Goodbye humidity and mosquitos... Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

fall makes me happy for three reasons:

 1) I can go outside again.

2) I'm no longer itching all day.

3) The holiday festivities are about to begin!

I always wondered why cardigans and scarves showed up in the “fall”. Don’t get me wrong, I love them both, but the 85 degree (Californian) weather really doesn’t make either of them suitable.  Now that I’ve moved, I understand…

fall is real.

It is actually completely different than summer. Things are FALLING everywhere. The leaves are evacuating their tree posts. The acorns are bouncing on my patio (I thought I was being bombed by my squirrels at first). And the temperature is dropping fast. 

The attention being paid to pumpkins seems to be the same on both coasts… Just how it should be. 

We’ve done our fair share of fall decorating. And by decorating, I mean buying EVERY pumpkin that I stumble across.

Baskets of gourds and pumpkins... Miles thinks they're festive balls.

The start of the porch collection.

Leaves are beginning to fall. We need a rake....badly.

And to be sure that Pinterest gets involved, I've been cooking and baking some of my "to do" list. I want to get through most of my recipes this year. Call me Martha Stewart, because decorating, cooking, and baking have been a daily occurrence around here. 

There are a few recipes that I highly recommend (you can find them on my Pinterest board "I'm Hungry"- which is usually true):  

Pumpkin Snicker Doodles- THE BEST COOKIES EVER!

Chicken and Dumpling Soup (I added a bouillon cube for more flavor) 

Dark chocolate bites filled with almonds, pumpkin seeds, and dried cranberries.

And to make things even better... this week MORE FURNITURE ARRIVES! I don't think I've ever been so happy about deliveries. I feel like a little kid again practically running to the door when I see the mailman (or better yet, the UPS folks) parking at the end of my ridiculously long driveway.  

Still counting down for the couch though....
- Nicola & the little pup

I found a new house.

So today I got lost. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone because Raleigh and I just don't see eye to eye. It's all tree filled and green here and I can hardly see the driveways until I am just about past them. 

Anyway, I was trying to get to a park (without using my GPS) and I stumbled across this charming little place. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I decided that the GPS and I needed a little bit of a break, but it was my best decision ever. 

Let me introduce you to VINTAGE VILLAGE. The name alone sucked me in... but the tractor and pumpkins helped. I forgot to get a picture of the while street set up. Typical. 

VINTAGE VILLAGE

Here she is... you wouldn't think it was such a find. 

The pumpkins were awesome and the place was owned by an older man named Sam. We're friends now. He's the best. 

Just look at all these little places... full of things to reuse. 

 This is where I want to just move right in... 

The outside. Has a nice county porch for the hubby and I. And a good look out for the pup.

Look at those walls. You would never need art. And you can't see the curtains, but they match perfectly. 

 And everything else was amazing too. 

Lessons of the day:

1) GPS ruins adventures.

2) Get more pumpkins from small businesses (you meet nice people that way).

-Nicola & the Little Pup

The little yellow house has a glam squad.

Since we've moved in, I've replaced a lot of the existing lighting. I really think that swanky lights make a room look that much more finished... sadly, most of our rooms aren't even close to being finished.  But it's coming along. 

 The NEW lighting... 

Closets

The hallway

Spare bedroom # 2- still needs to be converted to a ceiling light.

Office

Master bedroom... it's huge. It doesn't look that big in this picture. 

Pool Room stair lighting

Dining room lights. 

Over the kitchen table (that hasn't arrived yet). 

And if lighting wasn't enough, we've found SOME furniture to fill the rest of this place up. Most of it still hasn't arrived. I practically wait by the door everyday in hopes that something BIG will be dropped off. One day...

The NEW furniture... 

Master bedroom. One day I'll actually hang that frame.

Master Bedroom

Master bedroom- hers.

Master bedroom- his. 

Master Bedroom

These will go in the recessed sitting area once the couch comes... 

Recessed sitting area. A crank table... YES PLEASE. 

The office. 

So far, it's semi-livable. I am getting a little over not having a couch. Everyone... hug and appreciate your couch today. 

More updates to come! 

-Nicola & the little pup