Fall Fun Activities

I sounds like a broken record about things to do/eat/see & wear in the fall,  however it really is such a beautiful time of year that I feel compelled to get out there and enjoy it! Not to mention what follows is several cold, harsh months of being indoors. So here are a list of a few things I think should be on everyone's fall to do list!

1. Apple Picking- two of my favorite places are Honey Pot Hill which is great as a family activity or with friends. I also love Nashoba Valley Winery how can you go wrong when you can apple pick and stop in for a quick wine tasting as well? We are actually headed apple picking on Saturday so keep an eye out for some photos! :)

This was from yesterday we did the Charles River walk- the leaves are starting to turn!

2. Check out the leaves on longer stroll, you can do a day trip for the Newport Cliff walk or check out Castle Island (both of which are great for pets!) Of course no list would be complete without my favorite which is the Charles River walk. My Husband and I will park in Watertown and walk along the river passing by the various city, town and university boat houses, continuing on overlooking Harvard's campus and on from there.


3. Baking is another favorite, I have a few staple recipes, (see my post on pumpkin cookies) apple pie, pecan pie. Keep an eye out for more fall recipes, or check out my "Fall Fun" board on Pinterest! I will be trialing some recipes for our first Thanksgiving hosting the family. We are hosting twelve people for dinner so for my family pretty small- but I can't wait to plan the menu and decorate!

Pecan pie from an impromptu dinner party yesterday!

4. In my mind no fall is complete without a trip to Salem, MA. I am not a big Halloween fan, in fact I hate it. Even as a kid I didn't like getting dressed up (except for the year I went as Belle!) There is just something about the holiday I can't get on board with. However there are many other things to do in Salem other than Halloween things. Including a Walking Tour of the Trees, and  Harvest Day. This year we have friends coming up from DC over Halloween so we will have lots to do that is not Halloween related!  

5. Another favorite activity is heading to a football game. While we were living in DC we went to a fair few Ravens games (not my by choice!) However now that we are back home we plan to head to a Pats game. College games can be really fun as well! Oliver is a Maryland Alum so he's headed down for  a game this season as well- unfourtuantely I am working that weekend so I don't get to partake in the fun.

As always, thanks for reading! Please make sure to subscribe in the bottom right corner, I have recieved a few emails that people with Apple computers are having difficulty using the widget to subscribe so I have added the email option as well!

Happy Thursday! :)

Making Our House a Home

It has been about three months since we've moved from DC to our new home. When we first moved in we marveled at the space, three bedrooms, with an actual dining room AND kitchen that were two separate rooms, it was like I died and went to real estate heaven. As far as style goes I gravitate toward soft colors, romantic ambiance and more vintage with a splash of french country kitchen- quite a style huh? I just really enjoy finding pieces to bring a room together that you wouldn't normally expect. See what your decor style is with this quiz on Ethan Allen!  

 As soon as we moved in I had all these grand ideas to decorate each room and what I thought would look great. Certainly no shortage of ideas, however trying to make all of that work after just moving and try to get settled was tough. Luckily we have awesome friends and family who donated things they were looking to get rid of. It was super generous of everyone and we are so grateful!

 We ended up furnishing our entire spare bedroom with things we were given (a huge thank you to our family!!) A few of the pieces we did a little "updating" to. This is the before photo of the dresser. I really liked the raised parts to it and saw this as a great opportunity to paint it a contrasting color. Off to Home Depot I went (which is pet friendly FYI!) I poured over different color palettes and decided to go with a navy and white. My thought was it is a great color scheme for an adult bedroom, but could also transition to a room for a little one someday! Also navy & white is such a classic combination that you can incorporate lots of pops of color to add another dimension to the room. 





Here is the finished product! I will start by saying after 2 days of sanding and painting this piece I decided I did not like the color. So back to sanding I went this time with a little help from my husband :) When I went back to Home Depot they were awesome, they changed the color for me free of charge! They did mention that if you go with the "high gloss" finish it has a tendency to change the color- something to note for future DIY projects! In my case it was pretty drastic- the color was definitely more of a cobalt than navy. 

 Here is a detail shot of how it turned out. Personally I love the higher gloss finish, I know that isn't for everyone but it is definitely an option to skip just go with a matte finish.





Here is my bigger project of the room, a tufted headboard! I got a lot of the inspiration for things I saw on Pinterest that I loved, but wasn't willing to spend hundreds on. If anyone is interested in the tutorial of how I did the headboard feel free to email me for details. I used the headboard that came with this bedroom set thanks to my Aunt! :) I didn't take a before shot- sorry about that. However it was the same color as the dresser, and fits a full sized bed. 


