Welcome to the TBB Fall Home Tour.
From mid September until mid November my walls are festooned with colourful leaves, twinkly lights and cozy candles. A plethora of pumpkins take over the outside porch (usually the crazy big ones) and the smaller sugar pumpkins (perfect for pies) stay indoors. I limit myself to adding a piece or two to the decor each year for each season- this year it's a wood sign that says 'Eat More Pie'.
How fitting, cause that's what I'm doing as I compose this post.
My main focus for any fall or winter decorating is warm and cozy at night. There has to be twinkly lights somewhere and they are all on a timer.
I have the odd Halloween thing here and there but for the most part it's fall all the way in this house.
Okay, and a random Christmas tree. I just can't put this one away.....my Grandma kept her Christmas tree up year round so let's say this is my homage to her. Yup, we'll go with that
So. many. pumpkins.
The outside decor is mainly pumpkins and frozen plants. I should get around to trimming them back before the snow flies.
You can check out my previous year's post here:
Fall Decor 2016
Fall Decor 2015
From mid September until mid November my walls are festooned with colourful leaves, twinkly lights and cozy candles. A plethora of pumpkins take over the outside porch (usually the crazy big ones) and the smaller sugar pumpkins (perfect for pies) stay indoors. I limit myself to adding a piece or two to the decor each year for each season- this year it's a wood sign that says 'Eat More Pie'
My main focus for any fall or winter decorating is warm and cozy at night. There has to be twinkly lights somewhere and they are all on a timer.
I have the odd Halloween thing here and there but for the most part it's fall all the way in this house.
Okay, and a random Christmas tree. I just can't put this one away.....my Grandma kept her Christmas tree up year round so let's say this is my homage to her. Yup, we'll go with that
So. many. pumpkins.
The outside decor is mainly pumpkins and frozen plants. I should get around to trimming them back before the snow flies.
My favourite part of fall though isn't the inside decor but the colours that our sky takes on at night and how that reflects itself onto the wheat-shaded ground. So beautiful and oh, so blessed to live here.
You can check out my previous year's post here:
Fall Decor 2016
Fall Decor 2015
It's been 3 years running with our splurge group and I thought it was about time that I start writing down all the fun things we've done and all the ideas I've been stockpiling in my brain. If you're not familiar with a "splurge" group or call it something different, basically we have 11 ladies and each month we do something fun, put in 20$ and draw for a winner. The "winner" has to spend the money on herself and then put together the next month's shindig. This weekend we're gathering at the local corn maze for a spooky and tipsy event. I look forward to these gatherings every month with these ladies! Here are some of the things we've done and what I'd love to do:
1. Dinner theatre- Off Broadway Dinner Theatre
2. Movie night- hit the VIP theatre and see something you would only see with your friends. Also popcorn and wine.
3. Wet Paint Pottery- cool concept..pick an item, paint it, they fire it and you go home with a cool treasure.
4. Sleigh Ride- perfect wintertime fun.
5. Corn Maze: Strawberry Ranch, Italian Club
6. Supper out: We've done the Keg, Moxies...you name it. Sometimes it's nice to get out and not have to worry about little ones. It's fun trying new restaurants too
7. Nature walk: not many places more beautiful than the Saskatoon riverbank in the fall. Grab a coffee and get some steps!
8. Escape Room/Breakout Room: Deadlock Escape, Breakout Escape, Mastermind Live Escape- I can't remember which one we did in YXE, but it was blast.
9. Workout Class: We've done a spin class and an OTF class- always fun to sweat with friends.
10. Favourite Things Party: Everyone brings something they can't live without (you fix the price limit) and you do an exchange.
11. Meditation Class: Saskatoon Buddhist Meditation
12. Psychic Reading or Tarot cards
13. Freezer Meal Party at home or Dinner Rush
14. Hockey game- Go Blades! Just kidding, I don't speak hockey. Except Jordan has the sweetest Blade billet staying with them and it makes me want to go cheer for him.
