here's what's been going on with me currently. 

Hope you all have a fabulous day!