I did a lot of research about the different ways to do a DIY headboard, most of which use plywood and hang on the wall versus being on the actual frame. I actually think this might have been a little easier as the headboard was already really sturdy so I just added a three inch foam from Home Depot and premeasured all of the places I wanted the tufts to appear, make sure to space them out evenly otherwise they won't appear correctly on the headboard, then added the foam and did the tufts.
Getting the tension even on all the tufts wasn't very
easy but I did the best I could. I also hand covered all
the buttons with matching fabric. I can definitely see
myself redoing this sometime in the future hopefully
to get better tension on the tufts. Overall I was happy
with the results, and was very appreciative of all the
help I got from Oliver! I owe that guy :)

My "Fall Musts"

As I have mentioned before there are countless things I love about the Fall, first lets start with the attire. Every year I try to cultivate the perfect fall wardrobe, there is a fine balance as style changes year- to - year as well as the financial implications. In order to get around this I stick to "staple" pieces to add that won't change year to year. For example, the perfect boot. I kid you not when I tell you I was on a search for the "perfect boots" for much of 2010. When I found them; knee high in the perfect chocolate brown shade with a gold zipper up the back, the search was well worth it!

As last fall rolled in a new hunt began- the perfect faux fur vest. Let me tell you- the search continues! I have found a few close contenders; however the color is never "just right" its always a little to long, a little too short, too loose or too tight- not to mention the inevitable too pricey!

The things I think are a staple in any fall wardrobe are the obvious contenders, a knee high flat boot, heeled booties, colored skinny jeans or texture pant (think brown/oxblood/hunter green/reds) oversized sweaters, patterned scarves, and the perfect faux fur vest!

Here are a few things I have my eye on! :)

Fall in New England - the changing of seasons and pumpkin cookies!

One of the things I missed most living South of the Mason-Dixon was the distinct seasons. Don't get me wrong not having to shovel for two years was pretty amazing, however the shift that takes place when the temperature drops, the leaves change and you need a blanket to snuggle up with at night is something I live for every summer. 

There are countless reasons I love fall, especially a true New England fall, apple picking, layering on a cute sweater, baking everything pumpkin flavored and the smell of a fireplace on a Sunday afternoon after family dinner. So its no surprise that mid way through September I am already working through my list of things I am dying to do for my first Autumnal season back in my home state!

To kick off the fall festivities I made my first batch of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies, they were fun to make and even more delicious than I had remembered! Hope you enjoy the photos and give the recipe a try :) 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Ingredients:

1 can of Pumpkin

1 Egg
1/2 cup oil

1 Cup of sugar

1/2 Teaspoon of milk (I use 1%)

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla extract

2 Cups of flour

1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon 

2 Teaspoons of baking powder

1/2 Teaspoon of salt

1 Teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips  

 
Preheat your oven to 375 and grab an non-greased cookie sheet.



 


 

Mix pumpkin, egg, sugar & oil by hand, 
adding in milk and vanilla.










Next mix the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and baking soda together in a separate bowl. Gradually add your dry mixture to your wet until mixed together. Lastly, add in your chocolate chips.

Scoop mixture onto cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

You will see in my photos they are no meant to be perfectly round cookies so no need to roll them, the mixture is generally too wet for that. They will not spread too much so feel free to pack them onto a cookie sheet. Depending on size of the cookies this will make approximately 2 dozen. 

I am working on a list of "Fall Musts" - Attire, Activities, Cocktails & Food so keep an eye out for that coming soon!

My very first blogpost!

 

      I have been wanting to start this blog for quite some time now, however there was always something holding me back. Would anyone read it? Would it be something I could maintain with a job, family and other life demands? I had so many reservations however the desire to start never wavered, so here I am writing my first post. I've decided to embark on this with no expectations for what it will be- just enjoy the ride and see where it takes me. This is something that will be a personal challenge as I tend to have incredibly high expectations for just about everything!

      A little bit about me: I was born and raised in the burbs of Boston with an enormous Italian family, everyone lives here, no one leaves, and Sunday's are sacred family days. I loved every minute of growing up with more cousins than I can count on both my hands and feet. There was always someone to play with and adventure to be had. Despite having an amazing childhood I looked to challenge myself and decided to head out of state for college. I studied to become a nurse, and graduated in 2010, but during all that studying I still found time to meet a guy who definitely was not from Boston! After college I traveled, got married, and moved to DC.  Our first two years of marriage there were amazing! We have recently moved back to Boston, and expanded our little family with the cutest Barbet puppy named Clovis! :)

      This blog is about all of the things I love about life; family, entertaining, fashion, decorating, and love...oh and of course my favorite beverage of all time, Bubbly!

I hope you enjoy reading about all of our adventures!

Kate
XO