15. Rush Game (Lacrosse)
16. Apex for Adults (although all I can picture are a bunch of women peeing their pants...)
17. Santa Claus Parade (might have to bring the kids along)
18. Paint Night: Holly's Wine and Paint
19. Walking Pub Crawl
20. Bingo
21. Square Dancing class
22. Canadian Light Source Tours (Synchotron)
23. Comedy Night (Yuk Yuk)
24. Fun Run, Walk, Marathon type thingy...that foam run or that colour one
25. Solar Gardens: we've done a succulents class and had a nice supper out there.
26. Prairie Lily RiverBoat Sightseeing Tour
27. Bowling
28. Batting cages
29. Tipsy Mini Golf...because everything is more fun with wine.
30. Vision Boards and Clarity Coaching : Jolene Watson
31. Skating- preferably outdoors with magical snow falling
32. Theatre: we saw a Christmas Carol last year and it was great!
33. Potluck: easy and cheap!
34. See the symphony play something cool...like the tunes from Harry Potter.
35. At home pedicures : we brought our own polish and did our own pedicures
36. Try out a new restaurant in the city.
37. Christmas Cookie Exchange- always a hit with us!
38. Attend a Book Reading : McNally Robinson- I think we did this by accident one year.
39. Distillery Tour: Lucky Bastard, Crossmount Cider, Black Fox Farm
40. Cooking class: D'reens
41. Brunch- Blue Grass Brunch Sundays at Bon Temps
42. English High Tea- Little Bird Pattiserie
43. Christmas Carolling- don't forget the Baileys!
44. Holiday Flea Market: Cmas Craft shows are the best!
45. Curling
46. Bootown
47. Art Gallery Tour- check out the new Remai Modern!
48. Haunted House: Berry Barn
49. Toboganning
50. Cross Country Skiing: rentals here
51. Backyard Bonfire and weiner roast
52. Farmer's Market
53. Festival of Trees
54. Sundog Art Faire
55. Oktoberfest
56. Cajun Spice Boil: Bon Temps Café- an awesome experience!
58. Fishing at Trout Pond in Forestry Farm
59. Host a money talk, budget night. See my post here on the event I did last year.
60. Fondue Night: UFondue
61. Makeup and Photo Night
62. Host a fancy dinner party
63. Canoe or kayaking down the river
64. Casino Night at Dakota Dunes
65. Get in the Christmas spirit with a Cmas concert- I highly recommend the Fireside Show in YXE
66. See a musical: Saskatoon has Chicago and Wizard of Oz coming our way before Christmas
67. Attend a local festival: jazz fest, taste of Saskatchewan....
68. Volunteer: so many possibilities there!
69. Wine night: Premier Showcase
70. Put together a salad in the jar party and eat healthy all week
I'm sure that once I've re-read this list I will think up more. What about you? Any fun ideas for a night out?
We're not going to be shocked and appalled when I tell you that occasionally I click on those random pop up shops that appear sporadically on your FB or Pinterest feed, are we?
Aren't you ever curious if those pretty dresses fit? Well I was and man, am I ever glad I tried it. Actually, this isn't the original dress I ordered, I'll have to save that one for another post. This is her younger, hip sister who wanted to be out and about on that miraculous fall day that felt more like summer.
The site I ordered from was JessaKae. This dress, the 'black jane' is super soft and stretchy and has pockets. I find that the waistline is also forgiving and has become a perfect piece for this beautiful fall weather we've been having. It came from somewhere in 'Merica...so of course there were customs and duty and shit but it came within 2 weeks of ordering and was a good price point for the risk of buying from a place unknownst to my shopping habits.
My stunning, younger sister ordered the same dress but in navy and it fit her perfectly too. So we both deem this dress in particular a winner. I'll have to post the other winner later.
It is no hidden truth that I love hosting, feeding people, taking in people when they need a place and pies. And I can tell you exactly where those loves come from, none other than my maternal role models: my mom and my grandmas.
This past weekend was my almost favourite event of the year, friendsgiving weekend that actually did turn into a whole weekend event. I'm not sure I would do it that way again but it was nice to spread things out and have the ability to have a good chat with the people who came on the less busy day. It's tough to find time to fit everything in, so opening up two days was my way of accommodating it.
What we ate:
Back in the day, my ma would host a come and go event in the fall and would bake a billion pies- so the food inspiration came from her....I made saskatoon, apple, pumpkin, chocolate pumpkin, banana cream and lemon meringue pies. The most popular was lemon meringue and the apple.
What we drank:
One downer of having this during the day, with the kids, out in the county is that day drinking isn't a popular sport, so I didn't have any fun cocktails to serve. I did put on some apple cider with mulled spices and if anything, it made the house smell delicious.
What we did:
Chatted, visited, caught up. I did quick photo shoots in the corner for my friends' cmas cards. I have been taking my friends' cmas cards photos for many years, so this actually makes it easier to do. I had a moment of ambition where I thought I'd have organized stuff for all the kids, but they kept themselves quite busy in the basement with lego, the switch or outside on the trampoline.
Thoughts for 2017:
Eventually my goal will be to put out one long banquet table and host a sit down meal, but I think right now with the kids being a little young- it will be too loco for that. So for a couple more years this come and go thing is going to work. I think that once we move into the new house, I'll host the epic Friendsgiving that I'm envisioning.
What I love about this event is that it's my time that I get to do something for my people. These are the families that we've known for ages and who have been by our side in all the ups and downs. It is so hard to find time in our busy worlds to take a break and it brings me so much joy to be able to bring all the people I love under one roof and break bread with them. There's something sacred and special about that.
Here are a few of my favourite pictures that I did for them. Seriously, so many cute kids.
You can read last year's Friendsgiving post here- and I gotta say, this is just year two doing it and last year I had two nights planned with my different groups of friends...this year it was two days but with all my friends...what will next year bring?
Hmmmm...last year at this time...this is what I was wearing. Yikes.
Many going ons in the life of me. Some sad, some happy and some wonderfully delicious. So how I've been decorating myself based on the life happenings.
1- My sister in law is living with us right now. I don't want to go into details because it's not my story but all I can say is that I'm proud of her and happy to have her under our roof as she figures things out. Also, I think having the kids around has been really therapeutic...like therapeutic dogs but not as hairy and they lick less. And on a serious note, I'm happy to be able to show the kids how we 'family' and what it means to be there for someone no matter what.
2- Little brother Josh has also been around helping out which means fun times. The parents have also been up so we went out for a nice little dinner which let me wear my fun new dress shirt thingy that I got in Vancouver (Halogen from Nordstroms, link here). Yay for fun sleeves.
3) Fall wanderings in Saskatoon makes me want to dress this part. I had got this jacket from ModCloth a couple years ago and I love when I can bring it out for those crisp but not so crisp days.
4) I cut bangs. Again. I'm not in a happy 'I love my hair' time. I go back and forth on length and colour and just can't seem to find what I want. So ya, there are bangs. I also got to wear the fun sweater tutu dress when I went home for Thanksgiving and promptly sat on something. Of course.
5) This was my favourite outfit of all...so much my favourite that I even wore it after I got home until bed instead of my usual strip down into my pajamas as soon as I'm home. I do wish this sweater was a little longer but the fun sleeves make up for it.
Lastly, we got our fall family photos back...here's a sneak peak....we had them done on the future homestead!
Linking up with my bloggy friends on TBB.
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